Episodes 73. Heartful Lie

I stepped out of that room and found myself facing familiar faces.

"You all? Why are you here?" I asked those who wore sad expressions.

"We were all worried about you, you idiot!" Erika, who was sitting on the hallway sofa, suddenly stood up and grabbed my collar.

"We were all terrified when suddenly your Anitya disappeared and couldn't be detected." The tears streaming down her face indicated she was dead serious.

"Anitya?"

Upon hearing her words, I immediately tried to raise my right hand.

"Please, active!"

...

The teachers who arrived, and my students, all stared into the emptiness.

My magic couldn't come out; there must be something wrong with its core.

''That person' must know the answer!' I exclaimed to myself.

"Please be patient, Mr. Rasyid, perhaps this is how it is..." Moka, sitting with her friends tried to give me strength.

"Hmm... Thanks, Moka."

I gave her a nod and a bow.

"Uh, no problem?!" (Moka)

My eyes scanned each teacher and student.

"Where is she?" I asked in the middle of the commotion.

"She? Who? Ummm... Xander?" Samuel answered my question with the wrong name.

But since he suddenly mentioned that name, it got me wondering where he was, too.

"Xander is still busy with his fiancée; maybe he'll join us soon." Samuel scratched his itchy scalp with an awkward smile.

I didn't need this information, but just hearing it made me relieved that both Anjani and Xander weren't victims at the moment.

"So, where is she? That student!" I clarified my question.

They gave me a look like 'How do we explain this?'

It seemed like something bad happened to that girl.

"If you're looking for Sophia, she's in the mental examination room. The doctors are questioning her a lot." (Bahar)

"Especially about that plane issue. How could that happen?!" The cowboy-hat guy suddenly interrogated me. Even though he has sunglasses, his glare at me can be seen.

"What do you mean?"

Right now, I had to pretend to be clueless to avoid their suspicion.

Me losing my magic alone was already a problem for my career, let alone if they knew about the CODE magic.

"About 50 planes crash towards a single point! And how this thing can be happened?!" He interrogated me.

But luckily, I still had some alibis to make them believe I didn't know anything.

"I don't know, there are many things I don't understand, like suddenly I and that woman managed to defeat the strongest mafia, Akash Singh, but then suddenly I, that woman, and my students ended up in the opposite condition..."

"In the opposite condition?" Erika raised her eyebrow after hearing that.

"Hmm (nodding).... At that time, I felt like I was under an illusion and ended up in a building."

From my observation when I said that, two people looked surprised and sweaty.

Zarbeth Paniati, she was Anitya's former researcher, and according to data from her workplace. she understood about CODE magic, and because of that, she could use all Anitya's elements except for dark and light magic.

Widodo Surya, I didn't know much about him, but from his expression after hearing that, he clearly knew what CODE magic was, but who was he really?

Zarbeth, who had been silent until now, suddenly behaved strangely.

"R-Rasyid, maybe it's better if you go see that student right away! She's in a severe trauma right now!"

This old lady was trying to hide something, but she didn't seem very good at it and ended up making her behavior obvious.

'And the stupid thing is, because she's old, she doesn't even remember me, but that's okay, I'll use that as my weapon...'

Hearing the old lady's advice and suggestion, I bid farewell to them to go where Sophia is.

"What you said might be true, then, good...(What time is it now?)" My voice trailed off as I looked at the light outside. "...night..."

There was no sun outside right now.

I felt Sophia's Anitya was nearby, but strangely, it wasn't the place the teachers meant.

TAK TAK TAK!

As I walked in front of that door, the door had the number 69 written on it, meaning it was room number 69. 

What the hell am I thinking right now?! Go away dirty though!

CRACK!

I slowly opened the door, and there wasn't a single soul lying on both beds in the room.

But as I fully opened the door, I saw a girl staring out the window.

Her trembling hands gripped the cold glass on this night, the girl in the hospital gown seemed like someone who had lost her life.

Unfortunately, Anitya will not let the girl end her life.

"Mr. Rasyid?" The girl called me. My face was clearly reflected in the glass.

"Hmm...." No words came to my mind at the moment.

Should I hold her mind like before?

No, that's not good; the effect will only damage her mental state.

"Before... Before you became a teacher at this school, I felt lonely and tried to end my life..."

She suddenly recounted her past at that time, when Fajri was still doing that to her.

"There was no one willing to help me, the only one willing was Moka, but as you know at that time... Moka betrayed me!"

"At that time, I still didn't know Moka's true identity and always relied on her, but she always gave uncertain answers..."

"The events continued, and I called my parents, but they didn't believe anything I said, they said I was strong, and no one would dare hurt me!"

The light in Sophia's eyes seemed to fade and lose their shine.

She made a crazy smile with each word.

"When there was no one I could ask for help, I finally picked up a rope and hung myself in my room..."

"But Anitya's power was too strong; even I felt pain from the strangulation of that rope."

"With all my strength, I removed the rope and fell to the ground with my head landing first..."

"Bukkk! The sound of my head hitting the ground is still vivid in my memory, how painful it was to be strangled by that rope, and how painful it was to fall with my head first..."

"I felt like the world had ended... When you first became a teacher, I immediately wanted to end that business, but the result... As you know, it was very sad, wasn't it?!"

Her laughter seemed to mock herself.

If I let her continue like this, the result would be too fatal.

..........

TAK TAK TAK!

My feet approached the girl still talking to the window.

"It's okay... Release it all! Calm your mind!" I said while stroking her hair. 

In my mind, I am trying to say "I am here with you. As long I am here, nobody gonna hurt you!" But my sanity says it is not the right time to say it. Even after that shit happen. I am not gonna thought that thing would work.

There was no one else here but us, so maybe this was the right time to calm her down, not to make her remember what just happened.

"I can't be as calm as you..." Tears flowed out so quickly. "How can I not express myself like that?"

She was getting more out of control; I had to use it as soon as possible.

But, was that good for her? If I used it, her mind would be too calm.

People would start to think Sophia was weird if that happened.

'No, there seems to be another way!'

I convinced myself firmly.

"Sophia, actually... I'm deeply depressed right now, but the difference is, I have to maintain my image... If I cry, how can I face their parents?!" (Me)

"Apologizing is not even an option for my negligence..." (Me)

"Really?" (Sophia)

"Hmm (nodding)..."

I had to calm her down somehow.

That was my mission...