Amid the pale walls of his home, Anas felt tears on his cheek, yet he did not understand at first why they were falling. His thoughts were muddled as he tried to analyze what he had seen moments ago and match it—or compare it—with what he was seeing now. Or at least, to separate reality from whatever the other thing was.
Just moments ago, he had been in the midst of a hell of suffering, and now he was inside his home, completely unharmed. Even Naivy was uninjured, without a single scratch, staring at him. But the pain had been real there—or at least he had felt it—and something inside him had shattered, and even now he felt that he had lost something. Naivy's screams and her pain had seemed extremely real.
'Th–this is madness. Was it an illusion? A nightmare?'
Anas thought, before a familiar voice pulled him from his daze.
"Anas, are you okay? You were… laughing in your sleep, then tears started falling from your eyes. Did you have a nightmare?"
Anas stared at the wide pink eyes for a moment in shock, then all emotion vanished from his face and his eyes regained their sharpness.
"Yes, I'm fine. It was probably just a nightmare."
The girl stared at him for a moment, and a heavy silence settled between them for a few seconds before Naivy broke it, fidgeting with the edge of the white shirt she was wearing.
"Well… I had a nightmare too. But I… don't remember it. Maybe the bad thoughts came because of everything that happened to us. Or I don't know. Maybe we're just very tired."
It was clear that the girl was trying to ease the atmosphere and lessen the burden on Anas.
But…
Anas was not carrying the burden of a bad nightmare, but a burden of another kind that no one but him could remove.
It was the burden of knowledge.
And it was not just any knowledge—it was new knowledge related to himself. From those events whose source he did not know, or even if he considered them some kind of nightmare, he realized that he was extremely weak.
It was true that he possessed a good ability like the enhanced eye, but what happened to him in the nightmare proved to him that he was merely insignificant, and that all his successes—if they could even be considered successes—had mostly been mere luck. If his reaction had not been quick enough to attack that monster before it could comprehend anything, he might have been torn apart just as had happened in the nightmare.
'To what extent of stupidity did I reach to attack something I know nothing about?'
In truth, perhaps his sense of confidence had increased after he defeated the wolf-like monster, which made him ignore that every monster he had encountered so far possessed strange abilities up its sleeve, and that their failure to use them was only them underestimating him, and that they only realized his danger in the end.
The draconic wolf, the sudden fireball, and the suicidal attack with the pillar of fire; the skeletal deer and its slicing ability… and all of this was only what he knew. He did not know what more there was beyond that.
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After the flood of thoughts that swept through his mind, Anas finally stood with his new understanding.
Because of the analytical nature of his mind, he had realized that the more he knew… the more he discovered that he knew nothing.
This contradiction became the fuel that reignited his curiosity.
He also realized that there had been another feeling present at that moment when everything disappeared—it was an unextinguishable curiosity.
His desire to understand this world had increased greatly now.
Anas stretched, causing his bones to make a faint cracking sound, then stared at Naivy, whose eyes were still fixed on him.
He pointed with his finger at a door at the top of the stairs and spoke.
"You can go look for something to wear that suits you. My mother wasn't much bigger than you, so something she has should fit you. Just don't make too much of a mess."
Then he turned and began climbing the stairs.
Naivy hesitated for a moment, then followed him and opened the door.
The room was very modest, containing a medium-sized bed in the middle and a small wardrobe in the corner.
The girl almost drifted into the urge to jump onto the bed, but she remembered her priorities and headed toward the wardrobe. She opened it to find it divided into two halves: women's clothes on one side and men's clothes on the other. She let out a light laugh to herself as she imagined a woman resembling Anas arranging the clothes inside the wardrobe.
On the other side, Anas entered his room, and a sense of familiarity came over him, but his mind would not allow him to relax.
Even that nightmare had taught him several things. Most importantly, he had realized what had broken inside him.
