"The... the one responsible for the Apple Incident...?"


    My luck couldn''t get any worse. I ended up dragging in a serial killer who murdered hundreds, if not thousands of students at a young age. Either he was very smart, or he possessed overwhelming talent. Nevertheless, he wasn''t someone I could take lightly.


    "That''s right. Just call me Mr. Eliopoulos. Like you, I despise my name."


    He reached out his hand to me who dropped to my knees after that sudden surge of rotten stench.


    "You hate your name. You want to kill certain people. You''ll do anything for your goals." He smiled. "We''re very alike, don''t you think?"


    I didn''t agree with any of his words, but I didn''t want to risk getting killed if I had the chance to kill that masked man. I reluctantly took his hand. Upon contact, he grinned slyly before helping me up.


    "Why are you here?" I asked.


    It wasn''t for the apple logo, I''m sure. When he arrived, he responded to my mumbling.


    "Haven''t I answered that already? It''s because we''re similar. Go ahead, use your [Insight] ability on that puddle of blood again. It''ll make explaining easier." He gestured to the blood.


    I glanced at it but didn''t comply. There was no way I''d willingly arouse that stench again.


    "Don''t you want to figure out why your sister was killed so unreasonably?"


    "W-what?!" I turned around to look at him. In response, he smirked and continued.


    "That''s right. Your [Insight] is the answer to all of your questions. Why people despise you. Why people bully you. Why there are benevolent and malevolent people. It allllll lies in this blood."


    Whether he was lying or not didn''t matter. I had to experiment and learn more about my new ability.


    I sighed and picked up my blood-stained mask.


    But that stench is still too much for me.


    "[Insight]" I covered my mouth and nose with my mask.


    "Ignore the scent, and tell me what you see."


    I squinted at the blood. Like before, I saw red gasses escape the blood, but it was clearer because I was more focused on the sight than the smell.


    "I see red gasses."


    "Oh?" He responded amused, but looked behind at the people roaming now that it was morning. "Let''s go somewhere else. Do you perhaps know someone... kind?" He asked, quickly jumping on buildings while grabbing me.


    "Hm..." I pondered, ignoring the force of being tugged. "My teacher at the Academy, I suppose."


    "Let''s make haste then, but first, we need to get you cleaned." He then threw me into a lake.


    "Bwah!" I tucked my head out of the water. "What the fuck?! Tell me beforehand!"


    He dropped near the lake, and smiled, finding amusement in torturing me. He then answered: "I don''t think we''re in a caring relationship, now are we?"


    "Sigh..."


    "Strip and hide there for a bit. I''ll get you some clothes to wear." He then disappeared from my sight before I had a say in the matter.


    As for me, I got out of the water with most of the blood gone from my clothes and mask, but they were still wet. After stripping, I dropped back into the water. This time, I was prepared, so I nonchalantly sank into the lake.


    What was that red gas, I wonder?


    After a few minutes, just when I was about to lose consciousness, he reeled me out of the water... literally. I didn''t know whether to be more surprised at his fishing skills or the fact that the string managed to rope me in.


    "Ah, I caught a big one," he joked before yanking me away from the lake. "Here you go." He tossed brand-new clothes at me.


    As expected of a serial killer. Even after everything that had happened, he was carefree.


    "[Wind]" He used a spell to dry me.


    "I''m surprised that you bothered learning such a useless spell," I commented while dressing.


    "What should be deemed useless is the user, not the spell. A ''skill issue'' is what people call it."


    The more I conversed with this man, the more I realized that we were alike.


    "What? Don''t tell me that you''re falling for me."


    I quickly turned around.


    Shit. I kept gazing at him while I was deep in thought!


    "Well, jokes aside." He got up after I finished changing into the clothes he bought me.


    He bought it... right?


    "Let''s go."


    <hr>


    [The Academy Faction. Support Section.]


    Since we were graduates, we didn''t have entry to the Academy. At the very least, we needed permission or an appointment, so we decided to secretly observe from above. We chose to sit on top of the building with the clearest view of the Doctor Class.


    "Well? Did you spot him yet?" Mr. Eliopoulos asked impatiently.


