Chapter 154- Past With A Smile (Part 2)
Reaching the last word which was coincidentally the name of the little girl he was with right now, Rin was simply speechless. He didn't know how to react to seeing that message. Somi had clearly weighed out the consequences of this mission and knew that she could simply never come back and never see her daughter again so she left that letter to directly tell Sorophi what she wanted to say to her.
However, Rin was still confused about one thing.
'Why did this book end up hidden here and not in Sorophi's hands? Whoever hid it here deliberately didn't want her to see it as it was clearly connected to her deceased parents. But, who did that? and why?'
Rubbing his chin, Rin tried to solve this mystery. However, a few seconds later, he sighed and shook his head. He simply lacked information to generate a good answer. Even the only person he could ask at the moment couldn't remember a single thing about all of this.
But, at that moment, as he was having such thoughts, Rin finally recalled something important… way more important.
'Should I let Sorophi see what's inside this book?'
He had seen how she was attracted to the book involuntarily as if it was leading her toward it without her control. So, if he let Sorophi see the content of the book, bad things could happen. As far as he cared, the little girl was still a mystery to him. He knew nothing about her at all except for the bits and pieces he collected today and that wasn't even enough.
'I have no other choice. I must ask Master.' Nodding his head, he chose to take the safest route. As much as he wanted to avoid asking Emilia, he has no other way to go about this.
"Mmm… Book…"
As he was like that, a small voice shook him off his thoughts and made him focus on Sorophi again. The little girl's hands were extended as if she was asking for something.
"Ugh? You want the book back?" He asked to which Sorophi nodded vigorously.
'Now this is troublesome. I did promise her I will return the book.' He thought.
"Can I request something from you, Sorophi?"
Hearing that question, she looked up from the book and into Rin's eyes.
"Would you not open it if I give it back to you? I will explain later, ok? Would you promise me that?" He softened his tone and tried his best to hide his emotions behind a calm smile.
Sorophi's eyes flashed with a hint of incomprehensible emotions that Rin barely noticed. After that, her face returned to neutral as if nothing happened as she nodded her head.
Sighing in relief at the fact that she didn't disagree with his request, Rin handed her the book again and added.
"Since you want the book. I guess we will have to 'borrow' it for some time. Hide the book as far as you can from the librarian's eyes." He flashed a cheeky grin as he held her hand.
He was sure that if she wanted to hide something, no one can see it or even feel its presence no matter how strong they are.
*Swish*
In a split second, the book vanished from Rin's vision as if it was never there in the first place. The move was so smoothly done that he questioned his eyes for a good second.
After that, the two walked back to the entrance of the library. There, the old man was sitting comfortably on his chair, reading some kind of book calmly. When he heard Rin and Sorophi's footsteps, he looked up and smiled.
"You finished your reading session?" He asked.
"Yes, it was quite a fruitful trip. Thanks for the hospitality."
"Of course, you can come at any time. This place is for everyone."
Nodding his head, Rin walked out of the library and took a deep breath of the fresh air outside. The woody smell of the interior of the library was good but if inhaled for a long time, it makes the person crave some fresh air.
"Well, should we go back?" Rin asked.
A few minutes passed and the duo eventually reached the dormitory area.
"Can you stay with Elise for some time? I have some things to deal with."
After that, he met Elise who was waiting for him outside the dormitory, and handed her the little girl.
"What happened?"
"A lot… I found many interesting things. But, before I tell you everything, I need to get the full story. It goes way deeper than we both predicted."
"I see…" Murmuring, Elise didn't pursue the matter anymore and left Rin to finish what he needed to finish.
After that, Rin quickly left and headed toward one particular place… Emilia's office.
Because of his hurry, Rin had to run and use shortcuts to reach there in a few minutes. Eventually, he found himself in front of her office door. Knocking, he waited for her to respond.
"Enter."
Quickly opening the door, he walked inside and closed the door shut.
"You sure like to visit me, huh? Do you miss your master that much?" She asked jokingly even though her tone didn't sound joking at all.
"Well, you are my master after all. Where else should I go?"
"... You have a point." She halted for a moment and looked up at Rin.
"So, what's the purpose of this visit?"
The way she asked was nonchalant as she continued scribbling on the paper in front of her.
"I want to know about Somi Clearsky." Rin cut to the chase and asked directly.
"..." Emilia's whole body froze as she slowly looked up at him with a shocked look on her beautiful face.
"How do you…"
"Know that name? Well, I found her diary."
*swish*
Without a warning, Emilia's silhouette vanished and reappeared in front of Rin, her aura completely different than before and her face was as cold as ice. Rin stared at her, confused. He had never seen Emilia this angry before, ever. Her whole demeanor has just switched in less than a second without a warning. But, that cold aura wasn't directed at him since if it was indeed focused on him, Rin would've been crushed ruthlessly as Emilia was now using a good chunk of her strength.
"Where? How?" Two words seeped out of her mouth in the coldest, most emotionless tone he ever heard.
"The library. Actually, Sorophi found the book."
"Sorophi?" Hearing that name, Emilia's aura calmed down considerably and she murmured.
"Yes, I don't know how but it seems that the book had attracted her by its aura."
"Mana link?" It didn't take long for Emilia to realize why.
"Yes, exactly."
"I… never heard of that. Sister… I mean, Somi had never told me about it."
"I don't know about that.. but, the book is in Sorophi's hands."
Grabbing her face, Emilia seemed to have been hit hard by the information Rin revealed. She staggered back and rested on the arm of the couch behind her. Her face paled considerably and her eyes seemed unfocused.
"Master, are you ok?" Rin approached her and rubbed her back worriedly.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine."
Shaking her head, she took a few deep breaths to regain her composure. Then, she looked at Rin and said.
"I need to meet Sorophi and see that book… Now!"
Then, she stood up and stormed toward the door.
"Wait, master!"
Calling for her, she stopped and looked back clearly in a hurry.
"What?"
"I need to know first…"
"Know what?"
"What exactly happened to your sister? I know it might not be anything of my business but if I am going to face off demons, I want to know the full truth."
"..."
"You have told me before that I'm naive and that I don't know the full truth. Well, here I am, asking for it." Gazing at his master, his eyes were as serious as they could get. He had enough of being put in the dark about this particular matter. He wants to know more, he wants to know what really happened for all of this to occur.
Emilia also seemed to notice that expression on his face since she sighed, turned around, and sat in front of him. All of her urgency had vanished and what was left became nonapparent on the surface.
"I guess you don't want to stay out of this any longer, huh?"
"Yes, I had enough of running away and being hesitant. I will take my decision sooner rather than later. Whether I deem demons as evil or not, that is."
Nodding her head, Emilia opened her mouth to speak.
(A//N: Time to reveal a big chunk of Sorophi's past. We will change PoV for the first time in a while to Somi. It's going to be fun.)
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