"Ah, we were just waiting for you. I had just finished with Gu Luo."
Gu Luo turned toward the infirmary door behind him.
Two people had just entered the room.
Two people he had never seen before.
One of them was the woman who had spoken so cheerfully a moment ago.
She seemed to be in her twenties and wore sunglasses pushed up onto her head, probably to hold back her hair. Her long, fine black hair, as smooth as silk, fell down her back and over her shoulders as she scanned the room with her large, childlike eyes.
She wore black dress pants along with a black shirt, the top of its unbuttoned collar held together by a white tie.
The other person was a man who seemed much younger to him.
If he hadn't had such a sinister gaze, Gu Luo might have thought they were the same age. He was probably in his final year of high school.
He had a thick mop of hair falling over his face while still revealing his long eyelashes, which gave him an enchanting gaze. He too wore black dress pants, but his cobalt-blue shirt featured molecular patterns.
The absence of a tie gave him a welcoming appearance, which contrasted sharply with his gaze.
He probably gets a lot of attention from girls.
That was what Gu Luo thought at the time.
The young woman clasped both hands together as if praying and bowed forward.
"Sorry again!"
The doctor, bewildered by the apologies being offered to him, stood up and pulled two chairs closer to his desk.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Come. Take a seat."
Once they had taken their seats, the two newcomers introduced themselves.
"Hello, Gu Luo. I'm Ms. Leolia. I'm pronouncing Gu Luo right, right?"
It was the first time Gu Luo had ever seen a foreigner. However, he wasn't particularly bothered by it and simply thought that she spoke Mandarin really well.
"I don't mind."
The gazes then turned toward Leolia's companion.
"Yo! You can call me Wáng Jùnjié." A big smile lit up the young man's face, and faced with such an unexpected expression, Gu Luo couldn't help but smile as well.
For some reason that he couldn't quite understand, Gu Luo immediately felt extremely comfortable around him.
"I'm Gu Luo!"
The two looked at each other with big smiles.
"Well, we can say that you're doing better socially than you are with directions."
Leolia said.
Wáng Jùnjié, feeling provoked, immediately replied.
"What do you mean?!"
"Every time you lead the way, we always arrive late."
"Is it my fault that modern educational establishments are so unintuitive in their layouts? They look like prisons."
"They probably designed them to keep idiots like you imprisoned."
Wáng Jùnjié's face transformed into an exaggerated expression of disgust.
"Orhhh! Now that's really low coming from a teacher who still behaves like a middle schooler."
"Me, a middle schooler? Have you looked at yourself?!"
The doctor, sensing that the situation was getting out of hand, intervened by slumping over his desk.
"Alright, stop it! Do I have to remind you that we're here to discuss Gu Luo's case?"
The two oddballs calmed down, and the doctor sat back down while straightening his jacket and badge.
"Gu Luo."
Leolia called out to him.
Gu Luo turned toward her and immediately noticed that the woman's gaze had regained all its seriousness and that she was now looking directly into his eyes.
Seeing that she now had Gu Luo's attention, Leolia continued.
"Have you ever heard of the VEIL?"
Gu Luo nodded.
He knew that the VEIL was one of the divisions of the police, but he didn't know any more details. However, just hearing the name mentioned in his presence made him flinch.
Had he done something wrong?
Were they going to notify his father?
"What exactly do you know about the VEIL?"
Gu Luo swallowed.
"You're from the police?"
Leolia glanced at Wáng Jùnjié before continuing.
"The VEIL isn't part of the police. We're a non-governmental military organization. And we've come here today to see you. Ahhh, I never know how to announce this!"
Gu Luo was surprised by her sudden change in tone.
Leolia took a deep breath.
"Sorry if this seems a little abrupt, but I don't see any other way to say it. There are probably people who would have handled this differently, but I'd rather be honest with you. So here goes. The VEIL is an organization that aims to regulate the 'absurdities' of the world. Have you ever heard of a fortune teller who supposedly has the power to predict your fate, or a ghost that haunts the place where it died? Of course, most of these stories are completely false and exist to make money, but every legend, whatever it may be, necessarily contains a part of truth. All myths, whatever they may be, have their roots in reality. The VEIL is here to deal with those absurdities that interfere with the normality of reality."
Leolia pointed to herself and Wáng Jùnjié.
"We are operatives from the VEIL's School of Sorcery. We are what people in their stories call mages. The VEIL's mission is to monitor the entire globe day and night and deal with any absurd activity in order to keep this world hidden from the eyes of normal people and... the reason we're here is because..."
Leolia swallowed. It was apparently really difficult for her to talk about something complicated. She must be the kind of person people would consider highly sensitive, Gu Luo thought.
"...you are an absurdity."