The day that Adonis was confirmed to be missing, they found a letter in his room.
The thing seemed to have been written in a hurry, and it was addressed to everyone—his classmates, the Royal Council, and all who cared to see.
It was:
~I am deeply sorry it has to be this way, and that it took me so long to see, but I finally realize my mistakes.
I thought I could help everyone, and save this world, but my calculations were wrong. I made so many errors, and those miscalculations cost us so many lives.
I can see those mistakes now… and I know I have to rectify them.
Don't bother searching for me. You won't be able to find me. I now recognize that for me to truly save everyone—even those who have fallen—I need far more strength than I currently possess.
A journey beckons to me. It will be fraught with danger, but I shall overcome. I shall survive and return once again; a much more experienced and capable Hero.
Do not fear… Rey, Lucielle, everyone. You no longer need to worry about me or yourselves. Even though I will shoulder this responsibility alone, it will yield the best of results.
Wish me good fortune. I will save you all!~
**********
"H-huh…?" Rey found the gears in his head turning as he read through the contents of the letter.
He was stunned by what he was reading—what appeared to be some sort of childish manifesto from Adonis.
"Is he stupid? How can he think to do this alone?"
Those were the first words that Rey uttered after seeing the letter's contents. It was a rhetorical question, considering how he was well aware of Adonis' intelligence.
'He's always been the most intuitive out of all of us.' Rey itched his head as he re-read the message on the paper in his hands.
'Even after seeing everything that went down, he really wants to go at it alone?'
In the end, he could not resonate with the Hero's reasoning. The most logical solution to the matter at hand would be for everyone to recoup their strength and figure out a way to ward off the inevitable external aggression to come.
"And what's this BS about us not worrying about him and ourselves? If an invasion happens now, what are we supposed to do?'
Should they just fold their hands and wait for his 'return'?
Rey shook his head, handing the letter back to Ater after reading it one final time.
"What do you think he means by this letter? Do you have any idea where he went, or where he's going?" He asked.
"I have no idea where he's headed to, or where he is at this moment, Master." Ater said with a slight bow. "As for the meaning of this letter, it is possible that he feels somewhat responsible for what happened in the Capital and desires to atone."
"Atone? By running away from the problem?"
"Most likely, he'll be running towards the problem…" Ater said with a smile.
"Wait… you mean the Northern Continent? The Dragon Kingdom?!"
"Draconic Empire, actually. It's merely a guess—an observation on my part, if you may." The way the Familiar shrugged in nonchalance made Rey slightly agitated.
Ater never really seemed to take most things seriously.
"Even after my power was exposed… he still chose to leave? Is it because I was unconscious?" The teenager muttered, a crestfallen expression on his face.
"...."
"I don't get it, honestly. With Alicia in her coma, and everyone in the current state they're in… I expected Adonis to at least… be there for them."
To leave everyone and everything behind… it didn't seem like something the Hero would do.
'I guess I didn't know him as much as I thought I did.' Rey smiled sadly, once again interrupted by Ater's deep voice.
"He isn't the only one that left, though. Trisha also went to the Adventurers City just a few days ago. She said she was done with the training she could receive here, and she wanted more practical experiences with large monsters over there."
Apparently, even after the appearances of the Dragons and the Divine Beast, Rey's classmates had yet to lose their courage.
They didn't plunge into despair or quit the mission.
"Clark and Justin have officially joined the military and are soon going to conclude their training with Brutus. Once that's done, they'll be heading to the front lines."
They weren't the only ones who were busy, though.
"Belle is currently an Apprentice under Lucielle, and she's also almost done with her Magic Training. Once all of them are done, they'll pick up Trisha on their way to the front lines and head straight to the battlefield."
All of this information bombarded Rey as he still tried his hardest to process the information he was receiving.
Of course, mentally processing it was incredibly easy for him, but the emotional weight of everything had to be addressed very slowly in order not to rush past the significance of the events that had taken place.
If he treated the matters too heavily, the System would come in, but if he dismissed them too swiftly, he would miss out on the true meaning behind their actions.
As such, he had to constantly chew the details he was receiving in order to understand them well.
'How strenuous…'
"How long before they head to the front lines?" Rey finally asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Less than a month."
"Ahh… I see." Rey didn't seem very surprised. In fact, he was more surprised that they could have waited that long despite what recently happened in the Capital.
"I assumed the Dragons would be breathing down our necks, but the fact that Brutus and Lucielle could have stayed back for so long means that the situation at the front lines isn't as severe as I imagined."
"It was severe. But, surprisingly, the attacks dwindled significantly after the calamity that befell the Capital."
"For real?" Rey was met with another surprising news.
He wasn't expecting this one.
'Why would they suddenly stop, especially after the death of a Dragon Lord?' Rey expected a full-blown retaliation from the Dragons, but there was no such thing.
"Perhaps they're being a lot more cautious with the humans; taking time to amass their forces to prepare for an all-out war. In any case, we should also begin to make preparations on our end." Ater said with a slight nod.
Rey nodded back at him.
"You're right. Since we have the window of opportunity to prepare, we should get ready for war."
He didn't let the grim state of things bother him that much, though. If things had gone according to plan, everyone would have been in the front lines at this point.
Rey knew he didn't have the luxury of worrying too much about auxiliary issues—not when there could be an overwhelming crisis brewing in the background.
'Sorry, Adonis… but I can't deal with your desertion right now.' Rey heaved a sigh.
There was too much to worry about at the moment.
"Is there any good news, at the very least?"
Ater beamed as the question was asked.
"Well, the Capital's reconstruction is almost finished. We should be done before your classmates depart for the war."
'E-eh? That quickly?!' Rey's eyes nearly bulged.
Most of his fight with the Divine Beast was a blur, but he hadn't forgotten the destruction that was wrought as a result.
It was too much to be fixed within a few months.
'What in the world did you do, Ater?'
"Also, the Royal Council finally made the existence of the Otherworlders known to the public." All of Rey's previous thoughts were put on hold once he heard this.
After all, this revelation only meant one thing.
"Everyone knows who you are now, Master."
*
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Thanks for reading!
Looks like it's no longer the POV of an Extra… or is it?
