Chapter 19

Is this a dream?

A child ran past, giggling brightly, passing right through my body.

Mm, it must be a dream.

My longed-for homeland, perhaps.

I looked up at the sky. Clouds like flocks of sheep drifted leisurely. Far to the west, snow that had yet to melt clung to the peaks of a faintly visible mountain range.

Crimson-petaled flowers bloomed in profusion at my feet, and a low wind blew like a rake, making the petals bounce upward.

Through the petals obscuring my view, I could see the village panorama.

Low, humble roofs. Houses packed together like close sworn brothers. People moving between them.

A tedious place where the biggest event would be a cow giving birth.

Familiar.

Of course it is.

Because it’s home.

A place I thought of as old-fashioned yet couldn’t help but miss, appearing even in my dreams…

Al Terua watched a child running toward him.

The child waved while running, seeming incredibly happy to see him.

Al Terua smiled too.

Surely it was a face he knew.

As the child drew closer and the form grew familiar, Al Terua tried to call out the child’s name vigorously.

“…”

Setting aside the fact that no voice came out because it was a dream.

The child who’d approached right in front of him stretched out both arms as if asking to be held.

Al Terua looked at the smiling, adorably cute child and thought.

Who on earth is this?

*

“Will-o’-the-wisps?”

“I’m telling you.”

“That’s a lie. Adults just lie to keep us from playing near graves.”

“It’s not a lie. It’s real. I saw it, okay?”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

It was a conversation that flowed among children gathered closely together.

After pondering for quite a while about where this was, Quilbion realized.

Outside.

And memory.

This is something I experienced outside.

He looked at the children around him. He couldn’t remember their names. But looking at them made his chest warm and brought a smile to his face.

It meant they were precious.

“Quil!”

A child across from him called out.

Should he answer?

There was no need to deliberate.

The me inside the dream opened his mouth.

“Why?”

“You’re coming, right?”

“Sounds boring. How about we check under the bridge instead?”

At the mention of under the bridge, the other children made frightened expressions.

“That place is really dangerous. Uncle said absolutely don’t go. They sell drugs, dangerous magical tools, and above all, they sell people.”

“That’s exactly why it’s interesting, isn’t it? We have to go there to become men. Real men play dangerously.”

The me in the dream spoke while puffing out my chest.

Though it wasn’t particularly admirable behavior, the mindset of seeking danger was somehow understandable.

“Under the bridge is absolutely not allowed. Quil, let’s not do that and go to the graveyard instead. Jack-o’-lantern! If we find real will-o’-the-wisps, it’ll be an unforgettable memory. Right?”

“When you put it that way, I’m drawn to it again. Alright! Let’s go to the graveyard.”

The children exchanged glances and grinned mischievously.

“But Quil, did you finish your work?”

“I already fed the pigs. A few days ago I got beaten for letting the feed freeze, remember? So I woke up at the crack of dawn and scattered it.”

“Getting beaten is our job. Just wait till we’re a bit bigger—we’ll smash those bastards to pieces.”

It seemed the outside wasn’t an entirely beautiful place either. Though who had beaten them, anyway?

The me in the dream stood up.

“Since it came up, let’s go now. Before the sun sets, we’ll sneak out and then…”

“Stay a whole night at the graveyard.”

“Good. No one’s running away, right?”

Everyone nodded spiritedly.

The children moved.

“There’s a cart going out.”

“Just stick close like we’re working. Then nobody will say anything.”

The world suddenly flipped upside down. While I couldn’t get my bearings from dizziness, it happened.

“Over there!”

The surrounding scenery had changed.

The children were in the middle of a forest.

Quilbion collected himself. The me in the dream was looking at something with startled eyes.

“Will-o’-the-wisps!”

The children cried out again.

Will-o’-the-wisps.

On top of a flat stone embedded in the ground, yellow flames flickered.

Some children were delighted, some were frightened.

The me in the dream.

“I’ll try catching it.”

With a slightly trembling voice, I was walking toward the will-o’-the-wisp.

*

His eyelids lifted as if throwing open a door.

He wanted to exhale, but for some reason only his mouth opened—air wouldn’t escape.

After choking for a while, his throat suddenly expelled the breath in one go.

Quilbion shed a few tears and rolled onto his side.

He saw books scattered about. The messy room somehow felt reassuring.

His ragged breathing settled, and his trembling body calmed.

When he touched his forehead, he felt cold sweat. He wiped it away with the back of his hand while sitting up.

It was still night.

He exhaled a long breath while organizing his thoughts, then looked to the side. Al Terua was sleeping with his brow deeply furrowed.

Was he having a nightmare?

“What was that?”

Until the very moment he opened his eyes, the dream’s content had been vivid, but in the brief moment it took to steady his breathing, it had already become hazy.

What remained was only the fact that he’d been in a forest and had approached a strange flame.

A strange fire.

From somewhere distant, someone whispered ‘will-o’-the-wisp.’

Right, will-o’-the-wisp.

Goblins and will-o’-the-wisps. The shared name couldn’t be a coincidence. Had he come to this place after approaching a will-o’-the-wisp?

Quilbion pushed aside the blanket and stood.

Sleep had completely fled. He looked down outside through the window.

Gentle lights illuminated the dormitory building. He could see an Ascetic holding a lantern wandering in front of the building before stopping abruptly.

Quilbion held his breath and hid below the window.

So they were monitoring like this at night.

“Ngh…”

Al Terua groaned and tossed in his sleep. What kind of terrifying dream was he having to react like that?

Just as Quilbion was wondering whether to wake him.

