"Welcome to my little world... My name is Raikel Attin, the Keeper of Whispering Souls," he said in a calm and monotone voice, smiling gently.
"Hey, old man Raikel," said Sirius as he approached the table, smiling excitedly.
"It's been a while since we last met, Mr. Soren. I see you've brought a new friend to my humble shop," said Raikel while casting a curious glance at Noah.
"Ah, this is Noah Grace. He's a new student at the university," said Sirius, wrapping his arm around Noah and pulling him closer.
"A new student... I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grace," Raikel said in a tone filled with mystery, yet he offered a light smile as he greeted Noah.
"Nice to meet you..." Noah responded in a calm tone, nodding toward Raikel. A hint of suspicion lingered in his mind. Even the social energy Raikel emitted felt strange and unsettling.
"So, what brings you all to visit me today?" Raikel asked curiously, glancing at Enel from the corner of his eye. It seemed he already had an idea of their purpose.
"I-I want to buy a sample for my experiments!" Enel said, a bit nervously, raising his voice slightly from embarrassment.
"Experiments, hmm... What kind of animal are you looking to buy?" Raikel asked with a slightly annoyed tone. He didn't seem too fond of the idea of using animals for testing.
"I-I'm looking for a mexican axolotl," Enel said, his voice trembling slightly from unease.
"An axolotl? That's a rare species, don't you think? I don't have one at the moment, but if you come back in a week, I might have one then," Raikel replied. He seemed a bit pleased that he didn't currently have the creature in stock, though his practical side prompted him to reassure Enel—after all, he didn't want to lose a customer.
"Alright then..." Enel replied, a little disappointed. He had probably been excited about conducting this experiment and working on his research with Noah. But the spirit of a scholar inside him wouldn't allow despair. He'd simply wait for the next opportunity.
"We wasted our time for nothing," Neriah said in irritation, frowning slightly—his annoyance clearly showing in his brows.
"Don't say that, Mr. Grey. At least cheer up this old man; he spends the whole day alone," said Raikel, dramatically pretending to cry in a comical attempt to gain sympathy from the group.
"Damn, if you want companionship, just get married then," Neriah snapped, completely unfazed by Raikel's tears.
"Oi, do you know how hard it is to get married?! Women these days don't pay attention to men like me—they only care about weird jerks!" Raikel said, raising his voice in frustration, genuinely despairing over his social situation.
While Raikel and Neriah continued their banter, in the background, Noah stood in front of a cage of strange animals, observing them carefully. He was in front of a creature that looked like a rat in body and face, but with bat wings and large furry lynx-like ears. It appeared wild, and Noah examined it intently.
"I've never seen these animals in books before, nor do I think they're beasts. Could they be lab animals with mixed DNA from other creatures?" Noah thought deeply in silence. That seemed like the most logical analysis at the moment.
Noah slowly moved his hand closer, putting his finger between the cage bars, but the animal tried to bite it. He quickly pulled back, avoiding injury.
"I wonder, how does it feel behind these bars? If it knew the cruelty and brutality of the outside world, would it prefer to stay here behind bars or choose the danger out there? What path would you choose?" Noah thought to himself, diving deeper into a whirlwind of thoughts. At that moment, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder and turned around—it was Sirius.
"Noah, we're leaving. Wake up from your daydream," Sirius said sarcastically, still smiling but with a bit of confusion in his tone.
"Oh, yeah... I'm coming," Noah said, quickly following the group as they left the shop.
Raikel stayed behind the table, watching them with a puzzled look before walking over to the cage Noah had been standing in front of.
"What was that boy doing?" Raikel muttered to himself as he looked at the animal inside the cage. He put his finger between the bars, and the creature quickly embraced it and rubbed itself against him. Raikel immediately sensed something was wrong.
"It's scared?... Was that because of that boy? How? Shushi never fears even the other old folks... Could it be spiritual vision?!... A special ability of the 'Grave' family that Shushi possesses. But the question is, what did Shushi see in that boy's soul that made him afraid?" Raikel asked himself, confused and anxious as he stared at the door through which Noah and the others had just exited. He whispered a single word under his breath, barely audible:
"...Monster..."
Outside, in the Open District, Noah, Sirius, Enel, and Neriah were still wandering around—this time without a specific destination, simply showing Noah the nearby places.
