A Distant Reverie

Chapter 25

Hmm?

Suisei blinked, surprised by the tiny splash of cold droplets against her cheeks. She glanced up. The overcast skies had darkened noticeably since their return to Prosperia, casting a foreboding shadow over the town. Only half a day had passed since their escape from the Azure Woods at the crack of dawn. She had somehow managed to get a few hours of undisturbed rest, hardly sufficient to erase her fatigue, but it was just enough that she wouldn't suddenly collapse from exhaustion.

Probably.

It seemed unlikely that her body would have allowed her to collapse right now anyways. She felt abnormally alert and cognizant despite the fog clouding her mind. It was a strange sensation, probably a result of the thick, frantic tension in the air.

Prosperia was currently in chaos. After Noel announced that the horde was on its way, the entire town sprung into action. The soldiers were running around, their hands occupied by either shovels or swords. Builders hammered away frantically, trying to make last minute adjustments to defensive fortifications. Trenches to halt the advance of the monsters were being dug up at an unbelievable pace—the displaced dirt was then used to transform Prosperia's straight roads into hazardous paths lined with obstacles. Anything that may slow down the horde for even a second was being hastily thrown together.

Amidst all this activity were the usual curses and vulgar vernacular of the military.

It's impressive how much they were able to get done in just three hours.

Yet despite the industrious efforts of the Prosperia soldiers, Suisei still had her doubts. After all, she had experienced the entirety of horde firsthand. The sheer volume of monsters could flatten entire forests. Suisei turned her attention towards the walls surrounding the town. The colossal fortification of iron and steel suddenly didn't seem so imposing.

Something wet fell on her cheeks again. Rain began to fall. The light drizzle quickly turned violent, and the heavy pitter patter was not well-received. Suisei overheard crude expletives as the soldiers glared at the foreboding skies. Undoubtedly, the rain would impede their efforts.

Suisei opened her phone. There was only three hours left until the horde was expected to arrive. Yet here she was, sitting under the rain, watching as Prosperia and its inhabitants struggle desperately in its final moments.

Waiting.

The reason, of course, lied in the sigil imprinted on her wrist. Noel, unsurprisingly, had refused to remove the sigil and free them from their contracts. And so here they were, still trapped in this city, awaiting orders from the Knight Commander.

We should have just left her to die.

Her own murderous thoughts surprised her, but Suisei was too tired to fight the intrusive whispers. Instead, she stared at the sigil, wishing there was some way to erase the damned mark or freed herself from its influence.

Near where she was sitting, there was a pile of weapons stacked on the ground. The soldier responsible for the stockpile must have scurried away for another task. Suisei stared at the steel blades, mesmerized by the sharp glint, when an impulsive idea came to her.

What if I just cut it off?

From what she observed when Marine lashed out at Noel, the effects of the contract magic originated at the sigil. She was making a lot of assumptions, but maybe she could get out of the contract by severing the part of her wrist where the sigil was imprinted.

It started off as a silly thought, but as the seconds passed, the idea was starting to seem more and more appealing.

...I mean, how hard could it be?