I didn't return to my mansion after that. The shock had… put me in an awkward position, and I decided to take a walk outside Academy City.
The night spring wind was a bit chilly. I sat on the edge of the tall gate and looked over to the horizon at the crescent moon looming over in the distance, surrounded by many bright foreign stars in the sky.
Those weren't real stars. Instead, most of them were only in the sky, moving together with the moon like a set of paintings behind clouds. No rotation, no revolution in the sky. This world was devoid of all that.
Again, I found this out from the few classes I attended before and the lore I read 5 years ago, before I entered Horizon Online.
Many things have changed since then, me included.
"Sigh…"
An exaggerated sigh escaped my lips as I rested my head on my hand. As I said before, I had changed and knew about it.
When I first entered Horizon Online, I wasn't this confident, and I very much acted like a mob between a bunch of main characters. Small and forgettable. Even though I was bullied back then, I wanted to change and become stronger.
"I wanted to forget about it."
Such memories were something I wanted to forget. No, it wasn't just that. But there was more… something that made me the way I was now. Those were my former comrades back in Round Table Guild.
That guild was something we created out of fun due to our nicknames resembling those knights from the Arthurian Legend back on Earth. And my experience in that guild was both the best and worst one.
"That pendant…"
I took out the same pendant Isabelle took out earlier. A circular pendant with silver color.
As I opened it, my name was carved inside.
Many people imitated us as we grew stronger and our reputation grew in the community.
This pendant was something like a name tag we used to identify each other, and each had a distinct handwriting so we wouldn't mistake them.
And the one Isabelle took out was, without a doubt, a real one, belonging to one of my former comrades.
"To think it would end up like that."
Although we were often together, we also often went in a different way.
For example, one of the guild members called Merlin was a Mage who loved to travel to find magic items and weapons. The reason why I had many useless and useful magic items was thanks to him.
I really appreciated his work, and the magic items he found were useful in my fight with Ghost Marionette, keeping me alive and saving me at some points.
Then there were members who loved to create weapons. Two idiots who created many weapons, such as [Excalipoor] and my beloved [Excalibur], which got destroyed in my fight with the last boss.
All my former comrades' items were currently in my inventory, except those that went missing.
And there was also a female member who went by Tristan. Although her name sounded like a man, she was definitely a girl. And she was someone I wanted to forget the most but was still unable to, even so when I had someone close to me with a personality like hers.
"Surely this is a joke that the System prepared for me, right?"
I doubted the almighty person behind this system who gave me this bonus stage even though I wanted to return to my home just gave me a chance to enjoy the result of my hard work after what earlier.
"If this is a joke, then it's not funny."
The debt I had to a lot of people back in Horizon Online was by no means a small one. It was an enormous debt that I doubted I could pay even if I tried my entire life because I owed them my life and not less than that.
Furthermore…
"I don't know what to do to Isabelle now."
I slowly stood up and stood over the edge of the tall wall. The answer and what I wanted to do was clear.
The fact Isabelle knew about me back in Horizon Online wouldn't change. And another fact that she had spent a few years in this world, contrary to me, who had only spent a month at most, would also not change.
She also told me she didn't remember how she ended up in this world, which was troubling. We didn't discuss anything more than that as she left, satisfied after knowing the truth. Of course, not before she told me that I had changed a lot, which I failed to understand.
"Who is she, really?"
No details were given except for one fact.
"Why did she say that she's someone who shouldn't exist?"
My head hurts. I wanted to enjoy this life and was given a mystery.
And what was concerning about Isabelle was the fact she had woken up in Sin Kingdom before she made her way to the Virtue Kingdom safely.
There were many things I couldn't understand, but…
"This is the shittiest bonus stage ever."
***
Bam–!
The door was slammed close, and the onyx-haired girl immediately slumped on the floor, tightly holding a silver pendant close to her chest.
'He's here…'
Not just anyone that looked like him, but it was truly him.
At first, she was skeptical and only thought of him as a person with a similar appearance. The air around him had changed too much for her to recognize.
And the fact he did those things to a girl was very much unlike him. Spanking a person in a duel? Such a barbaric thing didn't define him at all.
But… It was him. The person she had kept inside her heart. Her heart beat faster after she met him again, but she kept a calm expression and told him what she wanted to say.
It was enough.
Yes. It was enough for her to know that he was fine. She was happy to meet him again and couldn't take it anymore so she ran away.
Not only that… she got her armor again. The armor that she thought was long gone and wouldn't find again.
Her eternal frowning expression now changed into a small smile. And then, it dropped again as she realized something.
"Why is he here?"
A question that had no answer. She knew why she was in this world and kept it a secret from him. But why was he here too?
Crack!
The floor cracked due to the pressure she hadn't realized she exerted from her legs. Her heart beat faster than before. This time out of worry and uncertainty instead of happiness.
"Why?"
She had no chance to ask. Rather, it was because she ran away from him that she got him no chance to say anything.
Now she was curious and worried. She had been cold. Time had also changed her, but the memories she held dear hadn't changed.
Her breath quickened due to panic. Hyperventilation. Such was her current condition, broken and unrepaired.
Memories were fickle things, and she very much had a lot of bad memories instead of good ones.
"Haa… Haa… Haa…"
Thud!
Dizziness attacked her. Everything was in a spiral, spinning around. The more she tried to hold it, the worse it became.
Unable to hold it, her body dropped to the ground as she held her chest. She was hurt… Hurt by her reunion and the fact he didn't remember her due to how much she had changed, both in appearance and personality. Even her name had changed to forget the past.
"Arthur… Haa…"
Her grip loosened as strength left her body, and the pendant dropped from her hand to the floor as she fainted.
It rolled a few centimeters from her face, and the case got opened, revealing the name written inside in bad handwriting.
'Tristan' was the name written on it. And in the Arthurian legend, it was the name of the Knight of Lamentation, which truly fit to be in Isabelle's hand as she was filled with grief and sorrow.
