The Unrecorded Extra

"You are not supposed to say something like that."

Ember closed the book she was currently reading. Her attention was fully on me now.

"People may think of you as part of them."

I leaned forward, putting my chin on the back of my hands.

"Who?" I said.

"People."

"Who are people, exactly?"

"Students. Professors. Instructor. Everyone."

"But, I don\'t think there will be anyone who would think of me like that. They don\'t even present right now, how would they know?" I smirked.

"It\'s not about whether or not they are present, it\'s about the potential impact of your words on others. You never know who might be listening or how your words might be interpreted."

Ember\'s eyes were fixed on me, waiting for a response.

\'I think that was the longest word she ever said.\'

I never thought she would respond to me like that. I thought that she would be more elusive and the usual few words saying.

But, I guess, her hate for the villain organization was beyond the limit.

"My point still stands. Do you think I would say this out loud in public? Also, why are you changing the subject? I\'m sure my question was what your opinion about the media that covered the incident 3 years ago, and tell me, what\'s actually happened at that time."

Ember sighed and shook her head slowly.

"I can\'t."

I frowned as I heard her. Why? For what reason she couldn\'t tell me?

"Why?"

Ember remained silent for a moment, her eyes cast downward. Finally, she looked up at me with a sad expression.

"I can\'t tell you because I don\'t remember," she said softly.

At that moment, I flinched upon seeing her face. That was the first time I saw her with a meaningful expression, did she genuinely forget the incident? Or was she lying?

I couldn\'t tell.

"What do you mean you don\'t remember?"

Ember hesitated for a moment, casting her eyes sideways.

As I watched Ember hesitate and glance sideways, I realized that it was difficult to discern whether she was genuinely unable to recall the incident or whether she was lying to me.

Despite all the knowledge I had gained from reading books on human psychology, I couldn\'t definitively say which was the case.

But well, if reading books could make anyone smart, this world would be disappeared sooner than expected.

"You must already know that after the incident, I was in a coma for a year…"

I nodded.

"When I woke up… I had lost most of my memories from before the incident. I don\'t remember what happened, or who was involved. All I know is what the media and the rumor said about me mercilessly burning the criminals."

"Hmm…"

I felt a pang of sympathy for Ember. Whether she was telling the truth or lying, losing one\'s memories was a difficult and painful experience.

What we knew about our past was coming from what people said not what we actually experienced. There was even a risk that what they said was not what actually happened.

"Sorry," I said. "I was desperate in knowing the truth about my… relative."

Words didn\'t come out of her mouth as she slowly shifted her attention back to the book. But I caught something from how her eyes and expression moved.

Her pupil was shrinking when I said those words and I noticed a small shiver on her shoulders.

When I saw that, I thought that she was actually lying to me. She probably knew about the incident but decided to keep it quiet.

\'Why would she do that?\'

Maybe, as someone who had come to rescue in the memory, maybe she knew about Zio Varrez, and she might be thinking that I was a fake one because I acted differently from the original, so she shut her mouth, was that the case?

Argh! This whole situation made me frustrated.

If she didn\'t want to tell me, then I just needed to make her do so.

We fell into a comfortable silence (for her, not me), each lost in our own thoughts.

After what seemingly long hours had passed, I packed my stuff as I returned the books. Ember too, the 8 towering book piles she brought, had completely been read all by herself in less than a day.

No matter how much I wanted to be shocked by it, I felt like my brain had already adapted and normalized those unexplained things beyond the human realm.

"Do you have time?" I asked Ember as she packed her stuff.

She had returned to her usual self. Just like usual, there was a ten seconds delay before she responded to me with a slight nod.

"Are you free after this? I want to have a training spar with you."

"Spar?"

"Yes."

***

The sun had set when Zio and Ember left the library and headed to the training center.

Even at this time, the training center was still full of students each wanting to improve themselves, their faces were determined.

But, as soon as they saw the red-head beauty walk side by side with the black-head handsome, it was as if a God had taken the spirit out of their bodies.

Ember and Zio themselves had already in their P.E. uniform, they were walking toward the private training room where Zio had his entrance exam a month ago, the room with the time manipulation artifact.

Though this time, the artifact was unactivated so they wouldn\'t benefit anything by training inside the room. It was just a normal training room now, but the good thing was that it was empty and quiet.

"Can we spar with a sword?" said Zio as he took the training wooden sword from the shelf.

Ember nodded silently as she also took out the training sword and practice swinging it.

Zio and Ember stood across from each other, swords raised in preparation for the spar.

Taking a deep breath, Zio charged forward, swinging his sword in almost perfect precision.

Ember expertly blocked his attacks, gracefully dodging and parrying each strike. The two continued their dance of swordplay, moving with fluidity and grace.

Their wooden sword clashed and echoed throughout the room.

"As expected from rank 1, you are so good with the sword."

Then, as Zio did saying that, he deliberately made a misstep, leaving himself open for a split second.

Ember saw that as an opening, she didn\'t notice that Zio was making himself misstep purposely. She swiftly struck, knocking Zio\'s sword out of his hand and tackling him.

Fell, Zio was panting heavily on the ground, there was a cunningness in his eyes yet no one could tell them.

"You\'re amazing," he said.

Zio still lying on the floor, but his eyes were locked on Ember.

"You\'re not bad too."

Ember approached Zio, she was clueless about everything that Zio was about to do.

"Can you help me get up?"

As Zio said that, he closed his eyes, looking rather in peace and serene. His right hand was raised, waiting for another helping hand.

"..."

Ember stood still for a while before extending her hand forward and taking Zio\'s hand.

"[Retrocognition]"

At that moment, Zio\'s grip tightened, making Ember flinch.

Vroooo—!

As he used his [Retrocognition], his body was in a state of trance. His soul though, was exploring the memory of his target.

"This boy…"

Ember could feel it. She could feel that Zio was surfing her vast memory database.

"How reckless."