Chapter 89: Could you stop groping me?
’Trauma, maybe.’
The state Eiros had found Renessa in, when she’d truly lost herself to rage—that wasn’t exactly something new for a spirit. I mean, in this world, besides the threats posed by monsters, demons, and the rest, there were also Evil Spirits—beings who had once been ordinary ghosts but had been corrupted into vile spirits under the influence of overwhelmingly powerful negative energy.
The factors determining that possibility were also strengthened if the spirit itself carried some especially deep trauma tied to a particular thing. And the Renessa Eiros had seen earlier showed exactly those signs.
What was it that had traumatized her?
Eiros walked along the footpath. He’d returned to his true form by now, strolling beneath a golden evening sky still carrying the scent of rain that had just stopped.
’There has to be a reason she came to the human world. Whatever the trauma is, it must be tied to her own world.’
Just like with Valkas—there was no reason for Renessa to come to the human world otherwise.
For a moment, Eiros’s mind drifted back to the activation condition of Renessa’s stigmata, the one he’d seen back then. At the time, he’d been too dazzled and fixated on its potential to think much about the condition itself.
But now, that part gnawed at him.
’The loss of something called home.’
That was what made Eiros start to wonder. What terrible thing had happened to whatever Renessa called home? And judging by her behavior so far—unhinged as it was at times—Renessa always seemed to retain some measure of control, always seemed to know that the killing she did was only ever the killing of corruption seed hosts.
If what she called home had some deep connection to the corruption seed itself—that thought made Eiros think hard.
’What happened in the spirit world?’
Enough to make Renessa decide to come to the human world, carrying what looked like a deep, burning hatred for the corruption seed itself.
Eiros drew in a deep breath as he climbed the arched wooden bridge. The rushing sound of the river below reached his ears, along with ornamental fish leaping about with lively energy.
Splash—!
The sound of the water briefly settled his mind. He was about to step forward again, but the air around him seemed to shift, growing colder, heavier.
Eiros felt his body freeze for a moment, then he stopped moving entirely and let himself go slack. A soft, familiar touch settled around his waist, that pleasant scent of winter following close behind, along with a short breath that tickled his ear.
"Found you."
Of course. It was Renessa.
"My love, I’ve been looking everywhere for you—where have you been?"
As if nothing that happened earlier had happened at all, Renessa acted with playful amusement, running her hands over Eiros’s body with that same sweet smile as always. Her voice, though soft, carried a faint edge of sharpness as she voiced her frustration at not being able to find him earlier.
Eiros stayed quiet for a moment, feeling Renessa’s hands continue their endless attempt to touch every part of him. His stomach, his face—she checked it all.
"Erness..." Eiros spoke, exhausted, though he forced a smile onto his face. "Could you stop groping me?"
"No."
The answer came instantly. "I just want to make sure you’re okay, darling."
What could possibly happen to an immortal Eiros?
He wanted to say that, but decided against it.
Eiros let out a small sigh, allowing Renessa to keep checking him over for a while longer, until she finally seemed satisfied and let him go.
"Good! You’re not hurt."
Eiros only smiled at that, turning to lean against the bridge railing. His gaze immediately caught on Renessa, who had changed into a new outfit.
Her white hair spilled softly down her back, framing a face that looked sweetly delicate. Her eyes curved like crescent moons alongside her lips, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
Well—even after everything, Renessa hadn’t lost a shred of her beauty. She really did have visuals that felt almost unfair to the rest of the world.
How was Eiros even supposed to put it?
Maybe it was the faintly cool, chilly breeze, but Eiros felt cold sweat creeping down his back. Right... he had to hold himself back, keep from getting swept up in his own feelings.
He coughed awkwardly, looking at Renessa before speaking.
"...How did things turn out?" Considering Renessa had openly committed murder in front of civilians and refugees, the situation was probably going to turn out very badly for her.
But Eiros’s worry seemed unfounded, because Renessa hadn’t lost an ounce of her composure.
"They won’t recognize me... At the time... well... you know, hehe... my appearance was a bit..."
Ah, right. Eiros immediately remembered—her appearance back then really had looked different from usual, hadn’t it?
Since that particular worry no longer applied, Eiros felt relieved. He’d been a little afraid that the situation might spiral into this girl becoming a wanted fugitive.
After a light, pleasant conversation—something Eiros had never once imagined would happen someday, being able to talk so comfortably with a girl as sweet and beautiful as Renessa, who had once killed him—he genuinely realized just how much about himself had changed.
Whether that change was for better or worse, Eiros understood well enough that all he could do was surrender to fate and follow its current as best he could. Everything beyond that came down to whether he had the will to hold on for a brighter, more pleasant future.
"So, aren’t you afraid of me, Darling?"
Eiros snapped out of his thoughts. In the end, they’d arrived here—a conversation that was truly necessary, whether either of them wanted it or not.
And if asked whether Eiros currently felt fear toward Renessa, the answer was yes—honestly, he was terrified. But that fear itself was buried beneath everything else.
The possibility of a bleak future, alongside every other terrible possibility. To Eiros, his fear of Renessa was just one among a great many other fears.
He was too worn out to respond to every single one of them, so he held himself back, until he’d reached the point where he’d more or less stopped thinking about fear altogether and simply kept moving forward.
"Are you going to kill me again?" Eiros asked, amused, making Renessa freeze for a moment before she giggled.
"Yes, you know that, right? I’ll definitely find a way to kill you."
Of course—Renessa was as consistent as ever. "But until that time comes, I’ll definitely spend every moment I have staying by your side."
To Eiros, he might’ve interpreted that as surveillance. That he was being watched over like a ticking time bomb that needed careful monitoring.
He never once considered the other possibility—that for a girl who had lost everything and had nearly given up entirely, he might have become the very center of her world.
The one goal she would hold onto until her very last breath.
So Eiros only gave an awkward smile at those words. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to something said so bluntly.
"So then, what should we do? Should we head back to the academy?" That was why Eiros decided to shift away from that uncomfortable topic.
He steered the conversation toward something that seemed to make Renessa’s eyes light up, as though a brilliant idea had suddenly struck her.
"Actually... since we still have some time, how about we continue our date? There’s somewhere I want to go!"
"But I’m tired."
"My darling, don’t you like me?"
"So, where are we going?"
That day, Eiros and Renessa spent what remained of their time together. As for Eiros, he was probably just being dragged around from place to place, not entirely sure what he was actually doing.
But one thing was clear—it really was a good kind of mental recovery. He ought to do this again sometime, for the sake of his own sanity.
When night finally fell, the two of them decided at last to head back to the academy.
***