Chapter 104: You’re curious why I’m here in the human world, aren’t you?
"Remember, you’re free to wander around, but don’t even think about touching anything. The supervisors are watching closely."
""Yes, professor.""
Once the professors finished their warning and explained what needed to be done, the students were finally allowed to enter the tower.
Even though it was still quite early in the morning, not a single student complained. They’d been given three hours to rest, and even so, most of them were Awakened-tier students, meaning they had enough stamina to go without sleep for days and still stay in good shape.
Of course, the same didn’t hold true for those in the Others class. They were surely still drowsy.
Eiros, along with the others, gazed up at the massive tower. Renessa had also come back and rejoined them, though for what remained now, it was just about exploring this place—what it held, and whether there might be some kind of information that could actually help them.
"Insane... in my entire life, this is the first time I’m ever gonna set foot in a place like this."
Hearing Godon sound this genuinely amazed was something new—his face even hung slightly open.
Eiros and the others stepped inside. The first thing that greeted them was, of course, the ground floor, with its towering ceiling and crystal chandeliers. Besides the students, the tower itself was apparently fairly busy on its own.
Of course, there was no way a tower this massive could be maintained by just one person, right?
That made Eiros break out in cold sweat. ’If it’s really just Estiel taking care of this whole place... uh...’
He could be pretty confident this tower would end up looking like a shipwreck, a total mess everywhere.
Pushing that thought aside, Eiros’s gaze drifted toward the others. In an instant, each of the main characters had scattered off, each drawn to something different.
Alen seemed to head toward a display related to stars. Valkas stared at some ancient dragon bones. Godon, surprisingly, had found a collection of paintings and looked genuinely captivated. Meanwhile, Lovia, oddly enough, had vanished off on her own—maybe she’d found something interesting all by herself?
Leiden, on the other hand, headed toward an area where he could learn more about stigmata. That guy... Eiros had to admit, Leiden genuinely had a hardworking streak in him. It’d be nice if his efforts paid off someday.
That left only Eiros and Renessa. The air in the tower felt genuinely cool and pleasant, and there were plenty of pleasant scents blending together in the atmosphere.
Eiros had a few things of his own he wanted to check out, but he figured he’d take advantage of the situation instead when he noticed Renessa staring at something with obvious interest.
Her gaze was fixed on a painting depicting a mystical world. Full of mist, like clouds, revealing uniquely shaped buildings.
The spirit world.
So far, the relationship between Eiros and Renessa could be described as fairly strange. Renessa being clingy toward him might’ve just been a small side effect of all that, but the real issue was, whether it was Eiros or Renessa, both of them trusted each other enough to protect one another, to turn their backs and rely on each other, but not quite enough to share more of the secrets each of them carried.
’Who is Erness really, why is she in the human world, and plenty of other questions.’
There’d been a time when Eiros figured he didn’t need to worry about any of that. But now, he’d come to think differently—that he shouldn’t just be proactive against Black Genesis, but toward the people around him too.
So, he decided to start with the first step.
Smiling, he looked at Renessa. "What caught your interest?"
Renessa looked surprised, finding Eiros smiling at her. She blinked a few times and returned his smile. "What do you think about that piece of art?"
Eiros followed Renessa’s lead and reached the art display. He looked at it for a moment, then murmured.
"Well, it’s genuinely mystical, isn’t it?"
"Um, yeah."
"You’re interested in this?"
Renessa nodded hearing that. Next, Eiros’s gaze swept around the room—he needed to find something else that might be connected to that mystical world.
But unfortunately, he had no idea about any of it.
He watched Renessa, still fully focused on that piece of art, her eyes looking relaxed, but after what had happened in Clathria, Eiros understood that the mask Renessa wore came in layers.
She’d already gotten remarkably skilled at controlling her expressions.
"Hmm... darling, do you want to split up too?"
"Why?"
"Well, I figure you’d probably want to find something on your own too, right? I’d like to check out a few things that catch my interest too. But what I’m into might not really be your thing, hehe."
Well, that was true, honestly. Eiros did have things he wanted to check on, but for now...
"So, is it okay if I just tag along with you, since I’m not really interested in anything right now?"
"Eh?" Renessa’s smile went flat for a moment—of course, she was genuinely caught off guard. Well, maybe she’d sensed it—since lately, Eiros had been increasingly accommodating in whatever he did, enough to make Renessa realize Eiros seemed to be putting in some kind of effort for her.
"Darling... since when did you become such a caring man?" Renessa smiled dramatically, wiping the corner of her eyes, which weren’t shedding a single tear. "I’m genuinely touched. But don’t push yourself too hard, okay?"
"Don’t worry, this is my own decision," Right, Eiros genuinely had developed some measure of self-control when it came to Renessa.
Though there were still times he felt a flicker of fear, since Renessa often did strange things to him. Like pulling out strands of his hair, clipping bits of his fingernails, and all sorts of other things.
He had no idea what she needed them for, but it was enough to send a shiver crawling across his entire body.
"Hm... okay! In that case, I’d love to talk more with my darling too!"
Renessa smiled cheerfully, grabbing Eiros’s wrist and leading him somewhere. They walked in fairly deep, passing students each absorbed in whatever caught their interest.
There were countless paintings, displayed items, and ancient fossils left behind by certain long-extinct species. There was even a statue of the hero, crafted with such incredible detail that Eiros found himself curious about what was inscribed on its golden stone tablet.
Unfortunately, he had to set all of that aside for now and follow wherever Renessa was leading him.
Renessa looked genuinely serious, glancing around as though searching for something specific. And, after a fairly long stretch, she brightened with a smile the moment she found what she’d been looking for, pulling Eiros along faster toward it.
They soon arrived at a pale white mannequin, wearing a necklace around its neck.
"What’s this?" Eiros asked, examining the necklace, which looked simple, but was actually genuinely luxurious.
Renessa looked at it for a moment, then glanced at Eiros with a sweet smile.
"Apparently, this is an artifact left behind by the spirit race, on display here."
"...!"
"Right now, it’s disguised as a necklace so no thief would ever want it. But the secret behind it is genuinely massive, don’t you think?"
’This... an artifact left behind by the spirit race?’
Eiros nearly gaped in disbelief. After all, artifacts left behind by various races were fairly common, but if something warranted this kind of special treatment, that pretty much confirmed it wasn’t just some ordinary relic.
It might genuinely be an artifact that sustained the spirit race itself, and somehow, it had ended up in human hands?
Eiros studied the necklace intently, feeling genuinely captivated, as though he’d been placed under a spell. Meanwhile, Renessa seemed to enjoy that reaction, letting out a small laugh, nudging Eiros and looking at him gently.
"Darling... would you be honest with me?" That statement made Eiros freeze, turning to look at Renessa in surprise.
"...Yeah?"
’What is she trying to say?’
Eiros’s heart pounded harder right after.
Meanwhile, Renessa, showing not a shred of hesitation, said:
"You’ve probably been holding yourself back this whole time, staying silent watching me absorb negative energy, staying silent watching my true form—after all of that, it’s only natural you’d be genuinely curious, right?"
She paused for a moment, letting her words settle into the air, then added:
"You’re curious why I’m here in the human world, aren’t you?"
***