Chapter 31: Cecilia Everglenn (1)
"Something feels strange."
After leaving the Cocoon Chamber and moving some distance away, Tesrad suddenly stopped in his tracks and spoke.
At his abrupt action, Anette Ganetsa only clicked her tongue as if familiar with it and muttered.
"Here we go again."
"No, I’m not just saying nonsense, you know?"
He shrugged his shoulders and looked around.
"You know as well as I do that I’m the type who always does thorough preliminary research, right?"
Anette ignored him and did not answer.
He continued speaking without looking discouraged, as if used to it.
"I heard it was fairly common to encounter other teams."
"So what?"
"But up until now, we haven’t run into even a single team. No, forget running into them, we haven’t even found a trace."
Tesrad nodded once as he said that.
"At first, I thought maybe we had taken a roundabout path, or gone through hidden passages… fine, let’s say that was the case. But this place isn’t like that. Take a look around."
Just as he said, the place we were in now was an extremely wide passage.
There were even half-collapsed watchtowers and barricade-like structures scattered everywhere.
Glowstones were embedded here and there, making it easy to secure visibility.
In crude terms, it was a place blatantly made with the intent of spoon-feeding us.
"For a place like this to show no signs of people at all doesn’t make sense. There were over forty teams who entered before us. Even with rough calculations, that means nearly 200 students passed through before us… yet we haven’t found a single trace. That’s a contradiction."
He paused to catch his breath and spoke again.
"And more importantly, I’ve been casting detection and sensing magic for a while now. But…"
"But?"
"If I didn’t make a mistake, we should have encountered at least seven people by now."
Tesrad nodded, looking at all of us.
"I’m telling you, something’s really going wrong here."
"Since when have you been casting detection magic, Tesrad?"
At Velita’s question, he answered.
"From right after the first battle ended, Princess. Back then I only cast sensing magic, but after we left the Cocoon Chamber, I added detection magic as well."
"You said you sensed seven people’s presence—since when was that?"
"From the moment we left the Cocoon Chamber until now, Princess."
At his words, the Princess closed her mouth as if lost in thought.
And as I watched their conversation unfold beside them, I couldn’t help but feel surprised again.
‘So they had already noticed.’
I had heard that not even the professors realized until the incident had fully broken out…
Of course, it made sense why she would keep him as one of her closest aides.
After a brief silence, Velita looked around and murmured in a low voice.
"A mana distortion phenomenon… I can’t believe they’d set something like this up just for a freshman dungeon field class."
Mana distortion.
It was the name of an abnormal phenomenon, counted among the causes of great catastrophes alongside artifact rampages and mutant outbreaks.
In simple terms, the flow of mana became tangled, making mana control difficult, and even the inner space of artifacts warped.
Thanks to that, escape became difficult and even rescue operations faced great setbacks.
"……."
Since I had been one of the survivors back then, I knew fairly well how such an incident would unfold.
Yes, I even knew that around this time, an unidentified mist would begin spreading everywhere.
Because I already knew, I did not panic.
"…It’s the mist, Princess."
"Mist, and now of all times, mist suddenly appearing."
Anette Ganetsa reached her hand into the mist, swishing it about, then sniffed it, and even opened her mouth slightly to breathe it in as if swallowing it.
A moment later, she tilted her head and spoke.
"There’s no poison. But I do sense a strange aura."
"A strange aura? What do you mean?"
"First of all, it’s not a mist imbued with mana."
Anette shook her head slightly.
Tesrad, standing next to her, nodded as if agreeing with her opinion.
"If Tesrad hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have noticed anything odd. That’s how delicate and subtle the aura is. Since it’s the first time I’ve encountered it, I don’t know what effect it has, nor what it actually is. I apologize, Princess."
"……."
Without hesitation, Velita reached for her necklace.
It was a necklace that allowed communication with the outside and requests for rescue.
But even after holding it for a long while, it remained silent.
"There’s no connection with the outside. That confirms something unexpected has indeed occurred."
Velita spoke in a calm voice.
"Stay or leave. We have to choose one of the two. …I will choose to stay."
She looked around.
"This is a wide passage, so there’s a high chance others will come here. On top of that, there are plenty of things to use as cover, and tactically, this terrain favors us if we hold out. By now, those outside must have noticed something is wrong and are taking measures. Rather than wander aimlessly in the cave, it’s better to wait for rescue."
Her reasoning was impeccable.
If the situation we were in had been a normal one, that is.
"Does everyone agree? Is there anyone with objections?"
At Velita’s words, I quietly kept silent.
She glanced at me briefly, then nodded slowly as if she understood.
"Then let’s prepare. We don’t know when giant ants or other threats may come."
Following her command, we all began preparing a defensive position.
Tesrad and I each erected simple fortifications and barriers around us.
Meanwhile, the others built cover using the junk scattered nearby.
By the time we finished, the mist had grown even thicker.
"Everyone, don’t leave your position, and if something happens, shout or shake a glowstone as a signal."
To watch all directions, Tesrad climbed onto the watchtower while the rest of us took positions surrounding it.
The mist kept growing thicker.
"Also, don’t let down your guard.
The mist has grown extremely dense.
That won’t be a good sign for us."
After saying that much, she murmured in a low voice.
"Perhaps this time, I made the wrong choice."
In that instant, her voice suddenly cut off, like a knife slicing through butter.
Just like that—abruptly, completely.
"Princess, are you all righ—!"
"Wait, don’t mo—!"
