Death Flag System: I Became An Extra From The Author Who Killed Me!
Chapter 72: Mental Counseling Session
"Cillian, I will schedule you for mental counseling sessions. Be prepared for tomorrow."
Those were the last words Cillian heard after their meeting at the table before he was sent to the hospital the very next day.
That was today.
"Haha... hahaha..."
His laugh almost sounded like a broken voice recorder that kept repeating throughout the ride. It continued to ring in Ella’s ears as she was tasked with bringing him to the most famous hospital nearby by her parents.
"Hahaha..."
Ella felt like she was about to snap until she remembered the words her parents said when they gave her this job.
-Just act normally.
Ella glanced at her Cillian, her brother, who continued to annoy her that even the carriage driver was stealing glances behind him. It was making her a bit embarrassed, but she held on as she tried to be understanding of his situation.
For now, they chose normal transportation, such as a carriage fare. Their car wasn’t allowed to be used because the magic stones used to power it were very expensive. It was only allowed in emergencies, and yesterday had been the perfect time to use it to fetch Cillian from Viola’s manor.
"Hahaha—"
"Ugh, can you please stop that?!"
Though understanding his situation only lasted a little bit over dozens of seconds, as Ella was unable to contain her annoyance any longer. She snapped and confronted her brother, who was not himself.
"This is the reason why you’re being sent to the hospital! You’re acting crazy after that incident!"
"I already told you guys I’m fine..."
"That’s what everybody says when they’re troubled in the head! Be honest!"
Seeing that annoying yet serious face of his sister, Cillian had given up convincing them.
’There’s no helping this family... They really think I’m deranged.’
Cillian thought that explaining his condition would do no good when they already viewed him as someone who needed counseling. Should he have just said he wasn’t okay, then? Wouldn’t that only make things worse?
He felt that neither choice mattered when his family had already decided what to do with him, and this was what he got.
’Talk about a worried family. Well, Ella is innocent since she’s not aware of what happened with the previous Cillian, but the parents are changing? Why? Did they feel guilty about what they did to Cillian when he was a child?’
Probably because he’s their first son, but the previous Cillian was abused and manipulated. Not abused physically, but he was beyond damaged emotionally and mentally.
After all, the moment he was born, he was pampered and trained to become someone’s lapdog.
Become close but not close enough with Fergus, serve Fergus, and follow every order coming from Fergus Viola, the next Lord of the Viola household.
It was a sickening feeling that Cillian felt from time to time. Even when they talked yesterday, Cillian felt the lingering emotions of the previous Cillian inside him.
This kind of idea was deeply etched on the previous Cillian’s mind and heart that the current one finds it hilarious.
Though Cillian mostly had control over his emotions now.
That’s why he found this treatment oddly funny.
However, they started to change when Ella was born. Their whole attitude took a turn, and they tried to ’change’ the previous Cillian, but he was already beyond help. In the end, they could only watch their broken son serve Fergus fervently, a creation they had molded with their own hands.
Cillian previewed these memories and saw the regrettable faces of his current family for doing those actions.
"Hey, are you listening?"
Cillian watched his sister’s innocent eyes, the same deep, penetrating blue, as Ella looked at her with a mix of worry and seriousness.
Then Cillian caressed Ella’s head and said calmly, very different from the way he was acting earlier.
"Yes, I’m listening. You can stop nagging me now. I’ll follow their orders, okay?"
"O-oh..."
Ella felt flustered by the sudden movement and immediately scooted to the edge of the seat, then remained quiet for the rest of the ride. Cillian smiled at her reaction and did the same, quietly observing the streets they passed.
It felt quite new to him to be interacting with a ’sister’ since he had been an only child on Earth.
’So it’s something like having a nagging yet adorable sister. That’s new.’
After an hour of riding in the carriage, the carriage driver called out to them.
"We’ve arrived at Hensel Hospital."
Ella stepped down from the carriage and paid the driver, while Cillian also got down from it, not expecting anything from this counseling session
Yet his face changed when he witnessed the Hensel Hospital directly.
’It’s...!’
A Runic Gate!
The appearance of the Runic Gate was now apparent, as it had fully manifested in the world. It was a ten-floor conjoined structure that had taken up almost all the surrounding land. It exuded an otherworldly energy that could only be felt by being near it.
What made the appearance of the Runic Gate apparent is the appearance of the runic language and another language, the Arch Language.
’I’ve seen the Runic Language because higher-tier spells require them to perform much more complicated sorcery. But Arch Language... they really do just appear in these gates.’
If the Runic Language is associated with sorcery, the Arch Language can only be found within Runic Gates scattered across the world, forming indescribable letters that researchers have tried countless times to decipher but have only managed to crack a few of them.
Two of those words was "End" and "Ruiners".
That’s right, the word Ruiners came from Runic Gates Arch Language, associating it with those who managed to get the Pieces inside.
"You look like it’s your first time seeing a Runic Gate?"
Cillian glanced sideways and started to be honest.
"I guess you can say that."
It was indeed his first time seeing one in the flesh, excluding the previous Cillian’s memories. And he was about to enter it, an infrastructure that now belonged to humans after it had been cleared.
"I really couldn’t understand you, brother."
Ella sighed before shaking her head as he added.
"Follow behind me. I’ll show you around the hospital."
"Okay."
Cillian and Ella walked through the man-made walls before finally arriving at the entrance of the Runic Gate, where an arched gateway surrounded by Arch Language could be seen and was being guarded by soldiers.
"We’ve got an appointment."
The guards checked the identification letter from Ella and verified it against the records in their minds. After successfully confirming it, they gave the go signal for them to enter the arc portal.
There was a not-so-unique feature surrounding the Runic Gate, and it followed the same pattern for every gate that appeared in the world.
The entrance will always be the exit.
If someone managed to ’clear’ the Runic Gate challenges and they wanted to leave the place, they would have to move towards the same entrance.
Cillian saw the arc gateway glowing as the arch language started to light up before his and Ella’s bodies disintegrated into nothingness. The next thing they knew, they were finally inside the Hensel Hospital.
’How funny that my first runic adventure would be in a hospital.’
Cillian laughed at himself in ridicule as he followed Ella inside to attend his very first mental session.