Chapter 197 - Daydreams Of Better Times (2/2)

A small act of mercy on Isca's behalf and his own.

To break her heart would likely spell alter her perception of him irrevocably, no doubt, and ruin a relationship he had come to enjoy very much. Finding someone with whom he could share his secrets and get a fresh perspective out of them was extremely rare for him.

And he did not want to lose that just yet.

Many years ago in his youth, a very close friend had informed him that men and women could never be friends and he had scoffed at him in disbelief. Nowadays, he was inclined to agree with that statement, to his dismay...

If only for a millisecond, Reed's eyes lifelessly glazed over, and then his consciousness returned, unaware of what had just transpired.

Reed shrugged his shoulders and thought to himself that whoever had elicited such a lovable expression out of her was a lucky person.

The pure, bare-faced adoration in her eyes reminded him of the first time saw that expression on...

They were only a few minutes away from their destination, a place Reed had wanted to visit for some time.

The old, winding trail they had been walking on was not a new one to Reed. Far from it. He was quite familiar with it, given it was one he had frequented very much in his youth...

For he was the one who created it.

It was an old trail Reed had carved out in a dreary forest back when he had begun to explore the North as a budding trainee. Without regard for anything or anyone, he used his powers at the time to do as he wished, inadvertently tearing apart a personal trail to the top of a small hill simply because he capable of doing it.

Even now, he still felt a bit sorry for the damage he had inflicted upon the impoverished forest. But it had healed since then, to Reed's delight. The old trail had almost disappeared already, nearly buried underneath the overgrowth of the blossoming forest.

When Reed and Isca finally made to the end of the trail, they found themselves atop a hill that overlooked a forest set ablaze in the warmest colors possible. A sight to behold, for sure, but it was not why Reed had brought them here today.

No, he had brought them there to see that — the decrepit tower in the distance.

The Spire.

”What a tower!” exclaimed Isca, ”I've never seen something that big, well, in all my life...”

It was almost as if she's testing me, Reed thought. There was no way Isca wasn't trying to get him to say something foolish and highly inappropriate. In his mind, she had cast the golden bait that no imm.a.t.u.r.e man could resist remarking upon.

Reed grit his teeth as he restrained the urge and let out an awkward cough before he said, ”Yes... that is— or rather, once was a place of discipline and education. And even though I only had a brief stay there, that place has never left my heart. Even half a decade later, I can still remember every day I spent there as if it had only been yesterday...”

To him as a youth, it'd been a dreadful, never-ending nightmare but as with all things in retrospect, his opinion had changed with time.

He recognized the unique comfort that had been bestowed upon him at the time — to be perfectly safe, to possess friends for the first time, to have a chance to be released of his former burdens, and to have been given the rarest of all opportunities... the chance to start anew.

”That was the first place I could confidently call home. And it was where I met the man who gave me the future skills I would require as an a.d.u.l.t. Admittedly, it would not be until much later that I took his lessons to heart. Years later, being the juvenile fool I once was...” said Reed.

”So... What is this person's name? I'd love to meet him if possible and get his side of the story,” replied Isca as she took a photo of the Spire.

That would be problematic. Not only for Reed but also the man in question for a variety of reasons. He could not be allowed to be distracted from the important work he had been given, not even for Reed's sake.

In any case, Reed preferred not to personally involve anyone in this matter of his. He'd already asked enough of them as it was; to take their privacy away would too great of a request.

”Unfortunately, that will not be possible. He's a man who values his privacy and I would like to respect that. Though I am sure that he would gladly let you interview him if I asked, I do not want to make him go out of his way for me any further than he already has...”

Reed paused for a moment and then said, ”You may simply refer to him as the Instructor for future reference, as that was his job during the time I was in his care.”

To Isca, the title sounded rather formal and distant for someone who was supposed to have been a role model for him, but Reed thought otherwise.

He felt it fit the man perfectly. He was a man who had dedicated himself to caring for wayward idiots like him, above all else. There were likely entire generations that owed their lives to the guidance he had offered them in their youth.

When Isca heard this, she suggested changing his title to ”the Educator”, but Reed rejected the idea, for he was a military man and his methods of teaching were not pedestrian in nature.

”The Instructor was a stickler for the rules and the patron saint of discipline in the Spire— ah, the tower. I, in particular, had a very tumultuous relationship with him since I was sort of a special case, but even so, the man never gave up on me. And for that, I owe him my life.”

The more Reed spoke about the Instructor and his memories at the Spire, the more she saw heard him grow more spirited, and even occasionally flash a smile or two.

.....Hm? What was he talking about? Ah, I spaced out again.

Thankfully, her recording drone was not prone to the same indiscretions and had faithfully done its job. The same, however, could not be said for Isca, much to her chagrin.

She feared for herself, aware she was slowly beginning to head into a dangerous trap as a writer. Under no circ.u.mstances, could she allow herself to become prejudiced in any way. Neither hate, disgust, pity, jealously, or even... love could affect her in telling the facts as they were.

If they did, it'd mean that she would no longer be qualified to do her job.

It was a vexing problem that did not have an easy solution.

But that was life in a nutshell. She would have to endure and resist, at least until the job was done. After all, the reward he had offered her was too incredible for her to fail...