"Unfortunately, I was too dull-witted. Even grasping and comprehending twenty percent of the knowledge my teacher imparted proved immensely difficult."
"Even so, she never showed displeasure at my dullness. She accommodated me at nearly every turn, raising me to adulthood."
Rrakavasha's gentle voice was soft, yet every word was clear.
"They say once a teacher, forever a parent. For me, calling Teacher my life-saving benefactor would be no exaggeration whatsoever."
"...I can understand Mr. Rrakavasha's answer about fate now."
"You silly girl, so young yet you love discussing profound topics. When I was your age..."
Saying this, Rrakavasha suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Clarice asked, puzzled.
"...It's nothing. At eighteen, I was still a hot-headed youth, not much different from a freshman."
"But, Mr. Rrakavasha..."
Clarice's face filled with deep concern, her voice trembling slightly.
"Why are you... crying?"
Rrakavasha raised his hand to wipe away the wetness on his cheek. He stared at the tear traces on his fingertips in a daze.
"Strange..."
He murmured low, covering his chest with his palm to feel his heartbeat.
His heart, a flash of pain.
Why?
Just as Rrakavasha fell into deep thought, his throat suddenly tightened.
Sensing his body's rapidly deteriorating state, he forcibly swallowed the crimson about to surge from his throat.
"My apologies. Excuse me for a moment."
Rrakavasha walked briskly from the medical room, returning to his own room and closing the door. Without thinking, he retrieved the medicine bottle.
Swallowing four emergency pills, he felt the medication rapidly spreading through his body. Far from relaxing, his expression grew increasingly grave.
He'd still underestimated the difficulty of fighting aging.
The emergency medication's effectiveness had drastically decreased. Not only did it work for shorter periods, but recent dosage increases had caused his body to gradually develop resistance.
The current maximum dosage couldn't be increased further, otherwise the side effects would kill him within two days.
He must create new, more effective medication within the next few days.
Otherwise, before his lifespan ran out, he'd have to spend his remaining days in an elderly, bedridden state.
Rrakavasha held no fear of approaching death; he only wished to leave no regrets.
He still had unfinished business. He couldn't lie down and wait for death, and even more importantly, couldn't let Yu Qingtu discover this.
Though he knew very little about Yu Qingtu, he deeply understood that in terms of extremism, she was undoubtedly quite consistent with his teacher Ruan Mei.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have become close friends despite their age gap.
"Mr. Rrakavasha, are you alright?!"
From beyond the tightly closed door came Clarice's concerned inquiry.
"I'm fine..."
Rrakavasha steadied his voice, feigning calm as he looked at his white-haired, slowly recovering appearance in the mirror, sighing silently.
"I suddenly remembered something very important I forgot to tell my teacher. About half an hour or so."
"That's good then."
Though Clarice still felt somewhat puzzled, she could at least breathe a sigh of relief and return the way she came.
On the medical room screen, the treatment progress jumped from 81% to 82%.
Clarice's heart settled as her gaze swept the surroundings.
No phantom images, as if what she'd seen earlier was merely a hallucination.
But she knew it wasn't a hallucination.
Walking slowly through the area where Rrakavasha's phantom had existed, the young woman's expression grew complex, her consciousness drifting far away.
After some unknown time passed, she suddenly turned around, her gaze locked onto a certain spot.
No one there...
Inexplicably, she had the illusion that from that position, someone was staring at her.
Clarice's brows furrowed as she carefully sensed information normally difficult for people to perceive.
Having been excluded and isolated by peers since childhood, she could clearly taste what emotions lurked within those unfriendly gazes.
Was it Rrakavasha's phantom watching?
No...!
Rrakavasha's gaze was always gentle. Even if he stared continuously, it felt like a spring breeze on the face, not the slightest bit of discomfort.
Though the earlier possibly illusory gaze seemed to contain no malice, she couldn't quite call it benevolent either.
It felt more like... scrutiny?
Like the appraising look teachers at the academy gave when selecting class representatives.
Clarice focused her concentration as if trying to see through whatever had once existed at that location.
Unfortunately, she still came up empty-handed by the time Rrakavasha returned.
"Mr. Rrakavasha, do you think... ghosts exist in the world?"
"Why suddenly ask that?"
"...Just curious."
"That depends on what kind of ghost. If you mean the kind from horror fiction, strictly speaking, no, they don't exist."
"So you're saying, non-strictly speaking, ghosts do truly exist?" Clarice suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
"You could say that."
Rrakavasha glanced at the treatment progress bar, checked the program library, and, after confirming no abnormalities, continued:
"I've heard Teacher mention that certain peculiar energy-based lifeforms exist in the universe."
"In their normal state, they lack fixed forms, visible but intangible, or even invisible and intangible."
"Unless they're willing to let us see them, or we can see them through special abilities and means."
"Ever heard of Pathstriders?"
Pathstriders? Clarice pondered thoughtfully, speaking with uncertainty.
"At our academy, there's a chemistry professor who's completely invulnerable. When chemistry experiments cause accidents, explosions, and such, he can resolve them immediately."
"Are the Pathstriders you mentioned the people who wield special abilities?"
Rrakavasha nodded. "People who wield special abilities aren't necessarily Pathstriders, but those who've walked far enough along a Path definitely possess special abilities."
"From what I know, followers of certain Path factions possess the ability to 'ghostify' themselves."
"Which specific factions?" Clarice asked.
"Remembrance can be confirmed. Enigmata as well. Beyond that, I'm not certain." Rrakavasha considered.
The Enigmata faction was something Yu Qingtu had told him about. Ruan Mei had only mentioned Remembrance.
"Why suddenly ask about this?"
"Well... Mr. Rrakavasha, please don't be frightened by what I'm about to say..."
"Go ahead."
"There seems to be a ghost here... Not long ago, something appeared to be hiding in the shadows, observing me."
"Is that so?"
Rrakavasha showed surprise, contemplating for a moment before his brow gradually smoothed.
"No need to worry. If they truly are one of those Pathstriders, they most likely bear no ill intent, nor would they dare have ill intent."
Connecting this to the warning he'd written about memories, he felt it was probably related to Memokeepers.
Traces of Genius Society #55 had been left here. No one would dare easily offend a genius.
Yu Qingtu had said this herself.
She'd also mentioned that a Cremator from the Remembrance faction once offended her, and she ultimately turned them into a special vial of medicine...
"Then I can relax." Clarice nodded lightly.
...
The sky gradually brightened with the pale light of dawn.
The moment the screen's progress reached 100%, Mrs. Durand slowly opened her eyes.
When Clarice met her mother's gaze and saw that familiar loving look within, her eyes rapidly moistened.
Rrakavasha conducted post-operative examinations, slowly releasing a breath and showing a heartfelt smile.
"Mrs. Durand, congratulations. From this moment forward, the troubles of amnesia will leave you forever."