How can this be possible? That's impossible! That glowing light indicates your mana. The brighter its sign, the more mana you have. But it's not even lighting up dimly. Every human being has some mana. Some have very little, but they still have some. But this shows you have no mana whatsoever. Elina said, shocked out of her mind.
どえんお あヴィオ
クラン :
魔法の才 :
"What are those letters? Is this some kind of magical language?" Theo asked.
"No, sir, I don't know. I've never seen this kind of writing coming out from this ball before. This has never happened. Wait, let me ask my colleagues if they can help."
"What is this writing? Why did it appear when I touched the ball? I thought I didn't have any magical aptitude, but how can this be?" Kathleen wondered, her thoughts swirling.
As she started thinking, her mind began to daze off, like she was slipping into a deep sleep. Then, unknown memories started surfacing. She didn't know whose memories they were or when they had happened, but a strange feeling began to overtake her—a sense that she didn't belong in this place. A deep sorrow started creeping into her mind.
As she was about to lose consciousness, someone said, "Hey! What happened to you, Kathleen? What happened?"
Coming back to her senses, she noticed Barren holding her shoulders as if to support her so she wouldn't fall.
"I am okay," Kathleen said, standing back on her feet.
"What happened? How did you lose consciousness so suddenly?" Theo asked, worried.
"I don't know what happened. See those letters? They triggered something in me."
"What?"
Every single one of them was staring intently at Kathleen.
She was about to say something, but Elina came back with some of her colleagues who also worked at the guild.
"I'm back."
"No, we've also never seen this kind of writing before," one of the guild workers said.
"Hey, let's leave it at that, okay? Can we not take this quest already? Because it's a gold-ranked quest, her rank wouldn't matter, right?"
"Yes, that would be true," Elina responded, "but we can't give permission to go on a commission if he or she isn't part of our guild." She denied the possibility.
"We still can't say for sure if she has successfully registered with us or if it's something else. We can't read anything written here."
"Okay, then what if only the four of us go?"
"That would be fine with us," Elina agreed.
"Let's do that then," Barren said energetically, denying anything Kathleen might say.
"Hey, Kathleen, there is something we have to confess to you," Barren said, lowering his voice.
"Here, sir, your new guild cards," Elina said as she handed over a Bronze card to Theo, a Silver card to Simon, and Gold cards to Eddy and Barren.
"And with that, you are registered for this quest. Now, put your cards on this poster, and you will be able to see the hidden details about the location, the quest giver, and more."
As she said that, Elina took her leave.
"Thank you for your hard work," Barren said, waving his hand toward the receptionist as they started moving toward the tables.
"Don't say anything—just follow us," Barren said in a hushed voice into Kathleen's ear.
"They're still keeping their eyes on us, so be careful. We don't know what their motives are."
"Let's sit at that table," Barren added as he started moving toward an empty table and chairs.
When they all sat down, Eddy asked Kathleen, "Is there something you're hiding from us?"
Kathleen stared at Eddy blankly, confused and unsure of how to respond.
"Okay, fine. Let's tell her everything about her. What do you say, Eddy?" Barren suggested
"I have no objection," Eddy said, still with a blank expression.
"Tell her. She deserves to know," Simon added.
"Kathleen, do you remember when Simon saw you for the first time? He got emotional seeing you," Barren said.
"Yeah, but Theo said he got emotional seeing you guys, not me," Kathleen replied.
"No, he got emotional seeing you, and so did we," Barren explained. "A long time ago, when we used to adventure together, it wasn't just the three of us. It was four.
"It was me, Eddy, Simon, and Viola. Those were the days. And then, we took a commission that, to this day, we regret. That quest made Eddy the way you see him now. But that's not the only thing we lost that day. We also lost you."
"Me?" Kathleen asked, shocked. "How can that be? I just met you guys yesterday for the first time. What nonsense!"
"Well, it wasn't exactly you," Barren said gently. "Viola was a spitting image of you, Kathleen. That's the reason Simon got so emotional seeing you—because he thought our Viola was alive."
"What?" Kathleen gasped.
"Yes, it's true. No matter how far-fetched you think this story is, the three of us can confirm it as fact," Barren said.
"And this damned wretched spell is the cause," Simon said, tears in his eyes. "It's what took our Viola from us."
"And now, after two years of her death, someone sent us the letter to lure us to you for some reason," Simon said, wiping his tears, overwhelmed by the emotions of past friendship.
Barren put his hand on Simon's back as if to cheer Simon up from this.
Kathleen was so shocked with the discovery that no words were even coming to her mouth. Her hands started to twitch violently.
"Calm down," Eddy said as he noticed the unusual twitching. "Forget about everything we just said if that makes you feel comfortable."
"Tell us your side of the story. Did you know our Viola? Are you guys sisters or something?" Simon said desperately.
"I don't know. I lost my memory 2 years ago. Mama picked me up from the jungle. She said I was there alone, unconscious, wearing strange clothes which she had never seen. And when I regained my senses, she asked me about my whereabouts, but that's the start of my memories. I don't remember anything about who I am or where I'm even from, and I also don't know if I am your Viola or someone else."
"Mama saved me that day, but see the irony... she got attacked also because of me," Kathleen said as she stared, crying. The uncontrolled emotion which she was suppressing from yesterday finally came out. "She was so kind. She took in a girl who didn't even know her own name, without knowing anything about me."
"Don't cry. They are fine. It's not your fault the village got attacked. We already discussed that," Barren said, petting Kathleen's head as if to show his support.
"You said that your mama found you 2 years ago. Where in which jungle, and what was the exact time?" Simon asked.
"Why do you want to know that? You were there. You have seen her final moments in Eddy's hands, that lifeless corpse which we all had buried. Or did you forget those?" Barren said, not wanting to continue clearly.
"She is not Viola," Barren said firmly.
"No matter if it's the last thing I do, I will take my revenge on that mage, Scarlet," Kathleen said angrily, anger clearly showing in her eyes. "Let's not just sit around."
"Yes, let's go for the commission as soon as possible," Theo said, as he knew that's the only way to prevent everyone from breaking anyone.
"Yeah, but this commission is a trap for us. I can safely say that," Barren said with a serious look.
To be Continued...