"..." A wave of silence flowed between us.
"Eighteen thousand and a hundred years... That owner is still not tired?"
"Not yet. And somehow this seems relatee again with the Guardian of Death." I answered instantly. "Her dissappearance was also eighteen thousand and a hundred years ago. She wasn't killed, but her dissapearance was linked with the dissapearance of the third Aethalgard Heir too."
"The dots are connecting, but I can see that there is still a lot of information left to be collected."
"True. And I am contemplating between how to exactly solve this case now. I think I am the only person who is aware. If the Guardian of Everlasting Health knows too, then I guess I have reached one turn away from a dead end." I let out a sigh as I leaned forward, letting my head droop.
"But what seems to be the thing with this second Aethalgard Heir that you are worried about?"
"Is that she wants me to leave the throne of the Death." I swiftly answered despite burning up in fever and being completely exhausted. "I don't exactly know what is up with her. I know there is another link to her, with the missing previous Guardian of Death. I think she was behind the dissapearance. This is just my thought after having been treated like an obstacle by her.
"It seems... That she is the reason why the Esclipse division is left with only two Guardians. Three including me. Two are the Aethalgard and the rest belong to the Rise division. The situation between Rise and Esclipse is pretty racist you can say."
"I mean. It does sound like it. The two division names itself. It is common for heros to hate villains."
"..."
"What? I didn't say anything wrong. Did I?"
"I don't know why... But it still sounded racist. However, I guess you are right. Some villains are rather awkward. Then here is the thing... What if they aren't really bad or have done anything bad just yet? It is just a name afterall." I added after a short while, as I lifted my head back up. "And if I were you, I would have restrained from saying villains and heroes. Just say Rise and Esclipse. You don't want to seem controversial... Do you?"
I added a smile to make it seem like a joke. But he seemed to take it seriously since he had fixed his expression as soon as I had said that.
"Anyways... So I see that you have a new sword. The design is very pretty." He awkwardly pointed at Spectrum beside me on the bed.
"Thanks. I don't know how it had gotten into my inventory, but I have been using it pretty often nowadays. So I don't really store it away. It is very handy during urgent situations since it is a cursed sword and it can possess it's owner." I picked it up by it's white handle and pulled the blade out to reveal the starry navy blue steel. "I would have named it poison beauty if I could. But it already had a name. Spectrum."
"Well you can name your first one." He answered, a little impulsive. "The only one you had back then." I don't know why he remarked about it like that, but since it was my only sword, it got through a lot of hard situations without even snapping.
"Then I would name it Obsidian. I think it is more suited then anything else. Obsidian is said to be the strong, and the cracked lava pattern... Well..."
"Obsidian is a nice name." He answered while smiling. As I sheathed back Spectrum, I was actually listening to what it was saying. It was complaining about how my other blades will never outshine it and thus... It deserved to name them.
"By the way Aefia... Are you aware of something?" Helio's face dropped back to a sudden stare.
"What am I supposed to be aware of?"
"That when you left, the entire competition didn't even give it a mind. Let alone, they didn't care about what you would do next or whether you will try to solve this situation by yourself."
"Oh shit... You are right..."
How come this matter went as a negligence to the owner and he still wasn't reacting to such a case? Is it just because losing one participant wasn't going to make a difference? But surely, if it were a confidential organization in this world too, then the owner must at least be concerned about the information leaking outwards.
Or maybe, the owner just thought of me as a weak one who was too naive to speak about it.
"I don't think I want to give it a mind as of now." I answered while squinting my eyes due to a sudden headache. This was an added thing to worry about later on. For now, I need to work on getting back to the capital and then worrying about how to get the Guardian of Everlasting Health out of my way. I had a mysterious key for something that Puppet didn't quite explain. I was going to have to investigate what was up with her.
Especially since Puppet gave me the keys without telling me... She is definitely suspicious as of the current situation. I just don't have enough prove that she isn't being a trouble for the Guardians.
"By the way... Aefia."
"What?" I irritatingly replied while cutting my gaze at him.
"What is a Guardian in truth?" He asked while flinching with the glare that I had just given him. "You don't have to answer it right now if you don't want."
"Guardians are the protectors of their own nations. They are to keep their nation safe from external threats like the ones from the competition owner." I answered regardless, while keeping a deadpan face.
He paused for a while before asking another question. "Then which nation do you protect?"
"The nation I just escaped from. That is why I need to return to the capital." After this, he didn't ask anymore questions, and I sent Spectrum into my inventory while looking towards the pillow on the bed. My eyelids were heavy again, and my headache was causing me enough problem so I thought I would rest up before I work on escaping.
"Cindy." I spoke into the air while looking forward with my drooping eyelids. The little chimera appeared in front of me obediently. "Supervise the area of the statue for me." And with that, not even hesitating, my little pet went out on its mission. This is why I had asked Cindy to do it. Puppet was more likely to be able to fetch me an item or protect me. Cindy was a third eye.
"You have tamed it well." Helio spoke while standing up.
"Thanks." I spoke while letting out a deep breathe. My lungs were burning, and so was my forehead. "Don't you have aspirin with you right now? Or a painkiller of any sort?" I asked while using my index and middle finger to press onto the side of my forehead. I was sleepy and in pain, but still somehow had the strength to talk until now, and discuss about so many things. I guess that is why I am always the one who has to suffer all the time. I make myself suffer.
