Arena Fifteen: Friends And Foes I

[Friends. A complicated existence.]

[Sometimes it refers to someone who would be willing to give their life for someone else.]

[Sometimes it refers to a mere acquaintance.]

[No matter what it refers to, the existence of a friend is just barely different from the existence of a foe.]

[After all, the line between love and hatred is... unexpectedly thin.]

...

"Come to Stigma once you are done."

I saw the message appearing in front of my eyes as I chattered with Lara and Julius.

It was from Grey. Surprised at the tone, I decided to visit Stigma right now.

"I'll need to go now."

"Ah, I see... We won't keep you here then. Have a good night!"

Lara smiled and bid me good night.

"See you tomorrow. Don't sleep late!"

Julius gave me a friendly reminder as I walked back to my room.

Lying down on my bed, I closed my eyes.

[Enter The Singularity.]

I muttered, and a bright light exploded in front of my eyes.

My vision tunnelled, and I felt my mind getting pressured, then, the light disappeared, and I found myself lying on the ground on the roof of some building.

"Ugh..."

The pressure wasn't as powerful as before, but my stomach still felt weird. Sitting up, I looked around. I was sitting on the roof of an abandoned building instead of the bed I had used in the base before logging out.

Would I have to go through those horrors again to reach the base?

"You're here."

Hearing a voice, I snapped out of my thoughts and turned around.

Grey stood there with a frown as he looked at the ruined city in front of us.

"Why did I spawn here?"

"Because you hadn't allocated any fixed coordinates to your gear."

"Ah..."

Grey passed by me and leaned against the rusted railing.

An uncomfortable silence appeared between us. Before I could speak up though, Grey turned his face towards me.

"I know you said the opposite, but I want you to be protecting Anastasia."

"What?"

The sudden request put me off guard. Narrowing my eyes, I asked.

"By protecting, you don't mean just inside Stigma, do you?"

"In the real world too."

"... I refuse."

"... Do you, now?"

Grey narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"What, is it an order?"

"No, but I guess you need to take responsibility for what you did to her, don't you?"

"What I did to her..."

"Piloting her Regalia, kissing her, reviving her."

"... You were there."

"I was."

Grey turned his face away and looked at the grey clouds passing by.

"You have broken her mental guard. You have to take responsibility by becoming that guard now."

"... Why didn't you help me back then?"

I hissed, glaring at him.

If he had, we could have at least escaped without me going through such dire means.

"Me helping wouldn't have changed anything."

"You don't know that!"

I yelled, enraged.

"... I do, Arnold Tilgen. I do."

Grey muttered without looking at me.

"..."

Something in his voice made me lose my strength. I looked down, crumpling my knuckles.

"Anyhow, you get my point. You need to defend Anastasia."

"But how? I don't have any military training, nor I have any fighting capabilities in Stigma."

"If it's you, I think you can manage somehow."

"At least show me the best way to do it."

"... I can't. Even I don't know what that boy would do."

"That boy?"

"Anastasia's brother. The 'Prince Charming' Jeffery Valentine."

Sarcasm seeped out of Grey's mouth.

"..."

"So... Arnold Tilgen, what will you do?"

"... Can I think about it?"

"We don't have much time. He'll probably start from tomorrow."

"Start what?"

"Again... I don't know. Harass her, hurt her... He can do anything."

"... Fine."

I stood up, nodding. Grey had told the truth, I had to take responsibility.

While I wasn't happy about it, I had no other choice.

"Good, Arnold."

Grey smiled as he looked at me.

"She needs all the support she gets right now."

"Why? Is something going to happen?"

"The next arena battle has been announced. It's around a month from now, in real-world time."

"That's... Quite a lot of time to prepare."

While it was sudden, we still had more than two years to prepare, at least in Stigma time.

"True... Thanks to that, Anastasia will stay in Stigma most of the time. And while she stays here, her body would be protected in the Logging Bay in the real world, so Jeffery wouldn't be able to do anything. Even so, she has to attend the academy five days a week, to learn tactics and have mock battles."

