Hearing his words, Nephthys couldn't help but react as well. A small smile formed on her lips—a reaction that immediately made Avner's heart feel like it was about to burst out of his chest.
"Ah… I see… then I should do my best to teach you."
Avner's smile turned into a grin, but it didn't last long.
"Master… what is this?"
"Books, of course."
She had placed about twenty books in front of him.
"Ha… ha… I can see that… I'm just asking why so many."
"To study, of course."
"Woah, is that how you treat someone who just confessed his gratitude to you?"
Seeing all the books irritated Avner—not to mention the way she coldly ignored what he had just said.
Was this how she would act even after he confessed his love to her?
The thought crossed his mind before he could stop it.
"I'm sure you are very grateful to me. After all… isn't this the reason you lied to me and tried to replace me with Amabilis? Because you are so grateful to me. I'm sure you only did it so you wouldn't overwork me."
Being reminded of his sins didn't feel great. Hearing her words, Avner could only clear his throat and look down in shame, unable to maintain eye contact.
"This is how I—your tutor and master—am showing my gratitude to my thoughtful student."
Avner smiled again, though this time it wasn't from happiness, but from pure awkwardness.
"I'm sure you'll study hard. We have history, geography, and of course anatomy. You'll need that in order to better understand how your powers work."
"….."
Avner stared silently at the pile of books.
"I'm sure you will do great,"
Nephthys added encouragingly before standing up.
"Wait, wait, wait. Where are you going?"
Avner asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"Oh, you need not worry about me. You already have enough to worry about."
She gestured toward the books with her eyes and continued walking until her silhouette disappeared from view.
Avner was left alone in the classroom.
"Sigh… is this how she's taking revenge…?"
he muttered pitifully to himself.
"She's so evil she doesn't even know the real reason I tried avoiding her in the first place. I feel like I'm being punished just for having feelings for her."
Avner looked at the books again.
"Sigh…."
***
"What did you find regarding the investigation?"
"I looked into what you told me last time, and I didn't find anything in particular. They weren't even killed in the same way—except they all seem to have died in a lot of pain."
"Come on."
"What? Where?"
"To the morgue."
"Oh… okay."
Miyeon and Nephthys headed there together.
"So there are about fourteen victims at this point."
Before them lay the lifeless bodies of fourteen people.
"How do you know they were all killed by the same person?"
Nephthys asked.
"All the witnesses described the same person."
"How so?"
"Every single house that was attacked had at least one witness."
"Doesn't that suggest he let them see him on purpose?"
"Very likely."
Nephthys carefully analyzed each corpse, searching for something—anything—out of the ordinary that could give them a clue.
"They are all part of the same group,"
she finally said, leaving Miyeon confused.
"What do you mean? How do you know that?"
"Look here."
Nephthys pulled the cover down to reveal one corpse's stomach and pointed at the solar plexus.
"...."
Miyeon followed her gesture, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see anything unusual.
"I don't see anything."
"That's because you're looking with the wrong eyes."
That only confused him more.
"I'm looking with the wrong what now?"
Nephthys pointed at the solar plexus again.
"This right here—there's a tattoo you cannot see with the naked eye."
"So how are you able to see it?"
Miyeon asked.
"You can see it too."
"How?"
"Try directing your chakra to your eyes."
Miyeon knew chakra could be focused into specific parts of the body. It was usually directed into the hands to release energy, but he had never heard of focusing it into the eyes.
Still, he followed her instructions.
And then he saw it.
The tattoo Nephthys had mentioned—faintly glowing beneath the skin.
"Wow…"
Miyeon was amazed—and so was Nephthys.
"You were able to do it on your first try. It seems your reputation isn't just groundless rumors or exaggeration."