Underneath the Silhouette-Chapter 91: A Night of Surprises

Mr. Blade’s eyes, already wide, seemed to almost drop out of their sockets. He stumbled back a step, a comical expression of astonishment on his face. He looked back at Eirin, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he stammered, "I-Is he...?" Eirin could only offer a small, weary nod after the professor pointed a trembling finger at Shade, the unspoken truth hanging heavily in the air.

Just when Eirin thought she had finally found help, a guide of sanity in their increasingly absurd situation, the young professor’s face began to contort. His lips twitched, his cheeks puffed out, and then, despite his best efforts, a strangled, suppressed burst of laughter escaped him.

It was gruff, almost painful sound of mirth, causing Shade Cromwell’s already fuming small face to darken further. He immediately raised his small arm, clenching his tiny fist, clearly thinking he could punch the man for his insolence, but Eirin, anticipating his move, quickly held him back, her hand closing around his small wrist.

’What in the world is going on right now?’ the teenage girl thought, a sense of exhaustion getting to her. Her head throbbed, her body ached. ’I just want to go to sleep. Is that too much to ask?’

Mr. Blade, wiping away a tear of suppressed laughter, looked around the hallway as if suddenly remembering their surroundings. "Okay, okay," he managed to gasp, regaining some semblance of control. "Get inside, both of you. And explain to me, very slowly, what in the name of the Arcane happened." He stepped aside, allowing the two students to enter his apartment room.

The professor flicked a switch, and the room was bathed in a warm, inviting light. Eirin’s gaze swept around, taking in the space. It was a simple but remarkably neat room, far more organized that she might have expected from the sometimes-disheveled professor.

A small, functional kitchen area with gleaming pots and pans was tucked into one corner, and a small dining table stood near the entrance. As you stepped further inside, a comfortable-looking sofa was positioned in front of a... television.

"You have a television? And it’s the modern one too?" Eirin’s mouth hung open, her voice filled with a mixture of awe and disbelief. It felt like it had been so long since she had last seen such a device. In the Proprius, such frivolous technology was unheard of, deemed unnecessary for their rigorous magical studies.

Mr. Blade, seeing her wide-eyed wonder, immediately gestured for the teenage girl to keep quiet, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Regina told me to bring it back to the Infirmus, said it was a distraction," he whispered conspiratorially, his tone suddenly childish and defiant.

"But hey, this was a reward I got before for that last expedition. It’s mine now, and she can’t take it back without a fight!"

It was the first time Eirin had ever seen him act so informally, so un-professor-like.

"I don’t even understand why this country doesn’t accept the items from the Infirmus," he added, launching into a familiar, passionate rant. "The Eucea are known for their high-tech items, all inspired by the advanced technology and engineering of the Infirmus. It’s a travesty!"

"Focus, will you?" Shade Cromwell butted in, his small voice sharp with impatience, interrupting the professor’s monologue. He stood with his arms crossed, a miniature embodiment of annoyance.

Eirin, however, was still completely captivated by the glowing screen of the television. "But... how are you even watching anything on that?" she asked, genuinely perplexed. "There’s no cable or connection in this world."

Mr. Blade’s eyes twinkled with excitement, a true enthusiast eager to share his secret. "Well, you see, I am connecting it directly to the magical cables in the Infirmus," he explained, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "I can’t tell you how exactly, it involves a very complex series of dimensional anchors and energy conduits, but let’s just say I have my ways. And I absolutely love watching these singing contests. They’re simply brilliant!"

Eirin nodded in awe, a wave of nostalgia washing over her. She sure did love watching those with her grandmother every Saturday night back in the Infirmus, a small, treasured routine that broke the monotony of their secluded lives. The thought brought a pang of bittersweet longing to her chest.

"Just shut up and tell him everything already," Shade, clearly at the end of his patience, told Eirin his voice a low growl that made Eirin scowl at him.

Eirin rolled her eyes at the infuriatingly impatient teenage boy before turning back to the professor. She then proceeded to recount every detail of their harrowing mission, from their encounter with the bounty hunters, the terrifying incident with the nymph Hebe, and how this "awful boy", she emphasized with a pointed look at Shade, who merely huffed, had been transformed into a small, adorable kid.

