When Damien "woke up" after "passing out from shock," he found himself in his own bed, Aishia's body plastered to his side as if she was truly a worried wife.
'Hmm, judging from the route they took to get me here…I was in the West Wing?' He thought inwardly.
Although the location of the torture chamber itself wasn't important, a location like that one would be in a place where many secrets were kept, so he kept a mental note of it.
Damien's awareness left his body and scanned over Aishia. 'She doesn't look harmed at all. Even if she was taken in for questioning, I doubt it was as severe as mine.'
In the first place, Aishia was mostly free from doubt. The only reason she needed to be questioned at all was because she was Damien's wife.
But since she didn't accompany him to the outside world, her direct involvement wasn't suspected at all. Instead, they must've hoped that Damien told his wife some secrets.
Yet, the researcher Damien Grey was clean. Even under truth serum, his story didn't seem out of place at all.
If they combined this with Aishia and Long Chen's testimonies, Damien's group would be completely freed of suspicion. Granted, as long as Aishia and Long Chen didn't encounter any problems.
If the ideal situation took place, he'd instead gain the interest of someone higher up in the social ladder. Damien was quite excited to see who this person would be.
'Finally, I'll get a chance to glimpse Niflheim's strength. I doubt anyone irreplaceable to Evotech wouldn't be part of their main circle.'
"Mm…"
As Damien lost himself in thought, Aishia's body began to squirm, rubbing against Damien's. To this, he could only smile wryly.
Even if it didn't look like much had changed, the "couple" was under constant surveillance in recent days. Because of this circumstance, they could no longer pretend during the day and relax at night.
The bed that Aishia used alone while Damien meditated on the floor was now being shared by the two as if they were truly lovers.
But since there were no feelings behind her embrace, Damien didn't feel too bothered by it. After dealing with Alea for months, he had become immune to this kind of accidental seduction.
'I need to go check on Long Chen. If the truth serum was used on him, I'm afraid things will go awry.'
Regardless, it was deep into the nighttime by this point. Anything Damien wanted to do had to wait until the next day.
So, Damien remained within his thoughts. Sleep was something only done for pleasure at his level of strength, so he would only do so after sorting out all his thoughts.
Most likely, Aishia wasn't asleep either. It was impossible for her to entrust Damien with her body when she was unconscious. They simply didn't have that kind of bond.
'That witch…why did she feel so different from Aishia?'
Damien was naturally referring to mana. Compared to the witch, Aishia's mana flow felt…incomplete.
'If she was able to reach 4th class and survive this hellish environment, it means she knows what she's doing. Otherwise, the Universe would never acknowledge her during Baptism.'
If so, there was only one valid reason remaining. Aishia was truly incomplete.
Regardless of the Mana Utilization Method, the circuits within one's body would always function like a machine. If a cog in that machine was removed, the efficiency of its workflow would be reduced.
But what was the metaphorical "cog" in Aishia's machine? What was different between her and the witch?
To answer these questions, Damien could only wait to either see Aishia in combat or witness other denizens of this world doing the same. Until then, he needed to be patient.
Patience. This was the main thing he needed during this mission. Even if he ran wild, his plans wouldn't be able to unfold immediately. It was the caveat of a Demigod's shadow.
Nevertheless, Damien could easily practice patience. He closed his eyes and entered a deep slumber, resting his mind and body that became weary after enduring so much torture.
As he drifted into unconsciousness, Aishia's eyes fluttered open. She looked at him with a complicated expression.
'How can you sleep so soundly?!' She wondered inwardly.
Not only was she a stranger, but she was also a stranger far more powerful than him. If he let down his guard, it wouldn't be hard at all for her to kill him.
Yet, he dared to sleep?
Aishia was confused in her heart. These past few days spending time with him, she came to realize that she couldn't understand Damien at all.
She was a person who did things step by step. She would carefully calculate her every movement so that there would be no mistakes. This way, her plans would always have high success rates.
But contrasting that was the man she met last week. A man who brazenly did whatever he wanted, but still firmly moved to reach the proper conclusion.
But how was he able to have confidence in himself to do so when he introduced so many variables into his plans?
How did he maintain control in such chaos?
While Aishia's original goal in joining Damien's side was to enter Niflheim and at least somewhat hinder their operations, she found herself rapidly changing her mind.
She wanted to see the end of Damien's path in this world. She wanted to see how he managed to reach the conclusion he desired while moving so recklessly.
And most of all, she had a feeling…
She realized that Damien didn't even think to set a small goal like "hindering" Niflheim through Evotech. He didn't care about the small things.
Those were all eventualities that would happen regardless of how he moved. If he was going to mess with them regardless, why plan for it?
Instead, his plan was far grander. Judging by the grand entrance he made within mere days of beginning his mission, Aishia began to see a shadow…
The shadow of a man who could truly destroy this corrupt organization.
When her thoughts reached this point, Aishia found herself violently shaking her head. 'What am I thinking? How can I place such hopes in a small 3rd class brat?'
But even as she tried to convince herself, she couldn't. Looking at the sleeping face of the handsome man next to her, she sighed.
'Just who are you, and why are you able to affect me so much?'
It was another question Aishia asked herself many times. But it was also another question she couldn't answer. She found that curiosity was truly a poison to the mind.
But in the end, she was able to shake off all her stray thoughts. Regardless of her personal desires and beliefs, her mission came first.
And if her heart felt like trusting this man would allow her to complete it…
She didn't mind offering him anything. If her life was enough to guarantee the destruction of Niflheim, she'd personally put her head on a stake and offer it.
Aishia closed her eyes and followed Damien's example. Instead of thinking about things that hurt her brain, she'd rather just sleep and follow the flow.
It was completely different from the path she usually took. She felt like she was just being lazy in carrying out her duty.
But at the same time, it was a strangely nice feeling that she didn't hate at all.
