Confession

The loop really did restart... Lumian was not surprised at all by Aurora's answer.

So far, this was the third loop he could remember. Combining his own experiences with the mysterious lady's hints, he had arrived at a preliminary summary:

"The time limit of the loop is the twelfth night;

"The spatial limit of the loop is Cordou Village and the surrounding area;

"The restriction on people in the loop is that the Parish Priest cannot be killed.

"These are the three key points of the loop..."

At this thought, Lumian looked at Aurora and asked pensively, "Big sis, if you were writing a novel about a time loop, where would you put the key to breaking it?"

"Asking a question like that out of nowhere, and being so sweet about calling me big sis..." Aurora looked Lumian up and down suspiciously. "Have you thought of a new story to fool people with?"

"Something like that," Lumian answered sincerely.

Aurora frowned slightly and thought for a while before saying, "From a novelist's perspective, or just from the perspective of normal logic, the most crucial part of a loop would definitely be the final scene. It's both the end of the current loop and the prologue to the next one-the clasp that fastens the ending to the beginning. Without it, there would be no way to turn time's straight line into a closed circle.

"Think about it. If you trace the loops backward, there must have been a first one. Something must have happened at the very last moment to make time restart."

The twelfth night? Lumian agreed with his sister's conjecture. He nodded, then asked, "Then why can't the most crucial part be the first day of the loop? You still have to ask why the loop starts at that particular point, right?"

Aurora smiled. "Making up a short story to fool a few people for a while is your strong suit, but you're out of your depth when it comes to something that requires rigorous logic and extensive knowledge.

"The first day of the loop might only be the first day because the power-or energy-causing the loop can only reach that far back from the last day. It's like how the loop probably covers a particular place rather than the entire world. It's not a matter of not wanting to, but of not being able to."

Lumian had actually considered that. He had simply thought his knowledgeable, well-traveled sister might come up with a different answer.

After some thought, Aurora added, "If the loop isn't a completely closed circle, and there's still interaction between the inside and the outside-for example, information can get out, or outsiders can enter but can't leave-then perhaps the first day is counted from the day the outsiders happen to enter. That would prevent them from having no 'place' when the loop restarts. Of course, you could also force the outsiders to start doing things on the first day that they originally only did later. There are all sorts of ways to write a story like that."

Lumian's eyes lit up as he listened. He wanted to praise his sister loudly.

He suspected that Lya, Ryan, and Valentine's arrival was what had caused the loop to begin on the afternoon of March 29.

If that was true, the twelfth night might already have become the tenth or ninth night. Of course, it might originally have been the thirteenth night, shortened to the twelfth by the outsiders' "intrusion."

These were all possibilities that Lumian needed to verify himself.

He fully agreed with his sister's reasoning just now and believed that something must have happened on the "twelfth night" to create the loop. Only by finding out what had happened then could he hope to discover the key to breaking it.

Therefore, Lumian decided to avoid triggering any abnormalities during this loop as much as possible. He would also find an excuse not to join the Blessing Procession during the Lent Festival and stay "on his best behavior" until the twelfth night.

But he could not simply do nothing. There was not enough time.

Unless Lumian broke the loop after experiencing the twelfth night this time, he would have to race against time in the next loop.

A complete loop lasted a full twelve days. Once this loop ended, the likelihood of the outside world discovering something abnormal in Cordou Village would rise sharply. Lumian would have, at most, one complete loop left to resolve the problem-perhaps even less.

And to stop the abnormality within a single loop, he needed enough intelligence and a thorough understanding of the entire village.

I have to investigate the problem without setting off the abnormalities... Lumian could not help mocking himself inwardly:

How is that any different from a clown walking a tightrope along the edge of a cliff?

Trying to have it both ways is hardly a good thing.

Seeing him remain silent for several seconds, apparently already making up his story, Aurora waved a hand and said, "I almost forgot to make dinner!"

"Wait." Lumian looked at Aurora with a grave, solemn expression.

Aurora immediately clicked her tongue.

"I smell a prank."

Lumian said bluntly, "Aurora-uh, big sis-we're actually already trapped in a loop."

"Ha! You've only just learned about it, and now you're trying it on your own sister?" Aurora was both annoyed and amused.

Sometimes, a person really does need a little credibility... While silently lamenting this, Lumian smiled and said, "Could you at least hear out this story I've made up?

"Maybe give it a score while you're at it?"

Aurora glanced at the still-bright sky outside the window.

"All right."

Lumian began with his encounter with Lya and the other outsiders. In broad strokes, he described how he had remained lucid in his dreams, entered a peculiar set of ruins, hunted monsters, obtained a Beyonder Characteristic, and become a Hunter.

He did not conceal the thorny ring symbol that locked his chest, as it might be crucial to the time loop-he had seen the same symbol on the Parish Priest, and killing the Parish Priest had caused time to restart prematurely.

Aurora had been smiling at first, finding her brother's story particularly imaginative this time. But as she listened, her expression grew serious. Much of this knowledge should have been beyond Lumian's reach.

