Chapter 189: Water Spilled, Can't Be Returned

Several options ran through his mind but

there was no time to think about it, uncorking the bottle and checking the green liquid inside. He glanced at Iola, her face was pale and streaked with questionable fluids. He took the bottle in his hand and sipped the liquid into his mouth.

.

.

.

.

.

He knelt down beside her and gulped. The slightly minty flavor went down his throat, he blinked and he waited for the effects.

Timothy couldn't help it—he still couldn't help but trust other people.

Even if it was just a young kid.

But he soon deciphered the taste and made out the ingredients, its colors and flavor was different due to some varying component here and there but it was still the same.

At least he hoped he got it right.

Magical ingredients were stranger than normal cooking ones. But there weren't any weird effects that happened to him so he was confident. Uninjured people didn't really experience anything—

Concentrate.

He bent down and touched her face as gently as he could. He wiped away the liquids on her face, fighting back the urge to cough, but soon he ended up sploshing some of the potion on her face.

If he moved her too much—what if she ends up dead or something. He made her choke on her blood to death? "Iola? Can you hear me? Blink open one of your eyes or twitch your fingers. I'll let you drink this if you can."

There was no response.

It was as if he was talking to a fully unconscious one. Timothy braced himself and quickly opened her jaw, checking if there was anything else stuck that could choke her. One hand on the bottle, he used his other to rub her back the tiniest bit; he had no idea what he was doing. "If you need to spit something—"

Something regurgitated from the back of her throat and she spat something out, or rather weakly coughed it out. It was red and black and might have looked something like a furball—he didn't pay any more attention, instead he pressed the opening of the bottle into her mouth.

It was time to drink at last and he assisted her with it.

.. .

The night was cold and Penelope Primrose covered herself with a cloak. She wrapped it around her shoulders and paced around the courtyard, normally at this time Students were supposed to be back in their quarters or dormitory, or even the other publicly available areas like the cafeteria—but she was outside.

However by definition of staying within premises of Kraelonia Academy, she was still considered to be inside, she placed a hand over her eyes and looked at the moon and stars.

Distant figures in the sky, unfathomable and unmeasurable.

A mystery.

But somewhat romantic in its sense, or even alluring. Still it wasn't exactly like that when she was very much alone. She tapped her foot on the ground and clicked her tongue, "I cannot believe it that Timothy is tardy, but even more than that is Elliot himself—"

"Big sis it's cancelled." The boy appeared out of thin air and ran over towards her.

Penelope stared at the boy, "You're… now's really not the time to be making jokes, Eli." She tried to smile.

"I apologize but it's the truth." Elliot stared at her unflinchingly and he didn't dare look away.

"But why? Did you cancel on him—"

"No, it was him who… requested it."

His tone said it all, Penelope stayed silent for about ten seconds before Elliot ran his fingers through his hair. A sigh escaped his lips, "Something came up and it was an emergency it seems."

Penelope's brows furrowed, "What happened? Do you have any idea Eli… why are you still here? He could have needed some help—"

"He refused it."

"B-but—" Penelope turned away from her brother and tightened her cloak, she started on her back to the Academy. "He may have gotten too embarrassed since it was you, I'll be checking on him. Angelika is in the cafeteria if you need to find her."

"Penny!"

Paying no heed, she continued on back inside and ran for Dewrowan Tower. She had no idea where he could have possibly gone, but she thought he would go there. Where else would he go?

The Mage halted in her steps.

"Would he go there or back to Han's…?" She had left the cafeteria earlier to see Timothy but surely they would head back to his closest friend if they needed help with something right?

.. .

"Me again?" The young woman that Han now recognized as Teresa, virtue of her getting called twice and now thrice in the row gave a smile. Once again the attention was on her and she folded her hands together, "Two truths and one lie, hmm—"

"Is there enough room for another one?" Someone asked. A smile on their face as the newcomer gazed at everyone on the table.

