——— Mira ———
Minho wasn't quite himself this morning.
Today was the day we were supposed to fight Petrocanavar, the Stone Monster.
I thought we had a pretty good strategy too. Of course, we'd never know if it'd work out the way we wanted it to in the real battle or not, but this was as good a plan as we could manage given the time constraints. After all, Petrocanavars have taken the lives of many great adventurers far more experienced and capable than any budding mages at the Academy.
"What's wrong?" I asked the Human over breakfast, drinking cheap tea and a lump of bread that felt like a rock made out of paper.
After I win the contest we'd have better breakfasts for sure…
"Nothing."
"Don't tell me you are getting cold feet."
"I… it's not quite that."
"Then what is it? I can't have you looking down like this. We have a massive battle to fight today."
He didn't respond directly but his long and heavy sigh made me even more concerned.
"Seriously, whatever the problem is, we gotta solve it now. The fight is going to be hard as is. We need to execute everything perfectly to have a chance of winning."
"Don't worry, I'll get it done."
"That's not good enough! Where's your enthusiasm?!"
Minho stopped chewing on the bread as if he was already petrified, then had a sudden outburst.
"You only need me to fight the monsters, eh? What do you care how I'm feeling?!"
"Hey, that's not what I-"
"Stop ACTING like you are concerned about ME. I'll get the job done today, OK?!"
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Leave me alone."
With that, Minho got up from his seat and headed outside.
"Hey!"
He didn't respond.
"Hey!"
He was already walking out.
Gees, what's his problem today?
It would have been a lie if I said I wasn't already worried about today's fight, despite having what I thought was a strategy that could work. But this Minho was certainly disturbed about something and that made me feel even more nervous. I needed him to perform, but also…
Forget it.
I shoved the remaining piece of bread into my pocket, grabbed my hat, and quickly followed him.
It's not like he had anywhere to go. He was just standing outside the door leaning against the wall sulking.
"Now tell me what's wrong. We will solve this problem before the fight."
I wasn't used to this role of trying to console a boy acting like an irritated child.
"You won't understand."
He spoke looking the other way, avoiding eye contact. So I moved around to follow his gaze direction. He turned his head again to look the other way, so I followed again too.
"Would you stop doing that?!" Minho, losing his temper again. Forget about being an irritated child, he was more like a grumpy old dog now.
"Fine then!"
I had no patience for this. I shot back and started to walk toward the Academy. It was a long walk.
Minho didn't follow. Disappointing. But he will give in - I told myself.
"Hey!"
Once I was about ten steps away from him, he called out to me.
If he's going to be grumpy, then so be it. I'm grumpy now too.
"Hey!"
After five more steps, he yelled again.
Fufu. The table's turned now.
Just as expected, after yet another five steps or so I heard Minho's approaching footsteps as he ran after me.
"Oh come on. Fine, I'm sorry."
He finally caught up, overtook me, stood in front of me to stop me, then apologized - panting.
"So tell me then."
"I… just had a bad dream."
"Eh?"
"That's it. I just had a bad dream."
What the heck… he was sulking just because he had a bad dream?
"What was it about? Did we lose the fight or something?"
"No."
"Then it can't be that bad, right?"
"Sometimes… dreams about the past are worse than nightmares about the future."
That made me think for a moment.
Nope.
I don't think I can agree.
"Listen, Miho. The past is in the past. Not even the greatest mage could turn back time. There's nothing to be scared of in the past. Whatever happened in the past, it's over, right? So let's just move on."
With that, I started to… move on.
"Easy for you to say."
He muttered and followed, catching up with me and now walking by my side.
This is more like it.
"Well, my life hasn't been absolutely perfect either. But that goes the same for everyone."
He didn't say anything.
"All I would ever worry about is the future because the future is yet to come and I have to be ready for it. And that future for us now is Petrocanavar, don't you think?"
"Wise words. For a change."
"I'm always wise."
"Pfft."
"You just laughed at my wisdom?!"
"Nah, you are right. I should… move on. The past is in the past. It's just that sometimes it's not as easy to 'move on' as you think."
"You are just lacking the willpower."
"And you just lack years of experience."
"Whatever. Just focus on what we must do today."
"Aye aye, Captain."
With that, we walked toward the Academy together, as we always do.
But glancing at my side from time to time, I couldn't help but think that this guy had some serious issues with his past that he wasn't telling me. It was obvious he was trying to act normal now, but his eyes told me that he was still deeply disturbed by whatever dream he had last night. I also didn't forget the fact that Minho was immensely affected by the Mirror of Despair. He must have seen things that were absolutely soul-destroying.
Sigh… what a downer after feeling pumped up about our plan for today.
But…
I did feel sorry for him.
I realized although we spent a lot of time together since I summoned him, I didn't know him that well. Things like what make him sulk like this, or how to cheer him up at times like this, I really had no idea.
But whatever.
It's none of my concern.
Or so I told myself.