Librarian

Kallous had the most eye-catching smile grace his beautiful face as he held a potion-filled glass disguised as freshly squeezed orange juice. His mind was flooded with Allyn's numerous warnings and alarms, practically shouting at him not to drink what was offered.

While maintaining his mask of innocence in front of Simon, who sat across from him with a glass of his own, Kal used his link with Allyn to calm her down. 

─'Allyn, please pay attention to me. I'm not an idiot; I won't drink this. Calm down.' 

Allyn relaxed and stopped ruminating after hearing Kal's soothing voice.

✿'I'm sorry. Should've known better than to freak out.' Feeling embarassed, she quickly regained her composer and rested on Kal's head.

─'No worries, now help me switch these drinks while I distract this fool.' Setting down the book he was about to read, Kal used the weapon he was certain would work on this creep.

Kal cast an innocent look at the man while tucking his hair behind his ear, further revealing his adorable features.

Simon paused, gazing down at the boy's face, taking in his appearance as his imagination ran wild, conjuring up images that weren't family friendly.

'Disgusting.' Kal thought. While he distracted Simon, Allyn didn't hesitate to swiftly swap both of the drinks in the glass. She signaled to Kal as she hovered in a circular motion around Simon, ensuring he had no hidden weapons under his sleeves. 

Kal gazed at the drink, then back at Simon, making sure the man saw him drink the juice, emptying the glass in the process. Once empty, he noticed that Simon, too, had sipped the juice, finishing half his glass while smiling down at Kal with a light, noticeable blush on his face.

"Thank you, I feel refreshed now." Kal thanked with a fake smile, though he truly hated the taste.

"Glad to be of service, young knowledge seeker." Pleased, Simon finished his glass and stood up, only to feel dizzy and fall back into his chair.

"Oh, and—" Simon couldn't process the situation. As he tried to regain his footing, he looked at the young child with striking silver eyes. The child's smile vanished, making Simon shiver for reasons unknown to him.

'What is happening? Why am I—' Simon's mind raced, trying to figure out why he felt like passing out. His gaze shifted to his drink, his eyes widening. 'The potion! I must have taken the wrong glass. But how? I was sure I—'

"—Simon," Hearing his name from the child's mouth forced him to make eye contact, shock evident on his face. "How did you—

"You've chosen the wrong person to mess with." Was the last thing Simon heard before passing out. 

Kal stared at the unconscious man on the hardwood floor for a moment, then let out an audible sigh.

"Allyn, can I hide a living person inside the system?" Kal asked, exhaustion apparent in his voice.

✿"Well, he seems half-dead right now, but let me double-check the rules to be sure." While Allyn disappeared, Kal took his time to look around the place. Maintaining a close distance from the body, he picked up, moved, and replaced several books from the shelves.

Allyn returned five minutes later and rechecked her location. How did this place get ruined so fast? She blinked then started to search for Kal, which took only a second. She went straight to him.

✿"Kal!" Her voice gained Kal's attention, and he stopped what he was doing to look at her while leaning on the pile of messy books.

Extending his palm out to her, Allyn moved to his side only to get pinched by him.

✿"WHY—" Ignoring her protest, he played with her form and looked back at the shelves. 

Allyn huffed and let him do whatever he wanted. Kal noticed her acting obedient and chuckled.

"Any luck with the body?" Peering further into the library, he questioned. His gaze roamed around, inhaling the musty smell of old books. He then noticed a wooden door and tried to open it only to discover it was locked.

✿ "Safe and sound within the system. As long as he's in a half-dead state, the system can preserve him," Allyn replied. She, too, saw the wooden door and scanned it. "Weird, why is there no room behind it?"

Kal hummed and unlocked the door using keys he found among Simon's possessions.

✿ "Seriously, STAIRS? What kind of idiot locks stairs with a door like that?!" Using Allyn as a light source, Kal descended the stairs, enjoying her silly remarks.

He soon found himself in what appeared to be an office, with piles of paperwork arranged on either side of the floor. He grabbed a paper out of curiosity, and as he was reading it, a system panel appeared before him.

Dumbfounded, he stared at the now-yellow screen he had never seen before and read the text.

➢ YOU HAVE UNLOCKED A SIDE MISSION.

[CRUEL DESTINY]

Young and bright, eyes filled with light.

Souls innocent and pure, how much could they ever endure?

Berayed, chained and defiled, not even their bodies found in the wild.

Even the stars could not change their fate. 

However you, who defied it could end this before it's too late.

Help them, and they will forever smile upon you in favour till the future where you will become great.

☆SIDE MISSION CLEAR REWARDS⇩

Two skill tickets

Ten status points

Title

'My luck stats wasn't just for show after all.' Kal immediately accepted the side mission without thinking twice. 'This missions aligns with my plans anyway, taking extra rewards won't hurt. But why did the system hand out a mission here of all places?'

✿"Kal, check these out!" Allyn's voice was full of excitement as she flew in circles over a stack of papers. Kal soon joined her and took one of the documents to read.

"Strange..." The documents contained a wealth of information on Simon's transactions with the orphanage. But why?

Examining the other documents, Kal found more information relating to transactions with lower nobles, one even involving a viscount at the capital.

Simon, nobles, and the orphanage. Kal, now seated in the office chair, circled these three words and wondered about their connection.

A bold thought occurred to him as he glanced at the mission panel. He quickly signaled Allyn to come to his side.

"How much time will it take you to sort out these documents?" He asked, pointing at the scattered papers. 

