This is also destiny (3)

All white space.

There was a space covered with infinite ‘white’ up to the distant horizon.

It was a world where I was the only one standing on my own two feet in a place where everything was white due to the warm light.

“It’s a dream.”

I noticed right away.

It wasn’t that difficult for me, who deals with the mind, to distinguish between dreams and reality.

-yes. It’s a dream.

And then, an existence called the ‘singularity’ appeared.

This place seemed to be a dream world created by him.

“Are you leaving?”

-yes. goodbye for a while

He nodded.

His power wasn’t for me in the first place.

It’s just that he lent his strength for a while because of his exploits as Baltazar.

Now that the threat is gone, he is back to where he should be.

I calmly accepted the breakup.

In fact, there was nothing to be too sad about.

-This isn’t the end.

“Well?”

-Have you ever thought that you are a special being?

My thoughts froze for a moment at the sudden question.

I just replied in silence, and he laughed badly.

– You seem to have lived more modestly than you thought.

“…what do you want to say?”

– In short, this is it. I’ve been watching you for a very long time.

Something, a wet voice of nostalgia lingered in my ears.

-We will meet again.

“·······.”

– Then be well.

the light goes away

It was the end of a dream that was about to come to an end.

-Leave one of my presents. You decide how to use it.

A strange sound…

I tried to answer, but my mouth wouldn’t open.

In a white world covered with light.

The edge of the dream was covered with light…

·······.

“·······.”

When I opened my eyes, what I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

The sunlight filtering through the window and the hem of the curtains swaying in the breeze.

The place where the voices of chirping birds permeated was truly the height of peace.

“…Is it Helios?”

noticed at once

No big deal, the interior was that way.

I checked the sensations of my whole body, and I didn’t feel any abnormal symptoms.

There was no sore spot, and there were no problems with the circle or magic circuit.

It seems that the skill of the medic who came running was quite good.

“Are you awake?”

Then, I heard a voice and looked to the right.

With her back to the open window, Laniakea was looking at this place.

“…Did you wait for me?”

“Of course. My apostle.”

She smiled softly and affirmed.

Of course, she didn’t manifest here.

It takes a lot of energy for a Constellation to descend into the inner dimension, and the descent of a mighty Constellation like hers also damages the dimension itself.

She was embodied here as ‘mind control’ through the holy power connected with me.

Thus, her figure is only visible to me.

“There shouldn’t be any major problems with your body. The medic who came with you was good.”

“okay.”

It wasn’t just flawless, it was very clean.

In addition, there were unexpected harvests.

‘Magic power… has increased.’

The magic power, which was in the middle of the 5th circle, had risen to the second half.

While acquiring the status of a constellation, even for a moment, he used his magical energy at random, and it seemed that his magical power increased in the process.

With the departure of the Singularity, the power of the Constellation disappeared again, but the amount of magic power was more abundant than ever.

I fought Balthazar and used up all the magic crystals I’ve collected… but I never thought it would come back like this.

There was no law that was always wrong with everything in life.

‘And there’s one more.’

There was a slightly foreign aura around the heart.

It wasn’t originally there, so it must have been created as a result of this incident.

Fortunately, it seemed that it could be manipulated at will, so I materialized it on the top of my right hand.

“What is this?”

“Ummm…”

Was it difficult to find out at once?

Coming closer, she looked into the light and frowned cutely.

“This is… a power related to ‘lucid dreaming’.”

“A lucid dream?”

“It’s the power that makes you dream more densely than you are aware of yourself.”

It’s a power I didn’t have, but I know what it looks like.

At that time, it seemed that this was the ‘gift’ he had been talking about in his dream.

“…you don’t really need it.”

I can have lucid dreams whenever I want to.

It’s a gift and giving it away doesn’t mean anything like this.

I shook my head and changed the topic of conversation.

“How are the students?”

“Are you asking about that?”

“Didn’t you ruin the lecture you planned at best?

I didn’t know what would be written on the next professor evaluation right now.

Since the 72-hour mild steel, which also served as reinforcement, was defeated, the originality will not be small.

“In fact, the students rather liked it.”

“···Yes?”

“It’s because they kicked out Baltazar. The story of defeating the corps commander has reached the ears of the students.”

“·······.”

“Rather, I think the number of fans has increased?”

She smiled mischievously and brushed my hair.

Even so, it was welcome, so I didn’t feel anything, but it was a bit surprising that the number of fans increased.

I didn’t know you would take it that way.

“And one of those fans is right next to Eugene.”

“Yes?”

Laniakea winked and pointed to my left.

