Franz sat still in his seat, looking back at his past.
That day when he first fell into the depths of Dreamland, and his father went insane, was an unforgettable memory for him.
That's what he's witnessing now.
Even if he wanted to forget, he couldn't. The experience deeply engraved in his soul was too vivid.
It would come to mind automatically when he closed his eyes.
A foolish youngster accidentally fell into the depths of Dreamland.
And there, he encountered the being he should never have met.
“Oh my. Child. Have you lost your way?”
Even encountering a shark hunting prey in the pitch-black deep sea wouldn't have been like this.
“It's not yet time for me to wake up, but you've made me open my eyes. And to think it would be a human who dared to invade the goddess' realm. What a naughty child indeed.”Nirva's voice was gentle and soothing.
It felt like listening to a lullaby, making one's ears melt just from hearing it.
Looking at his smiling face, he appeared like a kind grandfather caring for his grandchild.
But Franz wasn't fooled by such appearances.
The sweeter Nirva's voice sounded, the more goosebumps rose all over his body.
This being is not human and he had absolutely no intention of letting him go alive.
Sensing this perhaps, Nirva paused for a moment and then grinned.
“The child is sharp. Not inadequate for me to play with until I fall back asleep.”
Nirva said this while slowly extending his hand.
Franz could only watch the approaching palm while frozen in place.
It was then that a warm sensation embraced him from behind.
“I'm sorry.”
-Fa, ther?
A familiar voice to his ears.
Perhaps because of the desperate situation, that voice resonated even more strongly.
“I should have paid more attention to you; it's my fault.”
“No, no, Father. It's because I'm, I'm inadequate...”
Nirva frowned at the unexpected guest's appearance.
“Not just one human in this land, but two? Guests opening the door and coming in as they please. Well, this is essentially no different from thieves.”
“I have one request for you. It's clearly our fault for barging in uninvited, but could you please pretend you didn't see us and let us go?”
Nathanael asked Nirva in a respectful tone.
Nirva burst into laughter as if he'd heard something amusing.
“Hahaha! In all my life, I never thought I'd hear a human making a polite request to me!”
The expression carved on Nirva's face disappeared in an instant.
It happened so suddenly that it seemed like he had been wearing a mask.
“You dare to spout such nonsense before me so shamelessly?”
“I see, so it's not possible.”
Nathanael let out a small sigh.
From the moment he saw Nirva, he had been prepared for something.
Just as Nirva was about to make his move, Nathanael moved first.
Embracing Franz, his figure disappeared from the spot like a mirage.
Momentarily stunned, Nirva contorted his face at the realization that Nathanael had fled.
“You dare to wake me from my sleep and then try to escape? I will never let you go unscathed.”
By the time Nirva made that vow, Nathanael, who had appeared far away, faced Franz and opened his mouth.
“Franz.”
“Fa, father?”
“Originally, this was my duty. So don't worry too much.”
Saying this, Nathanael took 'that thing' from Franz's tightly clenched hand.
:Perhaps this was my true destiny all along.:
“Father. What exactly are you...”
“Listen carefully. There's no way to escape from that being here. And once we've fallen into this depth, there's no way to safely escape. At least not both of us.”
“Both of us means...”
The quick-witted Franz realized what Nathanael was trying to say and opened his eyes wide.
“I can only say I'm sorry to you.”
“Father! What are you saying!”
“If we had a little more time, we might have created more memories.”
Franz felt uneasy at those words.
Nathanael took something from his waist and placed it around Franz's neck.
“Tell Clara that I'm sorry for being an inadequate husband. And tell her not to worry too much. This was something that had to happen eventually.”
“But why? It's, it's my fault. Because I didn't properly listen to Father's words...”
Franz's voice became moist with emotion.
Nathanael dismissed Franz's tearful attempt to speak by shaking his head with a smile.
“It's not your fault. This was a kind of destiny that has been passed down since long ago. It was my mistake to deliberately ignore it.”
