Chapter 16:
Lumin picked up the food and a cup of milk with difficulty, walking carefully so that nothing would fall to the ground.. Breakfast was nothing more than a bowl of harees soup and a cup of milk.. a terrible combination for a morning meal, and there was no other option. Lumin took two bowls and a cup of milk for Christie without counting himself.. he simply could not carry another cup.
It took him some time to search for the table Christie had chosen, and while searching, he heard the voice of a young man from afar. "What is wrong with you? Do you think this is funny? Oderina is dead, and you are laughing just because a girl has a burn on her face?"
When Lumin looked toward the source of the voice, he found them behind a nearby tree.. the young man had grabbed the other by the collar while crying. He punched him in the face before continuing, "Were you not the one who— y-you.."
The young man could no longer control himself and collapsed onto the ground in tears, while the other lowered his head without saying a word. Lumin could offer them nothing, nor did he intend to involve himself with people he did not know. He sighed and continued searching for Christie before the milk turned cold.
'Did he say a girl with a burn?.. He cannot possibly mean Christie!!'
As Lumin continued searching, he remembered the burn over Christie's eye and connected it with what he had just heard from the young man.
He stopped in place and began speaking to himself inwardly.
'I focused so much on achieving my goal and learning about her connection to my sister that I forgot there are creatures barely worthy of being called human in journeys like this!'
'I made her wander through this crowd searching for a table while I stood still waiting for breakfast. I focused on the consequences of the things I planned to do and failed to notice the things I was already doing.'
'...He said that man laughed at her while their friend had just died.. Of course, that idiot only did it to escape his grief.. Wait a moment, did not countless people die during this expedition? The Herd Mentality Theory of Emperor Lansett!'
'But how am I supposed to face her after this? She helped me and did not mind selling the house to aid my investigation regarding Hedavin.. yet I left her alone amidst the crowd. She has a strong mentality, but at best she may change her opinion of me and cancel the agreement.. and perhaps she may not even endure it..'
'Whether she was affected by them or not.. I need to prove my good intentions to her so she does not form an impression that distances her from my goals.. I do not think she would help me simply because I am Rahel's brother, no.. It was obvious she connected me to my sister when the voice called out my name, which is why she was lenient with me and took the initiative to help me.. Should I tell her about the Paths? But I would be in an awkward position if she already knew.'
'I should not pretend ignorance. I need to take the first step if I want to reach my goal..'
Lumin could no longer stand there lost in thought and seriously began searching for Christie. It did not take long before he found her.
He approached the table quietly, placed the bowl and cup in front of her, then spoke. "I overheard some conversations on my way here.. I am sorry about that. I was thinking too much about something and neglected everything else."
Lumin sighed and continued before Christie could speak.
"I do not know where I should begin, but you definitely heard my name during the gathering, which is why you started helping me and told me about Selina and Hedavin, because you know them and you know my sister.. It is obvious to me that you have been searching for my sister recently.."
"In truth, when I first heard your name and met you, I did not know all of Rahel's friends. I only knew the members of the gathering. But after I lost consciousness, I remembered a page from my sister's diary. When we were late returning home, my sister waited for me near the western gate, and by coincidence you met her there.."
Christie nodded her head and gave a faint smile for a brief moment as she listened to Lumin.
"When I woke up, all I could think about was how to discuss this and tell you about my sister. I reached a few conclusions and wanted to share them with you, but before that, I want to apologize. I became too immersed in my thoughts and overlooked everything else."
Christie stared at Lumin's face for some time before speaking calmly.
"To be honest, I was shocked when I heard your name during the expedition. I never expected you would come to the club after your sister disappeared.. But when I encountered you on the road, I thought you did not care about her. Yet when you told me you were searching for a group of people and believed one of them might come on this expedition, I realized who you were searching for and why."
"In truth, I was the one who introduced Rahel to the group and convinced her to join them, and... but I was forced to leave the group two years ago.. Since then, I have not heard anything about them. But when I got out two months ago, I asked the owner of Lont Café about Rahel and the others because we used to gather there, but he told me they had disappeared and nobody knew where they went."
"When I noticed you were hiding the reason behind your search for the group, I gave you Selina and Hedavin's descriptions to hide my suspicions. At that moment, I recognized them, and I also realized you did not recognize me. Naturally, I assumed you did not know all of Christie's friends and acquaintances."
"I did not know whether you would believe me or not if I told you that I was her friend and knew the group. So I decided to help little by little first, before telling you everything.."
"I known about you through Rahel for a long time, but I only met you at the start of the expedition and understood your personality through the small situations that happened.. And now, after remembering that page from your sister's diary, you decided to apologize before anything else, even though you did nothing wrong.. There is no need to apologize when you did not actually do anything."
...
Diko closed the outer door and turned his head toward Fiona, who was walking toward the guest room. She wanted to rest on the red sofa, just as she used to whenever she visited Lumin's house.
She sat on the sofa and raised her hand to her stomach before speaking to Diko, who had entered the room and remained standing beside the door.
"You should buy a comfortable sofa like this.. I am pregnant and need proper rest. That journey was exhausting for me, and I need even more rest now that the time is getting close."
Before Diko could voice his opinion regarding buying a new sofa—
Diko wanted to postpone Fiona's request for later and head upstairs to see Rahel and inspect her mysterious transformation, but before he could do so, the sound of knocking echoed from outside.
Before Diko went to open the door, he noticed a massive dog resembling a wolf descending the stairs.
Diko grew slightly tense in such a situation. He raised his hand and greeted Rahel in her new form before nodding his head and heading toward the door while cursing this unnatural encounter inwardly.
A creaking sound echoed through the corridor as Diko opened the door.
Standing there was a boy with blond hair and an ordinary face. In his hands he carried a bundle of papers tied together with string. Diko focused on the papers and immediately recognized them as newspapers.
The boy raised his head to look at Diko's face, and fear instantly seeped into his heart because of Diko's size before he spoke with obvious hesitation in his voice.
"We... our comp... Trakis Newspaper.. opened its first branch... sir.."
Diko noticed the boy's fear and panic. A faint smile formed on his face, and he extended his hand to pat the boy's hair, but before his hand could reach him, the boy threw one of the newspapers from his hands and ran away from the house.
Diko picked up the newspaper from the ground and returned inside, only to find Fiona playing with Rahel and rubbing her neck.
Fiona turned her head toward Diko and spoke.
"I explained to her why we are here.. It seems Lumin did not tell her about our arrival or about him going hunting."
Fiona moved closer to Diko and whispered.
"Lumin was not lying.. She truly transformed into this form because of that gathering she used to attend. I do not think they are Saliks, but rather enthusiasts studying mysteries and legends. Their disappearance from the city can be interpreted in several ways.. But their escape? That is because of their lack of experience and their fear.."
"It is obvious they discovered something they should never have known. We need to send a message to the captain and seek his opinion. This matter may involve something beyond our authority."