My Multisystem In Isekai

Dahila didn't say anything once the suggestion was made. She knew that she had become unhinged the moment that she had unleashed the extreme ice magic on the thieves. Fortunately, Valerie had been attentive and had saved her from the disaster.

She had currently shut off her senses and was just blindly following behind Valerie like a chick following mother hen.

Alissa too could not remain her cheerful self any longer. Even though she had nothing to do with the part that comprised of defending against the thieves, her mood had been put off by the constant attempts. She was in no mood for travelling any longer. She had thought that it would be wonderful field trip with Zavier but they didn't even have time to talk due to the constant harassment.

Zavier tried very hard to rest a bit and not think of anything but it just wasn't possible. He was still quite fresh and didn't need any rest. As such he decided to divert his thoughts towards something else, something other than the approaching threats.

His eyes darted around randomly and soon rested on the old man who was travelling with them. He was surprised that the old man had kept up with them for so long without asking them to rest even once.

But the old man James was still as miserly with his words as ever. The only thing in his eyes was the box that he was caressing like his lover. Even the thieves didn't deter him at all. It looked like he trusted the four of them after all and left the security to them for real.

No one tried to talk to the old man. Zavier figured that it was because the old man never replied to any of them and didn't think of it much.

Before long, Zavier was analyzing the whole situation from the beginning. He remembered the interrogations that he had conducted previously.

All the thieves had similar instructions from the boss behind the scenes. The more he speculated, the more wrong the whole situation seemed.

He thought back to what those men had said. Judging from the information, Zavier felt that it must have been impossible for the boss behind the scenes to not have known about the mages protecting the box when the information given to the thieves in their letters was accurate beyond belief.

Even assuming that the boss didn't know about the escorts being mages, there was no way that he didn't know that the owner of the box was a mage.

The boss had known how many people would be escorting the item and what their route towards the destination would be. He had even known that the owner of the item had been old man James since the first man had divulged that information. Since he knew that then he must have known that the old man was a mage and not some ordinary muggle.

Zavier was unable to make sense of the situation. Why would the boss behind the scenes still send common thieves to retrieve something from a mage when he could have just as easily sent mages to do the same job by spending less than that. Especially when it didn't look like the boss was lacking any money in the first place.

Zavier found this contrary to the common sense and wanted to share his thoughts with Valerie, and so he did.

As soon as he mentioned his analysis to Valerie, she gave him an odd look as if he was telling her something unintelligible. Zavier grew confused too due to her reaction. He had never thought the Valerie he considered to be so clever and cunning would be unable to understand the meaning of what he was trying to convey.

He grew a little flustered and began to explain it all over again but was interrupted by her through the means of a hand signal. She practically shoved the palm of her hand in his face to stop him from talking anymore.

"Do you still not see what I am trying to tell you?"

"Stop….Stop first. Tell me how do you know that the owner of the box is an old mage?"

Zavier thought that Valerie must have hit her head or something, or maybe she was just so tired that she was unable to make sense of anything. She had even ignored the old man who had been travelling with them all along. Therefore, he decided to relieve her of her scouting duties.

"I think you have grown very tired. Why don't you take a rest first and then we can continue this conversation later?"

Valerie gritted her teeth to stop herself from hitting Zavier with her magic instead or from severely cursing loudly at him.

"What do you mean? Do you think the problem is with me?"

Zavier didn't say anything but his silence was saying it all. After all there was no easy answer to that question.

Valerie's tone grew heavier and she asked Zavier with furrowed brows: "You tell me where did you find out that the box belonged to the old man. Stop worrying about my condition. I want to hear your answer."

"All right. The old man James who has been travelling with us all this while. The one who is currently holding the box in his grasp right here."

Zavier pointed to a place behind him in unison with his words but when he turned around, there was no one there. The old man James he had just seen behind him had vanished into thin air.

He was worried that some thief had stolen him away and was about to call out to him when he heard Valerie's voice that broke all sense of reality for him.