“I don't understand what you mean.”
“You don't need to know. No, rather, you shouldn't know.”
Nathanael wiped the tears flowing on Franz's face with his hand.
“Son. It's okay. Once you leave, I will follow shortly after. So don't worry.”
“...Really?”
When Franz asked, Nathanael nodded with a bright smile.
“Of course. Have you forgotten who your father is?”
At that moment, a sandstorm raged from a distance.
The massive sand, possessing a will of its own, surged like a tsunami toward where Franz and Nathanael were.
“It seems it has already found us.”
“Fa, Father. I...!”
“Shh. That's enough. Let's save the unfinished conversation for later.”
Nathanael activated the artifact on Franz's neck.
It was an emergency escape device created in case the user fell deep into Dreamland and was caught in a powerful dream pressure.
Requiring top-grade magic stones to make just one, it was an item possessed only by Nathanael and Clara.
“Go.”
Nathanael gently pushed Franz's shoulder.
Franz's body floated upward, ascending to the sky like an ascension.
Franz stretched out his hand toward Nathanael but that hand would never reach.
Through flowing tears, what Franz saw was the back of Nathanael confronting head-on the massive sandstorm with the face of an old man.
That was the last of Franz's memories and the end of the dream he always had.
Franz opened his eyes.
Rising with an expressionless face, what he saw were Dream Walkers glaring at him with cautious gazes.
Caution, hostility, suspicion.
No positive emotions toward him could be felt.
The same reaction from both those who knew him and those who didn't.
Franz let out a snicker.
His gaze caught sight of an old woman being supported by Dream Walkers.
Even Franz, who didn't care about the other Dream Walkers, couldn't take his eyes off the old woman.
"Why did you come?"
The old woman, Clara Cowen, admonished Franz.
"It's none of your concern."
"That's..."
Clara was at a loss for words.
It was the other Dream Walkers who flared up at those words.
"You insolent fool! How dare you speak to the Master like that!"
"You despicable creature! Think about what you've done! Instead of apologizing properly, you act this way!"
They were people who had known Franz.
Franz coldly retorted to such Dream Walkers.
"So."
"What, what?"
"If I say I'm sorry, what changes?"
Even those who were angry at Franz's brazen words could only gape in astonishment.
"Even if I shed tears and apologize, what changes?"
"Shut up!"
Zantman, unable to bear it any longer, shouted.
"At least the Master! Even after losing her loved one and having her child leave, she remained steadfast in the faction, fulfilling her duties! Unlike you who turned away from reality, someone who must have been the most hurt!"
Franz responded with a sneer to those words.
"Turned away from reality? Isn't the Dream School itself a gathering of those who have turned away from reality?"
"What did you say!"
"I, on the contrary, saw reality. To confront the demon who might one day awaken again."
Franz showed a dagger he had prepared.
"At least I took one of his arms. What did you do?"
"You, you madman...!"
Zantman's beard trembled with anger.
Franz, ignoring Zantman, spoke to Clara.
"Your skills are no match for that monster. Take these nuisances and leave."
"You truly...!"
As the Dream Walkers were about to express their anger, they were stopped by Clara's small gesture.
All the Dream Walkers closed their mouths tightly, waiting for Clara to speak.
Franz gazed at Clara with cold, chilling eyes.
It was a gaze looking not at the mother who once cared for him, but at an obstacle hindering his revenge.
What Clara said to her child who had left home for so long was completely unexpected.
"Have you been eating well?"
"...!"
The Dream Walkers' eyes widened at such an unexpected question.
The one who showed a more intense reaction was Franz.
"You've gotten much thinner since I last saw you. My son. How much you must have suffered."
"What are you talking about now...?"
Franz quietly bit his lip.
His hand holding the dagger trembled.
"I know. No matter how coldly you speak or what expression you wear, you're still worried about me."
"Don't talk nonsense. I've changed."
