A tall man stood on the stage.
His appearance grabbed the attention of all those present.
—Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for coming to the inauguration of the 57th draft.
As he spoke, his voice boomed throughout the grand hall. It silenced all the noise within the venue.
—It's with great pride that I stand before you as the announcer of today's event….
He went on with the introductions. Useless ramblings that went on for several minutes before the lights turned off. What followed after was silence as the noise ceased.
—We will now be introducing the fifteen Guilds.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!
Fifteen banners fell from the sides, all displaying different intricate patterns and colors.
Lights flickered, pointing toward each banner, displaying their extravagance for all to see.
They appeared finely crafted, adorned with intricate golden patterns, and fashioned from rare fabrics. The patterns and insignias appeared to be meticulously handcrafted, with each banner's design particularly unique standing out in one way or another.
On any normal occasion, I would've been intrigued by the events.
But….
'I can take it can I…?'
All I could think about was the quest. Or more specifically, the bone.
Just how much stronger would I become if I were to take the bone?
A human was only allowed to implant five bones into their body. Any more would be too dangerous.
However, from what I had read, after the integration of the bone, one would find their strength increasing and be granted an [Innate] ability that used to belong to the soul of the deceased beast.
....It was an extremely enticing opportunity, and I knew that I couldn't let it slip away from my grasp.
Especially given my current strength. I was in desperate need of something like that.
"But what about the quest...?"
Would it allow it?
The quest didn't specify what I needed to do. In my mind, what the quest demanded from was to expose the fraud and prevent Evelyn from reaching the scenario from the vision.
But…
There was nothing in the quest that suggested I couldn't take the bone.
…And it wasn't as if the quest could control me. Whether I chose to complete the mission or not, I had full freedom of choice.
Since that was the case…
Why couldn't I take the bone?
'I know who will have it. When she will have it. And how they find it.'
For what reason can I not find a way to take the bone for myself?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt my chest prickle.
Ah…
This sensation.
It threatened to consume my mind at any second. It was foreign at first, but it became clearer with the passing of time.
Greed.
Right, I was being greedy.
I was coveting something that shouldn't have been mine in the first place.
"Heh."
For some reason, the thought made me want to laugh.
I thought about all the implications that my actions would have on the innocent workers and staff of the auction house. It pricked at my consciousness, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn't afford to be sentimental.
'Morality.'
I needed to throw it away.
I was no longer Emmet Rowe.
Morality was no longer a thing for me. While I had a few lines that I couldn't bring myself to cross, the rest... I had to throw them away.
I had sworn I'd do anything to become stronger and achieve my goal.
And….
Taking the bone… Knowing that it was something I could do, and would be instrumental for my goal...
I knew I had to do it.
Right…
Because in the end, I couldn't afford to miss such a chance.
For my sake.
I had to be greedy.
***
Ever since the start of the inauguration, Evelyn felt weird. It felt as though someone was watching her every movement. And yet, when she looked, all she saw was the empty space behind her.
'Is it just me...?'
She looked to her left and then right. Once she was sure there was nothing wrong, she returned her gaze back to the front.
Her eyebrows slowly came to a furrow.
She could've sworn she had felt something. And she usually was never wrong about these things.
Her senses were generally quite accurate.
"Strange..."
"What is?"
A dry voice reached her ears.
"....!"
Her eyes widened at the sound of the voice and her head flicked to her right where a familiar figure was sitting.
"Julien?"
What is he...?
"Ha."
Her shock hardly lasted more than a couple of seconds before her face returned back to its normal icy one. It was a face she only displayed to those she deemed 'unfamiliar'.
Indeed, the current Julien was someone she was unfamiliar with.
"I was getting a weird feeling before. I thought someone was watching me, but I didn't think it'd be you of all people."
Things were starting to make sense to her now. The strange sensation... It was him, wasn't it?
He was the one that was looking at her. Or at least, that was what Evelyn thought to be the case.
But then again, why would he even look at her now when he had hardly paid her any attention back at the Institute?
She had liked the way things were so why the sudden change?
Was she missing something?
"...."
Her thoughts were further reinforced by his silence, and she felt puzzled.
"Is there something that you want to say?"
"Um?"
Julien raised his brow and the two of them looked at each other.
Evelyn frowned.
"You didn't come all the way here for nothing, right?"
"...."
He didn't bother answering her as he seemed lost in his thoughts. Evelyn found herself growing annoyed by his antics.
An image overlapped with his. It was a younger version of him. Unlike the current stoic expression he wore, he wore a look filled with nothing but disdain.
'Certainly, he's different from the past, but....'
Her mind was brought back to the memories of five years ago. It was a memory she could never forget. Regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn't forget. Even now, she could distinctly remember everything.
From the weather to the smells...
Everything felt vivid to her.
....And it was exactly because it felt so vivid that she couldn't find herself to see him differently.
'He's the same. He may act differently, but inside... He's the same.'
That's right.
She mustn't be fooled by how he was currently behaving. Five years may have passed, but what he had done that day...
'I won't be fooled.'
At that moment, Evelyn caught sight of Julien. Leaning against the chair, his lips gently pulled into what seemed to be a smile. Her expression hardened.
"What?"
".....It's nothing."
With a shake of his head, he gradually stood up.
"I've already gotten what I wanted."
".....?"
Evelyn felt lost staring at him. What sort of game was he playing? She was just about to speak when his voice suddenly cut in.
"Enjoy your evening."
".....Ah."
He left shortly after that, leaving Evelyn unable to utter a single thing back.
In the end...
She hadn't figured out if he was truly the one that was looking at her.
***
'...She's being targeted.'
That was the conclusion that I came up with after talking to her briefly. I first drew up that conclusion from how she was behaving. Noticing how she'd turn her head to look around from time to time, I knew that something was up.
Would someone act like that unless they felt that something was off?
I would've normally not bothered, but superhumans tended to be a lot more accurate at judging these kinds of things.
It was highly likely that she was truly being watched.
....It was also for this reason that I initiated a conversation with her.
I needed to verify this conclusion. It was an important piece of information after all.
The end result...
'I thought someone was watching me, but I didn't think it'd be you of all people.'
She indeed felt like someone was watching her.
While it was indeed true that I was also watching her, that had only been from the point where she had started to act suspiciously.
Before that, I had been in my own thoughts. Thinking about the vision, and the quest. Only when I had digested everything did I turn my attention to her and notice her strange attitude.
In any case, I was now certain of a few things.
'The culprit might be someone from this room, and he's targeting her directly.'
I had been worried that in the vision she had merely been the 'culprit' out of bad luck.
That perhaps, whoever the thief was, made her the culprit simply because she was the easiest target to place the blame on.
If such a scenario were to be true, then I wasn't confident I could 'steal' the item.
Mainly because I couldn't guarantee the fact that I could act exactly as the version of me had in the vision. There was a real chance that someone else would've been used as a target instead of Evelyn.
All because of my actions in trying to interfere with the situation.
Some sort of a butterfly effect...
But now that I was more or less sure that she was the intended target, I didn't need to worry about the vision changing too drastically.
The bone was going to be with her.
....And that was all the information that I needed to formulate a plan.
What I needed to do next was wait.
Wait for everything to begin.
When that happens...
'I'll take it all.'
Game progression, character progression, and bone...
".....I'll take everything."
Such was how big my greed was.
***
Already writing the next chap. Will try my best to get it done soon. It's a very big chap.