Chapter 169 - A Plan

I tilted my head to the side.

"You really aren't aware of that other you? It was screaming about a price to cheat death."

The red piece of paper trembled slightly.

"That... that sounds really familiar. I still do have some sort of feeling that there is some sort of price. However, it feels vague."

My eyes narrowed.

"Back when you were still alive, did you have any sort of split personality? Something like two people living inside the same body?"

The red piece of paper hummed softly.

"I don't think so. I've just always been... me."

Osric raised an eyebrow.

"Does this matter even have that much significance? He simply split into two separate personalities, right?"

Leon rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"Though it does pose an interesting question. What would you become if you were split into two personalities?"

Osric clicked his tongue.

"Doesn't that just depend on how you were split?"

The red piece of paper trembled.

"Can we just... stop talking about this?"

I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger.

"It seems like you are getting closer to the truth about yourself, but your mind is trying to stop it. Aren't you curious about what will happen next?"

The red piece of paper let out a soft sigh.

"I don't know."

The necklace trembled.

"Noah, if it hurts, just stop thinking about it!"

It then turned to me.

"I think it's best we leave this topic alone now."

I mentally clicked my tongue, trying my best not to show my displeasure.

"Alright then."

The necklace sighed.

"Thank you. Anyways, I want to meet my old friends! Can we get out of wherever this place is?"

Leon's eyebrow twitched.

"Um... I think quite some time has passed since you were alive."

The necklace scoffed.

"So what? I don't care if they are a little bit older, they are still my friends!"

Osric shook his head.

"It may be more than just being a bit older."

The necklace looked at each of us, pausing slightly before each time.

"What are you talking about? Just tell me."

The red piece of paper audibly took a deep breath.

"From what I can remember, I started this journey a few centuries ago. Though I don't know exactly how long, it should be roughly three hundred years."

The necklace trembled.

"Huh? How does that-"

It cut itself off, as though coming to a sudden realization.

"Oh."

Several thoughts spinned in my mind, but gradually came together to make me give an invitation.

"Say, since so much has changed, would you like me to show you around?"

The red piece of paper let out a faint humming sound.

"I don't see why not."

The necklace looked at the paper before nodding as well.

"Alright!"

I pointed towards the pale grey light behind them.

"Could you make things better with your child though? He's basically been alone for however long you left him here."

After hearing that, the pale grey light began to let out soft sobbing sounds. That was when the necklace and piece of paper hurried over and began comforting it.

I didn't really pay attention to the things they said, but the sobbing sounds were getting a bit quieter as time went on.

As for the reason why I decided to invite the three to come with me so that I could show them around, it wasn't because I was feeling generous or anything. It was more so I still wanted to talk with the piece of paper about how he was split in two.

After all, I seemed to be having a similar situation on my hands.

Then there was also all of their abilities.

The child had some sort of healing ability and could cause quite a bit of damage when it threw a tantrum.

Amy had that strange decay magic which was quite potent. Although it wasn't the most foolproof, it could be quite effective in certain situations.

As for Noah, that strange ability to slow time was more than enough for me to want to have him. Even if there weren't the child and Amy that could continue attacking, the simple fact I could teleport during that was good enough.

Though the only problem was finding a way to convince them to help me. From their perspective, I was a random stranger that decided to lend a helping hand.

More importantly, I needed to find ways to ask Noah about his split personalities without being too overt about it. From before, when my body was piloted on its own, it seemed to perform actions that I would likely do as well.

As such, it didn't seem that harmful.

However, it was better to know more. Perhaps it was actually a good thing that could be taken advantage of.

Eventually, the sobbing stopped. The family came over to us. Then, the necklace spoke up.

"How do we get out of here anyways?"

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

"I can take care of that, don't worry."

Suddenly, the holes beneath us mended. Then, the ceiling rapidly opened up. In the next moment, we shot upwards, on a pillar of earth. A fairly loud rumbling sound filled the air as the ceiling above us continued to make way.

The red piece of paper gasped.

"Your ability to manipulate earth even surpasses mine!"

Leon shrugged.

"That's because I focused all my effort on one spell instead of branching off into so many."

He stared at the red piece of paper closely.

"Unlike you."

The red piece of paper flinched before letting out a long sigh.

"Originally, I attempted to pursue the highest attainment with water magic, but found myself at an unfathomable bottleneck."

Leon chuckled.

"There are plenty of those, I'll have you know."

The red piece of paper laughed awkwardly.

"In the end, I gave up on it and began learning more recognized elements of magic like lightning and earth. My progress was definitely much faster because of my previous knowledge of magic diagrams."

Leon sighed.

"But didn't provide a substantial strength increase."

The red piece of paper hummed.

"Perhaps not, but there is much more versatility in understanding more elements."

Leon rolled his eyes.

"At the end of the day, absolute strength will win against everything else."

The red piece of paper seemed to shrug by folding its corners.

"Perhaps. But sometimes our goals are not as simple as winning a fight."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"And what kind of goal would that be?"

The red piece of paper coughed.

"Well, the thing that comes to mind... is resurrection. By using different elements, I could perform various other experiments, most namely the earth element and bringing back people in the form of plant-like creatures."

Leon rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger for a moment while looking upwards.

"Fair enough. Perhaps there is merit to learning more elements depending on your goals. I do believe that sticking to one will suit me the most, however."

I didn't say anything, but my eyebrow jumped slightly when I heard Leon say that. In all honesty, I thought he was going to stick to his opinion stubbornly. Perhaps suitable logic is all that one needs to convince Leon.

Eventually, the ceiling above us parted to reveal the bright blue sky.

Well, it wasn't that bright. In fact, it was kind of hazy. But relative to how dark it was underneath the ground, it was quite bright.

Upon seeing the sky, the piece of paper muttered.

"Snow..."

I looked over to it.

"Does it remind you of anything in particular?"

The piece of paper let out a soft sigh.

"When it first stopped snowing for me was the first time I met Amy."

The necklace trembled excitedly.

"I remember that too!"

Then, the tone from the piece of paper dropped.

"And after the day I lost Amy, was when it first began snowing."

After a moment of silence, the necklace perked up.

"Don't worry about it so much, honey. From now on, we will never be apart!"

The red piece of paper let out a soft chuckle.

"Yes. I hope that is the case."

Leon cleared his throat.

"Regardless, the time I've spent here is a little too long. I should hurry back to my village and attend to my responsibilities."

Osric put his fist in front of his mouth and coughed.

"I should be going too."

I nodded.

"Goodbye then, you two."

Leon smirked.

"We should meet again sometime. Hope you have fun with your tour."

The red piece of paper and necklace similarly said their goodbyes.

Then, a giant arc of earth burst out of the ground, taking Leon with it. As for Osric, he transformed into a wolf before disappearing into the forest.

The necklace let out a soft hum.

"So, where should we go first?"

I shrugged my shoulders and pointed in an arbitrary direction.

"Maybe that way?"

The necklace trembled.

"Weren't you supposed to be our tour guide?"

I smirked.

"Yeah.. This is my tour."