Chapter 921 |
Chapter 921
“We both know better than anyone how we can convey stories to each other in ways that go unheard by others.”
That was enough. At the same time as those words, Kishiar gently released his scent. Drawn by it, Yuder felt a scent smoothly flowing out from his own body as well.
Their intertwined scents wrapped and soothed their entire bodies. The movement, clear in its intention as if to say only this sensation was necessary, comforted Yuder's acutely tense nerves. As the scent that followed his inhaled breath cooled the heated turmoil inside his head, Yuder gazed deeply at their fingers, intertwined in a shape that seemed to connect him and the other.
The fingers appeared like a delicately shining thread, probably because of the thought of 'connection.'
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Yuder's mind.
"...Today, the three people I met said that the perception of scent changes over time. But... isn't it not just the scent that changes as time goes on?"
Since Yuder had returned to the past and met Kishiar, many things had changed. Among them, if one were to identify the most noticeable, persistent change, it would be the 'thread' – something unknown and mysterious.
This illusion-like entity, invisible to others, was undeniably real. It always connected the two, revealing itself in moments of intense desire to provide assistance, enabling them to find each other, no matter where they were.
Kishiar had named the sensation of this connection as ‘Imprint.'
Imprint. Scent. The difference between the past life and now.
Amid the swirling thoughts in his head, Yuder suddenly spoke.
"Could there be a connection between the changes in our ability to perceive scents and the increase in... our connection? I mean, the thing you thought similar to an imprint that has been growing?"
"Threads and scent... So, you're saying that as these increase, the changes related to our scents also gradually grew?"
"Yes. There's no evidence, but these are the biggest changes that happened at the same time, so I think there might be a connection."
Kishiar slowly nodded.
"There's logic in that."
Of course, to confirm this hypothesis, a similar phenomenon should have occurred in the previous game when Yuder had no scent. However, the current Yuder had no information about that part.
Kishiar, too, clearly knew this. After a moment of silence, he looked directly into Yuder's eyes and asked cautiously.
"Then, in the previous game, did you ever see something like the thread existing between us?"
"..."
"If it's difficult to answer, we can skip it. After all, understanding the current situation is more important."
Yuder shook his head.
"No. There's nothing I can't talk about. I remember that I never saw such threads in the previous game."
"Not affirming it but remembering it sounds like there's a significant difference."
"Yes, that's correct. I 'remember' it that way, but the reality could have been quite different."
"What made you come to that conclusion?"
"Because there were a few instances where I realized that there were parts I couldn't remember between what I recalled and what had actually happened."
Yuder tried to say those words with the most official tone he could muster. Conveying facts without letting emotions seep through had never been particularly difficult for him.
"In my current memory, there is nothing like the thread. However, separate from that... about the phenomena that occurred when we were connected."
While saying this, Yuder looked down at their tightly interlocked hands and moved his parched lips.
Should he really be sharing this story with the man before him?
Perhaps the current Kishiar would be better off not knowing.
Even as he continued, this thought lingered in his mind.
The memories of the 'connection' Yuder had experienced in his past life were something that even he himself had tried to forget for a long time. He had somewhat succeeded in forgetting them. The Kishiar of now was the same person as before, yet he had already journeyed down a vastly different path. What was the point of reviving such an unpleasant story?
They were things of the past, already gone.
Yuder's hands turned cold again. Even the scent caressing his body couldn't overcome the deep-seated chill.
He finished his last words, looking down.
"...There are memories where I felt something similar, albeit it's quite different from what I feel now..."
The accident that occurred during his manifestation in his previous life lasted a week. After that, Yuder Aile experienced and perceived the world completely differently. Everything was bewildering and unfamiliar, but the most troubling thing for him was the pain that suddenly pierced through him, along with other emotions and sensations.
At that time, Yuder instinctively knew where it all originated from. All those unwelcomed feelings and sensations came from Kishiar. The continuous barrage of emotions and sensations from someone else was a terrible ordeal, especially when they were mostly negative. Yuder felt as if two entirely different beings were forcibly stitched together like patches of cloth.
Kishiar of that time knew it too. He must have felt something similar from Yuder, so it was natural. After regaining consciousness following the accident, he had promised to resolve this phenomenon.
However, the promise remained unfulfilled. The man was killed by Yuder's hand. Yet, in a way, Yuder was freed from all that forced pain with his death, which could ironically be considered a resolution.
Yuder had long forgotten that fact. Until he dreamt of those times and revived his memories in this life, he had mostly forgotten that he had experienced such sensations.
"In fact, ever since I first saw that thread while searching for you, I've always had a question."
It was a soft voice that pulled Yuder from his reverie. Kishiar, with a smileless face and eyes cast down, continued.
"Where did it start from, and when was it formed? Why does it exist only between you and me, and not others? Such a mysterious connection starting so silently... doesn't it lack a certain flair?"
"Flair, you say?"
For a moment, Yuder thought he had misheard.
"Yes, flair."
A smile finally slipped through on the man's lips as he confirmed his words.
"At the start of any event, it's not necessary for there to always be a loud, destined occurrence. Plenty of things can happen without a clear reason. What I'm trying to say leans more towards cause and effect rather than reason. Do you understand what I mean?"
Cause and effect rather than reason. It was a complex analogy, but Yuder felt he roughly understood.
"...I think I grasp the feeling."
"The connection binding us lacked that. There was an outcome without an apparent cause, suddenly just existing. That's why, after learning various stories I hadn't known before, I found myself speculating once again."
"..."
"Perhaps the beginning of this connection... the imprint, originated from the previous game and continued to here. That this thread was not created by something I did here, but rather..."
Could it have been created in the previous game and somehow persisted to this point?
As Yuder met those red eyes speaking such thoughts, he felt a chill run up his arm. When had he started having such thoughts? From the little Yuder had shared, how far had this man speculated?
A voice from an old dream suddenly echoed in Yuder's mind.
'-Pushing away all connections until they forcibly severed... And then....'
Yuder was still not completely certain if that had really been said by him.
The connection that Kishiar thought had vanished with his death might not have truly disappeared. If he told the current Kishiar about that dream, and the 'connection' he had experienced previously, could he guess something from it?
...But, unusually, his usually articulate mouth seemed glued shut.
'After all, the current Kishiar knows everything, even that I killed Kishiar in my past life, so what's this in comparison.'
As he had said, what mattered was the present, not the past. Yet, despite this understanding, his mind remained cold and dark.
'Damn it.'
It was the moment he felt anger rising, about to bite his lip.
Suddenly, the entwined hands pulled Yuder in. His lips, caught off guard, were overlapped by another set of lips.