CH 16.2

“Who are you?” 

I asked the man in a dazed voice. Then the man began to look at me as if I was strange. 

“Lindel, it’s me.” 

-Lindel, get up.

“What? Who are you?” 

The moment the man answered, another person’s voice overlapped with the man’s. I couldn’t hear the man’s answer properly thanks to him. 

The man once again said his name. 

“I’m-” 

“…Hey.”

-Please wake up. 

This time too, someone’s voice overlapped with his. 

I belatedly realized that the voice was calling me. The voice resembled Lionel’s. 

I turned my head toward Lionel, who was sitting in front of me, and he was staring at the man with his mouth closed. 

Feeling strange about it, I heard a voice once again. 

-Lindel, please wake up.

This voice was certainly Lionel’s voice. 

And when I realized it, the man in front of me laughed. 

It was a completely different arrogant attitude from before. 

“Oh, dear. I’ve got to go.” 

“What?”

“Go away. He’s calling for you.” 

The man whispered in a funny voice. 

“We’ll meet again soon. Even if you don’t want to.” 

It’s time to go back. 

Goodbye, Sweetheart. 

At the end of the man’s words, I woke up. 

“……!” 

“Lindel!”

As soon as Lionel’s voice, which had sounded blurry, became clear, I saw a white ceiling in front of my eyes instead of a man’s figure. 

As I blinked blankly, Lionel’s voice called me again. 

“Lindel, are you awake?” 

I turned my gaze in the direction of the voice, and there was Lionel. 

‘Was it a dream?’

I was slow to perceive reality because of my dazed mind. Thanks to this, I belatedly noticed that Lionel’s eyes were a mess. 

When I realized it a beat later, I called Lionel. 

“Li…onel?”

My voice came out strangely rough. I also felt pain when I opened my mouth as if my lips were dry. 

It wasn’t the only strange thing. It smelled sweet inside as if it had been a long time since I opened my mouth. 

“…Hey.” 

“Lindel, Lindel.”

Lionel repeated my name like a lost child. 

I was just blinking my eyes because it was difficult to understand the situation, but I heard people sniffling around me. 

‘What is this?’ 

Are you dreaming again? 

The place I first saw when I woke up and the dishevelled Lionel I saw were all strange. But because of my dream, everything felt even less real.

I thought this place was an extension of my dream, so I rolled my eyes, but somehow my eyes were also stiff. 

However, no matter how much I think about it, my senses were too clear for this to be a dream.

This place didn’t seem like a dream now. 

“It’s all right, I’m up. You woke me up, so it’s fine. It’s all right.” 

Lionel murmured something incomprehensible. 

There was no way he would react so violently to me sleeping and waking up. 

It was also necessary for me to grasp the current situation. 

“Lionel.”

My voice was still rough as if it had become sandpaper. It was like a cracked voice of a person who hadn’t said a word for days. 

As soon as I realized it, a dry cough came out. 

The people in front of me were shocked by me who was coughing. However, unlike the visibly agitated appearance, no one was speaking. 

It was scarier.

Unable to adjust to this strange atmosphere, Lionel looked at me with watery eyes and said, 

“Yes, Me. I’m here.”

Cionel held my hands tightly in prayer. 

It was a completely different expression from my dream a little while ago when he was jealous and had wrinkles on his face. 

I wanted to gently pull my hand out of this burdensome reaction, but strangely, it didn’t work. 

I began to roll my eyes awkwardly to grasp the situation. 

The first thing I saw when I first opened my eyes was the white ceiling. Looking around the area for a short time, I realized it was a place I have never been to. The scenery of the room was filled with all white and looked sacred.

The next thing I noticed was the clothes of the people behind Lionel’s back. 

They each wore a white robe decorated with gold strings. It was the way priests dressed. 

This place seemed to be a temple.

‘But why am I here?’ 

Then, naturally, questions followed. 

“Here, cough! This is…?” 

When asked, clearing his dry throat, Lionel replied to me in a very friendly voice. 

“This is the temple of Ritte.”

A wet voice seemed to reassure me. But I couldn’t accept it and say, oh, I see. 

Where are we? 

“The temple of Lute?” 

I asked loudly, with a tingling neck. That’s how much I didn’t understand lying here. 

“Yes.”

At Lionel’s bittersweet reply, I opened my stiff jaw.

Ritte was the god of the dead.