Morning light slipped gently through the curtains of Milo's room, soft and pale, as if the world itself was still half asleep.
Milo slowly opened his eyes.
For a moment, he didn't move. Just stared at the ceiling in silence, as if trying to reconnect the pieces of his thoughts.
"…I slept too long."
His voice was low and slightly rough from fatigue.
That was unusual. He normally woke up earlier without even thinking about it. But today… his body felt heavier, like it had refused to wake up on time.
He sat up slowly, running a hand through his hair. It was slightly messy, strands falling in different directions from a longer sleep than usual.
His eyes still carried the weight of yesterday.
Without thinking much, Milo reached for his necklace and put it around his neck. The familiar cold touch of it against his skin grounded him slightly.
Then he stood up and walked downstairs.
The house was quiet.
He went straight to the bathroom, splashed water onto his face, and stayed like that for a moment, staring at his reflection in the mirror.
"…Get it together."
After a short pause, he left and headed to the kitchen.
Breakfast was already prepared.
His sister had left it for him, neatly arranged as always. A simple, warm meal that carried a quiet sense of care.
Milo sat down slowly and began eating without much hurry.
For the first time that morning, he allowed himself to lean back into the sofa in the living room afterward.
The silence wrapped around him.
And in that stillness, his mind drifted back to yesterday.
The test.
The exhaustion.
The feeling of being completely outmatched.
His body felt heavier than usual, like even standing required effort he didn't have today.
"I don't want to do anything… I just want to rest today," Milo murmured, leaning back into the sofa as his eyes slowly began to close.
For a brief moment, everything went quiet. Almost peaceful.
Then his phone suddenly vibrated.
"…Tch."
He opened his eyes with visible annoyance and reached for it.
The screen lit up with a new message from Herax.
Milo read it silently.
"Hey Milo, there's a festival today. Hope I'll see you there. They're selling a lot of strange and interesting things. You might like it."
He stayed still for a moment, thumb hovering over the screen.
Milo sighed and tossed his phone onto the table, not caring where it landed. He pulled the pillow closer and covered his head with it, leaning back into the sofa.
His body sank into the cushions as exhaustion took over.
"Maybe another day…"
A few minutes passed.
Without fully realizing it, Milo found himself outside.
Sunlight hit his body as he walked through the streets, heading toward the festival.
He looked slightly annoyed with himself, almost confused.
"Why did I leave the comfort of my home…? I really don't know."
"The next test is tomorrow… I don't even have enough time to train or improve myself, and I'm already exhausted."
Milo thought quietly to himself as he walked.
He passed through the narrow streets and alleys until he finally reached the festival.
The place was full of life.
Vendors stood everywhere around him, selling food, accessories, strange items, and small decorations. Families and children filled the streets with noise and laughter.
The festival had been held to celebrate the new generation… and also the safe return of all the guilds.
Milo looked around at the crowded festival, people moving everywhere around him without pause.
He frowned slightly.
"How the hell am I supposed to find Herax in a place this crowded…?"
Milo let out a quiet sigh.
"No other choice…"
He continued walking through the festival, moving from one place to another.
Strange items were being sold everywhere. Handmade accessories, old tools, mysterious stones, and colorful decorations filled the streets.
At one of the stalls, he noticed several necklaces hanging on display.
One of them looked very similar to the necklace around his own neck.
Milo paused for a brief moment.
A memory of his mother crossed his mind before he quietly continued walking again.
"…So that's why I came here."
He looked ahead silently.
"Nostalgia… My mother and I used to visit places like this all the time when I was little."
Milo continued walking through the festival slowly, his eyes wandering across the crowded streets and glowing stalls.
After a while, a sweet smell caught his attention.
He stopped near a small stand where an old man was selling warm pastries covered with melted sugar and honey.
"…It smells good."
Without thinking too much, Milo bought one and took a small bite as he kept walking nearby.
The warmth and sweetness felt strangely comforting.
A few minutes later, he returned to the stand and ordered another one.
As he reached into his pocket to pay
A hand suddenly placed the money onto the counter before him.
"I'll pay for this one."
Milo froze slightly and turned his head.
Celestine stood beside him calmly, holding a cup of coffee in one hand.
A faint smile rested on her face.
"You really do like sweet things more than coffee, huh?"
Milo looked genuinely surprised for a moment.
"Celestine…? What are you"
Celestine smiled lightly and raised her hand casually in greeting.
"Hello, little Arthur."