Diov's face scrunched up slightly but he said not a word. Lady Angelika blinked and others had similar reactions. Sir Leon de Harrington immediately looked past the man for a second before his gaze returned back to the man, "Ah, I believe there is enough room, Roux Arcois?"

"Oh, you guys know me?" The man scratched the back of his head, "I didn't expect that."

"There is a need to be well-informed." Sir Harrington answered back, "It seems that your attention has been caught by the little spectacle here?"

"Yes, it did."

"It seems to be a new game, you have a good eye." Sir Harrington was the one doing the talking for them. The boisterious crowd settled and even shied down.

Except for someone.

"Really?" Roux Arcois asked.

He needed to intervene.

Han coughed and waved a hand, "Er… you can give it a try and decide for yourself?" He finally managed a word in. Even if he was Han, it didn't mean that he wouldn't get awed by someone who was probably the highest-level person around their age. "There's nothing new under the sun, you know?"

"Indeed."

Lady Angelika spoke up from beside Diov, "If you wish to sit down—" Penelope had left already.

"I think I can fit here." The man squeezed himself between Han and Donovan, without much trouble. They were eyeing the bottle with a curious look. His fingers reached for the top and he flashed Han a smile, "Would you let me spin it… Han was it?"

Han didn't have time to speculate on how the guy caught his name but—

He bumped shoulders with someone and winced. Until his eyes widened, and he glanced at Ellynn, "Oh oops, sorry." He got caught up with the game. Did she look alright?

"I'm fine—"

"Excuse me?" Han felt a tug on his shirt. He glanced back to see Roux Arcois motion to the bottle, "Can I give it a spin?"

"Fair's fair, we didn't have anyone but Han let it spin in the past rounds." Donovan grumbled. He eyed Roux Arcois and gave them a nasty look. Somehow this guy cared about status when it was concerning the Noble but ranks was something he batted his eye over with?

Sir Leonardo de Harrington cleared his throat, "It wouldn't be bad to change things up. Even a little, would you mind letting him do it?"

Two truths and one lie. It was an event that attracted a top ranking Student? If Han could read profiles, then he would have done it already. He hadn't exactly tried it but he had a feeling that he couldn't. He handed them the bottle and leaned back slightly, easing the pain of hunching his shoulders too much.

"You just spin this around and to whomever it lands on… they're the one supposed to utter whatever it is that was intended?" Roux Arcois asked.

The man had a smile on his face.

From their white robes, Han would have guessed that they were a Healer but was it something more investigative? But more than that—Han knew that time was ticking for him.

He nodded, "Uh, yeah."

"I'll do it now then." The white-robed man spun the bottle.

Time shouldn't have mattered that much. Young men and women could hop into their bed and then wake up whenever and have the energy of facing the day, it was the wonder of youth.

But Han didn't have the luxury of that.

Or rather Han Jing didn't have the luxury of it—what if his mother checked on his body and declared it as a corpse? He could already imagine waking up to a coffin if he left his body for too long. He didn't think about it before, but that was possible right?

There was a forced Soul Ejection—and Soul Waves so maybe he wasn't supposed to be that worried, and yet his mind was racing with possible outcomes.

"Oh it's you."

"Huh?" Han raised his head and saw the mouth of the bottle facing him and rubbed his face. "I guess it's me." Maybe Han was just tired or he was worried about relying on Soul Waves again and so he scratched his head. "I'm a Peasant, I killed Gargoyles with a beer bottle like this and I have a brother?"

"Easy. The second one is a lie." Donovan snorted.

"Second to that." Lu Rei raised a hand.

"I can believe Han could do that?" Lady Angelika tilted her head. "He is resourceful."

Russel scoffed. "A beer bottle, is he some insane Drunk Class? A brother is easier to believe."

"True. It's like Calum and his Dragon all over again." Teresa crossed her arms over her chest.

Diov rubbed his chin, "It's the third one? Although I have no way to verify it."

"Are you really a Peasant?" Roux Arcois asked.

The eyes of the people were on him and he didn't exactly like it. Besides, he really had thought that this one would be an easy one. He wanted to bail out right now.