Death, Devotion, Dissonance

'Since he can't become Helm, I need to focus on obtaining more benefits for Evin…' Leanne decided.

"In that case, I want to discuss the rewards that Evin were due after defeating the Type 12. He was supposed to meet the Type 13 after that to receive its guidance on whatever problem he needs help on."

Meeting the remnant consciousness of Heim Morton was nothing to scoff at. The man was infamous for his breadth of knowledge and incredible way of solving problems. It was even said that king Seth himself occasionally visited it to receive advice.

"Ah, about that… You don't have to worry too much. The kingdom is extremely interested in Evin's future prospects. Even I'm wanting to learn how he's able to shoot metal and stone projectiles with such strong and penetrative force yet so little mana. He definitely needs to be rewarded for his efforts and the kingdom agreed to have Lord Armut Mungiar give a visit to the boy. And of course, Evin would still be able to receive help from the kingdom, if he has anything he wishes to learn about…"

"I've also heard that some High Mages are showing interest in tutoring him privately?" Kent asked.

The rewards were much greater than what Leanne expected. It wasn't a simple matter to have one's lost limbs replaced by a prosthetic in the kingdom. It was especially hard to have one created by the Master Prosthetist himself. Most of it depended on luck, as Lord Mungiar mostly chose his own clients, and most of them exclusively from military background. Nobles and foreigners had to pay tens of thousands of gold to convince the man to do anything for them.

Not only that, to learn under the wings of a High Mage was also something unimaginable to 1st year Academy students. Even normal mages struggled to obtain such privileges. Leanne guessed that the only reason Evin was receiving such attention was because of his highly unique spells. She wouldn't be surprised if some of these High Mages wanted to learn some things from Evin in return.

"Yes, but of course, the kingdom would still require Evin to graduate from the Academy properly. I'm hoping Chairman Kent will do his best to educate the future of the kingdom."

"Yes, of course."

'Of course, Kent won't so easily let go of the key part in his ridiculous plan,' Leanne sighed. 'Well, Evin knows his true colors and he's smart enough to take care of himself, so I don't have to worry about Kent too much.'

"Now that we've settled the problem of Helm and Evin, the main topic of our talk concludes here," Gehenne said and had the group disperse.

…

<Please don't leave me. How am I supposed to live without you?>

<Stop acting so pathetic. Wasn't it your dream to get rid of me all those years? Why are you suddenly so clingy?>

<If I don't have you, I won't be able to cast magic and I'll be tossed away by the kingdom when they realize I'm nothing but a fraud. I can't cast half the spells you cast, no, not even a quarter of the spells you can cast and I'm sure you're hiding some other spells that you don't want to tell me. I don't care, just, please don't leave me behind.>

<I was willing to teach you all those things, but you had to go and piss me off, so stop crying about it to me.>

<I was wrong. I'm just an idiotic teenager. Didn't you say that idiotic teenagers can't help but make mistakes?>

<I also said that someone doesn't have to deal with a teenager's idiocy unless they're the teenager's parent.>

<No, don't leave me behind. I don't even have my foot left to stand on. In fact, I despise my missing foot. The only thing I feel is pain. How can I feel pain in it if it isn't even there? Is it punishing me for losing it? Is it sending me pain because I didn't do a good job of protecting it? Why is it doing this to me?>

<…>

<But that's not the worst part… The worst part is reliving the experience of having it crushed under those metallic hands. Feeling each cell turning to mush and hearing the crunching sound that my bones give off… I still can't believe I didn't die from the shock and pain that day. You told me people could die from those things, right? When you were teaching me about what to worry about when you get hurt really badly. The only thing I'm grateful for is that I didn't look at what happened to it. If I saw the crushed state of my feet, I definitely would've died from the shock… I mean, I almost fainted from shock when I saw the cauterized stump that my foot turned into. Argh, It hurts to even talk about it.>

<What you're feeling is called phantom pains. About 90% of amputees go through the same thing. They feel pain in a missing limb, because the brain thinks that it's still there… Usually continues on for a year or two… Since the years on Alvox are shorter, maybe it's going to take less time for you.>

<Really? No… I can't keep feeling this for another year… I'll go crazy!>

<You probably won't, so stop bitching. And you don't have to worry too much, since Leanne said that you're going to get a custom-made prosthetic. The same kind that Aran has.>

<Leanne was here?>

<Yes, I told you about it yesterday. And also, she's sleeping on the chair next to you, so do her a favor and fucking wake up. She's been doing the same thing for you for the past two weeks. Also make sure you thank Arza, Bella and Phel as well.>

<If you're so worried about them, why don't you talk to them yourself? You can take over my body if you want to, right?>

<I can't. You're not allowing me to. You think I wouldn't have taken over your body taking advantage of the fact that you're still in shock after three weeks for some god-forsaken reason?>

<It's been so long?>

<Yes. I can kind of guess that it's because you're able to talk to me you're still refusing to face reality, but… ugh. I should try harder at taking over your body starting tomorrow.>

<No, don't do that…>

<Sigh…>

<…>

<…>

<Why do you have to separate from me?>

<Because I want to live my own life.>

<…>

<I'll say it now. I'll never stop searching for a way for us to separate. If you don't do the same, I'll do anything in my powers to convince you otherwise. Don't blame me if I take things too far. I know I call you an idiotic teenager and that idiotic teenagers have the rights to make mistakes, since they can try again until they get it right… But you don't have such privileges. You making a mistake can have fatal consequences.>

<…>

<And I'm here to remind you that you trying to keep me next to you is a huge mistake. It would have unimaginable consequences. I'll ruin your life without blinking if it means making you think that I'm not something you want inside yourself.>

<…>

<Why? Because I want to live my own life. It's nothing so complicated. So you better wake up soon and work on what I want. To help you, I won't be replying to your desperate pleas. Face reality and talk to me when you've awoken.>

…