His previous knowledge and concepts had shattered and been replaced with new ones. He did not mind breaking everything that was wrong in order to build what was right upon its ruins.
In addition to that, the feeling of helplessness and his arm being torn apart so quickly had been due to his lack of caution.
His mind was burning, yet he moved toward the books on his desk and began searching for something that would suit Naivy and benefit her.
When he found a book titled "The Wolf Is Not Deceitful," he picked it up and headed toward his parents' room, wondering why Naivy was taking so long to wear something. For a moment, images from that nightmare began to flash in his mind.
Naivy being eaten alive while calling for help.
So he ran quickly and opened the door.
When he opened it, his eyes widened.
The girl was not amidst her blood, but amidst a pile of clothes in complete chaos. And it was clear that she… did not know how to wear clothes.
When the girl saw Anas looking at her, a deep red spread from her neck to her face as her eyes shifted between the floor and Anas.
"W–why are you staring at me like that? It's not my fault I've never worn anything but rags my whole life!" the girl's voice came out trembling from intense embarrassment.
Anas, on the other hand, was suppressing his laughter with difficulty. But despite all his attempts, the corner of his mouth lifted into something resembling a smile, which made the girl lower her head even more in growing embarrassment.
'So you can smile? Of course you'd make fun of me. I'm pitiful.' Naivy thought as she wished she could disappear.
Soon, Anas let out a sigh and approached the girl, removing the clothes from her one by one, folding them, and returning them to the wardrobe. Then he took out a light yellow dress and approached her. The girl closed her eyes, appearing as if she was shrinking into herself, expecting a slap, or a scolding, or… mockery.
But all Anas did was pull the dress over Naivy's head, causing her to open her eyes in clear surprise.
"Put your arms through the openings."
Anas's words pulled the girl out of her daze, and she began trying to follow his instructions.
She followed his words, but in a clumsy manner. He corrected her, and after a few minutes, she had finally worn the dress properly.
At that point, Anas turned toward the door and spoke a few final words before leaving.
"Now take off that shirt and wear the dress alone so you can be comfortable."
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Anas stood, leaning against the wall, and began waiting.
While waiting, he tried to make use of the time by training to improve some of the flaws he had discovered.
He activated his enhanced eye and tried to determine every detail of the place, causing his eye to move everywhere with increasing speed as each second passed.
His goal was to try to notice and memorize fine details from mere brief glimpses.
An insect crawling on the wall.
Dust floating in the air.
Even noticing anything moving outside the house through a small crack in it.
At first, he looked for a long time, then he began reducing the duration of his vision, trying to determine the location of the insect and the direction of the dust's movement. He even noticed the slight movement of the doorknob at the very moment it began to open, so he stopped. In fact, his eye had already begun to hurt.
When the door opened, Naivy stepped out wearing a long-collared dress with long sleeves, but… it looked beautiful on her.
Anas and Naivy stared at each other for a moment before Anas stepped forward and began folding the sleeves until Naivy's delicate hands appeared. Then he extended the book toward her.
The girl looked at the book in astonishment—it was the first book she had ever held in her hand.
It left a strange feeling inside her, but it was a beautiful one at the same time.
The girl smiled widely and began trying to slowly spell out the words of the book's title.
Seeing the girl's smile was something Anas needed to forget some of his burdens. He felt something like satisfaction at making someone happy, especially since this person's moments of happiness had been very few.
His eyes did not leave the girl for a few moments, but he finally headed toward his room, took un-torn clothes, and went to the bathroom.
When he placed his hand on the doorknob, he looked at Naivy over his shoulder.
"Wait near the door. If anything happens, scream or do anything to get my attention, or even run away without me if escape is certain. As for bathing, it will be your turn after me."
Naivy replied quickly.
"I won't run away without you! We'll run away together!"
Anas stared at her, his eyes widening for a moment, and a genuine smile appeared on his face before he entered the bathroom.
Then the sound of running water began to fill the place…