"I'll start," Sunny said, partly to show his sincerity and partly to reveal information about himself in a controlled manner.
If he took the initiative to speak, he still had to tell the truth, but the amount he revealed and the way he presented it were still his choice. However, if the others asked direct questions and forced him to answer… then things would beco unpredictable.
Even now, he still couldn't fully trust the four people around him. The last ti he had trusted others so easily, back in his First Nightmare, he had nearly died because of betrayal.
"My Attributes give an affinity with shadows. I also possess a slight connection to divinity. Lastly…" Sunny hesitated for a brief mont before continuing, "I seem to have a tendency to find myself in extrely unlikely situations."
Cassie listened attentively. After a few seconds, she lowered her head slightly, looking a little embarrassed.
"Uh… he's telling the truth. Not that we doubted your honesty or anything!"
'Why not?' Sunny thought bitterly. 'I spent so much effort building the reputation of a pathological liar.'
He cleared his throat and forced a smile, hiding the tension beneath it.
"Really? That's good to know. But… how are you so sure that I'm telling the truth?"
The blind girl shifted awkwardly in place.
"Oh! That's my Ability. I can 'see' people's Attributes. Sotis, I also receive… uh… visions. They can show fragnts of the future or the past. At least, I think that's what they are. It's only happened a few tis so far."
"That's amazing! My little Cassie is truly soone extraordinary."
Elysia bead brightly before wrapping her arms around Cassie from behind, gently squishing the blind girl's cheeks.
"S-Stop it, Ely!"
Feeling Elysia tickling her sides, Cassie burst into helpless laughter while trying to pry the other girl's hands away. It looked less like resistance and more like the familiar chaos of close friends teasing each other back at the Academy.
Sunny watched the scene quietly for a mont. However, when his gaze shifted toward the others, he noticed sothing strange in their expressions.
Pity.
Nephis, Senrix, and even Elysia, despite still laughing, looked at Cassie with subtle sympathy hidden in their eyes.
Sunny swallowed instinctively before forcing himself to relax.
'So… she's basically an oracle.'
That realization made his thoughts grow heavy.
'Luckily, her insight only seems connected to Attributes and fragnted visions. Otherwise, I'd already be in serious trouble.'
Still, he would have to remain careful around her.
At last, Sunny understood how Cassie had known his birthday earlier. The question was whether she had seen it through a vision of the past… or the future.
If it was the future, did that an he was guaranteed to survive long enough to celebrate another birthday?
Or did knowing the future itself change it?
For example, if he learned he would definitely survive, he might naturally relax and lower his guard. That carelessness could eventually beco the very reason for his death. The possibility sounded absurdly believable.
Of course, that only mattered if the future could actually be changed.
But what if it couldn't?
Then every struggle, every choice, every desperate attempt to survive… would already be predetermined from the very beginning.
Sunny suddenly felt a headache forming.
'Yeah… no. I'm not thinking about that right now.'
Suppressing the growing discomfort in his mind, he forced himself to speak in a calm, friendly tone.
"That's a really useful Ability. Speaking of Abilities, you've already seen mine before. My shadow can move independently and scout ahead. It can't physically interact with the material world, but we share senses, including sight and hearing. Because of that, I can detect danger before actually encountering it."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The shadow is fast, stealthy, and difficult to notice. It can slip into almost any place unnoticed. Oh… and I can also see in the dark."
"That's a pretty suspicious Ability you have there, my friend."
Sunny turned toward the source of the voice and found Senrix staring at him with a completely serious expression.
Looking away with a dry smile, Sunny expected the girls to appreciate the practical usefulness of Shadow Scout unlike a certain suspicious idiot nearby.
Instead, the atmosphere suddenly beca strange.
Nephis slowly turned her head toward him.
Cassie's face grew pale as she instinctively raised her arms to cover her chest.
Even Elysia stopped teasing Cassie altogether. She stared at Sunny for a second before silently crossing her arms over her chest as well.
Sunny froze.
"…Uh. What?"
Nephis frowned faintly before speaking in her usual flat tone.
"Have you ever used your Ability inside the Academy?"
Sunny blinked in confusion.
'What kind of question is that?'
"In the Academy? Yeah, of course I did. Why?"
Then realization struck him like lightning.
'…Oh.'
'They think I'm a pervert.'
'Crap.'
Before any of the girls could say another word, Sunny hurriedly raised both hands defensively.
"Wait! I have never used it for anything improper! You have to believe !"
Fortunately, that was the honest truth.
Still, Nephis and Cassie continued staring at him with obvious skepticism.
Elysia accepted his explanation much more easily, but the suspicion lingering on her face was so visible that it might as well have been carved into stone.
Sunny gritted his teeth in frustration.
"I had more important things to do than whatever nonsense you're imagining! I spent almost every waking hour trying to learn how to survive!"
Nephis raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I've never seen you in class. Not even once."
Sunny chuckled awkwardly.
"Of course you didn't. While you were busy wiping the floor with every Sleeper in combat class, I was studying Wilderness Survival."
This ti, it was Changing Star's turn to blink.
"Wilderness… Survival? The Academy actually has a course like that?"
"Yeah, it does," Senrix casually replied before Sunny could answer.
"I actually considered taking that class once because barely anyone attended it. But I dropped the idea after noticing there was already one student there who looked perfectly content being alone. So I chose combat training and Aspect Utilization classes instead."
He glanced toward Sunny thoughtfully.
"Back then, I didn't know it was you. I only rember seeing soone with black hair sitting there alone with a weirdly peaceful expression."
Sunny paused.
'Peaceful?'
The word felt strangely unfamiliar when directed at him.
But after thinking about it for a mont, he realized Senrix might not have been wrong.
Back then, whether it was on the forgotten outskirts or inside the Academy itself… he truly had enjoyed being alone.
There was sothing comforting about solitude.
No expectations.
No betrayals.
No disappointnts.
Just silence.
And honestly… Sunny had once believed that silence suited him perfectly.
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