Chapter 53 Opening Up

"But I can."

Freya Moon reflexively glanced behind as she heard a voice she was familiar with, but at the same time unfamiliar as its coldness sent chills down her spine.

There, she saw Kevin Springer, who she fought against in the Disciplinary Committee Mock Battle two weeks ago, pierced through his chest and neck by the handle of a 'black staff' that her classmate was holding.

"A-Amelie..?"

Freya couldn't believe her eyes as she felt myriads of emotions such as gratefulness for saving her from whatever she was supposed to go through, and she was shocked because of Amelie's demeanor which was very different from what she was familiar with.

In front of her was Amelie Rose, her classmate, her seatmate, as well as a friend who was very cheerful and smiling most of the time, but right now, she killed a person in front of her without a shred of hesitation.

Her eyes looked at the dead body of the man she fought with.

The person who crushed her, and made her feel weak to the point of breakdown in front of her older brother.

The person who attempted to hit her even though she was unconscious after her last struggle at that time.

She knows what kind of world this was... but it was her first time seeing a dead person in front of her... No, 'how' someone killed a person in front of her.

She almost threw up with the sight, but she managed to resist it.

She then heard a voice from behind as the footsteps entered her ears due to the man approaching her.

She looked back, seeing her older brother in front of her.

Although she couldn't understand what happened just now, she just felt relieved by her older brother's presence.

"Are you okay?"

Her older brother's voice turned normal unlike the unfamiliar tone earlier before Amelie stabbed Kevin Springer from behind unexpectedly.

"Oppa..."

It would be a lie if she wasn't curious about what just happened.

How did Amelie, her friend do that?

How did they know that this was going to happen?

How come she felt a different kind of closeness between her older brother and Amelie?

Various thoughts flowed in her mind as her curiosity grew.

Although she was an observant person and thought about her older brother and Amelie's reaction during the Obelisk Tracking Field Incident a few weeks ago, causing her from making guesses inwardly because the timing of Kevin Springer's circumstances that corresponded to Mock Battle was just too coincidental to believe.

She reined her thoughts as she was momentarily at loss for words.

Her gaze alternately landed on her older brother and Amelie.

She easily concluded that their arrival here was not a coincidence, and they didn't come here separately.

Curious about what to do next, she heard her older brother say...

"Let's clean up, Ceru..."

An alien-looking dark blue slime with shark-like teeth entered Freya's sight.

This time, she couldn't bear it as she threw up, but almost nothing, but only liquid came out of her mouth, it was potion residue that she drank before she left for breakfast that turned into attempted kidnapping then someone getting killed.

Suddenly, she felt her surroundings turn into a quiet atmosphere then after five seconds, she looked again, only to see that there was no more body on the ground, even the blood that gushed out from the man's chest and neck were sucked out like some sort of vacuum walked by.

"Freya..."

It was Amelie... it was the first word she said to her ever since she came here.

Amelie's voice was kind of different, it contained anxiety and anticipation.

"Let's go to my dorm first..."

Amelie said as they started to walk under the night sky where countless stars were shining, and a bluish moon that illuminated almost everywhere.

Russell who knew what to do next just followed suit.

The night sky, countless stars, and the bluish moon were the only witnesses of what transpired in this certain alleyway.

...

Rigel Building

"We're with him."

Amelie said to one of the guards at the entrance of the Rigel Building as any non-A-1 students were not allowed entry without an appointment unless the person was accompanied by an A-1 student like herself.

...

In Room 31, Amelie's Dormitory Room

The siblings sat on the couch while Amelie sat on her bed, then after a few seconds of awkward silence, Freya initiated the conversation.

"What now? Can you explain it to me?"

Freya said, looking alternately at the two; Russell and Amelie, as her tone contained a bit of sadness for some reason.

Russell, as an older brother, knew why Freya spoke like that.

It wasn't that long before she opened up to him, and cried in front of him.

'Sigh... I was planning on telling her on her birthday, but I guess this situation calls for it.'

Russell sighed inwardly, but he understood that Freya would be able to understand whatever information she would learn.

"Okay... we already agreed to tell you..."

Russell was referring to everything except being a reincarnator inside his own unpublished trash novel; for him, it was about the Chaos Realm, his journey towards the hidden dungeon, how he met the Goddess of Night, and what he acquired.

And for Amelie, it was about her past... how she had experienced the underground business and the 'black market'... and how she was ostracized, then sold by her family to some unknown slave broker. At the same time, her resolve to change, and how the 'certain Constellation' was related to Russell.

Russell and Amelie agreed for different reasons, but the only same reason was 'for Freya.'

Amelie experienced a genuine friendship she wanted to never end, and because of that, she inferred that not hiding something from one another would be the time when she could call their friendship genuine.

Russell knew that keeping secrets, especially from his older sister would only bring division in the long run.

'Stacks of lies equals complete ruin.'

"So... where should I start..."

Russell then recounted everything that he experienced, though not thoroughly to the point of telling his younger sister the treasures acquired, and so on.

