It’s been a week since my… incident along the way… Miserva decided she’d give me a hand in getting my ah— SPLASH.

  “Stay focused!”

  Damn it, that girl.

  “If you can’t focus, you won’t be able to control your Sciarra.”

  Her sophisticated training method was to have me design and build a long-barreled, wide mouthed water balloon launcher with a drum magazine, which activates every time it notices a lapse in my Sciarra.

  As annoying as it is, it’s effective and necessary. I don’t know why, but in the time between my delirium after seeing Silla and getting crushed like a fly, my mind seems to have changed. I didn’t feel fear, panic wasn’t running through my veins, and my confidence was at an all-time high.

  And yet now it feels like I’ve gone backward. Could it be that— SPLASH.

  “HEY, THIS IS BULLSHIT!”

  “Watch your language when you’re speaking to a superior. That big brain of yours doesn’t make you invincible—and we already have proof of that!”

  It’s not being soaked that bothers me, these clothes dry themselves on their own. It’s being constantly attacked by this— SPLASH.

  God.

  “I don’t think I can write my notes under these circumstances. I don’t know what happened to me before… I…”

  I can move my head to stare at miserva, it’s frozen by this situation that burns in my stomach. I can’t recall what happened over the past few days but… now my memories are resurfacing… Silla… his body… no, worse… I didn’t even manage to return to my laboratory… what I did to his body… I…

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Simel, stop shaking or you’ll end up scribbling all over the place.”

  I feel a strong pressure around my arm, Miserva’s fingers closing around it. An aggressive grip yet somehow reassuring.

  For the first time in days, I managed to stare into someone else's eyes. Inside her pupil full empathy, she looked pained by my struggle. “That’s enough for today. Go back to your tent, I'm tired of seeing you sleep outside of it. Now get out.”

  Reluctantly, I left Miserva’s office. In the past few days, I had personally asked her to let me do my work inside her office but it seems she’s finally reached her limit.

  Trying to avoid ending up at the medical tent, I stop somewhere else, the soldiers’ tent. Over the last few days I’ve been going there often, eating the soldiers’ rations.

  Inside the tent, there are far too many triple-decker bunk beds, arranged in rows, each with only a single mattress per person without blankets. On the side opposite the entrance, there’s a small area filled with boxes containing supplies for the soldiers. They would probably get angry if they caught me rummaging through their stuff, but fortunately for me, they’re busy out in the war zones. Too bad for them, but the rations they gave me are utterly terrible.

  I grab the box and step out, one careful step at a time, trying to move as slowly as possible.

  I’m certainly not in a hurry.

  As I make my way to my tent at a tortoise’s pace, I begin sampling my supplies: for the main meal, two slices of chicken with a side of bread cubes, and in a separate compartment, some thin slices of apple. Not bad.

  Despite my futile attempts, I inevitably end up standing in front of my tent. The only thing separating me… from what I’ve done is a folding door. I can’t run anymore. Like a newborn child, I push the door open.

  I take a deep breath and step inside.

  …It’s…

  …all clean…

  I begin scrutinizing every corner, searching for brains or blood, but I’m pleasantly shaken… Everything is in order and my papers have been organised over my desk.

  Did she…?

  DRIIING

  The ringing of a bell catches me completely off guard. I clench my fists in pure rage. Miserva had explained it to me, when that sound rings out, it means only one thing: Areo is returning.