The academy was strangely quiet.

Or at least, as quiet as it could be after a kidnapping attempt, an invasion of nobles, and the discovery that Kael Veyron had become a political problem.

Kael walked through the gardens with his hands in his pockets.

Beside him, the Little Fat King advanced with the dignity of an emperor.

Occasionally he would stop to observe the students who moved out of his way.

As if expecting a bow.

Most of them did.

Out of fear.

Kael yawned.

The window kept appearing every few minutes.

[Estimated arrival: 45 hours, 27 minutes.]

Every time he saw it, he felt a knot in his stomach.

He didn’t know what was going to appear.

He didn’t know if it would be friendly.

He didn’t know if it would destroy a mountain.

And most importantly, he didn’t know if the Little Fat King would approve of its existence.

He looked at the cat.

The cat ignored him.

Definitely not a good sign.

"Hey."

"Meow."

"Do you know what’s coming?"

The Little Fat King began licking his paw.

Kael sighed.

"Right. Stupid question.

Sometimes I forget you’re a cat."

He kept walking until he reached the most remote area of the campus.

A small forest surrounded the academy.

It was peaceful.

Quiet.

And almost no one went there.

Precisely why he chose it.

He needed to think.

Think about the Church.

About the nobles.

About the second entity.

About the fact that every day seemed to get more complicated.

He sat under a tree.

The Little Fat King settled beside him.

For the first time, he didn’t move away.

Kael smiled slightly.

He still didn’t fully understand the cat.

But at least he was starting to understand him a little better.

A noise among the branches caught his attention.

He looked up.

And found Aurelion.

Sitting on a high branch.

Watching him.

As if he had been there for hours.

Kael blinked.

"How long have you been there?"

Aurelion tilted his head.

"Does it matter?"

"A lot."

"For about twenty minutes."

Kael pointed at him.

"That’s unsettling."

"I know."

Aurelion jumped down from the tree and landed in front of him with surprising elegance.

The Celestial Mirage appeared briefly behind him before dissolving into fragments of light.

The Little Fat King opened one eye.

Looked at Aurelion.

And closed it again.

That seemed like an improvement.

Last time, they had almost destroyed a combat arena.

Aurelion sat down next to Kael.

Strangely serious.

No smiles.

No jokes.

No that relaxed expression he always wore.

Kael frowned.

"That’s scary."

"What?"

"You looking like a responsible person."

Aurelion let out a small laugh.

But it didn’t last long.

"My family sent me a letter."

Kael waited.

Aurelion continued.

"I told them what happened in the dungeon.

About the Church.

And about the Fat King."

Kael tensed.

"And?"

Aurelion looked toward the forest.

"My family has a private library.

Very old.

With records that date back to before the founding of the kingdom."

Kael didn’t understand where the conversation was going.

But he didn’t like it.

Definitely didn’t like it.

Aurelion took a small notebook from inside his jacket.

The pages were full of notes.

He opened one in particular.

Then looked at Kael.

"They found something."

The wind shook the leaves of the trees.

Even the Little Fat King opened his eyes.

For the first time.

He seemed interested.

Aurelion read aloud.

"When order becomes too rigid and the world forgets how to laugh, the absurd entities will return."

Kael blinked.

"That sounds like a bad play."

"There’s more."

Aurelion continued reading.

"Their arrival will announce the awakening of chaos.

Laws will lose meaning.

Logic will be questioned.

And that which should not exist will walk again among mortals."

Silence.

Kael pointed at the Little Fat King.

"Well, that does sound like him."

The cat looked at him with evident disapproval.

Aurelion closed the notebook.

"The text repeats several times.

Always with different names.

But they all refer to the same thing."

Kael swallowed.

"To what exactly?"

Aurelion looked directly at him.

"To the arrival of the absurd entities."

The air seemed to grow colder.

For the first time since he had received the system, Kael felt like something was clicking.

Too many things.

The destroyed mountain.

The Abyssal Beast.

The dungeon murals.

The relic.

The Church of Order.

Everything pointed in the same direction.

Everything seemed connected.

"And what exactly are those entities?"

Aurelion shook his head.

"No one knows.

The records are strange.

Inconsistent.

As if each civilization had interpreted them differently."

Kael crossed his arms.

"How differently?"

Aurelion flipped through the notebook.

"Some describe them as gods.

Others as natural disasters.

Some as heroes.

And others as the end of the world."

Kael looked at the Little Fat King.

The cat stretched lazily.

He definitely didn’t look like a deity.

But he didn’t look like a normal cat either.

He had seen him make a mountain disappear with a slap.

That wasn’t normal either.

Aurelion put away the notebook.

"There’s something else."

Kael looked up.

"Of course there’s something else.

There’s always something else."

Aurelion nodded.

"The records mention that the absurd entities never appear alone."

Silence.

Kael felt a chill.

The window appeared before him.

[Estimated arrival: 45 hours, 12 minutes.]

Aurelion watched the message.

He didn’t look surprised.

"So it was true."

Kael lowered his hand slowly.

"Can you see it?"

"No.

But I can feel it.

Actually, not that either — but you’re always looking in a specific direction."

The Celestial Mirage appeared briefly behind Aurelion.

Its body of light trembled.

As if it were nervous.

Or uncomfortable.

It was the first time Kael had seen that reaction.

Aurelion frowned.

"He doesn’t like it."

"What does that mean?"

"I don’t know.

But my summon never reacts like this."

The Little Fat King opened his eyes.

Looked at the window.

Then at Kael.

And for the first time, he looked worried.

Just a little.

But Kael noticed.

Aurelion stood up.

"My family will keep investigating.

I want to know what these things really are."

Kael also stood up.

"And if you find out something bad?"

Aurelion smiled.

This time it was his usual smile again.

The smile of someone who enjoyed facing the unknown.

"Then it’ll be fun."

Kael sighed.

"I forgot you’re crazy."

"That’s what my parents tell me."

He began to walk away.

But stopped after a few steps.

Without turning around.

"Kael."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

That surprised Kael more than anything else.

Because Aurelion rarely spoke seriously.

And when he did, there was always a good reason.

The tree guy kept walking until he disappeared among the garden paths.

Kael looked at the window once more.

[Estimated arrival: 45 hours, 10 minutes.]

He looked at the Little Fat King.

The cat was still looking at the spot where Aurelion had gone.

As if he were thinking.

Analyzing.

Remembering something.

And for the first time since he had met him, Kael had the strange feeling that the Little Fat King knew much more than he let on.

Much, much more.