[Friend?]
The gears in Cale's brain stopped, stuck in a dazed like state that went on for a few moments until its voice eventually made him snap out of it.
[Friend?..]
It said the same thing as before, only now it was filled with a little more anger than before.
Cale quickly nodded vigorously, sensing the danger and agreed with what it was saying.
[Really?..]
He softly nodded his head again, not daring to speak whatsoever to the disgusting creature in front of him
[Really Really?]
'I can't really say no right now, can I?'
He nodded yet again, a relentless tugging fear gripping tightly at his strings of reason
[Then why are you not talking?]
"...."
Everything froze, the gulping in Cale's dry mouth stopped so abruptly that he almost choked on his saliva
'There are two main reasons why I can't talk at all while Inside Gardenia'
It was the game plan that he painstakingly came up with after two days of thinking of what to do
The first reason being that he thought it'd be better to not speak at all since he hadn't done so In the trial thinking that keeping silence will allow survival to last longer.
'Well keeping my silence ended up making him question me and be wary of whether or not I mean my words'
The second reason and the nail in the coffin that made him decide that he shouldn't talk whatsoever was a simple human one.
'I am too scared... so scared and frightened to speak that my voice was guaranteed to crack and quake with fear'
He couldn't let that happen no matter what.
'This guy already killed its own kind, probably asking the same thing. Who knows what it will do once It finds out that I'm scared shitless and agreed with him purely out of fear'
Cale's mind went numb at the thought, bile welling up in his throat along with nausea
'If I can't talk'
Cale wanted to break down and whine his heart away, but to survive he decided to 'speak', so he removed his hands from his hips that he'd occasionally do when anxious
'Then I'll talk with my body!'
Cale raised a hand and extended his index finger towards a thin mouth. After accomplishing that, he raised the other free hand and made an 'X' sign in front of him, hoping and praying that the monster in front could understand body language.
His mouth twitched, barely holding himself together from the utter ridicule he had to face
'Should I learn sign language?'
Cale was seriously considering it, since it weren't possible to speak without repercussion
And he couldn't just do this every time hoping that they could understand him
But that thought in itself was dumb, why was it dumb?
'Ah wait, do these things even know sign language?'
Why in the world would monsters have the dedication and patience to learn a whole new and complicated language
[Ah...]
The sludge opened its mouth, seemingly understanding what Cale was implying and spoke.
[You...can't speak?]
"!!!"
Cale vigorously nodded his head when it understood him
[I see...]
The sludge relaxed its grip on Cale and released him while also taking a step back in the process.
[....]
It didn't do anything, only the action of staring intently at Cale was exerted
'Why is this so awkward....'
Obviously, this made Cale feel awkward inside
He didn't know why some random monster that looks like the physical incarnation of every disease ever recorded wanted him to be their friend
'And I couldn't care less'
Who would in this situation? Like almost every novel he read, "Find out later, just run!" that line was the most relatable when reading
'I'll find out about its goals later when I'm not being threatened to death!'
This naturally went to his mental notes of 'what to ask when someone knowledgeable appears'
"...?"
Cale's eyes traced the hand of the disgusting animal that asked to be his friend, it reached into something that resembled a pocket?
Looking at the hand that was trying to reach for something Inside his pocket. Cale only wondered if it was dangerous to him
[Here]
And....He was half-right?
'What in the-'
The object it held out to Cale looked like a worm, but dead, upon closer inspection it also had barbs on it
"...."
'It isn't...one of those to-'
[It's...medicine...meant for the throat]
A screeching, dragging voice interrupted and told nicely to the naughty thoughts Cale entertained inside
"!"
His face turned to one of utter disgust
'Th-that's medicine?!'
'It looks more like a torture device meant to eat the inside of ones throat than something meant to heal it'
[There...are a lot...of medicines meant for the throat in Gardenia....but this one specifically was created...to give someone's voice back]
'Wait. He bought this in Gardenia then?'
Cale was surprised that he hadn't found anything related to medicine during his time of exploration of the School.
'Did I miss a few spots?'
