Identity Crisis

Thanks to the immensely harsh experience that the students went through in the Royal Dungeon, they were allowed to have a whole day to themselves.

No one expected a full-day break, but they sure were plenty satisfied when they heard that.

Most of the students went outside the Estate's walls, but not all of them could afford to do that.

For example, Adonis was very busy with the Royal Council regarding the aftermath of the Dark Gathering and the implications it would have on the Alliance.

Alicia called in sick, and so she was being treated by the Royal Physicians.

Apparently, she had suffered excessive mental stress and a lot of drain from overexerting herself.

It wasn't fatal or anything, but she required a lot of rest.

Everyone was prevented from visiting her—including the Otherworlders—as she needed proper rest and isolation for her to be able to recover.

The only living entity allowed by her side was her Familiar—Snow.

They couldn't get rid of the thing even if they tried.

Then, there was one last person who didn't leave for the Capital's wonders.

It was none other than Rey, and his excuse for doing so was simply due to wanting to sleep in after exerting himself too much the previous day.

It wasn't surprising, since Rey was the weakest out of all of them.

Even though their entire bodies ached, they were able to recover overnight by sleeping. However, Rey probably hadn't gotten enough sleep.

As a result, he had to rest more.

And so, with that arrangement… the Otherworlders began their day.

********

"Now I feel even more guilty."

Rey let out a sigh as he walked in a hallway, with Ater following right behind him.

The gap between the two of them was very small, but it remained as a sign of the hierarchy that existed.

"May I ask what makes you so guilty, Master?" Ater's question came as a whisper, but Rey could hear it well.

Rey sighed even more as he kept walking to his destination, and though he didn't really know how to phrase it, he didn't want to ignore his Familiar's question.

"It's about Alicia. She's sick because of me. I really pushed her and everyone hard, didn't I?"

"Wasn't it for their benefit? So they can get stronger?" Ater responded with another question.

Rey knew where Ater was going with this, but he also couldn't help but feel bad for placing such a strain on someone he had feelings for.

He thought everyone would be fine after a day, even Alicia—given how they even talked after returning from the Raid.

Yet…

"Do you think she's like that because she spoke to me after the Raid instead of sleeping?" Rey asked Ater, who shot him a quizzical look by raising a brow.

"N-never mind…"

Rey felt like sighing again, but he stopped himself from being so soppy.

He was almost at his destination, and he had to deliver as much positive energy as possible. Of course, he was dressed as Ralyks, so the 'positive energy' he had to exude needed to match and even exceed his dreary ambiance.

'I just… haa, I guess I'll stop worrying about her.' Rey smiled to himself.

He had secretly visited her room and used [Absolute Appraisal] to check how she was really doing.

'It's just as the physicians said. She'll be fine after some rest…'

That brought some relief to him.

Alicia was sleeping when he visited, and even if she was awake, she wouldn't be able to see a thing due to how well he cloaked himself.

"Why do you not reveal your identity to everyone, Master?"

"W-what?!" Rey nearly choked on his saliva the moment he heard that suggestion from Ater.

"You seem overly concerned about your actions, and how they affect your allies. If that is how you truly feel, would it not be better to be transparent with them and ensure even greater cooperation?"

"Are you crazy? I can't do that now… not after everything I've done as Ralyks!"

Rey couldn't believe the kind of absurd things Ater said out of the blue. They were always too far off from where he would rather be.

Still, he couldn't help but consider this suggestion a bit more seriously.

"You'll only continue to do more, so everything will simply accumulate."

"…" Rey didn't know how to respond to this.

"You are merely compounding the issue, at least that's what I think."

Rey already knew that. The best moment to tell everyone—or at least, a few people—about his true identity would have been right before the Dungeon Raid.

Not only were the number of his classmates fewer, but they had grown to respect Ralyks and his strength to a considerable extent.

Rey was also not an object of scorn and ridicule any longer.

But, he missed that window a while back.

Why?

Maybe he was scared. Maybe he didn't know how to frame it.

Maybe… he just didn't want anyone to know how strong he was. Perhaps he liked things this way.

"Do you… really think I should tell my allies my secret?" Rey asked, his footsteps already ceasing their echo.

Ater also stopped walking, staring straight into Rey's eyes.

"My preference would be to not have allies at all. Subordinates are far more manageable than allies, and you wouldn't owe them any explanation regarding the secrets you keep."

Rey's face went pale as soon as he heard Ater's response.

He already knew where this was headed.

"Allies are problematic due to the nature of the relationship. Their trust is important… and it is unwise to keep them in the dark about certain details of importance."

Rey felt a slight pang in his chest as he heard this.

"The longer your deception lasts, the more catastrophic the feedback will be."

Rey nodded in agreement and sighed.

"You're right, Ater. I'll have to tell them soon…"

Ater nodded and smiled at his Master, and the former did the same as well.

"Now then, let's continue." Rey continued to move forward, now setting aside his previous thoughts while focusing on the most pertinent one at the moment.

"I hope you're doing better now… Esme.'