Reckoning at Dawn (Part 3)

After that, the protesters returned to their headquarters to prepare an attack on the palace. Even though the Queen brought her entire military force, there would still be guards remaining.

Some of them wanted to lift the young man earlier, which made me smile silently as I watched. Of course, I couldn't allow that to happen, as I needed to talk to him first. His two friends also stayed inside, waiting while bowing their heads and flinching whenever I moved.

Although I wouldn't strike them...

Maybe, but not now.

They have all left now, including the older man. He kept bothering me with a suspicious smile he gave before leaving.

Was he trying to be a mysterious character?

Because, honestly, he succeeded.

I approached the unconscious young man in front of the wall, kneeling down and grabbing the bracelet on his wrist.

Suddenly, he woke up, gripping my hand tightly with a pair of sharp eyes.

"What are you doing, Zent?! You want me dead!?" Kyle asked angrily.

"I forgot that I have other powers besides Glory," I replied with a friendly smile.

Kyle was surprised to hear that. "What? You have additional powers? How? Why don't I have them? We come from the same world! This is not fair!" he exclaimed, feeling upset.

"The Goddess Fortuna loves me, so I'm sorry, my friend," I said.

I stood up and extended my right hand towards him.

As he was about to take it, he stopped when he saw me touching Glory. Kyle lifted his head, looking at my still lingering smile, and became annoyed. "Ah, no! No! I won't give you Glory!"

"I just want to check something. You surely don't mind, do you?" I replied casually.

"Ugh! I knew it would turn out like this. I shouldn't have come when Sarah invited me," Kyle grumbled.

"That's not my concern," I said while wiggling my fingers, asking for the bracelet.

Kyle clicked his tongue in annoyance again, sighed heavily, and then pulled the bracelet, which transformed into a transparent blue cube. He handed it over roughly.

I smiled as I received Glory, not forgetting to say,

"Thank you."

I immediately used it to provide protection once again to the people in the kingdom. I hoped there wouldn't be any more souls sacrificed.

I could feel my body weakening because of it, but I tried to hide it, so it's not visible from the outside. The population of Clockheart, which reached over a hundred thousand souls, almost hit my limit.

Quite impressive, considering Kyle could only provide protection for two people. Even then, he was already exhausted and unable to stand.

Not to forget, I also created black headphones that could play the songs I desired-

What?

I needed time to relax too. Did you think constantly fighting, waging wars, and experiencing all the hardships wouldn't drive me to madness?

"You know I didn't say anything, right?" Z asked with a deep frown on his forehead. He was standing, leaning against the tree while folding his arms.

Oh no, it's just that your face irritates me.

"Are you bored? Is that why you're looking for trouble with me? Why? Do you miss me?"

Reflexively, I started coughing until Sarah came closer and gently rubbed my chest. "Are you okay?" she asked, worried.

I nodded, took a deep breath, and exhaled to calm myself and dispel the cringiness from Z's words.

"You should be grateful to me," he said with a meaningful smile.

Oh, be quiet.

"Are you kidding me? You're using Glory just to create headphones?" Kyle asked.

"You also use Glory to keep charging your phone battery with a power bank, don't you? It's not only you who misses technology. I also need music to accompany my days. Do you know how torturous it was for me without music for these three months? While you keep playing some random Rap,"

"Hey! Don't insult Rap like that."

"I'm not insulting Rap, but the Rap you like really hurts my ears."

"What are you guys talking about?" Sarah asked, curious with her hand still on my chest.

I hope she doesn't realize that my heart is racing slowly, or I don't know where to put my face.

"Oh, just talking about music," I replied, trying to regulate my breathing and not think about herhand.

"What kind of songs have you heard that make you badmouth my Rap?" Kyle intervened, snatching the headphones, putting them on, and about to ask why he couldn't hear any sound. Then, he fell silent as I thought of a song that I was sure would make him feel like he was floating in a dream.

He stood there, mesmerized, undoubtedly drifting away with the music.

"W-what song is this?" he asked softly after a minute passed.

"Before Dark, Mr. Cat," I walked closer, taking back the headphones from him and quickly wearing them around my neck. "Why? Do you like it? I have many songs like that, but of course, I won't give them away for free."

Kyle chuckled, pulling out his phone from his pants pocket and waving it in front of my face. "Did you forget about this? I can just search on the internet and be done with it. I don't need your help."

"Go ahead then. If you can find something that gives you the same feeling as earlier," I leaned closer, saying, "I guarantee you won't find it."

I was sure he wouldn't find a song as ethereal as that one again, hehehe.

After that, Kyle returned with two young men who were his friends. I don't know how he managed to find friends so quickly in such a short time. They played their parts in my plan to convince the protesters, which surprisingly worked.

I knew they wouldn't care about District Three, which was essentially worthless in the eyes of society. Besides spoiling the view, what else could they offer?

That's why I staged this play.

Unexpectedly, I received an apology from Kyle before he left. Of course, I responded with a smug smile, saying, "I told you, didn't I? You were too skeptical of me, Kyle."

I fell silent, remembering those who were no longer here.

"I... I also apologize. You were right, I shouldn't have acted so arbitrarily like this. Go, do your mission, and I will return Glory once all of this is over. For now, let me borrow it. I will fix this mess."

Kyle nodded in understanding, walked out, leading his two friends who kept looking back at him, then at me, until they disappeared behind the buildings.

I was sure Kyle would receive many questions.

So do I.

Who was that young man?

He wasn't part of the plan at all. And it should have been Kyle who talked about District Three. I didn't expect him to act so quickly and convincingly that I had to hit him.

"What's that hanging around your neck?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Hmm? Oh, from my world, it's a device we use to listen to music."

"Music?"

I took off the headphones and put them on Sarah, choosing a song that I hoped she would like. While she listened to the song, I held her hand, guiding us out of the factory to get ready, knowing that the Queen would leave soon.

I hoped Sheila wouldn't betray us again this time. I knew she had apologized and shared her past, but my heart still felt uneasy.

I could still vividly imagine how she left me without even looking back. My heart still felt the sting, and I knew it would take a long time to return to its previous state.

If...

It could return to its previous state at all.

Thanks to Celine, I could open up again. She was the one who managed to pull me out of the wall I had built to protect myself.

...

What is she doing now? It has been so long since I last saw her.

Could it be that she has found someone new?

"You love her but still can't understand her?" Z asked, shaking his head disappointedly. "Someone like Celine may seem intimidating from the outside. She appears cold and stern due to her responsibilities as the leader of the knights, not to mention now she's a princess.

But she is someone so loyal once you manage to conquer her. I know 'conquer' isn't the right word, but you get what I mean," Z sighed, observing the clear sky above. "In fact, I'm sure she's still looking for you until now. And I believe you can feel it in your heart," he said with a smile.

Could it be that my heart keeps beating fast because of Celine?

At the same time, unbeknownst to Zent, Celine, along with her two companions, was riding Hoverbike towards the northern side of the continent where Clockheart was located.

They had been riding for over a week at high speed, only stopping to rest and then continuing under Celine's evident frustration, making her two friends worried about Zent's safety.

"Shouldn't we calm her down?" Rayven asked after making sure they were a bit far from Celine so she couldn't hear.

"Stop Celine while she's holding back her rage like that? If you want to leave this world, go ahead, but don't drag me into it,"

Both of them looked ahead, reminiscing about what happened a week before when they were still inside the palace. They remembered how Celine destroyed the walls in her anger towards Zent, who disappeared without a word, and Mr. Anderson, who kept evading every question.

"We have to get Zent away from her. He could end up dead," Rio said decisively.

Rayven nodded in agreement.