Vivid

'What the hell? Why am I in the arena with these two?!'

This distraught question filled my head.

For a moment, I was outside of the area then I couldn't recall what happened next. Even so...  why am I standing near them now?!

"Hey, you asshole," Valen spoke sternly, "You really lived up to your name, aren't you? You got out and watch the fight outside, and you interfere when it was at the climax? I'll beat you real hard."

Violently flinched at her statement, my thoughts swiftly run on their own, thinking the right reply for her.

Explaining relating to my appearance during their fight will do me no good since... I'm also in absolute bafflement myself.

What happened to me was absolutely unknown.

Letting out a short breath, I came up with an idea and replied, "You were planning on killing him, weren't you? I was thankful for what I did or it would lead to something unfortunate otherwise I hesitated,"

"What the hell—"

"Your Finisher is very dangerous. You can't control it yet but that doesn't mean you will use us as some sort of guinea pig,"

"You…! How did you know?!"

Valen shouted but I simply ignored her and moved my attention to Isaac, who has a shocked expression while looking at me.

At that moment, I stopped. He might be thinking of punching me.

"Hey, I don't mean this to—"

'Huh?'

All of a sudden, my vision blurred, turning everything hazy as I fall sideways. That's when I started to realize that I was about to lose consciousness... and I did.

…

"Guh!"

Waking up in a hurry as if I had dreamed a nightmare, I quickly looked around to see where was I only to see that I was still in the same arena.

Both Valen and Isaac were still there, chatting with each other as if I wasn't here.

"Oh, you've woken up," Valen uttered, glancing at half of her head in my direction with a gentle smile, "Hello, young master,"

"…"

Her actions bothered me so much as her previous restlessness earlier, looking like ready to pounce on me any second wasn't present anymore.

I suddenly wished I would like to see her that way. Her being friendly somewhat made me so... uncomfortable if I put it in words?

Still feeling the uneasiness, I replied, "Kuhum, please return to your normal state. I'll just say that you are being... weird. Well besides that, how many minutes did I fall asleep?"

"Normal state? This is the real me," Valen smiled beautifully as she added, "And if you are talking about you being unconscious, it's been half a day,"

Valen answered with a hint of surprise in her tone but I was much more surprised than her.

'Half a day? What the hell?!'

I tried to see both Isaac and Valen's reaction and their faces were very serious. In the first place, why would I even think that they were joking?

Letting out a sigh from my mouth, I stand up from the floor and said, "We'll be going back now. I apologized for what I did,"

"I can't accept it," Valen answered, "There's one thing you could repay me though,"

"Oh… what kind of payment?"

My voice became hoarse as I said it, feeling uneasy once more at the calmness of both the situation and her request.

"It's nothing really," Valen waved her hand as her lips curled up, "I'll train you guys for free. I have taken an interest in your buddy, you see,"

"Oh… that's wonderful…"

'Did I hear that right? She's willing to train him? No, the way she said it, I was included. Well, what made her change that? Is she amazed by Isaac? Well, he's the mc after all…'

Thoughts passed through me and I wait for her to continue since it seems like there was a continuation to her request.

"And…a-and…"

"And…?"

She smiled as the tip almost reached her ears before adding,  "Let me meet your father again!"

"…"

"Oh my gosh, when he came here, I was so dumbstruck at how handsome he is. Is he single? I'll be willing to be your mom if that's what it takes,"

I stared at her blankly. Did she change her mind just because of that?

I was dumbfounded.

…

"My father came to the library directly?" I asked the person behind me while walking through the duke's manor.

"It's already past night and he might be worried about your condition since you aren't back yet. Klein was with him," Isaac answered while we looked back to the person on our backs who was heaving and breathing heavily.

'Well, if my father is what it takes to let her join on our side, it's not bad at all.' I mused inwardly, 'Now that I think about it, I didn't know that she had this characteristic. It wasn't in the book but…'

I suddenly stopped at my place, letting the two go ahead of me as a  thought passed through my mind.

Is it wrong for me to look at these people as characters in a book?

On my one week of realizing that I had indeed transmigrated, I actually thought that they are still characters but… all of them felt real.

Right… I shouldn't think of these people as some sort of characters who had been willed by the author to do what they're told and act.

