Drip… drip…
Tears flowed from Soren's eyes as he awoke.
"What the hell was that..?"
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and thought back to everything he had just seen.
'It was so vivid..'
He already knew that the books in the library let him experience memories as if he was experiencing them in the moment, but…
'It felt weird..'
Feeling someone else's emotions.
Seeing someone else's memories.
His head hurt.
Even now, just thinking of the name Freya was enough to make him feel depressed, even though she was someone whom he—Isaac—had never met.
'They were closer than expected, though.'
He had already guessed that the two of them had been close, but he couldn't have imagined how close they were.
He could still feel how much the original Soren loved and cared about her.
Tears threatened to spill again as he thought about his memories.
'I'm not sure how to feel about this..'
He knew that what he was feeling wasn't his emotions, but it now felt as if they were emotions he had always held, so much so that he couldn't push away the feelings flowing through him.
Ting-♪
.
.
▶ ù̷̥͇̹̽́o̶̜̊l̷̡̔͂̅S̸̥͕̬̔̐́̉̀ͅ ̴̤̝͎̅͐̓̓͝i̸̢̳͙̮͚̽̂ṉ̴̡̧̧͋̅̐e̶̩̓̾̆̀̃g̸̗͌̉̓̑̚r̵̠̠͎̱̟͛̾̚M̵̢̙̣̒͑͂͐g̶̛̪͛̍̀ ȍ̶̠̘̬̳̩͍̣̩̒͗̿̉̀͝f̷̟͊́̉͋̑͑̽̈̕̚͘͘ ̵̛̠̗̞̠̌̀̏͛̈́̒͆̄̄̕ͅͅḮ̴̪͎̙̮̲̳͌̄̒̇̉͆̒͂̊́̓̉s̶̺̭̗͓̯̭̮̜̭͎͍͕͓̏̉̈́̅͌͗̔̏͌̀͋͋̉͜͜a̵̧̘͇̤̻͖̠̮͋͂́̓̓͒͠a̶̦͙̜̜̜͉̝̜̺̓̏͌c̸̰͚͍̺̮͚͚̳̮̥̠͗̀̓̔̐͝ ̴̛̝̥͉̟̓̈́̇͜͝a̷̡̳̮̰̯͍͉̩̮͓͍̥̟͆͐͑͜͜n̴̬̫͇̫̜̘̤̼̾̇̎̏̈͊̀͘͜͜d̶̡͖̤͕̮̯̫̑̇͋̂͒̎͝͠ ̵̢̜͈͔̮̗̝̠̠͚͑̏͜S̶͉͔̬͔̯̊̎͐̔̔͝o̶͖̭̩͂̄̌̍̐͗̅͜͝r̷̡͓̥̦͕̹̯̬̽̾̽͗͂̃̉̽̋̊͛̐̒͝ë̵͇̘̺̮͉̥͈̌̇̋̆̑̕n̷͈̘͚͍̞̹̰̱͈͉̼̘̹͆̑̒̌:̴̻̹͉̌̈́ ̵͖̝̽̂̋̍͌6̷̠̳̀̀̑̉̐%̸͉̓͑̈̅͗ ◀
.
.
"...?"
He was confused by the sudden glitch in the status window, but his thoughts didn't go much further.
He was too exhausted to think properly anymore.
As his eyes started feeling heavier, he quickly left the library and collapsed onto his bed, not bothering to change.
'I just want to sleep.'
'I'm tired.'
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Only after a few days was Soren finally able to piece together his thoughts on what he had experienced in the library.
At first, he was confused and even felt a sense of disgust at having someone else's memories and emotions thrust into his head, but as time passed, he came to a different conclusion.
That conclusion was that it was a good thing.
Of course, this didn't mean he suddenly liked the experience; it was simply a fact.
As someone who had been transmigrated with no knowledge of what the original body had gone through, Soren had already experienced multiple instances of confusion due to a lack of knowledge in his day-to-day life and experiencing the original Soren's memories would fix that.
So at the end of the day, he thought that it could only be a good thing to learn more about the body he was inhabiting.
The glitch with the status window had also been resolved over time.
Something of note, however, was that after his mock duel, his points were now at a comfortable 186, meaning he was getting closer to being able to buy a new skill.
The other thing that had changed in the past few days was the way people acted around Soren.
