Chapter 14. A Haunting Past
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"Hey, do you hear me? I asked you, what is it you want to tell me?"
Shaking his head to rid himself of unnecessary thoughts, El pulled Ran by the hand, surprising her considerably.
"Follow me!?" El urged her.
Sensing the gravity from El's bearing, Ran decided to follow along.
Once they were far enough from the others, El spoke.
"It might come as a surprise if I tell you this, but based on my observation…"
He leaned in closer, whispering directly into Ran's ear, mimicking her earlier action with Sir Giles by cupping his hand around her ear. "I think Sill was suspicious."
El carefully watched Ran's expression, afraid she'd get angry over it.
With her deadpan face, she asked, "Why do you think so?"
"Ummmmh, actually, I'm weird…"
"Huh???" Ran was taken aback by the reply.
"Uh, I mean, I'm weird because I can feel people's emotions around me. Sometimes I can't sense anything, but today I can feel it. All along the way, Sill was always looking over in your direction—intending to…"
He paused for a moment, took a glance at Ran, whose expression strangely remained calm, contrary to his expectation that she would go ballistic or look at him weirdly.
"Why stop? Go ahead!" Ran raised one of her eyebrows, prompting him to continue.
"He wanted to hurt you. No, I'm sorry, but to be exact… he wanted to kill you…" El carefully examined her expression. It oddly remained unchanged.
"Uh, please trust me. I'm not lying. He might pretend to be fun and talkative, but I'm sure it's just a ruse to hide his real intention."
"How could I believe you? What makes you think I would believe you just like that? Did you even know who Sill was? He has been with us at the base for two and a half years."
"Because… you seem to be cautious around him…"
"What makes you think so?"
"When Sill and I moved, we talked at the very back of the group. I could feel your gaze on us. I even caught you looking over at us a few times. To be exact, your sight was on Sill."
"You might be wrong, you know. My sight might as well be directed at you… Because I'm interested in you…" Her tone was as flat as it could be. At the end of it, she smirked and winked her eyes at El, trying to convince him of those nonsense feelings of hers.
"You…" El's eyes widened, only to resume it with excitement. "You were interested in me?"
"Huh???" It took a few seconds of repeated blinking from Ran to process El's unusual response. Another second passed before she could come up with an appropriate reply, which was, "What???"
Flabbergasted, her mouth gaped. She expected him to be caught off guard or just shy, but what was with the bizarre excitement?
Taking a moment to calm herself, Ran stared at El as if he were of a different species altogether. "What does it matter to you if I were interested in you?"
"That means we can become friends?" El's eyes flickered in guilt-free exhilaration.
"… uhhh…."
Now, Ran was tongue-tied, at a loss for words. She felt like their conversation had gotten sidetracked. And what made it worse for her was how his innocence made her feel ashamed of herself, trying to seduce and trick someone as incorruptible and simple as him.
"My friend, a long time ago, once said that if two people are interested in each other, they will become friends," El explained, seeing that Ran was in a daze, which, to be honest, puzzled him.
'Am I offending her somewhat this time, too? Or she just doesn't want to be friends with me,' El thought childishly, feeling rather sad.
"What kind of friend do you actually have? How about your other friend's opinion?" Ran's lips tightened, feeling that his friend wasn't really decent enough for someone as pure as him.
"… he is my only friend, though. When I grew up enough to understand everything, everyone else, other than the two of us, were the only kids who managed to stay alive in the village," El said nonchalantly, though inside, he was rather uncomfortable every time he talked about it.
"… sorry. I didn't mean to…" Ran apologized, now feeling even more culpable.
"It's fine. No worries. It was already in the past," El shook his hands, trying to comfort her.
"What else did that friend of yours tell you?" Now, Ran was genuinely much more curious.
"Hummmh, he also told me that if I had a female friend, it would be different than a male friend. We could hug and kiss (on the cheeks) each other," El replied.
"What the heck… ppfffttttt… hahahahhaha… whahahahha…" Ran giggled, which turned into a chortle shortly after. She held her stomach and opened her mouth between laughter. "You are so funny… Whahahhaha, you're so naïve. Amazing…. Whahahaha…"
Her laughter successfully drew the attention of those nearby, who were waiting for them to finish their conversation. It was the first time they had seen Ran laugh like that. She usually only acted somewhat childish when Sir Giles was around, yet she never laughed so gleefully like now.
They were curious about the actual topic of their conversation.
Gill's guise soured as he caught sight of Ran smiling and giggling. He felt like an abandoned puppy.
"Whahahha, you're so funny, El. Hahaha, haha, ha… this is… this is…"
Suddenly, her laughter gradually faded until it came to a halt. The sparkle in her eyes vanished as Ran found herself lost in thought. She lowered her gaze, regretting that she had such joy amidst things that had happened.
