I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy

50 – Nightmare 3

It’s been about a month since I met the kids.

“Hyung, how long are you planning to stay in the alley?”

The boy asked me.

The boy knew I came to the alley looking for something.

And that someday I would leave the alley.

He was a child unusually quick-witted for his age.

“………………”

“Mask Oppa, where are you going?”

The boy, as the guardian of the girl, was thinking about how to feed and sustain her when I was gone.

I silently stroked the heads of the two kids.

There was nothing I could say.

At that moment, I felt so weak and powerless.

Surviving each day was tough.

My meager savings were all I had to offer the kids – food and warm clothes.

Once again, time flowed swiftly. Within the rapid passage of time, there was nothing I could do.

“Mask Oppa, what’s your dream?”

While eating the bread I handed her, the girl spoke innocently.

“Not really.”

I spoke as I stroked the child.

At that time, dreams were a luxury to me.

I had goals, not dreams.

To somehow get into Croa Academy and prevent Johanna’s death.

I never thought about entering the special class.

Enter any class, use information to prevent incidents as much as possible.

That was my goal.

Sneak around. Sneak around.

The girl glanced around, confirmed there were no boys, and gestured for me to lean down.

I lowered my head, and the girl whispered in my ear.

“It’s a secret from my brother, but I’ll tell you specially. I want to go to school.”

“What do you want to do there?”

I said to the child in a blunt voice.

“Just want to learn letters, make friends, eat delicious things, and most importantly, learn sacred power to help many people.”

The child didn’t think that just imagining it could wipe the happy smile off her face.

Pitter-patter.

“Oh! It seems my brother is already here!”

The girl recognized her brother just by the sound of footsteps.

“Oh, right,” the girl said.

“It’s a secret from my oppa.”

The girl said that and extended her index finger to her lips.

“Why?”

“hehehe, just because!”

With that, the girl ran to the opposite side from the boy.

“What were you talking about?”

The boy approached me and asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and opened my mouth.

“It’s nothing.”

The characteristics of a clown were swallowing me up.

“What’s your dream?”

Just now, I asked the girl about her dream, and now I asked the boy.

The boy didn’t expect me to ask such a question, pursed his lips, and remained silent.

It didn’t take long for him to open his mouth.

“I don’t think I have a dream.”

Oh, right, he said.

“Well, if I were to call it a dream, it would be to protect my younger sister.”

The girl’s dream was to help people.

The boy’s dream was to protect that girl.

No matter how dirty a place is, flowers bloom brightly.

Two flowers were preparing to bloom in the back alley.

My hand ruffled the hair of a boy.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll come home a little later. If anything dangerous happens, take care of your sister and run away as far as possible.”

As I finished speaking, events quickly unfolded. It was my dream, but I had no control over anything.

“Hyung, recently some priests have been giving out food in the back alley.”

I wanted to close my eyes and ears.

But I couldn’t control my body.

“Is that so?”

“The priest asked us yesterday. He said it’s a simple task and offered money. It’s a good idea to go, right?”

Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!

No matter how many times I screamed in my mind, my words didn’t reach the child.

Knowing everything that would happen in the future, but being unable to do anything and just watching.

That’s why I called this dream a nightmare.

“If it’s a priest, it should be fine.”

My body said to the child in a blunt voice.

Ah, I loathed myself for saying such things.

I wanted to tear my own mouth apart.

But I could do nothing.

And once again, all time except for me quickly passed. Selfishly, I wanted to escape from this dream.

Even though I knew it was a dream, I couldn’t escape from it.

It was my dream and my nightmare, but there was nothing I could do about it.

To escape this dream, all I could do was watch the end of this story unfold.

“Buy some delicious fruit!”

This time, the place where my body existed was not a back alley but a market where merchants sold goods.

My hand retrieved money from my pocket.

“With this, I can probably live in the back alley.”

This money was enough for the kids to come out of the back alley and settle in an ordinary village.

With this money, a girl could go to school.

