I was happy to hold the conversation with a half dozen meters between us, but Verica pulled me forward and pushed me to sit on the ground. Thankfully, she sat down too, followed shortly by Luka, otherwise I would’ve felt really uncomfortable having them loom over me while I wasn’t in top form.

“What happened while we were separated?” Luka asked her.

Verica scowled. “I got cornered by those masked assholes and nearly killed.” Despite all the time we’d spent swimming through the flooded tunnels, it hadn’t managed to wash all the blood out of her clothes. “They brought someone with a binding and sealing World Proof that grew stronger the more wounds I took. It was a bad match.”

Luka frowned. “Did they prepare countermeasures specifically for you?”

“More than that.” She grimaced. “They wanted to fix my death in history.”

What? What the hell did that mean?

Luka’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. “They prepared a ritual?”

Verica nodded, dead serious. “The Scribe’s Tracing of the Serpent.”

I hadn’t seen the paper doll people or the crazy mage carrying out any rituals, which left the three people in the creepy masks I’d killed off at the beginning.

“Then the special weapon that broke through your and Roxana’s barriers…” Luka muttered. “You think their true target is the Dragon Shrine?”

Verica nodded. “Which means that Roxana is in danger, too.”

Luka thought for a while longer.

“Actually, that’s not necessarily the case.”

Verica narrowed her eyes. “I know you don’t like Roxana, but that’s no reason to dismiss my concerns.”

“You also don’t like her.”

She rolled her eyes. “I respect her effort and talents in service of the Dragon Shrine and treat her accordingly. Anyways, don’t let your personal feelings cloud your judgment.”

Luka shook his head. “It’s not about liking Roxana or not.”

“Then what is it about?”

“I’m just wondering,” he said. “What if they aren’t targeting the Dragon Shrine… but the Great Dragon itself?”

He lifted his eyes to meet Verica’s.

“Roxana is talented as a priestess of the Dragon Shrine, but her affinity with the Hierarch of Sorrow is ordinary at best. If they wanted to create a history of defeating the Great Dragon’s power, Roxana isn’t especially valuable as a target. But you, on the other hand, were personally chosen by the Great Dragon.”

“You mean…”

“Their primary target might just be you. If that’s the case, then finding Roxana might actually put her in more danger. But this is just speculation. Roxana is still a qualified Saintess candidate, so if it really is an attack on the Shrine, she’s in danger too.”

“It would be worth considering recruiting her help regardless,” I said. “Since Verica can’t heal anymore.”

Luka frowned again. “What?”

Verica bit her lip.

“I was in a pretty bad situation, okay? I… ended up using my World Proof, and…”

She trailed off and looked away.

Luka furrowed his eyebrows.

“It’s not your fault, Verica. It’s okay to change.”

“But I could have held out! They couldn’t have actually killed me, right? If I’d just… Been a little braver…”

I felt uncomfortable just hearing this. Was it really okay to bare these kinds of insecurities in front of me? I mean, we were strangers, and as far as she knew, I was a guy who’d screwed over her best friend and sucked in all kinds of ways. I guess meeting up with Luka made Verica start lowering some psychological walls.

It would be great if this conversation would end as soon as possible, preferably in a way that resolved Verica’s problem so she wouldn’t talk about it in front of me again.

“Aren’t you being too unreasonable?” I cut in, putting on my best Acacius voice. “It wasn’t as if you knew anyone was coming to help you, but you kept fighting on, using the cards at your disposal. That’s plenty brave enough. And the end result is good, so what exactly is the issue?”

Through Luka’s eyes, I saw Verica glare at me. Ooh. How scary. “What good result? I can’t heal anymore! Do you even understand what that means for a Dragon Priest?”

No, but still. “You’re alive, you can fight, you can still heal yourself, and you kept your other useful blessings,” I said, ticking my fingers off one by one. “In these circumstances, I think you have it pretty good. Oh, but if I had just found you earlier, maybe things could have been even better. Do you blame me that they’re not?”

“That’s not what I meant! I just…” She bit her lip. “It would be unreasonable to hold you to the same standards as me, anyways. You were already injured in the first place…”

She didn’t need to say that in front of the guy who wanted to kill me, okay. “I also didn’t have anyone targeting me specifically. You were also just trying to survive, weren’t you? And you succeeded in your goal, so you should treat yourself accordingly.” I turned my head and squinted at Luka. It wasn’t enough to bring his face into focus, but it did help indicate that I was about to change the subject. “What were you doing before we met up? Did you find out anything important?”

“I should ask that of you,” Luka replied. “What did you find out before the guided tour? Why did you go missing for so long? And how did you predict what would happen?”

Guh. The fact that they were reasonable questions to ask just made it worse.