It was only then that I realized that there was warmth wrapped around my left hand.

And that I am not alone in this room.

“… Estelle.”

There, Estelle was sleeping soundly on my bed.

Both of her hands were holding my left hand preciously.

“I’ve been by your side ever since I got back here. You seem very obedient.”

“How long has it been since I fell asleep?”

“Three days have passed.”

three days.

It meant that during that time, Estelle was always by my side.

Seeing him soundly asleep, my heart calmed down for some reason.

I tried to free my hand once it was caught.

“Yes···.”

However, the more I did, the stronger Estelle’s hand gripped my hand.

As if you didn’t want to fall.

“Then I’ll just go.”

“Ah, yes.”

Laniakea, who came closer, said with a gentle smile.

“I’m glad you’re safe. Really.”

“···Yes.”

“Then, get some rest.”

After saying that, Laniakea disappeared with the light.

She didn’t say it, but it seemed like Laniakea was the one who stayed by her side until she woke up.

“···thank you.”

After leaving such a belated thanks, I turned my head and looked at Estelle.

It was hard to wake him up because he was sleeping soundly, but I couldn’t let him go on like this, so I finally pulled my hand out.

“Ugh…”

So hold on tighter.

If I try to give more strength, I don’t lose and I also add strength.

The strange scuffle continued for five minutes before Estelle woke up.

As if I finally came to my senses, my trembling eyelids were lifted and blue eyes captured me.

“···professor?”

“Let go.”

It was only then that he realized that he was holding my hand, so he quickly removed his hand.

A hand that had nowhere to go brushed his head in shame.

“I… that… are you okay?”

“yes.”

Estelle woke up and stood next to me in a seated position.

I asked her to go several times, but she only shook her head and refused.

She was silent for a long time, leaving me awake, until the bird that had been chirping outside the window flew away before opening her mouth.

“I thought the professor was going somewhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“···Yeah.”

There was no strength in nodding affirmation.

She was different in many ways from the always shy girl.

“It’s true. My parents died early.”

“·······.”

“He was killed on the battlefield when I was 5 years old, and I have been raised by my grandfather ever since.”

It was a bit of a sudden confession from the past, but I listened in silence.

Listening to these concerns was also the duty of becoming a teacher.

“They were very kind people. They looked at me as I am… They were people who truly loved me.”

There was a longing that could not be erased in his voice.

Hey, even if her usual behavior is mature, Estelle is 17 after all.

I was too young to completely shake off the grief of losing my family.

“I don’t want to lose anyone anymore.”

“·······.”

“So, Professor.”

Estelle’s hands gripped mine.

The blue eyes were looking at me, trembling pitifully before I knew it.

“Don’t leave me alone.”

It was a voice full of longing that could not be erased.

“Until the day I can stand by the professor…”

back-

Power was in her hands.

“Please stay in front of me.”

Only then did I know the identity of Estelle’s uneasy psychology.

This child is terrifying.

Losing someone close to you through death.

Being separated from her parents was a huge trauma for her.

-Please take good care of Estelle and Altair.

Renoir’s words I heard in the not-so-distant past came to mind.

And as it continues, the power of ‘lucid dreaming’ that I had acquired surfaced on the surface of the water.

Only then did I realize

That this power he left me was not a gift for me.

This power had to go to a poor girl who was afraid of losing it.

“Estel.”

“Yeah?”

I condensed the energy of lucid dreaming onto my hand.

The structure of the formula was also changed.

The effect is ‘reunion’.

It is a spell to meet the person you most want to meet in a dream.

…Even though nothing will change in reality.

If it’s about sharing a story that I couldn’t finish, it would be possible.

“Take it.”

I crystallized it into a small bead and handed it to Estelle.

“Write it before bed.”

“What’s this?”

“You’ll know when you use it.”

There was no lengthy explanation.

The story behind it was something she had to see for herself.

drooling-

Then, the door to the hospital room opened out of nowhere.

“Oh! Professor!”

The one who came in was Ensia with a bouquet of flowers.

After that, Cynthia sticks out her head and smiles shyly while holding a bouquet of flowers.

. . . they wouldn’t have anywhere to put them.

“Break it up Professor—Bill!”

“go away.”

And Adeline, who pushed the two of them and ran, also ran to the dodo and jumped into the hospital bed.

I stretched out my arms to stop him from coming, but I hugged him and rubbed my face.

It was a real delight.

“I’m glad you woke up.”

“·······.”

Suddenly, she turned her head and looked to the side.

There, for some reason, Estelle was glaring at Adeline with a sullen face.

“why?”

“···anything.”

