The love one has for their brother is carved against the eternal arc of discipline. The oblivious younger brother will run head first into danger while the experienced elder brother will try to guide him away from it. Only after being struck by his fist of iron will the younger brother realize he has been warned by his elder brother. But what if the danger still calls to him? If the elder then strikes his brother with a cane the same way a smith strikes the iron with his hammer, are we still able to refer to it as love?
Those were the words written on the sheet of paper I found in the rubble last night.
That same night, the Department of Royal Guards received several notices of the Voiceless Viper's return, which meant that Larg wasn't the only victim.
Word began to subtly spread among the people of East Contra, who were thrown into a state of panic as though an epidemic had risen in the Garmen region.
It wasn't quite as chaotic as one would think; it was still yet to reach that point, however, many people still initiated autonomous lockdowns though no specific announcement had been made yet by the department.
Additionally, many Collectors seemed to have fled from the east, fearing that their lives were now in jeopardy due to the Viper's presence.
I couldn't blame them for not wanting to take any chances; if the Viper was anything close to how the rumors depicted him, then no one was safe—not even experienced or high ranked Collectors.
The royal guards patrolled several areas around East Contra: places where the Viper claimed his victims, or places he was likely to be lurking around, such as the Southern and Northern gates as well as the Collector's station and the Condominium Complex building behind it.
After May and I regrouped with the others, our party stayed the night in the Collectors Condominium: a specially designed building that exclusively accommodates those with a Collector's license.
Snapper rented us the only available shared condo, which had only two bedrooms: one master with a single bed, and another with two beds, so I decided to claim the lounge area as my resting place.
Currently, I was lying upon a soft couch with my eyes open, lost in thought.
My face was pointed toward the ceiling, however, there was something obstructing my view.
It was the card that I summoned: the one gifted to me by Ganes Gouldsworth.
So much has happened already in such a short amount of time…
A lot of events had taken place since I became a Card Holder. It was difficult to process everything all at once.
Now that I'm also a Collector, things will start to get even wilder from here on out.
Unable to sleep, I left the lounge and made my way over to the small balcony.
I leaned against the glass railing while taking in the cold air of the night.
My eyes were drawn to the full moon, its luminescence calming me as though it were taming my instincts.
I began a recollection of the events that took place after May and I had engaged with Mel, or the Voiceless Viper, or whoever she seemed to be.
It must be hard for Barshall, I thought.
Naturally, he didn't take the news so well. In fact, once I shared this discovery, he spoke with an incredulous tone: "Impossible!"
He kept repeating that as if the more times he said it, the less true it became: the fact that Mel wasn't the same princess he once knew.
Snapper and Amber seemed more shocked than anything, but at the same time, relieved that the search for the princess was finally over.
May, on the other hand, had suffered devastating losses: her father's armory–her home–had been reduced to rubble, and Quinn himself wasn't anywhere to be found.
Will the patrols actually be able to find him? I wondered and hoped.
Preventing May from aimlessly searching for her father proved to be the most challenging situation I'd faced so far. But thanks to the assurance of the royal guards, May was finally able to calm herself and submit to her exhaustion.
And then there's Jude…
For some reason, the news about Mel barely seemed to faze him as he easily complied with the farfetched idea that she could actually be the Viper.
In truth, I wasn't entirely sure what to believe. Ever since I met Snapper and Amber, I've realized that in this world, anything is truly possible.
"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Amber asked me, as she placed her bare foot upon the porcelain-tiled balcony floor.
"That's funny, Amber. You and I both know I wasn't entirely by myself."
Long before Amber entered the balcony, I already heard her footsteps approaching behind me, so I was aware that she had been lingering just outside the entrance the whole time.
"If you knew, then why didn't you say anything?" she grumbled, slightly embarrassed.
"I'm not entirely sure," I confessed while watching Amber's yellow gown gently sway with the midnight breeze.
She leaned her body against the railing, staring at the moon the same way I had been.
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?"
"Not really."
She laughed shortly. "I guess we really are alike…"
"I guess so…"
I didn't really bother to think too much about it, but there were various things that Amber and I seemed to have in common. For example, our racial identities; the Seraphoxes and Axiells appeared to have sharper senses than normal humans.
Amber then turned to me and spoke softly.
