Soho appeared older.
His features were extinguished, as if he were dead.
His clothes were drenched in blood, his hand gripping his sword tightly.
He stood atop a great height, gazing down at a palace—one that seemed to belong to a feudal lord or something similar.
The palace was burning.
Screams echoed everywhere.
Corpses lay scattered across the ground.
The vision was completely blurred.
He could not make out anything beyond that scene.
It was not smoke from the fire.
It was a fog—as if something itself had been erased.
Then—
Soho awoke slowly.
The first thing he felt was a faint chill in his arm… followed by the prick of a needle.
He opened his eyes heavily and saw a pure white ceiling, an IV drip hanging quietly above him.
"…A hospital?"
He shifted his head slightly, and pain seeped in like a delayed warning—but it was bearable.
Why do I look older?
And why that strange scene?
What was that…?
When he turned his gaze to the right—
He saw him.
Reinhart.
Lying on a small couch, his blond hair messy, his features unusually calm—like a child who had fallen asleep after a long day.
Soho smiled faintly without realizing it.
At that moment, the door to the room opened.
Eileen and Shuang-Yu entered together, both carrying plastic bags—cut fruit, bottles of juice… and neatly wrapped shawarma sandwiches.
They froze in place for a moment.
"…?"
"You're… awake?!"
Soho lifted his hand slightly, trying to sit up.
"Seems like it… yes."
Eileen hurried over, her expression a mixture of relief and awkwardness.
"How do you feel? Do you feel dizzy? Chest pain?"
"Don't move too much—the doctors said—"
"I'm fine," he interrupted calmly.
"I just feel like I slept longer than I should have."
She let out a clear sigh of relief, then laughed softly, trying to hide her tension.
"Thank goodness… you really scared us."
Shuang-Yu stood quietly beside the bed, her gaze steady as always—though noticeably less cold than usual.
"Your consciousness is stable."
"That's good."
A brief silence followed.
The two girls exchanged a quick glance, as if agreeing without words.
Eileen was the first to speak.
"Soho… about what happened that day…"
She hesitated for a moment, then clenched her fist lightly.
"Thank you."
She looked at him, her voice steady.
"If you hadn't stepped in… if you hadn't stood in front of that thing…"
"I don't know what would have happened to us."
Shuang-Yu nodded slowly.
"Your action… saved the team."
"We don't just owe you our lives—
but our trust as well."
Her words were brief, but her tone was sincere, free of any affectation.
Soho smiled lightly, scratching the back of his head with his uninjured hand.
"I didn't do anything extraordinary."
"We were a team. That's all."
Eileen shook her head quickly.
"No… we were a team because you made us one."
Something warm appeared in her eyes—something resembling gratitude… and a friendship born amid chaos without asking permission.
Soho then asked,
"How many… how many days have passed?"
Shuang-Yu answered immediately.
"Four days."
His eyes widened slightly.
"Four?"
"Hah… that's more than I expected."
He exhaled, then laughed quietly.
"At least… I'm still alive."
He glanced at the sleeping Reinhart.
"What about this blond guy?"
"And that muscular monkey… and how's the shy cat?"
Eileen laughed.
"Rein? He rarely left the room. He was here most of the time."
"As for Kevin…"
She sighed.
"He came and went."
"Brought shawarma sandwiches, sat around waiting… then ended up eating them himself."
Soho laughed genuinely.
"That suits him perfectly."
"And Amy?" he asked softly.
"The cat…?"
Eileen smiled gently.
"She sleeps most of the time."
"The mental strain was heavy… the doctors said that's normal."
Soho closed his eyes for a moment.
Strange…
All of this happened in less than a month.
He opened his eyes and looked at Eileen without realizing it, his thoughts drifting as old memories began to surface.
She noticed his gaze.
Her cheeks flushed slightly, she grew tense, then stepped back.
"I… I'll let you rest."
She turned quickly, about to leave.
Before she exited, Shuang-Yu spoke calmly while standing at the door:
"You did well."
"Rest now."
She turned to leave, but Soho's voice stopped her.
"Shuang-Yu."
She turned back.
He said with a gentle smile, his voice calm:
"Behind your solid composure lies a softness—
if revealed… it could bring iron to its knees."
Her eyes widened slightly.
She said nothing.
She only nodded faintly… and left.
Soho exhaled, then picked up a shawarma sandwich and began eating.
"…Ah. I missed this."
He kicked the couch lightly.
"Get up, blondie."
Reinhart stirred, then suddenly opened his eyes.
"Soho?!"
He jumped up and hugged him tightly.
"You're awake! Brother!"
"Gah—get off!"
Soho laughed as he pushed him away.
"Brother?"
"Damn it, I don't have a handsome blond brother… I'd be afraid he might be gay."
Reinhart burst out laughing.
And just like that—
A full month passed.
Calm.
Ordinary daily life.
Physical training.
Thousands of sword swings.
Simple conversations… and small moments.
But they were enough.
A month passed.
A month that seemed, on the surface, comfortably ordinary.
The sun rose over the academy grounds as it did every day.
Students gathered.
Voices rose.
Life… went on.
But some things, once changed, never return to how they were.
Soho sat in the outdoor training field, his sword resting across his knees, his eyes half-closed.
He wasn't meditating.
He wasn't thinking.
He was simply… sitting.
The sound of repeated impacts echoed behind him.
"Ha! Ha!"
Kevin.
Striking a training dummy as if it had wronged his family for three generations.
"Smaaash!"
"Smaaash!"
Reinhart sighed, wiping sweat from his brow.
"This isn't training… it's anger management."
Kevin replied without turning around:
"Anger is muscles."
"Muscles are power."
"Power… smash."
"Terrifying logic," Reinhart muttered.
He walked over and sat beside Soho.
"Have you noticed?"
Soho opened one eye slowly.
"Noticed what?"
"The instructors."
Soho looked at him.
"They're watching us."
"Not training… watching."
Soho nodded.
"I noticed."
On the other side of the field, Eileen and Shuang-Yu were training.
Fire and ice—dancing with swords.
Eileen stopped her blade and said,
"You're calmer than usual."
Shuang-Yu replied in her usual cool tone,
"And you're thinking more than you should."
Eileen was silent for a moment, then glanced toward Soho unconsciously.
"…Maybe."
At that moment, a different metallic bell rang.
Not the class bell.
Everyone stopped.
A new notice appeared on the main announcement board, written in dark blue:
Official Announcement
Limited student teams will be selected
for an external field evaluation mission
Details will be announced soon
Silence fell for a few moments.
Kevin spoke first.
"…We're going out?"
Reinhart looked at Soho.
"Seems like it."
Soho stood up slowly.
A familiar feeling stirred in his chest.
Not excitement.
Not fear.
But something in between.
"…It seems," he said calmly,
"it seems something is about to happen."
He lifted his sword.
And the quiet month… came to an end.