After that, Estelle, who had returned to her usual calm appearance, bowed her head.

“Then I’ll just go.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

“And I will use the gift you gave me well. Thank you very much.”

He smiles as he listens to the decision of the ‘lucid dream’ I gave him.

At first glance, he was telling everyone to listen… but this child also had a more childish side than I thought.

After tidying up her clothes, she left with the decision I gave her in her pocket.

The eyes of the remaining three were focused in this direction.

“What is that!? Isn’t it favoritism to say it’s a gift!”

“I’m curious too…”

“Are you eating?”

“·······.”

I wish I could go out

*

Some time later, Altair’s mansion.

Estelle, who had returned after three days, passed by Hanna, who was harassing her, and headed straight to her room.

I threw away my bag, sat down on the bed, and carefully took out what Kang Yoo-jin had given me.

“What is this?”

Looking at it from the outside, I have no idea what it is.

Yujin Kang said you would know if you used it, so Estelle took a deep breath and pushed her magic into it.

“uh···.”

I wondered if the marbles were shining, and then I fell asleep.

I need to change my clothes…

Estelle blinked her rapidly growing heavy eyelids, and before long she surrendered herself to the pouring water…

·······.

The place where I opened my eyes again was the spacious garden of the mansion.

The sky is clear, the wind is mild and the sun is warm.

It was a space that made me feel good just by standing still.

“This is…”

It’s a dream.

Estelle could feel it instinctively.

This warm and cozy dream was the space created by Estelle’s dreams.

Chirp- Chirp-

The voices of the chirping birds tickled my ears sweetly.

Although it is a common sight in the mansion where spring has arrived.

Somehow, the current landscape was strangely familiar.

I felt like I was looking at a landscape that had passed by.

“·······.”

Come to think of it···.

Have you ever looked at the landscape of the mansion so comfortably?

At least not recently.

I haven’t felt so peaceful since my parents died and the days I had to live up to expectations followed.

And that would still be the case today.

For some reason, there was room in her heart, and she was able to loosen up a little more.

“If it’s a dream like this… it might not be bad.”

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve had a dream lately.

It’s a dream you’ll forget when you wake up anyway, but Estelle decided to be satisfied with her current dream.

I’m standing here quietly with my eyes closed…

“Estel.”

someone called her name

pounding-

At that voice, my heart thumped loudly.

A voice you will never forget.

Her eyes widened at the warm, gentle voice filled with love.

It’s the voice I wanted to hear so much, but it’s the voice of people who can’t hear it anymore.

Estelle couldn’t help but be agitated.

pounding- pounding-

My eyes are trembling.

Squeeze your chest against the beating of two bats and turn your body around with difficulty.

After looking back so closely…

“···ah.”

There was ‘them’.

Precious people who died long ago and left Estelle’s side.

The main characters who shed countless tears because they wanted to see them, and Estelle had to dwell on her loneliness.

Mom and Dad.

Those two were looking at Estelle.

“Are you still here today?”

“You should have come with us.”

that smile.

That smile, filled with sincere affection, definitely resembled the image in my memory.

Estelle’s blue eyes filled with clear tears as she saw them, whom she thought she would never see again.

“Oh my. Is my daughter…wuni?”

“No, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

Amelia and Faelan.

The moment she saw them, Estelle couldn’t stand it.

He ran and fell into the arms of the two.

Then, like a child, she shed tears.

“Daughter…Did something go wrong?”

“Why are you crying all of a sudden…”

Estelle cried for a while as she felt the hand holding her dearly.

happy and sad

As if representing the classification of emotions, the tears did not stop and flowed down.

“···I missed you.”

Know.

that this is a dream

You are already dead, and this is just a fleeting dream created by memories of the past.

“I missed you so much.”

However, even if it was such a dream, I was grateful for it now.

Because I can see the person I longed to see so much, even in my dreams.

Because I can cry in their arms.

That was enough for Estelle.

“I will become a proud daughter to my mom and dad.”

therefore.

I tell you what I couldn’t tell you.

“I will never give up. By all means.”

In the words that I gave you as if you promised.

They just gently hugged their daughter.

“My daughter.”

“You are already our greatest pride.”

even if it’s just a dream

Their sincere voices of love for their daughter were genuine.

Estelle was able to laugh because she knew the truth of the figure imprinted in her memory.

I couldn’t lose my smile while crying like a child.

“Thank you. Mom. Dad.”

Like that, all sides are immersed in light.

Everything is far away, and the senses are far away.

the dream will end

When she opened her eyes again, Estelle was already lying alone in her room.

“·······.”

The orb I held in my hand has already disappeared.

