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nCollin rested his chin in his palm.

n“Well, that’s a cool story and all, but I don’t think we have to go so far as to be that afraid of him. I mean, yes it’s kinda crazy that a kid fought against a wolf, but you also have to consider that same kid walked into a dangerous place willingly where there was one. It’s not as though he has everything planned down to the detail.”

nNola rubbed her chin.

n“Though, he seems to be both decisive and able to come to the correct decisions rather easily. Assuming he’s the one taking the lead, then it definitely won’t be easy. However, there is a limit that tactics can do against sheer strength.”

nEdward sighed.

n“Look, I get that a single story isn’t really enough to convince you, but I’ve seen that guy for a long time. I may not understand him well, but I know enough to know that he’s someone scary.”

nHe frowned.

n“For example, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get injured. He never really trips or falls, and whenever I was about to trip over something, he would catch me. I get that none of that itself is really strange, but when it just keeps happening over and over again, it just starts to make it seem as though something else is happening.”

nHe tapped on the table a few times.

n“It’s not just attentiveness. It’s not just that he is calculating enough to understand what’s happening. There has to be something else going on. Or if it really is the case his intelligence is just that high, making him an enemy is just too much.”

nNola and Collin both looked somewhat convinced, but also a little tired of hearing what he was talking about. Collin let out a helpless sigh.

n“Well, if he’s really all you’re making him out to be, then why don’t we try to get him on our side? Or maybe work out an alliance somehow?”

nNola narrowed her eyes.

n“A better question would be, did you become his enemy? After all, you’re not with him right now, but with us instead.”

nEdward looked down to the ground.

n“…Honestly, more than anything, I was just scared of him. After that day, he acted completely normal, almost like he didn’t almost just. Almost like he didn’t just kill a wolf without taking a single hit from the wolf itself. I just wanted to get away.”

nHe smiled bitterly.

n“In the end, this is where I ended up. I distanced myself to the point that we hadn’t even talked in years. Chances are, he probably hates me.”

nNola clicked her tongue.

n“In other words, you became this guy’s enemy?”

nEdward blinked a few times.

n“I suppose so.”

nCollin facepalmed.

n“If that’s the case, that’s just more reason to attack him now early on in the apocalypse! We are definitely not weak. If that person really is how you say they are, then the threat that they will pose simply grows by the second!”

nEdward did not speak for a good few seconds.

n“I guess that is right.”

nNola stared at him straight on.

n“You don’t sound the most enthusiastic. There’s clearly something that you want to do, so just tell us then.”

nEdward looked off into the distance through a nearby window.

n“You two never even considered the option of abandoning me? By being related, you’ll be caught in the crossfire.”

nNola blinked a few times.

n“I suppose I’ve considered it. I mean, a guy saves you from a wolf despite risking their life, and instead of getting closer for protection, you push him away. But still, we’ve come this far together. I don’t plan on changing that fact any time soon.”

nCollin shrugged his shoulders.

n“You make it sound like I’m giving up my life for you, which I’m for sure as hell not. I plan on living. I plan for all of us to stay alive. It sounds like you messed up or something with this Kairos guy before, but you were also the one that helped us.”

nEdward took a deep breath.

n“Strange how I’m not even as loyal as you two are.”

nNola rolled her eyes.

n“I mean, it doesn’t sound like you hate that Kairos guy. Maybe if you just put in the tiniest bit of effort and explained the misunderstanding to him, you could patch things over.”

nEdward laughed.

n“Well, this is kind of pathetic to say, but I’m still afraid of him. Even as a kid, I knew logically, he had nothing against me. If anything, it would be good to have someone like that be my friend. Yet, I was just too scared. He could talk to me just fine, but I couldn’t talk back the way we used to. He made all the same jokes, but none of them were coming to me either. He could still find fun in all the stupid things, but I couldn’t help but look at them for what they were.”

nNola crossed his arms.

n“So what you’re telling me is you genuinely have trauma from this guy?”

nEdward did not respond.

nCollin clicked his tongue.

n“If you have trauma, then the best thing to do is to confront it, right? If anything, having the chance to be able to confront it in the first place is a lucky thing. That way, it won’t haunt you in the future.”

nEdward did not respond for a good while once more.

n“It seems I can’t make any more excuses, huh?”

nNola blinked a few times.

n“That’s what it was the whole time, really? You did all that just because you didn’t want to go meet with him again?”

nEdward smiled bitterly.

n“Well… that may have been the grand majority of the reason. But still, he’s not someone we should mess with.”

nCollin rolled his eyes.

