Effie stared at him.
"Rivel, huh?"
Rivel stared back at her, eyes starting to droop.
"Yeah, that's me."
Effie looked at him as if she wanted to devour him.
But he didn't really catch that. In fact, even though he was a hobo, he'd caught multiple "civilized women" looking at him funny in the same way the venerable Saint was now.
He always wondered why.
"Anyway, this is really confusing. I think I'm gonna call princess over here. I think you're really interesting."
The Saint left him and started talking to the other Awakened, trying to calm them down and defuse the whole situation.
Rivel's eyes followed the Saint as she picked up her phone and started talking to who seemed like the Sovereign of Humanity, Nephis.
But he swore he could hear the Saint muttering:
"Yeah, he's also really cute. If I wasn't a happily married woman, I'd gobble him up. Make sure you don't cheat on that little shadow of yours."
'Oh well, I must've heard wrong. I know Saint Athena is quite eccentric, but there's definitely no way she said that… right?'
Still tied to the bed, Rivel's eyes grew much heavier. He could almost feel it—the sweet embrace of sle—
He was roughly released from his cuffs by a big Awakened man.
'What the hell, man?'
Feeling a little annoyed, Rivel stretched his hands before getting up.
The examiner calmly approached him—well, if you could call clear distrust and a little fear on her face "calm."
"Follow me."
There really wasn't anything Rivel could do to defy her, so he complied.
After a short walk in the facility, he was led into another fortified room, this one seemingly more formidable.
The room was small, with a bed, a toilet, and a sink.
'Huh. It's almost like a prison cell.'
The Awakened girl then proceeded to leave the room and lock him inside.
'I guess it is one.'
The examiner looked at Rivel through the small glass opening in the door.
"Stay here until further notice."
Before Rivel could retort, the examiner left, leaving nothing behind the door.
'Well, at least that gives me some time to think.'
This situation almost seemed unreal to Rivel. Not only had he just been accused of being the Skinwalker—the examiner actually believed it! Not only that, he had just met and spoken with Saint Athena, who was practically the queen of Bastion! And seemingly, he was also about to meet Nephis, an actual demigod!
Rivel sighed. This was too much for his brain to handle right now, and the bed looked really comfortable.
He plopped down onto the bed, resting his head on the pillow.
'Wow. This bed is so much comfier than what I have.'
He almost felt tempted to steal it.
But he was too tired for that. His eyes were growing really heavy, and all his muscles relaxed as he waited for sleep.
But just before he dozed off, he heard voices from behind the door.
"So this is the kid who has corruption in him?"
A calm and composed female voice asked.
"Yep, there he is,"
answered the other voice. It sounded familiar to Rivel.
'Wait, isn't that Saint Athena? Then that means the other voice is Nep—'
Before he could finish that thought, he fell asleep.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]