How is this possible?
Put aside whether demons can survive in Edenmere, which is full of light elements. Just the teleportation formation I saw when entering Edenmere earlier, Serena had clearly stated that it only allows angels in and out.
Perhaps light elves can be exceptionally permitted as an exception, but demons definitely cannot be on the list. So how did these dark elements appear in Edenmere and evade the perception of so many angels outside? It makes no sense...
I racked my brains but could not figure it out. I couldn't help but suspect that I was still dreaming, but how to confirm that I'm not still in a dream now?
Suddenly I realized that if compared to the realism in that bizarre dream earlier, I have no way to prove this point for the time being.
After all, I don't have that frictionless super tornado gadget from Inception. Surely I can't be asked to jump off the roof without using my wings right? What if I die from the fall...
All I can do is keep pinching myself and splashing water on my face to make myself more awake...
But still no effect at all! Completely useless!
Considering there is no discontinuity in my memories, and so far no other abnormalities have occurred, I should be in reality...probably?
I'd better go find Nicola and ask! I really can't sit still.
Although she's probably still sleeping now, this is a critical matter that needs to be properly confirmed.
"Nicola!"
I knocked forcefully on the door. It took a very long time before Nicola finally opened the door, looking at me with drowsy eyes.
"What are you doing? You're not sleeping yet? It shouldn't be time to wake up yet right?"
Nicola was very unhappy that I woke her up.
Fortunately, it's not the male version of Reilly...
Looking at her messy long hair and attractively tired face, I heaved a long sigh of relief. It seems I'm probably in reality after all! Then I took a big step forward into the dark room and turned off the light isolator.
The room was instantly filled with bright light again. After a while, Nicola began to wake up gradually.
"What's the matter? Can't sleep so you came to chat with me?"
Nicola looked at me blankly, not knowing my intention for the moment, and could only jokingly ask.
"Or did you feel lonely and wanted to come over to sleep with me?"
"Oh stop teasing!"
I waved my hand, in no mood for joking with her. I got straight to the point.
"Listen, I just had a very bizarre dream! I dreamed that..."
I intended to tell her everything, but when I thought about what happened in the dream, I didn't know how to start. Should I just honestly admit that I dreamed of marrying the male version of her? That would be so embarrassing!
"I dreamed you all turned into tape recorders! Repeating the same words over and over..."
Anyway, marriage is not the point. So I skipped those parts and roughly told her about the strangest part of the dream, including what I found after waking up.
"What the heck! Tape recorders?"
It took Nicola a long time to grasp what I meant. She seemed a little incredulous.
"So you're saying you had a nightmare? And because of that, you came knocking on my door in the middle of the night? Isn't that making a mountain out of a molehill?"
"Of course not. Don't you think this dream is very strange? Not only the repeating content, but I was aware in the dream that I was dreaming. Isn't that abnormal too?" I argued.
"It is quite bizarre..."
Seeing my serious expression, she pondered it over a little before replying.
"But dreams are like this, often illogical. What's so surprising about that? Also, realizing you're in a dream while dreaming, although rare, not that peculiar right?"
"Uh..."
I was a little speechless for a moment. What she said was not unreasonable, but that doesn't alleviate my doubts.
"Then how do you explain the traces of dark elements left in my room when I woke up?"
It may be hard to account for what happened in the dream, but how can she deny what I found after waking up?
"The appearance of dark elements in Edenmere is not normal. And it happened around the same time as that weird nightmare. If you say they are unrelated then I don't believe it."
"What if some demon secretly snuck into the room while I was sleeping, trying to control me in my dream!"
Although these are just guesses, they are not completely made up groundlessly. The tape recorders in the dream were very bizarre, but what they said did give me a lot of ideas. Maybe someone wanted to manipulate my memories but failed.
"Now you just sound paranoid... Why don't we go take a look in your room?"
However, Nicola didn't think so. But she also couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for the moment, so she turned and opened the door to walk to my room.
"Is this the place? But I don't sense any dark elements at all."
"Of course, there's none now. It's been so long already!"
I replied helplessly as I followed behind her.
"And I already said, there was only an extremely faint trace to begin with. How could it possibly remain in Edenmere's environment?"
"What if you just...mistook it in the first place?"
Nicola walked around my room for a few circles and hesitated for a moment before finally voicing her doubts.
"Maybe because you just woke up from a nightmare, your mood affected you and you felt something was off for a while. That would be perfectly understandable."
"You doubting me like this is way over the line! You've rejected everything I said!"
I was so angry to hear this. I argued indignantly,
"I've encountered dark elements many times before. How could I possibly mistake it? And to think I specially came looking for you to discuss this. You don't believe me!"
"But even if there's a demon that snuck in as you said, what can the two of us newbie angels do about it without evidence? We'd at least need to show some proof before getting others to believe right?"
"That's why I came looking for you to discuss..."
After she put it that way, I suddenly felt disheartened. It would indeed be very difficult to show evidence. But just leaving it be like this makes me feel very uneasy too.
"I can't give much suggestions regarding this..."
Nicola thought for a while and could only show helplessness. Then she suddenly suggested to me,
"Why don't you just come sleep in my room? Having two people should prevent you from feeling scared."
"I'm not scared!"
I rejected her invitation without hesitation. This guy is so unreliable. Not only does she not believe me, but she thinks I'm timid and don't dare sleep alone, like I'm still a child.
To tell the truth, the marriage in the dream made me feel weird about Nicola. Whenever I see her now, I involuntarily associate her with that male "Reilly". Though there's no direct connection between them, I still feel a subtle awkwardness.
"Anyway, it won't be long before time to wake up. Rather than sleeping, I'll just read some books first until it's time for class."
In the end, I made up my mind. I wouldn't feel comfortable continuing to sleep in this room with the light isolator on. The bizarre dream still feels vivid in my memory. I'm afraid if I fall asleep again, I may not necessarily wake up next time.
Moreover, angels don't need to sleep.
"You're not sleeping just because of this?"
Nicola looked at me incredulously, seeming to still believe it was merely a dream. I'm quite disappointed by this. Even if there's no evidence for now, shouldn't she unconditionally believe me based on our relationship?
But I didn't expect her to surprise me again. "Why don't I stay up with you to keep you company? Anyway, you woke me up already."
"You're that nice? Or are you just here to watch me make a fool of myself?"
I looked at her doubtfully and quickly pushed her out the door. She hasn't been helpful at all, only making things more chaotic. What use would she be?
"No need! You should go back to your room and sleep!"
"Hey hey, you woke me up then deserted me just like that..."
Nicola still wanted to argue. But I "slammed" the door shut, blocking out the second half of her words outside.
In the end, I was alone again. Looking at the empty room, I sighed softly. I randomly picked out a book from the shelf and flipped through it, but still couldn't concentrate on reading.
Then a thought struck me. I spread my wings and leapt out of the window, landing on the commercial street outside the Tivi Palace.
Anyway, I still have a few hours of free time. Might as well wander around outside for a bit.
Although Cyra had briefly brought us around this street and we even ate a meal here last time, I didn't get to browse many of the other shops properly.
Walking alone on the wide road now, although it's an early morning out here, there are still quite a few angels moving about, unlike us newbies who would feel uncomfortable if we miss even a night's sleep.
Although this street is not very long and doesn't have that many shops, still rich in variety. Aside from some common apparel stores and eateries, I also saw a few weapon and equipment shops.
Naturally, I have no interest in clothes since plenty are provided in my room. But weapons are different. Although I have a long sword I took from Hayden, it's just a human-made weapon. I'm very curious about what kind of weapons angels use!