"So that's how it is…"
Thauma nodded solemnly, crossing his arms as he thoughtfully stroked his lips.
"I can't believe it…"
Mr Roywid, who had been quiet the whole conversation, shook his head in disbelief, massaging his temples as he did so.
After sending Ophelia out to get the food I had ordered, I began explaining to them the situation with my mother and the statue.
Initially, I wanted to ask Acedia about it when she came back, but Thauma would also suffice.
And as Mr Roywid was already here, I just thought he had a right to know that my mother was still alive,
"So you want to know if there's some kind of magic that could bring her back, huh?"
I nodded. "Yes, exactly."
"Then I have to disappoint you. Even with 'subjective reality', the most I could do is bring her back for a temporary time."
"You can?!"
Hearing that, Mr Roywid jumped up in joy, jerking his head toward Thauma with an exhilarated expression, while the chair behind him fell down.
Thauma, who followed Mr Roywid's movement with his eyes, merely nodded in response.
"That's possible. It would require a ton of mana, though."
"Then can yo—"
"Mr. Roywid."
I cut him off.
"Please calm down."
"But, Zenith! There's a chance to see your Serena again! Why won't you take it?"
"Temporarily. My mother will only be back temporarily and we don't know what will happen after."
I fiddled with the small wooden dagger I had previously summoned to calm my thoughts down.
"Will she turn into stone again? Will she just disappear? We don't know. I don't know if it's because you've never seen 'subjective reality' before, but it is not a magic that should be used carelessly."
Thauma nodded in agreement, as he started explaining it even further.
"Yes. 'Subjective reality' is the greatest interference in the rules of the world anybody could do, and as such, the consequences could be enormous."
However, Mr Roywid didn't want to give up and kept arguing against our arguments.
I couldn't blame him for that, though, as I could understand his emotions. After all, if it was that easy, I would've already forced Thauma to use his magic on her.
"What the hell is that 'subjective reality', then?"
"It's a magic that c—"
Knock— Knock— Knock—
We were interrupted by the sudden knocking on the door.
"Hey, brother! I've got the food!"
It was the voice of Ophelia, which came from the other side of the door. It seemed like she came back from her little errand.
"Can I come in now?"
"Wait a second, please."
I turned around to the other guys in the room, putting a finger in front of my lips to signal them they shouldn't talk about this topic any further.
"We'll talk about this later."
"Yes, Zenith."
Mr Roywid sounded dejected, while Thauma was silent. He stared against the wall without moving, similar to a statue.
"Thauma?"
"Oh, yes?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Thauma turned his head to me, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.
"It seemed like I was spacing out again...haha."
He seemed suspicious, but I didn't bother to question him about it. Ophelia was already waiting in front of the door, and I didn't want to let her wait any longer.
"Wait, Zenith."
Thauma grabbed my wrist just as I started to take a step. His voice sounded determined as he looked at me with a resolute expression.
"What's wrong, Thauma?"
"About your mother...while magic can't save her, I think that something else can..."
Mr Roywid's expression lightened up again, while I slightly widened my eyes in surprise.
The whole attention inside the room was now focused on him, waiting for him to keep talking.
"Water from the world tree."
"The world tree?"
Thauma nodded.
"Yes. I think that can save your mother."
***
***
After eating together and chatting for a while, Mr. Roywid and Thauma went back to their room in a distant inn.
I and Ophelia then walked back to our dormitory together, leisurely chatting as we walked through the night of the empire.
"I can't believe Thauma came all this way here just to win the tournament for some money to afford food!"
Laughing, Ophelia held her stomach while kneeling down, barely able to stand upright.
"Right. He's a little bit...broke."
"And the stress from not eating for weeks had made him activate his mirror personality? How stupid is that?"
Seeing her fun and cheerful behaviour, I couldn't help but also get influenced by that, pushing the previous conversation to the back of my head.
Water from the world tree, huh?
I'll try to research that later.
"Well, it's not like he is broke."
I said, while turning my head to the front, facing the empty streets of the nightly empire.
"It's just that he has a very bad spending habit. He usually always spends his money on art supplies and food."
"He's an idiot."
"You're right."
Thauma and Mr. Roywid both had their own reasons to come to the empire and participate in the Sylpheon tournament.
