132 Wounds (3)

"Liliath.."

"She went somewhere.. saying that she's going to deal with something.." Nine explained.

"Ah. Are you kidding me…" I muttered, gritting my teeth. "I need to go find her. Sorry doctor."

"You should rest," the doctor insisted.

"I can't. If she kills someone..." somehow, of all things, that was what my intuition was telling me.

I got up from the bed and made my way out of the infirmary. I layered my uniform on top of my P.E. clothes to cover up the blood stains. Pushing through the line of students being assessed for their healing TALENTS, I dove into the main school building.

"Prune, Nine, which direction did she go?" The stench of iron was nauseating. I got to get this cleaned ASAP.

"She teleported. I have no idea."

"How about we split up?"

"The counseling room."

"Huh?"

A familiar voice resounded. I turned behind and saw Nile. Where did he come from? Wait-- could he be WALL-san all this time? Yes. THAT WALL-san. No.. He's my stalker?! Oh shit, I didn't know that.

"She's at the counseling office. You better get there now, she's about to blow." Nile said in an anxious tone.

"Got it," I swallowed all the dangerous retorts in my mind.

"Prune and Nine. You two stay put. It'll only cause more confusion if you join in."

"Awh.. okay okay. Hey, how do you know my name?" Nine raised her eyebrow in skepticism. Ah well.. he's a stalker. That's why he knows your name. Perhaps Nile is from the stealth department?

Prune only nodded.

Leaving them behind, I rushed towards the counseling room. There she was standing right outside.

"No can do young lady. If you hurt her, you're no different from a criminal. For Noel's sake, think about your own situation," First Lieutenant Sander's voice was heard in the distance.

"Ah, you're right. There's that too. I suppose I should do it when none could suspect me," Liliath's voice was laced with anticipation and glee.

"You can be traced, you know?"

"All I need to do is cover up the evidence right?"

I couldn't help but feel a sting in my heart.

"Liliath," I called out to her in a low voice, "I told you not to kill."

Her body shook. She turned around and looked at me timidly. The four horns disappeared right that instant.

"Just ignore her already. She's not worth your attention," Heck, just think about yourself Liliath. You're way more important than you think. If you become a criminal because of her, it's akin to ruining your life because of others.

"B-But she tried to kill you."

"I'm sorry!" Lyndia shouted. Totally didn't expect her voice to sound so girlish. Doesn't matter. She's the culprit in this situation.

"Yeah.. but to begin with, you should known that in the first place, my TALENT is the reason why I get entangled with all sorts of these stupid situations in the first place. If you want to take it out on someone, take it up on me… I'm sorry Liliath.. I'm sorry."

I still don't get what the heck that evolution quest is about.

If I tried to blame anyone then-- basically, anyone could've been the wronger. I could blame Lyndia saying that she's the one who hurt me. Or I could blame Hiro because he activated this unknown quest that probably caused the scenario. Or I could blame myself-- for being a possessor of my current TALENT.

It's a never ending loop. And it's obvious which choice is more intelligent… intelligent? Since when did I make choices based on intelligence?

"No.. It's not your fault.."

"It is. But I'm at least alive.." Liliath rushed up to me, "Good girl. Um, Teacher Glib, Miss Tsu and Lieutenant Sanders-- I'll leave this case up to you.."

Hopeful they could find out the reason behind her actions.. no. I already know. But I don't know why. It's more complex than just jealousy or melancholy, it's difficult to put it into words.

Also, I want to know what the hell Lyndia did to me. I don't feel anything particularly different but… somehow. I'm aware that I'm different. I'll have to ask Teacher Glib about this later. For now..

"Huh? Uh. O-okay. And about your clothes.. I'll give you permission to return and change them. Liliath can teleport you to and from the apartment you're staying in, right?"

"Yeah-- good thinking. Uh, is that alright with you Liliath?"

Liliath nodded.

