Chapter 317 Volume V - Chapter 35: Confirmed Suspicion
Two weeks.
That's how long it's been since I ran into Celine and Alice on that rock. And I must say... these weeks were not very eventful. My 'training' with Professor Calvin was to start this weekend, perhaps the most important thing in front of me at the moment.
Sitting in my room, on my couch, doing nothing, I sighed lightly and turned my eyes toward what I held in my hand.
There was a disk in my hand. The disk that Lithoa said could heal Aiden, of course. Moreover... almost all of the motifs on it were now glowing. If I poured a little more mana into it, it would be ready for what I wanted. I could use it, and I could heal Aiden.
But I purposely didn't transfer those last bits of mana to the disk and placed it back into my bracelet.
It was not the time. Considering what the disk was going to do... I had to prepare first. And now, with so many eyes on me, I had to find an explanation for being able to disappear, even for a short time.
So, as much as I wanted to use the disk right now, I couldn't.
So, in the boredom of finding nothing to do... I started to watch the ceiling, but that also didn't last long.
"Lithoa."
The old man whose soul remains in my body, the main person who got me to this point... must have been asleep, because he didn't answer when I called out to him.
"Hey, Lithoa. Are you asleep?"
I felt a flicker of movement in my mind, which was soon replaced by the hoarse voice of an old man.
'H- Ha...? What happened again?
His voice was indeed that of a man who had just woken up from sleep. But unlike most of the time, he was not angry with me for waking him up from his 'sweet' sleep.
"It's been a while since I visited your house, you know... And you haven't given me anything to do since I returned to the Academy. Isn't there more you can do to help me? I... I feel like I can't get stronger like I used to."
After a very short silence, Lithoa sighed inside my mind.
'Of course, there is. But I postponed my plans because of your training with that professor. Because learning to use ordea will really help you in the future, more than you think.'
As much as I want to, I can't take what they call ordea too seriously... I don't think I can take it without experiencing it firsthand.
"Okay. But wouldn't it be better to increase my own strength rather than ordea? I don't want to interfere with my own development while I'm learning to use ordea."
Lithoa was silent again for a short time. It was as if... he was thinking.
'If you want it that much... we can go to the next step, of course. I don't think it will be too much trouble, but you'll have to leave the academy again, and there have been a lot of eyes on you lately. So... you need to get permission to leave the academy somehow.'
Ah, that's... a bit of a problem.
Even though it had been two weeks, the rector had told me not to leave the academy. And that's still valid to this day...
"Do we have to go somewhere for a long time again...? If so, what you're saying is a bit impossible."
'No, you only need a single day. You will go to Wiathen City to look for something, that's all. If you go to the city in the morning, it will be over by the evening of the same day.'
One day leave... I should be able to do that. What's the problem if I tell her I will go to a city for a day? Well... She'll probably send someone to watch me, but I don't think that's going to be a problem.
"I'll try to get permission... But I'm curious, what exactly are we going after?"
'We're going to visit a family. They'll probably try to kill you, but if you manage to survive and explain who you are, they'll give you something pretty cool that you can use in the future.'
Well... what more absurd could I expect anyway...?
'Oh, and... don't say my name when you meet them. Don't even say it in your mind, don't even think anything about me. As much as they're a special family, they're also a bit angry with me, you know...'
Great... I'll never open my mouth again.
*******
With my chin resting on my hands and my elbows on my desk, I didn't blink once. Instead... I looked at the person sitting directly across from me. And when I kept this up for a short while... the person I was looking at finally took his eyes off the TV, raised his eyebrows, and turned to me.
"Clara? Is something wrong?"
I couldn't help but sigh as Paul slowly put the biscuit back on the plate from which he had taken it.
It had been two weeks. Two weeks since that strange morning, but nothing else strange has happened since then.
Paul is... the same. He continues to behave as he should. We smile and spend time together and have fun. But... all the while, for some reason, I keep remembering that morning. That strange shadow with eyes the same color as his, I can't get it out of my mind even once.
I'm a seer. So... even if I don't know exactly how to use this skill of mine, it doesn't change the fact that I am a seer. Which means everything I see, everything I hear, everything I feel must mean something in a way.
And this means that there's a connection between the shadow and Paul.
I decided to ignore it at first, but when I think about it a little, when I remind myself of exactly 'who' I am, and... when I recall another similar incident in the past, I can't help but become suspicious again.
A few months ago, I saw a snake, although not in the form of a 'shadow'. It appeared out of nowhere in my house, hissed, and lunged at me. But... it wasn't real either. The important thing was that it, too, was black in color and had yellow eyes.
It's been a really long time since I forgot that. It was only after the incident two weeks ago that I remembered it again. And now... I can never calm down because of these two very similar incidents.
"It's not a big deal... I got distracted, I'm sorry."
Paul narrowed his eyes and studied my face for a moment, then grinned.
"Am I suddenly handsome or something? What's up?"
I rolled my eyes and took one of the biscuits from the biscuits on the table. When I finally tore my eyes away from him and turned them back to the TV, I ignored what he said and asked him another question.
"Like I said, it's nothing important... But there's something I'm curious about."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul's eyebrows raised in curiosity again.
"Yes?"
"Do you remember about two weeks ago when we didn't go out because you had a headache and you were resting at home?"
Paul paused for a moment, as if frozen in place. His eyebrows, raised in curiosity, didn't lower, and for some reason, I don't know why... he suddenly became more serious.
As if... as if my mention of that day made him uncomfortable.
"What happened that day?"
I narrowed my eyes and straightened my posture slightly as I looked into his eyes.
"Why did you get so serious...? I wanted to ask you if you remember the name of the movie we saw that day. We only saw the end of it and then we decided to watch it, but I can't remember what it was called."
Paul straightened himself up in his chair and cracked one of the fingers on his right hand. Immediately afterward, he smiled again. "Did I get serious? I thought something happened because you suddenly jumped into the topic like that, I'm sorry. As for the name of the movie... I can't remember it either, sorry."
"I see..."
And that was the end of our conversation. Paul didn't seem to have any intention of taking the talk any further. So we focused back on the TV in my kitchen.
But... I had something else on my mind.
I can swear that I'm one of the people in the world who knows Paul best. After his sister, at least. But that doesn't change the fact that I know a lot about his habits.
For example, he is someone who pays a lot of attention to facial expressions when he talks to people. Likewise, although it may not look like it, he actually chooses each of his words with a great deal of care.
Aside from that, when he gets nervous, he gets serious. This seriousness is usually so minimal that it's almost impossible for a normal person to notice, but I'm not a 'normal person'. Also... the cracking of his finger is also a habit. He usually does this when he is studying and solving a difficult problem. He also applies it to his real life.
As Paul reached for one of the biscuits on the table again, I did the same. I couldn't help squinting my eyes slightly... while focusing on what the program on TV was saying.
Now, I am sure of it. Paul is hiding something from me and he doesn't seem to want it to come out.
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