Thauma just wanted easy cash, while Mr. Roywid wanted to surprise me by suddenly winning the tournament.
Really, both of them are idiotic people, but for some reason, I had a tendency to like extraordinary and idiotic people.
Was it because of my mother?
That would certainly explain my affection toward such types of people. I just found them endearing for some reason.
"The only ones who qualify for the second round in the second bracket are Thauma and Roywid, right? Everyone else had passed out, so they were all disqualified."
"You're right." I nodded in agreement. "But Mr. Roywid said he would resign, as I had already found out his identity, anyway."
"Oh, so does that mean that you and Thauma would have to fight in the final round of the tournament?"
"I guess so. But it isn't confirmed that I get to the final round, you know?"
At my answer, Ophelia looked at me with a blank expression, raising her eyebrow as if she couldn't understand whether I was joking or not.
"Are you serious, brother? You are Zenith Voidwalker. The 'Voidwalker' and you say that it isn't guaranteed that you'll be a finalist? There's a reason why you guys were a duo before."
I rolled my eyes at her mention of my past as a mercenary.
"The past is the past. There are always people stronger than you."
"Not necessarily. If there is always someone stronger, somebody has to stand on top. And who else could be the 'zenith' of power other than 'Zenith' Voidwalker?"
She emphasized the 'Zenith's' to make sure that I get the joke while trying to suppress her laughter at her own bad joke.
Really it was bad...
"Pfff..."
But I couldn't help but laugh at it.
"...hahahaha!"
"That was pretty funny, wasn't it?"
Seeing my reaction to her joke, Ophelia flashed a wide smile, seemingly happy that she could make me laugh.
"You've been so serious since before, so I thought that making you laugh would help you loosen up. Ain't I the greatest sister?"
"Yeah, you are."
I cracked a faint smile as I patted her on the head, ruffling through her hair as I did so.
"There is one thing that I still don't understand, though."
Ophelia stopped walking as she turned her head to me. Her face carried a questioning expression as she did so.
"Why did you participate in the tournament in the first place? I know why Roywid and Thauma did, but you didn't tell us what your reason was."
She slightly shifted her head away while stroking her lips, thoughtfully knitting her brows.
"Winter."
"Huh?"
"Winter."
I repeated once again, also stopping, as I looked at her with a gentle expression.
The reason for my participation in the tournament should've been obvious, but it seemed like she still didn't get it.
She is usually so bright, so why couldn't she get such a thing?
Well, I also had trouble with everything regarding emotions, so I wasn't one to talk about it.
We really were siblings, huh?
"What about winter?"
My response to her question only made her more confused.
Her confused expression reminded me of a clueless bunny somehow, which I found very cute, causing me to release a light chuckle.
"You like it, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. What about it?"
Even though I had already dropped so many hints, she still didn't get it.
"It had already started, but the snow still isn't coming."
"I know, but it doesn't explain what you are saying."
Ophelia tilted her head to the side, her expression turning even more confused with every word I said.
BONG—
The ringing of the tower clock announced the next day.
Exactly what I've been waiting for.
"Exactly 15 years ago...the incidents in the second layer happened."
"15 years? Wasn't it 14?"
I shook my head before turning my face to her, cracking a gentle smile as I did so.
Many things happened today, but there was one thing that I just couldn't forget.
In fact, it was so important that I had even written it down in my schedule today.
"Brother...I don't know what you're saying."
Ophelia still seemed confused, but was quickly distracted by something else.
Something, of which I know she had been waiting ever since we came to the Overworld.
Snow.
Dozens of snowflakes began to fall down to the ground with the arrival of the new day, almost as if it was planned in the first place.
Truthfully, I had asked Thauma to try to manipulate the weather with his enormous mana capacity to make it start snowing as soon as the clock reached 0.
"I'm sorry that I don't have any physical present for you yet, but I hope that you'll be satisfied with the snow for now."
Cracking a soft smile, I looked at her with an affectionate gaze.
"Happy birthday, Ophelia."
Sorry for not posting any chapters for the last few days. I've been pretty busy and the next week will be just as eventful as this one.
I didn't drop this novel though, so no worries about something like that.