Surprisingly—or maybe not—the students were more than willing to go out and "help the empire." Yuna suspected it had less to do with civic duty and more with the thrill of escaping the academy for some fun.
In the principal's office, Lillith scanned through the paper the students had delivered. Of course, she'd already taken a sneaky peek at Yuna beforehand, so she more or less knew what the letter might contain.
Hear her out though—she only looked at Yuna through the tiny point cameras installed around the study grounds. She didn't follow her inside her dorm or anything. She respected privacy. Truly!
"Veyne, look at this! A letter of approval request!" Lillith exclaimed with a giggle. "The previous batch didn't do anything like this until, what, a year and a half later? And that was only after we told them they could. This batch of students is really interesting!"
"You mean Yuna," Veyne said dryly. He knew her real interest lay in that girl, not in the rest of the students.
"Well…" Lillith pouted. "This batch does have its charms, but Yuna—ah, she's so much more interesting it overshadows everyone else."
"Will you allow them?" Veyne asked, though he already knew what the answer would be.
"Of course, of course I will! And I'll even make it more grand. I want to turn it into a competition—let the card classes compete! The timing couldn't be better, the weather is about to intensify, and it'll be perfect for the event I have in mind."
"Hmm…" Veyne paused. "What kind of weather?"
Lillith glanced out the window, her eyes glinting. "Ahh~ can you feel it, Veyne? A storm is coming—someone's been tampering with the laws of nature."
Cryptic as always. But after decades at her side, Veyne understood. She meant that someone was interfering with Lalrem Empire's weather—specifically, the rainy season. More rain. More wind. A storm powerful enough to sweep across the empire.
As someone who had already comprehended her own law, Lillith could sense when another law was disturbed, even if it wasn't her own.
Any sane person would never think of sending students out into an oncoming storm, to face the wrath of nature itself.
But then again—none of the teachers at Evigheden Academy could exactly be called "sane." And so, no one opposed the principal's plan.
...…
Evigheden Academy gathered all the students in the great hall for a special announcement.
The principal herself walked up to the podium.
Today, she had chosen a brighter Lolita look rather than her usual gothic style.
"Cards of Evigheden Academy," she began.
Yuna's face twitched. Cards? Not students? …Hahh. Fantasy world and its little quirks, right? Or maybe just this lolita principal.
"Today, we've called you here to address the matter of the letters submitted by your class representatives."
The students stood in rapt attention, hope sparking in their eyes. If they'd been called here like this, surely it meant the request had been approved.
"As you expect, we—your cards' managers—approve of it."
Cards managers? No longer teachers? Bruh.
A roar of cheers exploded through the massive hall.
"Shhh…" Lillith pressed a finger to her lips. The noise died instantly. "But… I personally think that just going out and helping around is boring. The managers would have to guide you, babysit you—it would be a burden for us, and honestly? Boring."
Her smile widened. "So I decided… why not make this a competition?!!"
The students glanced at each other, murmuring in confusion. Yuna, however, felt a very bad premonition. Her gut twisted. And she swore the principal's eyes flicked to her—meaningfully—for just a fraction of a second.
"Cards," Lillith continued, "You will be let loose without your managers' supervision for a month! Each card class will be sent to a different part of the region, given responsibility over one city and its nearby villages. For that month, you'll be working with the city lords and village leaders—the authority will be yours."
The hall went completely silent.
"The domains under your care will also be broadcasted to the citizens of Lalrem Empire! Each card class will get to see how the others are doing. Representatives, your responsibility is paramount in this competition. You have one week to prepare. After that—good luck to you all! This is going to be fun!"
The students' stunned silence soon gave way to excited chatter. Faces lit up as they imagined all the possibilities waiting outside the academy.
Meanwhile, Yuna's already pale face drained of what little color it had left.
'Responsible for… a city?'
'What does she mean responsible for a city???'
Who was the idiot that suggested going out of the academy in the first place? Who? Who??
…Oh. Right. Her.
'Fuck you, past self. Fuck you!!!'
Yuna trudged despondently toward her room, depression clinging to her like a heavy cloak. Who the fuck hands over authority to children? Literally thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds, managing a city? Who?