“I noticed some suspicious people while exploring on my own,” I said vaguely. “Before I could tell anyone, though, I got into a… confrontation.” And it had been super embarrassing! I crossed my arms and turned my head away. “I got knocked out for a bit. But I snatched a compass from them. You can use it to find people by name… or by part of their title, I think. That’s how I found Verica.”

I’d been nervous because I didn’t have whatever ink they’d used to write on it, but luckily, my blood had worked just fine. At least there was that.

Luka paused. “What were they looking for?”

“I believe anyone who has ‘kaleidoscope’ in their title.”

Luka went quiet. Verica looked at him suspiciously, and he avoided her gaze.

“Are they targeting you?” she accused.

Luka held it in a moment longer, then sighed.

“A spirit from the Fantasm granted me their title and powers upon entry.”

If it happened to him too, then it wasn’t that unusual, right? Maybe Luka also got turned into a bug. The thought that I might not be alone in my plight cheered me up immensely.

“It’s always something with you,” Verica muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. “If the compass can read titles, then it must be an artifact related to the Scribe… I wonder how they got them.”

She paused.

“Ah. One of the people I was fighting had a compass, too.”

I looked up sharply. “They what?”

She waved her hands quickly. “It broke during the fight, it probably doesn’t work anymore! And anyways, you have a way to sense the enemy once they get close, right? So even if that compass still works, we’ll have warning when they come.

Just the fact that there had been more than one compass out there was enough to make my stomach hurt. “What if they have more than two compasses?”

“The Scribe’s artifacts don’t grow on trees. It’s already outrageous that they have two.”

I didn’t feel convinced. “And how well has today followed your common sense?”

“The ability to read names and titles is extremely powerful, and to find people by them even more so. It would be strange for the Scribe to permit more than one such compass,” Luka said. He held out his hand. “May I see it?”

Verica passed it over, and Luka examined the threads that connected to it. A dark aura gathered at his fingertips as he brushed over them, and they dissolved.

“Luka…” Verica said in a warning tone.

“This is the original artifact,” he said. “There were some secondary nodes tapping into its power, but… I cut them off.”

What the hell? Why could he do that?

Verica sighed, but acquiesced with a nod, swiping the compass back into her hands.

“What should we do now?” she asked, looking at me and Luka both. “Should we regroup with our classmates? There’s strength in numbers, after all…”

Cooperating? In this situation? Ha.

“I wouldn’t suggest it,” I told her. “You have no way of knowing if you can trust them or not.”

“Everyone’s already passed the Great Dragon’s benediction, though.” Verica cleared her throat. “Aside from you, I mean.”

“You saw their true appearance, so you can trust them?” I said sarcastically. “How do you think the enemy gained entry into the Fantasm World? And how did they learn about our schedule, or your specific abilities? What makes our classmates so trustworthy that none of them could sell you out?”

Verica scoffed. “Big words from someone who had the audacity to call himself ‘Your Trustworthy Classmate.’ How about having some self-awareness for once?”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true,” I said lightly.

That, at least, startled a laugh out of her. If it had been my sister, she would have swatted me and said, What the hell is this punk saying? I forced down a smile. I’d been way too good at getting people to swear at me back then.

Luka, however, didn’t laugh. “So the enemy is targeting both Veric and myself, and you think our classmates are unreliable,” he said slowly. “If we are in such a tenuous position, why are you still willing to work with us? I would have expected you to try and avoid danger instead of running into it.”

He looked at me.

“Or to take advantage of this opportunity to target us as well.”

I wished he wouldn’t talk to me. I didn’t know how Acacius was supposed to act around him.

“If he meant harm, he wouldn’t have come to rescue me,” Verica argued.

I didn’t want them to get started on analyzing my motives, either. “Let’s not talk about my so-called altruistic tendencies. You just need to trust in my self-interest. Verica has useful abilities, and given that she almost died alone while fighting them, I don’t think she’s with the enemy. And because both of you are targets” — just like me, so sticking with them would protect me and camouflage their search for me — “if I want to investigate the infiltrators, you’re good bait to start with. Our goals align for now. It’s utilitarian.”

“Also, he’s also in no state to be acting alone,” Verica added.

Could she stop telling him stuff like that?! “I think I could get by. Thanks.”

Luka considered me. His gaze dropped to my neck again, right at the jugular vein. Ugh, seriously, this was why I didn’t want to get too close. He was still thinking about how he wanted to kill me, wasn’t he?

“What you say makes sense,” he said, “but, even if you’re telling the truth, it lacks sincerity.”

What the hell did he want sincerity from Acacius for? “Oh. Because you know so well what I feel, do you?”

“Yes. Anyone with the eyes to see can observe it,” he replied. “You’re a paranoid person and always suspicious. You’re often stressed and easily angered. And… you’re afraid. Though less than I would have expected of you in this situation.”

