A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 174 Dream?
What are some songs that can make you cry as soon as you hear them?

If you come through three winters, you will bring me a city blanketed in white snow—love blossoms in the wind.

At dawn, Quinn walked down the street humming a little tune about the earth.

He observed everything, comparing it with his memories.

If time were reversed, the "day" that had not yet happened would be yesterday for him, and he could reproduce every detail he saw with his memory.

When I left home right on time, the minutes and seconds indicated 9:43:08.

Once outside, I noticed every passerby, even their facial expressions, gestures, and clothing.
Everything was exactly as I remembered.

Passing by the church of the Eternal and Time Dragon Cult, the ten o'clock bronze bells rang as scheduled. In the square gray church, Quinn saw Celia's adoptive father and the old priest, who were talking about something just as he remembered.

This time, however, Quinn's gaze didn't linger; he merely glanced at her. Perhaps the complete fusion of his thief traits had enhanced his stealth, or perhaps such a glance wasn't enough to alert him. This time, Celia's adoptive father didn't turn around, and Quinn silently passed by the Eternal Church.

Even as he hummed a song softly, no passersby paid him any attention. A thief is someone whose presence is virtually nonexistent.

At 10:15, at the entrance of Aiswell train station.

Amidst waves of people trying to strike up conversations, the girl, lost in thought under the shade of a tree, was suddenly patted on the shoulder—

"Hey."

Celia darted away like a startled rabbit, only to find Quinn had circled behind her. Forgetting her worries for a moment, she muttered discontentedly, "Mr. Quinn, is it fun to scare girls?"

"Fun."

Quinn was all smiles.

"Ugh!" she protested, raising her fist, but quickly reconciled when Quinn handed her a glass of orange juice.

My initially gloomy mood was actually relieved a lot by this commotion.

"I forgive you... Mmm." She sipped her iced drink through a straw. "It's delicious."

"You're here pretty early," Quinn repeated the conversation from his memory.

At the same time, he kept a close eye on Celia's expression.

He chose a slightly different way to appear than before the time rewind, just to observe Celia's reaction.

However, nothing seems amiss now. Celia is the least suspicious of the remaining hero suspects, since she's the only one not present at the party, and the bombardment from Grindelwald's Eye didn't affect the tavern several blocks away.

Sure enough, her reaction was just as adorable as her memory.

"Huh?" Celia stammered, "We arrived a little... a tiny bit early."

"Heh, it's only a little past ten o'clock."

"My home"

"The alarm clock is broken, isn't it?"

Celia immediately felt embarrassed and glared at him with displeasure.

“I came all this way! Early! I’ve been waiting for you—Mr. Quinn, are you satisfied now?” she asked through gritted teeth.

Quinn laughed heartily.

"Let's go to the museum. I'll teach you to play the piano."

Although the brief encounter with Quinn briefly lifted Celia's spirits, the information her adoptive father had shared with her the previous night still lingered in her mind. For a sixteen-year-old girl who considered herself ordinary, the fact that she was the rightful heir to the British throne, and even the prophesied child who was said to be able to pull out the holy sword, was too overwhelming. So overwhelming that she remained in a state of shock and confusion all night, with no time for thought or planning. The girl's life, which she had originally envisioned for a long and healthy life, was overturned.

At this moment, she had no interest in focusing on the date.

So the two walking on the street found themselves back in the state before the time rewind—

One person walked in front, while the other followed behind like a silly goose, completely out of place in the cheerful city, like a small dark cloud lingering in a clear blue sky.

Quinn counted the seconds, and perhaps because he had interrupted her, Celia did not, as he remembered, suddenly utter the awkward "The wind is so noisy today" after walking for a while.

Instead, he became increasingly depressed as he walked, as if he were completely absorbed in his own thoughts.

Quinn wondered to himself, "Could this be the so-called butterfly effect?"

If one's actions deviate even slightly from those before time rewinds, then changes will follow.

For example, Celia's adoptive father didn't notice her, and for example, her increasingly low spirits at this moment...
Since Ankua didn't have the memories of going back in time, giving him special instructions might cause problems, so Quinn told him to act normally and do what he originally planned to do, without having too much impact on the timeline.

