[Intermission] Saria's Misunderstanding

Shivering not from the cold but out of fear, Saris hid under the blanket.

"I-I won't tell anyone.. I won't say anything.. I-I promise.. I promise.." hugging her head, she muttered repeatedly like a broken record.

That girl dressed in black, it was as if her name had been wiped clean from her memory— or it could be said that because of the fear she felt, her mind had been forced to seal her name away.

She was close to a boy, whose age was similar to Saria herself. The peculiar thing was that the boy's colour was a small iridescent diamond. But that diamond was bound to the vast, endlessly eroding darkness that the girl possessed.

Saria didn't understand why their colours were connected like that— the only other time she had seen two colours connected to each other was between a person with his summoned slime.

"Saria?"

"Saria!"

The blanket was pulled over, Saria's parents looked at her with a worried expression.

"Mom, dad.." Saria jumped at them to an embrace, weeping.

"What happened?"

The nurse on standby could only shake her head, showing them that she too had no idea what had happened. She had called in the doctor in charge but could not do anything about Saria's behaviour even though she pleaded.

The doctor rushed in and the first thing that happened when he was in a range where his TALENT would work— his jaw dropped.

"H-how.. Saria, how did this happen?"

"Did something serious happen?"

"No.. this it's a miracle.. her cancer is gone," he spoke in a hush.

Hearing that, everyone gasped.

Saria trembled.

"Is that true?"

"We should run some tests.. Saria, could you follow me? Miss Elly, assist me with this."

The nurse nodded.

The doctor had Saria undergo blood tests to determine the presence of any abnormalities and a CT scan.

And to their surprise— the cancer was wiped out entirely. Her body was as healthy as ever.

Inside the doctor's office, Saria had been questioned about the incidents that transpired but— she could never speak the truth. Fumbling through her words and deviating the topic.

"My hypothesis is that Saria had accidentally encountered someone whose TALENT is capable of removing cancer cells but— it's too abnormal considering how her body condition has drastically improved all of a sudden.."

"It's a miracle.." tears overflowed from the mother's eyes.

"How about the trauma?"

"That's also another problem.. she doesn't want to talk about what happened. But she's fine in all other respects, the fear should be a temporary side-effect, just avoid tempting her to confess."

"I see.."

"Mom.. dad.. I-I made a promise that's why.."

"I understand, you did properly say thank you to the person right?"

Hearing that, Saria hung her head.

"It's alright, it's alright.." her father tried to soothe her in a flustered manner.

*

A few days later..

"So today's the day you can be discharged, congratulations." the doctor, reading the report, said to Saria and her family.

"Thank you, doctor," her parents bowed.

Saria, who was ready to return home, jumped off the bed with a smile.

She was grateful, despite the fear— she was grateful that her cancer had been cured.

"Also," the doctor passed an envelope to Saria's parents, "I suggest Saria comply with the government regarding the matter."

Reading the letter, her parents furrowed their brows.

"There's an officer here that came for this specific purpose so.." the doctor said after which a knock came from the room door. Keaton came in together with Quinn.

"Good afternoon Mister and Miss Hyn, and hello Saria, how do you do?" Keaton spoke.

Saria smiled, "Urn."

The matter regarding a person with a TALENT capable of curing cancer was a serious one. People who had TALENT that could do so were incredibly rare and sought after, not to mention the physiological burden said person would have to face due to the social stigma. There was a limit on how many people with cancer can be cured by a single person. Because of this, the government has the duty to come in and maintain order and the rights of the person who possessed such a TALENT.

Not all countries were like this.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

This ability to cure cancer was also deemed as a troublesome TALENT. TALENTS that either could affect the person in question or affect the world in a large way had to be managed properly to maintain the peace and stability of the country.

With this in mind, it was necessary for the government to hold a database of everyone's TALENT. Which meant that every person possessing the ability to cure a disease such as cancer had been recorded down except— the one Saria bumped into.

This was unprecedented as everyone was obliged to announce their TALENTS the moment they were bestowed one suring their 16th birthday.

TALENTS like these could also be abused in such a way that the person who had the ability to cure cancer could charge exorbitant prices just to heal a single person.

"I made a promise so I can't tell you who it is. All I can say is that the person has a black colour when seen through my TALENT."

Saria was going to stay true to her words.

"Is there any specific reason why you can't tell me? It would be difficult for the person if others were to find out that the person could cure diseases you know? We need to know so that the government can protect him or her from the troubles that would arise from the TALENT," Keaton said in a troubled tone.

Saria shivered, gritting her teeth. She knew Keaton was right. But..

"I'll die.."

"Come again?"

"I'll die if I tell you the person's identity.. that was the exchange for my life."

Keaton turned to Quinn who nodded, showing a stunned expression.

It was the truth— only to Saria— that is. There was a limit to Quinn's ability.

If a person truly believed that the world was flat, Quinn would pick up the person's statement as 'not a lie'. And thus, the world was indeed both round and flat cause who the hell believes the world is flat anyways?

If Liliath was here, she would say that she never intended to kill Saria. It was but a misunderstanding on her part.

"I see. So you made a deal with the devil huh?" Keaton laughed.

Saria nodded timidly.

"One more thing before I leave— about your TALENT, Saria," Keaton passed her an envelope, "I hope to see your enrollment."

Keaton left with Quinn, leaving Saria stunned with the envelope in hand— the documents to enroll into the school for troublesome students.

"Any luck with the cameras?" Keaton, who came to the surveillance room, asked his subordinate.

"I tracked the patient's movement but found nothing out of place. It's really weird. Although, there was one thing that I found suspicious. A few days ago, she went around the hospital and talked to a few random people."

"Can you provide me with the visuals of everyone she talked to?"

"Done, take a look," he passed Keaton a small stack of pictures.

Keaton looked through it all, none of the people which he recognized.

"Well, I'll bring this to the search team, maybe it's among these people. Thank you for your hard work."

"With pleasure."

Then Keaton left.

The image of Noel and Liliath wasn't among them.