Ep 166. Plead Your Case. (5)

Ep 166. Plead Your Case. (5)

Ep 166. Plead Your Case. (5)



“...Goodness.”

Serenis sighed out loud as everyone fell silent to the professor’s sudden shouting.

And, realizing how loudly he’d yelled, Karas shamefully cleared his throat.

“Ahem...apologies. But Light’s just told me that we’re in...the Archive?”

“...That would be correct, yes.”

As soon he heard the dragonlord’s affirmation, Karas’ eyes wandered off, inspecting every nook and cranny of the pseudo library they were in.

It was the strangest scenery: there was seemingly nothing above them, and a blue sky beneath. They were clearly on solid ground, but he couldn’t perceive it whatsoever other than the hardness of its surface.

And finally, the professor’s gaze fell upon the individual in the distance, rapidly waving his quill along the length of the scroll he held.

“If this is the Archive...that’s...?”

Zenon’s hand soon stopped along the scroll. He quietly raised his gaze to meet the academic’s eyes.

“Zenon. The Historian, as you know it.”

“Then-!”

Karas scrambled to his feet, shaking Light off without even realizing to approach the deity. It was almost as if he’d forgotten how exhausted his body was.

“Is it true that...the Archive retains the entirety of Nerion’s past?”

“More or less, yes.”

“Then...is it truly possible to bring back memories of the dead?”

Zenon placed his quill against his chin, musing at the professor’s question.

“To bring back memories of the dead...is that what Felicir’s told you? An intriguing notion.”

Although his expression didn’t seem particularly amused, Zenon nonetheless let out a derisive snort.

After carefully placing his scroll onto a nearby shelf, he quickly walked alongside the aisle’s length. But instead of searching for the correct tome, this time the deity seemed to pick one out at random, revealing a random page to hold out towards the professor.

“One could read the past, yes.”

“...”

“But memories? No such things exist here.”

“...I see.”

Karas’ shoulders instantly slumped in disappointment.

‘The dead...’

Light slowly approached her teacher from behind, peeking at his forlorn eyes.

“Is this person that important to you, professor?”

“...”

One glance at Light was all it took for Karas to shake his head.

‘However important a person may have been...how could it outweigh their importance in the present?’

He’d already attempted to chase the past at the expense of the present. And as it turned out, the result was nothing but regret.

And so, he found the question easier to answer than before.

“No. No, not at all.”

In retrospect, Karas’ answer had been decided the moment he’d awoken; the Historian’s response was but a nail in the coffin.

But once again, his student’s keenness would refuse to let the matter go.

If anyone could read the academic’s expression, it was Light – and far be it from her to simply let the matter sit at ‘it’s not important anymore.’ Not when she’d made the entire trip here, and certainly not when she now knew that the matter was concerning herself.

The half abruptly turned to face Zenon, interrupting the deity before he could resume his work.

“Excuse me!”

“...Yes?”

“Can we at least read your records then? It seemed like you knew which books to pick out earlier. You would know where my past records are...right?”

“I do. But I cannot allow that.”

“Huh? Why?? Are these books another ‘only a deity can read these’ – kind of thing?”

“No. I simply dislike having others touch my records.”

“...”

Under different circumstances, Karas may have elected to laugh.

This time, he hurriedly turned to Light with an apologetic look.

“Light, it’s alright. I’m no longer-“

“It’s someone important to you.”

“...Eh?”

Light examined herself, looking for something that might’ve changed.

She certainly didn’t feel any. And she couldn’t see any, either.

“...Did you do something?”

“You will know in time. And...”

Snap!

The deity snapped his fingers again, turning his head to face Serenis.

Only then did the dragonlord’s body resume its movement, her eyes blinking for the first time in a long while.

“Serenis. Your business here is finished, I trust?”

“...What? Hardly. You’ve yet to answer Karas and Light in proper, and I’ve yet to address your divinity-“

“Finished, then.”

With a wave of his hand, everyone present could feel a sudden force that began moving them against their will; each person moved squarely towards the entrance in the exact same manner they’d entered in.

And in the distance, Zenon remained standing, giving a curt nod towards his leaving guests.

“Worry not, we will meet again. I’ll be expecting your arrival.”

“Wait! You-“

“Until next time, Serenis.”

Thud!

“...”

In mere moments, Serenis found herself in the obsidian chamber once more, outside of the Archive’s gates. Light, Karas and Aymeia were likely sprawled on the floor outside, facing a door and statue that had both been broken before.

Aymeia hurriedly rose to her feet, studying the towering obsidian warrior up and down.

“Wait, it’s...fixed? How...?”

“Step aside.”

Boom!!

After pushing Aymeia off to the side, Serenis once again blasted the gate and statue with her magic. She’d already broken them once, and she could do so again.

But much to her dismay, the smoke settled to reveal the gate firm and closed, the warrior before it unscathed and unharmed.

“...?”

Everyone stared in confusion save for Karas. The professor carefully walked up to the obsidian statue, tapping his knuckles against the cold surface.

“Odd. What is this material...?”

“Eh...isn’t it just rock? Like, obsidian?”

Karas shrugged at his student, tapping the statue a few more times before answering.

“Not quite...obsidian’s nowhere near as tough as this. It’s as if the statue’s made of some condensed gemstone...or something even beyond that.”

“Really? Last time, Serenis blasted through the entire thing pretty easily.”

“...Huh?”

Hearing Light’s reply, this time it was Karas’ turn to blink in confusion.

“Serenis? Is this true?”

“...I’ve been meaning to ask. What do you remember, exactly?”

“Well...to be honest, my last memory is being blasted by your magic in Chell...”

“...”

‘So right when the Reaper took over.’

Serenis awkwardly locked eyes with Karas, trying to remember how many days it’d been since.

Then again, so much had happened since; for all she knew, it might as well have been a decade since.

“...Has it been a long time since?”

Instead of answering Karas, the dragonlord only shook her head.

She approached the statue as well, placing her hand against its cold surface. But as Karas had pointed out, something was off – she couldn’t perceive anything from the material or from beyond it, almost as if this was the boundary of their world.

And to that end, the gate showed no signs of opening again.

“...”

Everyone was looking expectantly towards the dragonlord for a decision.

Frankly, if Serenis couldn’t open the gate, then no one could.

And with her not seeing a way forward, the only option was to go back.

‘Then again...’

This time, Serenis turned to face Aymeia – or more specifically, the spider that was still in the former deity’s hand. The little critter seemed much more comfortable than before, but that did little to hide their eagerness to return home.

‘...Perhaps it was for the best.’