Chapter 12

Whether they spoke casually or formally didn’t matter. What mattered to Quilbion was ‘Twella’s condition.’

“Twella is…”

“You’re persistent, aren’t you?”

Al Terua let out a sigh. As if annoyed.

“For the next four days, don’t ask about Twella and don’t be curious about her. Got it?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because I have to protect her.”

Al Terua scratched their head with their index finger.

“Protect? Who? You? Her?”

“Yes.”

“Did you two agree on this mutually?”

“Not exactly. But we made a promise. Not to leave each other alone.”

Al Terua nodded their head and pointed at the floor. It must mean to sit down.

After pushing books to one side, he sat.

“Caring is good. People can’t live alone after all. Quilbion, do you like Twella?”

“Yes. I like her.”

“I think you’re slightly missing the point. You probably don’t have the concept of male and female established in your head yet. No, you do have it, but you’ve forgotten.”

Al Terua crouched down.

Their eye levels became equal. Quilbion looked at the Ascetic with determination in his eyes, showing he couldn’t just let this go.

“You’ve got spirit. That’s right, men should have that flavor. Even if you’ve forgotten, instinct is unavoidable. But the thing is, I didn’t decide this matter.”

“What?”

“It’s Twella’s will. Depending on what results you show over the next four days, many things will change. A great many things.”

Al Terua stretched out their legs and plopped down heavily. They yawned long and wide as if everything was bothersome.

But Quilbion saw it. Al Terua’s sharp, alert eyes. They’re still observing me.

“Twella…”

“Enough. You’re smart, so you must understand, right? This is a test. A point system. If you pass a certain score, you’ll receive a reward.”

“What if I don’t pass?”

“You didn’t finish the test with excellent grades, so what do you want? That’s where it ends for you and her. You’ll be going separate ways.”

“I can’t accept that.”

Tsk tsk, Al Terua clicked their tongue.

“Didn’t I already tell you? I didn’t decide this matter. Pressuring me won’t change anything. Want change? Then show results. If you demonstrate outstanding talent, I’ll explain everything.”

Quilbion corrected his posture.

He realized it. That the time given was short. He had to set aside useless questions and continue only with the essentials.

“What do I need to do?”

“Nothing more to ask? Twella, Twella. If you cry a little and press me, I might answer, you know.”

“I realized it would be meaningless. You have no intention of telling me, do you, Ascetic? Then I’ll just achieve what Twella wants. I can do it. I’ve never once lost first place in Friendship House.”

“To be precise, it was a tied first place. There’s Drich, isn’t there?”

“You’re thorough.”

“A teacher must be thorough.”

Teacher.

Quilbion tapped his cheeks and said,

“Please teach me. I’ll learn whatever it is.”

“I’d like to watch the melodrama a bit more, but it seems to be over.”

Al Terua held out the square paper they’d shown before.

Talisman.

He received it and waited for an explanation.

“Same as last time. Focus. What sorcery is, what goblins are, what this place is for. If you can’t even reach the starting line, there’s no need to know.”

“You’re saying something different from before. You said you’d tell me everything next time.”

“The situation has changed. I thought I’d need both you and Twella, but I was wrong. Twella alone is enough. No, even saying ‘enough’ would be disrespectful to that child.”

Does that mean I’m not needed?

Twella’s words brushed past his ears. Couldn’t you stop learning sorcery?

“I’m good at learning.”

“Then show me.”

Quilbion closed his eyes.

He imagined beyond his eyelids. The shape of the talisman was drawn. Was the talisman swaying now? Or had some other change occurred?

Haaaam, Al Terua’s yawning sound broke his concentration.

“Sorry. It’s taking a while.”

“I just started.”

“Don’t forget that Twella felt it the moment she received it. And this is already your second time today.”

“Do you want me to fail?”

“Want an honest answer?”

“Yes.”

Even with his eyes closed, he could feel it. Al Terua had come right up close.

“I don’t care at all. Whatever you become, whatever you do.”

“Because you have Twella?”

“Ah, I’ve responded too much. Try your best. I’m going to rest a bit. Thanks to those goblins coming and making a fuss since morning, I’m tired.”

The sound of pages turning, the sound of changing position, the sound of sniffling and clearing their nose.

All kinds of noise gnawed at his nerves.

“Puhaha! This is funny.”

Al Terua suddenly burst out laughing.

Focus, let’s focus on the talisman.

But the very thought of ‘let’s focus’ shook the axis of his consciousness. The whispering sounds began to be heard as loud as thunder.

And why was his heartbeat so loud?

His foot also started itching. The moment he fidgeted, Al Terua said,

“Feels a bit prickly, doesn’t it? You can stop. People have their roles. It’s about knowing one’s place. Nothing is more foolish than forcing something that won’t work.”

“Please be quiet.”

“Oh dear, if you ask me to be quiet, I should be quiet for you… but I don’t want to. Sorcery is a conversation between me and the world. A very noisy conversation. If you can’t keep your center even in a quiet place like this, you can’t do anything.”

Give up, give up.

Al Terua said with a giggle.

Defiance surged up. He resolved that he would definitely succeed and put strength into the hand holding the talisman.

