Ever since he came to her riddled with holes in his body, no, ever since she knew he had no mana core, his existence seemed odd to her. As though his being was an impossible enigma.

Once she learned that he possessed a heart of a giant, the feeling only intensified. She couldn’t help but keep on thinking that a thing was up anytime something was concerned with him.

At the same time, she didn’t know why she was invested in this. Other than mana and finding the giants, nothing had made the cogs in her head turn, only those two things until Conall came.

But, she couldn’t help it. The familiarity that she felt for him must have stemmed from something, yet she didn’t know what it was. At any given step, she wanted to fulfill that lingering curiosity.

“Whose heart are you bearing?”

She asked the question that was gathering within her for the entirety of yesterday. Her intuition was screaming at her to do it, even though she seldom listened to it.

Conall didn’t really put up any fight, however, he wondered if it was a good idea to reveal at this time. Being silent for a minute, he finally decided to say something.

She was confused by his eyes, which were worried, scared even. She had never seen him do such a face, as he always spoke to her confidently. Putting on a prominent smile, he told her straight.

“Silvana, what do you know about your parents?”

Her face plummeted as she heard him ask. When before she found him odd, now, it was scary. In the whole world, she was the only one that knew of her parents’ existence. No one except her knew that she was a witch with also a father, not just a mother.

For Conall to know, something was definitely not going correctly. However, it was then that something clicked inside her brain. The staggering powers of his regeneration, the ‘friend’ of hers, and the fact that she knew her father was a giant from birth, she broke down, understanding.

With tears flowing down her cheeks, she answered while sobbing silently.

“Yes, it’s because of them that I’m searching for the giants.”

With a heavy breath, Conall tried to adjust his uneasy heart, but it was hard. Because he knew the next question she was going to ask.

“Please, tell me, Conall. I won’t hate you, if that’s what you’re thinking. Are they… dead?”

Closing his eyes, he lowered his head before nodding.

Even though a lot more tears stared flowing from her eyes, she seemed collected. Was it because she didn’t truly know her parents? She didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. The tears were both of sorrow, and happiness.

Relief washed over her, knowing the state of parents, yet she felt dread of not being able to ever meet them.

Raising his head up, Conall waited for her calm down, which took her quite long, but he patiently stood there.

“You father. He…”

“I know. You’re bearing the heart of Harmis, as well as my father, right?”

It wasn't hard to guess. Silvana understood it deep down from the get go once all the pieces were at hand. The God of Giants was the only known giant, that could still be alive. People simply didn't know where he was imprisoned.

“Yes. I’m sorry for not revealing it to you earlier.”

“How long did you know for?”

“Today marks seven days.”

“I see. And my mother? Do you know anything about her?”

Looking at him with forgiving eyes, she asked, which met her with both disappointment and hope.

He shook his head as a reply.

“Sadly, I don’t. However, I know where her soul is.”

She wanted to ask what that meant, however, she felt the mana in the atmosphere deepen while loud rain hit against the roof of the academy. With an alarming look, Conall’s eyes immediately changed as he said loudly.

“Quickly, hand me the potion.”

“Wait!”

Although she didn’t understand his sudden change, the voice seemed to carry desperation, so she complied, watching as the boy ran out of her lab in a hurry.

‘Damn it. Don’t do this to me now!’

Cursing inwardly and gritting his teeth, Conall used the unstable aura inside his spirit to boost himself. Each time, it felt as though something was being ripped apart from his body, but he didn’t care, going as quickly as he could towards the area where darker clouds were gathered.

However, the more he ran, the more hopeless he began to feel. The distance was long and he had to extend it by exiting the academy grounds first, then the capital itself.

Still, he didn’t lose it completely. As long as the world didn’t turn upside down, all was fine.

Passing by countless merchants that had irritated looks on their faces from the sudden heavy rain, he finally entered Octa.

Giving it his all, he moved through the forest, omitting any monster that tried to impede his movement. His body bled through every orifice it could think of.

The more he used his strength, the harsher the punishment was. Still, he ran through the forest where the trees fell, being target by lightning constantly.

Although his ears almost erupted from the sheer loudness, he only relied on his eyes. Yet, before he could truly reach the center of the storm, he noticed something.

The rain, along with the clouds, started to recede and lessen. In the very front of him, he saw as a certain girl ran through the forest as fast as lightning.

Not knowing when she even arrived, he felt the brunt of her body crashing into him. Every part of him hurt as the metal banged against him, however, he grabbed her tightly while sliding through the mud on his back.

Finally stopping after a while, he quickly laid Juliette, who was half-conscious, on his knees. Taking out the potion made using his blood, her lips parted as she allowed the liquid to flow down her throat. Even though the injuries weren’t as much as he thought, he knew the insides of her body must have been messed up.

