Academy’s Dark Perspective - Chapter 345



Only Krnovel

Academy Dark Curtain Viewpoint Episode 345

At first I thought I was dreaming.

I hadn’t slept for a while and hadn’t eaten anything, so I thought I must have passed out without realizing it.

But it didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t a dream.

As my hazy mind began to clear, I soon realized that I was floating in the middle of a ‘river’.

“here is……?”

A river with a soft light flowing slowly instead of water.

To be exact, it was called the ‘River of Origin’. Evangeline had explained it to him several times, and after receiving the Omega cells, he had been able to sense its existence.

“Could it be… … he’s dead… … ?”

Evangeline had said that the souls of all living beings, including the [Mysteries], would come here after death. So it was natural for me to suspect that I was dead.

“Huh, this is… … .”

I was so shocked I couldn’t even speak.

I fought desperately to defeat the dragon and survive, but in the end I arrived at the afterlife. This is quite unfair.

But then again, if I think about it the other way around, it seems like it couldn’t be helped. In fact, I lost my life in that fight, and it was a miracle that I survived for a while after that.

I tried my best, but in the end I died.

In some ways, it’s just a common experience that everyone in the world experiences, so I think there’s no need to feel so wronged.

A strange sense of resignation weighed on my tired shoulders, and feeling tired, I tried to go with the flow of the river.

But then.

[… … No, not yet.]

As my body was flowing along with the flow of the halo of light, I suddenly felt as if something was pulling me. As if my clothes had been caught on a tree branch, I was pulled to the riverbed by a sudden force.

After a brief moment of surprise, I landed on the riverbed without any trouble. I didn’t feel like I was out of breath, and the river flow felt much weaker.

And I confirmed the existence of a thread extending from my heart, which I could not detach as if it were a part of my body, and the other end was extending toward the upstream side of the river.

What on earth is this?

Unable to resist my curiosity, I walked along the riverbed against the flow of the river, following the direction in which the thread stretched out.

After walking for a while, pushing through the halo of light that obscured my vision like fog, I saw a familiar shadow.

Height that comes up to about my waist.

Long blond hair and red eyes. Cute cheeks.

“Evangeline… …!?”

“Aaron!”

Evangeline ran to me with the same expression as always and hugged me tightly. And then I realized belatedly that the thread that stretched out from me was connected to none other than Evangeline.

It was only then that I realized that she had once told me that I was her ‘soulmate’.

“Thank goodness, Aaron! I was so nervous pulling you, thinking the connection would break!”

“… … The voice I heard earlier was yours. But what happened? Even if I am like that, why are you here?”

“Well, isn’t that natural, since both you and I are close to death?”

“… … !”

Evangeline tells the shocking story in a rather lively tone. But before I can answer, she adds:

“Oh, don’t be so surprised! I only said that I was ‘close’ to death, not that I ‘died.’ You overdid it in the fight with the Sky Dragon, and I was only slightly injured in the accident. After that, I watched everything from here.”

“Aren’t you saying this too calmly?”

“Well, this body has already experienced it once, so isn’t that so? Well, don’t worry so much. This body is in a much better situation now than it was before. Take a good look at yourself again, Aaron.”

Evangeline pointed to my shoulder.

It was only then that I noticed that thin threads were connected to my shoulders and stretched out in all directions. They were so thin that I couldn’t even see them unless I focused.

“Those threads mean that you are still connected to this world. That you and this body are still fleshly and alive.”

“… … I see. Then is there a way to go back?”

“We have to find it now. Okay!”

Evangeline extended both arms to me.

It was a call to burn the wooden horse.

Even in this situation, a wooden horse… … It was absurd in many ways, but I sighed lightly and placed her on my head.

“Okay, now let’s find our way.”

“What should I do?”

“You can go back along the thread. There must be a ‘well’ there that is connected to the body, and we can go back through there. Oh, before that, it would be hard to go around in this state, so it would be good to change the surroundings a bit.”

As soon as Evangeline waved her finger in the air, the topography of the riverbed changed in an instant.

The walls were built, the floor and carpet were laid, and soon we were standing in the middle of a long hallway.

It was a rather dark hallway, and its end was not visible. There were wooden doors and handles on both sides of the hallway that could be opened, and there were also intersections here and there.

“……oh.”

“The River of Origin is the source of all spirits, magic, and the universe. To some it is ‘god’, to others it is ‘nothing’, so if you borrow the power of your spirit, it will not be a problem to change form a little as long as it does not go against the law.”

“Is this okay?”

“It doesn’t matter, we just changed the form we see a little bit, we didn’t distort the providence itself!”

“That’s… … amazing.”

“Hehehe. Praise me some more!”

“But the atmosphere is a bit gloomy, couldn’t you brighten it up? It’s like something out of a horror movie.”

“Eight, I said praise!”

When I teased her, Evangeline patted her head and protested. I took it lightly and asked her again.

“Anyway, is it okay to just follow the thread?”

“Yes. There must be a door through which the physical body is connected. Now, there is no time to keep talking like this, so let’s get going!”