n“Then instead of messing with him, we can at least try to be allies, no? Though we can’t really afford to give food right now, it’s not like we have nothing.”

nEdward’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

n“…I suppose it’s worth a shot.”

nBack on Kairos’ side, both he and Quinn had continued to observe the man for a while. It seemed that one potato truly was a safe amount, as he hadn’t suddenly become a monster from them.

nKairos turned to Quinn.

n“Is this enough, or do you need him to eat more to get a better handle on its effects?”

nQuinn took a deep breath.

n“I did learn a decent amount from this. Further feeding him potatoes might become necessary, but might not be depending on how the other experiments go.”

nKairos gave a nod.

n“Alright then. Do you have any idea where to start?”

nQuinn sighed.

n“Well, my first impression is that eating that potato is obviously dangerous, if in high amounts. The red energy doesn’t seem to outright kill, but is something that should be avoided if possible. To make it fit for regular consumption, finding a way to neutralize most of the red light is the first thing we should be doing.”

nHe continued.

n“Because we have so little information about what this red light really is, then many things we try are going to be a complete shot in the dark. Though, the first two things that come to mind are either heating it up or freezing it, as those are the main ways people have traditionally used for food. If that doesn’t work, then we will have to start taking shots in the dark.”

nKairos rubbed his chin.

n“Alright then. The potatoes are already pretty hot on their own, do you think it will be possible to cook?”

nQuinn shrugged his shoulders.

n“Although it is indeed hot, it is not yet at the temperature that would kill the bacteria we want to kill. We might as well try.”

nKairos gave a small nod. He went back down to get another potato and began trying to cook it. First, he poured some water inside and was about to put in salt, but quickly stopped himself. After that, he just put the potato in and covered it. After waiting for a decent amount of time, he opened it up.

nQuinn was watching him, and once he saw what was inside, his expression warped.

n“…Are you sure you did this properly?”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“If it was a normal potato, yes, but it seems that this works a little differently…”

nThe potato in front of them had already completely lost its shape, deforming into what looked like red sludge. The water that Kairos had put in became red, and the smell coming from it was not the most pleasant.

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“It seems that some of the red energy has left at the very least. Though, it still doesn’t look all that good.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“Then let’s try this with someone else.”

nKairos tried to salvage what he could of what was left from the red sludge, leaving the red water behind. Upon being put on a plate, it looked anything but appetizing, but he ignored it.

nUpon bringing it to another one of them, Kairos made them eat it.

nThe person in question was a little concerned about the screaming sounds that they had heard, but Kairos just told them that he was trying to save Liam, though it went a little wrong. He just said that he was waiting for Liam to calm down.

nLike last time, the person handed to food questioned it several times, as it really wasn’t something that looked appetizing. However, Kairos continually reassured the person that it was ok to eat, and that there were minor side effects.

nIn the end, the person ate it, and the effects they received were relatively minimal. Though their skin had reddened, it disappeared soon after.

nKairos then got another potato to do the same thing once more.

nThe person in question didn’t see any problems the first time and was still pretty hungry, thus eating it more readily this time. However, the effects were now far clearer. After pretending that it was all fine, Kairos and Quinn went back to the ground level once more.

nKairos rubbed his chin.

n“It appears like cooking works, but that’s not really because of the heat, but because boiling it makes some of the evolution energy seep out into the water.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“It seems we found a solution rather quickly. All we need is a sufficient amount of water, and most of the threat will be removed.”

nKairos narrowed his eyes.

n“But I still want to test how it will change if it is frozen.”

nQuinn blinked a few times.

n“Is that really necessary? We have already found a solution.”

nKairos shook his head.

n“They are going to be frozen anyway to preserve them. It’s best we test the effects anyway.”

nThough Quinn seemed reluctant, he nodded.

n“Ok…”

nKairos used the frost spell to freeze a few potatoes. He then forced them to thaw by putting them above a fire, and when they were chilled, he brought them to the third person.

nThe color of the potato this time was still red, but it was no longer emitting heat and the redness seemed to be somewhat subdued.

nAfter slowly convincing the person to eat two of the frosted potatoes, they found that his body had begun reddening significantly. He gave that person the same treatment he did to the first, crippling them.

nIt seemed that while there was an effect from freezing it, it wasn’t as significant as letting it boil.

nOnce they were done with that, Kairos used the last person to test out how a frosted potato that was then cooked would do. He cooked quite a few potatoes at once, as he wanted to see the extent of the effect.

nThe person in question ate all of the potatoes, and there was almost no effect on them.

nAfter confirming this, Kairos went down to speak with Tiana.

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