The urgent voice of Anette and Tesrad’s voice restraining her were both cut off the same way.
I quietly called Allen’s name.
"Allen."
No answer came.
Inside the mist that looked like murky muddy water, I slowly closed my eyes.
Perhaps it was because I had already gone through this once before.
I was not afraid.
Only my heart pounded just a little.
"…As expected."
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in the middle of a vast grassland instead of the cave from earlier.
Just as I had expected, and just like in my previous life.
"Phew."
Looking around, I saw a massive cliff standing on one side.
Next to it stood a half-collapsed ancient castle.
Not only that—desert, wilderness, jungle, village, swamp, snowfield…
Countless terrains were tangled together in a chaotic mess.
It looked as though a child had clumsily lumped together clays of different colors.
With only slight differences, it was almost identical to my memories.
"Hmm."
If it had been someone else, they would have been unable to hide their shock at such a bizarre situation.
But since I had already experienced it once before, I calmly observed my surroundings.
‘So they’ve separated each of us individually again.’
As soon as I finished assessing the situation, I immediately picked up the necklace.
It was the moment I was about to follow the sensation it gave and take a step.
Flap flap flap!
Once again, the Mist Bird appeared and blocked my path.
This time, I truly had not expected it in the slightest, and before I knew it, I was startled.
"…How did you manage to appear in front of me again?"
But the creature ignored my question and instead grabbed my necklace, tugging it in another direction.
It was the opposite direction of where the necklace pointed.
Flap flap flap!
The bird flapped its wings wildly, grabbing and releasing the necklace, flying in confusion before my eyes.
I had seen this behavior once before.
In the library.
It was when it caught my attention to lead me to Cecilia.
‘Don’t tell me…’
With a hesitant thought, I asked the creature.
"Are you telling me to follow you right now?"
Flap flap flap!
At those words, the bird flapped its wings violently, going up and down.
It looked exactly the same as it had back then.
"……."
The necklace was pointing in another direction.
After a moment of hesitation, I came to a decision.
"Fine."
I would trust the bird this time instead of the necklace.
"Let’s go."
To where Cecilia was.
And to where Rahma would be.
The bird flapped its wings vigorously, as if saying it understood.
"Are you alright?"
At Rahma’s worried question, Cecilia could not say a word.
She only hiccupped and swallowed her groans of pain.
"My deepest apologies, Miss Everglenn. Under normal circumstances, I would have asked politely."
"Ugh, ngh…"
Half fainted from the unbearable pain, Cecilia let out a weak breath.
Grabbing her mangled ankle like she was nothing but an animal, Rahma dragged her along while apologizing in a calm voice.
"I don’t have the luxury of time right now, thanks to some unwelcome intruder. That is why I was forced to resort to such harsh measures. I ask that you show mercy and forgive me."
Glancing to the side, he looked at Cecilia, who was clenching her teeth to stifle her moans, with an expression of pity.
"It must be difficult to endure, but please, hold on a little longer."
Haa… with a heavy breath, he muttered.
"It will soon be over. I am not speaking empty words—this is the truth."
"…Why."
At Cecilia’s strained question, he gently released her ankle.
Then, walking slowly, he stopped by her head and looked down at her.
Cecilia looked up at Rahma’s face looming above her and let out another shallow breath.
"Why, you ask?"
"……."
"I see… in focusing so much on asking for your help, I forgot to explain the details. That is clearly my mistake."
He nodded his head.
"Miss Cecilia, do you know about the Brand?"
"……."
"Judging by that expression, it seems you don’t."
As he stretched out his hand, the bandages around the back of Cecilia’s hand tore off on their own.
Only then did she realize what he was talking about.
"Yes, it is because of this. In truth, there’s no need for you to know more than this, Miss Everglenn, nor any reason for you to. However… yes."
He murmured in a voice of absolute calm.
"But since I’ve caused you such trouble, I shall tell you a few more things as an apology, Miss Everglenn. After all, you are now in the same position as I, having gained the same qualification."
"……."
"The Brand attracts the Brand, Miss Everglenn."
Just as you and I have met like this.
Rahma whispered.
"To put it another way… yes, you could say it is like a living organism.
They pull each other like magnets, and those who bear the Brand are drawn to each other, as if to prove its existence."
How many of them exist exactly, even I do not know, he muttered, shrugging his shoulders.
"Even after combing through decades’ worth of every record in the Papacy, I found very few mentions of the Brand. But there are a few things I have learned for certain."
First, each Brand has a different form.
Second, each grants its owner a different power.
Third, the only way to detect it is through the attraction and recognition between those who bear it.
"And the fourth…"
In mid-sentence, Rahma suddenly raised a finger to his left eye.
Then, like a child making faces, he pulled down his lower eyelid.
"That each one is engraved in a different location."
Twitch.
His eyeball began to roll backward.
It was a grotesque sight.
"Like this, for example."
On the back of his exposed eye was a bizarre Brand.
Just like the one engraved on her wrist.
"…!"
Cecilia shut her mouth tightly.
At her horrified reaction, Rahma chuckled quietly, amused, while rolling his branded eye.
"And finally, the fifth and sixth truths."
That it can be extracted, if certain conditions are met.
And that an individual can bear multiple Brands.
"…Do you understand the situation now?"
With a benevolent smile still on his face, Rahma spoke.
"I need you, Miss Everglenn."
But his eyes were not smiling in the slightest.
"To be precise… it is your wrist that I need."