Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Theodore's Taboo (1)
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“You might think it sounds a bit far-fetched, but this is really important.”
I tried to persuade Arthur, who was shaking his head.
Even at my serious attitude, Arthur just shook his head again.
“Arthur.”
Judith, who had been listening, opened her mouth to mediate.
Arthur grimaced slightly and gave an ambiguous wry smile as he spoke.
“It’s not because of personal feelings. Theodore can’t transfer dorms.”
Was there some specific situation like that?
But it didn’t seem like Arthur was just being stubborn.
“Is there a situation where he can’t transfer? Excluding procedural hassles, I mean.”
At my question, Arthur, who had taken a sip of his strong coffee as if his throat was dry, set down his cup.
“I’ve already told Arma sunbae-nim about it. Somnambulism.”
“Ah.”
Theodore’s somnambulism… yeah, the symptoms were definitely severe.
I had seen it myself during the winter storm on Hazard Island, spending several nights together.
“If he has to move dorms, he’ll need someone dedicated to looking after Theodore.”
“I can do it.”
“…Sunbae-nim?”
He was attaching ‘sunbae-nim’ even more politely now, but it didn’t feel like he was doing it out of respect for me.
A sense of discomfort hit me for a moment, but I suppressed my doubts to continue the conversation.
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. It’d be best if you saw it for yourself.”
With that, Arthur seemed to ponder for a bit before standing up from his seat.
“He hasn’t slept in about four days already, so he’ll crash tonight. Midnight’s too early—around two or three would be right. Come to Theodore’s room then.”
“He hasn’t slept in four days? He looked fine last time I saw him, so I didn’t know.”
“It’s similar to you, Arma sunbae-nim.”
It was as if he could see right through things I hadn’t even mentioned.
Just as Arthur said, I hadn’t been able to sleep properly for days on end.
The longest I’d managed was about three hours, and otherwise, it was catnaps or pulling all-nighters with my eyes wide open.
“Somnambulism, huh. It’s not exactly clicking for me, but if you’re saying that much, Senior Arthur, I do want to check it out.”
Shirley made a puzzled face and downed the rest of her black tea in one go.
Rather than trying to persuade the unexpectedly firm Arthur, we decided to focus on the ‘reason’ he mentioned.
“Alright then. How are we gonna tell Theodore we’re coming?”
“I don’t plan to tell him.”
“—Is that okay?”
“I think it’s better than trying to explain exactly what state Theodore’s in with words.”
“Yeah, fine. …Got it.”
Normally I would’ve refused, but since I couldn’t just leave Theodore like this, I ended up agreeing.
.
.
.
That night.
With the temperature plummeting, every breath let out a puff of white mist.
To avoid standing out, I donned a black waistcoat that fell to below my knees and headed to the wooden cross dormitory building.
“You’re here. Let’s go.”
“It’s cold~.”
Judith and Shirley must’ve had the same idea, wearing a thick blue-green tweed coat and a dark red high-collared waistcoat, respectively.
“Whew… I braced myself and bundled up, but it’s still freezing. Let’s hurry.”
Since I’d been stuck in place all day and hadn’t walked much, there was a weird feeling to it.
Judith positioned herself behind me and nodded as if to say I should take the lead.
-Step, step.
For three people, our footsteps were remarkably quiet.
Sneaking into another class’s dormitory in the dead of night, especially one we had no usual dealings with, took a lot of guts.
“We made it, but what now, sunbae?”
Soon, we passed the imposing main building of Thorn Crown House, and a straight, angular black dormitory came into view, still giving off a vibe that repelled outsiders.
“Let’s head in.”
We crept up the stairs even more carefully than before, minimizing our footsteps.
Theodore’s room was on the top floor, the fifth.
It was clearly the same green color scheme as Arthur’s room, but as I climbed the stairs, I recalled the gentle light that had filled it.
“—Decide. …Straight okay…”
At the entrance to Theodore’s room, just as I hesitated on whether to knock, a whisper-like murmur leaked from the door crack.
Judith reached under my arm and very quietly turned the doorknob.
As soon as we entered the entryway, we could clearly hear the stifled voices coming from the deepest room, the bedroom.
“Theodore White. Wake up.”
“—Ugh… No!!”
“It’s okay, so wake up.”
“Arthur, if you die too—”
“Ha… enough with the nonsense.”
Arthur was desperately trying to wake Theodore in an extremely hushed voice.
“…Is he asleep?”
“It… sounds like they’re talking.”
Judith and Shirley couldn’t hide their bewilderment at this bizarre scene either.
Just as I was about to say something, Arthur, who had been pinning down the massive Theodore on the bed, put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
“Ah— stop it! Just stop—”
At a glance, it looked like Theodore was being bullied.
