I often spoke to myself because I was alone for a long time but looking at Kaichen murmuring to himself, I thought I should refrain from that. Looking very serious, he unfolded the parchment paper and pressed on it hard with the quill. He was talking to me just a moment ago, but now he was lost in thought, occasionally scribbling something like formulas on the parchment. No wonder people say he is a genius.
Kaichen, stared down at his parchment, flinched and put down his quill. He didn’t look at me, but I thought he looked embarrassed.
“Teacher, then, is it most likely that I was exposed to a poison mixed with several drugs, right?”
“Yes.” I shrugged and sat down by the window. I opened the window wide and looked at the pond over the rose bushes. A marvelous yellow-leaved willow tree was swaying in the wind. “I don’t know who it is, but he must have hated me a lot. And I thought I lived a good life…”
Kaichen didn’t respond. “Am I wrong?” I asked.
“How should I know?” Kaichen frowned as if he was displeased. However, seeing him flinch, holding the parchment, he seemed to know something. Dalia had a good reputation, but Kaichen hated me all the time. Las also said that it was not the case when Dalia was young… Then it is very likely that he met her when she was young.
“Teacher, have we met before?” It’s best to ask things straightforwardly. There’s nothing good about dragging it out for no reason. Rather, it is amazing that I have endured this long without asking.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you act like you have met me before”
“I’ve… never done that.”
“But you hate me, don’t you?”
“I… never did.”
“I think you just hesitated.”
He looked at me with his cold eyes, but he didn’t answer me. Kaichen closed his mouth as if he didn’t want to deal with me anymore and took out a vial of blood. After opening the scroll where he had written a formula a little while ago, he poured golden magic into the magic circle. He then slowly poured the blood on it. The blood floated right above the circle and boiled.
It’s amazing to do that with one magic circle. It reminded me of a drama like the Scientific Investigation Corps that I had watched in my previous life. I think it required some very modern technology.
“Do you feel like you’ve met me before?” After activating the magic, Kaichen slowly turned and looked at me. Sitting by the window, I smiled at him.
“No. The very first time I saw you was on that night when you broke the time magic.” But it did feel different for Dalia. Her body seemed to react fearfully whenever I faced Kaichen.
It does not seem to be a good memory. It was frustrating, but I was not the Dalia that Kaichen used to know (if he did). Even if this body did something wrong to him, it wasn’t me. But that doesn’t mean I can completely ignore it. Kaichen looked at me with eyes colder than before and turned his head away.
“Then that day must be the first time that I met you, too.”
What was that supposed to mean? He didn’t say anything further. I regretted it a bit that I had offended him again but what was I supposed to say when I didn’t remember? One thing was certain. Kaichen had met Dalia, maybe when they were young. And maybe it wasn’t a pleasant memory for both of them. Damn you Dalia! Why do I need to clean up your mess? I let out a sigh and turned back to look at the willow tree again.
“I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I actually don’t have many memories of the past,” I said slowly. “My childhood was not ten years ago. It was a hundred years ago… I can’t even remember my parents.” I knew too much to say that I had amnesia. In this case, the hundred years of being trapped was a good excuse.
“And while I was trapped, I lost my mind a little in the middle, so I can’t remember most of the things from before.” My first impression was already bad, and Dalia has been worst in the past too, so what’s the use to be cautious of my image now? But I thought I had to tell Kaichen at least.
Those who knew Dalia will surely know that she is different from the past. Having gone crazy once, it will be easier to understand to some extent that her personality had changed.
“The components came out,” said Kaichen putting a stop to the conversation. However, it felt like the coldness had somehow subsided a little.
“It’s as we expected.”
Seeing the boiling blood divided into five categories, I came down from the window. Going just close enough to Kaichen to not make him uncomfortable, the ingredients I saw were familiar.
“It’s a drug substance. It was probably added to keep you drinking. I think the most important thing was to make it unstoppable.”
“Since there are ingredients that enhance the alcohol component, the auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations and haptic hallucinations may be due to this. It has good compatibility with the drug ingredients, so it must have been several times more effective.”
“Oh! Teacher!” Isn’t this a tromer? It’s the worst ingredient that comes out of the tromer flower. I guess this caused the hand trembling!”
