Turning Chapter 1326

Kishiar, upon returning, did not speak about the white glove and steered the topic elsewhere. Both of them knew he was deliberately postponing it, but Yuder didn’t mind.

It was Yuder Aile himself who had asked Kishiar to be even more honest with him. This was far better than Kishiar suppressing his feelings and acting purely rational for Yuder’s sake.

All the more so because Yuder could now return to him the way Kishiar had comforted Yuder.

Yuder stared at the strands of golden hair slipping through his fingers. Where should he begin?

“This time’s dream... almost from the start, I realized I was on my way somewhere. I hadn’t expected to have such a dream even here in the capital, so it unsettled me a little. But what surprised me more than that was......”

Yuder’s gaze went to Kishiar’s hand wrapped around his waist. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the little finger—long and beautiful like the rest of his fingers.

“...one of the fingers was gone. His, I mean.”

Kishiar’s gaze followed Yuder’s to the exact same spot.

Yuder went on to recount honestly everything he had seen and heard in the dream. Perhaps because he had acknowledged that the white glove was the Kishiar he wanted to save, speaking about it—just like in the dream—no longer felt as hard or painful as before. Something in his chest ached, but that was all. That pain no longer made Yuder cry or sink into a deep helplessness.

It felt as if this unique calm—born of knowing precisely what he wanted to do—was armoring and guarding his heart.

Kishiar listened without even a breath’s sound. Only when Yuder finished, saying he had awakened upon seeing a rift shot through with white cracks, did Kishiar finally exhale deeply.

“—After waking, I immediately sent a carrier bird with the chief chamberlain’s help, then steadied myself and focused on the lesson. That’s all.”

This dream had been very short. But that didn’t mean its contents were peaceful.

Why was a finger missing from the Kishiar wearing the white glove?

And what kind of omen was it that he had dreamed of him here in the capital, considered the safest place from rifts?

They were questions he couldn’t answer alone, so he wanted to hear Kishiar’s thoughts.

At last Kishiar spoke.

“It’ll be more certain once Nathan—whom I sent to survey the state of the capital and surrounding nations—returns, but my guess is... that dream probably wasn’t a warning that a rift will appear in the capital.”

“You judge it that way as well.”

“You said ‘that side’ was calmer than before. Well, as the one over there said himself, he can’t know everything, so we can’t be absolutely sure.”

The white glove in this dream had neither seemed urgent nor tried to warn Yuder of danger. It was entirely different from the South. Yuder had felt the situations were likely different even then, and hearing Kishiar say the same brought him relief.

“I also think the biggest reason you had this dream is that our connection last night lasted a very long time... and was quite strong. Beyond that, the recent reports of abnormal rifts in Nellarun and other nations could be another cause. You could say the balance not just of the Empire, but of the entire world, is trembling. And on top of that......”

Kishiar hummed softly, searching for the right comparison.

“When a wall is cracked all over and light pours through every gap, it’s far easier to peer beyond and speak with what’s on the other side, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And what’s more, there are people in the capital right now who seem desperate to disturb that balance. I suspect that also plays a part.”

People desperate to disturb the balance.

Thanks to having met Kanna earlier, the answer came quickly.

“You mean Fay’s ‘friends’.”

“Right.”

“So they’re already doing things that could affect the capital’s balance—and just then I happened to meet the right conditions—together prompting the dream...... That’s certainly plausible.”

Since they were to meet Fay tomorrow, those people must already be hiding somewhere in the capital. If they waited quietly, there’d be no problem, but would they?

That was precisely the point Kishiar was making. It was reasonable.

'I’d already resolved to go catch those bastards tomorrow, yet didn’t think to connect it with my dream.'

“Then... we should assume I might have such dreams more often going forward.”

“Watching how things develop will make it clearer.”

“Yes. And the missing finger... what do you think about that?”

“That, too, is only personal conjecture, but two possibilities come to mind......”

