Chapter 145 Volume III - Chapter 66: Familiar Necklace
'Wake up, idiot.'
As I heard an old man's voice echoing in my mind, my eyes snapped open and I jumped out of bed.
"James!"
My eyes quickly searched for my enemy, I couldn't stop myself from grabbing him and beating him, but then... I paused.
This... This isn't Risa's room. This is another room.
"You're finally awake, Adrian."
I looked in the direction of the voice, across the couch where I was lying, and saw someone there, someone with long white hair and coal-black eyes.
"Alice? James... What happened?"
Alice didn't answer. She just stared at me for a while. It seemed like she was angry with me, so much so that I couldn't help wondering if I had done something wrong, but then she sighed.
"I handed James's phone over to the academy, and he will probably be expelled from the academy, along with the correspondence on it. Especially since I did it in front of all the students, as I said before, it will be an intimidation to the others. That's why the academy will never deal with someone like him again, at least not in our generation."
She did everything on her own? But... how did she get out of that room? How did she manage to get away from James?
I paused for a moment.
No, even if she's not stronger than me, she's a lot smarter. She may have found her way out somehow, so that's not important.
The important thing is...
I... once again I was in someone's way, I couldn't do anything. I was so confident in my own power that I fell into a trap like a fool. And I did it even though I said I'd never make a mistake again.
"Don't get depressed, and if you do, don't do it in front of me. Now that you're awake, get up and go back to your room, we're done."
"Is this... your room?"
"Yes, and since we don't have anything else to do with each other for now, you don't need to stay here."
I felt for a moment that Alice was uncomfortable with me.
She probably doesn't like having someone else in her room...
"I apologize..."
I sat up quickly from the couch.
"I was stupidly under-confident, I made you work for it, I'm s-"
"Apologizing doesn't change anything, what's past is past. The important thing is, are you going or not?"
She's angry with me... She's definitely angry with me. It must be because I'm an idiot, right?
I smiled, sighed deeply, and turned around.
"I'm going."
I have nothing to say, I'm completely in the wrong.
I'm an idiot, just like Lithoa said... an idiot who never wises up.
I took my first step, headed for the door, and thought.
The James thing... was it really that easy to handle? No... Alice must have used a trick.
Honestly, I don't really care how she beat him, but... what do I do next? What should I do if I'm ever faced with someone like James again? Should I work harder? After all, there's no way I can get smarter. But if I get stronger, I won't be in this situation again, right?
I smiled. But it was not because of joy.
Hah... That's all I know anyway. Work, get stronger, get defeated, apologize, work, get stronger, get defeated, and repeat...
Will I never be able to win?
I clenched my fist involuntarily.
I need to find something, something that won't let me down, something that, even if it can't make me never make a mistake again, will make that possibility much less likely.
With these thoughts in mind, when I finally arrived at the door, I paused.
"Thank you, Alice. I won't forget my debt."
I didn't get a response, but I didn't need one, I didn't expect one. Alice wasn't like that. I knew that.
I reached for the door and opened it, I took a step to go out, but just then I paused again.
For a moment I was silent, not moving, and then I slowly turned around, frowning.
Did I hear something or was it just me?
I didn't move a muscle and I focused, I even used some mana to hear better, and as I did so I heard a sound, a muffled sound. The sound of someone... moaning.
"Alice?"
I turned quickly and ran back into the living room. I didn't find Alice where she was standing before. Rather, she was on the floor.
Her whole body was shaking. Her face was red as if she had been deliberately restraining herself, trying to reach out with her hand to a coffee table a little distance away from her.
"Alice!"
I quickly bent down beside her, trying to lift her upright, and as I held her, I noticed something strange.
Her body was extremely cold, almost freezing.
Alice barely looked at me. Then her eyes shifted to the coffee table she had just been reaching for.
The coffee table!
I immediately looked at it. There was a small box on it.
I grabbed the box and took out one of the orange orb-shaped pills. Then dropped it into Alice's mouth without waiting, not even thinking about what it was.
Alice chewed the pill, swallowed, and then coughed. She seemed to have something stuck in her throat, so I patted her on the back a few times.
"Are you okay? Alice?"
"Le-"
She was interrupted by another cough.
"Yes?"
