I Refused To Be Reincarnated-Chapter 918: When Memories Lie

Adam charged through the gardens behind Bao, his steps carving charred prints into frozen soil. Desmond's boots crackled with frantic lightning behind him, his face contorting a little more with each second.

By the time Bao halted in front of Teacher Lilia's botanic greenhouse, a furrow sundered Desmond's forehead in three ravines. Shadows wrapped around the creases, clouding the teenager in worry and guilt. Guilt at failing to protect his sister's friend. At least, that's what Adam saw in his rage.

In other times, if anyone but Quintella went missing, he would have comforted his friend. It wasn't your fault. You did well noticing something amiss with her and having my back.

Not this time.

The teachers and college staff who didn't identify the impersonator didn't matter. Neither did Haldris, whether he knew about it or not. All that mattered was saving her.

Inside!

Bao growled, and Adam instantly flung the glass door open. Without a glance at the beautiful, yawning petals of magical flowers, or the twisted branches from gnarled trees designed in a mottled bio-dome, he spread his mana into a net of invisible threads. While most spiderwebbed the silent flora, the threads he sent to the left snapped.

He rushed there, crushing shrubs and shattering twigs, until his gaze fell on a table set in the middle of a sunlit clearing. Sweet steam drifted from the porcelain beak of a teapot. Plates, half empty of pastries, were strewn across the crumb-covered tablecloth in an idyllic tea party that made Adam hiss through his teeth.

Sarah and her friends, the two girls who hung out with Quintella, widened their eyes, their cups frozen in front of their mouths.

"A-Adam?" Sarah stuttered.

At the head of the table, Teacher Lilia cut her off with an exasperated sigh.

"Why did I even speculate about who was brazen enough to search my greenhouse with mana? Of course, it had to be you two." She cupped her cheek in her right palm, her blue eyes narrowing in contrast to her bored voice. "Now, shoot. Why are you staining a lady's gathering with your disgraceful presence? You'd better have reasons that justify the damage you've caused to my dear plants."

"Sarah," Adam barked. "Come with us. Now."

Bao leapt onto the table. She drummed her paws on Sarah's forearm, growling urgently.

While Sarah blushed as she rose from her seat, Lilia tucked a green lock of hair behind her ear. "That's a first! Amusing, sincerely. Sit back, Sarah, will you? And you."

She glared at Adam. As she opened her mouth to continue, he interrupted her. "I don't have time, Teacher. I need Sarah's help. No, just an answer." He ignored Lilia. "Three months ago, you entered a room you shouldn't have. Where is it?"

Lilia's retort died on her lips. She frowned, choosing silence for now.

Sarah knitted her brows. "A room, you say? Odd. I don't remember entering any besides my classrooms."

Adam cursed beneath his breath. Of course. Her perfect memory, her convenient amnesia of the room. The impersonator didn't just live as her for three months. It planted memories of what it had done during this period into Sarah's mind, then erased tracks that could point to it. But even if she couldn't remember, she had to have a lead, conscious or not.

"Sarah. Focus. What part of the campus would you explore in your free time?"

"Mhh?" Sarah wrapped her hand around her mouth. Then, she nodded. "I like to explore the gardens, but you already know about that. As for the buildings themselves? I was always curious about... about... Huh? What did you ask again?"

Desmond hurled his fists at the air with a frustrated groan. "Burn me! That thing sabotaged her memories. We'll never find her!"

Adam's eyes narrowed on Sarah. For a heartbeat, silence. Then, he turned. "I know where it is. Let's go!"

"Without answering my questions?" As he stomped toward the exit, Lilia grinned. Roots erupted from the ground, and vines slithered toward Adam and Desmond. "Not—"

She jerked her gaze to the depths of the greenhouse, her mouth snapping shut, her eyes narrowing into feral slits. The advancing roots and vines froze mid-air. Adam didn't need to know why. He scrambled, Bao, and Desmond a half-step behind him.

"Where is Quintella?" Desmond asked the moment they were out.

"What is Sarah curious about?" Adam stormed toward the crypt-like building of Teacher Marcellus Noct Virein. "Necromancy. That's where she stumbled on the room and freed the impersonator."

"Makes sense." Desmond's pupils shrank as he finally arrived at the same conclusion Adam had. "Another trial..."

Adam nodded. "But you're not coming to the room."

Desmond frown. "Why?"

"I need you to distract Marcellus. If he stands in my way..." Adam glared at his own twitching hands, leaving his words hanging.

Desmond's palm found his shoulder, and they stopped in front of the heavy stone doors of the classroom. "You'll fight him to the bitter end to go through. Leave it to me. I got you, Adam. Just... bring the pipsqueak back, for you... for me. I-I feel horrible..."

"I know. I feel worse." Adam's lips contorted with each guilty word. "We don't have time. Go first."

Nodding, Desmond shoved the doors open and charged inside. His roar thundered, and his boots crackled as if a storm had descended into the building. "YAHOOO! It's been a while since I last came to your dusty classroom, Teacher Marcellus! Why don't I help you clean it? I can even help polish your nasty skeletons!"

"You have three seconds to leave my building, or you won't like the consequences, Desmond. My last punishment was too light. I'll make it a hundred times worse today!"

Adam took a deep breath as Marcellus' raspy voice echoed in response. He waited until he heard the man's light footsteps on the stairs, then growing fainter as he chased after Desmond.

"Thank you..." Biting his lip, he rushed inside. He ignored the old blackboard and coffin-shaped study desks. The other rooms didn't interest him either. Instead, he moved to the place he had found most suspicious three months ago: the stairwell at the back.

Winds colder than the snow outside blew his hair during his descent. Quintella had to be here. She had to.

As Adam reached further down, Lilia squinted in the greenhouse. She glared at the forest, her voice sharp enough to slice through branches. "For how long are you planning to hide, dear colleague?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Silence.

She wrenched the table. "I know it's you, Magna. Explain yourself!"

"Adam and Desmond are on something for me. That is all." Magna's voice reverberated from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "Forget every single word you heard. Sarah and her friends, too, or... Would you rather go against me?"

Go against Magna, or any teacher from the House of Exorcism? The thought froze Lilia's blood.

Her lips quivered before settling into a coy smile. "These Cloud-Vein tea leaves are excellent, right, girls? I ordered them from beyond the sea, so shall we enjoy them to the last drop?"

She poured the sweet liquid into Sarah and her stunned friends' cups, acting as if Magna didn't exist, as if she had heard nothing as commanded. Yet, a drop of cold sweat traced her spine even as Magna's mana vanished.

Of all the teachers—no, all the mages of Brineheart—Magna was among the very few she never wanted to fight.

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AN: For those who forgot, Magna told Quintella to avoid Sarah a while ago.