Old faces (2)

Putting my sword away, I looked at all the destruction I caused.

"I think I went a little overboard..."

Fortunately, my control over my power was proficient enough to avoid hurting anyone except Thauma.

Thauma, who seemed to be unconscious, lay on the floor a few meters away from me.

Although he got hit by the full brunt of my Excalibur, he seemed to be mostly uninjured. At least not in a life-threatening way.

Of course, there were some bruises and cuts here and there, but not something that would require more than a week to heal.

Seriously, even in his mirror form, he was a monster, strength-wise. I didn't even know if I could survive a blast from Excalibur unscathed, as he did.

"Zenith?"

A voice called out to me from behind. It was the familiar voice of an important figure in my life, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.

"Mr. Roywid?"

I said, as I turned my head around to my former teacher, who sat on the ground a few meters away from me.

His clothes were ripped and he seemed to have suffered some slight injuries, but other than that, he was fine, too.

"I apologize. I haven't realized that you were here."

Roywid laughed shortly, before using his sword as a tool to stand up, cracking his usual radiating smile, which seemed to be unaffected by his age.

It was that kind of genuine bright smile only a few people possessed. He was the type of person, that could still smile even after all the hardships he went through, something I couldn't do.

"Yeah, you were too busy with fighting that guy over there, weren't you?"

He pointed over to the unconscious Thauma, looking at him with an expression that seemed to be curiosity.

"What even is he? I've never seen such a magic before."

"Oh, Thauma?" I asked for confirmation, to which Mr. Roywid responded with a nod.

"The short version of that is that it was dream magic."

"Dream magic?"

I nodded, before approaching Thauma, kneeling down right next to him, as I grabbed his unconscious body.

"I'll explain it to you later. First, I gotta get this idiot away."

"I see."

Giving a thumbs up, Mr. Roywid gave me a reassuring smile combined with a determined look.

"You can count on me, kiddo."

I only released a quiet hum as confirmation before picking up Thauma in a bridal carry.

Unsurprisingly, he was not very heavy. In fact, it was the opposite.

While I possessed a certain amount of physical strength, Thauma was still way too light for my tastes.

Had he been skipping eating his food again?

"Meet me at the Flying Pig's Inn at 8."

One last time, I looked over at Roywid, who had now pulled his hood down. Truthfully, it wasn't a good disguise in the first place, but it would've worked for people who had never seen him up close.

The question, that I've been pondering about what something completely else, though.

Why did he come to the tournament in the first place?

I could have already guessed the reason why Thauma participated, but there was no reason for Mr.Roywid to also participate.

"Alright, Zenith. See you then."

"Yes, Mr. Roywid."

And with those words, I void stepped away from the Colosseum. This wasn't the first time that Mr.Roywid had cleaned up after me, so I think that I could fully entrust him with that task.

After all, he was my number one supporter.

***

***

Waiting in a room in the 'Flying Pig's Inn', somewhere on the east of the empire and amidst the area where usually shops for travelers and adventurers existed, I sat on a wooden chair.

The only light that illuminated the small wooden room was the candle, whose flames burned brightly on the table in front of me.

"...Z..enith..."

I looked over to the now sleeping Thauma on the bed, who kept twitching around and muttering some barely audible words.

"Yes?"

I said, forming a small, amused smile on my face as I watched his figure rooting around in his bed.

For a few seconds, there was silence, which was only broken by the crackling of the candle flame.

Then, suddenly, Thauma jerked up, turning his head toward me, as cold sweat dropped from his forehead.

"Zenith?!"

"Yes, that's my name."

"What are you doing here?!"

Thauma knit his eyebrows together, looking around the room with a confused expression.

"...is this an illusion?"

Just like his expression, his voice also sounded confused. As if he couldn't differentiate if it was real or not, he raised his hand before biting himself.

"Ouch. I can feel the pain, at least."

"This is not an illusion, you idiot."

I rolled my eyes at Thauma's behavior, cracking a faint smile. Even though a few years had passed since we last saw each other, he was still the same as always, which was a relief for me.

Well, after spending hundreds of years in this world, I doubted that there would be any major personality changes, but it was a relief to me nonetheless.

I liked him as he was now.

"Really?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at me with a dubious look. "So you're telling me that you're really Ze— "

Grooowl—

The sound of Thauma's growling stomach interrupted him, which caused him to turn red in embarrassment.

Seeing that, I turned my head to the side, releasing a short snicker, before returning to my usual stoic expression.

"Don't worry, Thauma." I said, facing him again. "I already ordered us some food."

For a few seconds, Thauma just looked at me with widened eyes and opened his mouth.

"..Z...I..yo.."

Sounds tried to come out of his mouth, but he didn't manage to form proper words, let alone sentences.

Then, with an unexpected speed, he jumped at me, embracing me in a hug, and throwing me off my chair.

Crash—!

"You really are Zenith! I missed you so much!"

"A-alright, Thauma," I said while trying to push him away from me. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the situation. "...You can get off me now."

However, Thauma ignored me, as he rubbed his face against my chest, weeping like a little kid.

Seriously, why does almost no one over the age of a hundred actually act their age?

"You are the only one who buys me foooood!"

"Yes, yes. Now let go of me!"

Knock— Knock— Knock—

Suddenly, a knock came on the door, and a voice came from the other side.

"Hey, Zenith. The receptionist told me you were in this room. I have also brought somebody that looks like you and claims to be your sister with me. May I come in?"

"No! Wait a second!"

"Oh, is that the voice of brother? Heh, I'll come in, regardless!" said a voice that seemed to belong to Ophelia.

Then, with an energetic slam, Ophelia opened the door, rushing inside the room before she froze up.

Her eyes were directed toward Thauma and me, a stiff smile forming on her face, as she looked at me with a dead gaze.

"Oh. I didn't know you were into that, brother. Have I disturbed you guys?"

"No! I can explain it!"

"No, it's okay." Ophelia meaningfully shook her head. "I'll support you."

Turning my head to Mr. Roywid, I pleaded to him with a panicked expression.

"Help me, Mr. Roywid!"

However, Mr. Roywid didn't react as expected. Instead, he looked at me with a solemn look, nodding slowly while clasping his hand together as if he was praying.

"This old man shall support you with your desires, Zenith. Don't worry about being judged. I've already seen such a thing countless times."

"No, seriously! I am not into guys!"

I said in a desperate voice, before turning my head to Thauma, facing him.

"And why aren't you saying anything?!"

Thauma, who had rubbed his face on my chest a few moments ago, raised his head, facing me with an innocent voice.

"What do you mean, Zenith? Don't you like me?"

Although his voice sounded innocent, his eyes didn't seem to reflect that.

Instead, they hid a sense of playfulness and mischievousness behind them, which caused me to remember some memories of the past.

I always had a tendency to hit Thauma when I was annoyed, but as the years passed, I questioned if I was too harsh toward him.

However, the way he was acting now forced me to remember the memories, which I hadn't been paying attention to.

Behind that innocent expression of his, lays a sinister fairy, who enjoyed seeing the world around him burn.

He always liked getting me into trouble, which was also the reason why I had hit him so much.

And now again, I felt a desire which I had almost already forgotten.

Namely, the urge to punch Thauma, who had probably been doing this on purpose.

Narrowing my eyes, I looked at him with a dead expression as I spoke in an emotionless voice.

"'l'll kill you, Thauma."