Evangeline’s attitude, as if she were suggesting that we go on a picnic, made me feel a little less worried. Unfortunately, however, that feeling of leisure did not last long.

* * *

How long did it take?

The thread that was connected to me wasn’t just one. The problem was that the closest thread was also quite far away, so it wasn’t easy to keep walking down the same background corridor.

Still, it was fortunate that I wasn’t alone. As I walked along, chatting away, I felt like I had reached the first gate in a few hours. Evangeline said that it was a place where the concept of normal time didn’t apply, but I’m not sure about that.

“Finally…….”

I quickly grabbed the handle and opened the wooden door.

And at the same time-

Swish.

The thread connecting it to the other side was cut off. As soon as the thread was cut, the light coming from inside the door disappeared, and soon only a solid wall filled the door frame.

It’s as if the timing is set to ‘fuck you’.

Evangeline’s expression hardened as if she had not expected this situation at all.

“… … .”

“… … .”

A silence that hangs between us two.

Evangeline tried to cheer me up.

“Oh, it’s okay! There’s still a lot left! Just find the next door!”

“……okay.”

But unlike Evangeline’s comfort, reality was harsh. Even after walking countless times and finally arriving at the door where the thread was connected, when he opened the door, the thread would break limply over and over again.

It keeps disconnecting, and disconnecting again.

I continued walking down the hallway, opening countless doors, but each time, all I was greeted by were hard walls.

There was a passageway that was barely connected, so I tried to stretch out my hand, but I could only hear a little bit of voices on the other side, and I couldn’t get across.

All that’s left is a single thread.

The last hope to return.

“… … Now there’s only one left.”

“… … .”

“Perhaps it is because the connection between the body and the soul is gradually fading away. There is less and less room for you to return to.”

“……Right.”

If even this is cut off, any possibility of returning will be lost forever.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t do anything for fear that my last hope will disappear.

“It means there is not much time left.”

“… … I guess I have no choice but to move quickly.”

So we walked again.

Same scenery. Same hallway. Same door.

Thousands or tens of thousands?

We walked down the hallway towards the threaded path, and the thing we feared began to happen.

The thread, which had been relatively thick, was gradually becoming thinner and fainter. It meant that the connection with the physical body was gradually being lost.

“Ah, Aaron… … !”

“… … Don’t hurry.”

I held Evangeline in my arms and started running, hoping to find the connecting door before the thread completely disappeared.

Here, I was not able to benefit from the module at all, so my stamina was ridiculously lacking compared to reality, but I was not in a position to feel sorry about that. I kept running until my breath was puffed out of my throat.

[Can you hear my voice?]

[Please open your eyes… … !]

“Aaron, do you hear this voice?”

“okay……!”

Serena, Ciel, Miyu… … .

These were familiar voices.

Those voices were being transmitted through the thread, and the thread was barely maintained by reinforcing it little by little as it began to fade away.

“It’s calling from over there! It’s talking to you! Just like when you brought this body back to life!”

“It seems close?”

“Hurry up! Run faster, Aaron!”

“damn……!”

Is this what it means to run with all your might? I never thought I’d be out of breath like this after the fight with the Sky Dragon.

“Ugh… … Ugh… … !”

How long did you run like that?

The thread that had been gradually strengthened through the voices of acquaintances began to lose its strength and fade away. To make matters worse, at some point the hallway became so dark that it was difficult to read directions.

“Damn it, where do I go… … !”

“That way, Aaron! That’s the direction!”

With Evangeline’s help, I managed to find my way around. However, just as I thought I had found the door where the thread was supposedly connected, the connection was completely cut off.

“… … !”

“Ah, Aaron… … Sil… … !”

Is this how it ended?

Is there no more hope?

Am I really going to die now?

I was overcome by a fear of death that I had never felt while alive.

At that time-

[… … I liked it. And thank you.]

“… … Ah, Airi?”

[It’s all thanks to you.]

Along with Airi’s voice, a door hidden in the darkness began to glow brightly.

We opened the door in a hurry,

“There is no time to hesitate! Come on in!”

“damn!”

I threw myself toward the light streaming into the room.

* * *

“hmm…….”

A strangely chubby body.

When I opened my eyes again, it was dawn and Iri was lying passed out on the floor, leaning on my lap.

She was covered in wounds all over her body and was stained with blood and dirt.

As soon as I saw that sight, the images recorded on the cybernetic device while I was ‘over there’ started playing back in flashbacks.

“… … .”

By looking at them one by one, I was able to figure out what had happened while we were wandering around the ‘river’. After confirming that, I looked at Airi and smiled.

“… … Thank you. I survived thanks to you.”

I wanted to wake her up right away and let her know I was back, but for now it seemed better to just let her get some rest.

More than anything, I wanted to surprise you a little bit.

I took a pen and scribbled on Iri’s hand. I didn’t think it was necessary to write down all the useless details, so I just wrote down a few simple words.

—–

[Thank you. – AS]

—-

After that, I stood up to deal with the piled up work.

I took a quick shower, put on a shirt, tie, and suit. To me, it was no different from combat uniform.

“… … Let’s go soon.”

It was time to sweep away the real-world problems.