The girl led him to the roof. The same roof Varyan had hidden on the first night.
Stars above. Cold wind.
She sat on the edge, legs dangling over the drop. Unafraid.
"You're the Roverc boy. The one everyone bullies."
"You make that sound like an achievement."
She almost smiled. "I'm Seris. Seris Vane. No house. No family. Orphan. Academic scholarship."
Varyan kept his distance, hand near his dagger.
"You have a fragment. Chaos."
She didn't deny it. "Chaos Fragment 12. Woke up two years ago. I've been hiding ever since."
"Two years? How are you still alive?"
"Because Chaos fragments don't have to corrupt you. The old stories lie. A fragment is a tool. It only corrupts if you let it."
[「ECHO」confirms: Chaos signature – neutral. No hostile intent detected.]
Varyan relaxed. Slightly.
"Why are you here?"
"Same reason as you. The Harvesters."
He didn't know that word. "What are Harvesters?"
Seris pulled up her sleeve. Her arm was covered in scars—thin, precise cuts, like someone tried to carve something out of her.
"People who hunt fragment-bearers. They extract fragments from living hosts. It kills the bearer. Then they sell the fragments."
"They found you once?"
"I escaped. Barely."
"So you came here to hide?"
"I came because I heard there was a Harvester *here*. Someone on the faculty. I wanted to find them before they found me." She looked at him. "But now there are two of us. Fragment-bearers are stronger together. Order and Chaos in sync."
Varyan thought about it. Trust felt foreign. Dangerous.
But being alone felt worse.
"Truce. For now."
Seris extended her hand. "Truce."
They shook.
"The creature hunting me. A Chaos stalker. Do you know how to kill it?"
Seris nodded slowly. "Yes. But you're not going to like the answer."