[Vol. 7] Chapter 203: The One Who Destroyed Herself
After that day, Lukeke wandered around the nearby areas in a daze for a long time. In just one night, she had lost everything. She didn’t know what to do or what kind of future she should have.
Her only family had died trying to fix her foolish mistakes, and not even his body remained. But even so, she didn’t know who to take revenge on, and she didn’t have the courage to do it either.
She couldn’t do anything.
Later on, feeling like she didn’t care about her life anymore, Lukeke, just barely recovered, joined a ship crew with an unknown background. The group said they were planning to sail west across the sea to do business on a faraway continent.
She thought this journey would most likely end in death, and if she died somewhere in the middle of the ocean, maybe it would be a fair punishment. But after many struggles and a long voyage, the ship actually reached a brand new land she had never even heard of before.
Maybe… this was fate.
With that thought in mind, she changed her name to better match the culture of this new world and decided to start over with a new life in this country called Austre.
Now, many years have passed since then. Orluk (the name she now goes by) thought she had already let go of her painful past and forgiven herself for her mistakes. But recently, she had started having nightmares for no reason, again and again. And all of them were about the memories she never wanted to face again.
Of course. She had run away from her past and crossed into another world, and even now, she didn’t know if that old man was truly dead or still alive. How could anyone just "move on" from something like that?
Even so, Orluk had a feeling these dreams weren’t just random. They came too suddenly and happened every night. It didn’t feel natural. It was like something was secretly causing them.
When did the dreams start…? On the first day she and Her Highness the Princess entered the [Morst Underground Labyrinth]. From that day onward, the nightmares came every night without warning. The stress and tiredness from the dreams even made her companions notice and ask if she was okay.
Orluk had thought about telling the Princess, but after several check-ups by Noelle (who found nothing wrong), and considering how dangerous the Labyrinth was, she didn’t want to add to everyone’s worries, especially not the princess. Besides, the nightmares only came when she slept. After thinking it over many times, the girl finally decided to keep quiet… for now.
After the first match of the day ended and she left the Labyrinth, Orluk immediately asked for a full check-up from a professional doctor in Sainz. But the result wasn’t much different from what Noelle had said, her body was perfectly healthy, and even the small injuries she got during battle had already healed…
Orluk had thought the nightmares were caused by something in the environment of the [Morst Underground Labyrinth]. But after returning to the hotel to rest tonight, the situation not only didn’t get better, it actually got worse. Now it was so bad that she still hadn’t been able to fall asleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, memories of the past and the imagined scene of the old man dying in a terrible way came rushing in like a nightmare. The strange, intense visions hit her heart so hard that she couldn’t help but let out quiet whimpers. Even without looking in a mirror, she could guess that her face looked awful.
“Phew…”
She let out a long breath and sat up on her bed.
Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she decided to go outside for a walk and feel the night breeze. According to the tournament rules, there would be three days of rest after the first round, so she didn’t need to worry about being too tired tomorrow.
She put on a coat and quietly left the fancy hotel room that Sainz had arranged for them, careful not to wake Noelle, the catgirl who was sleeping soundly beside her. Without turning on any lights, she made her way through the dark up to the hotel’s rooftop.
On the very first day they moved into this hotel, Orluk had already studied the entire layout, every floor, every entrance and exit. She did it to ensure the Princess would be safe, but also because it had become a habit from her “profession.”
Normally, the rooftop wasn’t open to guests, so of course it was locked. But that wasn’t a problem for someone who had been trained by the [Thief Saint]. Orluk knew she was still far from reaching her teacher’s level, but when it came to opening a simple lock, even if it used the special magic of this world, it was still an easy task for someone who had lived here for several years.
With just an ordinary needle, she gently fiddled inside the keyhole for a few seconds before the lock clicked open. She pushed the door and stepped out onto the rooftop.
“Whoo~”
The cool night wind blew against her face, instantly clearing her mind.
Even though it was already late at night, the distant streets of the Academy City were still full of life. Together with the shining Seven Towers, they created a kind of man-made sky that covered the whole city like a dome. This [Eternal Day] Barrier still glowed with colorful, glass-like lights. Even the stars and the triple moons in the real sky above seemed dim under this magical brilliance.
The girl rested her hands on the railing as the cool night breeze blew against her face, lifting her short ash-blue hair. Orluk said nothing. She just stood there, quietly looking out at the dreamlike beauty of the Sainz City. In her eyes, the flickering lights reflected like tiny fireworks.
Suddenly, a voice with no warning broke the peaceful silence of the night.
“So that’s it, you’re thinking about the fire from back then, aren’t you? Your desire to destroy yourself and your dark thoughts are so strong, yet you’ve managed to bury them so deep that they’re almost invisible. A mind as extreme as yours... really is perfect soil for a [Nightmare] to grow. Looks like I chose the right person~”
“Who’s there!?”
Orluk’s eyes narrowed, and a cold blade shot into her hand from her sleeve. Her calm gaze, which had just started to settle in the quiet night, instantly turned sharp. Her alert eyes quickly scanned the entire rooftop. But just as she had checked earlier when she arrived, there was clearly no one else there.
“...?”
Sensing no sign of anyone else, Orluk tightened her grip on the dagger and gave a low, warning growl. Her eyes had already shifted to the half-closed door, the only way in or out of the rooftop, as she started calculating escape routes and directions.
“Who’s speaking? Show yourself!”
As someone trained in stealth and thievery, Orluk never liked fighting alone, especially in situations like this, where she had no idea who the enemy was. If there was going to be a fight, the smart move would be to get help from her teammates.
But then, that low voice spoke again, and strangely, it sounded about 70% like her own.
“Don’t bother looking. You won’t find me. Because I’m inside your dream.”
“...What?”
“Surprised? No need to be.You must have vaguely guessed something, right? Otherwise, why would you sneak up here in the middle of the night, such a perfect place for a secret talk?”
As the voice continued, a small, flame-like gray shadow, about the size of a palm, slowly rose from her chest. It spoke again, in a deep, calm female voice that sounded very much like Orluk’s.
“My name is [Nightmare]. Mortal... let’s have a chat, shall we~”