"A mother knows. Looking at your eyes, there's no difference between then and now. Even your appearance..."
"You mean this never-aging appearance?"
Franz sneered as if trying to deliberately disrupt the atmosphere.
"That day, due to my foolishness, I fell into the depths of Dreamland and became like this. Despite the passage of many years, I don't age properly. As if unable to forget my past, my real self stopped changing."
Franz maintaining his youthful appearance despite the passage of long years wasn't a blessing from something it was a curse.
An indelible scar created by the environment of the depths on his body, saying never to forget his mistake.
Although his physique had grown significantly, his fair skin and youthful face still resembled that of his childhood.
The hateful past self who had caused his father's death.
"Do you think I haven't changed just because my appearance hasn't changed?"
"What I'm talking about isn't your appearance. Child. It's that precious heart of yours that thinks of others while pretending not to, that hasn't changed."
Clara said this and burst into dry coughs.
"Master!"
"Old hag!"
Everyone looked at Clara with worried faces.
She who had burned her power trying to regain her youthful appearance had returned to her original old woman form, but the after-effects still remained.
Franz's eyes moved violently.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to die right away. It's just the rebound from overexerting myself a little while ago."
Clara, who had regained some color, gave Franz a warm gaze.
"It wasn't your fault."
"...That's why it needs to be set right."
For that, Franz left the Dream School and researched alone to kill Nirva.
It was during this that he encountered Zero Order.
“I heard there's someone frantically asking about demons recently, and it turns out to be a child?”
“Who are you?”
“Would it be an answer if I said I'm the demon you're looking for?”
He was extraordinary from his first appearance.
He didn't even try to hide his identity and openly stated he was a demon.
“But let me tell you, I'm different from the demon you're looking for.”
“What's your purpose?”
“Oh. Your mind works faster than I thought. Without even doubting.”
A crescent-like smile formed on Zero Order's lips.
“I'll help you to be able to kill that demon.”
A demon's whisper to make one kill another demon.
For someone with a normal mindset, the right thing would have been to firmly reject Zero Order's proposal.
But at that time, Franz wanted to grasp even a straw.
To kill Nirva, he didn't mind taking the hand of another demon.
“What's the price? My soul?”
-Hahaha. Interesting. Well, is that how demons are perceived by kids these days? Sorry, but I don't need your soul. Instead, I'd like you to teach me the abilities Dream Walkers use.
“Just for that?”
“Hmm? You call that 'just'? When I ask magicians to teach me their specialized magic, they foam at the mouth. So, what do you think?”
“I don't care. As long as you teach me how to kill that demon.”
“Good. Then the contract is established.”
Under the moonlit night filled with stars Zero Order extended his hand toward Franz.
“I'll tell you my name, especially to you. My name is Surna.”
“Sur, na?”
Franz opened his eyes round.
He had encountered that name several times while examining documents about demons.
Because the name Surna was precisely that of the great demon said to have fought to mutual destruction with the saint of the once-mighty Lumensis Order in the past.
From stories, he seemed like a vast darkness about to engulf the world, but the Surna he actually saw was not like that at all.
‘Isn't he not much different from humans?’
But Franz believed those words.
In fact, he was even more grateful that he was not taking the hand of an ordinary demon but a great demon.
He would surely achieve his goal.
“Your name?”
“Franz Cowen.”
Franz said this but then shook his head.
“No. Just call me Franz, please.”
That was their first meeting.
'For Father's revenge, I took the hand of a demon.'
Franz had crossed a river from which there was no return.
Clara gazed at Franz with a sad expression.
It's not that she doesn't understand his heart.
His life until now had been stained with vengeance and guilt.
It's not as if Clara hadn't thought the same.
But still.
This shouldn't be.
"Franz. There's a truth I haven't told you. This is something all of you, the Dream School, need to hear."
At Clara's sudden words, everyone's gazes turned to her.
"This is a truth passed down only to the Masters of the Dream School. And it's related to Nathanael who left."