"I'm sorry," Professor Reiner said, looking at Arsh. There was nothing he could do.
On the other hand Arsh was looking at the man lying in bed like a corpse. There was no reason for him to grieve for a person he barely knew by name.
Yet, it bothered him that someone who had spent his entire life protecting others was dying on a mission —especially when he was the one who had assigned it in the first place.
"You did your best," Juan said, patting him on the back.
'Yes, I did my best. Then why didn't it work?' Arsh thought.
Harummatum had also come into the room with them. He was holding onto Arsh's leg. The young child must have sensed the atmosphere in the room, as he looked up at Arsh with sad eyes.
Then suddenly, he let go of Arsh and jumped onto Ezra's bed.
"Hey, be careful. He's sick," Arsh said, reaching out to grab him.
But the child had already taken the golden stone from Ezra's hand.
"Hey, kid! Put that back, it's for the patient! Don't play around with it!" Juan yelled, stepping in.
But the child didn't listen to them; instead, he just turned the stone over in his hands, examining it curiously. Then, squeezed it tightly and looked at Arsh with a smile.
Then, using his other hand, he gently placed Ezra's palm on top of his small legs and put back the stone. But the moment he put it back, the stone turned into a dust, taking its original form again.
It slowly began to seep through the wound on Ezra's hand and into his veins. Before long, all those black veins were glowing with a golden light.
"Incredible," Professor Reiner said as he hurried over to Ezra. With green, worm-like streams of light emerged from his hand as he began examining his condition.
"He's getting better… and at an unbelievable speed. His bodily functions are recovering."
"Good boy, well done Harumamtum," Arsh said, lifting the boy from the bed and hugging him tightly. Even though he didn't understand what the child had just done, it was clear he had done something. The boy giggled at the praise, while Juan ruffled his green hair.
"How did you know what to do? I don't know if it's because you're not human, or what exactly you are, but… good job, kid," Juan said. The child made a move to bite his hand, but seeing Arsh's glare, he silently accepted the pat on the head.
Within just a few minutes, Ezra's condition had improved incredibly. The grayness of his skin and the black veins were gone, replaced by a faint golden glow that still continued to shine beneath his skin. Though, it didn't restore his emaciated body.
"Truly incredible. The problem was damage to the connection between the body and the soul. But this stone you brought fixed that link. His condition is now stable. But it will probably take a few days for him to fully recover," Professor Reiner said.
"Thank you," Arsh said. The Professor didn't respond, only patted his back again.
"There's nothing more we can do here for now. Now, tell me what happened—and who this child is," he said with a smile.
...
Arsh and Juan recounted everything that had happened since their departure for Pirene—their encounter with Old Milor, how they found the child, Arsh's meeting with the worms, and everything that followed.
Until the topic came to their meeting with Helen Professor listened to everything with genuine curiosity. But when he heard his sister's name his expression completely changed.
"Did you come here with her? Where is she? Why isn't she here?"
"There were some matters she needed to handle at the port. She'll come later, don't worry," Juan said.
"How was she?"
"She was fine," Arsh replied this time.
The bruises from the punches he had taken a few days ago had almost faded, but they still ached whenever he thought about them.
"What about the child… can he stay with us? Like I said, he's not human. I don't even know what he is. But I don't think he would fit in at an orphanage," Arsh said, changing the subject after a while of talking about Helen.
"Let's see," Professor Reiner said, reaching his hand out toward the child. The boy glanced at Arsh for approval, and seeing him nod, he stepped closer to Professor.
"I'm curious about what makes him different from humans," the Professor said as green streams of light began to flow from his hand toward the child. He couldn't help but giggle, tickled by the strange sensation of the light worms.
"..."
"What is wrong, Professor?"
"You are right. Something like this cannot be human. The connections in his body are not like a human body's. How should I put it… the body exists, but at the same time it doesn't. Yes, that would be the most accurate way to describe it... I would like to research what he is, but I'm afraid our resources don't contain much about non-human species. We may need to ask Mes about this. For now, there seems to be no problem with him staying with us… What was the name of this little friend again, Arsh?"
"Harummatum," Arsh said.
The child pointed at himself and repeated, "Harummatum."
"Hm… it is a bit of a long name."
Arsh pulled the child into his arms. "Haru. From now on, we'll call you Haru."
The child nodded. "Haru… Haruu."
...
After Professor Reiner and his sister's overly dramatic reunion, the atmosphere in the manor changed completely.
Walter no longer sneaked out at night; instead, he spent time with Helen, and whenever Juan joined them, the sound of their loud laughter filled the entire place.
The ones most disturbed by this situation were Haru and Mes.
The two of them actually got along quite well. Although Mes enjoyed talking, he was never loud or disruptive. It seemed that this calm nature made Haru like him even more than Walter. Meanwhile, Mes was enthusiastically continuing his research on the child who was not human.
However, Bera only observed the child from a distance. Since his arrival, he had not approached him much. When Arsh asked why, Bera had said,
"He's afraid of me. I feel like he knows that if I can't manage my emotions, I'll lose control. That's what makes him uneasy around me."
On the other hand, there were other developments that were troubling Arsh.
FFSD had begun revealing all the evidence they had gathered so far, exposing connections to the Ministry of Colonies.
The siuni experiments had been disguised as new drug trials and medical testing, uncovering experiments that had caused the deaths of thousands of people—orphans, runaways, and both adults and children abducted from the colonies.
The news shocked the public. But the most shocking part was that these connections ultimately led to the ruling party—and most of all, to the Minister, who was widely regarded as a respectable politician.
None of this concerned Arsh. However, one of the lawsuits that had been opened concerned the excavation projects carried out in the colonies and the damage inflicted on the local population during those operations.
Among the names facing charges, Millway's was, of course, at the very top.
If he were arrested, Arsh had no idea how he would ever get to him—but Herman had told him to trust him for now.
...
About five days after their arrival, Arsh went to Ezra's room to check on his condition. It had become part of his routine; he spent a few hours there during the day.
The rest of the time, Madam Hilda, Elena, and the Professor frequently checked on him as well.
That day, however, something was different. One by one, everyone followed him into the room.
First came Walter, saying he wanted to play with Haru. Then Mes, who wanted to ask questions about the worms. And finally Bera, though Arsh had no idea why he had even come.
While Walter and Haru bickered with each other, Mes and Arsh were chatting. Bera, as usual, was listening in silence.
"You don't need to pretend to be asleep," Bera said suddenly.
When Arsh turned back toward the bed, he saw Ezra slowly opening his eyes.
"You got me." Ezra said with a low voice, the corner of his lips curling slightly upward.