66 – Entrance Ceremony of Blood (1)

“Ha, ha, ha.”

The cold dawn wind hit Luna’s face.

As if I had just woken up, I came to my senses.

The forest around her sways violently with the wind.

She was standing in the middle of the forest. For a moment I thought it was not a dream. My arms are very cold and sore. It wasn’t a dream.

I was gasping for breath and my heart was beating like it was going to explode.

why am i here? I don’t remember anything. Just like the pages of a diary are torn out, there is only a blank space in the memory.

He was holding something in his right hand. It was a dagger.

His left arm was full of stab wounds. Blood was dripping like rain.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. No matter how many times I checked, this was definitely not a dream, but reality.

Moments later, moonlight illuminates where she is standing.

The silver leaves bathed in the moonlight and softly lit up the surroundings. Only then did I know where I was standing.

She stood in front of Eternia’s guardian tree.

“… Why?”

It was something Luna herself couldn’t understand.

Around the Guardian Tree, something dark was scattered in a large circle.

Luna calmed her trembling breath, squatted down, and ran her finger over the root of the guardian tree.

Something cold wets your fingertips.

The liquid splattered as if it had just been sprayed.

Blossom.

It was Luna’s blood. A lot of her blood was splattered around the guardian tree.

“Well, why am I…?”

Soon, an indescribable feeling of fear came over me. Luna couldn’t move.

And dark clouds obscured the moonlight.

Tuk-tuk.

The rain falls drop by drop. And the number of raindrops increases.

showers are pouring Luna’s blood was seeping deep into the ground riding the rain.

[Keuk-kuk, kkeuk-kuk]

Luna turned her head to where the sound came from.

In the corner of the forest, an unidentifiable black figure appeared. Then he laughed loudly in the dark as if he were mocking her.

[hahahahaha, ahahahaha!]

[Puhahahaha! Ahahahahaha!]

The number of black shapes gradually increased one by one and soon completely surrounded the Guardian Tree and Luna.

Laughter echoed through the forest.

Luna hurriedly called the spirits, but there was no response.

“Ah, ah,”

The mental damage accumulated over a long period of time finally crossed a critical point, and she finally entered a state of panic. Everything was out of control now.

“Stop it, stop it!”

She covered her ears and hurriedly ran toward the dormitory. But even with my ears covered, I could still hear the laughter.

This wasn’t something Luna could handle alone.

Only one person came to Luna’s mind.

silverine.

It was only Silverine.

***

Time passed quickly and the entrance ceremony approached.

The entire living area was crowded with carriages that came to move into the dormitory.

There were so many people that it was difficult to pass around the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd halls. It was only natural that the students who moved in were not the only ones who visited the dormitory.

I watched it from afar.

Freshmen moving in. family members who followed them.

A mother with tears in her eyes as she sees her child making a fresh start.

A father who is proud of his grown son.

Children who admire their older brothers and sisters who entered the academy.

The vassals who silently guard the back.

The aspects of the members were different, but in a big frame, the family and the family landscape were all similar.

It’s very close, but it’s a completely different world from where I’ve lived. No matter where I entered a prestigious academy or where I won, there was no family in the world who would congratulate me.

The time to see what I didn’t have and swallow tears and be pessimistic about my fate has long since passed. Now I can watch it with a calm, wait-and-see gaze.

It was just that I was curious about it from time to time. What is it like to have a family?

The only person who has a deep bond with me is Silverine.

I feel once again what kind of recognition Silverin gave to me, who did not have a drop of blood. Eternia, Master’s Class What’s the point? Without Silverin, I am half human.

There was a carriage waiting in front of the Whitdruff House, but unlike other places, it was quiet. From what I heard from the maid, the Whitdruff Hall was always more than half vacant.

I was sincerely grateful that I was not caught up in the banquet that took place in the living room.

After looking around, I entered the Whitdruff Lounge.

Now, I rarely run into the children who have moved into the Whitdruff House.

A full-fledged academy life begins. Now you feel it slowly.

The dormitory I used to use alone is now goodbye.

When I was alone in an empty dormitory, the sofa in front of the fireplace in the lounge was always mine.

And now someone else is taking over. The looter is not bored, so he sits and admires the wood fire in a daze. all two days.

You can’t just walk up to it and sit next to it. Because that plunderer was Zion.

I thought he had a warlike and lively personality, but contrary to expectations, he is calm like a monk.

Doesn’t he have a family too? I entered the dormitory and was killing time alone all the time.

It’s nice to see this, but on the other hand… My back is cold.

I want to avoid only Zion. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had extraordinary abilities that he pretended to be among freshmen. So, like Trisha, I could find my flaws and see through my identity, and if that happened, I could bully me, saying, ‘Let’s fight.’

I crossed the lounge as far as possible from Zion. Fortunately, they don’t recognize me, and they don’t show any interest.

I went up to my room and prepared to leave for the ‘garden of thorns’ in the labyrinth.

***

Lilith moved all her belongings to the Marigold Hall, which accommodates top students, and sat quietly at the tea table in the central hall.

And one by one I observed the boys passing through the hall. Lilith was certain that ‘that bastard’ from the entrance ceremony would be at the Marigold Hall.

