...but now it seemed that she might not be able to touch her Gryphon before she graduated.
Hayna coughed and pushed the door open with her left elbow. Her right hand gently fluttered in the air in front of her, while her left hand carefully carried the book as if she was holding a plate with a teacup on it.
She saw that Mr. Aiwass was sitting quietly and neatly in his wheelchair, as if scared of the smell of the corpse, keeping a very long distance from the frightfully dead body.
"Does it smell too bloody?"
Hayna casually asked, coming over to hand the book to Aiwass, "Hide it quickly... The inspectors from Lohar District will be here soon. Don't let them see it."
As she passed by the corpse, the strong smell of blood instantly surged up, making her cough even more violently.
"This is the one, thank you, Senior Hayna!"
Aiwass happily received the book, responding sweetly.
Hayna's lips curved up slightly. She liked the feeling of being needed.
She hadn't noticed during the fight, but now that she was idle, her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the body. And the smell was getting stronger, choking her more and more.
Eventually, Hayna couldn't bear it any longer. She pulled a white cloth from the nearby table and covered the upper body of the female magician's corpse.
"If it bothers you, why didn't you cover it?"
"Because I was thinking, we need to preserve the crime scene..."
Aiwass hesitated before saying, "Wouldn't covering it with a cloth destroy the evidence on the body?"
Hayna was stunned for a moment.
She turned to look at the body again, instinctively feeling that it might make sense.
...but why hadn't the school taught this?
Unable to think of a reason at the moment, she turned back and stubbornly said, "Because we don't need to bother with any clues. We all know she was shot dead by you... Is there anything to investigate? I saw it clearly. I myself am a living witness, no other evidence is needed."
"Of course, this isn't your fault. Your action in firing the gun was a brave act of justice, and I'll make sure to explain this to the Supervisory Bureau."
Having said this, she couldn't help but admire—Aiwass really was a well-mannered, polite good kid.
—Completely different from herself.
Hayna sighed with worry.
So, she decided to come clean.
She began to speak hesitantly, "Mr. Aiwass."
"What is it?" Aiwass was momentarily startled.
"There's something I need to apologize for..."
"No no, Senior, there's no need for such formality... Aren't we friends?"
"That's exactly why I have to say it."
Hayna's face showed her guilt: "While looking for your book downstairs, I couldn't resist flipping through a few pages."
—The truth was, she had been worried there might be some curse or poison in the book.
Feeling robust in health, she decided to test it out herself.
But there was no need to say that. It sounded too much like an excuse. It was better to simply admit she wanted to read it.
...Because she actually did want to read it a bit.
If it was the Hayna of the past, she would never have succumbed to such twisted and wicked temptations. But on her way here, after listening to Aiwass, she suddenly felt that she might have been too rigid before.
Her desire to become "superior" reflected aspirations for the Path of Transcendence; her view of Aiwass as handsome, with an elegant and gentle demeanor, was influenced by the Path of "Beauty" or perhaps "Love".
Similarly, after seeing the book herself, she was overcome with curiosity... She was touched by the "Balance" and "Wisdom".
The Path of Balance represents knowledge and science, the road to an equally perceived world; the essence of Wisdom, on the other hand, relates to the mystical, rational, and the pursuit of truth. All this is quite normal, a part of what makes up a regular person.
There is nothing shameful about that.
What truly warranted an apology was that she touched someone else's things and read someone else's book without permission.
And what made her feel ashamed was... she had to admit that there was indeed something tempting about the contents of the book.
After just flipping through a few pages, she was immersed in that mysterious and astonishing world, her eyes opened wide.
Hayna had been downstairs for about fifteen minutes, more than ten of which she spent looking at the book. But she could only browse through it quickly before she felt she had to go upstairs and check... Otherwise, Mr. Aiwass alone with a corpse in a room would be scared.
After all, this was the crime-ridden Lohar District.
What if a villain came along at this time?
Mr. Aiwass is too fragile to defend himself properly. One wrong shot from him and he might accidentally kill someone.
Killing the Demon Scholar is no big deal, he might even be commended; but if a civilian was killed, he could end up in prison.
And what if there were more people involved? Surely, he didn't have many bullets left. He might also be afraid to shoot, or his weapon could be seized...
Thinking this, Hayna hurried upstairs, worried, only to find Mr. Aiwass unscathed.
Then, when she turned back, she felt that itch again.
The previous browse did nothing to quench her thirst; on the contrary, it made her even more curious.
"I am a little curious," she admitted after taking a deep breath, openly acknowledging her desire, "I want to see... that book again."
"Could I come over to your place to see it afterward?"
"But as an Inspector, it wouldn't look good for you to keep coming over to our house for no reason, right?" Mr. Aiwass gently refused, "It might give rise to gossip, both for my father and for you. You know, there are some Inspectors who take money from merchants to act unfairly—and I mean, even if you don't do that, you can't refute when others say you do. Because the things you actually do can't be explained."
"...Indeed," Hayna nodded dejectedly, "You're right."
"However," Mr. Aiwass shifted his tone, "You saved me, avenged me, and helped me retrieve this book—morally and rationally, I owe you thanks for your help."
"So if you want to see this book, you could arrange to meet me during your free time. You should know of those more private spaces, right? Or if not, I can bring it to school. The school always has such places."
Narrowing his eyes, Mr. Aiwass revealed a kind and gentle smile like a sly fox, persuasively adding, "Work can be exhausting sometimes, right? If there's anything to complain about or if there's been any big incident at the Supervisory Bureau lately, you can talk to me about it then, have a chat."
She's actually interested in Alchemy...
An idea clicked in Mr. Aiwass's mind. Now that he knew her personal interests, things became much easier. Hayna could easily become his inside connection embedded within the Supervisory Bureau.
...Learning to do good is not easy, learning to do bad just slides right out.
The upstanding and righteous Senior Hayna, in the moment her steadfast beliefs faltered, was so effortlessly tempted by him.
It's hard to tell who the real demon is.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Mr. Aiwass felt that if he became a demon, he might outdo the Shadow Demon professionally.
Hayna, upon hearing this, was exceedingly grateful.
She respected Mr. Aiwass's generosity and the empathetic kindness he showed, and involuntarily she started to speak to her junior in an honorific tone, "Thank you, Mr. Aiwass! Only... wouldn't this trouble you too much?"
Mr. Aiwass just smiled and waved his hand dismissively, "No problem, it's not a bother. This is called mutual benefit."
"—After all, I'm quite curious about the daily workings of the Supervisory Bureau as well."