What’s the method?

How did Twella make the talisman dance?

It wasn’t some trick like moving his fingers subtly. Clearly some invisible force was touching the talisman.

Invisible force.

Does such a thing exist in the world?

Everything should be visible.

The house, his friends, the disgusting porridge.

Everything had a clear form.

Things that can’t be seen…

Suddenly the monsters he’d seen in the morning came to mind.

The things Al Terua called ‘goblins.’

Unidentifiable beings that had sprouted inside human shells. Things that were visible yet invisible.

Was the world not entirely made of what could be seen?

Was something I couldn’t see filling my surroundings?

If so.

“The talisman is just sitting still. Time keeps passing. What will you be able to show over the next four days?”

“I’ve always found the right answer. I’ve never failed to solve a problem posed by the Ascetics.”

“Those bastards pose problems? You know now too. They’ve never posed problems that require understanding. Clean this, praise the Pioneer, pray. They just endlessly brainwash.”

“Either way, I’ve never lost first place within that.”

Quilbion opened his eyes. He’d expected them to be sprawled out, but Al Terua was sitting in a strange posture.

Their right foot was on their left thigh, and conversely, their left foot was on their right thigh.

Just looking at it seemed uncomfortable.

“Why are you sitting like that?”

“This is comfortable. It’s the posture of meditation. It’s also the demon-subduing posture.”

Al Terua rocked their body left and right.

“Did you give up now? Just staring at me with wide eyes won’t change anything.”

“I can’t see what’s invisible with my eyes closed.”

“How do you visually confirm what can’t be seen?”

“That’s right. It doesn’t make sense. But I experienced it this morning. Those things, the smoke-like stuff surrounding the goblins.”

“Oh, you saw that?”

Quilbion glanced at the talisman and said,

“Those things were hiding inside shells. They should be much bigger, so how did they fit inside such small bodies? It’s probably sorcery, right?”

“The approach is good. But they’re not hiding. You just couldn’t see them properly.”

It was during their continuing conversation.

A blue light flashed from the edge of the talisman.

“Just now!”

Quilbion shouted in surprise.

“What?”

“Something just flashed on the talisman.”

“I didn’t see it.”

“No, you definitely saw it. You’re constantly observing me.”

Al Terua made a blank expression.

“Yeah, I saw it. But it’s not enough. Anyone can induce phenomena through a talisman. What’s important is maintaining it. Remember? Twella kept the talisman dancing continuously.”

“Then do I just need to keep it glowing?”

“For now.”

He looked at the talisman again. The moment he spoke while thinking of the goblins, a change occurred.

Were the goblins the key?

He stared at the talisman while repeating ‘goblin’ internally, but the blue light that had appeared briefly didn’t return.

Goblin, goblin, goblin.

Continuing to think about those disgusting things, anger gradually crept in.

That’s when it happened.

The top of the talisman flashed again.

In that moment, Quilbion felt his emotions that should be wandering inside his body connect with ‘something’ through the talisman.

– Sorcery is a conversation between me and the world.

Everything was contained in Al Terua’s words.

Crackle!

The blue light that had been like a single point soon spread out like tree branches. The sight of light splitting into six branches and flickering blue was infinitely mysterious.

Quilbion stared at the light in a daze, then yawned deeply.

Drowsiness came over him. His eyelids became heavy and drooped down as if stones were attached.

“A-Ascetic…”

“Sleep if you’re sleepy.”

“I succeeded…”

“Twelve seconds. This is a disappointingly, devastatingly disappointing number. If I had to give it a score, maybe 2 out of 100?”

His body went limp. Even Al Terua’s words sounded slow, and the strength drained from the hand holding the talisman.

Darkness seeped down from above, and soon he completely lost consciousness.

*

He woke with a gasp.

Books covering the entire wall.

It was Al Terua’s room.

He gathered his hazy mind and traced his memories.

He’d been happy seeing the blue light shooting out from the talisman, then at some point lost consciousness…

“The morning of the second day has dawned. Can Quilbion get a perfect score, I wonder?”

At the voice mixed with laughter, he raised his head. Al Terua was still sitting in that uncomfortable posture.

“…Two days?”

His voice was hoarse. After coughing several times, he asked again.

“Did you say it’s the second day?”

“Look, that disgusting so-called Sun is rising over there.”

Quilbion got up with a groan. Through the window, he could see the Sun stretching.

A whole day really had passed.

Goosebumps rose all over.

“Cleaning! And I didn’t attend roll call either!”

This was serious. If you weren’t in your designated position at the designated time, you received penalty points.

Of course, penalty points didn’t matter. He could throw away such scores. But he had to avoid arousing suspicion.

Because the student called ‘Quilbion’ in Friendship House was an honor student who had never once broken the rules.

As Quilbion moved frantically, Al Terua said,

“Don’t make such a fuss and sit down. I’ve already taken care of everything.”

“Really?”

“You might think I look very relaxed, but I’m also doing this staking my life. I’ve already told those stupid goblins, so you won’t be suspected. So.”

Al Terua stretched their arms and stood up.

“Let’s take a walk. And eat too.”