Why was this surprisingly accurate to me right now? I was way better than that Acacius guy, okay?

“But you’re not a sincere person,” Luka concluded. “So regardless of how you feel, it’s hard to trust anything you say.”

Ugh, this setup was too good. Should I refrain from making a joke?

…Nah.

“All that confidence, and you still don’t know me.” I leaned back and raised my chin, casting a narrowed look his way. “How can you say that you’ve never seen my sincerity?”

Luka furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

I scoffed. “Don’t tell me you already forgot that night we spent together this summer, however brief it was.”

“Excuse me?” said Verica.

I looked Luka in the eye.

“Because of that, I even specially prepared a grave just for you…”

There was a long silence.

Come on, it was funny.

“Really?” said Luka blandly. “I’m surprised by your passion. I had no idea you felt that way.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” said Verica.

“It’s true that it was the most sincere I’ve seen you, though. You should try showing some of that sincerity now.”

I squinted at him, as did Verica. “Can someone explain?” she demanded. “He just threatened to kill you.”

“When did I do that?”

“It was a joke,” said Luka. What? I mean, it was, but… “So. What do you plan on doing next? You should tell us at least that much.”

I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Personally,” I said slowly, “I want to look for Professor Raoul. He might have been disposed of already since his doppelganger was exposed, but I don’t think the enemy replaced him solely to control the students’ movements. Whether we find him dead or alive, an investigation in that direction might tell us more about the enemies’ goals and capabilities. For the same reason, it would be good to find Roxana as well.”

Luka nodded.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

What? Seriously?

I looked at him through my blurry vision for a little bit before turning to Verica and beckoning her closer.

“Hey, Verica. Come here for a second.”

“What is it?”

She leaned closer. I cupped my hand over my mouth as I leaned in towards her ear.

“Did you check Luka for wounds earlier?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Are you sure he’s fine? Did he hit his head or something?”

“I didn’t,” said Luka.

I ignored him.

Verica glanced back at him. “…He’s fine. Why?”

“Then why is he so willing to follow my lead? Aren’t you his friend? Shouldn’t it be your job to beat some sense into him?”

“It’s utilitarian,” said Luka.

“I thought you would be happy about this,” said Verica. “Didn’t you want us to accept your word without too many questions?”

“I’d also love to receive a billionaire’s bank vault, but I wouldn’t believe someone who said they’d make it happen.”

“What would you want that much money for? You’re already rich.” Verica shook her head. “Look, Luka has his own reasons, and even if I don’t know everything behind his choices, I trust his judgment.”

She pointed at my eyes. Through her gaze, I could see the kaleidoscope pattern shifting within.

“Just like I’m trusting you right now and not asking about your eyes.”

I fell silent.

The threads hanging in Luka’s vision shimmered, slowly shifting.

“Besides,” he said. “You’ve demonstrated a remarkable amount of foresight. I know enough to put the pieces together.”

“What pieces,” I said.

He looked at me evenly, and I, stubbornly, held his gaze.

Verica grimaced. “Look, don’t ask us to call you a prophet, okay? I don’t want to get on the wrong end of al-Sahira’s Curse.”

Excuse me? I couldn’t believe this. What was it with this world and people believing in prophets so bad? “Can you use your brain a little? If I was a prophet, why the hell would I be in this situation?”

“Prophecy isn’t perfect,” said Luka.

“Then what’s the point of seeing the future?”

“Because a momentary warning can make all the difference,” said Verica. “It did when you warned us of the incoming attack.”

I did not want anyone to believe I was a prophet. It just seemed like such a good way to get a huge target painted on my back.

“Verica,” I said, putting on a look of dismissive annoyance. “If you had just been a bit more suspicious and calculating, you could’ve figured everything out yourself, too. All you had to do was question why they were distributing special alternative lenses at the beginning of the trip.”

“Sure, sure, it was simply paranoia,” said Verica. “Whatever you want to call it. But you get what we’re saying, right? Since you’re in such a sorry state, Luka and I can take turns carrying you around—”

“I don’t like that idea.”

“—And in exchange, you share your information with us, no matter how inexplicable it is. Just like when you were questioning Professor Raoul.”

“How was that inexplicable? I just explained how I used a reasonable amount of suspicion.”

“Unfortunately,” said Luka, “we seem to lack that skillset.”

That was an insult, wasn’t it?

I wanted to continue making smart comments, but honestly, it was good they had a concrete reason for keeping me around, even if they were totally delusional. Plus, my back was hurting enough that I just wanted to fix the situation as fast as possible and go home.

“Fine. Let’s get moving before anyone can find us,” I said. “But we should search the bodies before we go.”

Luka lowered his eyes, but not fast enough to prevent me from seeing Verica’s uncomfortable expression.