Thinking that, The Sludge extended its hand that held the barbed worm that looked dead towards Cale
[It's called...'Dwon'... here take it]
His face hardened
Immediately, he started shaking his head left and right, vehemently refusing then nice gift of the monster.
[Wh-why?...]
It sounded speechless, restlessness dragging out of its vocals
Cale quickly pointed at the dwon and then at himself, after that he put his hands together to make another X sign trying to tell him that he didn't want it.
Afterwards. Cale pointed his Index finger at him and then did a thumbs up with both of his hands making sure he saw it and understood what he meant. The sight would make even a grown man embarrassed for life
Redness started to paint Cale's face in different shades, steam came rushing from his ears
'W-what am I even doing?'
Just three days ago he had been a perfectly normal man with a normal life and now just after a few days, crap like this was committed in his pure name
[Ah...are you telling me not to use the dwon on you and use it for myself for when I would need it.... knowing how expensive it was?]
'Yes, yes, keep misunderstanding me a little longer'
Misunderstanding were welcome, no matter the genre, of course this misunderstanding was used to bloat Cale's outside image and make him look like a good person
'Recess is almost over but there still is a lot of time left'
It was like babysitting a bratty kid with no manners and telling yourself that you only had to survive a few more minutes and you'd be free from that hell
'I need to buy time until recess ends'
Turning his head and staring at the corpses for a little while, he at them with his Index finger curious if he was the one that caused it, of course the true intention was to buy time with questions and curiosity
The sludge followed the direction Cale's finger landed on
[Do you want to know what happened here?]
Cale nodded calmly(even though he wasn't) with curiosity filling and rendering his expression.
[I...do not know either....I wasn't the one....That did this...]
"...."
'So someone else did this?'
The sludge looked at Cale and then lowered Its gaze.
[...I'm sorry...]
"!"
Cale's face turned to one of shock and surprise that it apologized because it didn't know who did this
Cale shook his head left to right while also waving his hands, trying to convey to the creature in front that it wasn't his fault.
'What is wrong with him?'
The sudden mood changes through Cale completely off the rails, one time he was calm, the other he felt self-deprecating
[No...It's not what you...are thinking about]
It denied the thoughts of Cale, which had no relation to the conversation
"?"
'Then what?!'
The slowness in his voice only made him less and less patient with the creature in front of him
If Cale didn't know better, he would have already smacked it in the face multiple times
It pointed with its lanky and liquid like fingers at Cale shoulders
[Your shoulders]
Instinctively. Cale looked down and saw that his hands were smeared in blood. It wasn't a lot but It was still nauseating to see
Next, he looked at his shoulders where the wound should have been
"...."
It looked deep and it stung...a lot, but that was all. It hurt like hell but Cale didn't get the urge to scream like before
'Why is this?'
It was the same as when he took the trial.
Cale felt the pain yes but not so much that it hindered movement.
[Are you okay?...]
He nodded one last time, telling him it was fine.
Trrrr~
Trrrr~
Cale closed his eyes, relieved to hear the familiar chimes blessing his ears.
'Heart attacks would become frequent if I got stuck here'
An ordinary human heart wouldn't be able to handle something like this after all
....Being ordinary doesn't last for long, if it does, how will you ever become better in the future
***
'I'm back...'
"H-hooo"
Cale exhaled and then took a deep breath In order to calm down his on-edge nerves and the loud beating heart thumbing wildly against his rib cage.
Then, glancing at his shoulders, he saw both of them being completely fine and clean
devoid of anything that could be considered an injury, not even a scratch was visible on his pristine state of his skin.
"...."
Cale was deep in thought, thinking about the new Information that he had just gotten from that Sludge.
He already had a good guess about who killed all of those monsters in the building.
'It must have been one of those humanoid like creatures'
They were the only ones that Cale's ability reacted to slightly
'The humanoid like creatures that were almost Identical with humans'
Cale tried to recall the ones that he took a look at, but the only one that could be memorably remembered was the one he first laid eyes upon.
Its body had resembled that of pitch black armor that looked like it was specifically forged for high mobility.
"Well whatever, let's just focus on class for now"
Such condescending words full of carelessness were muttered under the breath of the ordinary