They arrived at a place resembling the center of an old city, with buildings made of stone clustered in a circular shape, leaving four entrances from the four directions. In the center stood a huge stone statue, slightly greenish in color. The statue was of a man wearing a tall hat and leaning on a cane. He wore a detailed stone cloak that looked like it would ripple in the wind. A monocle sat on his left eye, possibly for vision—or just decoration. He looked like a man from Britannia, though his face didn't quite match someone from such a nation. His facial features were finely carved: a rectangular head, small eyes with light wrinkles underneath, and a small triangular nose. He was clearly born in the empire. Around him was a small garden full of blooming red flowers, and in front of the statue's base was a stone plaque written in an old language no one could understand.
"Who's this statue of?" Noah asked in confusion, staring at the white pigeon perched on the statue's shoulder.
"Hmm... no idea," answered Sirius, his face bearing the same clueless expression he always had.
"Dude, that's the university director—how do you not know that?" Neriah asked, baffled by Sirius' ignorance.
"How am I supposed to know him? I didn't attend the student orientation on the first day," Sirius said with his hands behind his head, fingers interlocked casually, looking puzzled.
"So that's the director? I thought it was a memorial statue for a dead guy," Noah thought silently, feeling a little dumb for his earlier assumption.
"This place is the center of the Open District. The workers who operate here live in these buildings. After all, students aren't allowed to do things like blacksmithing or other similar trades," Enel explained, stepping in to give Noah some information since Sirius and Neriah clearly wouldn't.
"I see..." Noah said as he looked at the white pigeons on the statue's shoulder—and noticed a single black crow among them, perfectly blended in and camouflaged.
"A crow?..." Noah wondered in confusion, but just then, Sirius and Neriah's conversation distracted him. When he looked back, the crow had vanished, as if it had never been there at all—only the white pigeons remained. Noah closed his eyes for a moment, wondering if he had imagined it, then continued the tour with the others.
Time passed quickly—as it always does when you're having fun. The sun had begun to set, slowly dipping below the horizon until it was nearly gone, leaving only its orange rays casting long shadows across the buildings.
Noah, Sirius, Enel, and Neriah returned to Sector 11 after taking the train. They entered the residential complex, were greeted by the staff at the bottom floor, then took the elevator up to the 7th floor. Inside the elevator, they continued chatting and joking around until it reached their floor and they stepped out.
But to their shock, at the end of the hallway where Noah's room was located, they froze in disbelief. The door and walls of his room had been spray-painted with hateful graffiti like: "Get out of here," "You don't belong," "Fuck you!" and many other vile insults.
"W-What is this…?" Neriah said, stunned by the sight in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"W-Who would do this…?" Enel asked, visibly anxious and confused as he stared at the graffiti.
Both Noah and Sirius remained silent. Even though Noah had every right to feel angry and upset, he stayed calm and seemingly indifferent. It was as if the rage that should've been Noah's had instead taken over Sirius.
"Who the hell dared to do this?! Do they have a death wish?!" Sirius shouted, veins bulging in his neck from how furious he was, clenching his fists tightly. It was the first time anyone had seen him this angry—not even his old friends, Neriah and Enel, had witnessed such a reaction before.
"…Why…?" Noah silently asked himself as he stared at the graffiti, covering his eyes with his hand.
"I-I'll go get one of the staff to clean this up," Enel said hurriedly, rushing to the elevator and leaving.
"N-Noah, don't worry about this. You can sleep in our room like last night," Neriah offered, trying to comfort him.
Noah lowered his hand from his face and gave Neriah a faint smile.
"No need to worry about this. You guys can go back to your room. I'll wait for the staff to arrive," Noah said in a calm, cold tone.
Then, Sirius placed his hand on Noah's shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. Silence fell between them. There was no actual conversation, but perhaps, through Sirius's ability, some form of silent communication passed between them. Sirius then clicked his tongue, let go of Noah's shoulder, and headed to his room.
"Let's go, Neriah," Sirius said, clearly annoyed about something.
"W-Wait, you're not seriously going to just leave him—" Neriah began, but was immediately cut off by the sharp, commanding glare from Sirius—like a king ordering his subordinate to move and stay silent.
Neriah hesitated for a moment but eventually followed Sirius, taking a few glances back at Noah before entering the room and closing the door.
Noah sighed, exhausted and drained. He leaned against the wall behind him, looking at the graffiti in front of him, and whispered to himself in a cold voice:
"Why?"