Cairn remained silent in his place for a time before extending his right hand, which held the remnants of the ice cream, to Elian.

  " It’s nothing. Could you hold the ice cream for me while I lace my shoes? "

  Elian took the confection from him with a look of bewilderment, but Cairn did not take long; he soon finished and resumed chatting with Elian, speaking of random topics such as the altercations he had engaged in yesterday or the lectures they had attended today.

  " Today, I had a lecture on corporate law. The law actually protects the naive, especially in matters pertaining to commerce, where you require a multitude of rules and procedures to finalize them—making it difficult for one to circumvent these judicial legislations to seize a partner’s profits.

  For the law prohibits the 'Lion’s Clause,' which is when one party usurps all the company's profits under the pretext of holding the largest share of assets. In truth, the matter is quite intuitive, yet specific rules were necessary to regulate these procedures and organize life in general. "

  While Cairn was immersed in explaining what he had learned today and Elian was listening with apparent interest—seemingly enjoying learning more about university subjects, or perhaps as another way to forget the burdens of life—

  They continued in this manner for some time, exchanging conversation until Elian recounted to him what had transpired with their neighbor the previous day.

  Cairn: ...?

  " I have always known that your neighbor on the upper floor suffered from psychotic disorders, but I did not imagine it had reached such an extent. "

  Cairn spoke in a playful tone, carryng a hint of mockery and expectation, prompting Elian to sigh in response.

  " I know. That lady lives alone too much; she suffers from hyper-anxiety and a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

  It’s enough that she installed surveillance cameras inside and around the building to prove to you how eccentric she is, given that she doesn’t own the building and possesses nothing beyond her doorstep to fear for. "

  Perhaps the act of installing surveillance cameras was not an entirely strange occurrence, but in the sovereign state of Arctivia, where the general level of technological advancement and affluence was not of such magnitude—

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  This act was exceedingly peculiar.

  Especially since it was taking place in an ordinary city, not one for the nobility,

  and in a charred, semi-abandoned building.

  Who would mount surveillance cameras around a valueless building that no one enters?

  It wasn't as if someone would come to rob the needy, was it?

  Cairn spoke playfully:

  " Well, you cannot blame the lady; her installation of cameras has merely proven useful. "

  Elian: ??

  " What utility are you talking about? "

  Elian appeared utterly perplexed, to which Cairn replied:

  " She said herself that she saw no one on the camera when she checked, even though she later claimed she saw someone on the doorstep.

  This proves that the lady on the upper floor is delirious and that you have no need to worry.

  After all, one cannot simply vanish before a camera. "

  " You, of all people, are saying this? I thought you wouldn't mind the idea of there being a ghost in the building. "

  Elian glanced at his friend with strange looks, knowing that this obsessive enthusiast was the one who most loved and believed in ghost stories; so it seemed odd that he wouldn’t seize this opportunity to jest with him about wanting to search for that alleged phantom.

  " Hey, don't judge me retroactively. I follow logic and evidence.

  I don’t see that there are any ghosts on the floor above you, but if you were to ask me, I would find the locked door on the second floor suspicious—as well as your own home. "

  " Wait, what do you mean by the floor below being suspicious?! "

  Elian turned to Cairn with suspicion, trying to remember if he had ever told him about the shivers he sometimes felt when passing through that floor, but as far as he recalled, he had not.

  Cairn looked at him and smiled a faint smile that could not hide the confidence in his eyes as he spoke calmly:

  " No, you did not tell me about the second floor; rather, I was the one who felt a sense of trepidation on my own, and that the door of the residence beneath you is haunted—but not by things that ought to exist in our realm. "

  Elian laughed mockingly:

  " Haha, a fine attempt to frighten me. But you haven't explained yet, Mr. Know-it-all; you said yourself that I hadn't told you about it, so how did you know I was trying to verify whether I had told you or not?

  In other words, how did you know that I feel something is wrong on the lower floor? "

  Cairn smiled a slight smile while answering him with a confidence that left no room for debate:

  " Heh. It seems I simply know you well. I know you possess a spiritual energy of a singular kind.

  It is impossible for something that I sensed by chance while visiting you a few times now and then,

  to be something you are unable to feel while you pass through this floor daily.

  And I knew that my broaching a subject you hadn't raised before would make you wonder if you had previously spoken of it.

  The matter is quite simple.

  It is like reading an open book. "

  " Stop being so narcissistic, you genius. "

  And amidst their jesting about how narcissistic Cairn was, they had reached Elian’s home.

  That tranquil edifice where the old layers of paint could not shroud the ancient residue they cast into the soul—a feeling of desolation, as if this place did not belong to the living to inhabit.

  But Elian appeared accustomed to that.

  And, of course, Cairn did not mind it.