APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 12 - The Paradise

'Who is he?' She thought confused, then looked around; however, she didn't notice anybody else. Only her and the mysterious stranger were on the patio right now, and, he was staring at her with an unreadable question in his eyes.

Emiko sighed softly.

'Actually... if I were in his place, I would also look at the other person like that. Especially when I'd want to be alone... Whoever he is... I'd better not disturb him.' After quickly excusing the whole strange situation, the girl slightly nodded her head towards the blonde in a gesture of politeness, then started to head to the main exit of the university to return to the motel.

But, she couldn't shake the strange feeling inside her that had gripped her in those few seconds when she first looked at him. Something inside her was telling her that she shouldn't approach this young man ever again... if they were ever to meet again. And you have to know that Emiko always listened to her inner voice, because it was never wrong.

****

Young Tenma spent Friday discreetly gathering information about the girl with glasses; first she found out which field of study was to prepare a thesis on "Psychology of Financiers in Bavaria at the turn of the Middle Ages and the present day", and then checked how their classes are held. She was pleased to discover that on Tuesdays the students of cultural anthropology had a free time around noon, so she decided to find and talk to the newly met student just then.

When the weekend came, she spent it searching for information about Georg Hans Schuwald, whose name and "mystery and wealth" haunted her. In one of the archival newspapers, she even found an advertisement for a job he had offered - he employed one student every day from Monday to Friday, who would read him books in Latin, for which the salary was quite high. However, he only recruited the male part of the university, so she knew that she wouldn't be able to approach him this way. To her surprise, she found out that it was already an older man, without a wife or family. Well... maybe not really any family. Rumor said that he had a son, but no one knew anything about him. She decided to look for more information about him because she had some strange feeling that she would spend some more time in Munich.

****

Tuesday was finally here. In advance, Emiko found the classroom in which the department of cultural anthropology had classes, so that as soon as the bell rings, follow the girl with glasses and try to talk to her.

As she had planned before, she followed an unfamiliar student during a break, passing crowds of college students who talked about all sorts of things on the way. After a long moment, she noticed that the girl sat down on one of the benches on the patio. Young Tenma looked around.

The day was sunny and exceptionally warm for April, which meant that many students were sitting outside enjoying the pleasant weather. The situation seemed ideal to her, as all the benches were occupied, and there was absolutely no one sitting by the girl with glasses. Emiko quickly headed towards her target.

"Em... Excuse me, can I sit down here?" The brown-haired girl raised her head and smiled friendly towards her.

"Oh, sure! Sit down."

"Thanks." Emiko returned her smile, and then sat down right next to her, while being a little apart. "I didn't expect such crowds today..." The girl with the glasses laughed.

"Honestly, neither do I. Who would have thought that it would get so warm today..." She thoughtfully supported her chin with her hand and tilted her head towards Emiko. "You were lucky, you know? Do you see those students on the second track?" She nodded her head at two girls standing nearby, who had a slight disappointment written on their faces. "If you would waited a second longer, they would have joined me."