A brief silence settled between Cairo and me. It wasn't a comfortable silence; it felt as if something heavy weighed on him, struggling to force its way out.
Finally, he spoke in a hesitant, quiet voice:
"My… my unique ability… is the Visible Shield."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise, hardly believing what I had just heard.
"Really?! That's an amazing ability! How does it work?!"
But Cairo didn't look nearly as excited as I was. Instead, he answered with a tone tinged with embarrassment.
"It's not that amazing… not like Luxian's or Knox's incredible powers. All I can do with it is defend, nothing more. I can't use it to attack or directly affect an enemy."
He sighed before continuing his explanation.
"My ability lets me create a visible shield that can protect up to five people in a single day—no more than that. The protection lasts for a maximum of five hours."
He paused briefly, as if deciding whether he should continue, then spoke again with less hesitation.
"But it has limitations. If I use it on five people all at once, I won't be able to activate it the next day at all. It needs a full cooldown period."
I listened carefully. His words sparked new questions in my mind.
"But that's still an excellent ability. You can protect the people around you with it—that's a huge advantage. In many situations, defense can be more important than offense."
Then I added a question I couldn't hold back:
"Does the ability work on you as well? I mean… can you activate the shield on yourself?"
Cairo nodded.
"Yes, I can activate it on myself. I've done it several times… especially when I felt like I might not make it out of a situation alive."
I nodded thoughtfully before another thought crossed my mind.
"But… there's something I don't understand."
He looked at me curiously.
"What is it?"
"You said you can use the shield on five people per day, and if you do that, you can't use it the following day. But what if you use it on only one or two people? Would you still lose the ability the next day?"
This time Cairo smiled, as if he had been expecting that question.
"No, it's not that strict. If I use the shield on one, two, or even three people, it won't affect my ability the next day. I'll still be able to use the shield on five people again the following day."
Then he added:
"But if I reach the maximum—four or five people—then the cooldown begins, and I'll need a full day for the ability to recover."
I nodded slowly, absorbing the information.
Looking at Cairo again, I began to see his ability from a different perspective. Curious, I asked:
"So… how strong is your shield? I mean… is it really durable? Has it ever been damaged or broken?"
He answered honestly, without any exaggeration.
"I don't know… Every time I've used it, the shield has never broken. It hasn't cracked or even shown the slightest sign of damage."
My eyes widened in surprise.
"Really?! Not even a little damage?"
He nodded, lowering his gaze slightly in embarrassment.
"Yes… nothing has ever happened to it so far."
His words stirred something strange inside me.
It wasn't bitter jealousy, but it was close to it—something like envy mixed with another feeling I couldn't quite name.
How I wished I had an ability like that… something so useful, so sturdy, so simple, yet capable of saving you in moments of danger.
And me… what did I have?
A skill called "Simple Movement Speed."
A response ability that only activates at the brink of death.
And Refreshing Breath, which appears and disappears whenever it pleases…
No. No! I shouldn't allow those thoughts to creep into my mind.
I had to stay optimistic. Everyone has something that makes them unique…
perhaps someday I would gain an incredible skill too.
I pushed those thoughts aside and looked back at him.
"But if you have such a powerful ability… why didn't you use it last night when we were trapped in the storeroom? If you had activated it, we might have avoided everything that happened. We wouldn't have had to play along with the doll."
A quiet silence followed, broken only by the wind slipping through the windows of the floor.
Cairo finally answered in a regretful voice.
"I know… I know that… but like I told you before… I forgot."
His voice was filled with remorse, and I realized that blaming him now would serve no purpose. What had happened had already happened—and the important thing was that we had survived.
I sighed slowly.
"Alright… alright. It's fine. Let's get some rest for now. We'll meet again later… at four o'clock."
He looked at me in confusion, as if he had forgotten something.
"Why are we meeting?"
I smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow.
"Weren't you the one who said we should inform Noble Valis about what happened last night? About the doll and everything else?"
He slapped his palm against his forehead as if something had just returned to his memory.
