Chapter 6 - Unanswered Questions

I slowly open my eyes.

The light is bright. Not too strong, but enough that I have to squint immediately. Everything is blurry.

I take a deep breath. Why does everything feel so heavy?

"What?" My voice sounds rough, foreign.

I try to sit up. A mistake. A sharp pain shoots through my body.

Then I hear footsteps. Hasty. A gasp.

"Sota!"

A warm hand grabs mine. I flinch slightly, before I realize who it is.

Mother.

My vision slowly clears. Her face comes closer. Her eyes are shining. Is she crying?

"You're awake!" Her voice trembles with relief.

I want to say something, but my mouth feels dry. My gaze wanders through the room, then to the second figure beside her.

Father.

He kneels next to me. He looks calm, but I can see something else in his eyes. Something that makes me uneasy.

"Rest." he says, his voice calm but firm.

I swallow. Something doesn't feel right.

Images flash before my eyes.

A forest. A scream. Wind that cuts through my bones.

But none of it makes sense.

"What happened?" My voice sounds strange to me.

Mother gently strokes my forehead. "It doesn't matter. You're here. That's all that matters."

Slowly, I turn my head to the side.

And then I see him.

Shiro.

My breath catches. He lies still, his arm heavily bandaged. His face is pale.

Is he?

"Shiro?!" My voice is weak.

Mother takes my hand in hers. "He's just sleeping, Sota."

I continue staring at him. Memories flash. The wolf. Blood. His scream. The wind.

My head pounds, and I feel dizzy.

"Sota" Father's voice brings me back.

His gaze is serious, his face calm, but I can feel the tension in it.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired." I murmur.

"Anything else?"

I think for a moment.

I shake my head.

He looks at me for a long time.

"Sota. Can you tell me what happened?"

My mouth opens, but I don't know what to say.

I don't really remember. Just fragments.

I want to answer, but my throat feels dry. I swallow hard. "I don't know."

Father remains silent. I can see he doesn't believe me, but I'm telling the truth.

"Try to remember."

I force myself to sort through the images in my mind. The wolf. He was in front of Shiro. Then panic. I wanted to protect him.

My head hurts. I close my eyes for a moment.

"I don't know." I say again, a little more seriously.

Father exhales slowly. But he doesn't give up.

"Shiro told me there was a wolf."

I flinch slightly.

"He says you screamed, and then the wind came."

"Sota." his voice is calm. "Where did the wind come from?"

I look down at my hands. They're trembling.

I remember the moment when the air around me spiraled. When the wind came out of nowhere and swept the wolf away.

But that can't have been me, right?

Not from me.

"I don't know."

It's the third time I've said it.

Father stays quiet. I can feel he's not satisfied, but after a long pause, he just sighs softly.

"Rest." his voice is gentle, but I know the conversation isn't over.

"We'll talk again after the doctor has come to check on you."

I do as he says. I close my eyes.

The night passes, and the clock shows 10 AM, the time the doctor was supposed to come.

There's a knock, and Mother opens the door.

The doctor enters, accompanied by the faint creak of the door. The parents have already gathered beside the bed, waiting for the verdict.

"How are they both doing?" The doctor asks in a calm but experienced voice.

I wake up to the conversation and open my eyes.

"They both woke up once" Father replies. "But Sota, he's still not really himself."

"And Shiro?" The doctor looks thoughtfully at him, still deep in sleep.

"His condition is clear. The wolf bite was severe, but he'll recover." Mother says softly.

The doctor nods, approaches my bed, and sits at my desk to examine me. He notices I'm awake.

"Well, Sota." he begins while carefully checking my pulse. "You don't have any injuries, but you were unconscious. What happened?"

I stare at the wall. "I don't really remember." I murmur.

The doctor looks at me sharply. "You're still in a very weak state. There are no external wounds, but you seem extremely exhausted. What did you do before you lost consciousness?"

I start to get nervous. A thought, an image of wind, flashes through my mind, but I don't dare speak it aloud. How do I tell the doctor I summoned a wild storm that came from my own body?

"I don't remember." I finally say, avoiding the truth.

At that moment, I hear a cough from the other side. It was Shiro.

The doctor turns his gaze to Shiro. "Good morning, Shiro. Sleep well?"

Shiro sits up and stares at me with an anxious look.

"What's wrong, Shiro? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Is Shiro afraid of me?

Shiro begins to speak. "How did you do that?!"

The doctor interrupts him. "Shiro. Don't say anything you'll regret later."

Shiro lowers his gaze. "Okay."

The doctor asks. "What exactly happened?"

Shiro answers in a trembling voice. "There was this wolf! It attacked me, and suddenly Sota screamed. A storm formed around him. A storm that swept the wolf away!"

The doctor looks shocked, as if he's finally starting to understand what happened to me.

I stare at them with wide eyes. "It was the wind. It came from me. I didn't know what I was doing. But I tried to hold the wolf back. I wanted to protect Shiro." My voice trembles.

"Wind magic." the doctor murmurs thoughtfully. "Interesting. Very interesting."

The parents look at each other confused. "Wind magic?" Father asks in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I can't explain it any other way. But it's rare for this to show up at such a young age, especially when you're not prepared for it." the doctor says, now looking more closely at me.

I look at the doctor with a mix of fear and confusion. "I thought magic didn't exist?"

I regret saying that. Could it be any more obvious?

"You know what magic is, Sota?" Father asks, bewildered. "I never told you about it!"

I've been caught, but I try to play it off. "I read a book once. It had this magic in it!"

"I'll take your word for it." Father replies, not really convinced.

The doctor is now sure. "You instinctively used your attack. In your state, without any knowledge of your abilities, it likely caused you to deplete all your mana."

I have to pretend to be clueless. They can't know that I was reborn. "Mana?" I ask.

"Yes." the doctor confirms. "The strong wind you created must have drained you so much that you collapsed."

The doctor smiles.

"It seems you have a natural gift for wind magic. It will be hard for you to control this ability without proper training. But you'll have to learn to master it when you're healthy again."

So, magic exists in this world. I can save this world without a talent for sword fighting?