I was silent as I noticed her eyes tearing up slightly, waiting for her to answer, but something else caught my attention. Her body temperature was rapidly returning to normal.
"Let me go."
"Ah..."
I quickly let her go and stood up.
"I'll get some water, wait."
I went to the kitchen, got a glass of water, and returned to Alice. She was on the floor, leaning against the sofa, breathing deeply. Her eyes were closed.
"Here, you should drink."
Alice opened her eyes and looked at the glass. She waited for a moment and then sighed. She took the glass and raised it to her throat. She put the glass on the armchair and sighed again.
She closed her eyes and waited. The redness in her face slowly returned to its normal color and after a short while, she opened her eyes. She turned to me and frowned as if she hadn't expected me to be here.
"What are you waiting for? You helped and it's over, you can go."
"It's just..."
"What? Are you worried about me? I have a disease, that's all. I wouldn't have died even if you hadn't helped me, but if it's thanks you want to hear, thank you. You can go now."
I opened my mouth, but I couldn't find anything to say.
She used to be distant, but... definitely not like this. Something must have happened while I was unconscious, but what?
I thought and thought, but I couldn't find anything, and then I paused as I realized something.
I... am looking for an answer to everything.
Alice doesn't want to see me and if that's really the case, there's nothing I can do. So be it. I can't force her to be my friend. That would be... just selfish.
"I'm sorry, I'm leaving."
I turned around and headed for the door like I had just done. This time there was nothing holding me back. Not a feeling, not a sound, not a thought.
I put on my shoes and went out into the hallway, which was empty.
I took one last look inside before closing the door. Only Alice's legs were visible, still in the same position.
"Haaa..."
I prepared to pull the door. I was going to leave, that was my intention. But... I didn't. I didn't go on. I couldn't.
I looked back again and watched inside.
I felt a twinge of bitterness for a moment, I started to regret that I had just walked out that door.
Because... Alice is not well. I could tell just by her facial expression, but I left her there without even a little bit of persistence.
Is that how I'm going to save people? Is that how I'm going to fix my mistakes? Just running away without even trying a little bit?
No... that's not who I want to be. I couldn't even beat James and I couldn't do anything but push everything to Alice. Even though I asked her for help and she accepted, I was unconscious when it all happened.
I keep owing Alice so much. I have to help her, even if she doesn't count what I do as repayment... even if I don't get anything in return.
I took a deep breath and took off my shoes. I went back inside, closed the door, and went into the living room to Alice.
Alice was where I had left her, she hadn't even moved. Her eyes were slightly teary and closed, her chest was rising and falling slightly, indicating that she was asleep.
No... as soon as I left the room, she must have stopped holding herself and fainted.
A thought occurred to me for a moment.
Is that why she wanted me to leave...? Because she didn't want me to see her crying? Was she that hurt...?
I reached for my necklace. I remembered how my father used to pick me up every time I cried and tuck me into bed, telling me action-packed stories. Back then... my life was good. These might be the happiest memories I have from my childhood.
I put down my necklace, bent down, and picked Alice up. Since almost every dorm room was the same, I knew where her bed was, so I headed there.
Alice stirred but did not open her eyes. She went back to sleep and didn't do anything until I put her on her bed and covered her up.
Once she was in bed, she turned on her side, pulling her legs and hands toward her. Her expression relaxed for a moment.
A smile appeared on my face.
She might wake up in her bed and realize that I did this and get angry, maybe there will be even more distance between us, but... it felt good to see her relax.
Alice stirred again for a moment. She tried to turn over again but couldn't. So she stopped trying to turn. But... just then, something around her neck slowly fell down.
"Ha?"
I focused on what had fallen, and then I realized it was a necklace hanging from Alice's neck.
It looked like a necklace made of gold, but shining like silver. It was small, and in the middle of it... was a familiar green-colored jewel.
"Wh- what?"
The moment I saw the necklace, everything suddenly made no sense, my eyes widened. I felt like the world stopped, nothing was processed in my brain and I just froze.
"H- how?!"
The necklace continued to hang around Alice's neck as if denying reality. No matter how many times I blinked, no matter how long I waited, it didn't disappear.
In fact, it was the same necklace that belonged to my father, the one that helped me hide my identity.
Not only that, the necklaces were exactly the same.
There was not the slightest difference between them, as if they were made at the same exact location.
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