Aradia entered the room closer to the stairs on the left wall, she would check out the other room, the one closer to the main door later
The red head went in, the room was already unlocked, upon entering she saw the room was dark but there was a faint light coming from the broken window on her side
This room, too, was empty like the main hall, there was only a wooden desk and a wooden chair facing its back to her as she entered
Dust lined every corner of the room, from the floor all the way up to the ceiling and it also had that muddy smell as well
The red head pulled out the chair and sat down on it, the moment she did the door behind her closed shut
'as expected..'
Aradia thought with a sigh, this was where the first test was held
'tests..'
Yeon Haa thought back to the topic of "tests" and what it meant in this particular situation, the violet witch, had set up puzzles and riddles, and the more they can solve the more they are likely to be able to find just where she is located
But there is a condition, after they've already gotten one or by luck two right, they can't get any wrong, if they do, well.. no one ever lived to tell the tales of what happened after that
The door closing is the signal that the first test is about to start, but Aradia won't start until Lir arrives, and so she rested her arm on the desk and rested her head on it, a classic pose for students
Because of the way her head was positioned she could see the window, outside was filled with mist, and it was also a lot darker than the outside world
Outside is probably afternoon at most, but the illusions time is set in the evening, close to nightfall
.
Lir, who had been trying to figure out the mystery of the bandages, arrived last at the illusion mansion
He had found out the reason but wanted to make sure it was correct but it took longer than expected
The albino had tried to open the front door but it was of no use, it seems that, if someone is already inside the mansion will not allow anyone else to enter
But that was not a problem for Lir, Aradia had told him, there may be a window that was broken, so the albino could just use that, and after circling the mansion he found the broken window and entered
'how did she know about this?'
Lir already knows Aradia is not from this world, but even so, it makes him question, just where is she originally from to know about small details like this?
Upon entering the albino felt a strange.. magic? As an water spirit, he was naturally sensitive to magic and mana and another thing was, he could no longer leave
Although the window could still be seen with a broken spot, it had an invisible wall now, not allowing him to leave
'great'
With a sigh, Lir looked at the red head seemingly sleeping on the desk
"How long will you sleep for?"
The albino said, noticeable sarcasm in his voice but a hit of excitement as well
Aradia quietly sat up straight only to bang her head against the desk, the action was so out of the blue, it made Lir freeze for a second
"Hey- are you okay..?"
The red head mumbled something but it was not audible whatsoever
"Huh-? What are you saying?"
The albino, now genuinely concerned, came closer to the red head only to be pushed back with how fast she springed up and sat straight after
"Lir..."
Aradia called out, her elbows on the desk and her hands covering the face
"I'm an idiot.."
"Hey, what's wrong? And why are you acting like.. this?"
Lir decided to ignore her comment, if it was some other time, he would've agreed without a second thought to spare
"I thought I had reincarnated! What I had actually been through was transmigration!"
Aradia finally looked up and Lir saw how her face was slightly red not to mention the embarrassment in her voice
"Uh what-"
But unfortunately Lir was confused by her words, I mean, yes, he does know what the two teams mean but what value does it hold for the situation being?
"transmigration is when two souls swap and both have to be alive but one party can be dead while the other party takes party ones body, that too, is transmission and not reincarnation right?"
"Yes.., reincarnation is when a soul is reborn into a new body meaning the body never had an original owner to begin with.. but why are you talking about all this?"
"When I first woke up in this body.. I had thought I had.. reincarnated.."
Lir looked at her dumbfounded, was this seriously the reason behind this?
"Seriously- that's what you're worried about? You gotta be kidding me-!"
Aradia looked at him sheepishly, less embarrassed and more relaxed now
"Nevermind- I have actually managed to find out about the reason for the bandages.."
Lir was not going to deal with this so instead he decided to info dump
The red head's expression stiffened slightly, right, he had been working hard to find out the reason behind that
"What is it?"
She got up from her seat and asked, looking out the window, but of course there was nothing to look at anyway
"You said the bandages were around your neck, arms and legs, yes? And that they were tight?"
"Yes, I said those things"
"Great, so just how tight would you say the bandages were? Tight enough to cut of blood circulation? Tight enough to suffocate someone?"
Aradia paused, she had a feeling she knew where this was going
"If worn for a long time then.. yeah.."
The red heads' eyes widened in surprise, so this was the reason
"Indeed, in the academy library, i managed to find a book, a book talking about the art of suicide without blood splatter"
Aradia couldn't help but chuckle, so they had this in common, how wonderful
"It makes sense, Aradia didn't have any wounds yet she still wore bandages so tightly and no one noticed anything strange either.."
Lir continued, he flew around in a circle as he spoke before coming to a stop and sitting on thin air
"Hm.. great work, Lir, though, have you managed to find who took the bandages?"
Lir gave a disappointed sigh but he was also happy with the compliment, even though Aradia could not see his eyes and doubts she ever will, she knows his eyes are probably sparkling from the compliment right now
"No, I still haven't found any clues for that, it's like the bandages dissolved into air.."
The two stayed quiet, thinking about this but not long after both gave up with a sigh
"Let's deal with this later, for now let's start the first test"
Lir already knew about the tests, he stood up on air and nodded
"Let us get started then..."
Bonus:
Frenemies (?):
Lir: Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple not fucking blue
Aradia: I've been waiting for these words all my life
To be continued...
Hi there, cutie ;), it's me Yan, how are you all doing?
I know the last chapter was not that fullfilling and also had a very long and gruesome authors note but it was important, and as a proud citizen of my country, I wanted to raise awareness of the given situation, I'm happy to say things have gotten better now and will like to give a shoutout to everyone who was on our, the students side the whole time, many thanks to you all
Anyway, this is all I want to say, we will finally start the "tests" from the next chapter
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it
Have a good day, afternoon, evening or night
And I'll see you all in the next one
Adios, amigo.
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