"… it's been so long since the last time I laughed like this. I almost forgot what it feels like…" With a faint, forced smile, she lifted her head, turning her sight to El. "Thank you. It's been so long since… uh… What the hell…"
The rest of her words stuck in her throat as Ran was caught off guard when she saw El's teary eyes.
Hastily wiping them with his sleeve, El explained, "I'm sorry. Like I said before, I can feel people's emotions, right? … I can feel your grief… You were really sad, weren't you?"
"Ah…" Her smile dropped. "I am indeed sad… … Anyway, we are straying from the main topic, aren't we?" She swiftly shifted the conversation before she could burst into tears.
"Ah, yes. So, do you believe me now?" El asked her.
Ran inquired back, "Why should I believe you?"
"Because… because… well, I just wanted to help."
El was then taken aback as he saw Ran smiling at him.
Meanwhile, Gill grew even gloomier as he watched their interaction.
Sill strolled over to Gill, a teasing smile on his lips. "Hey, Gill! You look a bit sour today, huh?"
"Tch, whatever it is, it's not your problem," Gill clicked his tongue. His tone was cold.
Sill turned his sight to El and Ran. "Wow, really? I never knew Ran could laugh like that. She seems to be comfortable with that young boy. Too comfortable, to be exact…"
Gill sneered. "What do you even know? Ran is just being kind when she meets someone new."
"Is it though? Didn't feel that way to me…"
Finding no answer, Sill looked down at Gill, who was glaring daggers at him.
"You might fool Nore over that accident, but I'm still suspicious of you. So, don't act friendly with me. FCK OFF!!!" Gill stared at him with a scowl, enunciating the words 'Fck off' slowly.
Raising both of his hands, Sill stepped back. A helpless expression on his face. "Wow, wow. Easy there, brother. I'm just saying… alright, alright. I'm leaving now."
Sill walked away, muttering in a funny tone under his breath, "So petty."
Yet, veins bulged at the right side of his forehead, hidden away from everyone's sight.
Putting on a happy smile, as she found talking with El was really fun, Ran spoke. "I knew it. You are indeed special. I'm not wrong since the time I found you with that man…"
"That man??? You mean, you know him?" El's eyes grew wide as he immediately understood what Ran meant by her words.
"Yeah… hmmm, you didn't know?"
"Well, he refused to tell me anything about himself. Not even his name. He is the one who brought me here."
"I see," Ran stepped closer and looked directly into El's eyes. "Hear me out, El. If that man didn't tell you his name, then there must be an important reason behind it. No matter what, don't dig deeper into it for now, understand?"
"… why?" El frowned. He was filled with anxiety, worried that unknown uncle had an accident or something.
"Because a name is something powerful, but also dangerous. You saw what 'The Cursed' is capable of doing, right? You saw that black mist earlier, too, right? All of that is magic. A name could be used as a medium to apply a powerful curse on someone. That is why, to this day, many who know about the existence of magic never use their real names, or even gladly become ghosts without identities. This way, they won't get themselves killed foolishly, knowing nothing."
"… I see…" El slowly nodded his head.
"Anyway, I trust you. So don't worry."
"Oh. That's good, then. I think Sill is really dangerous. Truthfully, I still can't control my strength that well. So, it was weird seeing Sill's wrist fine, while the one I punched on his elbow still grimacing, even when I adjusted my strength to be weaker."
"Oh, so you noticed that too? Indeed, his wrist was fine, while the other still rather swollen…"
"Now that I think about it, I should really apologize to that guy, shouldn't I?" El said, scratching the back of his neck. He still felt guilty about it, but at the same time, he really wanted to fight again. It was an exhilarating experience for him.
El recalled all the things he had experienced while living in the village.
A flurry of random dreams and sudden memories flooded his mind, some of which he still struggled to remember. However, a few lucid scenes stood out.
In one of those memories or dreams, El experienced what it felt like to inhabit an adult body. He vividly recalled the sensation of wielding two old, dull daggers as he repeatedly slashed at an odd, grey tree.
At first, he was extremely clumsy. But as days passed, his mastery grew; he eventually brought the tree crashing down. He looked at the other trees, eager to continue with this dedicated, hard-core training.
There was also another dream that transported him to a different reality where he was a fighter, or perhaps a pugilist—he wasn't quite sure. What he did know was that, in that dream, he relied solely on punches and kicks to defeat his opponents.
Now, he felt kind of addicted to the feeling of fighting. He wanted to train later according to those dreams.
In a daze, El was awakened by Ran, who repeatedly called out to him.
"Oy…" Ran said, waving her hand in front of his eyes.
"Ah yeah, sorry. What is it?"
"Hummmhh, you want to know our secret plan?" Ran said, a mischievous smile plastered on her face.
…