EP.138 Keep Your Dreams for the Night
I had a dream.
A thoroughly random, nonsensical dream.
In that dream, I was in the form of an unknown girl.
It wasn’t that I, as a human, turned female; it felt more accurate to say that my consciousness had settled into the body of someone I didn’t even know.
A vast white room with a law circle engraved on the floor.
Inside, I was standing in line with kids of similar age, completely thrilled.
I was better than anyone else there.
I was qualified to bear that illustrious name.
It was I who would be chosen.
In that determination that echoed ceaselessly in my mind, I even felt a brutal obsession.
But it didn’t take long for that hopeful resolve to drown in a dark despair.
At the chilling words “Start,” everyone present, including myself, began to writhe in terrible pain.
Blood and screams. And death.
The place where the agonized screams shrieked and the feeble breaths of dying beings mixed was literally hell.
I, too, was part of that tragic scene. No, a mere gear in it.
My vision became increasingly blurry due to the throbbing pain as if my brain was burning and my insides were melting.
But that primal fear of transforming into a completely different being forced my marred consciousness to rise.
How long had it passed?
As bodies of fallen girls filled the ground, I heard a frightened girl’s voice echoing faintly beyond what was already a shredded eardrum from a scream whose owner I couldn’t identify.
“I’ll do it before my sister…!”
In the blood-red swath before my eyes, the shadow of a small girl wrapped around a woman lying on the ground appeared.
I knew who they were in that dream.
The fallen woman was Beltein Angelas Ashes.
She was a revered Top Saint Candidate, adored by all, yet the target of jealousy from all the other Saint candidates in the monastery.
And blocking Beltein’s way with her arms stretched out was a petite girl, Beltein’s sister, who, unlike her exceptional sister, couldn’t manage to rise above mediocrity no matter what.
A nuisance.
A crybaby.
A failed Saint Candidate.
Welna Angelas Ashes.
◈◈◈
“Haah!”
Like a spinal reflex, my dazed consciousness snapped upright.
The fatigue that had settled in my body and the drowsiness soaked deep in my bones were pulled out with that reaction.
It was the dream. No, it was the memory.
Yes, it was a memory.
The memory of a woman called Beta.
I had no way of knowing how or why her memory had been conveyed to me.
But I instinctively understood that the horrific vision was not something that could be dismissed as a mere nightmare.
“I remembered…! I met the Saintess before…”
Automatically, my hand went to my forehead.
That wasn’t the only memory that surged suddenly to my mind.
The Baptism. The existence of the Saint Candidates. The first meeting with the Saintess.
I felt foolish for having forgotten all this; those moments vividly replayed in my mind.
“Ugh!”
Like a tidal wave, memories crashed over me. Perhaps that was the cause of my splitting headache.
But I didn’t want to stop tracing back those rushing memories for even a moment.
“First, the Sister… Yes, I need to meet the Sister and confirm the facts…”
Spontaneous words continued to spill from my mouth.
If I didn’t get these overflowing thoughts out, my mind might overflow.
“Phew…”
After calming my chaotic mind with steady breathing, I closed my eyes and sorted my priorities.
My instinct said all of that was undoubtedly reality, but it was merely a strong suspicion, without solid proof.
Therefore, for now, I needed to converse with someone who should know all these facts, to get to the bottom of it.
“Beltein and the Saintess are biological sisters… Yes, then everything about the Sister’s attitude toward me makes sense…”
As my mouth worked non-stop, I struggled to sit up from the bed.
“Ugh!”
But at that moment, an unknown pressure seized my abdomen, preventing my escape.
“Ugh…”
“Y-You, Hero…!”
The source of that pressure was the Hero, who had fallen deeply asleep while hugging my waist.
After the ambush last night, the Hero, realizing I was the target, insisted on not leaving my side for even a moment and had come to sleep with me.
One of the two thugs had already been killed, and the other was imprisoned in the monastery’s basement, so it was reasonable to believe that we were safe for a while.
However, the Hero’s insistence on not dismissing the possibility of a second—or even third—assassin meant nobody could refute her.
If her concern was for my safety, wouldn’t it solve itself if I just slept with Bigtim? My final argument fell flat against the Hero’s harsh retort, which pointed out Bigtim had already failed to protect me once.
The fact that I had been trapped in some barrier that a strange set up, along with the realization that Bigtim had just stood idle back then, clearly irked the Hero.
I could still see the pitiful expression of Bigtim, who was trembling as if he was about to die, glancing at the Hero while she was furious.
Just wait and see.
The Hero’s chilling silent words to Bigtim were something I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen.
When I suggested we all sleep together as a last resort, her remark that one hero alone was enough to protect me was something nobody dared to counter.
My childhood friend Dawna subtly raised her hand to back me up but had no choice but to lower it when her eyes met the Hero’s.
“Hero… Please wake up… It’s already morning…”
“Uuumm…”
I tried to shake her awake, but the Hero seemed deeply asleep.
Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned not having had proper rest due to some ascetic training or whatever over the past few days.
Being diligent seemed completely ingrained in her, so if left alone, she would surely wake up around 8 o’clock.
But right now, I wanted to confirm the truth of the events in my head as quickly as possible.
“Ugh!!”
“Haah…”
Trying to forcibly pry the Hero’s hands from my waist was an futile endeavor.
Even with all my might, using every ounce of energy I could muster, the Hero maintained a calm expression as if my struggle were nothing more than an insect sitting on her.
“Haam~”
The yawn that echoed was definitely mocking me.
“Whew… Whew…”
I was wrong.
At this rate, I was destined to be trapped here until the Hero naturally woke up.
No, more accurately, my struggling only ended up tightening her grip on me more than before.
“It’s mine… Ugh, I won’t give it to… anyone…”
The sleep talk that punctuated her words further weighed down my already disturbed feelings.
Love was heavy. Physically. Mentally. In every way.
“What’s with this nonsense from the early morning? Hero…”
“Mmhh…”
With just a sprinkle of my pitiful feelings toward her, I boldly pinched her soft cheeks.
Though I felt a flicker of guilt for not being able to shake it off, it was only for a moment.
Recently, the feeling that this exceptionally sweet woman loved me, who was so insignificant, only grew endlessly.
Honestly, I was able to hold on largely because I was me. Any other ordinary man would have been enchanted at just a glance.
In fact, during her stay here, hundreds of noble proposals had blown into this place.
All of them were probably distinguished men, distinctly different from a lowlife like me.
With such poor taste in men, it was truly a pity for someone who once attempted to be her protector.
“If you keep bullying me like this, I won’t stay quiet either!”
Even the fact that I dropped such an over-the-top declaration a moment too late gave birth to a suicidal impulse, as it was utterly embarrassing.
I figured it was all because of the Hero’s hugging that made the blood in my body unevenly distributed.
Just then, as I was trying to soothe myself amidst my self-reflection—
“Uhh…”
“Eh?”
The strength constricting my waist from the Hero relaxed just a little.
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