Not long later, the two of them sat near a decorated fountain within the festival.
Various accessories and colorful ornaments hung around it, gently moving with the breeze while the sound of flowing water mixed with the distant noise of the crowd.
The atmosphere felt strangely peaceful despite how lively the festival was.
Milo looked at her for a moment before speaking.
"I thought you were busy… so why are you here?"
Celestine hummed softly, resting one hand against her cheek.
"Hm… let's just say today is a little special for me."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"And besides, I made someone else handle my work for today."
"What about Lucas? How is he doing at work?"
Celestine crossed her legs slightly before answering.
"Lucas… he's doing well. Even the orphanage has become more stable thanks to him. He's working very seriously."
A quiet sense of relief appeared on Milo's face after hearing that.
"That's good… I wish him the best."
After answering the questions Milo had asked her, Celestine looked at him quietly before speaking.
"How was yesterday's test? I can still see its effects on you… you look tired, Milo."
Milo quickly adjusted his posture, trying to hide just how exhausted he really was. Then he looked at her with a small smile.
"Ah, really? Well… it definitely wasn't easy. I barely lasted twenty-two minutes."
"Twenty-two minutes?" Celestine repeated, slightly surprised. "That's not bad at all, Milo. Most participants couldn't even last fifteen minutes. You did very well."
Milo lowered his gaze slightly.
"Yeah… but it's still not enough. There was someone who finished the entire test without showing even a hint of exhaustion."
Celestine immediately understood who he meant.
"I know who you're talking about. Information about the person who completed the entire test already reached me."
She rested her chin lightly on her hand.
"That's extremely rare, you know? Someone at that age accomplishing something like that…"
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Even for me, surpassing thirty minutes wouldn't be easy."
"Anyway, Milo… there's no need to exhaust yourself thinking about it too much. Just do your best."
Milo gave a small nod.
"Yeah… I'll do my best."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
Then Celestine suddenly seemed to remember something important.
"Oh, right… regarding the Numbers, there's a very important matter currently being investigated about them. I'll tell you once everything is fully confirmed."
The Numbers…
The moment Milo heard that name, only one person came to his mind.
Toxivar.
What was he doing right now…?
And what exactly was he planning?
Toxivar… the person Milo had only briefly encountered before, yet who had quickly become a strange and unsettling presence in his life, something he couldn't fully understand, but also couldn't ignore.
Milo exhaled slowly.
"Alright… take your time with it."
Celestine stood up from her seat.
"Alright, I think our talk is over. I should go… she'll be really mad at me. I promised I'd be back in a few hours."
She gave Milo a calm look and a soft smile.
"Goodbye, Milo."
She turned and walked away, disappearing into the flow of people in the festival.
Milo stayed seated for a moment, watching her leave in silence.
Then he slowly stood up as well and left the place.
He spent the rest of the day there in quiet. At some point, a book caught his attention. He picked it up and started reading, even though he was never the type to enjoy books.
Still, a thought lingered in his mind.
How does Lilithia feel when she reads?
He kept reading for a while, slowly getting more absorbed than he expected.
Eventually, exhaustion caught up with him, and he fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, evening had already arrived
he slowly began to regain awareness of where he was. For a moment, he was still trapped between the dream he had been lost in and reality, his mind struggling to separate the two.
He blinked a few times, then sat up.
His eyes drifted toward the book that had fallen to the floor while he was asleep.
He reached for it.
But as soon as he picked it up, his gaze caught a strange word on the page… something unfamiliar, something he couldn't understand at all.
"IBLISS… the name that was never meant to be spoken, yet still echoes through the oldest ruins of the world like a memory the world itself refuses to forget."
Milo stared at the strange line for a moment, his brows slightly furrowed.
"…I really don't know how I kept reading this book."
He closed it and tossed it onto the table with clear frustration.
"Completely incomprehensible… from the beginning to where I've reached."
From the kitchen, his sister Melina let out a small laugh.
"As always, you hate books."
Milo glanced at her, slightly annoyed but calmer.
"Oh, Melina… you're back. Welcome."
Melina walked past him, picked up the closed book, and looked at it for a moment.
"This book was given to our father during one of his adventures."
She moved toward one of the shelves.
"I read it too before… and I didn't understand a single thing. But there's no need to understand it. It does its job as decoration in our lovely home."
She placed the book neatly among the other books on the shelf.
Milo glanced toward the shelf where Melina had placed the book.
"Decoration…? Maybe…"