Chapter 179: Ch 179: New Beginnings - Part 4

Noah tried to move, but his body refused to listen to him. The familiar warmth of Erin’s presence was wrapped around him, yet something about it felt completely wrong, as if his memories had taken the shape of a nightmare and were now trying to punish him for surviving.

"I... I didn’t..."

His voice came out as nothing more than a whisper, and Erin’s arms tightened around him.

"You did, Noah. You knew I was going to die, and you still let me go. You knew this was going to happen as well—"

"No!"

Noah finally managed to scream, and the dream around him shook violently. The faceless people stopped moving, while the blue figure draped behind him finally decided to let him go. He also stepped back before he started to fade away.

That made Noah feel like he had made a mistake, and he turned around, trying to stop Erin from leaving.

"Are you sure? Did you truly have no idea...?"

For one brief moment, Noah thought he saw Bluey’s form overlapping one of the figures in the distance.

Then the figure vanished.

Erin’s body also disappeared from behind him, leaving Noah standing alone in the middle of the empty field.

"No... wait... Erin, don’t go... wait for me..."

He desperately reached out, but there was nothing there for him to hold.

The dream shattered around him, causing Noah to feel intense pain in his chest.

Noah woke up with a gasp, his entire body covered in cold sweat. His hand immediately went towards his neck, searching for the place where Erin had touched him in his sleep, and the warmth was there.

So was the mark that the heat had created on his neck.

It was there... but it was likely a psychological phenomenon where he had inflicted this wound on himself.

’But it’s fine. Even if I did make this mark, it is a reminder of what happened and what I lost. I need to cherish it.’

The warmth of it calmed him slightly, but the guilt remained.

Noah slowly sat up and looked towards the window. The sun had not risen yet, and the village outside was still completely silent.

"I didn’t let you die..."

He whispered, almost as if he needed to convince himself.

"You chose to die for me. It’s different..."

But even after saying those words, Noah could not shake the feeling that somewhere deep inside his heart, he still blamed himself.

The moon outside was beautiful and full, letting its light shine over the village and Noah. He looked out as well, wondering if he should chase the huge moon in the night sky.

He wanted to chase after it so badly, but his body was starting to hurt.

"Ugh, the pain is back. I better take some medicine and head back to sleep."

The small bottle of pills rested on his table, and the label clearly said not to take more than one in a single night.

But Noah ignored the warning and took five at the same time. He wanted these pills to knock him out to the point where he wouldn’t even be able to dream. And the medicine worked, causing his body to finally relax.

It was going to be another night of restlessness, but if he was lucky, it could be a pleasant dream...

Not that he deserved to get one after all that had happened.

...

Living on the outskirts of a backward village was not bad. It was a calm space where dungeons or monsters hardly ever showed up. And when they did, they were swiftly taken care of by the local enforcers.

It became even easier to deal with these monsters once the espers were discovered and trained in their powers by the people of the other villages.

Noah usually kept himself out of all this mess, but even he felt like getting outside information once in a while.

And the best way to do that was either the local newspaper, which sometimes had a column for the outside world, or the radio that Noah had.

He did have a phone with him, but he was afraid of getting caught if he used it. So he kept it powered off at all times.

Even then, it was completely impossible to ignore all the news coming to this village, even when he tried his best. And that is how Noah ended up hearing about the academy and what happened to it after he left.

According to the newspaper, the academy had been closed temporarily after the disaster that happened, and one of their professors and students were killed. The incident had been ruled an accidental monster rampage and had not been looked into much.

But the academy was soon to be reopened, and students had already started to head back.

It made Noah curious to know what Alan and Daniel were doing. Where were they? And would they be back at the academy soon?

Noah got his wish to know more a whole week after the first news of the academy. The local newspaper had a segment on the esper-guide pair.

[A new sensation has arrived. Will the SSS-grade Esper-Guide pair be humanity’s saviours?]

The photo that accompanied the news was of Alan and Daniel, standing side by side with calm looks in their eyes. It did not seem like they were suffering or missing Noah at all.

And although it stung at first, this was definitely for the betterment of this world. This was what he had strived to make happen since the start.

Now that the moment was finally here, it was time for him to take a step back and pretend he did not know.

"Alan and Daniel must have forgotten all about it. It has already been a year since I got out of their lives. I should not have interfered in the first place. That would have been for the best—"

Not that it was going to bring Erin back or allow Noah to be free. But he still sometimes wondered—did he make the right choice?