But looking closer, Theodore’s eyes were half-lidded and fluttering, staring into empty space, and the mutterings spilling from his mouth had no context.
“Paladin, even you—”
Then, at Theodore’s sudden shout, I snapped to attention.
Paladin.
That was the title he used for Judith at some point in the future that only Theodore remembered.
In other words, right now, Theodore was trapped in a severe sleepwalking state, alone reliving that horror sealed in his memories.
“Ugh, sob… ahh, no!”
What came from Theodore’s mouth wasn’t a scream or rage, but something close to a sighing sob.
At the same time, the objects in the room began to shake as if there was an earthquake.
“Theodore, cut it out.”
Arthur was struggling to wake him with a tone that was anything but gentle.
It was different from ordinary somnambulism.
Theodore’s soul seemed like it was in some other world entirely, refusing to return to reality.
“Theo might hurt himself like that.”
Shirley rolled up her sleeves and took a step forward.
Arthur held out one hand to stop the approaching Shirley.
Around the time a faint blue-gray light emanating from Theodore began to fill the room with a hazy glow, the light rose like gas before dripping down in droplets like liquid.
It was as if a massive living creature was endlessly bleeding or shedding tears inside the room.
“Judith sunbae-nim.”
“Speak.”
“Lend me your sword.”
“Yours isn’t enough?”
“That’s right.”
Judith let out a short sigh and drew the sheathed sword she’d been hiding inside her coat.
“Take it.”
She handed it over to Arthur, gripping the sheath and offering the hilt.
-Sring.
As Arthur gripped the hilt firmly and pulled it out in one motion, a blue flash running along the blade surged like electricity and was absorbed into him.
Wondering what he was doing, it must’ve been lending mana.
Swordmaster-class swordsmen produce a considerable amount of mana even normally, and they have the habit of storing excess mana in their swords or personal items.
-Thunk!
Arthur then hurled Judith’s sword straight into the corner of Theodore’s bedroom, embedding it firmly.
At that, the objects shaking like in an earthquake settled heavily in an instant.
‘What… did he just do?’
While my eyes darted around in confusion, the serious-faced Arthur wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Theodore’s ravings stopped around the same time.
“This every day?”
At my question, Arthur nodded.
Then he finally released his hold on Theodore and got off the bed.
“Can you even call this somnambulism?”
Shirley said as she lightly yanked Judith’s sword from the floor like plucking a hair.
No, this definitely couldn’t be called somnambulism.
At least not based on Theodore’s reaction tonight.
‘No matter the stimulus, he wouldn’t wake up—in fact, he seemed even more detached from reality.’
I scanned Theodore’s room.
Arthur must’ve handled it somehow, as the floating objects had returned to their places as if nothing happened, but a few books and lightweight papers were scattered on the floor here and there.
“Haa.”
Arthur let out a deep sigh laced with exhaustion.
He habitually brushed back his slightly sweat-dampened hair from his forehead and looked at me with cold eyes.
“This is what you said you could take responsibility for.”
“Arthur, that’s unfair. Arma sunbae didn’t know.”
Shirley jumped in indignantly.
Unfortunately, what Shirley didn’t know was that I was far more cowardly than Arthur.
A fraud hiding secrets I couldn’t tell anyone here, gambling with their lives. That was me.
“He goes berserk like that when he loses consciousness?”
“Yes.”
“Why not ask the professors for help?”
“Because of Theodore’s taboo.”
Even as he eyed me warily, Arthur answered my question straightforwardly.
But could this even count as an answer?
It felt more like my curiosity was growing, as if he’d responded to a question with another question.
“What’s Theodore’s taboo?”
Unable to wait for Arthur’s reply, I pressed him again.
Arthur looked at me with downcast eyes for a moment, then turned his gaze away sharply and said indifferently.
“Not falling behind at Aegis Academy.”
“……”
Ah, this again.
Life is a vast river formed from unpredictable things.
We can’t predict anything in that massive river.
Getting swept away, swimming upstream, riding the current—it’s all luck.
In such an unpredictable world, Theodore’s taboo was far too abstract, broad, and dangerous.
“Theodore can never fall behind in any ranked activity. In any field. He has to excel at everything and can’t fail. The reason nothing’s happened to Theodore yet—”
Arthur paused, reminiscing about the past.
Then, with his grayish-white eyes fixed on me, he said.
“Is because he stakes his life on everything he does.”
Only then did I understand the self-destructive recklessness I sometimes sensed from Theodore.
Unaware that four others besides himself were in the room, he groaned in pain, frowning as he slept.
His pallid face without a trace of color and his weathered, stoic expression—if they were the result of teetering on the brink of life and death every day, it was far too cruel.