Gehrman tapped the side of his temple as Caster looked at him like some kind of mad genius.
He didn't blame the kid. After all, he had just received an Attribute. It was the same one Gehrman had, [Unnatural Rune Witness]. When focusing on the runes of this Attribute, one could pull up a sub menu that detailed open "slots" for Runes to be memorized. In his Second Nightmare, he had four slots. Three for normal Caryll Runes and one for an Oath Rune. This was also the number of slots that Johann was able to manifest when he was a Hunter in Yharnam.
However, this number was above average. Not many could handle that many Caryll Runes. It all relied on one's attunement to the Arcane. Gehrman suspected that this would manifest in a special way in this world, and indeed it did. Caster had two slots open. One for an Oath Rune, and one for a normal Caryll Rune.
Gehrman had made him memorize the [Hunter] and [Eye] Rune, but he would have the rest of them simply memorize the [Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis] Caryll Rune for the boost in stamina. That way, those in his New Workshop could labor for even longer.
A small part of Gehrman wondered if these impossible hours of work were sadistic…but he eventually convinced himself it was fine.
They got breaks after all.
Even if one did work for 12 hours a day, they received a couple hours of designated rest interspersed throughout all of that.
He wasn't evil, just efficient.
There was a very clear difference.
He had to tell himself this after hearing the groaning of the young potential Awakened Students. None of them had yet shown signs of becoming infected with the Nightmare Spell, but with a Caryll Rune, Gehrman was confident that they had just as good of a shot at surviving as all the "citizen" teenagers.
A few hours after Caster had assimilated the Runes power, he had summoned up all the young ones and had them go through the same process.
The results were mixed.
Closeness to the Nightmare Spell, or rather, being an Awakened, did indeed seem to have some effect on one's affinity for the Arcane. Not a single one of them memorized an Oath Rune, but three did manage a single Caryll Rune; the [Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis] Rune was applied to Bitz, the first kid who had talked with him. Clair, the previously sick girl whose mother had been the first to join him in the New Workshop. And a newer fellow named Anton.
There were now about 15 kids receiving this training, all of them either teenagers or tweens. They showed an astonishing amount of conviction and stubbornness for kids their age. This was a quality that was similar to what Sunny had. The spite for the world that made them unbelievably strong.
Still, none of them were close to the level of Sunny. Even among those in the Outskirts, he was a special case. A once in a generation talent and mind.
But these kids were as mentally resilient as any adult citizen, perhaps more so. The hours upon hours of work would undoubtedly have sent most people crying to the hills. And though all of them complained, none of them ran.
This was probably out of a mix between their own pride and fear for "The Red Judge."
As Gehrman had hoped, the moniker appeared to spread like wildfire. Though Gehrman wasn't going out into the Outskirts and asking people if they knew about him, he had overheard Bitz talking with Anton about how this place had become something of a myth among Outskirt gangs.
Speaking of gangs, apart from the force that the man named Oskar manned, no one came near.
And even then, Oskar made no direct moves, only sending in a couple of people like Bitz to feel out the New Workshop.
Gehrman was, of course, aware of all the things happening in his Workshop and though he never forbade leaving or entering, no one could do so without him being aware of it. There was a "security system" installed along with some of the new buildings. And they all fed back to Gehrman's own room.
He had a bit of a secret office where he could collect all the data he needed about the Workshop. Since he didn't sleep, he had a decent amount of time to check in with the progress of everything.
It was in this office that he saw Bitz sneaking off in the middle of the night, leaving the Block and heading toward the larger building where Oskar was located.
Seeing this, Gehrman smiled warmly.
He had set the groundwork for the New Workshop, and new people still entered, but the numbers were still low. In order to make the leap into the thing he wanted this place to be, he needed that man, Oskar.
Though he was merely mundane. He was hiding something that (as far as he knew) was singularly unique amongst people in the Outskirts. Gehrman only had an inkling for what it was, but with the Caryll Runes able to be applied to mundane people, he finally had a good hook. All that was left was to real him in.
After that, everything would start to fall into place.
…
Bitz dragged his feet along the uneven paths of the Outskirt alleys.
He had been staying in the "New Workshop" for a little over a month now and he was already starting to feel…different.
It was hard to describe, but the way Bitz walked, the way he thought, the way he felt, was now all filled with a strange sensation. At first, he thought it was unreasonable paranoia. A couple weeks in he thought it was exacerbated suspicion, but he now knew it as an all encompassing…awareness.
Even walking wasn't simple, as he constantly felt the need to keep his legs slightly bent, able to shoot off in a random direction at a moment's notice. It was incredibly exhausting, constantly being aware. But now that he was back in the Outskirts he started to notice a difference.
It wasn't that he himself felt different, rather the others all seemed far too lazy.
How could they stand with straight legs? How could they walk around with their hands not ready to grasp the nearest weapon?
He had been there for such a short amount of time, but the change he experienced was radical and exceedingly unnerving.
It didn't help that he had to keep track of all these changes. All the things that The Red Judge taught were meticulously detailed in Bitz's own mind. And now he would list all those notes out before his boss.
