Chapter 216:Talk.
Around midnight, the camp had fallen almost completely silent.
The patrols still walked the perimeter with measured steps, and the occasional crackle of a dying campfire drifted through the cool night air, but most contractors had long since fallen asleep.
Silver sat alone on a flat boulder overlooking the dark plains, his sword resting across his lap. His eyes, however, remained fixed on the stars.
He had accepted the possibility that Ravenna might not call him back tonight, perhaps not tomorrow either. He had told himself he would wait, whether that wait lasted days or months... It was a consequence he deserved.
"...Silver."
The soft voice behind him made him freeze. He turned around. Ravenna stood a few meters away, her white hair shimmering beneath the moonlight.
Her eyes were still slightly red; she had clearly been crying.
Silver immediately stood.
"...Are you alright?"
She looked at him for several seconds before answering.
"I don’t know."
The honesty in her voice hurt more than anger would have. She took a slow breath.
"...Can we talk?"
Silver nodded immediately.
"Of course."
They walked a short distance away from the camp until they found a large rock overlooking the open plains. Neither of them sat immediately; the silence between them felt heavy.
Eventually, Ravenna spoke.
"...I thought about leaving the moment you mentioned that you had lied to me."
Silver lowered his eyes.
"I know, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry."
"But..." She wrapped both arms around herself. "...I couldn’t bring myself to."
Silver looked up. Ravenna smiled sadly.
"I was angry at that moment. No, I still am, but every time I imagined walking away... I couldn’t picture my future anymore, especially without you in it."
Silver remained silent. She deserved to speak first.
"I kept remembering everything we’ve been through together; the meals, the training, the stupid flowers, the way you always stood between me and danger, and the way you listened whenever I talked about my mother."
Her voice trembled.
"I couldn’t convince myself any of that was fake; I tried..."
"It wasn’t," Silver answered quietly. "None of it."
"I know." She nodded. "That’s why this hurts so much."
Silver accepted those words without trying to defend himself.
"I should have told you sooner."
"You should have; it feels shitty. I know, I know you have given me legitimate reason, but I can’t get rid of this voice in my head telling me: what if he does this again? Can you really trust him? I don’t even know anymore."
Her voice was slowly starting to rise without her realising.
"I don’t know how, I just was afraid."
"I know." She sighed. "I understand why you were scared...That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less. I feel like I’m getting angry over something so trivial, but I don’t know... it’s... it sucks."
Silver gave a small nod.
"I understand, you have every right to be angry at me."
Silence returned. This time, it wasn’t as suffocating. After a while, Silver drew another slow breath.
"...There’s still something else."
Ravenna looked at him.
"...There’s more?"
He smiled weakly.
"I’m afraid so."
She almost laughed.
"I don’t know if that’s comforting or terrifying."
"...Probably terrifying."
She folded her arms.
"Then tell me everything, no more secrets. No more. This is your last chance. Let’s just get everything over with; your face is pale right now."
Silver looked toward the stars.
"...The System isn’t the strangest thing about me."
Ravenna waited.
"I..." He hesitated. "...I’m not originally from this world."
She blinked.
"...say what now?"
"I lived another life, a completely different world, and I died there."
Ravenna stared at him as though he was crazy.
"...This is ... unbelievable... the system then you’re from another world, are you an alien or something?" he shook his head," okay, go on, explain. I don’t think anything can shock me more than this... good lord."
Silver nodded, while trying to hide his smile.
"In my previous world... There were no beast cores, Contractors, and monsters. People lived ordinary lives, there were wars... But nothing like this. Just a normal safe world"
He smiled faintly.
"I was a soldier."
Ravenna listened quietly.
"I enlisted when I was young. It wasn’t an easy life, but it was the one I chose. I had just been at home for my leave and was planning to return that day..."
His eyes became distant.
"I remember the day I died. It was... ordinary. I went to a convenience store to buy something to eat but encountered an amateur hostile situation. They were robbing the place and took everyone hostage."
