Not Alone

It began to storm again. It was the same tempest that gave them trouble last time. Atsuo and Lord Kaiser retched as the heavy rain lifted the stench of blood from the ground.

“What the fuck happened here?” Lord Kaiser asked uneasily, wiping his mouth.

“It looks like the Dreigs made it here before us. We must hurry.” Atsuo said.

They searched the forest fretfully, as the heavy rain neatly washed away the tracks which was all they had to go off of.

Their search was not going anywhere. It seemed hopeless, until they came across another body. Another member of the association lay on the ground before them, still breathing.

“What… are you… doing here…” he struggled to talk, covered in wounds.

“Lay still for a bit” Lord Kaiser told him, as he began to conduct first aid.

Lord Kaiser managed to stop the bleeding with some clothes, but the damage has already been done. The poor guy didn’t have long left.

As much as he didn’t want to in that situation, Atsuo asked him whether they came across any students in the forest.

“We… blocked off the entrance. There shouldn’t be… anyone in there… except chief Veto and Deimos…” the man faltered as the life from his eyes was continuously fading.

Atsuo and Lord Kaiser were in a dismal mood, yet slightly relieved. That fact made them feel remorseful, even if they were blameless.

They kept the man company until he passed.

They made it quite far and decided to head back to the entrance before some misfortune befalls them, when the surroundings abruptly changed.

“Huh?!” Lord Kaiser exclaimed, “What just happened?”

“I don’t know. I never experienced this bef–” Atsuo stopped mid-way as he remembered.

This is similar to the incident when he was at the infirmary and appeared in the middle of the forest, he thought to himself.

“This is probably… another phenomenon” Atsuo said reluctantly after having the unsettling realization.

“I think we are blacking out” he said concernedly as he looked at Lord Kaiser.

“You mean we got here unconsciously? During the blackout?” Lord Kaiser looked at Atsuo alarmed.

“Yes… It might be best for us to find a shelter. As soon as possible” Atsuo said in a troubled tone.

Like last time, they headed for a nearby mountain. They stopped about halfway to the top, where they saw an opportunity for a shelter. It was a large den that could easily house the two of them.

“Is it vacant?” Lord Kaiser asked Atsuo, motioning him to check.

“Tch” Atsuo uttered irritably as he went in to check.

“It’s fine” he said from the inside, crawling back out.

“It will be our shelter for tonight. Are you fine with that your Highness?” Atsuo mocked.

“It’ll do… Pleb.” Kaiser replied pushing Atsuo back inside.

They started with Atsuo assembling their improvised drying rack while Lord Kaiser built the fire pit. They dried their clothes and warmed up near the fire before going to sleep.

The stress and fatigue caught up with them the moment they laid down. They fell asleep almost instantly.

Atsuo was dreaming about walking in the Boundless Forest.

It was a shit dream, and realistic too, Atsuo thought to himself. He climbed a mountain resembling their own from earlier and stopped about halfway, just like they did. He found a similar sized den, with someone occupying it. He went inside.

There, he found Lord Kaiser and himself sleeping like a pair of logs.

‘Huh? Then who am I?’ Atsuo thought to himself. He raised his fleshless hand that was holding an axe.

‘FUCK…’

‘WAKE UP’ he yelled, to no avail, as he watched himself and Lord Kaiser get slaughtered through the Dreig’s own eyes.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO” Atsuo yelled springing up from his bed.

He looked at his arms. He was back at the infirmary, right after the interrogation with Veto.

He wanted to curl up and slowly wither away, but deep down he understood he needed to go on.

He got up and once again made for the Externus faction.

As he approached the entrance, he could hear some commotion in the dormitory. He went inside, finding Lord Kaiser’s henchmen trying to restrain him.

“UNHAND ME” he yelled as he struggled to break free.

“Your Highness, wait!” Reyn said as he and Dart tried to subdue him, “You are not feeling well.”

“THIS CAN’T WAIT”

Atsuo’s eyes widened.

“Do you… remember?” he asked in disbelief from the entrance.

They stopped their grappling, as they turned their head towards the entrance.

“Who are y–” Reyn began.

“PLEB” Lord Kaiser shouted.

“THEY FOUND US. THEY KILLED US IN OUR SLEEP” he ran to the entrance in a frenzy, pushing away Reyn and Dart.

“I know, I saw it too. For now, settle down” Atsuo said, exhaling.

Lord Kaiser recalling what happened just now alleviated a lot of his stress. He found comfort in the fact that he was no longer alone in this nightmare.

They sat down and compared each other’s side of the story to make sure they were completely identical.

“We’re not planning to go back there, are we?” Lord Kaiser asked, feeling uneasy.

“No. Now that we know that the association evacuated the students, we no longer have to worry about their safety and bother with going there” Atsuo said, drinking some water.

“Though I do feel bad for those association guys…” he added mournfully.

“Should we meet the students and escort them back to the Academy?” Lord Kaiser asked.

“I was thinking about that too, but we probably shouldn’t do anything unnecessary to minimize the casualties. There’s a chance we might have been cursed” Atsuo reasoned.

“For what?” Lord Kaiser exclaimed.

“I don’t know. Do you remember offending anyone?” Atsuo asked.

“NO” Lord Kaiser instantly replied.

“Maybe they’re just jealous” he said the only thing that came to mind.

“Well, whatever… For now, all we can do is wait for Veto and Deimos’ return” Atsuo said, laying back in his seat.

“And the students’ as well” Lord Kaiser added.

“And them too” Atsuo said, closing his eyes.

Around one and half hours later, the students arrived back at the Academy, safe and sound. Of course, that included Yuna, Taru, and Fumi.

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo checked up on them and went back to the Externus dorm.

The Academy fell silent again.

Until Deimos returned.

Alone.

His clothes tattered and face covered in blood.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!” he yelled from the entrance.

“Bring me Atsuo of the Fortunatus—and Kaiser of the Externus faction. AT ONCE” he ordered the Brimor guards, breathing heavily.

Everyone in the Academy came out of their dorms to see what’s going on.

Veto was not with him. According to the code of the association, if anything were to happen to him, the next in command was to take immediate action and resume as chief until further notice. Deimos was that man.

A couple of seconds passed, when Atsuo and Lord Kaiser were seen running downstairs, visibly bewildered and perturbed.

“You two,” Deimos pointed at them, “You’re coming with me. NOW!”

They obeyed and followed him out of the Academy.