This was the job given to him by the 9,000s Boss Oskar.
A couple of months ago, he would have thought it was too good to be true, being a personal agent for a District Boss.
Now Bitz wasn't too happy about it. That was because the things he was dealing with seemed worth the title and pay he received.
Though Bitz was not yet 15, he was not naive. He knew that whatever was happening with The Red Judge was not only dangerous, but also something that could upend all of the Outskirts.
He felt the proof of this fact within him now.
A foreign energy that he couldn't describe, and it was all centered around a strange spiral shape.
The Red Judge had called it an "Anti-Clockwise Metamorphosis Rune." But Bitz had no idea what that meant. All he knew was that he was now affected by some sort of supernatural energy. It must have been due to the Aspect of The Red Judge, but enhancing mundane humans was a terrifying ability, and it was not something that the Government would let out of their sight.
So after he started to recognize the power of this "Caryll Rune" he knew exactly what he would say to the boss when he reached him.
That was how, under dim lights in a sparsely furnished room, he sat before Oskar and told him something that seemed utterly insane.
"...I think this is a Government experiment."
Oskar raised an eyebrow.
"I respect you for doing this shit, kid, but your job isn't to make theories, it's to tell me everything you saw and heard."
Shrinking in on himself and blushing, Bitz quickly corrected his behavior.
"R-right. Sorry boss," he took a deep breath and then went into more details on his report. "This whole operation centers around The Red Judge. The other Awakened, the one with the Echo, is almost never seen. I've only ever spotted him brooding while standing on top of a building. And that only happens when The Red Judge is gone for a while."
Bitz paused, his face betraying his confusion.
"Mr. Red is gone a fair bit. It's usually because he is installing a new building. He does this by controlling this red liquid that he keeps in these giant tubs…He says that it's the blood of Nightmare Creatures. And honestly, I couldn't find anything that points to him lying…I don't think he ever lies. It's weird. Everything he says seems super honest, but he doesn't go into detail ever. You would think that his superpower centers around controlling blood, but now that we have these 'Caryll Runes' I think it's pretty clear that it is something else altogether that he controls."
"Yeah, about those Runes…" Oskar leaned forward. "I heard that it changes you, but how much of a difference do you actually feel."
Bitz swallowed. He was nervous about this. Nervous about whether this powerful man would believe him. But all he could do now was tel the truth.
"...It's insane. Before, I could barely function on 6 hours of sleep, now, it feels like I am perfectly rested after 5. I get tired a lot less easily. I tested it on the way here. I can run 10 blocks without stopping to walk now. That's 5 times better than before…Whatever this thing is, it is supernatural."
Oskar's eye twitched, and Bitz forced himself not to flinch as a terrifying look came over the District Bosses face.
"So his Aspect Ability can change mundane people…but there hasn't ever been a report on such a power before. So it's something new and untried, and you think the Government sent him out here to try out his new powers on people who don't matter. It's a sound theory kid, I don't blame you for thinking that way," the District Boss mused.
He started to roughly scratch the side of his head, and a scowl took over his face.
"But that's not it. The Government wouldn't make such a big scene out of this if all they wanted to do was experiment with some new freaks Aspect Ability. None of the Legacy Clans have any stake in the Outskirts, but something this big will eventually leak to them. It would be an absolutely idiotic way for the Government to reveal one of their biggest trump cards, even if it isn't fully fleshed out yet."
He leaned back and started to tap his foot against the hard ground.
"Everything about this is a contradiction. I thought he worked for the Government, but now it is clear that he is his own entity. No faction in this world would give up such a big ability so haphazardly. This is someone who has gone rouge, but instead of spending resources to stop him, they give him free reign. Before this whole 'Rune' thing I figured that it was just a way for the Government to deal with an out of control Master, by appeasing his weird requests. But if they don't take action now, then this isn't appeasement. If they don't send assassins after him for this…then it will be because they can't kill him, not because they won't. "
A grave look came over his face, and a bead of sweat trailed down his forehead.
"So either he is a bad match up for the Government Saints, or he has something else up his sleeve. Since he is broadcasting the fact that he can make mundane people stronger to the entire world, he definitely has something else up his sleeve. Something even more insidious."
Oskar blinked rapidly a couple times, then he seemed to remember that Bitz was still in the room with him.
"What I just said doesn't leave this room. You mention it to anyone, and you're dead," the look in the District Bosses eyes became eerily cold, and all of Bitz's instincts told him that this was the truth. He quickly nodded, unable to muster words in the face of the sudden pressure that the Oskar was giving off.
The District Boss started to growl and lean back in his chair.
"Fuck…this is a lot bigger than I thought. If he can do this…" Oskar trailed off, but then he suddenly refocused on Bitz.
"From what you've told me, this isn't just some madman having fun, this is a power play at the highest level," Oskar shook his head. "At this point, half-measures won't do anymore. We either gotta run like hell or put our full support behind him and hope to the dead gods that whatever he is hiding is big enough to keep his immunity up."
Oskar's grim features started to relax a little, and he seemed to come to a conclusion.
"If he's offering to teach, then I guess we'd be fools to turn it down."