"What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell is this James?"

Zavier couldn't help but stare at the space where James had just been. He wondered why Valerie had forgotten about him or was unable to recognize even his name; was she under some kind of spell?

"He is the one who gave us the mission. Don't you remember when we went to ask for the mission details at his hut?"

Valerie did recall that so she answered instantly which made Zavier feel relieved.

"Of course, I remember that."

"Then you should also remember who gave us the confirmation of the mission. It was old man James who asked us to escort him along with the box."

Valerie was looking incredulously at Zavier as if he was imagining the most wildest of all fantasies that she was unable to make sense out of.

The tone of her voice turned grave instantly revealing the seriousness of the situation.

"There was no old man at the hut. Only an anonymous letter with the box that was addressed to us. All along the journey we have never seen or heard the old man you are speaking about."

Zavier was dumbfounded at her answer. He was trying to figure out the exact situation but the story kept on twisting and turning like the roads along the mountainsides.

Since Valerie seemed so sure about it, Zavier knew that at least one of them had to be wrong about the situation. The only thing left was to confirm it with the rest of the girls.

He turned and faced Dahila and Alissa and asked them the same questions. The result; they hadn't ever come across an old man like that across the entire journey. All the girls said the same thing that the old man had never been with them and neither had they found anyone when they went to accept the mission at the hut.

Zavier felt that the whole situation had suddenly gotten out of hand. He needed to get his grips on the reality once again. The way it was he still could not accept that he had been wrong all along, that the old man had never existed. It had all felt so real to him. Maybe that was how it felt when one was under an illusion because that was all it could have been if it was not the reality.

Zavier pondered over the whole situation trying to figure out some part of the puzzle that was still remaining. He wanted to look for some holes in the girls' story just like they had found in his but was unable to figure out where to start amidst all the confusion that he was feeling.

But then he figured it out, the key to all of it, the box.

"If you think that the old man is not real and he hasn't been along with us on this journey, then where is the box if he is not the one carrying it then who is? From what I have seen up to now, you three don't have it either."

All the girls looked at him in shock. By this time, Valerie's gaze fell on him, it felt full of pity. Zavier felt ashamed looking into her eyes, he was gradually losing his grip on reality. He was unable to tell what was real and what was false which made him feel weak. He needed to be strong again. He was waiting for their answer but when he witnessed the changes in their expressions, he had already known what the answer was going to be.

"It's right in front of us. You have had it all this time. It's hanging on your belt at the moment."

Valerie was the one who had spoken out in an answer to his question.

Zavier looked down at the place on his waist where Valerie was pointing and found it there just like they had described it. It had been tied to him for the whole duration, it seemed.

Zavier's mind started to get cloudy. He lost all semblance of reality and seemed as if he was standing there mindlessly.

His head started to hurt just like it did when he overtaxed his mental strength but this time, it was worse, way worse than anything he had ever felt before. It was a headache that caused him pain exponentially greater than what he usually felt and left him battered and busted. It was like a swarm of bees was hanging around his head and were stinging him everywhere from the inside. His mind was stuck between illusion and reality and was unable to make sense of any one of them.

His head continued to throb with increasing intensity until it grew unbearable but at the same time memories flashed through his mind. Even in such a situation, Zavier wanted to figure out the truth.

He remembered how the old man had only talked to him and had treated the other girls as if they had been non-existent from the very start. He hadn't eaten anything throughout their travel and hadn't talked to any of the girls.

Given all the evidence, he had to believe that Valerie had been telling the truth all along and he had been the one who was either stuck in an illusion or had the wrong take on things.

Zavier was unable to believe that the old man had only been a figment of his own imagination and nothing else.

The pain in his head finally grew more intense which capsized his mental strength. His eyes began to roll upwards, the world around him grew blurry and he felt as if he was looking at it through a tunnel. He finally couldn't stand it and passed out.