'Notice: The final exam for Third Year Students of the School of History, Code: VL178, has been rescheduled to the First of July because of the recent incidents. Furthermore, all classes are suspended till the first week of July. The safety of our students is our first priority and…'
'I wouldn't need to worry about that for a while', I thought. 'I should probably head back then.'
It wasn't safe, even more so for me, probably. After all, a "fallen noble" was still a noble at one point. I might not be among their primary targets, but it would be foolish to think that I wasn't a target at all. Not to mention, the chills from earlier…
Yeah, back home it is.
…
'I'm home,' I said as I pushed open the door.
Huh?
Usually, Zoras' sister would be there to greet her…was she still asleep?
'Lune,' I called out. 'Are you still sleeping?'
The door to her room was open…perhaps she had gone somewhere?
'Are you there?' I asked as I approached her room. Not a sound.
It was then that, once again, I felt a chill run down my spine. Immediately, the world around me began to change, twisting and turning as the ground beneath me shifted. My legs could barely hold my weight anymore. More so than that, I could feel a tangible force pushing down on my shoulders. Almost immediately, I fell to my knees, unable to move any of my limbs.
What…is going on…?
My vision turned into a haze, pulsating, as my ears rang. I could feel my blood rising upwards as a throbbing pain in my head took over my senses. I couldn't see; couldn't hear; couldn't process a single thought. My mind was blank. Not even a "No" or "Am I dead"—nothing. My consciousness slowly slipped away, held back by the flimsiest thread that was the unbearable pain. A thousand needles pieced out from inside my skin as I felt my limbs being stretched. I could feel a burning sensation grow around my neck, overwhelming the already painful throbbing in my head.
'…other…'
I could barely make out a voice.
'…other!'
Was someone trying to talk to me?
Were they behind me?
Quick, I need to protect myself.
Those were my thoughts as I desperately moved my hand, trying to grab something, anything that I could use against them. Of course, looking back now, I'm sure even you can tell, dear reader, there was no way I could win. I couldn't even lift myself up. But thankfully, there was no fight.
'BROTHER!'
A sudden jolt of my shoulders brought me back to my senses. The throbbing pain, the burning sensation, the tangible pressure pushing down upon my shoulders—they were all gone. My vision cleared and I could make out the silhouette in front of me—Lune.
'Brother, are you alright?' she asked, concerned. 'You look pale.'
Well, of course I did.
She lifted me up, carrying me to my room.
'Sorry about this,' I said, to which she simply turned towards me, making a confused face.
'You should rest a bit,' she said, turning back. 'I'll take care of lunch.'
'Thanks…' I said, barely a whisper. Those sensations were gone, but I was still tired from that ordeal.
I need to watch my back, I thought. That was the second time today.
Damn it, what did I get myself into?!
I laid on my bed, too tired to move. One thing was clear now though, there was definitely someone after me. I had to be careful. Zoras, unfortunately, wasn't the kind to keep firearms around. Thus, I didn't have much to defend myself with. The reason for that was simple, he was simply too scared of having them. After all…
That can be a tale for some other time though. For now, I didn't have much to defend myself with. Should I buy myself a gun? It would be a bit strange, but maybe his siblings might be proud of me. More importantly, I'd have something to defend myself with. The best place to buy one would probably be the shop in the city square, but it would be too expensive there. I could ask Fjorcroft…but I concluded that it would be a terrible idea. After all, I would need to give him a compelling reason, and if I drew unnecessary attention towards myself, someone might figure out that I wasn't Zoras, and that would be troublesome.
That was when something caught my eye, something that I hadn't noticed the night before. Perhaps it was because it was dark, or perhaps it was simply an error on my part, but there was a letter on the floor, right next to the table, a letter without a seal.
What could this be about?
I got off and took out the letter, and what followed was a mix of fear and confusion.
Damn it, they're here already. I need to save him…I need to ▬▬▬. Damn you ▬▬▬ DAMN YOU ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▬ ▬▬▬ There is no other way. I didn't want t▬▬▬ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
It was the strangest sight, dear reader, for most of what was written, I couldn't read. It wasn't that there were smudges, or that the handwriting was bad—no. It was as if there was a wall between me and the text in front of me. It was a page long, and I could only make out a few words. There was one name that I could make out though. At the very end of the letter, there was a name that I was familiar with.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬Douglas▬
'Mr…Douglas…?' I thought to myself. 'Did my transmigration really have something to do with artifacts then?'
I put the letter down.
'I need to first figure out if I'm the only one who can't see the contents.'
Damn it, I cursed in my head. I really was in a transmigration story.
But at the very least, if nothing else, I had found a clue. It was going to be dangerous, that much I understood. I had seen similar plots in stories before. If I couldn't see something, that usually meant that I wasn't supposed to see it. I wanted to go home…preferably in one piece, yet already I had two problems in front of me. First the chills: someone was after me, and they definitely weren't friendly. Second, the letter. Of the two problems, the more urgent matter was the former, so I decided to focus on that first. After all, I had no intention of dying yet.
Let's get myself a gun, I thought as I left my room.