He casually patted the popular science book, then guiltily stroked its cover. Sorry, sorry for patting too hard—please don't come hunting him tonight.
"The Fanes Dynasty?" Ian seemed to quickly weigh something, "[Emperor]... should be fine."
"So other topics are problematic?"
Ian was startled: "...Dulmi ..."
Dulmi shrugged and asked, "This wouldn't have anything to do with some [Power], would it?"
In his memory, his parents were quite ordinary scholars.
...But it was after his parents' passing that the Outer zone suddenly appeared... uh, no way, right? They should have been quite ordinary, right? Surely they weren't like this administrator uncle who's an ordinary employee by day but transforms into a terrifying ghost at night?
That time when he was chased by the library books, it was actually Ian who killed him.
Thinking of this, Dulmi couldn't help but sigh.
Ian shook his head and said, "It's just that your parents' research involved certain deities."
"That's fine then." Dulmi whistled, "There are so many gods anyway, they probably can't all keep track of me."
Ian: "..."
He seemed to want to say something but held back.
Dulmi whiled away half the day in the library.
Though he occasionally felt drowsy, reading wasn't difficult for him, having spent considerable time in his family library.
Speaking of which, the Knight family's house in Christian had far more books than here in Nightingale. To this day, only Dulmi knew about this—he wondered when he'd be able to return to Christian for a visit.
Before dusk, Dulmi called for Amy to head home.
He didn't want to meet the Outer zone in the library. Someone would die—namely, himself.
On their way back to the antique shop, as the evening bells rang and ethereal light flickered,Dulmi realized the small hand he was holding had turned to bare bones.
The good news was, it wasn't Skeleton Amy, but Dress Amy. He had just unfortunately stood on Amy's decaying side.
So Dulmi specifically changed positions and took Amy's small hand again. With Dress Amy's appearance, the things stirring in the surrounding shadows instantly calmed down. Dulmi felt today must be his lucky day.
They walked all the way to Dulmi's house.
In the Outer zone, this building no longer held its daytime warmth, instead becoming decrepit and old, permeated with a strange stench.
Dulmi knew it was the smell of death.
"Is Brother leaving tomorrow?" Amy suddenly asked, "Going somewhere very, very far?"
"Yes, Amy."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"Of course."
But Dulmi thought, death would come eventually anyway.
Amy tilted her head in confusion, as if pondering for a moment.
Then, she reached out, her pale slender fingers searching inside her empty eye socket.
Her eye socket was filled with burnt ashes, like neatly arranged pearls, like sticky clustered fish eggs, like countless blinking eyes. Then, she pulled out a thumb-sized transparent bead covered in ash.
She gently blew on it, scattering the surface ash into the surrounding still air. The previously dusty bead suddenly brightened, with countless gray-blue wisps floating inside, occasionally flashing brilliant purple starlight.
Dulmi asked curiously, "What's this?"
Amy didn't answer; she just handed the transparent bead to him. He reached out to take it.
The moment his fingers touched the transparent bead, a crack appeared on its smooth surface, like sharp teeth opening, and bit into Dulmi's skin. It burrowed into his wound, a cold sensation sliding upward along his blood vessels.
Dulmi saw a small bump rise on the back of his hand.
But he remained unfazed, just watching curiously.
If death meant nothing to him, what was this strange bead?
The small bump under his skin continued to writhe, crawling up his arm to his shoulder. Like climbing a mountain with determination. Then to his neck. This was rock climbing now. Then his cheek. More rock climbing.
Then it burrowed into his eye socket.
Dulmi instinctively blinked. He felt no pain, just a cold sensation, like melting snow, disappearing in an instant.
"Amy?" he asked, "Your eyeball has come to me."
"Now it's Brother's eyeball!"