Finding

"You are not dead yet, are you?" at Niel's sharp question, Agate looked surprised and asked, "So you really can see me?" It was less of a question and more of an affirmation.

At that, Niel just hummed softly before moving forward while lowly muttering, " You are weird. I can't see the air of death around you, that's why I was confused." he looked at Agate and asked, "What are you?"

"I-I don't know myself." Agate sighed softly.

Niel did not pursue the matter further, instead asking, "What were you doing outside of my house?"

"I came to confirm something."

"So were you able to confirm?"

"Yeah, but it does not help."

"Hmm," Niel did not talk anymore as he strode forward, gripping his side bag tightly.

After some time, Niel stopped and looked at Agate confusedly, "Why are you following me?"

"I am not sure of my situation right now, and in here, only you can see me. Let me tag along for a while, will you? Maybe you can help me, who knows."

"Let's go, I think I know who can help you," saying that Niel, just strode further without speaking anything, and Agate just silently followed him closely. He looked at the teenager in front of him, thinking, out of everyone, why can he see me?

He looked around him, this corner of the town, he had yet to explore in the dark world, but now here he was in a state where he did not even know what was happening.

Not being able to retain his curiosity, he asked Niel, "What is this town called?"

"Simana" 

"Simana?" Agate muttered the name again. He had never heard of this town before, ever.

"Yeah, it's the border town of Anthousai." Finally, hearing a familiar name, Agate's brows quipped up, with interest, "Anthousai?"

"Yeah, Anthousai. Are you not from Anthousai? So, which place are you from, then? Basil? Marjoram? Where?"

Agate shook his head before asking, "Do you know of a place named Aisling?"

"No, I have not heard of this place. Is it far from Anthousai?"

"Yeah, quite far."

"No wonder," Niel muttered under his breath.

"What?" 

"If you are not familiar with Anthousai, why are you here?" 

"I want to know more, that's why I am asking you, aren't I?"

"Well, what's there to say. Our nation is doing quite well, as you can see, and since the rule of the current ruler, peace between us and our two neighboring nations, Basil and Marjoram, is quite good too." Hearing Niel's account, this Anthousai could not be more unfamiliar to him. How was it that this prosperous place became a haunted borderland? So, was he now in the past? But it was weird, if Anthousai was past, then why was there no record of its past in Aisling, except it being almost a forbidden tale.

Seeing him dazed in thought, Niel softly comforted him with pity, "It's okay, if your home country is not prosperous, are you not here now? If you are able to get out of this predicament, maybe you can live here?"

Agate shook his head, and with a soft smile, he looked down at Niel, who was half a head shorter than him, saying, "I need to go back."

"Oh," 

"Hmm, so where are we going right now?" 

Having familiarised themselves a little, Niel answered without much intention of keeping Agate in the dark, "My grandma's house."

"Huh?" Agate looked at Niel in confusion.

Niel, with a prideful gait, spoke to him, "She is one of the best prophets in Simana."

"You mean..."

"Yeah, like me, she can see things, and also she can calculate the past and future."