Finishing the flask, he simply watched as the girl looked at him with a stupid smile.

“Did I do better this time?”

With a relieved smile of his own, Conall praised her.

“Much better.”

“Hehehe, you didn’t have to save me today.”

With a final laugh, she closed her eyes as the pain from the potion overtook her consciousness.

Surprised by the lack of monsters attacking them, Conall looked up at the sky, only to see a girl flying on a broomstick while erecting a barrier around the two humans.

“Let me take her and come with me. I will get the both of you treated.”

Her eyes glowed a hue of blue in the clouded, gloom forest. Looking directly at them, Conall nodded before wiping the bloody sweat around his body. It had already stopped, but there was lingering pain all around his body, precisely because he overused his aura.

He only hoped that his soul didn’t further damage itself, but that would have to wait for some other time.

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From her inventory ring, Silvana took out an another broom before placing Conall there, taking Juliette on the one she was riding. There was little trouble she had when it came to controlling the mana around her because of her and Conall’s earlier talk. The emotions inside her got riled up and the Calamity raised her abilities ever so slightly.

“Thank you, Silvana.”

Struggling to hold up on the broomstick that flew through the sky, his voice was almost drowned by the winds.

Although his head wanted to be kept down from the weariness, he raised and glanced to the side. As usual, her face was pretty unemotional, however, it was only because she was struggling. She wanted to say something she had never said before.

“You don’t have to. We’re friends, after all.”

Seeing the large, pointy hat slowly cover her face, he couldn’t help but stare at her a couple more times before smiling.

Soon enough, they arrived back at her lab, but all Conall could think about was a good sleep. The dungeon still showed its aftermath in his mind. Even though it was just the beginning of the day and he was awake for less than three hours, he was already back to his slumber.

…

With the holographic image of Einna and the two people sleeping on the floor, Silvana almost felt like she owned a daycare. Nonetheless, she diligently took care of her fainted patients, providing them comfortable mattresses while cleaning, and drying them off the blood on their bodies using magic circles.

Doing so, she couldn’t help but stare at the red-haired boy. There was a lot she had to take in today, similar to three days ago, when she found out he had the heart of a giant.

Learning that said heart was from the god of giants, who happened to be her father, was even further shocking.

The feelings inside her were conflicted, stemming from the fact that Conall kept it as a secret. At the same time, she understood very well why he did it.

If he revealed it, what stopped her from attacking him, who had provoked her on the gentle topic? After all, when he acquired the heart of her father, they had only known each other as student and Professor.

There was no exact dislike that she held for Conall, especially because he was truthful to her in the end, even revealing that he somehow knew where her mother was. However, she didn’t know how to feel about the fact that the boy’s heart was precisely that of Harmis, her dad.

‘Haa.’

With an internal sigh, Silvana decided to finally stop thinking about it. She still had some doubts and questions, so simply waited for him while focusing on the reward she was preparing for him because of their deal.

After a few hours of experiments with the giant femur and watching over the dean’s daughter, he had replaced Silvana. At the same time, Conall finally woke up, no longer dripping blood from every pore inside his body.

He raised himself from the makeshift bed slowly because of the soreness he experienced, as well as the fact that Juliette was still recovering, unconscious.

Making little to no sounds while walking, he made his way towards the witch, who was standing beside the giant femur laid on a long metal table.

He didn’t wait long to ask questions.

“Are you mad at me?”

“For what?”

The hands created out of mana that floated around the bone dispersed in the air as she asked.

“That I have the heart of your father.”

“Are you sure you want to talk here?”

She glanced at the girl that slept like a dog, her hair all around the place. Staring at her as well, Conall shook his head, a clear statement leaving his lips.

“If I keep on adding secrets to hide, it’s gonna be hard to keep track of them. Besides, it’s better if she knows.”

“I see. I had no idea you were so friendly with the most hated person of Calypa. Do you think you can keep this up? What if you get dragged into fights with her assassins?”

“I will just have to make something up at the time, then.”

Staying silent for a few seconds, she finally replied to his question.

“I’m not mad at you. I’m just confused about the matter. For more than three decades, I was searching for the giants in search of my father, only to find out that he was the one that caused their extinction. And now, you’re in hold of his heart.”

“So, you know his story?”

With a nod, she quickly explained.

“Yes, dean Lurius told me a few years ago, a bit after the previous headmaster passed away. It’s also because of that, that I’m somewhat relieved. You allowed him to leave this world, in which he would be trapped for eternity. I always wanted to meet him to ask for potential places where the giants could have escaped. I never thought a God would be my father.”

