Realm Lord
Chapter 133: I’m Back

Chapter 133: I’m Back

Arthur gradually regained consciousness in the familiar sterile environment of the tether chambers. The white walls surrounding him served as a stark reminder that he was truly back on Earth, back in the world he had feared he might never see again.

After taking a few moments to fully orient himself and ensure his body was functioning properly, Arthur quickly made his way through the school’s corridors toward the administration offices. The hallways felt both familiar and strange at the same time, as if he was seeing them through new eyes after everything he had experienced.

When he arrived at the designated administrative area, he was relieved to see Aziel already waiting there, looking just as disoriented and overwhelmed as Arthur felt. The two young men exchanged glances that conveyed their mutual relief at having both made it back safely, though neither seemed quite ready to process everything that had happened to them.

They both approached the reception desk and explained to the administrative staff that they had just returned from their first expedition into the realms. The professional woman behind the desk, clearly accustomed to handling returning travelers, swiftly showed them to separate interview rooms where their individual debriefings would take place according to standard protocol.

Arthur found himself in a small, windowless room furnished with nothing more than a simple table and two chairs. The environment felt almost oppressive after the grand, mysterious spaces of the castle and the Second Realm. He waited in nervous anticipation, his mind still trying to process the reality of being back on Earth while simultaneously replaying memories of their incredible journey.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only twenty minutes, a professional-looking woman entered the room. She wore a crisp button-down shirt that was neatly tucked into well-tailored business pants, projecting an air of competent authority. Her brown hair hung straight to her shoulders in a practical style, and she wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that gave her an intellectual appearance. In her hands, she carried a clipboard loaded with numerous official-looking papers and forms.

She settled herself into the chair across from Arthur, arranging her materials on the table between them before looking up to meet his eyes with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Ms. Augustine, and I’ll be conducting this interview today," she began in a clear, authoritative voice. She glanced down at her paperwork briefly before continuing. "You would be Mr... ah, Arthur Kendrick, correct?"

Arthur nodded in confirmation, feeling a mixture of nervousness and curiosity about what kinds of questions she would be asking him during this debriefing process.

"Excellent," Ms. Augustine continued, adjusting her glasses slightly as she prepared to begin the formal interview. "Now, let’s start with some basic information. Can you tell me the exact date that you first descended into the realm? I need the specific date of your initial entry."

Arthur looked up and to the left, his eyes unfocusing slightly as he tried to recall the precise timing of what felt like both a lifetime ago and just yesterday.

After several moments of careful consideration, he looked back at her with what he believed to be the correct information. "Oh, I think it was August 26th, 2036," he said with reasonable confidence.

The administrative woman, who had been looking down at her papers with her pen poised and ready to write down whatever Arthur would tell her, suddenly froze completely. The pencil in her hand slipped from her grip and clattered onto the table as her gaze slowly raised to meet Arthur’s eyes. Her expression looked as though she had just seen a ghost, her face pale with shock and disbelief.

"E-excuse me?" she stammered, her professional composure cracking for the first time since entering the room. "You mean to tell me that you were in the Second Realm for almost two years on your very first expedition?!"

She was clearly in complete shock at this revelation, but after hearing her last sentence, Arthur found himself equally stunned and confused by her reaction.

"What? No, that’s not right," he protested, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Like I just said, it was August 26th, 2036, so it couldn’t have been any more than a couple of months ago at most. I know how long I was there."

Ms. Augustine stared at him with an expression of absolute bewilderment, sitting in stunned silence for several long moments as she appeared to be completely at a loss for what to say. Finally, she seemed to collect herself enough to deliver what was clearly going to be devastating news.

"I... I don’t know how to tell you this, kid, but..." she began hesitantly, her voice carrying a note of genuine sympathy. "It’s currently June 2nd, 2038. According to our records and the current date, you’ve been missing in the realm for almost two years."

Arthur’s eyes opened wide with shock as his brain began to spiral completely out of control, trying to process this impossible information. The room seemed to spin around him as the implications of what she was saying began to sink in.

"W-what?! No... no, that can’t possibly be right," he protested desperately, his voice rising with panic and disbelief. "I think I would know if I had been in there for almost two years! It just doesn’t make any sense, I-it was only a few months at most, but not two years! That’s completely impossible!"

But even as the words left his mouth, Arthur’s protests began to trail off as a crucial realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. His words became lost on his tongue as his mind raced to connect the dots.

’The castle,’ he thought with growing horror and understanding. ’That accursed place seemed to exist almost in its own space entirely, completely separate from the normal world and not bound by any natural laws or logical order that we could understand. So what’s stopping time itself from working completely differently in there as well? Which would mean that the few weeks we thought we spent trapped in that place was actually over a year passing in the outside world... this is absolutely unbelievable.’

The implications were staggering. If they had spent what felt like a few weeks in the castle, but almost two years had passed on Earth, then time had been moving at a drastically different rate within that supernatural space. No wonder the crisis with the gates had already been ongoing when they emerged—it had been developing for months while they were trapped in a temporal bubble.

Ms. Augustine observed him with a concerned expression as she watched him process this earth-shattering revelation. His face went through a series of emotions—shock, denial, dawning comprehension, and finally a kind of numb acceptance of an impossible reality.

"Do you need a moment to yourself?" she asked gently, her professional demeanor softening in the face of his obvious distress.

Arthur startled slightly, having been completely lost in his racing thoughts. "What? Oh, uh... no, I’m fine. Let’s continue with the interview," he said, though his voice carried a hollow quality that suggested he was anything but fine.

Ms. Augustine looked at him sideways for a moment, clearly skeptical about his claim of being okay but apparently deciding to respect his wishes to proceed rather than forcing a break he claimed not to need.

"If you say so," she said carefully, though her tone suggested she had serious doubts about his emotional state. She looked back down at the papers in front of her, shuffling them back into proper order and retrieving her pen from where it had fallen. "Let’s start with documenting your abilities, shall we? I need to record any powers or enhancements you may have developed during your time in the realm."

Arthur took a deep, steadying breath, trying to push aside the overwhelming revelation about the lost time and focus on the task at hand. There would be time later to fully process what had happened to him, but right now he needed to complete this interview and begin the process of reintegrating into a world that had moved on without him for two entire years.

"Okay," he said with a nod, though his voice still carried the strain of someone trying to maintain composure in the face of life-altering news. "Let’s do this."