C191: Dream camouflage (1)
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Rudger introduced himself as a royal.
Everyone was surprised by his words and was about to say something, but soon nodded their heads in agreement.
âSomehow it seems so.â
âUh, um, so am I. I have to say that I understand something.â
âMe, too.â
Rudger, who thought there would be a big reaction, felt a little weak in his shoulders when he saw the members agreeing surprisingly easily.
âIâm not surprised.â
Alex replied indifferently to Rudgerâs appearance, which looked somewhat sullen.
âNo, thatâs right, because considering leader âs usual appearance, it makes sense to say that he is a royal.â
As Rudgerâs painstaking collection of people, the members of âU.N. Owenâ have extraordinary abilities unlike others so they knew at once that Rudger was no longer an ordinary man.
âI easily guessed that a leader would be a hidden aristocrat in the first place.â
âThatâs right. I thought that even if you donât say it, you would be at least a great nobleman.â
âWell, it was a little surprising that the boss was a royal.â
Rudger decided to think positively about the appearance of his colleagues who immediately agreed.
âThen the story will be easier. I was born into a royal family but I was just an unwelcome being.â
A word flashed across everyoneâs mind when he said âunwelcomedâ.
Rudger was the kingâs illegitimate child.
âIf it was an ordinary illegitimate child, I could live as if I were dead. My only fault is that I wasnât normal.â
No one could refute even though he seemed arrogant because they knew Rudgerâs abilities better than anyone else.
âPeople who saw me as dangerous tried to kill me all the time so as not to lose their seats.â
The most representative of the methods was poisoning.
Belaruna murmured something bewildered.
âThen the reason boss was so resistant and well versed in poisonâ¦â¦.â
âI donât know if itâs because Iâve eaten too much since I was young, but Iâm not affected anymore.â
Of course, when he first took the poison, he was sick for days.
No matter how talented a person is, it is one thing to endure the poison that gnaws at the inside of the body. Still, Rudger survived without dying because of the power of God.
The gods did not want Rudger to die.
When Rudger was still inexperienced in dealing with power, the gods gave him protection and a curse.
All the toxins in his body decomposed and disappeared during the few days he was sick and his immune system became stronger and stronger.
Since then, years of poisoning attempts have made Rudger unaffected by any poison. It was a curse and a blessing at the same time, a miracle made by those who want to kill and those who want to save.
âLater, they tried to kill me in all sorts of ways because it wouldnât work with poison so I ran away to live.â
âThen the fact that you kept using aliasesâ¦â¦.â
âYeah. They kept trying to kill me even after I ran away because my existence itself bothers them.â
The reason why people in high positions keep their position is simple. They never leave any danger behind and try to get rid of anything that bothers them at all costs.
Especially if the other person dies on the road, then it has nothing to do with them.
âOne of the most memorable attempts was the attack of Calsapa Assassins.â
âAh.â
At the words, Violetta realized why Rudger knew so much about the Calsapa Assassins.
He has been fighting with the Calsapa Assassins for a long time and learned with his body what they are like.
âLike that, I went around with my teacher, hiding my identity. As I saw it, I no longer had a pursuer.â
But Rudger knew that the moment they find out who he is, the pursuers will move again. Thatâs why Rudger had to keep changing his name and identity.
He had to give up on his ârealâ self to survive.
What Rudger was going through was nothing compared to simply insurmountable discrimination.
Rudger felt grateful for the way his colleagues looked at him with worried eyes. At least there was someone who really cared about him.
âSo let me introduce myself again.â
He didnât mind telling them his real name.
âMy name isâ¦.â
* * *
When Rene opened her eyes, she saw the ceiling of the dormitory. After she got up she recalled the dream she had just had.
âI feel like I had a happy dream.â
In her dream she was young. It was a curious thing since she couldnât remember her childhood, but had a childhood dream.
In her dream, Rene played on the green meadow.
On the endless horizon where the blue sky and the green land met, the stars, wind, and light were beautiful.
Rene lived there for a long time and sometimes she looked up at the night sky with stars but she didnât feel lonely.
âYes, I had a family. No, I think there was.â
In her dream, Rene had a family. She wasnât lonely because she had someone with her. However, she doesnât remember who it was. If itâs a family, was it a mother or a dad? But she doesnât remember her parents.
The first memory Rene remembered was an old man with gray hair who told her to call him teacher. She doesnât remember where she lived, what she did, and who she was with before.
âAnd there were more people.â
In the dream, she was an ordinary girl who laughed and cried much more than now.
Sometimes when she fell while running, she shed tears and there was a boy of her age who reached out to her. She couldnât remember his face properly because itâs blurry as if itâs in the fog but she was sure they played together because she thought it was fun to play with him.
âAnd lastlyâ¦â¦.â
She had an older brother.
She doesnât know if itâs her brother or not. However, although he is old, she may have thought so because he was not an adult.
Of course she doesnât remember his face. However, she thought that the soft smile that he sometimes made while looking at her or the touch that patted her head was very warm.
âMy heart aches.â
When she thought of him, one side of her chest hurt like a sore thumb.
âWhatâs wrong with me?â
Rene didnât know much about herself. However, what was clear was that it was quite painful now.
âItâs only a dream. Why?â
It was a confusion between dreams and reality and maybe this was not just an ordinary dream to see the scene she wanted.
What if it was all real?
âI donât know.â
Even now, she couldnât tell if this was a dream or reality.
Rene held her hand and opened it. The sensation felt vague in her hand as if it was floating in the air.
In fact, this was a dream, and when she fell asleep, she thought she opened her eyes again in reality. When she thought about that.
-I came here because I felt something strange but this is interesting.
At the sudden voice, Rene slowly turned her head.