Silvana didn’t miss his sudden look of pity, even if it was hidden in the depths of his eyes. It was a shame that she couldn’t meet her father, especially when he was so close to her. The reason was, of course, because of the first headmaster’s death.

Since Etra’s grounds were the only ones neutral out of the continent, the headmaster at that time, who was also the King of Etra, made a deal with the world in exchange for the Kingdom’s prosperity in the form of a blessing.

To the outrage of other Kingdoms and the Empire, they simply released even more of their anger on the giant race than they would have otherwise.

However, the deal was made, and Harmis was stored, directly under the academy, King Enit being the only person to know of his whereabouts.

With his death, the knowledge where the God of Giants was was gone, only to be uncovered by Heph, who didn’t give the information to just random people. Truthfully, Conall was the first person the old shopkeeper ever gave the key, or at least the first person the boy knew of.

“What?”

The witch asked, and he wouldn’t keep it hidden.

“Do you know the academy’s cemetery? Harmis was locked up under there.”

Silvana looked at him shocked for a second, however, she quickly composed herself. If the goddess wished for it so, then it just meant she couldn’t have met him earlier.

“I see. Although it’s a shame, at least I came to know from you in the end.”

Hearing her say that, Conall also regained his composure. He saw that she wanted to ask something, but something interrupted her.

In the corner of the room, a certain girl started to wake up, stretching herself mid-sleep. Raising herself up like a spring, she turned to the duo beside the table before clearing her eyes.

“Ah! It was you!”

Juliette suddenly jumped up, quickly going back down as she felt the horrendous pain spreading across her whole body. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she pointed at the witch girl beside Conall.

Silvana turned to the boy as she heard the shouts.

“Look, it’s that girl that trailed us three days ago.”

Hearing the famous professor talk, Juliette swallowed her words, stunlocked. Stuttering, her pointing hand shook as she couldn’t muster up the courage, her face red from embarrassment.

“Y-y-y-you!”

“Will you apologize now, or later?”

“I have nothing to apologize for! It wasn’t me, alright?”

She doubled down while her cards were completely transparent and the awkward, red face she was making didn’t help at all.

Silvana once again turned to her side, only to see the boy showing a face of defeat. He couldn’t help her here.

With a sigh, she complied to the girl, who was slowly coming back to herself.

“Fine, whatever you say.”

After a while, Juliette was finally able to properly walk around, only to be mesmerized by all the different, magical stuff Silvana had here. Her eyes glittered as she watched the countless shelves where various spells were being played out, the shelves tracking their properties, as Silvana said.

Thanking the witch professor for treating her, she wanted to leave the lab earlier, however, she said something that greatly intrigued her, so Juliette stayed while Silvana prepared the equipment.

Conall, as well, stayed, curious what she might have found. At her instructions, he placed the equipment parts, which were two meters long poles of inscribed metal.

Placing all ten of them in an equal decagon on the same base used to project Einna, he watched as she started the machine. Even though he had no mana core to feel it, his golden stomach felt the difference in the mana surrounding them immediately. The mana density almost multiplied while the flow intensified,

Along the sides, bright blue mana glowed before slowly connecting the walls. Similar to glass or a barrier, the blue walls connecting the poles were see-through in the decagonal prism.

Facing the hefty wall of mana in the air, Juliette became somewhat apprehensive. Especially after what Silvana told her to do.

“Okay, you can go inside now.”

“Inside? Won’t it stop me?”

“No, it would suck you in moreso.”

Although she was scared that too much mana might go through her body, at the same time, her earlier words lingered in her mind.

If she wanted to find out what was wrong with her, she had to do this.

With a newfound determination, Juliette stepped inside the equipment, going through as easy as through a veil of water.

Once she was inside, the blue mana darkened slightly, hardening. Juliette wouldn’t be able to come out in the duration of the scan and she had to stand in the very middle. Listening closely to the advice, Juliette closed her eyes as the device started working.

If before the amount of mana in the room was large, after the scanner started working, it was dizzying. Like a mana storm, the energy began moving at vehement speeds, even shaking up the potions inside the lab a little.

Finally, the scanner was prepared to start.

With a last magic circle, Silvana started, to which a blast of mana moved right through the girl inside. She didn’t falter because of her physicality, however, she had to admit it felt ticklish.

One after another, waves of mana clashed against her body, trying to capture an image of something inside it. Precisely, Silvana was trying to take a closer look at the mana core the girl had. Earlier in the day, after treating them, she noticed something inside Juliette’s body after she gave her another potion from Conall’s blood.

Something from the inside was blocking the function of the mana organs regeneration, something directly connected to the organs, their core.

And, she needed a clearer picture of what it might have been. She couldn’t discern it using her own mana, so she decided to try using her eyes. If it was what she guessed, someone did a spectacular job at it.