"I thought she was a veteran?"

"... She is, in a sense. But the Imperial Castle has commanded her to learn from the academy just like the others. She'll join as a first-year from tomorrow."

"Hmm... Alright... I don't get it, but I'll try helping her."

"Thanks. She is still in Stigma, do you want to meet her?"

"Hm? For how long she has been in here?"

Almost a day had passed since I had logged out.

"She didn't log out after separating from you, so I guess a month? She'll log out soon, though. She has to prepare for the academy tomorrow. "

"Oh..."

She had been in this war-torn world for around a month, while I had just spent my days partying and doing absolutely nothing.

The disparity made me shudder.

She was pitiful. She was a sad existence.

A sad, yet beautiful existence.

...

I logged out of Stigma (after allocating the specific bed coordinates as my spawn location) and looked at the ceiling of my room again.

I could have rested in Stigma, but doing so wouldn't help me recover from the fatigue accumulated in my real body.

"... Even though I had said that I won't associate with her anymore..."

I sighed as I closed my eyes.

Tomorrow would be a busy day...

...

The ringing of the alarm clock forced me to wake up.

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and looked at the clock.

7 A.M.

Classes would start from 8, so I had some time to spare. Yawning, I got down and freshened up using the adjacent bathroom. Then I immediately got dressed, and picked up my bag.

It wasn't necessary to bring any book, or more specifically, paper books had ceased to exist. Even so, I liked to keep a tablet with me to take notes. Putting that in, I stepped out of the room.

The door in front of me opened suddenly, revealing a tired-looking Sebastian. He noticed me and gave a short nod before walking along the corridor.

I followed behind him to the dining hall. A good smell was coming from the kitchen.

"You guys are here? Wait a bit, I'll bring the breakfast soon!"

Raymond shouted from the kitchen. So he was in charge of the food?

Silently, I and Sebastian sat side by side. The boy was looking down, uninterested in conversing.

"So... Today's the first class."

I tried to break the ice by speaking up first.

"Y-yes."

Silence again reigned... And I decided to leave him be for now.

I didn't want to intrude much into his private space.

Soon, Raymond brought out the food on two plates. He was wearing the same mask as before, but now with a white apron.

It looked really odd along with the mask.

"Here you go."

He placed the plates in front of us.

Bacons, omelette, bread. A simple breakfast.

I dug in almost immediately, taking in the food. It was good.

Raymond, surprisingly, was a good cook.

...

The dark room only had two people inside, both wearing gothic clothes, with dark veils covering their faces.

"You know what to do from now."

"Yes, mother."

A seemingly odd conversation took place, but no one was there to point that out.

"This unit will be taking care of you from now on."

One of the figures, who was referred to as the mother, gestured.

A boy came out of the shadows and bowed at the other veiled figure in the room.

He looked humane, but his eyes were cold and devoid of life.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

The boy said in a velvet tone. The veiled figure, who was now referred to as "My Lady", nodded.

"I look forward to working with you..."

She tried to ask the name, but the boy shook his head.

"This unit does not have any name. Please bestow one, if you wish so, my lady."

"... Zenon."

"Then from here on, this unit shall be referred to as Zenon."

The boy replied in a happy tone.

Finally, the veiled mother spoke up again.

"You may leave now. Remember your responsibilities, daughter."

"Yes, mother."

"Though..."

The mother stood up and looked at the sun shining outside. The window was covered with a dark curtain, but thin rays of light were coming through the gaps.

"You may do whatever you wish as long as it does not harm the Empire."

"... Mother?"

"Yes, that includes making new friends, falling in love... And eventually creating your own family. I won't judge you for your choices. Feel free to live however you wish, as long as you stay loyal to His Majesty."

"Yes... Mother."

The daughter tried to hide her joy, but it still leaked into her words. Smiling behind her veil, the mother bid her goodbye.

"Go now, daughter. Make the Rubiat family proud."

"Yes!"

The daughter... Roxy replied energetically and left the room.

"Honestly... If only you'd be so happy always..."

Her mother muttered with a slight smile, looking at the door.