On the screen, Noir was walking down a long and dark pathway. For some reason, he seemed to be headed to the underground area of the castle. How did I know it was a castle? Because something like a King was the one who was guiding Noir down the steps with a torch in hand.
A fat man, with a thick red cape and a dazzling jeweled gold crown, walked down while wiping the sweat falling down his face with a white handkerchief. He kept on looking at Noir and opening his mouth, seemingly talking to him like they were close friends.
"..."
This king... I'll definitely report his face to Zeshion later. Maybe he knows something. If not, then he should be able to relay it to King Leonard for identification too.
"Who's there?"
As I was watching Noir keenly, a voice echoed from behind me. I turned around, and there was a woman standing a few meters away.
She was tall, probably about the same as I was if not taller, and wore a pure white long gown. Although her gestures and voice suggest that she's beautiful, she has no face or hair to base her appearance on.
Honestly, she looks like a mannequin, minus the ball joints, and she looks pretty creepy in general.
"Mister, can you hear me? How did you get here?"
The woman asked once more, tilting her head cutely. Unfortunately, it just added to her creepiness, making me unconsciously take a step back. Wait, I don't have legs right now, so it's not technically a step back.
The woman seemed like the manager of this place, seeing how she perfectly matches the color scheme of the room. Rather, in the first place, I don't even know where this is.
I turned to her and tried to sound as calm as I possibly could. Though I don't know if she could hear me since my words seem more like an inner voice than speech,
"Actually, when I woke up, I was here already. So, I have no idea how I got here."
"Really?"
The woman asked, visibly confused as she went a step closer. Although I was relieved that she could hear my voice, it was plain horror to see a faceless woman approach with faltering steps. I took a deep breath (metaphorical) and commanded myself not to back away any further, watching her look at me with interest.
"Hmm? Wait, are you Cloud?"
"What?"
A familiar name came out of her mouth, making me turn a quizzical gaze to her face before quickly turning away. It's scarier now that I can see how she's basically human without any face or hair, with fair skin as white as the first snow of winter. What is this, a nightmare? If it is, I honestly want to wake up already.
I steeled my resolve and replied, while also adding a question for her.
"I'm known as Will now, but yes, I was Cloud in the past. Rather, why do you know my name?"
The woman, hearing my reply, took a step back; her body slumped slightly as her hands crossed behind her waist, like she was playfully looking up at my face.
"Hmm~, so this is how you look like now~"
For some reason, she seemed to be in a cheerful mood.
"Do I know you, perhaps...?"
I know this isn't the case, based on whatever little memory I had that I could glimpse, but I can't shake this weird feeling that I've seen this woman before. Not this appearance, but her real one.
"You don't know me... But I've known you way longer than you could even imagine."
Her voice was a delicate mix of joy and dismay, as if recalling a past memory long forgotten.
"Then, you are...?"
A wave of curiosity made me ask. She turned around as she looked slightly above, tilting her neck a little to glance back at me.
"I'm... No, I can't tell it to you lest you suffer the consequences..."
She sighed in the end. However, her gesture made me recall a similar case.
"You... Are you Namia's friend? The one who can't be named?"
I tried to ask. She turned around, facing me once more with her literally blank face.
"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time~"
"So you really are that one?!"
The woman whom Namia claimed to be related to the system and whose name was censored to my ears by the world itself. I can't believe I'm seeing her before me.
"... Unfortunately, no. I'm merely a fragment of her, left to manage this little observatory."
The woman shook her head, sadness laced in her voice.
"A fragment..."
I looked at her and wondered. If her fragment was exuding beauty, although pretty creepy right now, of this level, then just how would the original one look like? I can barely imagine her face.
As I thought, I noticed a part of her sentence that related to this place.
"So this is the observatory?"
I looked around once more. And now, with the clue of her being related to the system and seeing both tamers and tamed beasts and monsters...
"... This place—is it dedicated to watching over everyone that is related to the taming system?"
"Are you curious?"
Well, it should be obvious. I think anyone would be interested in seeing just how the other tamers are doing right now compared to themselves.
"Then let's go. I'll be your guide, Clould."
"It's Will... You know what? Nevermind."
As I was about to follow behind her, I suddenly stopped moving. I can't move from my spot, no matter how hard I try.
"What happened? Am I stuck?"
Did the controls bug out or something? Wait, this isn't a game...
Just as I was thinking of possible reasons that led to my being unable to move, I suddenly felt a tug coming from behind me. It was a gentle pull at first, but it's gaining strength slowly. I tried fighting against it to remain in place, but slowly, I was dragged backward.
"Cloud?"
The woman turned around and was shocked after seeing my state.
"I guess it's really an accident you came here..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the main body is probably trying to remove you from this place right now."
Remove? Like performing a full system scan and deleting the viruses detected or something? Damn, and here I thought I could stay and look around for a bit more.
When I looked at the woman again, she seemed to be staring at me. Even without an expression to show, her atmosphere alone was more than enough to tell me her emotions. She was feeling sad and lonely, but a hint of joy could still be felt.
"I don't know if we'll see each other again, but I guess it's a blessing to me to be able to see you one last time."
"..."
Last?
Before I could ask her further, the tugging strength reached a maximum and quickly dragged me out of sight. My vision went dark almost instantly.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a bastard's face.
"Noir!"
I tried to send a punch, but my slow head was starting to work again. I noticed that his hair wasn't black, but blue.
"Sho yuur awerk... (So you're awake.)"
My fist was planted firmly on the man, God Zeshion's face. But to him, a punch without skill or energy would be less than a mosquito bite, probably. Still, I quickly retracted my hand and smiled wryly.
"Sorry about that. I was having a weird dream earlier."
I'm not entirely sure if that was a dream or a reality, but for now, claiming it was a dream should be faster.
"I know. You've been talking the whole time."
"Really?"
"Yep. You've been screaming [Oh, yes, oh, yes] since earlier."
"F*ck! That's a lie!"
I know I wouldn't say such things, even if the girls forced me.
"It's a lie, of course."
Zeshion just smiled before standing up.
I raised my body from the ground and looked around. It seems like I was brought here, to the training ground where he was fighting everyone, to take a nap with them.
"How long was I asleep?"
"I don't know. When I saw you, you were already asleep. And that's about half an hour ago already."
Zeshion shrugged as he reached out a hand, helping me to stand up.
"So? What was that thing about Noir?"
"... Ah."
As he asked, I recalled the scenes from before.
Slowly, I tried explaining what I saw to Zeshion, and he listened fully with a serious expression. After I was done outlining everything I saw, he heaved a deep sigh.
"That's a pretty informative dream you got there. Eta."
As Zeshion called, suddenly a fluffy head popped out beside him. Looking closer, a crack in space appeared at his side, where a woman with a curly brown horn and velvety white hair peeked.
"You called, my king~?"
Zeshion quickly patted her head as he passed his commands, asking her to check on the validity of my claims. When she nodded her head, saying "Copy~" with a sleepy tone, she vanished inside the crack in space once more.
"Well, better safe than sorry. I just hope your dream isn't true."
Zeshion turned around and walked away, a frown painted on his previously smiling face.
I wonder what he meant by that.
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