When I woke up from the coma, I was engulfed by an overwhelming feeling of itch on my brain.
"Let me return to the dungeon."
I uttered the words as I turned my head and looked at Louis, who always did what I asked to the best of his abilities.
"…"
But seeing him stay silent with his head lowered…It made my heart sink as the itch grew stronger.
"Young master, the dungeon disappeared two days ago."
Louis said as my mind started to become hazy.
"What do you mean by that? I need to return faster."
The image of Leo all tied up flashed on my mind; I didn't realize it, but my breath had started to fasten.
"The dungeon is no longer…"
Louis's words became quiet as the itch on my mind increased.
It was all hazy from there.
I couldn't get in touch with Eden either.
It was the worst nightmare ever.
Days passed without any break… I was over it.
"YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT. WHAT CAN YOU EVEN DO!?"
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I was in the room, on the bed, looking at the blue window, who was making excuses about not knowing anything yet again.
Ding
[I'm sorry, host. There's nothing I can do about the dungeon disappearance unless I'm updated.]
That annoying sound came again as the window responded.
"WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?"
BANG
As I screamed, the door shot open as Louis entered the room, looking at me strangely.
"Young master, are you all right? Who are you talking to?" He asked.
I didn't care that time, but I knew he was worried about me, who wasn't even his real young master.
"…Take me back to that place."
The words automatically came out of my mouth as Louis went silent.
"If it helps you, I will accompany you." Louis said.
I went silent: lost at words, staring at the blue window, who wanted me to update it if I wanted its help, and hoping the voice who was asleep not waking up at all to wake up and start consoling me.
Whoosh
Time went by, and I found myself standing right in front of the entrance to the dungeon, the big crack on the… What was this ruins name again?
'…Ah, nightmare ruin.'
"What do you know about this ruin?"
I asked as Louis, who was standing behind me, answered.
"Nightmare ruin. Almost everything on its surface has been explored. The only thing that remains is its underground." He answered, as diligently as he could.
Whoosh
What day is it again?
Sleeping on the bed, I still awaited for the voice to come back.
'You can't leave me alone too.'
Feeling the suffocating feeling on my chest and throat again, I stood up as I walked outside to the garden.
Taking the sword, I practiced.
Whoosh Whoosh
The time seemed to flow faster like this.
It doesn't matter how much my limbs hurt; it doesn't matter how much I faint; I just need the time to go faster so Eden could heal.
Thump
Whenever the sun went down, I would lose my consciousness, falling to the ground with the sword on my hand.
And the next day,
The cycle would repeat. It went on like that for quite a long time.
Until, one day, the lady with blue hair started to regularly visit.
"ARE YOU STUPID?"
She would yell at me for overworking and threaten to not heal me if I did it again.
But I needed the time to go quicker.
I couldn't just stay still; the time was very cruel to me.
"Sorry, young master, there is still no news about the dungeon."
Said Louis, for whateverth time again.
Listening to the blue-haired lady's word, I would contain myself as much as I could. The most common place to find me became the library.
Sitting on the bare floor, so that the coldness from the floor would keep me fresh, I would read and read and keep on reading.
I could understand and read every character; this was the one thing that this useless window helped me with.
I don't know when I first started reading here, but I never left after that.
A person wearing a black and white dress helped me bring the necessary foods; she would also bring a load of books that I hadn't read from the bookshelves.
Read and read and read; don't focus on time. I know that if I focus too much on time, it would become more cruel.
Days went by; I never moved from this spot.
'My hair.'
As I read the books and flipped the papers, my hair that had grown long would often disturb me.
The same person who bought me books noticed this as she tied my hair with a rubber.
Thump
Closing the book after I finished reading it, I extended my hand to take another book, but there was no book there.
"Young master, you have finished every book." She said.
Hearing her say that, the suffocating feeling on my chest and throat that had settled down returned.
…Thump
'WAKE UP.'
'Huh? Huh?;
Suddenly waking up from the bed, I saw everything dark. Being confused, my breath became faster as I tried to get out of bed to go to sword training.
'Huh?'
Instead of standing up, my vision shifted down as I found myself falling down.
Thump
'Ugh.'
'I-I can't move my body.'
Thuck
'Obviously you can't.'
'Huh?'
Feeling a hand on my head and a familiar voice in my ear, I raised my head to look forward.
'Idiot. You exhausted your brain too much, so why wouldn't you be able to not move?'
Eden stood up in front of him as he felt his eyes water up.
'E-Eden.'
Aiden's voice cracked as tears started running down his face.
Hoping for it to not be a dream, he cried and cried hard.
'Eden'
Aiden called out Eden's name as he kept on crying.
Looking at Aiden's condition, Eden felt a pain in his heart as he picked him up and laid him on the bed.
Sigh
'I will listen to what you want to say later. For now, just sleep, please. You have hurt yourself too much.' Eden said as Aiden felt the hazy cloud on his mind clearing up.
Aiden slept for two days straight. Eden could tell that it was because he was relieved.
When Aiden woke up, he was panicked at first for not seeing Eden, but after he saw Eden, his worries went away as the two of them sat and had a long conversation.
Their conversation mostly consisted of Aiden explaining what happened.
'You couldn't save Leo the first time, so what made you think you could save him right after?' Listening to Aiden's explanation, Eden felt annoyed by how much Aiden's mind had clouded by his absence.
'B-but…'
Aiden couldn't retort to Eden's question as he lowered his head.
Sigh
'You should have calmed yourself down first.' Eden said as Aiden kept his head lowered.
'But just forget it. Our current top priority is to get Leo back. I don't think he is dead.' Eden said as Aiden nodded his head.
'…I read some cases of disappearing dungeons. When a dungeon disappears, it appears in a different location.' Aiden said as Eden smiled a little.
'So you weren't completely a lost cause.' He said.
Clack
"Young master."
Suddenly opening the door, Louis walked in as he looked at him.
"…Hm?"
Looking at him, Louis notices something different in his eyes as he looks at him in confusion.
"Young master? Do you know why you are here?" He asked as Aiden looked back at him for a second.
"It's because I fainted while reading books from the library." He replied as Louis remained silent for a while before nodding his head.
"I see."
'He returned back to normal?' Louis thought with happiness and a surge of relief as he suddenly remembered his objective for coming to the room.
"Young master, the city lord has finally returned, and he wishes to see you." He said as Aiden went silent for a moment.
'What? Why?' Aiden questions as Eden raises his eyebrow.
'What did he mean by finally?' He asked as Aiden answered.
'He has been dealing with backlashes of losing the individuals from the exploration team.' Aiden replied as he felt guilty.
Enel had been dealing with them from the moment the news of the disappearance of the dungeon and the individuals was confirmed.
'I see.'
"Lead me to him." Aiden said as Louis nodded his head and left the room, with Aiden following behind him.
…
Present time,
Verdice Venur Academy,
Sigh
'Why is this place the furthest from any room?'
Exhaling a breath of exhaustion, Aiden finally reached his destination as he stared at the big door, which he had been seeing from the moment he entered the academy.
[Verdice Library]
'Do you think that fucker was telling the truth?' Eden asked as he stared at the big door with the inscriptions.
'Almost everyone knows for it to be only a baseless rumor.' He said as Aiden nodded his head.
'That may be the truth, but what else can we do? I'm fed up with just staying still and waiting.' Aiden said as he walked forward and opened the door.
'According to him, the key to information about the location of the dungeon lies here.'