"What were you thinking about while you were out here?"
For a moment in my mind, I debated whether or not I should spill my thoughts to her.
But her fiery eyes were already burning a hole right through my skull, exposing everything inside before I even had a chance to.
"Were you thinking about Mel?"
I had no choice but to answer honestly.
"... Yeah."
I thought she would flinch at my confession, but her expression was instead full of empathy.
"I still can't believe it, you know: we spend all that time searching for her, and it turns out that she's the one behind it all? It just doesn't make any sense."
Amber, now distressed, searched my eyes for a concurrent opinion.
"You think so too, don't you?"
"... I didn't even say anything."
"You didn't have to: it's written all over your face," she said, pointing a finger at me.
I wasn't really sure of what I should or shouldn't believe. But I was pretty certain about one thing.
I paused, comparing the image of the evil Mel that attacked me, against the gentle princess I had befriended at the Collectors station.
No, it's impossible, I concluded.
The same Mel that called me a 'friend' wouldn't have done anything like that.
Although she had her own demons, she certainly wasn't someone capable of killing innocent people.
What if…
My thoughts suddenly became harmonized, as I discovered a single possibility that could potentially align every event that had occurred so far.
Judging by Amber's expression, I could tell that she realized it too.
"What if the person you saw really wasn't the same Mel?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, urging her to continue.
"Just hear me out a sec… It doesn't make sense for Mel to be the Viper, because they would be quite old or at least middle-aged, right?" I nodded in response. "Then what if she's not the Viper, but an imposter that's being controlled by the real Viper."
Her theory was exactly what I had in mind: what if the Viper already had his sights set on Mel from the very beginning?
The golden carriage I saw outside the Southern gate must've belonged to Mel. In that case, the strange feeling I detected from within the forest could have been the Viper, who had tracked her all the way down here while remaining inconspicuous.
After Mel had left the station, she was probably confronted by the real Viper, who eventually kidnapped her and used some kind of card ability to control her.
But the only question is… Why Mel?
"I know it sounds a little farfetched, but—"
"No, I think you're completely right about this, Amber," I said, causing her expression to spark with surprise.
"Really?"
I nodded, thinking it was best to give a reason for my agreement.
"There's something I should've told you guys before."
"What is it?" Amber worriedly asked.
I informed her about the presence I felt just before we entered the city.
"Seriously!? You should have said something!" she yelled, aghast at my hesitance.
"I didn't want anyone to worry since I wasn't sure what I was feeling, or if it was even real."
"Even so..." Her expression was slightly covered with anxiety, a strong sense of fear creeping up to her.
"I'm sorry," I said earnestly.
The existence I felt back then was probably due to my Clairvoyance ability, which I didn't think was strong enough for me to detect hidden presences yet.
This could only mean that the presence was trying to make itself known to me, like it was drawing me in on purpose.
A sudden eeriness began to well up inside me, having reached this conclusion.
"It's alright. I guess you had a good reason, after all," Amber admitted. "But no more secrets from now on, alright?" Her tone was rather imperative at this point, like a bossy older sibling. "I know I can trust you Wolf, but I can't speak on behalf of everyone else."
I noticed that her last few words came out unusually quiet.
For her to say something like that… That means Snapper might not trust me after all… I registered.
"A-anyway, I never properly thanked you for helping me out back then, so... thank you."
Amber gratefully pushed those words out with a florid expression, and I told her not to worry, even though I had no idea what she was even talking about.
"Sorry, what exactly are you thanking me for?"
A glint of regret simmered over her inflamed irises as she spoke. "Back at the village, you came back for me, remember? Even after I sent you away…"
I tilted my head in confusion.
"I don't see why you need to thank me. You gave me a soft bed to rest on, and warm food to eat. I still don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for all that."
"Wolf…"
It was true that I could never fully pay such a debt to her, but I could still pay what I owed May by helping her find her father.
Amber's face grew a smile, like she somehow felt a sense of pride when I told her that.
"We'll find him together," she said reassuringly. "We're a team, after all… You can always share your burdens with the rest of us."
I felt my mouth stretching, and soon realized that Amber's smile might have been contagious.
For a few more minutes, we silently stared at the moon.
At some point it felt as though I were standing upon its lunar surface, silently staring back at myself and wondering...
Who are you?