Chapter 94- Oddity
Eva's words were akin to a strong blow to Kai's already confused mind. He already had a hard time reacting to the gift and now he had to think about what she said.
For someone with a mind as clever as his, Kai was almost completely clueless when it comes to sentimental stuff or anything related to emotions. Ironically enough, he could easily manipulate others' emotions but when it comes to his own emotions, he loses that advantage and turns into a toddler experience-wise.
"..."
Eva seemed to realize that as she quickly blushed visibly and put her hands up in a defensive state. "I-I'm sorry. I said too much. It must've been too forceful. I'm so dumb! I just spilled out some nonsense in the spur of the moment!"
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"I will eat them," Kai added as he picked another one and ate it.
However, Eva didn't really register that as her mind was stuck on his first two words. 'Thank you'. It kept resonating in her head like drums. Along with it, her heart started beating faster and faster, threatening to explode at any given moment.
For the first time in her life, Eva could palpably sense some kind of emotions coming from those two words that Kai said. She didn't know what they were but they still moved her greatly.
"Y-Y-You don't need to thank me! I did this for myself too!!" Covering her face, Eva tried not to smile like an idiot. But, her mouth refused to comply and it completely relaxed.
'He thanked me… I'm happy! Why am I feeling this happy? This should be illegal! I really have a stupid expression on my face right now!'
Meanwhile, Kai ate the cookies silently. They were certainly delicious but at that particular moment, they were way better than any cookies he ever had in his life.
After struggling with her happiness for a few moments, Eva finally looked back at Kai. Seeing him eat what she baked made her realize that Kai really liked them. He wasn't someone to pretend in front of people just to not hurt them.
After that, she sat down next to him again and watched him silently. Her eyes filled with love and adoration to the brim.
As he was eating, he handed her one of them.
"No, just eat them. Seeing you enjoy them is enough for me."
"Just take it."
"Ok…"
Taking the cookie, she started nibbling on it.
'Hmm, it's not that bad. Although I didn't bake in ages, it seems I didn't lose my touch.' Eva nodded her head in approval.
When the dup finished their meal, they sat there silently, looking at the clear blue sky of the day. Spring was approaching and so the weather was getting warmer and warmer gradually.
"Is something bothering you, Kai?"
"Hm?" The boy's eyes looked down at the beautiful girl next to him in confusion.
"I could see it as clear as day. You are bothered by something. Is it that woman?" She asked with a serious expression.
"... It's odd. Her disappearance is odd and I have a bad hunch about it." Kai said in an emotionless tone. However, his eyes looked sharper than ever.
"Couldn't she simply be busy?" Eva asked.
"She could be. But, Divinity is working on something bizarre and that's why I'm suspicious. The Undead Project, their goal to turn every person in the world into an Origin user. It's all too suspicious."
"Are you saying… that's she in danger?"
"It's unlikely considering her strength. But, there is still that possibility. I won't make a move unless I'm certain that I need to. Divinity is already looking for me. I won't give them another reason to find me." He said in a cold tone.
Dealing with the Guild was Kai's top priority at the moment. Having Divinity enter the fray would be a dumb thing. Especially when Grey will now try to take him down with all his strength.
"Sigh, that woman sure likes to make trouble wherever she goes." Eva shook her head with a sigh.
As the two were like that, Kai's phone suddenly started buzzing. The latter pulled it out and much to his and Eva's surprise, the call was coming from none other than Kaya.
"Talk about the devil."
Kai picked up the call quickly.
"Where are you?" He said coldly.
However, no response came to him. Instead, all he could hear is gibberish from the seemingly weak connection.
"Kaya?" He spoke again but didn't get an answer either. Then, the call ended out of nowhere. "Tsk."
"What did she say?"
"Nothing. The service is weak wherever she is."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that she's not in any place with cellphone towers nearby." Standing up, Kai dusted off his clothes.
"What are we going to do?"
"I will locate her using this call. It would've been impossible before considering her encrypted sim card. But, now that she called me, I can access her phone through this call."
"That's pos- You know what? Nevermind. I already know that Kai is the only one who can do this." Eva shook his head and stood up before following him.
"We're going to skip school."
"Fufufu~ I don't care about school. I only came here just to be by your side. My academic knowledge exceeds that of a college professor in any field." Eva said with a chuckle.
***
The two immediately went back to Kai's apartement where Kai linked the phone to the computer and started typing quickly on the keyboard.
Eva watched him work with amazement clear in her eyes.
'Woah, I have never seen someone work this fast… He puts even the best of Origin Hackers to shame.'
A few minutes passed in silence before Kai's expression finally changed.
"What?"
"What the hell is she doing there?" Kai murmured.
"Huh? What do you me-" As Eva's eyes fell on the screen, her expression froze.
"Is that her current location?" She asked after a while, with a confused expression.
"This is her location from the moment of the call."
Right on the screen now, a map of the world could be seen and on that map, a particular location south was marked. That location was known to both Kai and Eva.
"Why the fuck did she go to the Frozen Plains? That's the farthest place from any human contact."
The Frozen Plains is a massive area to the south of the world. It's basically a deserted snowfield with temperatures that reach down to -110 degrees celcius and extremely violent snowstorms all around the year.
Humans across history tried to explore it and yet, of all the tens of expeditions sent there, none of them succeeded. Well, that's what the normal history says. However, Origin users have already entered that place before and explored it to some extent.
However, there was nothing to find there as it was simply a desert of old ice and harsh weather.
Yet, for some reason, Kaya was now there. Or her cellphone, at least.
Staring silently at the screen for a few seconds, Kai exhaled a breath before he stood up.
"Pack your things. We're leaving."
"Wait, now?"
"Yes. We will travel to the Frozen Plains." At that moment, Kai's tone turned harshly cold.
He knew that whatever Kaya was doing there… It wasn't a vacation.