After leaving Heleen-san's counter, our group went into the conference room on the second floor of the Adventurers Guild building.
There we find Ms. Karna and Mr. Slain already waiting for everyone else.
We greeted each other then our group took a sit across the conference table in front of Ms. Karna and Mr. Slain.
Also, I'm thankful that renxa is not here.
"Renxa went outside the town to train so he won't be joining us today."
I don't really care where he is but are you that's the reason why your friend didn't come here Mr. Slain? Maybe he doesn't want to be told about the mess that he made during the escort quest or he just feels ashamed of himself.
Either way, for him to not be here today really favors us. After all...
"Ms. Vier, if it's alright with you, can we talk alone somewhere in private after this post-briefing."
Yep... There is it. I'm expecting that Ms. Karna would like to talk to me after this. That's probably why she didn't force that renxa to attend the post-briefing today.
But if Ms. Karna wants to talk about something that is quite confidential for both of us, then there's no better place than here inside the Guild conference room. And we don't have to exclude ourselves from our friends while we talk about our secrets.
"The Guild Master and DryadGuardian are still not here, so you can ask me now, Ms. Karna. I'm sure you also don't like the idea of hiding something from your friends, so we can talk while they're here."
"I understand. Thank you for trusting both of us, Ms. Vier."
"Don't get me wrong Ms. Karna. I don't trust Mr. Slain. I only trust you and I respect your trust in your friend so I hope you can do the same for me and my friends."
"I see. Thank you for trusting me, Ms. Vier."
"Then Ms. Vier, are you also a Dream-Holder like the three of us?"
Sigh!... Really Mr. Burden No.1?
With his remark, Mifumi-sama, Felin and I looked at Mr. Slain with an irritated expression while Ms. Karna just gave a small sigh like she is already used to this kind of behavior from her friend.
This guy... The moment he heard that Ms. Karna and I trusted each other he just totally told us everything about their group, including the information about that guy renxa without his permission.
Seriously, how naive this guy can be?
"Mr. Slain, I think you should not include anything about mr. renxa since he is not here."
"Don't tell anyone about your friend's secret, Mister."
Even Mifumi-sama and Felin understand what Mr. Slain failed to comprehend in this situation.
"Slain, this only includes both of us. You should not give information about Renxa without his permission."
"Ms. Karna is right. If I'm a bad guy, I can just walk out from here without telling my secrets and sell your secrets to the greedy people who are always after the Dream-Holders. Not that I'm going to do that though"
"But you both trust each other right? So it's fine to tell each other secrets."
"Not if that renxa is involved. Since you tell us his secret you're planning to tell him my secret too, right?"
"Do you trust that mr. renxa won't sell out Vier-chan's secret?"
"That mister hates us, and we hate him too."
This guy is really naive. I wonder if he even understands his friend's feelings. He probably didn't even know why Ms. Karna didn't force that renxa to come here today.
"But you said that you respect Karna's trust in her friends so..."
"Mr. Slain, when Vier-chan said that, it only includes you, not mr. renxa."
"Stop being a burden, Mister!"
Whoa!... Felin said it!
I don't call him a burden literally just to not be rude even though in my mind he holds the title Mr. Burden No.1. Good job Felin.
"Karna, please tell them that you also trust Renxa..."
"Please stop, Slain. Even you should understand that Renxa doesn't like Ms. Vier and her group. Stop being so naive."
"I'm sorry, Karna."
That's right Ms. Karna!
You're finally showing him your dominance. Keep improving and show them that you should be the leader of your group.
"Should I ask Slain to leave, Ms. Vier?"
"That's not necessary, Ms. Karna. You bring him here because you believe that he would listen to your words so I trust you in that."
"Thank you, Ms. Vier."
"It's alright Ms. Karna"
It's not like I'm not worried about the possibility of Mr. Slain selling my secrets out to the greedy people who are always after the Dream-Holders like us.
I'm just confident that if he ever does that, someone would hunt him down even if he run until the end of the continent. Even if he went to the other continent, I'm sure that person would drag him back here so he could receive the punishment that he needed and deserved.
Sheesh... Remembering that there's a person who is probably... No... I'm sure that she actually monitors my every move every day, and that really gives me goosebumps.
Anyway, now that we're clear about not involving that renxa, we can now begin talking about our secrets.
"So Ms. Vier, are you perhaps a Dream-Holder?"
"By asking me that, are you perhaps telling me that you're also one, Ms. Karna?"
"That will depend if you were really one or not."
"Then I guess you and I are both the same."
Our conversation is kind of weird but that's how the Adventurers School had taught us about trading this kind of secret between different groups.
First, you start by asking what you want to know, then the other person will ask if you're willing to tell the same. Next, you'll say that you will tell them what they want to know if only then the other person will tell you the same.
It's a simple yet important part of trading secrets. But it is still weird, I wonder who came up with this nonsense?... Wait... That is not important, I should listen to what they have to say.
"I see. That's why you have those Flare-Gun and Shot-Gun. Do you perhaps have dreams of Memory-Fragment about Rifles and Guns Ms. Vier?"
"That's quite incorrect Ms. Karna. The Memory-Fragment I see in my dreams is not only about Rifles and Guns."
"And you made those like how we see them work in our dreams, right?"
"I just tried to replicate what I also see in my dreams. With the help of my Master, I'm able to make those Mana-Tech. Even so, they're not powerful enough to defeat High-Rank Monsters."
I don't actually know how the Flare-Gun and Shot-Gun originally worked, all I know is the scenes in my dreams in which Rifles and Guns have been used.
