Chapter 72 - Entrance To The Spirit World

"From what I know Teren only has one sibling and that sibling's name is Seres who should be much younger."

To this, Seres slightly titled her head and was silent for a while.

"What?"

That was the only thing that she can reply to as if dumbfounded.

"Eh? I said, Teren's younger sister, from what I know, is much younger."

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Of course, from-"

Iesa froze with her mouth still open. Recalling the time when she heard of this information, nothing comes out of her mind. It was as if... she just feel it in her guts.

Even Seres found this something weird but a second later, she lips former a small 'o' as if in understanding.

"Ah, do you just feel that what you said is correct but can't remember where you got it from?"

Bullseye, Iesa nodded and was creeped out as if it was her thoughts that was being laid out.

"Hm, as I said last time, it is because my brother has a Great Spirit of Mind-Altering. He may have told you such thing in the past and then used it, erasing your memory."

"... huhhh?"

From being on guard to looking Seres as if she said something stupid, Iesa couldn't comprehend what the former just said.

Seres's eyes narrowed and her brows slightly furrowed.

"Don't give me that look. Are you, a psychic who can hear other people's thoughts, close-minded towards the supernatural?"

Realizing the irony in her reaction, Iesa stopped her gaze that tells she just heard something stupid.

"Well, I can't really blame you since this is just your second time hearing it. So how about it, do you want me to start by explaining what Spirits are?"

Iesa enthusiastically nodded. At the same time, her order arrived. 

While she eats her lunch, Iesa got to hear a mind-blowing disclosure of the entities called "Spirits" from Seres. If this was real then the world hides a lot more than what the public sees.

"The strongest proof right now is that you can't hear my thoughts. I'm currently using a special kind of Spirit, an Artificial Spirit. Although it's called artificial, it's not really manmade, just... you could say 'manmodified' instead. Spirits have their own will and depending on how you tame them, they will give you a special ability. Make you smart, get a stronger body, or have faster reflexes, these are simple examples. Then there are more extreme abilities that only exist in the imagination of an ordinary people such as the ability to fly, to control object from afar, or in your case, erase someone's memory at will."

Iesa slightly trembled from hearing this. There were incidences that she heard about Spirits from people's thoughts. However, she believes it was just something like slang that only adults know. She didn't really give any special attention. She hears more unbelievable things in a person's head and most of the time, she ignores the incoming thoughts from the public.

However, the reason why she wasn't that surprised was that she kept hearing it from one of their teachers later, Teacher Hanon. Whenever he casts a glance towards Teren, he would question the weird feeling he gets, and his thoughts would then derail and include the word "Spirits"

From what she was hearing, there is no way she's not piecing the information together. This is one of the two reasons how she was able to keep up with the conversation. The other reason? Well, Iesa is considered to be a genius. Although this isn't true because she's actually 'just' reading other people's thoughts, that doesn't deny her superior intelligence.

"Artificial Spirits are still not known widespread even in the underworld or others might call the Spirit World. Only some top gangs and a special department of the government knows its existence since they were the ones who made that concept into reality in the first place."

"Gangs?" 

"Yes, but don't dwell on it too much for now. We will eventually reach that topic. For now, you have the general gist of what Spirits are. Let's talk next time if you're ever free again. I'm always waiting here on the same spot."

Since Seres glanced at her wristwatch before saying this, Iesa did too and saw that more than an hour had already passed. She felt it was ridiculous since she felt only half an hour had passed or so.

"Wait, I thought you said you have a lot of time?"

"Indeed, an hour is a lot of time for a talk."

"Ugh..."

Iesa conceded but since there was next time, she was not that frustrated.

"Before I leave, let me satisfy some of your curious questions. You may not sleep well at night if you keep thinking about this since I'm unable to contact you."

Not wasting any time, Iesa spoke but with not a question.

"You said you can remove the effects of Teren's effect of Spirit on me."

"Yes, we are in the middle of that."

"Huh?"

"There was a time where my brother used this Great Spirit, altering the whole world's minds, forgetting his existence for a while..."

Seres paused as even herself was amazed by her own words.

'The more one knows his existence, the greater the effect on them. As you know, as her little sister, I was greatly affected. However, I began regaining my memory when I heard his name. A name that I was searching for, the person who is the center of my revenge."

Her eyes seemed to be not looking at Iesa's. She was too immersed in what she was revealing that Seres stared into the empty space instead.

"I could feel it, that I have a brother who murdered our parents."

Iesa's eyes widened, not expecting something so heavy suddenly put on the table. But somehow, she felt that Seres was not lying. A memory slowly opened itself in her mind.

It was one of the most recent locked memory. Teren's face flashed in her mind as he revealed a part of his past to her.. Like a domino effect, albeit small, Iesa remembered that Teren stayed at her apartment overnight at some point.