He focused on how he encountered the Hidden Dungeon called 'Oldest Root of Yggdrasil', of course, he didn't speak about his reincarnation, at least now wasn't the right time for it.

Also, he told her about Kevin, that they 'anticipated' that he would come for her based on the previous two weeks of Kevin's observation of them. He got desperate and had no time so he wanted to just grabbed Freya and accuse her in front of the double-faced Student Council President.

Freya, who listened attentively to her older brother showed different expressions; shocked at what her older brother experienced and the knowledge about his contracted Constellation; angry for not being careful in some instances; she shot him pierce glares as spent his money on something he barely used like the Crude Shortsword!

But, Freya's thoughts and heart were relieved upon hearing 'everything.'

Then, after some time, it was Amelie's share of stories.

Upon listening, especially about what Amelie experienced as a kid, Freya teared up for some reason... then she grew expectant when she heard about Amelie's Body and Soul Reconstruction due to her brother's Constellation's command, and the Chaos Training Ground that a person could access with Chaos Trait.

"So... in other words... I'm weaker than the two of you."

Freya felt gloomy, then after five seconds, she remembered her older brother's reaction of being lost in thought when she asked him about her six consecutive 'same' dreams!

"Oppa, do you know something about the dream right??"

Freya asked, pressing for an answer as she leaned closer to his brother, prompting Russell to lean back.

"Yes... all I could tell you is that it's a good thing."

Russell remembered the information in his novel regarding his younger sister's dream, where a person was in the midst of pure blackness, but felt comfortable for some unknown reason, then with the setting changed, where the person was standing in front of players of various races covered in black fog, having the urged to kill them as they felt dangerous.

This dream was symbolic, but its meaning was profound.

'I feel like everyone alongside me became or destined to be strong for some reason!!!'

Russell lampooned inwardly as he glanced at Amelie and his younger sister with a deadpan expression.

"Why couldn't you tell me now, Oppa?"

Freya asked, somewhat feeling gloomy.

"I don't want to spoil you."

Russell spoke casually, but in a slightly expectant tone.

Freya fell silent, but her expectations grew with her older brother's words as she spoke...

"Okay, Oppa! I trust you."

She didn't press on the matter anymore as she asked an expected question...

"Oppa, are you going to use your Unique Skill on me?"

Freya asked with a tone of expectation, but her older brother seemed lost in thought... again.

"Oppa?

"Yes?"

"You're lost in thought again."

Russell fell silent as he felt like he forgot something and after some time, he recalled that he didn't tell his younger sister and Amelie Rose about the 'World Announcements' more than two weeks ago!

'I should set aside it for now because even I don't know about the Egg itself. I was just tasked with its adventure.'

Russell thought as he set kept the information about his Reincarnation in his novel, and the 'World Announcements' ambiguous correlation with the unknown Egg.

"Hey, you two, eat first."

For some time, Amelie prepared three bacon sandwiches and a drink.

Russell and Freya thanked her, grabbing their bacon sandwich on each separate plate.

After a minute of the sound of crunching, Freya repeated her question...

"Oppa, are you going to use your Unique Skill on me? That's what I said earlier when you were lost in thought again."

Freya said before she grabbed a glass full of water and sipped it.

"Yes, but not right now."

Russell replied after drinking a glass of water.

Out of a sudden, Freya asked a 'realistic' question.

"Oppa... Amelie... aren't we going to get caught... you know?"

It was about Kevin's body.

Russell initially used the Mask of Night before he appeared in front of him earlier, while Amelie snuck on the back using her Unique Skill: Shade Transformation.

Russell fell in contemplation for some time, then he said...

"It's alright. No one's going to find him, and point us."

The 'petty revenge' they did on Kevin Springer was just the first step of the laid-out plan because Russell and Amelie surmised that by doing that, Kevin would surely go after Freya.

And by knowing Arthur Wolfson's character, and the Weaver Faction, he would probably 'claim' the blame himself to scare the other members of the faction that if they failed, they'll vanish for mysterious reasons.

But that was only the facade for other members as he would secretly task his trusted aids in the faction to investigate Kevin's disappearance.

Russell informed Amelie about the plan of baiting the faction by letting the Student Council President pursue them in secret and do some cleanup.

And even though, Weaver Faction has backers in the Obelisk Academy, Kevin wouldn't dare to kidnap Freya in places with security cameras because no one would believe him even if he point fingers at the one who asked him to look for the culprit that caused his embarrassment to redeem himself if he got caught by unaffiliated students or staff.

'Although it will take longer than expected to avoid mishaps.'

Russell recalled that in the novel that he wrote in his previous life, Arthur Wolfson's backers were some known professors in the academy; causing Han Jiho and Anya to fail to include him with forced labor cases.

...

Early Morning, an hour before sunrise.

Arthur Wolfson was waiting for Kevin Springer as he said that he knew who's the culprit and would bring that person to him this morning.

But after a few hours, Arthur knew that something went wrong.

"I guess it's no use to wait for a trash."