With this knowledge, I just have to make them work using Monster-Core, Monster-Materials, Magic-Circuit, and Mana-Crystal. And by using the Diagram of those Relic which was provided by my Master, I was able to make a working Replica of those Rifles and Guns.
First, I replaced the trigger mechanism inside with Monster-Core and Magic-Circuit which allowed me to use the Wind-Burst skill of the Rank-1 monster called Barreled-Beetle.
Second, I added a new removable Magazine part to the handle. Inside the new Magazine is Mana-Crystal which will be used as Mana source for the Magic skill.
Since I don't have any Magic Attribute, my Mana will be all consumed immediately if I use a skill from Rank-1 or higher monster so I'm using Mana-Crystal as a substitute for my own Mana.
For the Flare-Gun which I call Sky-Lantern, the ammunition is a small Magic-Lantern attached to a pressurized wind container.
For the Shot-Gun which I call Beetle-Rifle. There's a separate removable container of pressurized wind in the Stock part of the Shot-Gun, and the bullets are small iron pebbles enclosed in a cylindrical container.
After preparing all of that, all I have to do is pull the trigger which will release the pressurized wind and consecutively activate the Wind-Burst skill of the Monster-Core to increase the power of the bullets.
Well, I don't plan to tell them how I make those Mana-Tech. That's my trade secret after all.
"Vier-chan! You're monologuing all by yourself again, right? You need to focus on your conversation with Ms. Karna and Mr. Slain."
"Vier, you're doing the cat-staring face again."
"Are you okay Ms. Vier? You suddenly got quiet."
"Ehh?... I'm fine Ms. Karna. I'm sorry, I lost my thoughts about those Rifles and Guns."
"It's alright. Even we don't remember how those Rifles and Guns originally worked."
"So what part of your past life do you see in your dreams, Ms. Vier?"
"Huh?... Past life? What are you saying, Mr. Slain?"
"Ehh?... Don't your dreams have the Memory-Fragment of your past life?"
"Those Memory-Fragment are from the time before the 2nd-World Recreation you know. Why would I be alive back then?"
""Ehh??!!...""
What I said is quite a surprise for both Ms. Karna and Mr. Slain.
Apparently, both of them and probably that renxa believe that their Memory-Fragment are memories from their previous life before the 2nd-World Recreation.
They told us that what they see in their dreams are scenes observed from the perspective of a person, about how they live their ordinary but peaceful life.
Scenes about living with their family and friends. Scenes about the story they watch, things they see, and games they play. Scenes about working very hard with other people. And finally, the scene of their final moment.
The two of them believe that they are the Reincarnation of the person in their dreams of Memory-Fragment.
Those games and some fictional stories they see in their dreams are what inspire them to be an adventurer. Well, they're still High-Rank Nobels once they took off their Adventurer I.d..
The tales in those games and fictional stories are very similar to their situation and that's what leads them into believing this Reincarnation idea.
And just like me in my dreams, they can't understand the voice that they hear and they can't read the words that they see. But what's important is they also understand the emotions that flow to them and the thoughts that define those emotions from the person in their dreams of Memory-Fragment.
I also dreamed of those stories where a person got reincarnated in what they thought to be another world.
How they hate their previous life while working for those bad people. How they feel excited about the new experience of another world. How they want to live their life like the heroes in those stories or how they tried their best to live a new life without regrets.
Maybe Mr. Karna, Mr. Slain, and that renxa feels like that somehow.
"I never thought that there was a Dream-Holder that didn't dream of her previous life. It's more like you're living inside those stories while dreaming but still aware that all of that is not true and just a dream."
"You're right, Karna. Pretty much everyone we meet until now is the same as us."
"Did you meet many Dream-Holders before Vier-chan?"
"Do they also sleep so much and weird like Vier?"
They told us that their group has met quite a few but they didn't tell who they are since they also made a promise to those Dream-Holders about keeping their identity a secret.
But what they tell us is that all of them are like them who believe that their Memory-Fragment are memories of their past lives.
Some even want to join their group and some want them to join the other Dream-Holders.
They even tell us that some Dream-Holders can be quite troublesome because some of them act like they are the protagonists of the world and do whatever they want without considering the consequences of their actions.
It's quite like what you and that renxa did during the escort quest, right Mr. Burden No.1? Well, at least you remember to keep your promise.
"Also, there's one thing important that you need to remember about other Dream-Holders, Ms. Vier."
"And what is that, Ms. Karna?"
"It will be quite hard to hide your presence from them. After all, both Dream-Holders can sense this odd feeling when they meet each other, right Ms. Vier?"
So that odd feeling I'm getting from them is really because of them being Dream-Holders... Huh?... Wait...
"Don't tell me... Ms. Karna, you..."
"Yes... You probably feel that odd feeling from us, right?"
"So you can tell from the start that I'm a Dream-Holder?"
"Of course not. It's quite hard to exactly tell which one of you and Ms. Mifumi is the Dream-Holder since you're always together."
"Sheesh. You're already that close to finding out?"
"Well, I'm already used to this odd feeling."
I guess meeting a few Dream-Holders will make anyone accustomed to that odd feeling. Their group is the first Dream-Holders that I have met, so I'm lucky that there is someone like Ms. Karna in their group.
"But to have dreams only about fictional stories. Maybe you can write those and publish them like Kumiko-sensei... Huh?... Wait... Don't tell me... Ms. Vier, are you perhaps..."
"....."
"Ehh?!!!..."