My senses enveloped the area around us as I felt hundreds of human souls, some familiar and others I had already forgotten.
The night breeze slipped through the open window and brushed against my face as the realization of where we were finally hit me.
My room...
My luxurious and beautiful room.
I had no idea how this had happened exactly, but it seemed it hadn’t remained empty during my absence.
I looked at the blade I was holding between my fingers, only centimeters away from my neck.
It was formed from ethereal blue light.
And it wasn’t the only one.
Dozens of other blades surrounded both me and the others, who were still trying to process where they were.
All of this happened in an instant.
Then, in the next moment, a beautiful voice echoed through the room as it reached my ears, carrying both annoyance and a threat.
"Who are you?"
I raised my gaze from the blade between my fingers and looked at the figure standing before us beneath the dim lighting, her arms crossed.
Before I could even make out her appearance clearly, I saw her luminous soul and muttered unconsciously.
"Strange."
The girl tilted her head, her hair falling to the side over her nightclothes.
Her eyes seemed to alternate between silver and sky blue as she stared at me.
"Strange?... You’re the strange one here. Answer the question. Who are you, and why did you suddenly appear in my room?"
As she spoke, I felt the blade in my hand tremble as it tried to slip free from my fingers.
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I looked at her calmly while a frown unconsciously formed on my face.
Before the girl could become even more annoyed, Ellen’s voice sounded from behind me.
"Emeris Aldrian..."
The girl frowned and leaned to look past me, where Ellen was trapped within the blue light.
She narrowed her eyes as if trying to make out the details in the dim lighting.
Then, in the next instant, her eyes widened and her surprised voice filled the room.
"Princess... Wow, how is it possible that you’re here?"
She covered her mouth as she continued.
"Is this real?... There’s no way this is another strange dream. Or are you a group of ghosts?"
"Speaking of ghosts, I heard someone say that this room belonged to one of the missing people, so that would actually make some sense."
The others and I stared at her silently as she continued rambling until Ellen interrupted her in a flat tone.
"We’re real. Could you remove this, please?"
The girl lowered her hand and placed it on her chin, sinking into deep suspicion-filled thought.
"Really?... Then how do you explain appearing here after months of being missing?"
"Is there some grand conspiracy being woven somewhere...? Or were you all on a secret adventure to save the world?"
"And judging by your miserable condition, it looks like you’ve been through a difficult fight."
We didn’t get any chance to speak with this girl, but Ellen interrupted her again as she called her name.
"Emeris."
The latter waved her hand.
"Don’t take this personally, Princess. You know I have to be careful when a group of people suddenly appears in my room in the middle of the night... After all, I’m just an innocent girl."
This brief exchange lasted only a few minutes before I felt someone else join us and appear in the room.
A soul I had never sensed through my perception before.
Yet I instantly knew its owner.
It was so heavy and overwhelmingly oppressive that it distorted my senses and made my vision blurry and unfocused.
The moment I experienced that, I deactivated my ability.
Meanwhile, the girl called Emeris turned her head toward where the newcomer had appeared.
"Oh, she’s here."
With those words, she stepped aside in a strange manner while the blue light around us vanished into the air.
She settled behind us as though using us as a shield to hide herself.
After witnessing that strange behavior, and as the blade vanished from between my fingers, the room’s lights illuminated the darkness.
Then I looked at the newcomer.
As always, she was incredibly beautiful.
Her white hair flowed down her back while her crimson eyes observed us calmly.
Though there was also a trace of surprise within them.
Seeing Alicia Astra Nova surprised by our appearance...
Which had surprised me as well, to be honest...
I smiled at her. "Hello. It’s been a while."
Her expression shifted, revealing even more surprise, confusion, and something else I couldn’t identify.
It lasted only a moment before she sighed tiredly. "This is a lot of work."
No one spoke.
Everyone remained standing silently for several moments.
I was thinking about what exactly I should tell her, while the others remained silent as though they were still trying to process everything.
But one person didn’t care about any of that.
"I understand that this is strange... It really is strange. But could you please stop standing around here?"
Emeris’s voice echoed from behind me.
"I was about to go to sleep if not for your sudden appearance, so I’d like to say this respectfully since the Princess is here."
"Get out of here and let me sleep in peace... Oh... and you’d better take a bath as soon as possible."
Alicia’s gaze passed over me and focused on the girl hiding behind us.
I didn’t understand why she seemed to be hiding in the first place.
But Alicia quickly sighed and spoke a few words directed at Emeris.
"Don’t say anything about what happened here... We’ll discuss this later."
With those words, the world distorted around us, and we vanished before I could hear her reply.
In the next moment, we arrived in what seemed to be a dark room.
The darkness didn’t last long.
A moment later, lights illuminated the area, revealing a familiar office.
Two luxurious sofas separated by a table.
And a desk positioned at the head of the room.
As always, the place was organized and immaculate, without any unnecessary additions.
Izel looked around in disbelief.
"We actually did it."
Leona nodded absentmindedly.
"Yeah."
The two of them looked as though they had only just realized what was happening.
Well, I suppose everyone had expected us to end up in another ruin, somewhere in the Lands of Death, or practically anywhere else in the world.
Not inside my room, which was now occupied by a strange girl.
A girl whose welcome had only left their minds even more confused...
Though it did help clear away some of the clutter in my own head.
Alicia walked to her desk and sat down, her gaze fixed on us.
She examined each of us from head to toe before her beautiful voice echoed through the room.
"So, would you kindly explain what exactly this is?"
She was talking to me.
So without hesitation, I walked over and sat down on the luxurious, soft, and very comfortable sofa.
"Haaa... this is comfortable."
Her eyes remained fixed on me, waiting for an explanation.
The others seemed unsure of what to do...
Of course, except for Ellen, who calmly walked over and sat on the sofa opposite me.
I looked toward Elliot and Kyle.
"Why don’t you sit down instead of standing there?"
Then I turned my head toward the Vice Principal.
"Well... it’s a long story."