Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Just A Few More Days.

"I'll do it."

Aries blinked, his eyes revealing the confusion he was currently embroiled in as he looked at the boy, Lynx, in front of him.

"What?"

"I said, I'll make you the song and I'll even play it for you guys. Frankly, I don't see why that girl would let you follow her if you were this incapable in your hearing, or was she the cause of this disability of yours?"

Aries, to his credit, didn't rise to the taunting tone in Lynx's voice. It was not like he wasn't furious that the boy openly mocked him and his boss because, judging by the faint tingle of scorching heat he felt in his chest, one that was ready to go up his throat in a searing symphony of wordplay that would most likely jeopardize his mission.

"Hm, this makes my job all the easier, now that I don't have to look for a bard with a solid grasp on the musical arts. But I can't help but ask you, why are you doing this so... readily?"

"I am just paying my dues to the one who indirectly got me something extremely precious to me, all the while opening my eyes to what is in front of me while keeping me aware of what is behind. In other words, a blessing for the few will be repaid with a bards brew."

"You are repaying a favor," Aries crinkled his brows, looking at the boy's pink eyes that seemed to be covered by a layer of indifference but beneath that thin veil seemed to be a hint of gratitude.

"Yes. Now if you would excuse me, this book wouldn't read itself now would it? Nor would the song, and lyrics write themselves yes?"

"Hm, bye then."

Aries stepped away from the alleyway near the Cat's Tail they were in, he waved casually and jogged away. In a scant few moments he disappeared, a testament to his training. Lynx looked at his back with a critical eye before snorting, going to walk away when suddenly hands covered his vision.

However he was not perturbed, he spoke, "Lynn. What are you doing?"

A gruff voice answered him, "Who's Lynn? I finally got a kid after all this time of waiting, I am going to eat you~"

"Lynn," Lynx wasn't fooled by the gruff voice, it was a girl's voice that said these words. As a bard, how could he be fooled by such amateur voice acting? He pried the hand off his face, a hint of care in his actions.

He turned around to see a blonde-haired girl who currently stood on a small wooden crate and currently her hands were behind her back, he cheeks puffed up.

"How did you find out? I took care to hide the childishness of my voice the last time and I even rubbed my hand in salt before coming here to make it rough," The indignant voice of a young girl rang out in the alley.

"Your voice was natural and excellent sure, but that was what betrayed your whole act. You cannot use the voice that would generally belong to a large, muscled warrior or blacksmith while you cover my eyes with arms the size of a tree branch, and not expect me to find out. You must choose the perfect tools for your acting."

Lynx continued to lecture her strictly, but there was a hint of care in his tone and the fact that he expertly navigated around any words or phrases that would hurt her feelings. Lynn covered her ears and crouched as if she was in pain.

It was fake of course but Lynx stopped anyway. He released a sigh and picked her up into a princess carry before placing her, feet first, onto the ground. Before the girl even noticed what had conspired he was walking away.

"Huh? Eh?!"

"Let's go. We have some stuff to do, for that Emmy girl you adore so much."

"Eh? W-wait!" Lynn ran to catch up to the boy, narrowly avoiding bumping into a wall before she settled down next to him, the boy strolled at a brisk pace.

* * * * * 

At this time, there was a joyful atmosphere at Emmy's house. Why? Because the resident sleeping beauty had finally decided to open her eyes. Emmy awoke to see 4 individuals, the smallest looking like they were all but ready to jump on her but they controlled themselves. 

"Young Lady, it seems that what has plagued you have passed by without incident," Ushi said softly as she packed her medical supplies. "I am glad that you have recovered, truly I am glad."

"Thank you for your help but, what happened to me? I don't remember anything that happened, one moment I was meditating, and the next I woke up her to you," Emmy lied, the 3 shadow guards noticed but it wasn't their place to ask, at least not in the presence of the other girl.

So they played along with whatever their young miss wanted to push, the first among them to speak was still Ushi as it was more plausible for her to say anything in this scenario with the persona she had built up.

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"Meditation relies on the focus of an individual to delve into the realm of the Mushin or No Mind. It is dangerous to do so alone and without experience like you did and you drained your energy along with your mental strength to maintain it, thus you fell sick to allow your mind to heal. My treatment and what I suppose is your mental strength allowed you to heal in only 3 days."

Ushi and the others nodded but the shadow guards and Emmy weren't fooled by this explanation. While it may contain some truth that didn't mean it was true, this conjures was made to pull the wool over Fischl's eyes.

They were there that day when the young miss suddenly collapsed into a deep sleep and her face was as red as a tomato, his skin blazing hot. Something as simple as meditation would not cause such a thing, there had to be something else involved.

"3 days! Hah~ It seems that what I tried to do had such severe consequences, I suppose I almost died or almost broke apart my mind? What a mess, I'll be more careful of what I do because of curiosity in the future," The girl rubbed her head with a layer of distress covering her face, perfectly acting out the character of a distressed and remorseful child.

The eyes of the shadow guards shined with admiration.

As expected of the young miss. Her acting was indeed perfect. Even they were almost fooled by her.

Fischl bought her lies with no resistance, "Oh, dear duke—how has I Fischl—the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, longed for your awakening, but the darkness hath robbed from thou 3 days of life, never to be returned." 

Fischl while saying these words giddily jumped into the girl's arms, uncaring if the girl was dirty or not. But that was unlikely, Ushi always made sure to bathe the girl and change her sheets after all. 

Emmy patted her head and then turned her gaze to the three in the room. They nodded at each other before they began to leave the room.

"It seems that all is now well, then we shall take our leave then. Also, young Emmy, be careful of what you do in the future, exertion is quite a serious illness in these times."

"Alright, I'll be careful in the future."

With a wave the three of them left the room to the two girls and Emmy waved her hand in the air, the other shadow guards also dispersed but they were still within a 50-meter radius of the building.

"Emmy..." Fischl started her hands gripping her fiend's clothes and Emmy felt a wet sensation on her neck, "You're safe right? This isn't a dream?"

Emmy didn't dare to look at Fischl, fearing that she might see her face filled with tears. She didn't want to witness such a thing, it would make her feel an endless amount of guilt, something she no longer wanted to experience. So she just opted to pat the girl back in soothing motions as she cried her eyes out silently.

"I..." Emmy wanted to say she was okay but what the man known as "First" resurfaced in her mind causing her expression to darken and she said, "I'm going to be okay, no need to worry. I'm strong yeah? I'll weather all difficulties, I'll never leave you."

Emmy didn't like how she sounded like she was trying to reassure herself instead of Fischl. It was like...

She was afraid.

She was never afraid. She never wanted to be afraid.

The girl's eyes narrowed as she looked at the now sleeping form of her first-ever friend, the girl's tears had started to dry and Emmy wiped them off with her hands gently. She shifted the girl in her arms easily, then laid her down next to her. She looked at her with a gentle expression and her face hardened.

There was a bit of determination there, 'I have too much to lose to die in seven years, I'll send that prediction straight to the abyss where it belongs and when that happens, I'll live.'

Emmy looked at a calendar in her room a large circle drawn on May 27th, Fischl's birthday. It was the 24th right now meaning she now had 3 days to prepare for the event but she wasn't nervous at all.

After all, she wasn't alone.

Emmy ran her hands through Fischl's hair, absently thinking that she should take down all the calendars in the house lest Fischl figure out her birthday is near. She seemed to have forgotten for some reason.

"I wonder why? It's because of me, isn't it? Hah~"

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