After that encounter, Calla, Edelweiss and âDonâ returned to the school by carraige.
âDonâsâ eyes were restless, and he seemed to be unable to be at peace with what way he must sit. He shifted from time to time, until Edelweiss placed a hand on his shoulder.
Edelweiss was worried. âIs there something wrong, Don?â
âNothing.â
Calla was less worried with her own friend, and simply raised an eyebrow.
âDid you hear anything from our meeting earlier?â
âNothing.â âDonâ repeated. âThe door was too thick.â
He went silent, confusing the girls who expected him to ask more questions or say anything.
But he simply said:
âIâm hungry. How much longer till we get back to school?â
âââââââââ-
Cermin never liked theater performances, but when he saw that Marigold would be watching, he resolved to watch too.
He ended up just feeling envious as he saw her happily clinging to Donâs arms the whole time, unable to focus on the story if how the Moon god Skollhati and Sea goddess Nereid fell in love.
Why must he focus on romance of other people after all when his was a total failure?
Marigold was supposed to be his. Calla and Edelweiss and Belladonna too.
But its not the fact that he had âlostâ them that matters anymore. It was the fact that for the entirety of this worldâ¦..
He was alone.
And not to mention that this was more than he signed up for. This endless pain and conflict and burdenâ¦..
This wasnât he expected from being transmigrated. He wanted an escape.
Something to make him forget about the real world. His real life.
But it was just as bad here as it was back then. Even more terrible in fact. And deep downâ¦.
He was always very scared. Scared of the villains, scared of not being able to save everyone, scared of even getting hurt. Somehow, he managed to pull through, but how long will that last?
How long will that last in the face of an enemy lurking in the shadows, who doesnât directly attack him and spout villain nonsense all of the time? An enemy that was leagues off his level, who he was not match to?
Should he give up and just go back to the real world?
Noâ¦..
âThen who will save Ronin from the villain? I canât leave him alone.â Cermin said to himself.
And as he left the theater gloomilyâ¦..
He did see Ronin.
But he was not alone. There were 6 boys with him, all from their 6th year and close to graduating like him.
Cerminâs eyes lifted up and he waved. âRoninââ
But he got distracted by the laughter at his side. A familiar laughter.
âHaha! That is really funny, Don.â Marigoldâs laughter was like the chiming of bells, still light and graceful.
âI try sometimes. You are practically one of the only few people I can amuse, along with Calla and Edel.â Don smiled.
Cermin clenched his fist, and forced himself to look away.
He needs to let it go. It would be for the best for him to let go of romance completely, and focus on just getting out of this world alive.
For his own sakeâ¦.. And the sake of their safety as well.
He turned back but Ronin and the strange boys were gone. They seemed to be Artisans from the uniform. He looked left and right, and found someone in that uniform going towards the boyâs dormitory building for Scholars.
(Huh? Why Scholars? Are they going to Roninâs room?)
So Ronin had other friends after all. Why didnât he tell him?
He thought that since Ronin was discriminated against for being a Commoner, he must be his one and only friend. They were both outcasts, both pariahs out of things beyond their control. But now he had led not 1 but 6 men to his roomâ¦..
He felt a little hurt, and followed after for an explanation. He thought that he would be able to talk to Ronin for a while to ease the pain of being alone. Now without his supposed harem that he spent so much points onâ¦
But in the end, he felt just worse. His girls were gone, and his only friend was being taken away from him too.
He tried his best not to gain their attention. Once they have reached towards Roninâs door and enteredâ¦
He walked closer and tried to listen in.
But he canât hear anything. Only vague sounds.
They donât seem to be talking either. What the hell are they even doing inside?
(What if they were not actually his friends, and that they were bullying him? Ronin is also very smart, maybe theyâre forcing him to do their homework or something?)
Wait, was it really his business to know what was happing inside? Isnât he being too overly protective of his friend?
Of course not! If Ronin needs help, he have to help!
He had been careless and blind to the sufferings of his friends for a long time. He shouldnât do the same to him.
Cermin tried the knob but it was locked. He pondered over knocking, but then he heardâ
âAhhh! Ahhhh! Nnnnghâ¦.. Please! Mmm! Helââ
Before the boy could ask for help after the gag had fallen off, Ronin stuffed it back to his mouth again.
He was at his 6th victim already when the knob suddenly rattled.
He was very much enjoying torturing these boys, to the point that he was sweating profusely and his skin was flushed red with the Flame he had eaten.
Some of his buttons popped out too because one of them struggled so hard, causing his torso to be revealed, and his hair was a mess.
He was hungrier than usual. Or perhapsâ¦..
He wanted to distract himself by feeding on Flame. Distract himself from that memory of someone named Ou.
He was not Ou. He was Ronin.
Whoever that person was, he was long dead, and most likely had ended his life pathetically.
Ronin could not accept being that kind of pathetic person. No, he will never accept it.
But that also begs the questionâ¦
Who was that man standing by the streetlight on that dark alleyway where he died?
If he truly had killed himself, did he do it in front of that man? For him to witness it, to feel that guilt and trap him in itâ¦.
Was he that friend he was going to gift The Urgent Appeal to, then?
That friend that was cruel, who does not like to read, who Ou regarded as the Jesus to his Judasâ¦
It doesnât matter now.
Ugh, he was supposed to be distracting himself from falling into the deep trench of Ouâs memories.
But someone disrupted his distraction, and he could not help but growl a bit with a fatal glare as he asked:
âWho is it?â
Cermin was relieved to hear Ronin answer, and did not notice his anger. Perhaps his guess was wrong after all.
Though his voice did sound⦠Rough and ragged, like he had been exercising or doing an activity that exerted much of his energy.
âItâs me, Ronin. Is everything alright? I just came to visit.â He tried to ask in the usual jolly way but he was nervous.
Ronin sighed, and left his victims to open the door just by a peek.
He can easily come up with a lie to this gullible protagonist and he will just eat it up. Heâs just that dumb.
âWhat is it?â Ronin asked, a bit huffing for breath.
Upon seeing the state that he was in, not to mention the ambiguous muffled sounds and shouts just nowâ¦.. And the fact that this all happened in his bedroomâ¦..
Cermin suddenly formed a conclusion that made him fall back.
âYouâ¦. Were you and those guysâ¦..â
Ronin raised an eyebrow and frowned, but Cermin was already running away while yelling. âSorry! Sorry to disturb you!â
Ronin read his thoughts, thatâs why he raised an eyebrow.
âHe really thoughtâ¦.. Ah, who cares. As long as he doesnât catch me stealing Flame.â
âThatâs bound to stop him from visiting without warning next time. Hah!â
He just found it hilarious, and went ahead to continue his feeding time. He was way into this to care about anything else at the moment, getting lost at the sensation of just slowly murdering people.
Cermin ran and ran, his heart beating as fast as a rabbitâs that was faced with a predator. He then stopped to catch his breath, and just think about what he think he saw just now, face completely red.
âSo Ronin isâ¦. It makes sense nowâ¦. Why he doesnât seem interested in girls and wouldnât accept my offer to him to go to a brothelâ¦â
But 6 men all at once!? Was his friendâs appetite really just that big!?
His mind reeled, but he forced himself to calm down. After all, he had done much more too but with women.
He shook off the weirdness of it. âSo what? Heâs still my friend, I shouldnât assume thingsâ¦.. Ahâ¦.. Why didnât I realize soonerâ¦..â
But he must keep his mouth shut about this. He musnât start rumors for Roninâs safety, he doesnât wantâ¦
Something like that to happen again. That thing that ruined his gege, his once closest friend.
Which also ruined their friendship in turn.