[20 April 2023, 12.15 PM]

[In a Plane, Private Room]

‘He’s so strange.’ Thought Chloe as he looked at the boy in front of her.

He explained about the savior that she asked about. She was curious about the savior that Vincent had told her about this morning.

She heard his explanation with interest. In the middle of the explanation, she found something strange.

“…and so, a seed called Witch Factor existed inside some girls’ bodies. This seed will change the girl’s body slowly and turn them into a witch with the ambition to destroy humanity. The seed usually needs around a year to ten years to turn a girl into a witch.”

After pausing a little, Vincent continued.

“Their ambitions are even stronger than the Demon King. Among them exist an existence called the strongest witch, Bathory. She was really dangerous, and she was even stronger than the Demon King. Only this guy named Zaiden could defeat her because of his Trait.”

Witch Factor. She had never heard that thing in her life. He explained about the Witch Factor as if he had known about it beforehand.

However, that was strange. How did he know about it? Also, why was he so confident when he told her about it?

‘Vincent is strange, after all. But… He’s not a liar.’

Due to her Trait, she could know whenever a person lies to her. What Vincent explained to her was the truth. His explanation continued for ten minutes before he stopped and asked.

“Is there anything that you don’t understand yet?”

Chloe nodded her head, “How does this Witch Factor enter a girl’s body? Also, is there a chance that Witch Factor can enter my body?”

She was worried about the second question that she asked. If the Witch Factor took over her body, then the world would really be in danger. Bathory’s existence also couldn’t be underestimated if what Vincent said was true.

From what she heard from him, the witches were possibly women who were killed unfairly or horribly in history. There was a chance that they were also strong women figures who caused ruckus in the history or mythology.

She was prepared with all kinds of answers from Vincent, but what he said next surprised her._-.

“No. The Witch Factor only enters a girl’s body when they die.”

“Huh?”

“There is a chance that the Witch Factor enters girls’ dead bodies. The chance of a Witch Factor entering their bodies is slim, but Awakeners’ bodies tend to have a higher chance of being invaded by the Witch Factor as they are used to Mana.”

Chloe’s body shuddered. If what he said was true, then…

“The girls whose bodies are invaded by the Witch Factors are being revived?” Chloe asked in disbelief. Her face was pale, and her heartbeat quickened from the absurdity of the information she had heard from Vincent.

“Yes. They will be revived. However, most of them will know that the Witch Factor invades their bodies as it will show in their status, if they are an Awakener, that is.”

She couldn’t say anything. If someone knew that they were being revived by Witch Factor, why did an incident involving a witch never happen before? And why was the existence of the Witch Factor never known to the public or even the Association? She was about to ask Vincent about that, but then she realized.

“… I see. They wanted to live, right? The girls.”

“Yes. If they spread the existence called a Witch Factor that essentially saved their lives, they will certainly be hunted out of fear. They are still human before they turn into a witch. And a Witch is smart; they go into hiding as soon as the host is fully transformed.”

“So that’s why… That’s what you meant by saving the world…”

“…”

“I understand, Vincent. Thank you for telling me about this.”

“I… You don’t have to thank me. I lied to you…” muttered Vincent.

“No, you are not.” Chloe shook her head. “You need help to save the world, not to kill the Demon King. And I promised you to help you save the world. You are not lying.”

Vincent smiled wryly at her. He looked rather sad; she couldn’t understand him at all. But then, he said, “Thanks.”

“Un. We are partners. No need to thank me.”

It didn’t matter to her. Even if Vincent essentially lied to her, he was doing it for her own good. She could understand why he hid that information from her. But, one thing was for sure. He was her partner, the one who gave her freedom.

‘Partners will help each other.’ Chloe thought as she smiled at Vincent.

“I see… you’re correct.” Nodded Vincent. “I will sleep for a while, Chloe. Please wake me up when we have arrived in Los Angeles.”

“Have a nice dream.”

“Yeah.” Answered Vincent as he closed his eyes and cuddled his body into a ball.

She looked at him and remembered something. His sleeping figure looked like a sleeping cat that she loved. She quietly took out her phone and took a picture of him.

‘Fufufufu. I will make this my wallpaper.’

***

[20 April 2023, 03.00 PM]

[House]

Chloe was curious about Zaiden after I told her about him. She wanted to get details about him, so I explained who Zaiden was to her on our flight back to Los Angeles.

To be clear, she was not interested in him in a romantic way. She was interested in him because I called him a savior. I was forced to explain the existence of Witches to her to make her trust me. I couldn’t afford to be doubted by Chloe; she was the help that I needed the most to survive in this world.

I was glad that she believed me without asking anything strange. After we arrived in Los Angeles, I was woken up by Chloe, and we went home afterward. We were currently sitting on the couch in the living room, adjacent to each other.