Ever since the mock duel, people had now been even more blatantly avoiding him, far more than beforehand.
Usually, he would have felt depressed about such a situation, but after dealing with a similar situation for over a month already, he had begun to become indifferent to such actions.
Ding-♪ Dong-♪ Ding-♪ Dong-♪
Soren packed his stationery away once the bell signalling the end of class had rung as per usual when…
Slam-!
The door swung open with a loud noise.
Standing in that doorway was a tall woman with short, black hair and fierce, crimson eyes that matched his own.
Beads of sweat were glistening on her forehead, making it clear that she had rushed here the moment the bell had rung.
"Is Soren Arden here?"
As everyone's eyes collectively gathered on him, so did the girl's.
Her intimidating face vanished, replaced by an expression that was so gentle that it was hard to believe that the two faces were from the same person.
"I'm here?"
Being so caught off guard, he wasn't able to say much else before the girl ran over and grabbed his wrist, jumping up and down.
"Oh! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
Without even giving him a chance to reply, she started dragging him out of the classroom by the wrist.
"Let's go somewhere, it's been so long since I last saw you!"
He tried to pull his arm away, but to no avail.
'Why is she so damn strong?'
'Oh right… fantasy world…'
Soren sighed, following the girl who seemed to have a relationship with him and opened her information window.
.
[Louise Cruentus]
Age: 20
Gender: F
Race: Human
.
'Another name I don't know…'
One thing was for sure, though: she was related to Soren.
Red eyes were rare enough in Ivansia, only being seen a handful of times throughout Soren's entire time playing TKS, but deep crimson eyes like Louise's?
He had never seen it before.
Even in the memories he had seen, Freya Arden had blonde hair and brown eyes.
The closest comparison besides himself would have been Sofia with her pink-ish red eyes.
'Who is this girl?'
As if noticing his thoughts, Louise stopped suddenly, swivelled around and pouted.
"I only found out you were attending Stellaris Academy after the mock duels. Shouldn't you have at least come and told your big sis that you were here? I missed you."
Upon hearing her words, Soren couldn't help but be surprised.
Not only had Louise clearly shown that her and Soren's relationship was close, but she also said something strange.
'Why didn't he come find her?'
Given the original Soren's circumstances, it didn't make much sense to him that he had come all the way to Stellaris Academy, following Freya's last wish, then avoid the only person he was close to.
Even more so if his mental state was as he had previously guessed.
'Actually…' He began to contradict his previous thoughts immediately. 'Maybe he just didn't want to bother her.'
Eventually, they arrived at the location Louise had intended to take him to and stepped inside.
It was a cafe, a place that was unfamiliar to Soren, who didn't have many friends in this world.
From appearances alone, it was clearly a popular spot amongst students, as even though classes had just ended, it was already swamped.
Louise led Soren to a corner booth and plopped down on the seat, picking up the menu in front of her and handing it to him.
"Are classes okay?"
"They're fine, I'm only in class F."
As nervous as Soren was, she also seemed to be unsure how to start a conversation, just throwing out small talk in hopes of success.
After exchanging such small talk for a little while, a purple-haired beastkin came over to their table.
"Welcome to Etheheart Cafe, I take it you want your usual Louise?"
"Yep!"
Louise's mood soared upon seeing the beastkin.
The awkwardness she had shown when talking had long disappeared, completely replaced by the appearance of a socialite, stunning Soren, who hadn't expected this side of her.
'She's so different from how she looks.'
Louise's appearance was almost scary, from her tall and toned figure to her short hair and sharp eyes, even to the rapier that sat on her waist.
It was no wonder that the other students of class F looked nervous when she appeared in their classroom; she could've easily been mistaken for a delinquent.
After a few minutes of talking, Louise turned to Soren, apologising for leaving him out.
"Ah- Sorry Soren. Uhm… I'll have my usual Shirone, and Soren will have..?"
"I'll just have a hot chocolate, thanks."
"Is that everything?"
"Yep!"
"Okie-dokie, I'll be back soon. Have fun, Louise."
With the order complete, the purple-haired beastkin called Shirone walked off, and Louise turned her attention back to Soren.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away. Shirone and I have been friends for a long time."
"It's fine, don't worry."
Then Louise's eyes sparkled as if she remembered something.
"Oh, right! What was that thing you did in the duels? I heard you were casting magic while moving? Where the heck did you learn to do that?"