Allyn stopped messing around and looked at her master as if he was stupid. Rather than responding, she blinked, causing all the papers to vanish from the floor and reappear on the table where Kal had chosen to sit.

✿ "Hmph, you've known me for a year, and you still don't understand how awesome I am!" Allyn huffed from atop the organized pile of documents. Kal offered an apology, which she quickly accepted, returning to her cheerful self.

After double-checking the papers, Kal discovered the answers to his questions. Though still taken aback, he couldn't help but smile.

"Take out that trash. I believe interrogation is in order."

✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺

Ivan was following his brother, who wandered the streets like a lost puppy.

"Where is he? Brother, you don't think something bad happened to him, right?" Ian stopped walking and looked at his brother, worry evident on his face.

Ivan reached out, patted his brother's soft hair, and sighed inwardly. Since Kal's absence from class, his younger twin had been anxious. It wasn't much at first, but as the hours passed and the sun began to set, even Ivan became concerned about the child.

He looked around. The town was far less crowded than it had been earlier. 'It's not like Kallous could be in any danger. Still, for Ian's sake, I'll look for him.' "Don't worry, I'll scan the area and look for his shadow's signature."

IIan looked at his brother with stars in his eyes. He knew he could count on his brother!

With half his mana pool emptied, Ivan used his blessing to locate Kal's shadow. He checked the streets, shops, and town center but to no avail.

It was as if Kallous had vanished.

Ivan used more mana to look further into the shadows, not wanting to let his brother down. Soon, he saw a very dark shadow, one he was very familiar with.

'There—'

Ivan opened his eyes and noticed his brother's anxious look. He grinned and extended his hand to him. "Found him; now hold my hand." Ian knew what was going to happen, so he grasped his twin's hand and prepared himself for impact.

Within seconds, the twins vanished and reappeared inside a dimly lit chamber, where they saw Kallous wielding a hammer, preparing to strike a whimpering man on the cold stone floor, pleading for him to stop.

"Kal?"

Kallous paused but soon attacked the man, making him pass out.

The twins saw this and looked at each other, both shocked and confused, but made a silent agreement to turn a blind eye unless Kallous allowed it.

Ian moved to Kallous, his brother following right behind him, and held Kal's bloody gloved hand. "Are you alright?"

Kallous stared at the twins, who appeared unconcerned with his bloodied appearance or the body underneath him.

─'Allyn, any idea on how they got here?' Kal questioned, his eyes never leaving the twins who were still standing in front of him, unbothered.

✿ 'They didn't come through the door, that's for sure. I was keeping a close watch, and they just... spawned here.'

─ 'Check their status.'

Two screens appeared, displaying the twins' information.

Name: Ian Val Black.

Race: Demon. Age: 5.

SB: Nature's Grace. Rank: E+.

Title: /

STR: 21

STA: 40

MANA : 60

INT: 20

END: 32

LUCK: 19

> Upgrade the system to show the rest of the status.

Name: Ivan Val Black.

Race: Demon. Age: 5.

SB: One with the Shadows. Rank: E+.

Title: /

STR: 43

STA: 37

MANA: 65

INT: 23

END: 58

LUCK: 19

> Upgrade the system to show the rest of the status.

Kal was shocked to see their stats and looked at them in a different light 'Blood of Sin truly worked wonders on them.' he took a second glance on this luck and sighed. 

No wonder they didn't manage to survive. 

"Kallous?" This time, it was Ivan who called his name.

Worried, Ivan attempted to reach out to Kal, who appeared to be deep in thought, only to stop when he noticed Kal's silver eyes looking at him.

Even in such a dimly lit room, his eyes shone like jewels.

"Shadows." Kal spoke, gaining the twins' attention.

"Huh?" Ian tilted his head in confusion, but Ivan merely looked back at Kal, who didn't take his gaze away from him.

"You used the shadows to get here. Am I right, Ivan?" 

Ian stepped back, shocked. 'How did he know?'

Ivan, on the other hand, merely stood there and saw Kal's cold smile. Kal's face was coated with blood, most likely from the man he had tormented in the hours he had vanished.

With his decision made, Ivan replied. "Yes."

"Hmm~ a useful ability. To be blessed at such a young age, truly, you are lucky." Kal chuckled, turning to glance at Ian.

"And you, something to do with nature, I presume?"

"How did you... "

The twins felt exposed in front of Kallous. Only one thought crossed their minds.

'Who is he?'' 

✿ 'Kal, you are scaring them.' Allyn watched the scene and had to intervene before her young master made her favorite pair of twins tear up.

Yes, she had grown to love the two, especially Ian.

─ 'Their fault for interrupting me.' Kal gave them both an innocent smile and pointed at his eyes.

"You see, my eyes are special."

While Kal ignored the twins right after and took his time to carry the now dead body elsewhere, the twins silently looked at the scene then made eye contact with eachother. 

"Brother." Ian spoke first, holding his brother's hand.

Ivan hummed and held his brother's hand tightly. 

"I know he was creepy just now. But, isn't it cute how he tried to move a grown man's body all by himself? Look—even his cheeks are red."

Ivan stared at his brother for a full minute, then sighed defeatedly.

Who cares if Kal knew about their blessings or had a hobby of torturing people in a dungeon-like room?

In the end, he was their innocent yet creepy friend...

It's not like they were innocent either.

"En. He was...adorable." Ivan replied with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"I knew it! let's go help him get rid of the body! he must be tired from all the torturing." Ian took it upon himself to be the best partner in crime that Kal, his friend, could ever ask for. 

Ivan simply followed his brother as usual as they made their way towards Kal, who was pitifully trying to drag a dead body.