    "Class starts in five minutes. He''ll be there soon."


    "Not coming in early to prepare for the classes he''ll be teaching. How kind of him."


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Kindness has something to do with being enthusiastic and hardworking toward your job?


    "Ah, there he is," I called out not long after I ignored his comment.


    "Oh? His mana capacity looks quite weak."


    "You can tell that sort of stuff?"


    "No, I did prior research on the man we''re going to analyze," he answered with a straight face.


    ... I can''t tell whether he''s being sarcastic or not.


    "Sigh... [Insight]"


    Mr. Eliopoulos then swiftly removed my mask.


    "H-Hey!"


    "Just trust me."


    "That''s unreasonable..."


    Well, no use crying about it.


    I directed my attention back to my teacher. I was prepared for a strong, nauseating stench and the sight of surging red gasses, but what I saw was a calm, blue gas and a relaxing aroma.


    "This is...?"


    "Benevolence," he answered.


    "How can you tell? Can you see it too?"


    "No, but judging the difference in your reaction compared to the blood of those malevolent beings, I could only deduce that it was the opposite."


    This guy...


    "Am I right?" He looked at me calmly. "If what you saw before was a red gas and a nauseating stench, then is this a blue gas and a soothing aroma?"


    So this is the mind of someone who became a serial killer at a young age, huh?


    "That''s right..." I answered reluctantly, not wanting to feed his ego.


    "Then my theory is correct."


    "Your theory?"


    "That''s right." He got up and walked away from the scene. I followed suit. "Dr. Stein, do you think demons and angels exist?"


    It is hard not to believe they exist. A Demiurge spoke and made his presence known to us, after all.


    "What about them?"


    "I take it that you believe in them then." He smiled wryly. "Then, what do you think is the relation between demons, angels, aliens, and humans?"


    "Hm... biologically and spiritually? None. We''re merely four species on a food chain and power scale," I answered.


    Honestly, I haven''t thought much about it. I was too focused on studying whatever the Academy threw at me, and everything related to medicine. I didn''t have the intelligence and talent to neglect my studies while thinking about random stuff. But I guess after the death of my sister and killing those three bullies, I suppose I need to start thinking about different things.


    "Is that really your answer? It sounds like you just blurted it out of your mouth."


    "Accurate," I responded instantly.


    "Idiot."


    "Then, what are your thoughts on the matter?" I answered, curious, but more importantly to proceed with the topic at hand.


    "Well, when I was young, I snuck into the human territory."


    How is that even possible? Don''t you need to breach Zenki''s barrier?


    "It was then that I realized that humans had something in common with us, aliens." He then took out a red pill and a blue pill. "Evil and good. However, I don''t like these two terms. They''re too subjective. So, let''s call it malevolence and benevolence."


    "That''s too vague to claim as a relation," I debunked. "That''s like saying crocodile and grass have a deep relation because they''re both green."


    "Who knows? Colors have meanings, you know?"


    "Crocodiles are good?"


    I get his point, but once again, the depth of the topic is too much to just assume things with a single fact that could be perceived as a coincidence. While I may have not known him for long, he doesn''t seem to be the type to make such a poor deduction.


    "So, what''s the actual relation between them?" I asked, positive that there''s more to his claim.


    "I don''t know."


    "Huh?!"


    Is this guy actually an idiot?


    "But I''m curious, that''s why I reached out to you. Your [Insight] ability is far more useful than you think," he declared nonchalantly, brimming with confidence.


    How can he say such a thing confidently...?


    "You''re talking as if you know about my ability."


    Every ability is unique—as far as my knowledge tells me—so it should be impossible for him to know about the details of mine.


    "It''s true, isn''t it? Isn''t it the ability to allow you to grasp partially or completely the understanding of a biological structure''s origin?"


    "What are you talking about?" I looked dumbfounded at his weird claims.


    "Sigh... I thought you were smart after you did such a good job killing those fools," he remarked.


    "Stop insulting me and just explain it already."


    "Alright, idiot. You used your ability on your teacher, right? A living being."


    "Yeah, what abou- wait..." I paused, pondering.


    "That''s right."


