Chapter 133: Ch 133: Needs to be said

Noah’s anger slowly drained out of his body as he looked at Erin’s calm face, and he suddenly felt so tired.

He knew that there was little Erin could do if the labs were truly behind all this. After all, Erin was just like Noah—a pawn in the game of the labs whose life was likely on the line.

As such, there was no point in reprimanding Erin over choosing to save his own life and cooperating with the labs. Noah was doing the same thing while looking for a way out.

"I knew you would be angry at me. Do you want me to stop this now? I can stop helping the labs if you want me to—"

"No. There is no need to put yourself at unnecessary risk like that. It’s better to cooperate with the labs for now if that’s what they want."

Noah confirmed as he slowly rubbed his eyes and then lifted his face to look at Erin.

Looking at the blue-haired bird-turned-man, Noah could not help but feel like a parent whose son had gone down the wrong path for the right reasons.

Even though Noah knew this was not right, he could not bring himself to correct Erin. At least, not at the moment.

"Noah, it’s going to be alright. I know what you think about the labs and their experiments, and I am no different. That’s why I am keeping an eye on the labs at the same time while pretending to help them out. I will keep you informed if you would like."

Erin offered earnestly, but Noah knew how the labs worked.

Their experiment getting foiled once or twice was not a big deal. But if it happened again and again, then they would start getting suspicious, and that would put Erin’s life in danger.

"No, don’t! Keep what you know to yourself unless it’s something I absolutely have to know."

Noah stressed these words out loud, and Erin nodded with a determined look on his face.

He reached out to grab Noah’s hand and held it in his own. So far, Noah had not even realised he had been shaking, but the warmth of Erin’s hand started to wash away some of his nervousness.

"Please don’t worry too much about it. I promise I will help you with the labs. I will do what I can to get you out of there at all costs."

Erin promised as he pulled Noah closer. He rested the guide’s face right against his shoulder...

Well, that had been the likely plan, but Noah was too short to reach Erin’s shoulder, so he made do with the chest in front of him.

"This is unfair. You cannot keep getting away from being scolded by acting cute all the time."

But even though Noah said that, he already knew he could not hold what happened against Erin.

After all, it was the labs’ and the academy’s fault. His little bird caught in the middle had no choice but to take part, just like Noah sometimes had no choice but to sit back and watch others being experimented on.

They both had their limits, even if it sucked.

...

Once Noah came to terms with what was happening, he calmed down quickly and went back to his room.

He now knew the truth about the academy, but nothing had changed. It was not as if the grand reveal changed the academy for better or worse.

But it did make sense why the situation was so odd.

’I wonder what kind of experiment the labs are willing to pull with the academy. I was sure that they lost their power for large-scale experiments after the fire, but they are still operating this huge organisation. Just how many resources are they left with?’

Unfortunately, Noah felt like he did not want to know the answer to that question since it would only serve to annoy him.

Instead, he reached his room and turned his brain off before throwing himself on his bed. He felt so drained after what happened that it was not even funny.

Moreover, a lingering headache had been building in the back of his temple for some time, and no amount of massaging was resolving this issue.

"Ugh, I truly do not want to go to the medical wing for this—"

"What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Should I go and bury Professor Erin for you?"

Noah’s bed sank with additional weight, and before he knew it, Daniel was in his bed and reaching out to touch his head.

The other guide rested his cool fingers on Noah’s hotter temple and hissed.

"Shit! Are you coming down with a fever? Don’t move! I will go and get you some medicine."

Daniel promised, and Noah’s vision felt blurry as he watched the other guide rushing out of the room.

His own hand moved to check his temperature, but Noah did not feel like his forehead was hot at all.

But Daniel came back with a thermometer from his side of the bed as well as some medicine in his arms. He forced Noah’s jaw open, and before Noah could do anything, the thermometer was in his mouth.

He instinctively swallowed, causing Daniel to frown and swat at him.

"Don’t break the thermometer. I need to know how high your temperature is before I can figure out what I should do. If it’s too high, then we might need to rush you to the medical wing."

Daniel continued to speak while Noah’s head started to spin. He tried to focus on what Daniel was saying, but his vision was starting to blur, and it was getting harder to maintain focus.

But one of the things he could focus on was the thermometer in his mouth, which Daniel quickly pulled back. He looked at the results and hissed in shock and anger at what he saw.

"Darn it! Noah, can you pull yourself up? I will take you to the medical wing. You crossed 102.5 degrees. I think it is a definite medical issue now."