Scammed

Her real grandfather.

Not the man who could barely lift his eyelids. Not the man who hadn't stood on his own ever since she was born. The man who could only communicate with his eyes and occasional sounds that escaped his mouth.

No.

This man was sitting upright, smiling, hands gesturing as he talked, laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.

The markings on his body were gone as if they had been figments of her imagination. The hollow and sunken eyes were bright again like the pictures of him in his youth.

"G-Grandpa?" she whispered, unsure of what she was seeing.

All eyes in the room turned to her.

The old man's face softened instantly.

With his arms wide open, he called out her name, "Sarakit. My granddaughter."

Like a bolt of lightning, she dashed into the room.

"GRANDPAAAA!!"

Crashing into his chest, she hugged him with her entire body, sobbing loudly.

Her parents watched with sunshine in their eyes.

Sarakit could feel the strength of a man reborn as he held her with all his might.

Clinging to him like a baby, she cried into his shoulder, gasping for breath between words, completely forgetting for a moment that there was another person in the room who wasn't a part of her family.

The embarrassment would kick in later.

"You're healed, Grandpa! Grandpa, you're healed! You're freaking healed!"

"Yes yes yes, my little star. I am fine now."

And behind them all, Bell watched silently. 

'There she is.'

He hadn't saved the old man because he wanted their loyalty, nor did he care about the parents. He did it for one person only. Sarakit, the genius alchemist who would someday change the world with her creations.

Now that she no longer spent most of her time trying to create a cure for her grandfather, she could start focusing on her personal projects a little earlier than she did in the novel. THAT was the investment he was making with the dragon eye.

In the novel, only after her grandfather died did the heartbroken Sarakit drown herself in her misery and distract herself with research and experiments. 

Bell's eyes were unreadable as he watched the scene play out before him. 

He just hoped that he was correct that his decision to help her would help him. If it didn't, and she ended up becoming a hindrance—

A few minutes later.

"How can I ever repay you for this?" asked Sarakit. 

Although she had once viewed them as equals, students of the same academy, the way she looked at Bell now was as if she were looking at the Unbound God whom she was a follower of.

"I've already told your parents this… I don't need any payment. I'm just helping my path be a little more traversable by doing this. It's not a selfless deed. It's a selfish one. So… don't worry. Plus, your grandfather and I have already discussed ways he could pay me back… even though I didn't ask for it. I'll see you at the academy next semester."

As he turned around to leave, his wrist was grabbed.

"Let me know if you need anything. I mean it. I… I-I'm still just a beginner, but I'm studying alchemy. I… you can have any item I make for free."

Sarakit was being 100 percent sincere.

Bell stared at her for a second before nodding and saying, "Let me know if you ever need someone to invest in your projects. Your grandfather has the number for my bedroom phone."

As she watched him disappear into the hallway, Sarakit couldn't help but wonder if she was dreaming. What had just happened? Why did all of that feel like something straight out of a children's book? Bell was like the white knight who saved the princess — her grandfather.

Even his final words, why was he willing to invest his money in her? What if she wastes the funds? 

Furrowing her eyebrows, she wasn't naive. Especially after he stated that he saved her grandfather for a selfish reason.

Something was going on.

Something behind the scenes.

What it was, she knew she probably wouldn't be able to find out easily.

Grabbing her notebook, she began looking at all of the ideas she had but never worked on due to her focus being completely on her grandfather's health.

"I hope one of these will be of use to him."

It was nothing in comparison to the price of a dragon eye, but at least she wouldn't be benefiting for free without giving anything back in return, regardless of what Bell said. 

* * *

Jerman was driving him and his Young Master to the library.

He didn't know what happened inside that restaurant, but whatever it was, it emitted so much pressure that he thought Bell's father had shown up.

If it wasn't for the command to wait until he was called for, he would've rushed into the building.

Then an hour into waiting, a girl had suddenly appeared and started freaking out as if she stumbled onto a corpse. He had to hide himself so that she wouldn't notice his presence.

'Doesn't look like he'll tell me anything. He doesn't want me to know. I'll just pretend this detour never happened.' He tossed his thoughts into the trash. 'No worries. No stress.'

Ever since his Young Master had exited his bedroom and begun acting irrationally compared to his previous self, that phrase was starting to become Jerman's motto.

Half an hour later.

Arriving at the library, Bell got out and was about to head inside when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Young Master?"

He couldn't help but feel that something was off. Although he didn't know what it was, Bell always trusted his gut feelings when they told him something.

"Jerman, just be on the lookout more cautiously than normal. It might be nothing, but I have a feeling I'm being watched."

Jerman was confused. Not only was he stronger than his Young Master and his senses were more honed than his, but where did this feeling of his come from? But it was his Young Master's order, so he complied.

As Bell entered the library, neither he nor Jerman noticed as the air behind him shifted and warped in an unnatural manner. A figure was following closely behind him, a figure that was invisible to the naked eye.

As Bell was reading his book that focused on the Inner Gods and all that was publicly known about them, he couldn't help but feel more and more that he was being watched.

This wasn't an ability of his. He was now Godless after all. This wasn't an effect of the mark that Solmire gave him. This was just his gut feeling, something that he had been relying on since he was a child back on Earth. And rarely was it wrong.

Simultaneously, he flipped through the pages, reading up about the Inner Gods while another part of his brain was racking through his memories, trying to remember if there was a hint from the novel that might help him at this moment.

'...Wait.'