    So, that''s what this is about. But...


    "Since when did you know?" I asked.


    "I had my suspicions when you started seeing stuff from the blood because of the ability''s name. The teacher was just to confirm everything."


    True. Looking back, gas came from the blood. At that moment, I was questioning myself about why the bullies were ruthless and unreasonable beings, and at that very same moment, I had the sudden urge to utter that ability. Then I saw a red gas, which we clarified as ''malevolence''. Specifically, the red gas emitted from his blood, declaring it as the origin and answer to my curiosity. In a sense, you could say that his blood was tainted, and that led his mentality to be that of a nefarious being.


    "If that''s the case, then one''s mentality is based on the quality or state of their blood. Meaning, if your blood is tainted or not decides whether you''ll be a good or evil person," I mused.


    "That''s right, that means since both humans and aliens have malevolence and benevolence, we have the same blood to a certain extent—or at least our blood originates from the same place."


    While we still don''t have enough evidence to prove this, it remains a theory, but...


    "So, that''s where I come in, huh?"


    "That''s right. I need your ability to confirm my theory."


    "What''s your theory, exactly?" I asked, glancing at him.


    "Since Gods—which were mythical beings before the Demiurge showed himself—were true and nearly the same as how we assumed they would be, it''d be safe to claim demons and angels the same."


    "I see. So, demons who are deemed evil are responsible for tainted—no, impure blood. Angels are responsible for pure blood."


    "Glad to know that you catch on quickly."


    "But how are we going to confirm their relation to humans and aliens? At this point, I can believe humans and aliens have some sort of connection because I can look at a human''s blood and compare."


    During our long conversation, we weren''t just standing or walking aimlessly. We entered a wormhole based on Mr. Eliopoulos''s guidance.


    "Don''t worry. I''m acquainted with a very cooperative demon," he whispered with a sly grin.


    "...What?"


    Since when did we establish the existence of demons?


    It looked like he wanted to tell me, but as the wormhole wasn''t the most vacant place to discuss such a matter, we waited after teleporting to our destination—the Forsaken Faction, residing in the North Atlantic Ocean. Like the Rebel Faction, it was constantly night here.


    Once we were a decent distance away from the wormhole and entered a less crowded area, he answered: "What was the cause of our previous King‐ Eros Haine''s death?"


    "Wasn''t it an illness of some sort? Most of the information is concealed, and they just claim he died from a disease."


    "That''s partially true."


    He answered as if he knew the truth. It was hard to tell because there was never a moment he wasn''t confident.


    "What he died by was some sort of a disease, indeed, but he was ultimately killed."


    "A murder?"


    "No. It was a decision made by those responsible for his safety—The Iode Order. But why are they responsible for his safety?" He asked.


    "Because the King is an important figure to the nation?" I answered unsure.


    "That''s correct. So, what does that entail?"


    The answer was obvious, so I''m sure he''s expecting something more extravagant. If I don''t at least meet his expectations, I''d be at a disadvantage in this relationship. I guess I''ll use my brain a bit.


    "The disease is impure blood, I presume."


    He smiled proudly at my answer, but the darkness beneath that smile remained.


    If the Iode Order had to slay the King in order to save the nation, that could only mean one thing—he posed a threat to it. Before Mr. Eliopoulos brought up the King, we were talking about demons. If we link these two, then it means that the King was somehow involved with demons and was infected with impure blood. But that brings rise to many questions: How is impure blood transferred? And, why would the King involve himself with demons?


    "I''m sure you have many questions, but it''ll be best to hear them from ''his'' mouth."


    The demon?


    Postponing the conversation until we reached our destination, I decided to avert my attention to my thoughts.


    I know I''m being swayed away from my revenge, but just as much as I want to kill that masked bastard, I want to understand them. If I mindlessly killed them because they killed my sister, I would be the same as them.


    I clenched my chest, trying to grasp my complex and indecisive heart.


    Since they have impure blood, as long as I can prove it, he''d inevitably be posed as a nefarious being. Then I can kill him with a good conscience. I don''t know if it''s because of my initial benevolence, but I needed at least this much clarity to continue my revenge after seeing this lead to our origin.