The child had a lot of debt. He had to pay off the debt he had neglected, and he had to pay off the debt that had contributed so much to entering the Marigold Hall.

It wasn’t very pleasant to look at everyone who came and went like a checkpoint guard. He made eye contact with unwilling boys, and sometimes Lilith mistakenly expressed interest and blushed.

“Couldn’t it be a woman…?”

Considering that he hides his face and doesn’t speak, I also thought that the child could be a woman. The jawline visible through the gap in the mask was quite fine.

Lilith immediately shook her head. The other day, I had seen and touched the bare body of the bastard, so I was sure it was a man.

When I think back to that time, my face heats up a little.

Meanwhile, someone stopped in front of Lilith.

“Uh, um. Hi.”

“…?”

“How many times have we met eyes?”

“who…?”

“Ah, I’m Bertan. I think we can be good friends.”

Bertan held out his hand to Lilith and asked for a handshake.

There was also a possibility that ‘that bastard’ would hide his identity and come first. But the Bertan in front of him was absolutely not.

The palms should be rough with calluses, and the veins should stand in the forearms. And the overall body shape should be firm as it dries.

A boy named Bertan had a body type that seemed to eat a lot of meat and not exercise.

Lilith remembered. This boy was one of Cecil’s group members.

“There’s someone waiting. Please come out.”

Bertan was embarrassed and left his seat. He murmured softly as he left.

“I’m ashamed…”

She closed her eyes and sighed.

There was also the option of asking Cecile. Because she seemed to have something to do with ‘that bastard’. But strangely, I felt a great rejection of that option. The very act of asking Cecile seemed like a losing effort.

Soon after, a man approached Lilith. It was Lilith’s friend Matthias.

He said as he handed over a note.

“Here, what you asked for.”

“Huh? Did you really find it?”

Lilith had asked Mathias to find out if there was a man with dark red hair who wielded a wooden sword in the combat department.

“He’s the 19th boy from the Combat Division who reached the summit. He has red hair and often trains with a wooden sword. As for the mask, don’t you think you can find it?”

“No. Even if you’re really bad, you have to be in the top 5 overall.”

“Are you talking about the guy who fought with Shion? Shion is silent. Isn’t that just a rumor? Well, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in the combat unit.”

“…”

“But why are you looking for a kid like that? Do you have any ill feelings? I can quietly tease you.”

“What kind of a bully does a grown-up noble boy talk like? It’s my business, so don’t touch me no matter what.”

Mathias’s eyebrows twitch as if he’s uncomfortable.

He too was one of the hot-blooded men trying to impress Lilith.

Matthias seems to be concerned about ‘that son of a bitch’, and fatigue sets in rapidly.

Lilith opened the note.

‘Combat Department, Naxx Kruger’

In any case, when looking at only appearance information, this person was the most influential.

Lilith certainly remembered. At the top of Mount Grace, Zion and ‘that bastard’ must have met. Whether he won or lost with Shion, it had to be either the top or the second overall. There was a high probability that the ranking information Mathias knew was wrong.

If there was no senior or second seat, and it was not Nax Kruger, the remaining answer was to drop out.

It was obvious that he had a great background because he was a great person and used rare potions casually. Then it was possible to participate in the Eternia entrance exam as a game. It is also explained that he hid his identity with a mask to prevent noise.

If he had judged that he had nothing to learn from Eternia, he could have chosen to drop out without any regrets.

“Well, let’s talk about that later, shall we go have a meal together? My family is outside, so I said hello…”

“No, thank you. I’ll go first.”

Lilith hurriedly left.

“…”

Mathias licked his lips dissatisfiedly as he watched Lilith leave.

***

No matter what they said outside the labyrinth, the compass only pointed to the guardian tree of Eternia.

So, to go to the Labyrinth, he had to go through the Guardian Tree.

The reverse was also similar. In the labyrinth, if you tell the compass the exit, it always points toward the guardian tree.

Although it belatedly, I understood why Silverin described being assigned to a room with a good view of the guardian tree as a ‘suggestion’.

I stood in front of the guardian tree and started the compass again.

After moving along the designated direction for a while, fog covers all sides again.

It’s been a week since I’m going back to Thorn Garden.

That means he left his estranged relationship with Trisha unattended for a week.

Looking at the thick fog of the labyrinth, my breath stopped. I felt a little sorry for Tricia, who had to stay in such a stuffy place until she graduated.

After a while, I stood in front of the thorn garden dormitory. As I entered, the sound of singing flowed into my ears. It was Trisha’s voice. She didn’t seem to notice that I was coming.

I moved along with the singing voice. In the hallway on the first floor, a sound came from a room with the door firmly closed.

I knocked, but there was no answer. After waiting for a while, I reluctantly opened the door and went in.

It is a common kitchen scene in any home. Numerous dishes are lined up. Flour is scattered all over the place, and a wood fire is burning brightly in a small oven.

And I froze as I saw the back of a girl inside.

An apron string hangs from her back. Seeing him move his hands busily, he seemed to be cooking.

But it wasn’t the Trisha I remembered.

The white hair that falls below the waist and the silhouette of the back are familiar enough to make the heart feel cold. To the extent that it reminds me of someone I had forgotten all along.

I closed my eyes tightly. Am I seeing a mirage?