Ravenna unconsciously held her breath.
"I could have stayed down; I probably should have. But..."
He laughed bitterly.
"Old habits don’t disappear. A child didn’t listen to the order and spooked the thief. He shot."
"I managed to stop the bullet, but as you can see...."
He touched the center of his chest. Ravenna’s expression softened. Silver looked up at the night sky.
"I remember lying on the floor and just being happy that they had survived, and then... Everything went dark. When I opened my eyes again... I was here in this world."
Ravenna remained speechless.
"I thought I had gone insane; who wouldn’t? This was only something I heard about in passing; I never thought it would happen to me. What are the odds? I spent time trying to understand what had happened, then... I realized something impossible."
He looked at her.
"I knew this world, because... I had read about it."
Her eyebrows slowly drew together.
"...Read?"
"In my previous world, this world existed as a story... A novel, a famous one at that."
The words hung in the air.
Ravenna whispered, "This. must be some kind of prank because..A novel? "
Silver nodded slowly.
"I know how ridiculous that sounds, but it’s the truth, you’ve got to believe me. I wouldn’t make up something so unhinged."
She searched his face. He wasn’t joking.
"...So... everything was already written?"
"It was, or at least... It was."
She frowned.
"What changed?"
"I did," Silver answered immediately. "I refused to follow the original story."
Ravenna looked at him without speaking.
He continued.
"The Silver Ruddington of the original story... wasn’t me. He shared my face and my name but nothing else. You already know his reputation just from the horrid rumours. He became a third-rate villain, a stepping stone for the protagonist."
Ravenna quietly listened.
"He died without accomplishing anything. He never changed or became stronger. He was simply... someone destined to lose."
Silver smiled bitterly.
"When I woke up in his body... I decided that wouldn’t be my future."
Ravenna slowly lowered her eyes.
"...What about me?"
Silver had expected that question. He took a long breath.
"In the original story...Silver was too obsessed with Cruella."
She looked up again.
"Us meeting never happened; we remained strangers."
Ravenna’s heart sank.
"What happened?"
Silver continued gently.
"Eventually... you met Dillian."
She nodded slowly.
"What! The same Dillian? That’s impossible. It... it doesn’t make sense. Why would I... aaargh... we’re going off topic. So what’s Dillian got to do with anything?"
"He’s the protagonist of this world. Unfortunately, you really joined his team, travelled with him, and trusted him. I’m actually trying to figure out why you would follow him."
"I know, right? It’s ridiculous. I would never. He’s nice and all, but we just don’t rhyme."
Silver nodded.
"I think it would be better if it stayed mysterious."
Ravenna nodded, then frowned.
"So what happened? ...Did he betray me or something? Or did I have a good life?"
Silver shook his head.
"No. Dillian didn’t; he genuinely tried to protect everyone around him, then..." Silver’s voice grew quieter. "...The research station happened."
Ravenna’s breathing stopped.
"You died there."
Complete silence. She stared at him.
"...I..." Silver continued before she could ask. "Cruella killed you."
Ravenna’s pupils contracted.
"...That fucking bitch... I should have just killed her, civility be damned. God, I feel so angry at myself right now."
Silver nodded.
"Maybe next time. In the original story... She manipulated the situation. You died before leaving the research station. There wasn’t even enough time..." He paused. "...for people to understand what had happened."
Ravenna instinctively touched her own chest. A strange chill ran through her body.
"...I..."
She remembered the station and everything that had happened. Without Silver, would she really...
Silver quietly said, "That was why I wanted to find the station before anyone else. That was why I kept changing things. That was why I was so determined to become stronger."
"I wasn’t trying to control your life. I was trying..." His voice cracked slightly. "...to make sure you lived. That was what occupied my mind half of the time. What if I couldn’t save you, or the plot changes too much, then what?"
Ravenna slowly closed her eyes, everything suddenly connecting. His strange urgency, decisions, insistence on taking certain routes, and willingness to risk everything.
None of it had been random. He had been fighting against a future only he knew of.