BXBX NOVEL Chapter 141 Imaginary Devotion
Nathan opened his eyes and was met with the intense stinging of the morning sun on his face. He squinted in the light, temporarily dazzled.
Shutting his eyes again, he then opened them and quickly sat up. By his side, he saw Polly, the Fae-Beast, a white three-tailed fox with some patches of green fur, fast asleep.
On Tuesday, September 17th, 2086, after two days of hibernation, Nathan finally emerged from his slumber.
Linda and Meriel made sure to help Nathan out of the pocket dimension and took care of him until he got back home safely. This morning, Nathan woke up feeling fully rejuvenated.
Nathan gingerly ran his fingers through Polly\'s fur, causing its two pointy ears to twitch and its eyes to open lazily.
"Master... Have you recovered?" it asked before leaping into his lap.
The fox then contentedly rubbed its head against Nathan\'s arm, its soft fur eliciting a slight smile from him. He simply kept silent and smiled at the Fae-beast.
"Did you know," Polly said quietly, resting her head on Nathan\'s arm, "that today is the day of the tribute ceremony for all the victims who lost their lives at the CEHA entrance exam?"
Nathan looked down at Polly\'s small body, tenderly stroking its fur, and nodded slowly. "Yes, I know," he whispered. "I\'ll have to start getting ready for the funeral." He carefully lifted Polly onto the bed, stepped off himself, and straightened his stance.
Yes, Nathan still had the option of bringing Muramoto back to life using the skills he had created. However, he was unsure if the Muramoto who would be brought back would be identical to the one he knew, or if it would be a clone.
What\'s more, Nathan had to be like, who knows how many humans he needed to kill so that Soul Seed Muramoto could become full growth and regain his life back.
The CEHA Entrance Exam had left a very strong impression on him. He had not anticipated that so many remarkable events would take place, from the emergence of the god apostles to the revelation that Linda was one of them.
A few minutes later, Nathan, accompanied by Linda, Meriel, and the others, all dressed in black, stood in a neat line in front of the hundreds of monuments that marked the names of the participants who had died during the entrance exam.
"Good day, everyone!" Pascal Rigal\'s voice echoed, reverberating through the crowd. "We are here today to remember and honor the hundreds of lives lost during the CEHA Exam Entrance tragedy. The grief from this tragedy is shared by us all, and we remember the victims and their families with a heavy heart."
He continued his speech, and Nathan listened intently to his words.
Nathan lowered his head, trying to let the lingering sadness fill him. Linda, who was on Nathan\'s right, and Meriel, on his left, both reached out and gently held his hands in a comforting gesture.
Since that fateful event, the four remaining members of Nathan\'s party--Nathan, Linda, Meriel, and Yudan--have all agreed never to voice words that assign blame to themselves. This tragedy has only served to further strengthen their bond, and they are all determined to share the burden they will face together.
After the funeral ceremony had concluded, some of the mourners remained still and silent, with the sound of sobbing and angry voices echoing through the place. However, most of the people had already begun to depart.
At that moment, Nathan lifted his gaze and noticed Olivia, her long blonde hair as he remembered, and her attire of black clothing, making her way towards him.
Olivia halted in front of Nathan, her features unreadable, though she would smile if she wanted to. It was almost as if she was putting on an act to fit into the current scenario. She was someone who truly shone when faced with a crucial matter or a great war as if she had been born to lead battles.
"I heard that you wanted to speak with me, Nathan?" she murmured.
Nathan slowly nodded, and then he and Olivia stepped away to one side until they were the only two standing there, facing each other.
"Muramoto," Nathan murmured softly.
"Yes," Olivia replied in a hushed tone. "I\'m sorry for what happened to your partymate, Muramoto Minoru, right? I saw what he did in the video; he was incredibly brave and selfless. He kept healing the other participants even though he was unwell himself."
"What?!" Nathan raised his head, looking at Olivia with surprise and confusion. "Did I just hear you correctly, Olivia?"
"Huh?" Olivia tilted her head in confusion. "Did I say something wrong? I apologize if I said something inappropriate."
"Wait...." Nathan suddenly seemed to have lost his way. He immediately became confused by what was happening in front of him. "How come you never seem to know Muramoto?"
"Yes...." Olivia nodded, slowly answering Nathan\'s question. "I\'m sorry, I never really met your friend."
Nathan thought to himself in disbelief, "What the heck is going on here?" He was certain he was right; the Olivia standing before him was indeed the same one that Muramoto had mentioned.
