CHAPTER 72: GUSTAV

There was a long pause after my message, but eventually another reply came through.

[ I’m well aware of your situation, Victor. There isn’t much this position can offer you, at least not in comparison to what I can. I’m open to negotiations — we don’t have to do this the hard way. ]

I just stared at the message, pettily delaying just as long as he had before replying. This time, I took a page straight out of Song’s book.

[ (￣ー￣) ]

He replied much quicker this time.

[ Very well. ]

And that was that. No matter how much I goaded him afterward, the young master didn’t reply again.

’How ominous... what a boring guy.’

Clearing my throat innocently, I spoke cheerily to Shin and Rowan.

"Come on, let’s go eat."

It only earned me looks of suspicion from both boys. I could only shrug somewhat incredulously.

"What?"

Shin looked at me seriously — or at least attempted to. Being a wolfman got in the way of looking serious.

"You do know what you’re doing, right?"

I decided to answer him seriously in turn.

"Of course I do. All you need to do is sit back and watch the show."

They still didn’t look like they believed me. Which was pretty understandable, given I’d just gone and provoked the son of one of the most powerful families in Bastion.

Luckily, they couldn’t see my interface. If they could, they’d have completely lost faith in my mental stability.

I sighed before further clarifying.

"Just trust me on this. I haven’t suddenly run mad or anything — there’s a plan to all this. In it, I only need one thing from the both of you."

The unspoken question was clear on their faces, so I answered before they could even ask it.

"No matter what happens, don’t help me."

Shin’s face was a mixture of confusion and relief.

I felt nothing, even though he looked so relieved at the fact that he wouldn’t have to help. His face shifted to guilt the moment he realized I was staring.

At least... what I assumed to be guilt. You could never really tell with the wolfman’s expressions.

Still, I was neither surprised nor angry. I’d only met this guy like a week ago. Realistically, it’d be crazy to expect him to be willing to risk his status and already shaky standing just to help someone like me.

’Unlike a certain someone.’

Rowan, on the other hand, looked much less confused and more disappointed. He already knew why I wouldn’t be accepting his help.

"Especially you, Rowan. I mean it — don’t interfere."

"Fine, fine. I get it."

He raised his hands in defeat.

Of course, I didn’t trust him to actually "get it", given the sort of meddling arse he was. But this much was fine for now.

Slipping a hand in my pocket, I silently summoned the Eyes of Eternity, then pulled them out — donning them as though they were regular glasses. That was the beauty of artifacts like this.

"I didn’t know you used glasses," Shin said, attempting to recover from the awkwardness earlier.

I played along.

"They’re non-medicated. It’s more for fashion than anything."

Rowan scanned me from head to toe.

"You? Out of all people, care about fashion?"

’What’s that supposed to mean?’

I was so fashionable. No, I was the most fashionable. Still, I knew better than to argue with such an obviously blind guy.

So I took the easiest path and outright ignored his question. Instead, I stood up and headed toward the classroom door.

Of course, given my shitty burden, it didn’t take long before they caught up with me.

"Why are you avoiding my question?"

"I’m not. I just suddenly felt really hungry."

"Right... hungry."

In the cafeteria, I sat opposite both Rowan and Shin, slowly picking apart the food before me.

Unlike the unrefined young man I’d been before the simulation, merely a week of that tasteless, sorry excuse for a ration pack had been enough to teach me how to properly savour such good food.

More importantly, the food helped blunt the edge of my nausea. So while I still felt feverish and a bit dizzy, I also felt slightly less like shit.

’Hurray for small mercies, I guess.’

Because of that stupid burden, I still wore the jacket I’d been given in the hospital. I’d also taken some pills this morning, but the damned things were already losing their effectiveness.

’It’s only been a single injection.’

Not that I hadn’t seen it coming, but knowing didn’t make it any less disappointing.

Both Shin and Rowan kept looking around, searching for something — or, more accurately, someone.

"What are you looking for?"

"Oh, it’s—"

Shin started answering, when Rowan suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, pointing in a direction.

"There he is."

I followed Rowan’s finger, and it led my gaze toward a dark-haired boy with olive skin. Naturally, I would’ve assumed he was one of Varic’s goons, but the boys seemed to know this guy.

"Gustav, over here," Rowan called out.

’Gustav...’

I chewed over the name, yet it didn’t ring any bells in my head.

The boy picked up his speed, moving a little more hastily toward us. Soon enough, he reached our table.

"How’s it going, man?"

Rowan offered a hand first — a gesture the boy gladly accepted. Then he moved on to Shin, and finally to me. His grip felt oddly strong, and I couldn’t help but have this nagging feeling that the boy had been staring at me through it all.

I was the first to disengage, then he reluctantly did the same as well. After which, he glanced between Shin and me, hesitating for a moment before sitting next to the wolfman.

Shin began the introduction, patting the boy’s shoulder.

"Victor, this is Gustav. Gustav—"

The boy cut him off.

"No need for introductions. I’m well aware of who you are."

I merely faked a smile in response. For some reason, I didn’t feel comfortable around this guy.

’Is he a skinwalker?’

That was my first thought. But I already knew the identities of the would-be skinwalkers. Gustav wasn’t among them.

Shin eased the unseen tension with a light chuckle, before looking at me.

"Gustav says he’s a big fan of yours."

Rowan gave me a knowing See? You’re famous look.

Still, I ignored all that as I focused on Gustav.

Rather than going down a rabbit hole of endless suspicion, there was a very easy way to clear my doubts here.

I wore a light smile before extending a hand to meet him again.

"There Shin goes, saying weird things again. Nice meeting you, Gustav. Hope they didn’t tell you anything weird about me."

The boy accepted it with a smile — still with that oddly rigid grip of his.

"No need to worry. Shin only told me about some of your interesting habits."

I resisted the urge to glare at the wolfman, knowing full well that I couldn’t lose this chance. I half-lidded my eyes, still remembering what Racheal told me back in the simulation.

Then I activated [Error Sense].

The visualization — even more detailed than the one I’d used for the nurse — was already fully formed in my mind. The reaction should’ve been immediate.

Yet...

Nothing.

The boy was absolutely normal.