Evigheden Academy was insane. The world was insane.
She banged her head lightly against the wall with a dull thud.
Right now, she wanted nothing more than to run away. To throw a tantrum, be careless, and refuse to prepare for anything. But she couldn't. People's well-being was going to be under her care.
She remembered mentioning Lalrem Empire's black rain tribulation from the novel
Still. She… she had to be prepared.
People's lives—she couldn't ignore them. She couldn't be careless.
She would try her best.
So please, she begged silently to whoever might be listening—don't blame her if she couldn't do as well as the others. She was only ever an ordinary person.
If she didn't have responsibility for the coming disaster, Yuna wouldn't be this anxious. But of course—out of all possible times—it had to be now. Why? Just… why??
She desperately wished she could confide in someone, tell them what she sensed was coming. But if she slipped up, if she revealed her secret of being from another world… yeah, no thanks. Hard pass.
So instead, she let the depression gnaw at her chest until it was too heavy to carry.
Her solution? Sleep.
When she was anxious, she liked to just shut down. Sleeping it off was easier—like pressing a temporary pause button on life. Not that it actually solved anything, but hey, at least unconscious her didn't have to deal with problems.
.....
"Hmm?"
Yuna glanced around in her strange, half-corporeal form. Her soul seemed to be tethered to a statue. Stretching her limbs, she pulled away from the stone and drifted down, finally landing at the statue's feet.
Just then, the echo of footsteps filled the chamber.
Yuna turned. A youth stepped inside—no older than sixteen—with eyes of molten gold that shone so brightly they tugged at something buried in her memory. Her thoughts, however, were foggy, drifting, almost delirious. She could barely even remember her own name.
The boy's eyes widened as he stepped forward.
"God," he whispered.
Yuna blinked. Confusion clouded her mind. God? That wasn't her name. Her name was… Yuna. But strangely, the thought stirred no emotions in her, and she felt no need to correct him. She merely turned her head away.
"God… have you remembered me all this time?" His voice trembled, somewhere between plea and prayer.
Yuna glanced back at him. She wanted to ask who he was, but the name surfaced unbidden in her mind, spilling past her lips:
"Arien."
Lucion Arien's lips quivered. His God remembered him. She had not forgotten.
"Will you reside in the temple from now on?" Hope flared in his eyes as he gazed at her without wavering.
Yuna stared at him in silence. His eyes…
They were the most beautiful she had ever seen, golden and glowing as though carrying a light of their own. But beneath that brilliance, there was something more—a fanatic gleam that seemed to resonate faintly with the dimension stone lodged in her chest. A stone that followed her even into this soul-like state.
Dimension stone? Wait—what was that again? …Forget it.
Her thoughts passed as quickly as they came. Interest faded.
Arien. Right. What had he asked again? Stay in the temple? Why would she? She remembered vaguely that she had other things to do.
Still… those eyes were too beautiful. Out of pity, perhaps, she would indulge him with a reply.
"I can't. Disaster is coming to the Lalrem Empire, and I have things to do."
Her gaze softened, just a little. "Arien, you should prepare for what is to come."
The light in his eyes dimmed.
"If… if I carry out your will to assist the Empire," he said, his voice unsteady, "will you accompany me for at least a day afterward?"
He shouldn't have asked. It was blasphemous, he knew. He should have simply obeyed, embraced her words as law. But his yearning gnawed at him, restless and uncontainable. He couldn't stop himself.
Yuna lifted a hand and placed it gently against his face. His eyes were too beautiful—it was almost a sin to have such eyes. She wasn't even fully registering his words about will and obedience.
"You have such beautiful eyes," she murmured. "I wouldn't mind looking at them for a whole day."
Lucion's breath caught, ragged and uneven. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, aching to tear free just to prove to her that it beat only for her.
"Everything about me is yours, my God," he said fervently, nuzzling into her palm, desperate to prolong her touch, desperate not to break her gaze.
"Hmm." Yuna gave the smallest hum in response. "I have to go."
Something—some faint call at the edge of her awareness—pulled at her. She couldn't name it, couldn't explain it, but she knew she had to follow. And so, without hesitation, Yuna let herself drift toward that unseen voice.