If he remembered correctly, one of the female protagonists in the novel had a few paragraphs dedicated to her backstory. 

Raised in the slums. The boss of a group of beggars, all of them children. The ability to turn invisible through her Unbound God, who only had one follower, her. 

He began to connect the dots.

'That little girl yesterday, was she a part of her crew?'

He wasn't a hundred percent sure that his theory was correct. He might be completely wrong and someone else was watching him, or worse, nobody was watching him and he was being paranormal.

But even a small chance is still a chance.

"Maya Malkovia, I'd appreciate it if you didn't stalk me like this," he muttered as he flipped to the next page.

Silence.

A minute passed and he began to wonder if he was indeed wrong; he didn't show his doubts on his face though. He pretended to be completely sure of his theory and continued to read the book in front of him.

Just as he was about to doubt himself any further, the chair across from him on the table magically moved backwards, and a figure then materialized on the seat.

"How did you know?" asked Maya.

She wasn't showing it, but she was shaken up. When her name was called, she nearly panicked and accidentally rammed her body into the table.

'I wasn't completely sure but… the signs pointed to it being you. Thankfully, I remembered that small detail about you being the boss of beggars in this area.'

He didn't answer her. Rather, he continued flipping pages. Flip. Flip.

Frowning, Maya began to wonder if she should capture this young man in front of him and torture him until he revealed the answer. She wouldn't even feel the slightest bit of guilt considering that he wasn't a fellow human. He was nothing more than a monster.

Then she thought about the kids and knew that kidnapping an Agnus was just begging to get her and them in trouble.

"If you tell me how you knew I was here, I won't expose your secrets."

"...?"

'What secrets?'

"Did you think that just because your family spent all that money, no one would know about what you did? I know. And if you don't tell me, the rest of the world will know," she threatened.

Her words were more than enough for Bell to understand what she was referring to.

"Go ahead," he commented.

'...What?'

"Stop bluffing. I mean it. I'll have your face on every newspaper by the end of tomorrow. You'll never be able to step outside your home again."

"And just like you, I also mean it. Go ahead."

'Does he think I'm kidding? Then he knows nothing about me.'

Getting off the seat, she turned around and was about to set off a fire that was going to overtake the city when Bell's voice sounded. 

"Go ahead, but as soon as you take a single step out of this library, all those little kids you're taking care of…"

Bell didn't finish his sentence.

He wasn't threatening her. He wouldn't do anything to those kids. Even if he had a knife to his throat, he wouldn't.

It's just that he knew his father, even if he had only been in this new body for eight days. Bell's father would go to extremes if Maya were to expose the suppressed incident. Not because of pride for the Agnus name, but because of his doting nature.

"I knew it. You're a monster," Maya said as she sat back down.

"Don't get it twisted, I wasn't the one who started the conversation with a threat," Bell reminded her.

He wasn't exactly wrong, but that didn't make Maya look at him any more positively. 

"Now, let's be civilized people. I'll answer your question if you answer one of mine. One for one. A fair deal, wouldn't you agree?"

"...Fine."

"Why were you following me?" he asked.

Bell needed to know. Perhaps it would be a clue to the questions that he was constantly trying to solve.

"I happened to see one of my classmates on my way home and wanted to see what he was up to," she answered.

Bell glanced up from his book and gazed into her eyes.

'Sad red eyes? Are you crazy Emily? These eyes are nothing close to being sad. If anything… they're terrifying.'

He turned his attention back to his book as he muttered, "I see. So we're going to be dishonest. I guess that concludes the fair deal. Have a nice day, Maya."

"...How did you know that I was lying?"

"..."

Flip. Flip.

"I was following you because one of my children; they had gotten a lot of money from you, and I was wondering who it could've been. I knew there was a chance that it could've been you, but I was convinced it wasn't since… you know, you're a terrible person and whatnot. I was hoping to follow the loaded person home and steal a couple of things. Just things that won't really affect their life."

"..."

"I answered your question. Isn't it your turn to answer me?"

"You lied and broke the agreement. I can't help but feel like you need to make up for it. Answer one more question, and I'll give you the answer you're seeking."

"...Fine."

"How did you find out about the incident between me and Diana?"

"Oh wow. You're not even hesitating to say the name of your victim. You call her like you would a friend."

Maya felt revolted.

"I mean, isn't it obvious? I used my ability to eavesdrop on the conversation the headmistress had with your father over the phone. You were there in her office as well. If you knew how to detect my presence then… Whatever. Now it's your turn."

"Alright. I'm a man of my word. I knew you were lying because of subtle things."

"Wait." 

"Speech patterns. Body language. Facial expressions."

"Wait wait wait."

"When you've been lied to enough times, you start to catch on to the point that you don't even have to look at them to know that they're lying."

"Just wait a goddamn second," she said, nearly yelling but held back due to their environment. "That wasn't the question I wanted you to answer. I wanted to know how you knew I was here."

"Well, you should've specified. You asked multiple questions and I answered one of them."

"..."

'Did I just get scammed?'

"I… You…"

She was speechless and tripping over her words. This was the first time in a long time that someone had managed to get a reaction this out of character from her.

Sighing, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "Fine. Guess I should've been more specific. Ask another question. I'll answer it so that you can finally answer my question. The question."

"...Hmm, I don't really have anything else I want to ask you."

"...Huh?"

"Guess that it's for our exchange in the meantime. See you around, Maya. And keep in mind what I warned you earlier."

"...Wait, what?"