I just wanted to rest; I was tired. Chloe was also silent since we arrived in Los Angeles. Honestly, it was so awkward that I wanted to close my eyes again and sleep.

‘Say something, damn it! The atmosphere is so awkward!’

This was the first time this had happened since we lived together. Usually, it was lively even when we didn’t say anything. But this was awkward as hell. I glanced at her and saw her smiling while looking at her phone. She noticed my gaze and hurriedly put her phone away and asked.

“Is there something that you need from me, Vincent?”

Strange… Really strange. Her smile was not genuine, as if she was hiding something from me. Should I confront her about it? I was afraid to invade her privacy as I also kept a lot of secrets. I couldn’t help but try to peek at her phone, but before I had a chance to peek at her phone, she looked at me and asked curiously.

“… What happened? You are looking at me intensely.”

It seemed like I stared too long at her again. I shook my head and stared at her worriedly.

“Ah, nothing. It’s just… Are you angry that I keep a secret about the witches from you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “As I said, there is nothing wrong with keeping a secret by yourself. I will help you as your partner.” She smiled brightly as she put her phone away.

“Thanks.” I couldn’t hope for more. As long as I could get her help, then it was enough.

Chloe stood up and stretched her arms. “Then, Vincent. Do you want to go out for a walk? Please show me who Zaiden is.”

I blinked my eyes a few times when I heard what Chloe said.

“Excuse me?”

“Zaiden. The savior that you are talking about. Let’s meet him.” Answered Chloe.

What was she talking about? She wanted to meet Zaiden?

Her face then changed; she used the necklace’s effect. Ah, I understood. When we were on the flight, I explained my plan to act with Zaiden as Vincent.

“You want to introduce yourself to him? Why?” I asked her, confused as to why he wanted to meet Zaiden.

“Why not?” Chloe asked back. “He’s your friend, right?”

“Well, yeah.” If someone described our relationship right now, then a friend was the right word.

“Then, let’s meet him. How about you call him?”

Why the fuck?

I still couldn’t comprehend what had happened. The atmosphere between us was a bit awkward earlier, but she suddenly wanted to meet Zaiden? I could understand her curiosity, but why?

Ring ring ring—!

But, as if the timing couldn’t be better, my phone rang. I had a really bad feeling about it. The phone that was ringing was the one that I used as Vincent. And, there were only a few people who knew my phone number.

Zaiden, the girls, Chloe, and Park Injun. Only those people knew my phone number. Chloe gestured to me to take the call. Ignoring the call was not an option either. Who knew that the call was actually important?

I took out my phone and looked at the screen. I frowned when I saw the caller’s name.

‘Fuck, why does he call me at such a time?’

Chloe peeked at my phone screen and grinned, “What nice timing. Tell him that I want to meet him too.”

“Haa–” I let out a long sigh. I knew that Chloe was only curious about Zaiden; she had no other meaning for meeting him. Maybe she wanted to tell him to have good luck.

But I was worried; still, I took the call, put it on speaker so Chloe could hear him, and greeted him.

“Hello?”

[Ah! Vincent! Umm… Do you have time right now?] There was a bit of impatience in his voice. It felt like he was in a hurry or something. I frowned a little and answered.

“Why?”

[You see? Can you come to my house? I have something to say to you. Lily and the others are also here.]

Could it be… Was he Awakened today? If the others were in his house, there must be something important that had happened. I looked at Chloe seriously, and she nodded her head.

“Alright. Send me the address. But, I will go there with someone else, is that okay with you?”

[No problem! You can bring your girlfriend with you!]

I froze when Zaiden said girlfriend. I glanced at Chloe, and her reaction was not unexpected. She only tilted her head as if she was clueless. She was only confused as to why I suddenly froze.

‘I tend to forget that Chloe hasn’t fully assimilated herself into the society. Maybe she only thought that Girlfriend is the same as girl friend with space.’

“I will ask her.”

[Hahahaha, you don’t have to be shy! I will send my address through the message.]

“Sure. See you later!”

[Yeah!]

I ended the call and put my phone away.

“You win, Chloe. Let’s go and meet him. There are other people with him, though; all of them are girls.”

“Really? Then… Do you think they will be happy to meet me?”

“I think they will be happy to meet you. Maybe you can also befriend them?”

“Yes! Now that you mention it, I will ask them to be my girl friends!” She happily exclaimed.

As expected, she misunderstood it. I only smiled at her. She was better like this. Clueless, yet optimist. I could help her slowly integrate into society, though I didn’t think she needed my help except for something like earlier.

“Yeah. I hope they will agree to be your friends. They are only two years younger than you, after all.”

‘Though it will be good if you don’t get attached to them.’ I added quietly inside my mind.

“Un!” nodded Chloe energetically.