Chapter 39: Sleepwalking

"Hmm?" 

I pushed Nicola for a long time before she finally woke up, looking confused. She glanced back at Cyra's empty bed and immediately realized something was wrong.

"Should we go out and chase after her? It's the middle of the night, I'm really quite worried!" 

I looked at the door anxiously and asked Nicola. But this was an extraordinary period, considering the threat of the prophecy. I didn't dare act rashly in case I accidentally wandered out of the hotel and a series of coincidences led me outside the city.

"But where do we look for her? It's so dark at this hour we can barely see..." 

Nicola hesitated for quite a while, her expression stormy. But there was no other way. Eventually she had no choice but to put on her shoes and prepare to go out.

"It would be easier if Cyra had her wings out..." 

After last night's chase, I knew this very well too. Searching for someone in the darkness of night was extremely difficult. Even with the city lights to provide illumination, what if Cyra had run outside the city?

"I'll go look for her myself! You just stay in the room because of the extraordinary time!" 

Before leaving, Nicola kept reminding me.

"I'll be back soon. Remember, don't leave the hotel an inch!"

I nodded and saw Nicola off as she left the hotel. 

After all this commotion, I was much more awake now, the sleepiness fading away. But my doubts and questions only grew. I still hadn't figured out Cyra's strange reaction to me earlier.

"It's so weird. Why must she get up in the middle of the night to look in the mirror? Did she grow something on her face? But she looked the same from afar..."

I mumbled to myself. With nothing to do stuck in the room, I could only boredly stick my head out the window, hoping to catch sight of Nicola or Cyra.

"Huh?" 

But just then, a faint aura of light elements in the room caught my attention.

Could Cyra have her wings out in the room? 

Logically, the amount of light elements in the night air was extremely scarce. But the concentration in the room was clearly higher by an order of magnitude. If her wings were out, wouldn't the current amount be lower instead? This was quite thought-provoking...

I sat anxiously on the bed, not knowing how much time had passed, when I suddenly heard a strange sound from the window. To my shock, Nicola flew in from outside with her wings spread, carrying someone in her hands―Cyra!

"What happened? Where did you find her?" 

I clearly saw Cyra run out by herself earlier. How did she become carried back now? Did Nicola knock her out?

"I found her lying alone in the middle of the main street heading out of the city up north. Luckily there weren't many people out at night, so I brought her straight back," Nicola replied. After thinking for a bit, she added: 

"But looking at where she was headed, it seems like she was walking towards the northern city gates..."

"But we're right by that main street! It only takes a few steps to get there. And Cyra could have easily flown out of the city at night. Why would she need to take the gates?" 

I still didn't get it and raised doubts. 

"How would I know the answer? You might as well ask the person herself!" 

Nicola gave a wry smile. Then she gently patted Cyra's cheeks to rouse her awake. 

"Mm..." 

Just like Nicola's earlier reaction, it took Cyra a long while before she finally opened her eyes groggily. Seeing me and Nicola staring at her, she seemed rather baffled. 

"Why are you two looking at me like that? Is it morning already? Why does it feel so quick..."

"It's not morning yet, but you've already gone out!" 

I rolled my eyes. Her attitude was rather strange, seemingly unaware that she had left once already.

"No way? Wasn't I sleeping?" 

Hearing this, Cyra instantly noticed her surroundings seemed a little off. She quickly got to her feet and looked around.

"Weird, how did I end up sleeping on the floor..."

"Not sleeping on the floor! You just went out earlier and I found you and carried you back from the main street!" 

Unable to stand it any longer, Nicola joined me in accusing Cyra's actions. 

"But...but I was sleeping the whole time!" 

Cyra was dumbfounded, and grew anxious when she saw we didn't believe her words. 

"I seemed to have a dream earlier where I turned back into my past male self and became the Emperor, living debauched nights! But just when I was happily continuing my dream, you guys woke me up!"

"Could she be sleepwalking?" 

Seeing her manner unlike lying, Nicola no longer dared to be certain. 

After all, only Cyra could have such shameless dreams, completely fitting her style! But I kept feeling something suspicious, at least the way she ran out of the room appeared extremely agile and swift, completely unlike someone sleepwalking. 

Of course, I didn't dare confirm what sleepwalking angels would look like. What if that was just how lively they were when sleepwalking! 

"I swear! I'm really not lying to you, I was truly sleeping!" 

