"Wha-what happened!?" Rua asked, unable to stomach how clueless he felt. There were a lot of things even he didn't know about what Qeff was speaking about. Majorly this Infusionist business. His topper ego ached a bit.
"He's... He absorbed all of Comatose." Qeff kept staring at Nein. Who, irritated by their behavior, asked, "So what?"
"So what, you ask?" Qeff had the urge to bang his head.
Seff settled a bit further away from Nein, his eyes eying him from head to toe. "It means that... That you are human."
Nein's face fell, "Yea... I kinda get that business already."
"No... No, you don't. Not now." Qeff shook his head, "But... I won't bother you with the details either."
He took a deep breath, and glanced firmly into the latter's eyes, "Nein! Considering everything... I would like to formally ask you. Would you like to... join the Army?" His eyes grew firm, "You don't have to answer now, I will give you time."
Nein played around with the glass in his hand before crisply planting it back on the tray, "No..."
Qeff's heart fell.
"I don't need time. I will join you." Qeff's face instantly beamed in his mind, he couldn't help but retort, 'Say it all at once!!'
"But on the condition that..."
Qeff didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, 'This guy is just a roller-coaster. I wanna murder him.' He kinda felt what Nein had been feeling all this while, he couldn't help but relate a bit.
"You teach me everything that I lack the knowledge of." Nein's resolute gaze took Qeff by surprise.
Taken aback, Qeff glared at Nein. 'I thought he would ask for authority and power... it seems he doesn't realize how strong he is but... in this case, giving him everything all at once would be dangerous. I think I have the... perfect plan.' A grin stretched across his face.
"Sure. I would place you under Lieutenant Seff! I am certain nobody could take better care of you than him."
"Huh!?" Seff glared at Qeff in disbelief, "Are you insane!?!?"
Qeff smiled, "Now, now, brother. Just be quiet for now."
Nein glanced at the dumbfounded Seff, seeing his expression, he knew this was a spur-of-the-moment thing and nothing pre-planed, 'It's not the best... but not the worst situation either.'
"Sure! I am fine with that."
"Brilliant! Now, Lieutenant Posseto, I would like you to escort Nein to the special guest's room for now. I want him to freshen up before we discuss anything more about this bothersome business."
Nein nodded, "I would like a bath too."
"Hmm!" Qeff nodded in understanding.
Posseto, clicking her tongue, walked toward the door and gestured for him to follow, "Come!"
'She has a beef with me or what?' Nein chuckled internally, 'I doubt that. I don't even know her.'
Shrugging, he closed the door on his way out.
The tension in the room grew as the three sat in silence. Until Qeff broke it with a heavy, grave sigh.
"Finally... Man, why do I have to deal with him!?" He rested his head on the table. 'I felt as if I was aging in seconds.'
"Whew! Now's not the time." He pushed himself up and gave a firm glance toward the present two. "Now, apologies for ignoring you for long, Rua. You must've half eaten yourself up from pondering over why I called for you too."
Rua chuckled and shook his hands in denial, "No, no. No need for apologies."
"Hmm!" Qeff nodded, his smile receding, "Rua!" His voice forced the child to perk up, "You used a Craft of a League 4 powerhouse. But I don't sense such power from you. I have to ask, why? Or, How!?"
Taken aback, Rua ruffled his head from side to side, "Me!? No, no! No way!! I can't possibly use such a craft." He chuckled ironically, "How can I? When I don't even know what this 'League' is?"
Qeff gaped, "Oh! How could you possibly!?" He laughed at his foolishness, "Nothing too much is told deliberately to the ordinary masses after all. Leagues... that is how the Supernatural rank each other. The higher your league, the more powerful a Supernatural! Simple isn't it?"
Seff, flabbergasted, faced Rua and questioned, "League 4 craft!? How can that be... It's not possible." His eyes suddenly brightened, "Unless... you are a spy."
The temperature in the room abruptly fell, "Yes! That's exactly what I believe."
Rua stared at the two dumbfounded. He, a kid who didn't know abc of Supernaturals was being labeled a spy?
"But I didn't want to jump the gun, that's the whole reason you're here and alive! Your comatose level is too low to pull off such a move. Unless... you are so powerful that you can hide it even from me. In which case you can easily flee." Qeff rested his chin on his palm. His interest was piqued.
Rua bit his lips, on the verge of tears, he cried out, "How the heck can I be a spy? Me? Who doesn't even know what this comatose thingy you keep bringing up is?"
Qeff's eyes widened, "I... Truly, you don't say." His gaze shifted toward Seff. The latter had his face stoic as a rock- his trademark expression he opted for after a certain incident.
"Hmm!" Qeff nodded, "Seff, as he is under you. I will leave this matter in your hands. Thoroughly inspect him. Find him out and eliminate him if he poses to be a hindrance. You are dismissed."
Qeff leaned back in his chair, shooing Rua to be off.
Rua hurriedly nodded and rushed outside, even though cussing at their carelessness, 'Where the heck do I even go to? Huh!?'
As the door clicked gently, Seff turned his frigid glare toward Qeff, "How many times must I tell you? Do not," A ghastly pressure started oozing off of him, "And. Do! Not! Address me as brother!"
Qeff's gaze turned serene and tender, "You know? If you weren't my brother... you wouldn't manage to get out of this room talking to me like this." He glanced outside the window.
A purplish powder burned in a pot near the window. Its smoke drifted outside. Giving the room an aesthetic vibe. Also aiding Qeff to calm his nerves.
Seff, as if also being calmed by its unique odor, heaved a heavy breath, "I am leaving!"
"Please sit!" Qeff crisply ordered, "Lieutenant Seff!"
A jolt ran down Seff's spine, his body instinctively collapsed on the seat.
"There's more to why you are present here. And I won't allow you to leave until you hear so."
Seff's eyes flickered, "Is it about... that Nein!?"
Qeff nodded, "That odd fellow... I think you were also there when we happened to chance upon him. On... that day."
Veins bulged out of Seff's forehead, his teeth gritted together, "I see... that's why his sight so repulsed me." His eyes burned in a strange hue, "Why wouldn't it? When that accursed day flashes past my sight?"
Qeff snapped his finger, his eyes piercing into Seff's, "That's why I had preplanned to assign him to you. I think... intentionally or coincidentally. He was involved in that death."
Seff's body trembled, his bones creaked under the tremulous rage.
"Oi!" Qeff rudely and authoritatively addressed his junior, his finger pointing straight at him, "He may had been used as a factor. But he didn't kill her... nor can a Slumbering One be the perpetrator... You can't kill him."
Seff's dulled eyes seemed to awaken from a delusion, "Of course... of course not! How could an innocent Slumberer kill her? When the beasts were always beside her."
Qeff had a miserable look as he eyed his brother, 'If only...'