In the dormitory room where only a faint moonlight streamed through the window, I found myself wide awake even though I had just suddenly woken up in the middle of the night. It was as if I had just opened my eyes after falling into deep thought.
“What a ridiculous dream.”
I couldn’t remember the details clearly, but I distinctly felt that I had had some unpleasant dream. It was vague enough not to be called a nightmare, yet just inappropriate enough to be considered a silly dream. However, the reason I couldn’t dismiss it was that the content of that dream, even if I didn’t remember it, felt strangely familiar and, for some reason, very important.
Hasn’t it happened before? You wake up and try to recall a dream, but can’t remember a single detail, only to feel the lingering atmosphere of the dream all over your body.
That was exactly how I felt at that moment.
“Ugh…”
With a sticky feeling, I opened my eyes, and at that moment, a small groan accompanied by a shift in weight on my body disrupted my thoughts.
When I cautiously lifted my head to investigate, I found two legs pressing down on me from my stomach.
Well, judging by the way she was sleeping, I didn’t even need to see her face to know who those legs belonged to. Yet, I still turned my gaze.
She lay completely horizontally across the bed, her head hanging over the side so that it looked uncomfortably twisted, making me feel a twinge of pain just by seeing it.
“This is why I dream silly dreams.”
Being pressed by Anne’s two legs must have made me feel suffocated and caused that odd dream.
I shoved Anne’s legs off my stomach and adjusted her into a proper sleeping position.
Normally, Anne’s place was the top bunk of the opposite bed. It was a spot she chose herself, insisting that she liked the upper bunk like a child.
While it wasn’t impossible to move her, it was far too troublesome, so I just made do with laying her down properly on my bed.
I considered going to sleep on Anne’s empty bed, but that too seemed like a hassle, so I abandoned the thought.
Just for reference, my place was, of course, the lower bunk, as if Anne had crawled into it, with Yuli’s bed right above mine.
Selian occupied the lower bunk of the opposite bed, with Anne’s space directly above it.
And in between the upper bunk, there was Linne, the ghost, peacefully sleeping in her hammock.
Because of the way things were, there were times when Yuli and Anne would crawl into my lower bunk instead of going up to the upper bunk after returning from the restroom, intoxicated by sleep at night. In Selian’s case, she sometimes mistakenly crawled into my bed in a daze, confused about the positions of the beds.
Since at least one person tended to crawl into my bed about once a week, I was initially shocked awake several times, but I eventually got used to it and simply accepted it when I woke up in the morning.
After laying Anne down beside me, I also tried to lie back down and get some sleep, but whether it was because of the dream or the effort of moving Anne, sleep eluded me.
After lying there with my eyes closed for a while and counting sheep without falling asleep, I finally got up from my spot.
I carefully slipped off the bed to avoid disturbing Anne and took a seat at the table in front of the window, grabbing the Holy Sword I had leaned against my bed.
Given the hour and the moonlight coming through the window, it made me feel quite sentimental.
Though I had attributed the blame to Anne, there seemed to be an increase in my silly dreams recently.
Again, I couldn’t remember any details from the dreams.
Even deeply buried instincts within me urged to recall the dreams, yet they also warned against thinking of them.
What a contradiction!
This is precisely why I treated my dreams as silly dreams.
The Holy Sword seemed to resonate softly, as if worrying about the pitiful sight of me sitting awake and staring at the moon.
“Mmm… El…? What are you doing awake?”
Yet even the soft sound of the Holy Sword made Selian wake up.
Usually, she would have simply fallen back asleep out of fatigue, but seeing my figure illuminated by the moonlight, she began to speak.
“Oh, nothing. I just couldn’t sleep, so I was sitting here. Don’t mind me, just go back to sleep.”
Nevertheless, Selian rubbed her eyes and got up from her spot to sit across from me, ignoring my suggestion.
She yawned delicately while covering her mouth with her hand, and even that scene seemed incredibly graceful.
“Why are you awake? You must be tired. Just go back to sleep.”
“It’s fine, really. More than that, what are you doing, Selian? It doesn’t seem like you merely woke up out of nowhere.”
I thought I had been sitting there expressionless, but it seemed my face had betrayed me.
“Well, it’s nothing serious… Just had a bit of a restless dream.”
“A dream? What kind of dream?”
“To be honest, I’m not even sure if it was because of a dream or not. I can’t remember a single detail to call it a dream. It feels like it was important somehow, but…”
“You’ve probably been running around too much lately, especially with the Celestial Festival coming up. You should try to make an effort to sleep, even if it’s forced.”
It was true; as the Celestial Festival approached, my schedule had been getting busier.
But,
“Regardless of how busy I am, I can’t compare to you, a hero, Selian.”
How much can a guy like me really participate in the Celestial Festival?
It was the Celestial Festival for the Goddess, and Selian, the hero, would bear the brunt of it.
However, despite my concern, Selian just stared at me with a serious expression and didn’t respond.
Her usual bright smile was replaced with a cold expression, not offering any words in reply.
I finally realized my slip of the tongue.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t think so; it seems you are actually tired. I really made an embarrassing comment.”
To tease Selian was one thing, but to mention the hero in front of her?
What a ridiculous mistake to make!
It was only natural for Selian, who had lived her life as a candidate for the hero and lost her chance in front of her eyes, to react seriously.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Though she told me not to worry, I couldn’t help but feel concerned.
In the stillness of the night, the silence that hung between us felt particularly uncomfortable.
The embarrassment was so intense that it evaporated whatever little drowsiness I had left.
I seriously began to wonder if I had gone mad for speaking those words, unable to fathom what had triggered my slip-up.
“…You mentioned you had a problem with the dream just now?”
I couldn’t say how much time had passed, but thankfully, Selian broke the awkward silence by speaking up.
“Ah, yeah, that’s right.”
I quickly responded, fearing I might miss the chance she was giving me.
I hadn’t particularly claimed it was a problem, but I didn’t want to risk the conversation being cut off by playing it coy.
If I missed this opportunity, I would have to endure that maddening silence again.
It would be all too obvious that things would become awkward between me and Selian again.
“If you can’t remember, there’s no need to force yourself to recall it, right? If it were truly important, it would have stuck in your memory.”
Not every dream fades from memory upon waking; truly impactful dreams remain in your mind for days.
Therefore, dreams like the silly ones I’ve been having lately probably aren’t that significant or memorable.
“After all, not knowing can sometimes be better.”
“…That’s true.”
“So, just leave the dream as it is. What’s important is the present that we are living in now.”
For something that started from a dream, it was surprisingly serious advice.
“Still, if you remember even a little about that dream, you must tell me first, okay? Understood?”
“I got it. I’ll tell you first, Selian. But you mustn’t dismiss it as a boring story later, alright?”
“…That won’t happen.”
True. Selian always listened to my stories, even the most mundane remarks I made.
Her assurance that she wouldn’t dismiss it must have been sincere.
“Well, let’s leave that topic for now. If you want to stay awake during class, you should sleep now. Selian, hurry and lay down too.”
Since I might risk blurting something else out if we continued to talk, I decided to rise from my seat.
“Should we?”
Fortunately, Selian stood up without suspicion and headed toward her bed.
I also went to the bed, rolled Anne, who was sleeping peacefully, toward the wall, and lay down beside her.
Unlike Selian, who woke up alertly from the Holy Sword’s gentle resonance, Anne showed no signs of waking up even though I treated her roughly, truly embodying her character.
Seeing Anne’s carefree state made me feel that my earlier concerns were trivial, prompting a slight chuckle.
And with that, I managed to fall back asleep, not dreaming any silly dreams.
