252 City Tour [4]

<nulli>Clink

The fork clattered onto the plate, echoing sharply through the room. Kiera, Aoife, and Evelyn froze, their eyes widening in horror as they took in the ghastly scene unfolding before them.

"Ah."

Faces pale and mouths slightly agape, they seemed unable to tear their gazes away from the dreadful sight.

"T-this I'm not seeing it wrong, am I?"

"No, no you're not."

"C-crazy."

Sitting opposite them, Julien sat with the same expression he always wore while staring at the salt bottle in front of him.

The three girls then lowered their heads to stare at his place.

"How does he do it?"

Aoife asked while licking her lips which she suddenly felt go dry.

Kiera on the other hand seemed to have come to an acceptance as she lowered her head and dug into her food.

<nulli>'I see nothing, I know nothing.'

On the other hand, Evelyn came to a sudden enlightenment. She thought back to the time when she had given a low review to the restaurant that had served her at that time.

"O-oh, no"

Her face paled as she realized her mistake.

Last she recalled the owner closed shop and the business failed. With that being said, he was still doing fine but just moved to serving different foods.

Still, this was a stain to her record as she suddenly found herself taking out a small notebook and skimming through her notes.

Looking at all the things she had written on them, she found herself closing her eyes in defeat.

'It's already done. I can't fix it.'

Opening her eyes, she was about to glare at Julien when she noticed Leon blankly sitting by his side.

With his hand outstretched in Julien's direction, he seemed to be asking for the salt.

Given his lack of reaction, he probably was used to seeing him eat like that.

Julien hadn't been like this in the past so this was definitely new. At least, in the past, his taste buds were normal.

"Here."

Julien handed the salt to Leon as he went on to eat his food. Taking his first bite, he went on to nod his head.

"Not bad."

Evelyn found her face wincing at the sight.

How...? How was this normal?

"Hm?"

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, Evelyn's gaze fell on Leon who dabbed the salt towards his foot. Everything looked normal until she saw the salt cap fall off as salt spilled all over his food.

"Ah."

Shocked, Evelyn sat up straight as her eyes darted around to look for a waiter.

".You can order again. This is all you can"

Her words stopped when she saw Leon pick up a fork and bite the food.

".!"

Her face trembled at the sight.

The same was true for Aoife, thinking that Leon hadn't noticed his mistake.

But much to their shock, Leon didn't react.

Rather

"Not bad."

Nodding his head, he made a similar expression to Julien as he went on to take another bite of the food on his plate.

"Very nice."

".."

".."

".."

The three girls stared at the scene in silence, unsure of how to react. Eventually, Kiera covered her face as she went on to mumble,

"I regret inviting them. I should've just told them I have no friends."

"."

"."

***

<nulli>'As expected of a top-rated restaurant. It doesn't have such a high rating for no reason.'

The food was great.

Be it taste or texture, it was some of the best I have had in this world.

Their only flaw was their lack of seasoning, but it wasn't that big of a problem since I could fix that myself. I was still unsatisfied with the amount of salt I put in, but it was bearable.

Leon ended up hoarding all of the salt.

"Huam."

Yawning to myself, I looked ahead. It was dark outside, and I had separated myself from the others.

They didn't seem to want to go back with me.

Well, the same was true for Leon who was also left behind. In the end, it was just me.

"Huaam."

I ended up yawning again.

I was tired, and I needed to get some sleep. I had just come back from the terrible experience at the fake cult, so I needed some time to catch up on my sleep and recuperate my energy.

Turning one of the corners, I found myself walking past arather deserted street.

In my hand, I had two small bags which were filled with some items that I had bought on the way. There was especially one thing that I couldn't wait to try out when I came back to the Academy.

<nulli>'My life will definitely be easier with them.'

The money I spent was going to be well worth the investment.

Tak, Tak

My steps quietly echoed within the empty streets as the cold wind pressed against my skin.

<nulli>'The residence shouldn't be too far from here. It's a bit strange that there's not that many people.'

Compared to how bustling it was during the day, the city seemed entirely different.