Without a terrifying memory that can replay yesterday like a movie in reverse, it would be difficult to detect subtle changes caused by human intervention. But Quinn happens to have that.

He only needs to observe what's different today, and then carefully examine the source of the timeline discrepancies to find out who initiated the time reversal.

Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.

He needs to find this person.

But this time, it's not for the Demon King's mission.

Although he intended to act in this way, Quinn was confident that he could control the impact of small-scale timeline changes, given his experience of starting over. Therefore, he decided to try to save the girl's mood.

"Xiaoqian".

There was no response from behind.

"Xiaoqian," he called softly again.

"Hmm," Celia finally snapped out of her daze, then her beautiful eyes widened suddenly: "Huh?!?!" "Why such a big reaction?"

"Mr. Quinn, what did you call me?"

"Xiaoqian. Didn't you ask me to call you that the night before school started? Don't you like it? Never mind, it doesn't seem quite right."

"No, no, no! It's not that I dislike it, nor is it inappropriate." Her voice suddenly became shy, and the gloomy look on her face finally disappeared. "It's just that I'm a little uncomfortable."

"Then you should try to get used to it more in the future."

"So, what are you trying to say?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention at the beginning, you look beautiful today." Quinn stopped and turned to the shocked woman, saying in a serious tone, "Both your clothes and your makeup are beautiful. Well, you could wear a little lighter lipstick next time."

Celia was taken aback by this sudden praise.

After a long pause, she covered her mouth and replied, "Whoa... Mr. Quinn, what's wrong with you today?"

"Hmm? Has anything changed?"

"He talks like a scumbag who would ruin a girl's heart."

"Tsk."

Although she was hurt by the vicious words, Celia finally returned to normal, and the two of them returned to their pace in the academy—walking side by side, one on the left and one on the right, with a little distance between their shoulders.

"I've been studying dream interpretation lately."

"Oh, Teacher Ningning said that's knowledge that's taught in third grade. Ugh, even first graders have enough of that stuff."

"Have you been having any strange dreams lately?" Quinn asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Celia paused, visibly tense.

"Mengmeng, no!"

Quinn's lips twitched violently.

What's going on? That expression definitely has something there, right?

"What dream?" he then asked.

"No, no!" Celia tried to walk in front of Quinn so he couldn't see her expression. "I sleep very soundly, I don't dream."

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"I lied to you that I was a puppy."

“Then I’ll have to do a divination. Our divination professors at Grindelwald have plenty of energy and methods—”

"No !!!!"

Celia immediately became agitated and protested, "This is an invasion of students' privacy!"

"Then sign your name and write that I voluntarily attend make-up classes during the holiday."

After struggling for a long time, Celia finally gave in.

"Yes, I dreamt about my teacher."

"Which teacher?"

".you."

He ignored Celia's increasingly weak voice and hurriedly asked, "What did I do in your dream?"

“Teach me to play the piano.”

Quinn's heart skipped a beat.

He didn't doubt that Celia was a hero, but he did teach Celia to play the piano for an afternoon before the time reversal. Could it be that memories from before the time reversal appear in some people in the form of dreams?

When did this happen? Last night? What did you dream about?

Quinn spoke rapidly.

Celia gently shook her head.

She didn't sleep a wink last night, managing to get through it thanks to the strong mental fortitude of an arcanist.

But since Quinn brought up dream interpretation, let's just say it.

"Ever since I woke up from that abyss, I've frequently had the same dream, and it feels even more real than reality, so real that sometimes I wonder if I'm truly awake in the dream."

Quinn's gaze changed.

"I dreamt that we went to school together. It was a super, super big city, and we rode in a beautiful metal box car. You would teach me to play the piano in a mansion. I had parents who looked like they were from East Asia. And then..."

Celia's voice trailed off, but her eyes softened: "I dreamt that you confessed your feelings to me."

"Ta-da! Of course, it was just a dream. I didn't think that way, and," Celia glanced away, "I didn't agree in the dream either."

As if to emphasize, she repeated, "I didn't agree!"

(End of this chapter)