“If the establishments want us to stop from pursuing the lost path, let them try!
-JJ Edgar.”
Eren read till this entry and then closed the book to process what he had understood from it. Now he was sure that he was completely ignorant in his previous timeline.
Because he didn’t know about the continent shaking events JJ Edgar person talked about in his journal. Neither was he aware of therianthropy and mutagen.
And he was certainly not aware that demi-humans existed for real once. He wanted to take whatever that was written in this journal with a pinch of salt, but the various explanations the journal gave to defend the writer’s conjectures made sense to him.
‘Wait a minute. Fuuuuuuck! Am I a demi-human now?’
Eren had a sudden thought after reading Edgar’s journal and couldn’t help opening his eyes wide in surprise. He felt joy at first in succeeding in something that many high-ranked entities had failed in. But that joy was soon replaced with worry and concern for his well-being after he registered the possible repercussions.
As per the journal’s explanations, all the big-league establishments spanning across the continent seemed to abhor demi-humans. Eren already had an active bounty placed on him as the Osan Woods Butcher. He didn’t need to be a genius to know how the Edinburgh kingdom would react if it came to find out that Eren had succeeded in becoming a demi-human.
The most strange part about this whole scene was the fact that Eren wasn’t aiming for anything even remotely related to becoming a demi-human.
“Breathe, Eren. breathe. Take deep breaths and calm the fu*ck down. This is all just a conjecture. I need to look through the study materials carefully before making a well-educated guess.
For all I know, I might just be something else entirely. Something in between an anthrope and a demi-human.
Or maybe I’m still a human with abilities that are like the anthropes. I don’t understand what took place that day. I never thought about the transformation I had after that uncalled-for fusion with Reen. But it looks like I need to look into it for real.”
Thought Eren to console himself. He denied being a demi-human, in the end, to assure himself that there wouldn’t be another fresh manhunt launched on him.
Because if that manhunt takes place, it’d involve all the big players from the kingdom and possibilities outside it. He’d have to leave the academy, say goodbye to his future endeavours, and live under a rock all his life to keep his hide.
But then Eren had a melancholic thought that maybe he had used two lifetime’s luck on that gem. With the way things seemed to go haywire for him despite his meticulous planning, he couldn’t be sure that the same wouldn’t happen in this case as well.
Eren smiled mirthlessly after he came to realize something. Things started to spiral out of control when Eren obtained Reen as his demon beast. It pointed to another possibility that he voiced to himself:
“Maybe Reen was the key someone big in the Edinburgh kingdom had made for themselves to turn into a demi-human behind everyone’s backs. If that is the case, then it would explain why they are looking high and low for my traces.
Reen was an investment they never wanted to come out in the public. It’d be a huge conspiracy if some big-shot fella in the royal court is found to be dabbling in taboo experiments that were deemed forbidden by all the known establishments on this continent.”
Another conjecture bomb went off in Eren’s head. He wasn’t sure on his hunch, but all the events and the information he had collected so far pointed to the same possibility. JJ Edgar’s journal had opened his eyes to various things that were hiding in plain sight for him.
But all his conjectures need to stay as conjectures. That’s because he didn’t have much information on a lot of things that were linked to these possibilities.
Therefore, Eren added another task to his to-do list: to know about the missing pieces of history of the entire continent that was dated back to 700 years or before. If what Edgar’s journal had written was considered to be true, then he knew that he wouldn’t find much in the academy’s library. But he wanted to try nonetheless.
Of course, Eren knew that he needed to act with even more prudence now. If he is a demi-human or the closest sample to being one, then death won’t be the worst thing his fate would have in store for him. He’d be kept like a guinea pig in some lab all his life with no way to escape or commit suicide at sight.
“*Sigh. As if being the Osan Woods’ Butcher was not enough. Now I need to worry about even this shit.
I swear to the devil, if I find that buffoon who chose a low-level place like Osan Woods to perform their cultist-like experiments, I’ll fry their balls in boiling oil and make that person eat them with ketchup on top. Fuck!
Um… that is if they have balls and I have the power to pull this off.”
Eren was having a range of emotions in his head at the time. The demon beast connected mentally with him couldn’t help asking with a downcast voice after she saw what her master was going through:
“Erni, do you regret involving yourself with me?”
Eren had already gotten up from his bed by now. He was pacing around in his room, with hands behind his back while the storm of thoughts raged in his head. Reen was sitting by his bed in a young girl’s form when she asked that:
“Hmm? Where did that come from?”
Said Eren with puzzling expressions and paused his stride-in-loop. Reen had to clarify what she said:
“All your big problems and your pressing worries are related to me. Isn’t that a big enough reason for me to ask you that question?”
Said Reen with serious expressions on her face. But one could see a hint of worry and guilt hidden behind that seriousness.
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AN: Thanks emme_z, Pietys, and TheForgottenLegend for your gifts. And thanks Waakaranai for your pizza. It was delicious, Lol.