The air was silent. Then I looked straight into her eyes.
"Kai and Kael tried to kill ."
A frown knitted her brows and she glared at .
"What? Be for real."
"I am for real." I leaned forward slightly, feeling the tension coil in my chest. "When the storm hit, it knocked Kael out cold. I actually saved that bastard and carried him all the way into the cave at the risk of my own life."
’At the risk of my own life. What a joke — like I had any other choice.’
"I don’t expect anyone, not humans and certainly not our classmates at this point, to be understanding of my situation. But isn’t decency the least we can expect from humans? We’re not animals, for god’s sake. Where did conscience go?"
I inhaled deeply, putting a leash on my rage. The fury wanted to break free, to lash out at everything — at Kai, at Kael, at this whole fucked situation. But losing control here wouldn’t help.
"Anyways, I survived alone, fought the Blizzard Maulers while carrying that deadweight. I finally found sowhere to rest and decided to scavenge for fire materials." I paused, watching her expression. "That was when I t Kai."
I continued explaining the details of the whole fight to her. She looked like she didn’t believe at first — her eyes narrowed, lips pressed into a thin line of skepticism. But when I was done, she was left speechless and surprised, her perfect composure cracking just enough for to see the shock underneath.
I also added in a little lie... of course.
I told her about the mysterious figure being the one that saved , and that this person was the one who killed the gate guardian and all the beasts she’d seen that were unjustly mangled. Bodies torn apart like paper, scattered across ice that had drunk so much blood it looked black in places.
Sohow, there was sothing about that story that just made it all believable. Maybe it was due to the fact that it explained how I wasn’t the one who killed the gate guardian — how an F-rank nobody could walk out of a gate that had slaughtered most of our class.
’Tch. I would’ve killed it nonetheless if I had to.’
She looked completely distraught when I was done, her usual icy mask lting into sothing rawer.
"But... why would Kai try to kill you?"
I shrugged. "Because the church commanded him to." My voice took on a serious tone, dropping lower. "I do know that my summon is an on of disaster. They might want to get rid of her and according to the justification of their doctrine. Now, doing so with all the classmates knowing about it would surely bring repercussions — you guys might not let them, or might feel insecure afterwards and try to run away. The gate was just a perfect opportunity for that."
I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
"Now, I don’t know what propaganda was fed to Kai for him to be like this. Personally, I want to believe he was put under a charm spell..."
’There’s also the Alexander family. They were filled with bullshit people, appealing to the public while being total crackjobs in private.’
Kai had been Mr. Perfect up till now, so much so that I was almost convinced he was different. Almost. But I wasn’t about to gossip about conglorate family affairs with this ice queen — that was a conversation that could get ssy fast.
She nodded slowly, processing.
"You’re right... we have to consider this. Sothing certainly is wrong now."
She raised her head then looked at , her gaze lingering in a way that made instantly suspicious.
"What?"
"You survived a fight with Kael... have you been hiding your strength?"
I exhaled and nodded politely.
"Thank you for the complint, I guess."
I leaned back into the seat and laid down, letting my body sink into the cushions.
"Please, wake up when we get to the city gate. I’d like to drop early." I said and closed my eyes, while Elena looked out the window and continued to think — probably turning over everything I’d told her, trying to fit the pieces together.
The journey was a bumpy ride, and I certainly wasn’t able to get any semblance of sleep as good as what I’d been wishing for. The carriage jolted over every rut in the road, rattling my bones. But it was fine either way.
Lira’s large bed was waiting for .
I know I’d been very reluctant about going to her place up until recently, but right now, nothing mattered. The distance and ti spent without her presence had caused to crave her more — an ache that had settled sowhere deep and wouldn’t leave. I just wanted to grope her breasts, suck them, and fuck her until neither of us could think straight.
Where I laid, thinking about these dirty thoughts, my dick was slowly rising and I had to sohow reposition myself, using my hand to press it down like a natural person slipping and moving around while trying to get comfortable.
I still wasn’t sure if Elena noticed, though. I think at so point, she closed her eyes and leaned back, folding her arms over her chest and crossing her legs in that prim way she always did.
Finally, I heard her call my na after a while. I sat up and looked around, shaking off the haze of half-sleep.
"We just entered the city," she said flatly, still folding her arms and crossing her legs, looking at with no particular expression on her perfect face.
"Ah, thank you." I nodded sluggishly and looked at the window.
It seed that we were crossing the Outer Slums, nearing the Southern District. The familiar poverty pressed in from both sides — crooked buildings leaning against each other like drunks, laundry strung between windows. I stuck my head out the window and knocked on the chariot to alert the chauffeur, if they were called that.
"Dropping soon."
The man wearing a sharp white uniform and a cap that almost looked like a sailor’s nodded curtly, not even glancing back.
After a while, I knocked again and he stopped. I was let down onto the cobblestones, and from there, I struggled around the place to find my way to 47, Soldier’s Rest. If Lira wasn’t in the guild, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check up on Victoria and Sister, Baba and everyone else. Maybe grab a drink, hear so gossip, try to forget the awful few days.
I looked around wistfully.
’Shouldn’t I at least have gotten them spoils of war?’
Going empty-handed was annoying. I had two cores with , but then, I was going to sell them and gain money for personal use — actual survival money, not gift-giving funds.
’I guess... I’ll just have to sacrifice one.’
I exhaled and crossed the street, navigating the familiar broken pavent. My brows creased slightly as I noticed the weird absence of people. The streets were too quiet — no vendors shouting, no kids running past, no usual chaos of the Slums. Even the beggar at the lamppost wasn’t around right now.
’Strange... is sothing happening sowhere?’
Perhaps a festival and everyone had gone. I shoved the thought away and simply entered the bronze double doors of the guild.
When I entered, my steps froze at what I first set my eyes upon.
Blood.
’Blood.’
Everywhere...
There was blood splattered on the wall of the reception — dark arterial spray that had hit high and dripped down in streaks. My eyes traced it down to the floor. Eyes wide open, turned glassy, upper body peeking out from behind the table, laid Victoria. Her blue hair, dried stiff with blood, her face pale and her eyes...
There was no life in her eyes.
My throat constricted.
’Vee... Vee...’
"Ah... ahh... ahhh."
My chest began to rise and fall in strange patterns and breathing beca incredibly difficult. It was like I had ssed up the rhythm and forgotten how to breathe properly — lungs suddenly forgetting their job, air turning thick and wrong in my throat.
Panic attack.
I think I was having a panic attack.
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