Seeing the looks of doubt appear on our faces, Cyra hurriedly swore, raising her hand. 

"But you're so restless in your sleep. What if you run out by yourself again later?" 

Nicola had no choice but to choose to believe her. 

"You have to know Feliciana is in an extraordinary period. If anything happens to her because of you, killing you won't make up for it even if we do!"

"Then...then can't you guys tie me up while I sleep?" 

Taking out a rope from her storage ring, Cyra suggested with a tragic look on her face. It seemed like to prove her innocence, she had gone all out. 

Nicola wasted no time on niceties at all. Annoyed from being woken up by me for this nonsense in the middle of the night, she had a bellyful of anger to vent. Without further ado, she directly tied Cyra to the bed. 

"Sleep!" 

... 

The rest of the night did go by peacefully and without incident. 

The next day, we idled around the city boredly for the morning. It wasn't until after noon that grave bad news arrived from the east outside the city―the direction we originally planned to head towards...

"Last night, a meteorite fell from the sky, crashing onto the highway leading towards Cresthaven Papal Dominion. This caused the merchant group camping by the roadside to perish instantly. At the scene was left a gigantic crater!" 

Cyra read out the official brief in her hands and exchanged solemn looks with me and Nicola. 

"Judging by the timing, the spot where this meteorite fell happened to block the path we would take next. Given our speed and timing if we traveled by carriage, we probably would have stopped to rest around that area at midnight. After all, I remember that merchant group entered the city with us just yesterday morning. So their progress in one day probably wouldn't be much slower than us..." 

After pondering it over carefully for a while, Nicola finally spoke up with her opinion. If not for Cyra's suggestion that I remain in Makalan City, I probably would have been smashed to death by that meteorite. 

Thinking it through carefully, this did seem rather aligned with Quintina's prophecy―wilderness, grasslands, debris, firelight, midnight meteorite strike, Nicola having no time to spread her wings to react etc...

"So does this mean I've successfully dodged the death prophecy?" 

A thought arose within me. This seemed a little too easy right? I couldn't help feeling somewhat unconvinced. 

"It's too early to say! Quintina clearly told us your death would occur within three days. It's only been slightly over a day so far. We can't let our guard down for the time left!" 

As expected, Nicola shook her head, not agreeing with my viewpoint. While we seemed to have dodged this meteorite incident, that didn't signify I had avoided the death prophecy. Although there was no evidence to support otherwise, staying vigilant could hardly be wrong. 

"You two really are quite stubborn..." 

Seeing our attitudes, Cyra couldn't help but curl her lips in disdain. She felt that under her wise leadership, I had already successfully escaped misfortune. 

However, later in the evening, another bizarre incident happened. 

While eating dinner at the restaurant, the waiter accidentally spilled soup onto Nicola's male attire. Still, the waiter's attitude was decent enough. He promised compensation and to help clean the clothes. 

But when we saw the temporary replacement clothes he delivered, we were shocked... 

"Adventurer's suite?!" 

Why was it this outfit again! I felt like I was seeing ghosts. Nicola also kept frowning when she saw it. 

"Where did you get this outfit from?" 

Cyra flipped through the clothes in the waiter's hands and suddenly asked. 

"This loose thread on the left sleeve seems kind of familiar..."

"Uh, actually I picked this up by the roadside yesterday..." 

The waiter's face flushed slightly, answering very honestly. 

"I found these clothes perfectly intact but discarded by the roadside for some reason. It felt like such a waste to just throw them away, so I brought them back and washed them again. They just finished drying now!" 

"Don't worry, this is just temporary replacement wear since the other clothes got dirty. Once they're washed, they can be changed back!" 

Seeing our attitude, the waiter misunderstood and thought Nicola disliked wearing this kind of outfit. So he quickly explained.

"No need for that! You don't need to wash my clothes either. I won't pursue this matter any further so don't worry about it!" 

Feeling like goosebumps were crawling all over her, Nicola hurriedly rejected the waiter's good intentions. She dragged me and Cyra along to hastily leave the restaurant, only leaving behind the waiter standing blankly in original spot, staring after us running off in a panic. 

"The danger of the prophecy obviously hasn't passed yet. And now that it's already nighttime, if I wear that outfit again the risk will be greater..." 

After leaving the restaurant, we were like a flock of startled birds, jogging all the way back to the safety of the hotel.