Kishiar paused, lifting his gaze. In the red eyes fixed on Yuder flickered an emotion hard to name.

“First: a hypothesis that each time the hole in your soul is restored, a piece of that existence disappears. You’re linked, so it’s entirely possible.”

Yuder’s breath caught for an instant. A slew of guesses flashed through his head, but he swallowed them and asked calmly,

“What’s the second?”

“The incident where we confronted him in Peleta. A hypothesis that he lost it as the price for helping us then.”

Again, Yuder’s mind stilled for a moment. This one was even darker than the first.

“...I truly hope it’s not the second. The first isn’t exactly good either.”

“Basing it on what he told you, I tried to imagine answers I wouldn’t want to give you—and only those two came to mind. Still, the truth could be a third answer I haven’t thought of, so don’t torment yourself.”

The path of his reasoning was so very Kishiar-like that Yuder had no retort. And either answer was persuasive enough to be true.

Yuder sighed, recalling the white glove he had seen in the dream. If the finger had vanished for the first reason, then perhaps originally there had been even more of a body than a hand—that thought tangled his heart.

“Even so... it’s hard not to think about it. Because it’s you.”

“......”

“Still, he said at the end that he’d be of more help going forward, so perhaps next time I’ll learn something new. Better to look at what’s likely to improve than at what’s uncertain.”

Kishiar softened his brows, wearing a half-smile. He seemed to want to say something but didn’t, so Yuder spoke first.

“What were you thinking?”

“Only... that no matter where or in what circumstances, I would have fallen for you all the same. A very unsurprising thought, I suppose.”

“...Pardon?”

“Not a grand truth. And it seems the being beyond has realized that very clearly as well—perhaps that’s a relief.”

Kishiar didn’t explain further. He kissed Yuder’s cheek gently and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° smiled.

“Nathan will be here soon. I don’t want to get up after receiving the best comfort imaginable, but we can’t meet my aide like this, can we? Time to stand.”

As he said, Nathan Zuckerman knocked not long after. With a composure belying the speed with which he had gathered news from Orr and many other nations, he began his report.

“Confirmed: there have been no reports of abnormal rifts within the capital of Orr. In the outskirts, there was one suspicious report this morning, but it’s uncertain.”

“What about other countries?”

“There were several. Reports were most frequent in western nations including Nellarun and Duben, but rumors continue to circulate elsewhere as well. There are even whispers that a phenomenon similar to an abnormal rift was sighted in the northern Semtata Union a few days ago.”

Beyond Orr’s northern border lay a harsh land where nearly no one lived. Vast lakes lay scattered everywhere like rainwater pooled in holes dug carelessly with a spade; despite the abundance of water, almost no useful crops grew. The few places humans could live were small patches of land like islands between the lakes.

Those tiny, sparse city-states were collectively called the Semtata Union. Even in Yuder’s previous life, Awakeners had almost never emerged there until nearly the very end, and disasters had seldom struck—it was considered relatively safe.

'If there are reports even from such a place...... then it’s hardly an exaggeration to say it’s being witnessed across the entire continent.'

Save for exactly one region—the Southern Nation.

Kishiar’s expression suggested he was thinking the same thing as Yuder.

“Good work, Nathan.”

“Is there anything further you wish me to verify?”

“Not for now. However......”

The fingers lightly tapping the desk stopped.

“The Peleta Knights schedule I assigned you for tomorrow will likely be canceled. You’ll observe and assist me with a Cavalry special operation to be conducted within the capital.”

There was only one thing that would be called a special operation in the capital.

It seemed Kishiar had decided to watch Fay’s friends together with Nathan Zuckerman.

Kishiar’s gaze touched both Yuder and Nathan.

“Inform the participating members that I’ll be joining the operation and have them prepare more thoroughly. Above all, make sure there’s no gap in our measures to prevent any harm whatsoever to ordinary residents or buildings in the capital, no matter what happens.”

Yuder and Nathan Zuckerman saluted side by side.

“Understood.”