I Want My Own Kind

"Because I want my own kind."

Her voice remained calm, but something was churning in her blue eyes.

"I've been different from others since I was a child. What others find difficult, I find simple. What others can't understand, I can see through at a glance. What others find joyful, I find boring. What others find sad, I feel nothing for."

Higashino Makoto remained silent.

"They say I'm a monster, and I think I'm a monster too."

Her voice was very soft.

"So I started pretending. Pretending not to know, pretending not to be able to, pretending to be just like everyone else. I pretended for many years."

"Then what?"

Then I met Climb.

Her fingers tightened slightly at her sides.

"He was the first person to treat me like an ordinary person. He didn't care about my status, my intelligence, or anything unusual. He just saw me as an ordinary person. He wanted to protect me and was willing to risk his life for me."

"You like him?"

"Do you like it? Maybe, but not that kind of liking."

She shook her head.

"I used to see him as my salvation, as proof that I wasn't a monster. Because if even an ordinary person like him could be kind to me, then I wasn't a monster, right?"

Higashino Makoto looked at her.

"Then what?"

"Then, I met Kurumi- san."

Her eyes lit up.

"She's very smart, smarter than me. She saw right through me. She saw through my pretense, my loneliness, and my desires."

What did she say?

She said, "You're not a monster, you're just too smart. So smart that there's no one like you in this world."

Her voice trembled.

"I cried then, because I was happy. Because finally Human Order me, finally someone told me I wasn't a monster."

Seeing the other person's excited appearance, Higashino Makoto did not completely believe it.

If I were just an ordinary person and didn't use magic, I would most likely be completely fooled by the other party.

However, since Kurumi sent me to find her, it means she had already confirmed it.

Not to mention--

She dared not lie to herself!

Since she's so smart, she should naturally know that she hates being deceived.

Deceiving oneself might not be too difficult, but what about those guardians?

Therefore, Higashino Makoto chose to believe.

"So, you gave up on Climb?"

"It's not that I'm giving up, it's that I no longer need it."

She was looking at Higashino Makoto.

"I no longer need him to prove I'm not a monster. Because I know I'm not a monster. I'm just lonely. And now, I've found my kind."

"Who?"

"Miss Kurumi, everyone in the Black Cross. And of course, you."

Higashino Makoto fell silent.

He looked into those blue eyes.

Renner, do you want to join the Black Cross?

"I want it, I dream about it all the time."

"What's the price?"

"Everything."

She didn't hesitate at all.

"My wealth, my status, my talent, my body—everything is yours."

Higashino Makoto looked at her.

Even if I asked you to give up everything in the Re-Estize Kingdom?

I never cared.

Even if I let you leave this country?

"I do."

Even if I make sure you never see Climb again?

Her fingers tightened slightly, then relaxed.

"Willing."

Higashino Makoto stared at her for a long time.

"OK."

Renner's lips curled up slightly.

"So from today onwards, I'm your person? What do you need me to do?"

"Be my guide for now, show me around the Royal Capital. Let me see how this country has changed."

Renner paused for a moment.

"That's all?"

"That's all for now; we'll discuss it further if needed later."

"You're not asking me to do anything else, such as bringing the entire Re-Estize Kingdom under your control?"

"No need. If I wanted, all of humanity's countries would already be mine; I don't need your help."

The opponent's Wisdom barely exceeds the limits of humanity; it is a mountain whose peak humanity cannot even see.

Their own power is the starry sky, something that humanity can only dream of.

Ultimately, Princess Nora wasn't very important to him.

He trusted his own guardian more than a Renner with some mental issues when it came to Wisdom.

If she weren't a character in the story, Higashino Makoto wouldn't even bother with her.

Come to think of it, did Kurumi realize his interest in her back then?

Sure enough, all of my initial assumptions seemed to have come true.

Renner looked at him, her blue eyes flashing with a complex light.

"You're such a weirdo."

"I know."

He turned around and walked towards the alley entrance.

"Let's go, tour guide."

Renner took a deep breath and followed.

"Good."

Sunlight fell on the two of them, casting their shadows onto the stone path, where they overlapped.

In the distance, the palace towers shimmered with golden light in the sunlight.

Renner walked beside him, her long golden hair swaying gently in the breeze, her blue eyes gazing ahead.

"Mr. Higashino, do you know? When I was a child, I had no friends."

"Um."

"Everyone said I was a monster, even my brother called me a monster. I thought I would never have any friends in my life."

"And now?"

"Now we have it."

She looked at his profile.

"Ms. Kurumi told me that there are many more who can understand my existence."

Higashino Makoto did not respond.

"Thank you, Mr. Higashino."

"You're welcome, I didn't do anything."

Kurumi did it all; I was just playing around as I pleased.