When Lumian said that he had already become a Beyonder, she finally moved, raising her right hand and pressing her temples.

Her pale blue eyes immediately grew deep and dark, but reflected no figures.

She studied Lumian for a while, then nodded gently. "Your Ether Body has changed enormously. Your life energy and physical state are both far beyond those of an ordinary person.

"Your Astral Body has changed somewhat, but not much...

"So you really are a Hunter, better at close combat than spellcasting...

"I can't make out that symbol or the changes associated with it, and I don't dare look any deeper..."

At this point, Aurora puffed out her cheeks and asked, still somewhat doubtful,

"You didn't make up this outrageous story just to get me to accept that you've become a Beyonder, did you?"

That would have been typical of Lumian.

Lumian did not try to explain. Instead, he went straight into the mystical knowledge the lady had imparted to him.

Of course, he only briefly mentioned the names, without explaining the details.

This was not because he was so moral or principled that he would refuse to tell even his sister without the lady's permission. Rather, the lady was clearly very powerful. If he leaked precious knowledge and angered her, that might resolve the time loop, but he would certainly be dead.

"The indestructibility law... the Law of Convergence... the acting method..." Aurora was utterly stunned.

Her brother, who knew nothing about mysticism, had actually acquired this immensely precious knowledge!

It had been more than five full years since she became a Beyonder. At first, she had relied on Emperor Roselle's diary, then joined that organization. Together with her pathway's symbolism of general knowledge in mysticism, which meant knowledge pursued her from time to time, this had allowed her to learn the acting method, the law of the indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics, and the law of conservation of Beyonder Characteristics-the three cornerstones of the supernatural world. She therefore considered herself a Beyonder with limited experience but extensive knowledge, leagues ahead of most of her peers.

Yet now, her brother, who had never had any contact with mysticism, could actually speak of these things, as well as the convergence law of Beyonder Characteristics, which even she did not know!

That ruled out the possibility that Lumian had secretly read her Witchcraft Notes.

As a Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway, Aurora suppressed her desire to learn the details of the Law of Convergence and looked at her brother, asking in confusion, astonishment, and concern, "What exactly did you give in exchange for that lady teaching you all this?"

Even the potion formula was given to him for free!

She scrutinized Lumian again, from head to toe and back up, trying to discover just what was missing from him.

"Nothing at all." Lumian gave a self-mocking smile. "That's what makes it terrifying. I have no idea what price I'll have to pay in the future. Hmm, I suspect it has something to do with the symbol on my chest and those Dream Ruins. That lady probably wants me to unravel their secrets."

Aurora murmured in acknowledgment.

"Go on."

She waited for the rest of his "story" with a thoroughly serious attitude.

Lumian told her about the owl, the strange events during the Lent Festival, their experiences in the second loop, and how the loop had immediately restarted as soon as they tried to leave Cordou Village.

After listening attentively to everything, Aurora murmured incredulously, "Either you hypnotized me and made me tell you everything, or time really is looping..."

She began to believe Lumian because she had named the Brooch of Integrity herself and had never recorded that name anywhere. Unless she had told her brother personally, Lumian could not possibly have known it, yet she had no memory of doing so.

Lumian pressed his advantage.

"I can also predict that those three outsiders will show up at the Old Tavern tonight, that the Parish Priest is having an affair with Madame Pualis tonight, and that the Shepherd Pierre Berri has already returned to the village, bringing three sheep that all have something wrong with them..."

Aurora's expression grew increasingly grave as she listened. After a long while, she said, "Those three outsiders entered the village this afternoon, while you and I were practicing combat. Afterward, you rested and never went out.

"Hmm, during this afternoon's combat lesson, you were still an ordinary person..."

She accepted Lumian's claim that time was looping.

With anyone else, Lumian would have felt compelled to grin and say, "You believed it! You believed it! You actually believed such an outrageous story!" But with Aurora, he exercised considerable restraint.

He immediately suggested,

"I'll go around the village now and see if I can gather more information."

Aurora nodded.

"I'll also use my 'eyes' to look around, but that has serious limitations and is very dangerous. I'm not sure I'll find anything."

Lumian waved to show he understood, then headed for the door.

After a few steps, he looked back at Aurora standing in the kitchen. Suddenly, he recalled the image of her pushing him to safety amid countless undead, and an inexplicable pang of separation welled up inside him.

Without thinking, he asked, "Big sis, why did you adopt me back then?"

Aurora answered irritably, "I didn't want to!

"I was just being kind and giving you some food, but then you kept following me. I couldn't get rid of you, and you were so well-behaved, helping me with this and that. I softened for a moment and... who knew you'd turn out like this!

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me, a teenage girl, to look after a child like you?"

After hearing Aurora's answer, Lumian wanted to thank her and offer a word of praise, but the words stuck in his throat, as though they were about to surge into his eyes and nose instead.

He turned away and walked toward the village.