They are real, not much different from me.

I let out a chuckle from my mouth before Isaac called me.

"Hey, Noelle. Let's tell the report of what actually happened. He indeed came earlier but the moment he knew you are safe, he left,"

"Sure, sure,"

…

"Prepare a room for this lady right here," Verl said to Klein as he sighed while dismissing almost everyone in the room, all except me as he continued, "Noelle, you stay here,"

Nodding my head slightly, I slightly retraced myself.

The discussion we had in this room was to inform what happened to the training ground underneath the library, excluding the fact that Isaac was almost killed, replacing the focus of discussion with me losing unconsciousness with the reason still being unknown.

I just told him that it was probably due to exhaustion. 

In just a minute, the room was only filled with two people, a few items hanging and placed around the place, and a bird chirping outside.

"The Lady will be in your care,"

"Consider it done,"

"You have people on your side now. You must take good care of them. Do you understand that, Noelle?"

"Yes, sir,"

Verl nodded his head and interlocked his fingers, seemingly getting started on the thing he wanted to tell me as he said,  "I'm considering your opinion of quitting school. Are you certain about your decision?"

I answered without any hesitation.

"Never been this certain in my entire life,"

This must be the only thing I've been certain of doing since I knew what would happen a year later.

"Sigh…" Verl sighed as he nodded once, "All right, this is what you'll have to do. Go with your brother and sister when they ride to the capital. I'll give you my signature which means you'll have my consent and they would do nothing about it since there's already proof,"

He paused, "Now, I will not be able to give you your request about owning land and an endless amount of supplies of gold. I wouldn't even imagine it giving them to you at all,"

'Haha… of course, you wouldn't. Whether in this world or that world, there's nothing free,'

Half expecting while half doubting his next words, I remained silent. There's no need for me to guess what he was about to say and just be ready for it.

"But, we could work on it and I'll even sponsor you." Verl paused, "In exchange, you have to do some certain tasks which would be given by me. There are no restrictions. You can agree or disagree and I will not put much danger on them,"

"Like running an errand or something?'

"Like running an errand," Verl repeated before standing up, turning around as he looked at the window on his back with the moon touching his clothes and skin, "Go on now. Prepare what you needed to prepare. You'll only have two days at most when you go with your siblings,"

"Noted," I answered and continued with the same respectful tone, "If there's nothing else to include, I'll ask to take my leave then,"

Verl shakes his hand as a sign of my dismissal before leaving the room. After that, I headed towards the dining hall, eat alone and proceed to my room to think about some things.

…

'It felt like you are a different person,'

This is what Isaac's opinion about me when I fall into unconsciousness after we left Valen's library.

Valen, on the other hand, just described what happened as some sort of exhaustion which I also believed at some point but that isn't too logical since…

First reason: I just run the hell out of the arena. Didn't fight Valen at all and just watch the scene.

Second reason: I didn't move from my position at all. And all of a sudden, in just a few seconds, I was standing with Isaac and Valen.

In a simple sense, I didn't exert this body to the certain extent that I knew of.

Right, there's a loophole in what happened.

'In those mere seconds gap, I didn't know anything that had happened at all but right before I was 'possessed', I saw a vivid image of me… No, that's not exactly right…'

The image I saw was the real Noelle.

He glanced back at me, giving me an emotionless look.

Lying down on my bed, I looked at the sky outside and muttered, "Sigh… I just wanted to go back,"

I wasn't planning on staying in this world at all. I just said I will prepare and maybe, whoever did this to me would be glad that I was doing everything right and let me go back.

Or maybe when a year passed, the old Noelle would come back and it might be the same as me returning to my previous world.

All those gimmicks I made were all for my way to transmigrate back.

Maybe I have to satisfy the hidden entity who did this. Or maybe there is a clue somewhere but I just failed to see it. Maybe… this was all just a dream.

A lot of maybes.

'France Nemon, a normal office employee, magically transmigrates into one of the characters in the book. Kind of a cliché setting where a loner from the previous world decided to have a thirst for strength in another but… I'm not doing that or any of those tropes,'

The sooner I get back the better.

Placing my hands that covered my eyes, I muttered, "Please… let me go home,"