The cobblestone street was eerily empty, the lamps flickering with an unsettling rhythm. Their feeble glow cast ghostly reflections on the muted puddles scattered across the ground, creating a weird and unsettling atmosphere.

"Is there no nightlife here or somethin"

"Hieeeek!"

My thoughts were abruptly shattered by a shrill scream piercing the distance. My heart pounded as my steps halted, frozen by the spine-chilling sound echoing through the night.

".."

Lowering my head to stare at the hair at the back of my hand, I closed my eyes and evened out my heartbeat.

It took no longer than a couple of seconds for my heart to calm down again as I took a deep breath.

"Hoo."

Fear.

I was now able to control it to a certain extent. I had experienced far too much for something like this to affect me. Opening my eyes again, I was calm and I looked in the direction of where the scream came from.

It seemed to come from behind me, in the direction of one of the alleyways. I closed my eyes and thought about heading there, but decided otherwise.

Did I really have to go there....?

The answer was no, and with such thoughts, I tried to head back toward the residence.

"Hieeek!"

A step in, and another scream echoed from behind.

This time, it was a lot closer than before and I found my muscles tensing slightly. That reaction alone made me frown.

Logically speaking, something like this wasn't supposed to affect me.

Furthermore, looking around, I realized that perhaps the silence and lack of presence weren't a coincidence.

The realization made me close my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, a figure appeared in the distance.

They stood beneath one of the lamps, but their appearance wasn't clear. They also didn't appear to be very tall, about half the height that I was.

"A child...?"

I looked at the scene in confusion.

Splash!

Stepping forward, one of the puddles rippled as the figure drew nearer to me.

Flick, flick!

The lamps continued to flick, making it hard for me to see the child's appearance. But it didn't take too long for me to see their true appearance as they eventually came to a stop not so far from where I was.

"....."

"....."

In the silence, we stared at each other.

The child...

He was weird.

His eyes... they were hollow and lifeless, dark voids that seemed to suck in the light. He looked nothing like a child, and that very fact made my breath grow heavier.

<nulli>'What is going on here?'

I stared at the child warily.

....There was something about the situation that left me extremely unsettled. It was hard to describe, but it almost felt as if something was pulling at the back of my shirt.

It pulled upwards, but when I looked backward, I saw nothing.

<nulli>'Was it just my imagination?'

"Haa... Haaa... Haa...."

The child's breathing grew heavier by the second, each rasping inhale echoing in the oppressive silence that took over the space around us.

Staring at the child, I didn't approach him, remaining where I stood while secretly channeling my mana in preparation for an eventual attack.

I didn't sense any intent from the kid to attack me, but the situation was far too eerie for me to simply keep my guard low.

<nulli>'What's going on...? What is'

My thoughts were broken by the child's voice as he finally opened his mouth to speak for the first time.

"Do you know what he said to me?"

"....."

The child's voice was high, sounding like any other child's, but it lacked any trace of life. It was monotone and lost. As if the words were being spoken by something imitating a child rather than a real one.

"Beneath every expression lies the potential for a scream."

"....."

The child's eyes appeared even more lost as he brought his hand forward to reveal them to me.

My heart sank at the sight of them.

Drip! Drip...!

Red stained the ground as the child's eyes remained fixed on me.

"He told me to wait for you. To greet you when you came, and pass on a message for you."

The child continued to stare at me, his eyes turning more and more hollow.

In the meantime, my breath also started to increase.

An idea of the person responsible for all of this popped up in my mind as the tugging at the back of my shirt became more prominent, forcing me to look back, only to see nothing again.

".....I am almost there. I will see you soon."

The child stopped and I lost my breath. Staring into those two empty eyes of the kid, I found myself unable to do a thing.

Even as the child collapsed before my very eyes, I stood still.

"Ah."

And when I looked behind me, my head slowly rose as I finally understood where the tugging came from.

In the sky, I caught sight of a gigantic hand.

It was invisible to the naked eye, yet it hovered menacingly over the entire city.

Staring at it, I saw thousands of threads extending from its fingers.

They connected to all parts of the city, me and the child included.

...The sight made me realize something.

I was nothing but a marionette.