Al Terua’s eyes snapped open.

He nearly screamed in surprise.

“A-are you alright?”

“Quilbion.”

His voice was clear. He didn’t sound like someone who’d just woken up at all.

“Don’t move, absolutely. Understand?”

Before he could ask why.

Knock knock knock.

The sound of knocking came.

Goosebumps spread across his entire body. No student would be wandering around at this hour. What was outside the door must be a goblin calling itself an Ascetic.

There was nowhere to hide in the cramped room.

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, you won’t be discovered.”

A talisman was already in Al Terua’s hand. His hand shape changed about three times.

A hand seal.

“Form.”

Quilbion could see the nark Al Terua possessed flowing out beautifully.

The talisman became fluid and melted away.

“Absolutely don’t move.”

After warning again, Al Terua stood up. Quilbion covered his mouth with both hands and stared at Al Terua’s back.

“What’s going on?”

Al Terua said. A stiff voice. A tone without even a speck of emotion.

It felt like he’d become a goblin in an instant.

“Leader Hyodan has come. It seems he caught a scent again this time.”

“Is that so?”

Al Terua opened the door.

The gentle light of the lantern slipped through the gap.

Outside stood three Ascetics.

But they weren’t in human form.

Perhaps because the students were asleep at night, there was no need to be careful?

A goblin with arms so long they touched and even dragged along the ground spoke.

“They said it’s coming from Friendship House.”

“From this building?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t sense anything.”

Al Terua walked calmly to the window. He opened it wide and sniffed.

“What about you?”

“We don’t know either. But if Leader Hyodan detected it, there must be something.”

“Maybe it’s the lingering scent of the ones we killed a few days ago?”

“He declared it wasn’t. Said it’s a different smell. And a very sweet, dangerous one at that.”

“Really? Then we should search.”

Shhhh—the long-armed goblin suddenly entered the room. Its face maintained a human shape, but having no expression made it feel even more horrific.

“Come to think of it, I don’t see the material you were keeping?”

“I buried it temporarily deep in the forest. Thought it would be good to let it receive the earth’s attributes.”

“The old methods did include such things. When the nark changes, show me too. If it’s useful to me, I’ll pay the price.”

That’s when it happened.

A crack formed in the goblin’s neck, then the head fell off completely.

Thud, thud. After bouncing on the floor, the rolling face arrived right in front of Quilbion’s nose.

One eye was filled with pus, and in the opposite eye, tiny unidentifiable bugs swarmed.

Just looking made him dizzy.

He nearly twisted his body, forgetting Al Terua’s instruction not to move.

“The sorcery seems broken—it keeps falling off.”

“Discard it and wear a new one.”

The goblin behind said.

“I’m attached to this one.”

“It’s an inelegant hobby.”

The long-armed goblin approached and picked up the head. The bugs pooling in the head scattered and splattered onto Quilbion’s face.

“He’ll come in 20 minutes. Join us then too.”

“Alright. I’ll finish up and come down.”

The goblins left the room.

Al Terua closed the door. The sound of footsteps gradually grew distant.

“It’s fine now, you endured well.”

Quilbion peeled off the bugs stuck to his face. When they’d splattered, he’d shuddered, but listening to what the goblins said somehow made him composed.

“Are they looking for me?”

“It’ll be Twella.”

“Then we have to go to Twella. It’s dangerous.”

“No, it’s fine. They’re concerned about old lingering scents. Right now Twella is practicing while perfectly controlling her nark. There’s also a barrier I set up around her. So there won’t be any danger to Twella. Rather, the one in danger is you.”

Quilbion looked down at his body.

The situation Al Terua had worried about.

“Has my nark grown enough to interest the goblins?”

“The total amount is small. But it’s peculiar. Sensitive ones will recognize it quickly.”

Al Terua rummaged through a drawer and brought out thread. It was black thread.

“Roll up your sleeve.”

He folded up his everyday clothes that came down to his wrists, revealing his forearm.

“It’s a temporary measure. I need some time to design proper sorcery with a magical instrument.”

Quilbion looked at the black thread wrapped around his forearm.

“Looks like it’ll break easily.”

“It contains my intent, so it’s fine. Just don’t let other students see it when you’re washing up. They’ll think it’s strange.”

“Alright.”

Al Terua wiped his face with a handkerchief.

“I was shaking the whole time. Afraid you’d flinch.”

“I almost did. But looking at those things kept me calm somehow.”

“Really?”

“When I didn’t know, I was just terrified, but once I knew, they were just disgusting. I’m pretty good at enduring disgusting things.”

“Hahaha.”

Quilbion spoke carefully.

“Will the goblins kill kids like last time?”

“If there’s a child with high resistance whose sorcery broke, they’ll be dragged out like that time.”

“If there’s a child who gets caught, is there a way to save them…”

Toren’s face, bleeding and dying, kept surfacing.

“There isn’t. We’re not prepared enough yet to engage in full-scale war, so for now we have to keep our heads down.”

Al Terua said firmly.

We can’t do anything.

The me in the dream had spoken boldly as if able to do anything.

“Don’t feel guilt or anything like that. In the end, you’ll be the one saving those kids outside.”

Al Terua added with a smile.

“The lead can’t do everything, so supporting characters like us have to handle the trivial things.”

“What?”

“Something like that.”

Don’t leave the room under any circumstances until I return, Al Terua warned before going outside.

The room grew quiet.

Left alone, Quilbion recalled Al Terua’s face from just moments ago.

His eyes as he spoke reassuringly and affectionately were strangely cold.

They were pupils that seemed to regard all of this as unrelated to himself.