Soren rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile.
"That? Well, I don't really know what to say, I just kind of learned how to? Sorry."
He didn't lie; he did just happen to learn how to.
He couldn't just tell her that he had completed a quest, received a reward, and used that reward in a store only visible to him to buy a skill that suddenly gave him the ability to do such a thing.
The problem, however, was that Louise's gaze suddenly felt heavier.
"Oh my days! Little brother, are you a genius?! What happened to the cute little Soren who could hardly use magic?"
He felt burdened by Louise's reaction, not sure how to respond to her.
'I'm not Soren…'
He tried to shake off such thoughts and decided to ask something he had been curious about to change the conversation.
"I was just wondering, Louise—"
But she cut him off before he could even finish.
"—Big Sis."
'Huh?'
He tried to speak once again, but…
"Louise—"
…She pouted in response.
"—Call me Big Sis."
'I don't think I can win here..'
He sighed inwardly and repeated the question he was unable to ask previously.
"...Big Sis… What rank are you?"
"Rank? Oh! I'm ranked 6th in martial studies. Are you surprised that your big sister is so strong?"
"Wow…"
He couldn't help but nod at her question.
'No wonder I couldn't escape from her grasp.'
Soren gulped as he resolved to never get on her bad side.
Being ranked 6th in martial studies in her 3rd year was a significant achievement.
Even in-game, Alex, the hero and protagonist, was only able to reach class A, which consisted of the top 5 students in his 3rd year.
He was confused as to why such a strong person hadn't been a playable character, especially with her striking appearance; he thought that she would have many fans if she had been.
Time passed, and they were leaving the café when Louise suddenly brought up a topic that caught Soren off guard.
"How did things go with Aunty Sofia then?"
'Aunty?'
Through her words, Soren was able to figure out Louise's relationship to him.
Louise Cruentus, his first cousin.
Unlike Arden, Cruentus was a name that, much like Soren, simply did not exist in ❰The Knight of Stellaris❱, not even in passing like Freya.
'I should look into it later.'
Bringing his attention back to her question, he felt stumped.
'How should I reply?'
Soren was once again made aware of something he had been avoiding ever since reading the letter the other day.
Noticing his struggle, Louise spoke up once again.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it…"
Louise's expression turned guilty as she turned to face Soren, fiddling with her hands in the process.
"When I heard the news about Frey, I tried to request leave to come find you, but I wasn't allowed to… I'm sorry, I should've done more…"
'This is hard…'
If this were Soren before he had gained some memories, he might have been able to respond to Louise in a lighthearted manner, telling her not to worry and then going on with his day, but now he was no longer able to do such a thing.
Up until the letter, he hadn't thought of Soren as a person, just a vessel that he had inhabited, a character so insignificant that he hadn't even appeared in the game, but after experiencing those memories, those emotions, he could no longer deny that Soren was also real.
As a result, he was now caught in a dilemma.
He wasn't sure if it was okay for him to talk as if he were the same Soren in Louise's memories.
He had never interacted with anyone who had known the original until now, so he had never had to worry about whether or not he was allowed to act as himself and talk on the original's behalf.
As he looked up at Louise, he felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
'He's not here anymore.'
How could he say such a thing to her?
"Are you really okay, Soren…?"
The eyes full of worry pierced through him, leaving him unable to respond.
He was frozen in place.
What was he meant to do here?
He wasn't sure.
As he stood there, desperately trying to figure out the correct response, he was brought back to reality by a soft, warm feeling.
When he came back to his senses, Louise was right in front of him, hugging him.
"I should have been there for you… I know how much Frey meant to you, but I couldn't do anything…"
Louise's arms held him tightly as she apologised.
Soren, seeing this, threw away all his earlier thoughts for now and hugged her back.
"It wasn't your fault, Louise. I'm sorry."
He was unable to say much more, still afraid of crossing the line, but he couldn't just let Louise beat herself up for no reason.
They stayed like that in silence for a little longer before Louise stepped back, her face now filled with a warm smile.
"Thank you, Little Brother… I'll come see you again soon, okay? Bye-bye."
Soren nodded, still unable to say anything.
With that, Louise turned and left, leaving Soren alone once more.
Immediately, he slumped down on a nearby bench and pinched his bridge, letting out a sigh.
"What should I do..?"
————「❤︎」————