But I felt the same force swirling around my heart.

It meant that you could always go back to those memories if you wanted to.

“professor···.”

What he said he would know if he wrote it, now he seemed to understand.

With that invaluable gift in her heart, Estelle quietly bowed her head in gratitude.

“thank you···.”

A group of clear lights gathered in front of her as she expressed her heartfelt thanks.

The bright red one hovered in front of Estelle’s nose and spoke to her in the same voice as before.

-Young Constellation.

Estelle’s blue eyes slowly lifted towards the light.

-Are you ready to rise to the ‘seat of the stars’?

It was a voice referring to a ‘contract’.

*

Hospitalization continued for three more days.

Following the doctor’s words that I needed absolute rest, I had to stay in the hospital room for three full days, and during that time, many people came to see me.

Roshua and Laflis came and asked how they were doing, and I kicked Skadi out when he tried to sit down.

President Vincent and Tereon also showed their faces once, and Helena, the owner of Vega, sent a letter through Encia.

Adeline, who had been stuck like gum, was finished with Encia and Cynthia coming and dragging her away, and Claire even brought alcohol and sent it out, even asking to drink together.

It’s me who receives hospital visits, but on the contrary, I feel like I’m getting more tired.

While rubbing my tired eyes, I looked at the last customer.

“Maybe I didn’t have to come…?”

Karina’s expression was trembling.

It is the face that asks if he really had to come.

Because this woman was the only one I called.

“No matter how ill you are, you still have to work.”

“I could have just sent you the paperwork through Cynthia…”

“It’s classified. It can’t be.”

Karina sighed quietly and put down the flowers along with the documents she brought with her.

Perhaps it was a hospitality gift.

“I heard. I heard you caught Baltazar this time?”

“I didn’t catch it, but I went right before I caught it. It was possible because it was a record. If it was outside, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”

Karina responded with the tone that that was it, but there was a distinct difference between the two.

The corps commander with full strength from the outside cannot be matched with my current strength.

The weakened one in the record was defeated with the help of the singularity.

In order to kill the Corps Commander and the ‘Emperor’ beyond that, I needed to become stronger than I am now.

“Rather than that. What about the other Balaur?”

“Ummm… they’re doing well. At least they don’t seem to have any complaints.”

The four dragons who were picked up a while ago are currently living in Karina’s house.

Thanks to Helios’ convenience, I moved to a bigger house now, and thanks to that, I’m staying as a bodyguard.

“With the launch of the consortium and related lectures soon, there will be a lot of work to do. Keep that in mind.”

“Yeah yea…”

With her shoulders drooping, she gave a small affirmation.

She went through the documents I handed over, and after a while, she opened her mouth as if passing by.

“Still, it’s a pity that I couldn’t kill Baltazar. There will be aftereffects later.”

“He sent it on purpose.”

“···Yes?”

He deliberately let go of the existence of a military corps commander.

Not understanding that, she tilted her head.

“Wouldn’t it be better to kill…?”

“It’s useful. If you were on Earth, you would know.”

“To Earth…? Ah.”

She let out a small exclamation as she remembered something.

She asked cautiously with a pale complexion.

“Couldn’t it be… Did you use ‘thought infection’?”

“yes.”

I nodded in affirmation.

At the same time, Karina’s shoulders trembled as if vibrating.

Not a strange reaction.

If you’ve been on Earth, if you’ve been in the war there, you know what I mean.

thought infection.

It was the power to corrupt demon beasts, and it was one of the tactics and abilities that greatly reduced the number of dragons in a large-scale ‘fragicide’ at the time.

And this time, the trigger was planted in Balthazar’s consciousness.

“Then when he wakes up…”

“The moment you access the sympathetic nervous system, the trigger will be pulled.”

Even if Balthazar himself couldn’t do much damage, it wouldn’t be the legions under his command.

They are strongly influenced by the sympathetic nervous system created by the boss.

I just have to sit still and wait.

The moment my mind control takes root in their sympathetic nervous system.

beep-

In an instant, the alarm on the watch rang loudly.

It was an urgent contact from the military, and it was a pretty important message with a video attached.

-Abnormal signs occurred in the entire electric line. The ghosts suddenly started to run amok and attack each other.

Along with those words, in the attached video, two red-eyed ghosts were shown attacking each other.

It was not a normal fight, but a bloody fratricidal scene where they really fought to kill each other.

Watching the scene, Karina’s complexion turned to earthy color.

“That’s…”

“It’s started.”

Balthazar woke up, and the trigger worked.

I got up from the hospital bed.

Now is the time to get moving again.