The young awakener cleared his throat, trying to recover so dignity. "The base is conducting thorough searches of everyone entering and exiting. Apparently, a powerful outcast was spotted sowhere in the vicinity, so they're checking everyone to make sure he doesn't slip through."
"An outcast?" Selene's expression grew more serious. "What rank?"
"They didn't say specifically, but security wouldn't be this tight for anyone below A-rank. So probably dangerous."
As the young awakener answered, his gaze drifted—completely involuntarily, he would later swear—to Moon's unconscious body cradled in Selene's arms.
The sight of Moon's face nestled comfortably against the beautiful woman's chest, looking perfectly peaceful and content in his unconscious state, struck the young man like a sword in his chest.
Pure, undiluted envy flooded his heart so intensely it was almost painful.
'Who is this damn bastard?!' his thoughts scread with the fury of a thousand rejected romantics. 'It should've been ! That should be MY face in that position! What did this unconscious pretty boy do to deserve such treatnt?! Must be from a rich family…tsk!'
The image burned itself into his brain, being carried by a beautiful woman, nestled against her chest, riding atop a majestic white steed like so kind of fairy tale prince.
It was everything he'd ever wanted. And this unconscious jerk was living it without even being awake to appreciate it.
'If I could just... swap places... just for a mont...I would die without any regrets.'
The young awakener had been stuck at this backwater base for three years now, his diocre talent ensuring he'd never advance beyond D-rank. His dreams of becoming a powerful Evolver had long since died, replaced by more practical aspirations.
Like finding a sugar mommy.
Preferably a rich, powerful, beautiful sugar mommy who would carry him places and let him live in comfortable luxury while he... provided moral support. Or sothing.
Was that too much to ask? Perhaps yes, but he wouldn't strop dreaming, it was the only thing he could do.
'Life is so unfair!'
"Thank you for the information," Selene said politely, completely unaware of the internal crisis occurring in the young man's psyche.
"Yeah... no problem..." he muttered, turning back around to face forward in line, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Behind him, Yara had been watching the entire interaction with amusent. She leaned closer to Selene and whispered, "That human looked like you'd just told him his entire family died."
Selene glanced down at Moon's sleeping face, then back at the dejected awakener in front of them, and understood imdiately.
"Oh," she said quietly, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. "I see."
She adjusted Moon's position slightly, completely unnecessarily, but the movent made the young awakener's shoulders slump even further as he tried to sneak glances by looking around the area.
Yara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
Mirage, for his part, seed entirely unbothered by the human drama occurring on his back, his attention focused on the base entrance.
At least soone was being professional.
The queue moved forward slowly, and Selene settled in to wait, still carrying Moon like precious cargo while the young awakener in front of them quietly contemplated his life choices and what he'd done to deserve such injustice.
The progress of the line was painfully slow due to the sheer number of rchants and awakeners attempting to enter the base. Security checks that normally took seconds were stretching into long minutes as guards thoroughly examined each person, clearly taking the outcast threat seriously.
Eventually, after what felt like a few hours of waiting, it was Selene's turn.
The young awakener she'd asked for information earlier had just passed through the checkpoint. He cast one final glance back at her, a look that clearly communicated 'I hope to see you again' before turning and walking deeper into the base, disappearing into the crowd.
Selene completely ignored the glance, unaware of his existence or his lingering hopes, her attention already focused on the sturdy guard manning the checkpoint before her.
The guard, a middle-aged man, soone who'd spent years on gate duty, looked up at her approach, his eyes imdiately settling on Moon's body cradled in her arms.
"Show your awakener badge. Including one for this person with you."
"Here's mine," Selene replied, shifting Moon's weight slightly to free one hand. She took out her identification card from her robe. "As for his... he needs urgent dical attention, and we can't wake him up. But he's with , you can register him under my na for entry."
The guard took her card and ran it through the scanning device mounted on his podium. After a mont, he shook his head firmly. "That won't work. I need his awakener card. Security protocols—no exceptions during lockdown."
Selene sighed, the sound carrying more frustration than she'd intended. "Fine."
She began patting Moon's robe and pockets with her free hand, hoping to find his identification without having to set him down. Her fingers searched through the outer pockets first, then the inner ones, trying to search—
There. Inside his robe, secured in an inner pocket. Thankfully, Moon hadn't stored his card in his storage ring.
Selene quickly extracted the card and handed it to the guard, who scanned it with the sa efficiency he'd shown with hers.
After a mont, he nodded and returned both cards. "You two are clear to enter."
His eyes then shifted to Yara, who'd been sitting quietly on Mirage behind Selene, observing the interaction with careful attention.
The guard's expression hardened. "She isn't allowed to enter. Beasts aren't permitted inside the base unless accompanied by a registered beast master. You're listed as an elental mage, not a beast master. Her entry is rejected."
Selene's frown was imdiate. "She isn't going to cause any trouble. Besides, does she look like a threat to you?" She gestured to Yara's innocent face, "She can even speak the human tongue. She's not so mindless monster."
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