Chapter 188 Ivica's Letter [1] [Bonus !]

As I approached the gates of the academy in my drenched clothes, the guards looked confused but immediately swung the gates open when they recognized me.

I made my way inside, but the campus was eerily quiet with no students in sight.

When I arrived at the Special dormitory, the receptionist was surprised to see me still on campus.

"S-Sir Ares, I didn't expect to see you here. All the students have already left for the tournament at 'The Golden Colosseum'," she said in disbelief.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her.

"When did they leave?" I asked, drenched clothes clinging to my skin.

As Ares turned to face her, the receptionist couldn't help but notice the way his drenched clothes clung to his toned body, causing her cheeks to flush slightly.

However, she quickly composed herself and spoke with urgency in her voice.

"T-They left a few hours ago, and the opening ceremony is tomorrow. I've been asked to inform you that as you're the representative of the Soreh Academy, you need to be at the Colosseum earlier than anyone else because they'll be conducting interviews with the representatives of every academy," she stated.

I nodded, acknowledging the information, and said, "I'll head out to the tournament location early morning tomorrow. Thank you for letting me know." With that, I made my way to my room.

"W-What? By tomorrow? But everyone has already left though. How can the representative of our academy be late?" the receptionist muttered to herself in surprise.

...

...

As I walked towards the lift, I heard the receptionist muttering under her breath about me still being on the academy premises. Ignoring her comments, I continued on to my room.

Once inside, I sat on the bed with Ivica's letter in my hand, eager to read her final words to me.

"Poor half dragon, I thought she was lucky enough that you got that strengthening fruit, and her life would have been saved," Irethiel remarked.

"...."

I didn't know how to respond to that, as I too believed I could have saved Ivica if only I had arrived sooner.

But as I looked at her body, it became clear that she had been dead for at least three days.

Despite the gruesome scene, something caught my attention, and I began to piece together what had happened.

It finally clicked in my mind why Evica still needed that strengthening fruit, even though it wouldn't typically have an effect on her body.

With each new realization, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together, and I finally had a clear picture of how the currently weakened Evica would become stronger in the future to aid Lucas in the battle against the demon lords.

As I sat on my bed, holding Evica's letter in my hand and lost in thought, Irethiel spoke up.

"I'm curious, why didn't you give her sister that strengthening fruit now that you have it with you?" she asked.

I looked up at her and paused, considering my response.

"...Things would have only gotten worse if I had given her the fruit right after the funeral. She might have regretted that if I had arrived just a bit earlier, her sister might still be alive.

In fact, She may have even blamed me for everything as she was still grieving," I explained.

!?

"Why would she blame you for her sister's death? You brought the fruit for her, it wasn't your fault that half-dragon died before you arrived, right?" Irethiel questioned.

"That's ...just how the world works. People often need someone to blame for their loss," I replied with a weary sigh, thinking back on the many times I had encountered this type of situation.

"...."

Nonetheless, I shook my head and came out of my thoughts as I opened the envelope and saw that there was a letter consisting of two pages pinned together which Ivica had left me. I began reading the first page.

***

Ivica's Letter Page 1~

Dear Ares,

If you are reading this letter, then it means that I am no longer in this world. It brings me great sadness to know that I won't be able to witness your future achievements.

But I am confident that with your growing strength, you will be able to face the demon lords without much difficulty in the future.

I hope that my sister can be of help to you in your quest, but please be patient with her as she can be stubborn at times. She tends to avoid worldly matters and thinks that everything is a drag.

There is so much I want to share with you about her, but I'm afraid I don't have much time. So, let me get straight to the point of this letter.

You may wonder why I'm writing this letter to you. The truth is, there are a few things I need to tell you, but before I do that, I request that you take care of my sister and help her if she ever needed you. She may not want your help, but she needs someone to guide her.

And please give her that strengthening fruit when you get your hands on it in the future. I understand that our previous deal may not hold much value now that I am gone, as my sister is not strong enough to offer any help at the moment and she herself needs protection.

However, I assure you that when she becomes stronger in the future, she will definitely repay your kindness.

...

But, seeing your growth, now I also got to know that you wouldn't need her help in the future.

So, I just ask you to consider the information in this letter as part of the payment until Evica becomes stronger.

Now that I've made my unreasonable request and hope you'll accept it, let's move on to the crucial part that I couldn't speak to you about while I was alive due to the restrictions.

Let's start with the day you arrived in this world. Although we met for the first time during the entrance examination, I already knew the exact day your residual soul arrived in this world.

My sister and I were already aware of your arrival date through our constellation. We share the same constellation, which might surprise you as it's not common for two avatars to be chosen by the same constellation. However, we are an exception.

And although it's forbidden to mention the name of our constellation, I assume that you already know its identity and abilities due to your knowledge of the future.

Our constellation also warned us that an A-Rank monster would appear from a gate breakout on the Floating Island that day and that you would be killed by it.

However, your master Mika, who usually only involves herself in matters concerning her, miraculously happened to be near that gate at the time.

You might have wondered how someone like Mika would bother to show up at the gate breakout, or how she even knew about the breakout, right?

But... the truth is she owed me a favor and upon my request, she arrived just in time to save you from the monster and ensure your survival.

"Well, I don't want to take credit for SAVING YOU or anything like that. I just helped because I knew you were the 'One Who Knows The Future' and I needed your help in finding the strengthening fruit."

And before you start thinking about why I didn't arrive there and take care of that monster myself, let me just say in my defense that everything involving you is complicated in this world.

I didn't want to draw attention to my weak sister, as we share the same identity. Moreover, our constellation warned me not to make a move myself. I knew that if I got involved with you, 'they' would come after my sister once I was gone, and she is not strong enough to defend against them. I hope you can understand my intentions.

And now that I think about it, I understand why you were so suicidal and fought that monster, even knowing you couldn't defeat it. But perhaps it's not my place to comment on that. Let's just move on from that part.

PAGE 1 END—

***

"...."

As I read through the first page, I paused to reflect on what I had just learned.

Firstly, the revelation of a constellation having two avatars was something new to me, as I had always thought that each constellation could only choose one person as its avatar.

"I never knew that was possible," I murmured to myself, surprised by this newfound knowledge.

Although Evica had mentioned that they were an exception, I couldn't help but wonder if there were others out there in a similar situation. 'Maybe it was because they were twins?' I thought.

As having two avatars could potentially provide an extra layer of protection, especially since not all constellations got along well together.

If a particular constellation was targeted, the avatars would likely be the first to come under attack. Killing the avatar would weaken the constellation, making them vulnerable to further attacks.

'What if a constellation has two avatars? Would the constellation's power weaken after the death of one of their avatars, or would they still remain relatively unaffected?'

As I pondered this, a thought occurred to me.

"...I wonder if Evica's constellation's power has been weakened now that one of their chosen avatars, Ivica, is dead," I muttered to myself.

However, after a moment of pondering, I decided to push aside my questions about the constellation's avatars and moved on to the second matter mentioned in the letter - Mika's unexpected presence at the gate outbreak.

Knowing Mika's "Couldn't care less" personality well, I always wondered what had motivated her to be there.

"So, she was there because of Ivica's request huh?" I muttered to myself, feeling a sense of understanding wash over me. It all made sense now.

"...."