Maybe it was because she was in a dreamy mood but Rene stared at her opponent with little surprise.
âWho?â
It was definitely her dormitory room where no one was supposed to be, but one person was there, a gray-haired girl with a subtle smile that is hard to understand.
âAh, you areâ¦.â
What was the name again? Juliaâ¦
-Julia Plumhart.
Thatâs right. It was that name.
She was a classmate who took Mr. Rudgerâs class with her. Above all, she had the highest grades in the admission exam, so there is no way Rene wouldnât know her.
âBut how did you get hereâ¦â¦.â
-What? Are you curious about that? Hmm. Iâve actually been led by your dream.
âDream?â
â Dream.
She was led by a dream. Itâs a hard word to understand. However, Rene vaguely remembered seeing something similar in the literature she had read before.
âDreamâ¦â¦ magic.â
â You know it? Thatâs cool. Usually, students donât know much about our dream school.
âI read it in a book.â
-You studied hard, didnât you?
Rene laughed, as if she was happy to be praised for no reason.
âBut⦠Why did you come to see me?â
-I told you, I came here for an interesting case.
âInterestingâ¦â¦case? Are you talking about me?â
â Yeah, you had a weird dream, didnât you?
âI think I didâ¦â¦.â
â Hm. Itâs a secret that Iâm a dream wizard, but since I saw something interesting, Iâll explain it to you.
Julia said so and sat next to Rene but she didnât feel heavy.
Rene realized that Julia Plumhart in front of her was a kind of vision, not the real one and felt something strange.
She couldnât believe she was having a secret conversation with Julia since they never spoke to each other before and was also a little nervous.
â Now you are on the boundary between dream and reality. Maybe itâs because your dream is very similar to reality.
Julia, who speaks softly in a pleasant voice, surprised Rene because she was so different from the image she showed in class.
â Why are you looking at me like that?
âAmazing.â
-Whatâs amazing?
âI didnât know you could talk this much.â
-â¦â¦â¦Well, I understand that. Honestly, I donât talk to other people.
âWhyâ¦?â
-Itâs not fun.
Julia grumbled, as if she was complaining.
-Even if itâs Theon, the level of students is too low and I donât want to mix with them.
âUh, umâ¦.â
-But I kept watching quietly, and there were some interesting people. The kid who can use anti-magic and nowâ¦â¦.
âNowâ¦â¦? Oh, you mean me?â
â Usually people dream, but itâs very far from reality. However your dream is different. Itâs similar to reality, or in fact, itâs closer to peeking into the past through dreams.
Julia Plumhart, who uses dream magic from the dream school, evaluated people through dreams. Thatâs why she appeared in front of Rene.
She became interested in Reneâs dream because it was so unique that it was rare in recent years.
âItâs like a dream fairy coming here for a dream. Hehe.â
-â¦â¦â¦Iâm still thinking that Iâm talking to you because Iâm drunk.
Julia became interested in Rene. At first she thought she was just a commoner who wanted to stick with a powerful person since she was hanging out with the 3rd princess, however she felt the opposite when they talked in her dream. She was a child with some strange charm.
â Usually people donât like me when they see me.
âWhy?â
-It must be because Iâm always pointing out something and donât choose my words well.
However, Julia is aware of that part but wonât change it even though she knows it. It was difficult to correct because of her birth and because she doesnât like to get involved with other people for no reason.
-Anyway, Iâm talking about your dream, but itâs probably not a dream.
âNot a dream?â
â Ordinary peopleâs dreams are different from reality. You donât understand, but as a dreamwalker I can tell. The dream you had was a projection of reality rather than a dream. More specifically a projection of your past.
At the words, Rene felt strange as she was about to catch something.
âBut I donât remember very well.â
â Letâs see, umâ¦â¦.
Julia reached out to Reneâs forehead. Rene closed her eyes softly and opened them when Julia said, âThatâs enough.â
-Itâs weird.
âWhat?â
â I canât see your dream. No, I can see it, but itâs incredibly blurry.
That was something that Rene agreed with. She knew she did something and was with someone, but she couldnât tell exactly who it was.
-We Dreamwalkers can read the dreams that the other person has just dreamed, but if we canât see it, thereâs only one case.
âWhatâs that?â
â Someone intentionally erased your dream, no, your memory.
âHuh? But why are you suddenlyâ¦â¦.â
-I donât know since when, but your blocked memories started leaking little by little recently.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Rene could not keep up with Juliaâs explanation.
Someone erased his memory? Why the hell?
However, there were parts that made sense. Her childhood, which she doesnât remember, was somewhat strange and it was only recently that she realized that.
âCome to think of it, even since I did the memory storming with Erendirâ¦â¦.â
She began to dream of this.
â Hm. Thatâs interesting. I canât believe itâs a memory seal.
âCan you open it?â
â No, I canât. Itâs not something I can touch.
Julia declared neatly and Rene felt depressed at her words.
-You donât have to be so depressed. You canât find the sealed memory right away, but knowing it is enough.
âHow?â
â The dream you had. I can find the key to the seal of your memory in it. Think about it. Was there anything in your dream that you remember clearly?
At Juliaâs question, Rene thought a little and opened her mouth.
âCome to think of it, I donât remember the face, but thereâs a name that comes to mind.â
-What name?
Rene thought about whether she could say this or not and put the name in her mouth.
âHeathcliff.â
* * *
âMy name is Heathcliff Van Bretus.â
Everyone opened their eyes wide when Rudger said his name because there was only one place in the world where the name Bretus was used.
Home of the Lumensis Church, The holy kingdom, Bretus.
âMember of the royal family of the Holy Kingdom of Bretus, and blood relative of the Holy Emperor Bretus. That is me.â