"I do." He immediately replied while signing me to hold out my palm. I watched as a few pills dropped onto the centre of my palm from his bare hands. "Try these. They were crafted by compressing many herbs and has a bit of healing energy embedded onto them."
"Did you make these by yourself?" I asked, amazed. "That is impressive honestly."
"Thanks. I have been bored for sometime now, so I have been going around and collecting artifact-grade herbs from some small dungeons."
"So you have been taking a few dungeons like this? During your free time?"
"Well I guess I was trying to survive while learning more about my own powers. Then maybe if I ever could, I would have contributed to helping you pursue your research about this competition." He nervously replied, while scratching the back of his head.
"That was thoughtful of you." I replied despite being aware that he might just have taken a wrong step with wanting to help me. My research includes high risk and being caught. If he can't maneuver the situation to save himself in urgent cases, then there is absolutely no need of his help for the research. And to think, I am not quite researching... I am doing more then just thinking. I am stepping between the boats of life and death frequently.
Regardless, I swallowed the two pills without a second glance, and I could instantly tell the cooling sensation you would get if you take a cough syrup. "Wow... Is this... Cough medicine?"
"It may seem like it, but every artifact type of herb has the cooling sensation. I had experimented it on myself and I was pretty shocked the first few times too."
I didn't say anything expect nod, then I looked back towards the bed and back at him. "Is it alright if I were left alone to rest?" I asked while smiling.
"No problem." He answered and stepped out of the room. And as soon as he was gone, I stood up. Then walked towards the window, to take a good look at the location. We seemed to be in quite the luxury place in an urban city with a high-end lobby downstairs. Multi-coloured glass ceiling with the afternoon sun casting shadows that creatured shapes onto the floor. It looked like a place a royal family would be staying at if they were on a vacation.
But most importantly, I wanted to know just how far away from the location I wanted to be at, was. It looked as if it weren't far from the forest and it was definitely at the edges of the island. Since the statue wasn't much far from the annex that we had stayed at, then I was guessing this hotel was a twenty minutes trip away from the annex. The statue from the annex was another fifteen while running.
"Thrity-five minutes then. I need to keep this in mind." I spoke to myself as I memorized the time, ignoring all sort of illnesses. Whether it was thrity-five minutes of rest or of walking, was something I gave Cindy to worry about. If the chimera was well alert and well trained, then I have no doubt that it would be able to suit the situation for me before I could approach it.
For now, I went back to bed and slumped against the pillow. My fever was causing me chills all over my limbs, so I pulled the blanket over my shoulders and shut my eyes for the time being. If Puppet were a sincere and loyal crew of mine, then it could do the waking up for me.
***
By the time I had woken up again, it was way past ten at night. I could still feel the chills, and my condition seemed to have worsened. My arms and legs were functionable, but I still had to drag them towards the door while clasping my mouth with my palm. I had a feeling he would still be awake at this time.
Blood escaped the side of my fingers as I coughed up a little bit more. My fingers hesitating against the door knob until I decided, I could have gotten my answer from Spectrum. It was a knowing sword and it could tell me about whether this constant pain at my left arm was something I needed to worry about more consequently.
I withdrew it from my inventory and placed it towards the side of the bed. My hand still tightly clasped at my mouth. I reached for the cape that was hanging off my right shoulder. And used Spectrum to cut off a square to use it as a piece of cloth. I could tell that my sword was worried, but it was also thinking of me as stupid.
"What–?!" I managed while still coughing out a few drops of crimson liquid. "Did I just happen to get tuberculosis? Out of a sudden? Or is it my weakened lungs acting up from those toxins again?"
[No. But your cursed blood has simply rejected the medication. And your energy is too full for you to handle, you should use it for something. Don't tell me you don't know about any sudden pain in the left arm signals heart problems. I thought you were smarter then this.]
"Well I am not when I am panicking. Besides–cough–not all sorts of left arm pain results in heart disease."
[Anyways. The curse of an entire month that allows you to regain connection with me, will reject any artifact grade medication and avoid you from properly healing. That is why you have ended up with stitching and bandages. However, if you want to manage your pain and fever, you could take chemical medications. It may work. But it will have very little effect on you.]
"So my headache and fever is because of you? What about the possession? There much have been some sort of side-effects after you let of of control."
[The possession did have its exahausting price paid from you, but I am a hundred percent certain that my curse had nothing to do with your fever and headache.]
"Then it must be my body reacting to having over worked." I let out a deep breathe and then inhaled again.
[You are a maniac on the battlefield. You should have had some restrains though, Master. As a sword, I was honestly scared of you. At the way you were wielding two swords and taking care of it all by yourself... Did you think of yourself as being a robot?]
"I don't have my mind with me during intense battles like that." I used my other hand to hold my forehead.
Suddenly, the door swung open and I could already tell who it was.
"Aefia... I think I need to tell you something." Helio spoke at my direction. His eyes first widened at my current situation. "What happened to–"
"Ignore it. I am fine. What is the thing?" I asked while wiping my face and then covering my mouth again when I started coughing up more crimson liquid.
"The empress..."
My eyes perked up and so did my mind. I went hyper alert without even willing to.
"She is in a bit of a situation having caught the disease that has been going around as of recently."
I didn't want to care about that woman again... However, I still felt a bit upset.
"She is... Sick in coma you mean?"