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What Leonid said might have sounded a bit cold, but he wasn’t wrong.  

Since entering the Ivory Tower, Eugene had never once taken an official leave.  

Other students often received permission to go out to visit family or hang out with friends…  

But Eugene had no home to return to or friends to spend time with.  

For him, the Ivory Tower was his home, and Leonid and I were his only friends.  

“He didn’t even officially get permission to leave. I made the mistake of asking the professor, and it just raised suspicions about why Eugene wasn’t at the Ivory Tower.”  

Leonid ruffled his hair in frustration, realizing his mistake.  

While it was relatively easy to leave the Ivory Tower, doing so without permission could lead to disciplinary action.  

If it was discovered that Eugene had left without authorization, depending on what he did outside, it could even lead to expulsion—a serious issue.  

“He’s not the kind of guy who would break the rules and act recklessly. Could he have gotten caught up in something bad?”  

Leonid’s anxious eyes met mine in the air.

* * *

‘This way.’  

Eugene walked aimlessly, following the voice echoing in his mind.  

‘Yes, you’re doing well.’  

The small voice in his ear, like a whisper, was very gentle and kind.  

‘Just a little further. Just a little more.’  

Eugene left the Ivory Tower and walked deep into the Elpinard estate’s garden.  

Though it was called a garden, the Elpinard estate’s garden was actually a vast area where a large forest and fields intertwined.  

The gardeners only maintained the area near the mansion’s boundary.  

Beyond that, the overgrown grass and thick trees could easily swallow up a young boy like Eugene.  

‘You’re such a good child.’  

The voice continued to lavish sweet praise on Eugene, as if to encourage his steps.  

He had always been hungry for praise.  

And he longed for kind affection.  

The voice seemed to know exactly how to touch on Eugene’s inner void, gently prodding at his heart.  

‘Come into the forest, good child.’  

When had he first heard this voice?  

Eugene thought absently as he walked.  

He couldn’t remember exactly when it started.  

It began late one night.  

The voice had invited him to admire the beautiful moon that had risen over the courtyard garden of the Ivory Tower.  

Later, it mentioned that pretty wildflowers had bloomed near the entrance of the Ivory Tower, and on another day, it said the shade of the trees at the boundary between the Ivory Tower and the Elpinard estate was refreshingly cool.  

The voice gradually lured Eugene farther away from the Ivory Tower.  

The further he strayed, the clearer the voice became, and Eugene couldn’t help but be captivated by it.  

Then, suddenly—  

‘Oh dear.’  

The voice, which had always been gentle, suddenly took on a chilling tone, causing Eugene to hesitate.  

‘Good child, you need to hurry up. The sun will set soon, and the stars will come out.’  

The voice resumed its gentle tone as it whispered to Eugene, but this time, he didn’t follow it as blindly as before.  

Stars.  

The word “stars” flickered in Eugene’s mind.  

He remembered the old notebook he had given to someone.  

‘Oh no, damn it! Something’s wrong!’

At the same time, the once gentle voice turned into a violent noise.  

‘Stop thinking useless thoughts and hurry up!’  

Eugene snapped back to full awareness. The deafening noise was so loud it felt like his ears would split, and he instinctively used both hands to cover them.  

‘Walk! Keep walking!’  

But no matter how hard he tried, the noise wouldn’t stop.  

It only grew louder, as if it was about to consume him entirely.  

“Ugh!”  

Eugene collapsed to the ground. His head was ringing so violently that it felt like it would shatter.  

‘Get up! Keep walking! You worthless wretch!’  

The sweet magic had disappeared, and now a raw, harsh voice echoed in his head.  

Eugene knew that voice all too well.  

⟨Are you going to collapse after coming this far? You’re nothing but a bastard, no better than a worm! You should be repaying the favor if you were taken in, you worthless thing!⟩  

Father.  

Duke Kreutz.  

The old man.  

‘Please…!’  

Trembling in agony, Eugene’s body suddenly went limp and collapsed.  

His head struck a rock, tearing open a wound from which an enormous amount of blood began to pour.  

“Eugene! Are you there?”  

“Answer us!”  

Through his fading consciousness, Eugene heard familiar voices.  

Just hearing those voices filled him with happiness, and he smiled as he lost consciousness.

* * *

I closed my eyes and focused.  

Eugene.  

‘Where is Eugene Kreutz?’  

My instincts, which had always guided me down the right path, seemed likely to point me in the right direction even now.  

And as always, my intuition was spot on.  

“Straight ahead!”  

I snapped my eyes open and sprinted forward.  

Leonid, who had been standing beside me in confusion, quickly followed after me.  

“Do you know where you’re going?”  

Leonid asked anxiously, and I confidently nodded.  

“Yes! Intuition!”  

“What?”  

Leonid frowned in disbelief, but he didn’t bother to stop me.  

Since there was nothing else to rely on, he seemed to decide to trust my intuition for now.  

After running straight for a while, we came to another crossroads.  

I closed my eyes again and pictured Eugene’s face.  

And once again, a thrilling instinct struck my mind.  

“Left!”  

I snapped my eyes open and pointed to the left, seeing that Leonid was already running in that direction.  

“Left!”  

“Right!”  

“Not straight ahead, but right!”  

“Don’t go right, go left and keep straight!”

As the instructions grew longer, Leonid muttered, “This isn’t some kind of red flag, white flag game…”  

Following my intuition, we continued running for a while until we emerged into the vast garden that extended outside the mansion.  

I stopped and looked back.  

The small side gate we had just exited was visible.  

‘If we go too far, it could be dangerous.’  

Inside the Elpinard mansion, soldiers were always on guard, but outside this gate, there were only occasional patrols, with no stationed soldiers.  

This meant that the likelihood of Eugene being in that dangerous area was high.  

‘If the Kreutz family had deliberately taken Eugene…’  

There was no time to waste.  

I once again followed my intuition and led Leonid forward.  

As the strange certainty that we were getting closer to Eugene grew stronger, I began calling out his name as we walked.  

“Eugene! Are you there?”  

“Please answer!”  

Having already been exhausted from running a long distance, both Leonid and I were worn out.  

Our once strong voices gradually grew weaker, until eventually, they became so faint that we could barely hear each other.  

It was then that—  

“There!”  

Leonid, who had been slumping his shoulders, suddenly pointed to a spot not far away and jumped up.  

“Isn’t that Eugene lying there?”  

“!”  

All we could see was the back of someone lying on the ground, but there was no need to take a closer look.  

The black hair and neat clothing were unmistakably Eugene’s.  

“Eugene!”  

“Hey, you!”  

Leonid and I approached Eugene, half relieved and half worried, calling out to him as we went.  

“Snap out of it, Eugene!”  

Leonid knelt beside Eugene and shook his shoulder.  

Eugene’s body, weakly swaying, rolled over, and—  

“Gasp!”  

“Oh no!”  

Leonid and I gasped in shock at the same time.  

Blood was streaming from a wound on Eugene’s head.  

He had already lost so much blood that his face was pale—almost blue—making him look as if he might be dead.  

Leonid seemed to be in shock, convinced that Eugene was already dead.  

But I noticed the faint rise and fall of Eugene’s chest, and I immediately sat down beside him.  

Without hesitation, I called out, “Heaven Market!” and opened the shop.  

This was an emergency—I could just buy the same medicine I used on Axel to treat Eugene!  

However, as I quickly scrolled through the list, I came across an unexpected message that made me stop in my tracks.  

Sold Out  

The “New Flesh, Healing Balm” that I had bought to treat Axel was marked as sold out.