There were two ways to enter. It wasn't very tall, but it was wide in area. Its name was on top: "General Center."
"That's supposed to be the academy," Akarum pointed at the right-side structure.
"It is," Kashime confirmed, her movements controlled.
Kashime's gaze drifted to the left-side structure. It was packed with walls, with no path to enter. Only its name shone, reflected by rays of light: "Focus Act."
Akarum was about to take the left route, but Kashime grabbed his wrist.
"Don't go on your own. That path is for normal people," she said, dragging him to the right route.
There was barely anyone on the normal people route.
They both entered inside. There was no one there for adoption.
"There are so many papers," Akarum said, carefully looking at the locked, wall-mounted enclosures made of glass.
A man sat on a chair, writing on a paper.
"Yo! Laixo." She waved at him, putting her hand back in her pocket.
Laixo lifted his head.
"Don't tell me you're here to adopt this…" He looked at Akarum, focused.
"Tatsuo, I guess," he added. "I expected something else. Just kidding." He chuckled, putting the pen into the pen stand.
"You are right," she said.
"What! Seriously?" The shock was completely visible on his face.
A Lightlinger came through the right-side door. He opened a wall-mounted enclosure, picked a few papers, and then looked at Laixo.
"We are removing the tournament law, right?" he asked, his voice professional.
He didn't question Kashime or Akarum.
Laixo turned toward him.
"Right. Do it quickly," he ordered.
"Hmm." The Lightlinger nodded and went back inside.
"You aren't married. We couldn't do that," Laixo turned to Kashime.
Then why are we even here?Akarum placed his hand on his waist.
"Denu… told me to… adopt Akarum," Kashime said nervously.
"My Ruler's words couldn't break laws. You do know that," he didn't blink. "Unless you have something else to bypass that." He smirked, his fingers interlocked on the desk.
"I do have." She put her hand in the pocket of her coat.
"Here." She placed a pouch on the table, and the coins clinked against each other.
She's bribing him.
Akarum looked at Kashime, raising an eyebrow.
"Eri isn't valued like Hiyu, but this should be enough," Kashime said.
The first time bribing feels weird. Internally, she was freaking out.
"Papers?" Laixo put the pouch in the drawer.
She handed him her papers.
"He doesn't have any. You know the reasons." Her shoulders went up and then fell.
"I can cooperate in that." His eyes scanned Kashime's papers.
"Now," his voice suddenly became serious.
"Whose name will I write as father?" he added.
She got stuck in this.
Akarum was busy looking at the wall-mounted enclosures.
"Hmm." She stroked her chin with her index finger.
"The hardest question," she said.
Akarum and Laixo waited patiently for her answer.
"Couldn't you ignore the father's name?" Her voice pleaded.
Laixo didn't answer right away. He took a few seconds to think.
Then—
He said, "Fine. I will write a random name that won't appear in other documents. That will take a lot of time." His voice was authoritative.
"So… come again after tomorrow to collect the papers."
"Sure." She nodded.
They moved outside. As they exited, Kashime stretched her arms.
"You bribed him," Akarum said.
"So? I am not a corrupt Head. I mean, it was for you. Denu told me to make sure you wouldn't die." She was clearly offended by his statement.
"Unless you don't know how to say 'thanks'," she added.
Her gaze found a woman going toward the acedamy.
"Sister?" Kashime tilted her head.
"You have a sister?" Akarum questioned.
"No, she is my mother. I just have… a habit of calling her 'sister'." Kashime turned back to the path.
She glanced at the sun sinking between the trees.
"We need to hurry." Kashime rushed forward instantly.
Akarum followed her lead.
They were moving so fast that most of their actions were instinctive, no longer guided by sight.
"Faster." Her voice stretched.
"I can't run anymore. My legs… they feel hollow." Akarum slowed.
"Fine. Here." She sat down. "Ride my back."
He climbed onto her back. She stood, and they vanished among the trees.
In the Village of Queens.
Flint sat on a chair at the center. His eyes struggled to stay open as he wrote on a piece of paper.
A letter.
For someone.
His eyes shut, and the pen slipped from his fingers onto the surface.
14 January 2021
Asami Kaatoumo
Hi Grandma,
I won't be coming today. Kashime wanted me to stay for some reason. She had to go for paperwork. She didn't tell me why, but I will come tomorrow for sure. Promise. Don't get mad, okay?
Your son,
Flint Kaatoumo
His mind slipped into the dream world. His consciousness faded.
Flint stood in the courtyard of Heavenly Kaatoumo, surrounded by Noyu, Nayako, and the two Darkens who had killed them.
They stared at him intensely, as if they might devour him at any moment.
"You ran," Noyu said, his voice cold and distant, despite his small figure.
"I had no option," Flint replied, his voice desperate.
"That's an excuse." Noyu pointed toward the Ghost Vault.
"Why was that thing so important?"
"Because… because.." His palms covered his face without touching it. "Ghost Vaults are limited, and we found one."
"And you were going to give that to the uTara Center," the Darken on his left said.
"We were ordered to do that if we found any Ghost Vault." Flint's eyes met Nayako's.
"You are a curse." Nayako's gaze was intense. "A curse," he repeated.
"You priotized that thing over your family."
Noyu began fading as the dream turned pitch black.
They all spoke in sync.
"A Curse."
In the present, Flint woke abruptly, sweat covering his face, his breathing uneven.
A tear slipped from his right eye. He wiped it away with his wrist.
"I am… not… a curse," he said, though deep down he believed their words.
"Noyu would never say such a thing." He laid his head on the table and closed his eyes, ready to fall back into the dream world.