The professor, bless his hear, held onto his laughter the entire time Eirin was explaining the part about Shade’s curse. His face turned an alarming shade of red, his shoulders shook, and he kept biting his lip to suppress the erupting laughter. But the moment Eirin finished, the dam burst.

Mr. Blade clutched onto his stomach, doubling over with uncontrollable laughter, until he actually fell off his seat, a muffled thud echoing as he landed on the floor, still convulsing with too much laughter.

"Will he be alright?" Eirin asked in a worried tone, kneeling beside the shaking professor, genuinely concerned he might be having some kind of fit.

Mr. Blade, still chuckling, wiped the tear from his eye with his fingertip. "No worries, he’ll be perfectly fine," he gasped, slowly pushing himself up. "You better rest now, Eirin. You’ve been through a lot, and you look absolutely exhausted." He comforted the teenage girl, a genuine warmth in his voice, and patted her gently on her shoulder before leading her discreetly out of his room.

"The bot will accompany you back to your room," Mr. Blade said, gesturing to a small, whirring, metallic sphere that floated silently outside his door. He bid Eirin goodbye, but the teenage girl couldn’t help but glance back towards the professor’s room, hoping to catch a last glimpse of Shade Cromwell for the night. She saw his small, sulking face peering out, his eyes still burning with annoyance, before the door closed.

The little robot, a compact sphere of polished metal with glowing blue square eyes, silently led the way back to the female dormitories. Its small stature, gliding smoothly along the corridor, vividly reminded Eirin of how Shade Cromwell had looked earlier, so tiny and vulnerable, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

It was a strange source of comfort as she walked in the dark, the memory momentarily eclipsing her worries.

"Thank you," Eirin whispered to the bot as it paused at her door, its blue eyes blinking softly before it walked away. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Eirin tiptoed her way into her shared room, hearing Coleen sleeping soundly, her soft snores a comforting rhythm. ’How I wish I could just fall asleep like that, right now,’ she thought, staring at her own dirty, dust-covered clothes and feeling the lingering grime of her mission on her body. ’I stink.’

Eirin sauntered to the private bathroom attached to their dormitory room, her movements stiff with exhaustion. She peeled off her dirty clothes, letting them fall in a heap, and stepped into the warm, inviting bathtub.

The moment her weary body felt the embracing warmth of the water, her eyes grew heavy, and she leaned back against the cool porcelain, allowing the heat to soak into her aching muscles.

The exhaustion began to eat Eirin’s body up, a deep, pervasive weariness that pulled at her very consciousness. She didn’t even notice she was already falling asleep, her head lolling, and her body slowly slipping further into the water.

With a sudden jolt, her head submerged. Eirin gasped, sputtering and choking on a mouthful of bathwater, and sat up ramrod straight, heart hammering. She had almost drowned herself from sheer fatigue.

"I need some sleep," she muttered to herself, her voice hoarse, as she got off the tub. Eirin quickly took a brisk shower, scrubbing her body vigorously and shampooing her hair to remove all the grime and lingering scents of dust, sweat, and cave earth.

Eirin couldn’t even summon the energy to properly dry her hair. The moment she slipped on her fresh, clean pajamas, her eyes were already heavy, refusing to stay open. She stumbled to her bed, fell onto the soft mattress, and was instantly swallowed by deep, dreamless sleep.

Or so she thought.

In her deep slumber, Eirin’s eyes suddenly went wide open, yet she knew her physical body was still lying fast asleep in her bed. ’Am I dreaming again?’ she thought, a sense of déjà vu poured over her as she looked at the unfamiliar ceiling above her.

No, it was not a ceiling at all, but instead a vast, turbulent blood-red sky, streaked with ominous black clouds. Eirin could hear a loud, piercing ringing sound in both of her ears, a high-pitched whine that grated on her nerves. Her spectral body, over which she had no control, got up from where she seemed to be lying on cracked earth.

Eirin unwantedly turned her head to the right, compelled by some unseen force, and there she saw houses, once familiar, now burning fiercely, reduced to raging infernos and crumbling into heaps of glowing ashes. The air shimmered with heat, even in this dreamscape, and the scent of smoke was acrid and suffocating.

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