Nathan was taken aback by the realization that Olivia had never even encountered Muramoto before. "Muramoto?" he wondered out loud. "Are you serious?"
Even before he passed away, Muramoto was still mentioning Olivia\'s name; there was no way he would keep up his falsehood, even in death, right? "Did something go wrong?" Nathan was still racking his brain.
"Nathan?" Olivia tilted her head, trying to get a better look at his downcast face. "What\'s wrong? Can I do anything to help you?"
Olivia raised her right hand, and out of thin air, a sword appeared. "I\'d like to give this sword back to you," she said. "It\'s really quite valuable, and it really helped me out in the fight before. Without it, I\'m not sure how much I could have done."
Nathan lifted his face, trying to steady his breathing. "Olivia, actually... That sword was given to you by my friend, Muramoto," he said.
"Huh?" Olivia looked confused, her eyes shifting to the sword in her hand. "Did you know this sword has an Elite grade? It\'s a fairly high tier Elite grade, and I\'m sure it has an extremely high price. Why can Muramoto give this to me?"
Nathan tried to control his quickening breaths as he tried to convey the information that was running through his mind.
"Actually..." he was silent for a moment before continuing.
"Muramoto said he had a girlfriend in CEHA, and I\'m pretty sure he was talking about you."
Nathan nodded slowly. "I\'m sure I\'m not wrong; he clearly named Olivia Aveline, the student council president of CEHA."
Olivia was taken aback by Nathan\'s words, her grip on the sword tightening. In an instant, it vanished from her grasp.
She nodded slowly. "I thought I wanted to show you something."
Olivia then paused to stare at Nathan\'s face, who was clearly looking back at her.
"Would you like to come to my dorm room Nathan?"
Nathan remained silent in response to Olivia\'s words, but their silent understanding was clear. They set off together, neither speaking during their brief journey.
Olivia lived in a dormitory on the academy grounds, so it only took a few minutes to reach the white apartment building. The lift brought them to the ninth floor, and they proceeded down the hallway until they reached Olivia\'s door.
Olivia opened her bedroom door and gestured for Nathan to follow her inside. Once he was in the room, she pointed to one side, where around twenty gift boxes were neatly stacked. "Look at this," she said.
Nathan strolled to the stack of gift boxes, examining the words inscribed on the wrapping paper.
"Olivia Aveline, I will always remember you."
"Olivia Aveline, you will always remain in my heart."
Upon further inspection, Nathan noticed multiple messages on the boxes, all of them seemingly for Olivia.
While holding one of the gift boxes, Nathan muttered under his breath, "What is this?"
Olivia walked over to him and placed her finger in the pile of gift boxes. She said, "So, Nathan, I\'ve been getting these gift boxes for the past two or three years, but I don\'t know who sent them."
"Could it be that it was Muramoto who sent these things to you?" Nathan gazed at Olivia, a look of confusion on his face. "Could it be that he actually..."
He trailed off, unable to finish his thought. Was it truly conceivable that Muramoto had merely been pretending to have a relationship with Olivia Aveline?
Olivia smiled reassuringly at Nathan, her gesture bringing a sense of relief to his face. She then took both of his hands in hers, squeezing them tightly.
"Nathan, I\'m sorry for everything that has happened. I hope that we can put the past behind us and move on from all these bad experiences."
She paused for a moment, her eyes lingering on the transparent system screen that was floating in front of her.
[Olivia Aveline]
[Kindness Meter: 25%]
"And..." Olivia squeezed Nathan\'s hand even more firmly, then stepped closer and embraced him tightly.
"Olivia?"
"I thank you, Nathan," she said gratefully, "for coming at the right time during the last battle. You really saved me from the biggest regret of my life. You are a very important person to me."
[Olivia Aveline]
[Kindness Meter: 15%]
"I want you to know how much I care about you and how grateful I am for your presence. I think I\'m falling in love with you." Olivia said, hugging Nathan even tighter.
[Olivia Aveline]
[Kindness Meter: 5%]
Nathan grabbed Olivia\'s shoulder, trying to push her gently. "Olivia," he said softly.
Olivia pulled away slightly, a faint smile on her lips. "It\'s the first time I\'ve ever felt this way about someone, Nathan. I just hope you can understand what I\'m feeling. And, I have a very big secret about you that I can\'t tell anyone."
[Olivia Aveline]
[Kindness Meter: -10%]
"Nathan," she said, "You have been blessed by the gods too, haven\'t you?"