"Then expect us to be a little late for class later-- By the way. This is just my personal point of view but, Kai might be related," It's just a speculation. But my gut is telling me he's the puppetmaster pulling the strings behind us.

A magic circle manifested beneath us--

"And Lyndia, don't be too hard on yourself," I said as if to comfort myself?

I just realized. Like me, Lyndia too has her circumstances. My TALENT could've been the reason why she targeted me and was dragged into this. It wouldn't be a joke if this was true.

Light burst forth, our surroundings warped— Liliath and I were back in the apartment.

"Sorry for worrying you Liliath."

I brought Liliath closer to me..

My mind was still in chaos, the anger hadn't cooled off. Though I'm surprised I was able to keep my sanity. It's been a long while since I felt this anger.

But.. this anger I realized-- was directed at myself.

Self-sabotage? That's stupid..

Now I'm calling myself stupid.

That's self-sabotage.

"I get it now Noel."

"Hm? What is it?"

"It's not your fault."

"I'm pretty sure it is though."

"Then it's my fault."

"Uh-huh?" What the hey?

"Lyndia hurt you."

"Yeah," Oh. I get it now. I should let her talk it out. Calm down and just listen to her, Noel. Don't say anything unnecessary.

"The kingdom hurt me."

"But you did nothing wrong."

"That's exactly the point. We did nothing wrong. So, stop blaming yourself Noel.." I could hear soft sobs between her words.

"No.. It's my TALENT."

"STOP BLAMING YOURSELF!" Liliath shouted. My heart wrenched in pain. HAs Liliath ever shouted at me like this?

I kept my silence.

"Noel.. why does this happen? Why.."

Deep breaths. deep breaths. Now isn't the time to get mad-- now isn't the time to answer Liliath's question either. Be aware that she needs someone to listen to, not answers.

"Why does this happen? I only wanted to help.."

"I-I know.."

"But no one else does.. I only made things worse. I troubled you again. I should've just ignored her.. You should be resting."

"..."

"It's my fault.." Liliath sobbed. I could feel her overflowing tears dampen my clothes.

"These niches of people just exist in the world don't they? Causing unavoidable conflicts and pain."

"Yeah. It's the same in every era." It's human nature.

Embracing each other while standing. It went on like this for a few moments.

"You smell good, Noel."

"I suppose.."

No, hold up. What did she mean by that? I'm still in my bloodied clothes though?!

"Uh.." I pulled Liliath away from me." My clothes are dirty so.."

"A-ah yes!" Liliath jumped backwards and looked away. Hahaha.. that's scary.

"Are you feeling better now? You can talk to me later, got it?"

Liliath shrunk away.. nodding timidly. Tears in her eyes.

"Sorry, and thank you. Give me a few minutes," I patted her head and went out of her room.

Haah.. that was tiring. I need some space for myself after this. And I better soak my clothes in water to get rid of the blood before tossing them into the washing machine.

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The entire situation was pretty much settled-- on our side at least. I didn't die, managed to calm Liliath down and took a rest in the infirmary when I got back to school. So I skipped class yay..

But.. somehow it feels very cliche.. Liliath accompanied me the rest of the school day. Haah.. I ended up in the infirmary after a tragic incident and a beauty there to overlook my recovery.

…

I'm still me right? I somehow get the feeling that I'm different.

Was it because of Lyndia or the evolution quest?

I showed Liliath the vague comments of the weird evolution quest and talked to her about why she SHOULD NOT kill Lyndia. It's for both their sake. I don't want Liliath getting into trouble because of some random girl's provocation.

The end of the school day came and everyone returned home. The doctor gave me one last checkup and-- passed Liliath a contact card? Huh? Her healing magic got exposed. Shit.

Now then. It's been one heck of a day. I'm expecting things to get better when we get home..

Then I remembered, we're going to have dragon meat tonight. So it's really going to get better. Just that my digital point wallet is going to feel lighter after this. Boo-hoo.