Chapter 22: Unknown Cause

Robin woke up with a splitting headache.

Three guns were buzzing in his mind: the revolver boasted of its compact lethality, the rifle claimed to be intimate and beautiful, and the one gifted by the Grand Duke insisted its stats were the highest. Most importantly, all three professed absolute loyalty to him. Robin had never imagined that he would one day be the object of jealousy for a collection of firearms.

He felt a pang of guilt, wondering if he should try to control his dreams to stop them from appearing—or at least to choose which one showed up. Why did he feel like a "master of time management" juggling multiple lovers?

Checking his internal data, he noted that his awakening progress had increased.

【Transcendent Trait: Heart of the Machine (Awakening, 83% progress)】

A two-hour meditation session had yielded a four percent increase. Theoretically, he would complete his awakening in about ten hours.

"What happened when you first showed signs of awakening?" Robin asked the young nurse, who had been keeping watch over him. She handed him a towel, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It felt like my scalpel had come to life, a sensation of a shared bloodline. After that, they appeared in my dreams and spoke to me," she replied. She still seemed despondent over the newspaper reports, her voice sounding almost robotic. Keeping watch over Robin and teaching him the ways of the transcendents was a task assigned to her by Matthew; otherwise, she would not be here. Matthew had given her this duty to occupy her mind. Lacking proper training, she would surely have suffered a mental breakdown if left alone after witnessing her teacher's death and seeing the heads of those she worked with displayed at the city gates.

"I see..." Robin realized. He had thought he was special, but it seemed this was a normal phenomenon.

"Do you dream of them often?" Robin probed.

"Before becoming a transcendent, yes. Afterward, I gained control over it."

"What about the ones you've lost? Can you still make contact with them?" Robin asked casually. After speaking with her, he no longer felt his own abilities were particularly unique.

"Of course not," the nurse shook her head. "If I could, I would just scatter my blades everywhere to gather intelligence for me. Life isn't that convenient. According to data analysis, once an object is more than thirty meters away and left untouched for a day, the connection breaks. This link is specific to the Control and Beast-Taming schools; the data is accurate, and I have tested it myself."

Thirty meters? Robin’s pupils constricted.

The gun he had lost on the battlefield was far beyond thirty meters. And the ambulance from yesterday—that, too, was well beyond that distance.

Does that mean I am unique after all? Why? Was it because the items others bonded with were less precise, whereas the things he touched were more sophisticated? Perhaps the lack of time spent with the ambulance made the connection fleeting. Or maybe it was because he hadn't been the one driving it?

"When you speak to them, is it only in the spiritual realm, or..."

"I only hear those faint voices when I am in deep meditation," she explained. "They are objects, not animals; they cannot speak in everyday life."

"Understood."

Back in the car, Robin had clearly heard his gun speaking to him. Was he unique in that regard too? Where did his difference lie? The attribute cap for an ordinary person was E+, but his spirit power had been D- at the time. Could it be related to the fact that he had merged with another soul? He lacked the data to confirm this, and his knowledge of the transcendent realm was too shallow to find an answer.

*Creak.*

At that moment, a weary-looking Matthew pushed the door open.

"Team Leader, could you knock next time?" the nurse said, sounding annoyed.

"Go upstairs. We have a guest; don't let them see anything unusual," Matthew said to the nurse, then turned to Robin. "You, come with me."

"I..." the nurse hesitated. "I have to face a customer now? Smile and serve?"

Matthew fell silent, knowing how cruel this was. "Otherwise, it will look suspicious. The whole city is under martial law; if anyone is missing, it could cause problems." He knew it was risky to have someone so untrained deal with a client, but he had no choice. As he often said, there was no such thing as a perfect situation.

***

Jennifer was feeling frustrated. She had finally set her sights on a target, only to have him snatched away by someone else last night. As a result, the hospital was under strict investigation, and she had been interrogated early this morning. Having only discussed Robin with Vincent, she had managed to avoid further trouble.

She had planned to get a massage to relax, but her cat, a Silver Shaded British Shorthair, was pouting and had come down with a minor illness that would cost her three thousand credits. People could endure sickness, but you couldn't ignore a cat. And so, she brought her cat to a pet hospital she frequented.

The building was six stories tall, with the hospital occupying two floors. They sold pets in addition to providing medical care. There was one male employee, one female employee, and a veterinarian. The male employee was responsible for bathing larger pets that were too strong to handle, or calming aggressive cats.

"Oh, my little princess, you don't look so well today," the nurse said, having returned to the upper floor. She had applied heavy makeup, presumably to hide her dark circles.

"I accidentally stepped on Cheese when I got up last night, and she ended up like this," Jennifer said, carefully handing the cat over. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? What's wrong with you? Your voice is hoarse, and you look terrible..."

"Um... last night was, *cough*, a bit intense," the nurse said, looking shy.

Jennifer immediately understood, giving her a knowing look without pressing further.

"Oh, she’s caught a chill. The weather has been very cold lately," the nurse said, taking the cat. She was forcing herself to suppress her emotions. Fortunately, as a transcendent—even an untrained one—she was stronger than an ordinary person. At least, Jennifer couldn't tell anything was wrong.

"I'll give her an injection first, then use the steam treatment."

Medical care in this world was quite different from what Robin remembered from his past life. The bathing process included a dry-cleaning method using high-pressure steam. Whether it was the unique properties of the steam in this world or not, it did have medicinal effects.

"Yes, thank you," Jennifer said, finding a seat. Her mind was filled with images of Robin. If only she had acted faster, she could have enjoyed at least one night with him. The newspapers reported that he had killed many people while escaping. With marksmanship that good, he must have been incredible in bed too. If she had been the one with him, she might be as hoarse as Genis today.