"Ah, right… I forgot."
I laughed inwardly. He seemed to forget a lot of things—his ability, and even his own words.
We said goodbye afterward, and Cairo headed upstairs to the second floor.
Most likely he went straight to the kitchen. I had clearly heard his stomach growling earlier, roaring like it hadn't tasted food in two days.
As for me, I headed toward the guards' room to get some rest.
I needed quiet… to lie down without thinking, without moving—just close my eyes and let the exhaustion drain from my body.
My steps toward the room were slow, as if I were dragging my body along.
As soon as I entered, I threw myself onto the worn-out bed that had become more familiar to me than it should have.
I closed my eyes and sank into the silence of the room, though the image of the doll still flickered in my mind every now and then.
Was it really just a passing incident?
I didn't know…
…
I woke to a sound I had always loved—the soft chirping of birds outside the window.
Their melody slipped gently into my ears, bringing with it a sense of peace… as if the world had never witnessed what we went through the night before.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked toward the window, trying to estimate the time from the color of the sky.
But it was perfectly clear—no clouds, no obvious sunlight hinting at sunset or sunrise.
The room was completely empty. No one was there but me.
That made me get up and step outside to check the time.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Serion standing as usual, guarding the left side of the first floor—motionless like a living statue, watching everything without interfering.
I greeted him with a quick nod. He returned it silently.
"Excuse me… what time is it now?"
Without taking his eyes off the corridor, he replied:
"It's three thirty."
I thanked him quietly and walked away with quick steps.
There wasn't much time left before four, and Cairo and I had agreed to meet then to inform Noble Valis about everything that had happened.
I needed to find him.
I began searching the first floor.
I walked through the corridors, glanced into every room, checked the corners where he often sat or leaned against the walls—but there was no sign of him.
Then I went up to the second floor and tried again.
The result was the same.
No Cairo there either.
Only the third floor remained.
I climbed the stairs quietly, a slight sense of unease creeping into my chest.
I pushed the door to the third floor open slowly.
The moment it opened, I saw Cairo standing in one of the corners, talking with Marcus and Knox.
The three of them looked absorbed in conversation. Their faces were serious—the discussion clearly important.
I approached them and asked:
"Hey… what's going on here?"
Marcus turned to me first, relief visible on his face.
"Oh, you're here! Well… it's simple. Cairo told us about what happened to you two last night—the doll and everything that happened in the storeroom."
I was surprised for a moment.
I hadn't expected Cairo to tell them, especially after I had clearly said we didn't need to involve the others.
I looked at them and asked hesitantly:
"So… you believe the story?"
Knox answered first.
"Why wouldn't we? This is a fantasy world after all… anything is possible."
Marcus added:
"Exactly. Anything can happen here. Besides, we're friends—and there's no reason for you two to lie to us."
Relief slowly spread through my chest.
"Thank you… I appreciate that you believed us."
Marcus chuckled and shook his head.
"No need to thank us."
Knox nodded.
"Yeah. There's no reason for us to doubt each other."
At that moment, Cairo interrupted:
"I told them because you said back in the storeroom that we're guards, and it's our duty to inform others about what's happening… so I told them."
I laughed lightly.
"Hahaha… I didn't think you'd take my words that seriously. So… did you tell everyone?"
He nodded.
"Yes. I told them all. Luxian, Tyros, and Zairos mocked the story a little, but they still believed me. Kalster… didn't seem fully convinced. And Serion… showed no interest at all."
I smiled.
"Well… that's not a bad outcome. At least we weren't accused of being crazy."
I glanced at the clock at the end of the corridor.
It was almost four.
"Anyway… it's nearly four o'clock. Let's go find Noble Valis. It's time to tell him what happened."
Cairo nodded in agreement.
We turned to Marcus and Knox and said goodbye.
They only offered a few brief words of encouragement before we walked away.
And just like that… we began walking together, step by steady step, toward another moment of truth.
Because the time had come to tell Noble Valis the unbelievable.