With this money, a boy could protect his younger sibling.

“Should I buy something on the way?”

I thought of a girl without any common accessories.

My body headed towards a store with various accessories.

Not wanting to stand out, I created any face with my imagination and covered it.

“Looking for something?”

“Please give me an accessory suitable for a girl.”

“Is it a gift for your little sister?”

Upon hearing the shopkeeper’s words, I hesitated for a moment.

“……. Yes.”

“Oh my! Such a thoughtful big brother. How about this bracelet?”

“…Please give me that one.”

I recalled a boy who cherished an old sword like a treasure.

This time, my body headed towards the weapons shop.

“Do you have something you’re looking for?”

“A small sword that a boy could use.”

“A boy, huh? A short sword would be decent for a child. Is it for your younger brother?”

“…Yes.”

“You’re a good brother! I’ll find a special one for you.”

With a dagger and a bracelet in hand, I headed towards the back alley.

“Did you hear? The priest’s carriage, coming this way, got into an accident three days ago. All the priests inside died.”

“When did this happen?”

“Three days ago. But the more important issue is that the bodies of the priests have all disappeared!”

My body, holding the dagger and bracelet, trembled miserably.

The priests died three days ago.

The day the priests came to the alley was two days ago.

My body ran.

I sprinted.

“No, it can’t be, it mustn’t be.”

I was too complacent.

“Why, why?”

I was too arrogant.

“The Necromancer’s activities are probably still a long way off!”

I trusted the information in the game too much.

My body entered an alley.

I hadn’t stopped running yet.

I always rushed to the place where I talked with the kids. The kids didn’t exist.

Usually, if I waited here, the kids would come.

My mouth opened to call the kids’ names.

“…………………”

But I couldn’t say anything.

It was only now that I realized.

I still don’t know the names of the kids.

It was me, but I was truly disgusted with myself like this.

I dislike the characteristics of a clown. I dislike seeming shallow. I don’t want to lose myself.

For such petty reasons, I didn’t even ask for the names of the kids.

In the end, helping the kids was just filling my own pathetic pride.

But the real nightmare started now.

.

.

.

“Yohanna, go to the academy first.”

The voice speaking to oneself was not the usual bright and gentle tone but a cold one.

“Um…”

Although she tried to say something to Loki, she couldn’t utter a word.

Pitter-patter.

Loki, who was heading towards the door, suddenly turned around.

And he walked towards the trembling woman.

“P-please, spare me.”

Swoosh, swoosh.

As Loki made a vague gesture, the woman was bound by a thread.

“Kek! Keheg!”

The thread tightened around the woman’s body and neck.

Loki tied up the woman and rushed out of the house.

Ignoring the woman, Johanna followed Loki.

Although Loki had told her to go to the academy first, she couldn’t possibly go ahead.

Swoosh, swoosh.

“What’s, what’s happening!”

“What just passed by?”

There were many people, making it difficult to pass, but Loki skillfully maneuvered through the crowd, running.

‘Where on earth is he going?’

Johanna didn’t know where Loki was going, but she followed him for now.

There was no dazzling movement like Loki’s that could navigate through the crowd like a phantom.

Swoosh!

Nevertheless, Johanna chased after Loki.

She simply pursued Loki with overwhelming speed.

Pause.

When there were many people, she paused and then resumed running.

Although Johanna was originally much faster than Loki, the distance did not narrow. No, it was widening.

‘Not good.’

Afraid of losing Loki, she increased her speed even more.

Bang!

Even with the increased speed, the distance didn’t close. She enhanced her body with mana, leaped onto the roof, and raced across.

At this moment, Loki seemed extremely uneasy.

To others, he appeared as if he had surrendered to anger.

But to Johanna, it was different.

Loki seemed as if he were terrified, not of an enemy.

It looked like he was afraid of something unfolding.

Of course, it was all speculation.

His expression was invisible behind the mask.

So far, there had been few instances where she wanted to see the inside of a mask.

However, right now, I really wanted to see the inside of the mask.