“Don’t bother helping if you don’t know what to look for,” I said into the silence, and got to my feet.

Fortunately, my sight was still good enough to make out the fuzzy outlines of the corpses, and once I got down next to them, I could feel my way around the bodies just fine.

Luka and Verica talked with each other quietly for a few minutes, too far away to make their words out clearly. Then Luka came and joined me, but Verica didn’t get any further than hovering uncomfortably around us as we searched.

In the end, Luka and I turned up a few more net amulets and spare weapons. Neither Luka or Verica knew what framework the amulets represented or how to use them, and even when I attempted to demonstrate it, they couldn’t see the ribbons. In the end, I pocketed them for myself.

We also removed the masks, but it only revealed unfamiliar faces. “Maybe they’re from the other research group that was being hosted here,” I mused. “Disguising themselves as guests should be easier than infiltrating unnoticed altogether, right?”

Then I began stripping the nearest body of its mask and robe.

“What are you doing?” Verica said.

“Grabbing spare disguises. You never know when it might be useful.”

Luka silently did the same for a body next to me. He even went a step further and stripped the underclothes as well, looking at the tattoos scattered across the corpse’s skin. As I spied through his perspective, he went to inspect a second body as well.

Then he came and looked at the body whose robes I’d taken. He took off the undershirt, rolled the body over, and a moment later, pointed at the shoulder blade. A stylized black sun intertwined with sinister golden lines was tattooed on the skin there.

“They all have the same title,” he said.

“What does it mean?” I asked.

“The sun is a difficult symbol to get for an individual achievement, and unless these people’s profession is related to astronomy or the sky, the sun doesn’t make sense for a lifestyle achievement either. It’s more likely to be a title related to an order or a secret society.”

“Hopefully, any legacy they have won’t come into play, here,” Verica muttered. “I really don’t want any more unexpected surprises today.”

She brushed her bangs back, lowering her eyes with a sigh.

“Sorry, I’m not so good at this stuff… Roxana might be able to tell us something about it.”

“Your talents are in different areas,” said Luka. “Very different areas, now. I’ll be relying on you.”

Verica gave a wan smile, but she still seemed down. The threads around her shifted colors.

My teacher always said action was the antidote to despair. “Let’s get going, then,” I said, holding my hand out. “Compass.”

Verica handed the compass to me. “Where are we heading first?”

“I think Roxana has a higher likelihood of being alive right now.” I wiped off Luka’s name from the compass, cut my finger, and wrote in Roxana’s name. The needle spun around to point off into the dark. I tossed the compass to Verica and turned to face Luka. “Masks and robes.”

He handed off what he’d scavenged from the bodies. I rolled up the robes as compact and neat as I could. Unfortunately, none of us had bags on us, so I made a few strategic cuts to my coat and tied it into a makeshift backpack. In went the robes, the masks, the extra net amulets, the spare food and weapons, and the incense I’d stolen.

“What is that?” Luka asked, gesturing to the incense.

“Don’t know, took it off someone I killed,” I said. “It has some kind of sedative effect, but it doesn’t work on everyone.”

And it might be targeted specifically at the butterflies, but I didn’t really feel like explaining all that right now.

“You’re good at this,” Verica said, watching me finish packing. “Where did you learn these skills? I thought someone like you would be more…”

She trailed off.

“Unwilling to do ‘dirty work’?” I joked.

“Emphasis on dirty. I thought you’d find this kind of stuff beneath you.”

“Please. As if now is the time to worry over that.” I nodded at the compass in her hands. “So which way are we going?”

“Before that.” Verica turned around and knelt down, beckoning me towards her. “Get on.”

Seriously? “Let’s just do it the way we did on the way here.”

“It’s easier and more efficient this way. Don’t be a baby.”

“I think carrying my full weight would make you more tired, not less.”

“Luka will help when I get tired. And besides.” A gentle blue glow flickered to life around her. “I won’t get tired that easily.”

I gave up on preserving my dignity. At least it was better than a fireman’s carry. “Fine. Luka, you carry the bag, then.”

Thankfully, he picked up the bag without saying anything else to me.

I got on Verica’s back, and she straightened with a soft grunt.

“You’re lighter than I thought you would be.”

“At least there’s that,” I muttered. “I’ll be counting on you.”

“Don’t mention it. You saved me, after all. This is what I should do.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. How pure-hearted. Didn’t she know? In times like this, human sentiment was one of the least reliable things of all. She didn’t seem like the kind of person to sell out an ally, but everyone had a breaking point. If she had to weigh her survival against mine, who knew what she would choose?

As Luka watched, the threads around us shifted in hue.

“Thank you, Verica,” I said. “I’ll appreciate it while it lasts.”

Chapter 24 Chapter 26