Waking up, he looked at a clock nearby, it was 30 minutes before midnight.
For a moment, his mind forgot the entire ordeal as he realized that he had slept through the entire day.
His body felt like it was being weighed down by a boulder. Just trying to lift his hands or stand up felt like he was powerlifting, not to mention his empty stomach.
If only he had an alarm clock, he wouldn't be faced with this situation. But for now, he sat on his bed to wait for his body to adjust. While doing that, he began to ponder what to do.
His roommate was an undercover agent of the Solaris Empire. She most likely had extensive combat training, even going under surgery to look human by removing her ears. But what was most intriguing was her mission.
Get information on the supposed artifact of the Deity of Bose, the Steel Witch.
However, one thing was for sure: Vivienne wasn't aware that Nuriel knew her secret. He had two options to deal with the situation.
One, be a good citizen of the Bose Kingdom and rat her out in exchange for rewards. This was the easiest and safest task to accomplish.
But there was a better option that could benefit Nuriel more than his government.
Second, use her as a piggyback and gain information about the artifact. If he could somehow indirectly help Vivienne in the mission, she could complete it without a hitch, perhaps even get into contact with the artifact.
Afterwards, he could use his scepter to peek inside her mind and be with the mysterious artifact without risking his identity.
This was the most beneficial. Even if the police rewarded Nuriel in abundance, such information weighed more to him.
But if she found out...
'I wonder how she'll react.' He thought, with a discouraged smile.
Nuriel thought about what else the scepter could accomplish. Gaining the scepter fragment allowed him to peek into places he shouldn't be. If he could get more scepter fragments, could he even modify the minds of people.
He could pretend to be a Solaris agent by manipulating her memories.
. . .
Nuriel could do a lot if he had such an ability.
Thinking about it more, some less saintly thoughts crept inside him. 'No... that's too much.'
After a while of silence, Nuriel eventually went outside his bedroom. To his surprise, Vivienne was sitting by the table, wearing a simple nightgown, resting her head on one of her arms as if she wasn't trying to fall asleep sitting.
He saw her expression. It was obvious she had just woken up, her hair was messy, her eyes barely open. This could've coincided with when he woke up after being turned into human mist from the result of high-caliber naval guns.
Vivienne stared at him. They were still strangers, but they had to eventually make connections with each other. After all, they'd be living together for quite a while as roommates.
However, to Nuriel, it was much more difficult to live with someone knowing they held a secret identity. Yet he still made the first move.
"Is... something the matter?" he opened, scanning her face to see what kind of reaction she'd show to him.
Vivienne took her time to reply, rubbing the top of her head. He could see a sliver of pain in her eyes. He could've said, I knew it! You're rubbing there because you had your animal ears removed! Oh, how great of a detective Nuriel would've been.
But the price would've been Nuriel laying in a pool of his own blood.
"I just woke up from a dream," she replied, sighing then continuing. "Are you alright? You haven't left your room the entire day."
Nuriel screamed inside. First things first, he had finally confirmed what he actually saw in the scepter, which was actually her dreams. That explained the erraticness of it and why she woke up, coinciding with the war-like nightmare during the later parts of her dream.
Secondly, he didn't expect her to start a conversation rather than commit to small talk.
Choice of words, choice of words. Those lines repeated inside Nuriel's mind like a broken record player. If he messed up, he would forgo his life on this planet.
He chuckled, though it sounded forced. "I got into an incident, you see?"
Approaching Vivienne, he sat right in front of her, describing his story in detail. Hearing the almost ridiculous story, she surprisingly didn't react too much, as if it was an everyday occurrence, which bothered him.
"As for my time here in Owhen, I'm working as a librarian," he said.
Vivienne raised her brows, hearing the word he said 'librarian'. There was no way she could've reacted like this if she wasn't an undercover agent.
"I'm also a librarian."
. . .
"That's a crazy coincidence!"
He tried his best to act surprised. One could say he would've won an award for it. 'I already knew that though.'
. . .
"I'm heading back to sleep. It's a pleasure talking to you."
Vivienne left the scene, not putting much of a show. Nuriel sat there, trying to hold in a panic attack. 'She doesn't know... right?'
He stood up. He waited for her to walk to her room and close the door behind her before he did something, fearing that if he turned around for a split second, he'd be killed from a sneak attack.
Returning to his room, he dressed up in a puffy suit for the cold night before washing his face then heading outside.
The campus streets were dead silent, almost like a grave. However, it was well lit by various lamp posts dotting the sidewalks. Looking around, he tried remembering what the previous host of the body did. Finally, he remembered a certain direction where he could get a meal despite being so late at night.
It wasn't surprising that some shops were open 24/7. It was a university, after all. Students didn't know what sleep was, catching deadlines, reviewing, training. But it didn't scare him that much since he had already graduated school. Of course, overtime was something he could not look forward to.
Walking the winding roads, he stumbled upon a bright building, its elegance contrasting the dead of night, making it look like a gateway to heaven.
Entering the building, he was met with a flowery fragrance, along with the smell of coffee and pastry. The seats and tables were dainty, not made for efficiency and profit, but for aesthetics.
There weren't a lot of people. He counted around one, two, three, and... Edward?
Before he entered the room, there was a chiming bell, and because of the lack of customers, everyone stared at the person who came into the restaurant so late into the night.
Edward was the first to react to his presence. Without hesitating, he was already waving his hands frantically. The sight made Nuriel lose his appetite, almost making him leave immediately.
But as his stomach grumbled, he couldn't resist.