Chapter 920 |
Chapter 920
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you."
Kishiar nodded his head.
"...That's good to hear."
"But first... I need to fix this cup."
"Yes. I'll clean up the......."
Thinking Kishiar meant to simply pick up the broken pieces, it came as a surprise when he spread his hand and, with a slight gesture, the scattered fragments rose in unison. They began fitting back into place like puzzle pieces, adhering neatly to their original positions.
'Is it a pulling force? Can he really align even these tiny fragments?'
And now, it was as if he was reversing time, repairing the cup to its original state.
The cup, swiftly restored, still showed faint hairline fractures. But as Kishiar ran his fingertips lightly over them, they smoothed out perfectly, as if they had never been broken. This meant he had successfully reattached every fragment, down to the tiniest, almost invisible specks of dust.
Yuder, looking at the immaculate cup, now moved the tea that had been suspended in mid-air back into it. The golden liquid, pouring like water from an invisible teapot, rippled as if nothing had happened.
It was a truly wondrous sight.
His red gaze, lingering on the restored cup for quite some time, finally shifted back to Yuder's face. His beautiful lips parted slowly to speak.
"To answer your earlier question, I haven't felt your scent diminish at all. It has been the same since I first sensed it."
Just as Yuder thought, Kishiar confirmed he hadn't noticed any change. While Yuder felt relieved, having been worried about an unknown possibility, it made discovering the actual problem more challenging.
"I did anticipate that response... But this makes it harder to determine where and why the problem started."
"...Well. But if you want to find the cause, shouldn't we check something else first?"
"What do you mean?"
"Me."
Kishiar uttered quietly.
"Others might be losing the ability to detect your scent properly, but I haven't had that problem. So, it seems more logical to speculate that the peculiarity lies with me, not them."
"…Ah."
It was a surprising, yet valid point. Yuder hadn't even considered this possibility, familiar as he was with Kishiar from a previous life where there had been no issue with scents.
"I see. I hadn't thought of that."
As Yuder swallowed his surprise and nodded, Kishiar's lips curved up slightly.
"I said I didn't notice anything odd about your scent just now. But if you had asked about other scents, my answer would have been different."
Before Yuder could ask what he meant, Kishiar posed his own question.
"Has Elle manifested as an Omega?"
Yuder didn't fully grasp the intention behind the sudden question, but nodded in response.
"Yes."
"You would have helped him regardless of whether he manifested as an Alpha, but if that were the case, you would have used a different method than directly supporting him. When you went to get Alik's medicine, you would have been more cautious considering his different second gender. Am I wrong?"
"...You're right."
"Now, doesn't something seem odd here?"
Kishiar, who had abruptly questioned the oddity of the situation, continued speaking while his fingertips swept over the sofa he was sitting on.
"I may be mentioning this only now, but I have always been quite sensitive in detecting others' scents. What I just said means I should have known the information the moment I stepped in here. But now..."
Yuder felt a sudden chill at the back of his neck.
Kishiar hadn't deduced Pruelle's Omega manifestation through physical detection. He had sifted through Yuder's actions and concluded the most likely answer.
There was only one implication.
"...You couldn't detect Elle's scent, could you?"
Indeed. Kishiar had been sitting here quite comfortably, so much so that Yuder wondered why he hadn't felt something was amiss immediately upon entering.
What had it been like when Yuder manifested? Even at a distance, it was clear that Kishiar was exerting effort to endure. Even after the manifestation ended, he had avoided direct contact for a while. Of course, this behavior was partly for Yuder, who was still wary of Alphas, specifically Kishiar. But even considering that, Kishiar's current composed state was strikingly different from back then.
"When I returned here earlier, I did feel a slight, faint sensation. I didn't know it was the scent of someone who had just manifested. It was only after hearing Kanna's report and what you continued to say that I could finally be somewhat certain."
Pruelle had begun his manifestation, but his emitted scent was extremely weak. Even Gakane and Ever had barely noticed it, which suggests that detecting it solely based on the faint scent left here wouldn't have been easy.
"Even though he has started his manifestation, the fact that his scent was so faint... I thought it could be possible if he were another Alpha manifestor, but if not, then it certainly is a point worth suspecting, isn't it?"
"Before the Commander returned, Kanna must have ventilated and tidied up the area to eliminate the scent, so that might have had an effect."
Yuder offered another possibility, but Kishiar shook his head.
"If there had been no change in you, I might have thought the same. But if not, it's certainly suspicious. Have you forgotten? Even in the vast and sensory-overwhelming imperial palace, I found you by scent alone."
Yuder recalled the long-ago memory of groaning in pain from the heat of his manifestation, hiding in a corner of the palace's janitorial closet. Not long after Kiolle had left to seek help, Kishiar had found him with astonishing accuracy.
A second gender manifester with such a level of detection was not just uncommon; it was almost unheard of. Considering Kishiar's immense power and control, it was natural that he surpassed other Awakeners in detecting scents.
Yet, now Kishiar sat comfortably in the very spot where Elle had been, showing no signs of discomfort.
It definitely wasn't forced endurance. Of course, if he had decided to endure, it would be a different story, but Yuder was confident he could tell if it were so. And there was no reason for Kishiar to do so now.
"When I think about it, since meeting you, I haven't really paid attention to the scents of other manifestors. It wasn't that I suddenly became unable to detect them; it seemed like a gradual change that I didn't notice right away. I hadn't encountered another newly manifested Omega either, so that's probably why. Now that I think about it, this seems to be both similar yet opposite to what Gakane and Ever had mentioned."
Kishiar tilted his head and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"...Then..."
"It seems we need to understand how other manifesters perceive my scent. Once we're certain about that, we might be able to speculate further."
Yuder bit his lip tightly.
"In the previous game, this never happened. I was the only one without a scent... The Commander was definitely..."
Definitely... What was it like?
Yuder hesitated for a moment. Yuder had never doubted that, in the previous game, Kishiar La Orr was a perfectly healthy second gender manifester, unlike him. It seemed natural since they had been physically close numerous times, and Yuder had experienced his scent.
But whether others had perceived it the same way was unknown. There had never been a discussion or inquiry about it.
How could any member have properly encountered the Commander, who, rather than diligently working in his office like now, mostly vacated his seat and only stealthily slipped into Yuder's room at night? Conversely, had Kishiar encountered any other second gender manifesters after 'that incident'?
Even now, in this game, where there seemed to be a problem with scents, the ability of Yuder and Kishiar to detect each other's scent remained unchanged from before.
'Then.'
Was it possible that a similar phenomenon existed in the previous life?
The thought, never entertained before, was disconcerting. His head throbbed. The tea in the repaired cup started to tremble, vibrating subtly. Yuder's hand on the table shook as well.
No. To be precise, it was Yuder's trembling hand that was affecting the teacup.
"Yuder."
In the moment when a sharp tinnitus seemed imminent, a hand reached out and grasped Yuder's. Yuder halted his thoughts and looked up.
"It's alright. There's no need to be confused. Even if there's been some change, one thing hasn’t: you know that, right?"
Each word felt as if it was etching a permanent mark in his mind.
"I know you, and you know me."
"...”
“We both know better than anyone how we can convey stories to each other in ways that go unheard by others.”