Waiting for Cecil to make a decision, Damon didn't dare interrupt her thoughts or Henry's playing. Instead, he looked inward, shifting his attention to the status to check the quest timer.
[11: 20… 11: 19]
["Why the stubborn fixation on the lake..? "]
Suddenly, Master Tomoe's voice flowed into his consciousness, attracting his focus away from the passing seconds.
["The quest I so generously provided lays a clear path. I'm sure your brother and the priest will be fine. Why chase the shadows in the deep?"]
'Didn't you say we were running out of time?' Damon fumed inwardly, his tone edged with faint sarcasm. 'If I find a better route, why should I obediently follow your script…?'
Taking a glance at Cecil, whose expression still lingered between confusion and contemplation, Damon then sighed and continued. 'Besides, after hearing her mention this "Mister," I'm almost sure that man is the one who helped the creature trap us, and his rule was meant to prevent Cecil from discovering herself .'
["Clever boy, however you plan has one clear flaw"] Tomoe laughed causally dismissing his tone. ["If Cecil chooses to follow you to the lake's edge, will you be able to stop her from simply merging with it. If not, you'll be leading the lamb to the slaughterhouse, only to watch it become part of your butcher."]
'I have a plan for that,' Damon answered, offering no further details.
["Oh? Mind sharing the secret boya or shall I take a guess?"]
Instead of responding immediately, Damon silently looked at Henry for a couple of seconds as if to create suspense for what he was plotting. In another instance, Master Tomoe's words would have left him thoroughly perplexed since it wasn't difficult to find holes in the first part of his plan; as it stood, he was rather certain that his chosen ace would be enough.
Just then, Henry's fingers pressed down on the last key, finally bringing the poignant tune to its gentle climax. For a moment, the sound hung in their hearts and the air of the classroom before soon fading into silence.
"You're right!" said Cecil, nodding to herself in thought."Mister would want me to help people in need. That's what good children should do."
She hesitated, then continued, "After my song… I don't mind walking with you to the lake. Maybe we can find a rope or something on the way. To help your friends."
'She still wants to play music when people might be dying…???'Upon hearing this, both brothers exchanged perplexed glances and sighed in unison.
[9: 12… 9:11]
Taking another glance at the timer, Damon then stood up as Henry sluggishly rose from the piano bench, shuffling towards him. Standing side by side, the duo watched keenly as Cecil's small fingers reached for the keys once more. The first notes of her second song soon rang out, and Henry subconsciously held his breath.
He knew this song as well.
The tune pulled at buried memories of his past youth. Unravel had once swept through the younger generation like an unrelenting tide. And among all its renditions, the singer Ado's cover of the song had carved itself deepest into the public consciousness.
"You know this one, too?" Damon muttered, watching his brother's strange, wistful expression.
Henry hesitated, then gave a tiny nod. "Yeah. I do."
Following that, a subtle distortion rippled across their minds, causing their expression to harden.
Reacting on instinct, they focused their Wills, subtly vibrating their spiritual cores in a counter-rhythm to each note, building an internal defense against the melody's invasive pull.
"Why'd you get up?" Damon whispered, his voice barely audible over the piano. "Your Playboy charm was working! She was happy!"
"It's not easy to control your expressions when your life's at stake," Henry whined. Keeping his eyes trained on Cecil, he struggled to keep a neutral expression.
Ignoring his words, Damon leaned in closer, suppressing his voice, and said, "I need you to go back. Just compliment her talent again and bring up her classmates."
Immediately, Henry's brow deepened into a frown. "Why?"
"She lacks the memories of her death," Damon confessed, the theory forming fully as he spoke. "I think this 'Mister.' told her not to go near the lake to keep those memories from returning. I'm sure the school and her classmates are tied to it. If we can make her remember the bad experiences, we might force the full picture to surface."
"What if she becomes hostile?"Henry's head jerked toward Damon, his eyes widening with alarm. 'Brother Are you insane?' his gaze screamed.
"Already thought of that." Upon seeing the distressed look in his brother's eyes, Damon's hand dipped into the unseen space of Hidden Inventory and emerged holding a smooth jade sphere, pulsing with a gentle glowing green energy.
'Good thing I didn't trade these for an allowance.' He smiled. Infusing the orb with a new sliver of warm, life-affinity, Damon then carefully blended the spiritual energy inside with his own.
At first, Damon thought the task would have been difficult, considering Earth was said to be the most unpredictable among the ten Elemental affinities. With little hindrance, the energy was quickly absorbed before his eyes. This quickly enhanced the sphere's density and prevented Cecil's spiritual energy in the surrounding from disrupting the stone's natural earth affinity.
"Most girls like pretty rocks so…" Damon emphasized, his mouth curving into a subtle smirk. "Gift it to her as a token from her new best friend."
"Where the hell did you get a Lithos crystal…?" Henry muttered.
"Never mind that, "Damon replied, patting Henry's shoulder. "If we escape in one piece, I'll give you six for your efforts, but I need you to do this now ."
"Deal," persuaded by the promise of financial gain and eager to escape, Henry nodded without hesitation and walked towards Cecil, a soft smile forming at his lips as he held the orb behind his back.
He then sat down beside her, their shoulder to almost touching, and said, "You're really talented, Cecil, maybe even more than some stupid nobles.
"Um.. I- "Cecil hesitated to respond, her words a simple stutter.
"I'm sure you have a lot of friends at school..." Henry flattered, his eyes gleaming. Without waiting for her to speak, he shyly averted his eyes, gently scratching his cheek. "But I really hope you and I become best friends too."
As those words fell from his lips, Henry then presented the fist-sized Lithos crystal with a light blush and added, "I found this recently, and couldn't find the right person to give it to until I noticed they matched your beautiful eyes."
'His face looks pretty stupid right now,' Damon joked internally, watching the performance.
At that moment, a shade of red finally bloomed on Cecil's cheeks. Her graceful fingers suddenly froze, and the song came to an abrupt halt as her head spun to Henry, or rather, the crystal in his hand.
"I.. Only had one friend at school, " she confessed, struggling to shift her gaze from the eye-catching orb. "Can I really have this if were friends? You're not going to suddenly take it back as a joke, are you..?"
"There's no way I would do something like that." Noticing her legs subtly shaking, Henry replied genuinely and without a second thought. Catching her off guard, he then grabbed Cecil's left palm, affectionately placing the orb in her hand.
"I don't know what kind of person your other friend is, but real friends don't play those tricks on each other."
Hearing this, Cecil froze once more.
Her lips then parted, but no words came out. For a few seconds, her mouth just eerily opened and closed repeatedly, as if she were a dying fish out of water.
Observing her closely, both brothers could clearly see the mental struggle taking place, yet Damon was different. He didn't just see it, he felt it.
A psychic dam broke behind her eyes, and a torrent of emotion poured out. Confusion, betrayal, deep-seated fear, all of it blended and flooded into him through the link he'd established.
But that was not the worst of it.
As Damon squeezed his eyes shut against the pain, his mind was assaulted by foggy images quickly flickering by until his ears began to bleed.
He was certain his eardrums had just ruptured, yet the very next second, he heard a woman's voice dripping with condescension.
"Such gifts are wasted on the likes of you. Commoners should learn their place!"