“What do you an? I’m glad you’re alive!”
Ryan tried to lie, he really thought he was getting better at it too. The only problem was that there were too many damned people in this room with far too high social intelligence. Ryan could almost see the cogs turn in Barry’s and Clara’s minds, picking up the discrepancy in his suspicious behavior. Perhaps only Milock didn’t pick it up.
“Well co on then, get over here!”
…Seffara hadn’t noticed anything either. It was just those two mind reading freaks, Barry and Clara, that had caught onto sothing.
Ryan shuffled forwards and sat down so the laptop cara could catch them all. Seffara was sitting by what looked like a cozy log cabin with her hair braided neatly and in a floral dress. The only ti Ryan had seen her wear anything other than her armor was when she ca to tattle on him to his parents.
Seffara was more focused on the grumpy orc than anyone else.
“Co on Barry, lighten up. Everything worked out.”
Ryan tried hard not to look at Barry’s expression. He was worried the old orc might pick up sothing from his own face… if he hadn’t already.
Suspicious or not, Barry was more focused on Seffara.
“You should have told what you were doing.”
Despite being at fault, Seffara refused to take one lying down.
“Fair’s fair, you kept a secret from , I keep a secret from you. Now we’re even, right?”
She was talking about the deal that Barry had made to keep Seffara alive during the Settler war.
Ryan couldn’t help but interject, unable to hold back the pit of despair bubbling in his stomach.
“What happened to lesson three?”
Seffara turned her head so her ear was facing them.
“What was that? Who’s mumbling like a damned runt? Speak up!”
“I said what happened to lesson three!? Why does nobody else keep up with that shit but ?”
Both Clara and Milo quickly looked away. Seffara just started digging into her ear with her pinky, completely unbothered by his accusation.
“That was sothing Barry just told you so you wouldn’t go around doing stupid shit without telling us. I an open communication is vital but telling each other everything? Eh, pass.”
Ryan stiffly turned to the orc beside him. Barry looked like he was unbothered by the reveal, but he saw how the orc was trying hard not to match eyes with him. Ryan wasn’t sure what to think of this abject betrayal. The idea that one of the core fundantal philosophies that he tried hard to live by was just sothing to keep him controlled absolutely disgusted him.
Ryan narrowed his own eyes. “You sneaky piece of sh—”
Barry interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re hiding from us instead.”
Seffara seed to try to take a closer look into the cara, as if she was trying to see Ryan’s guilt through the cara.
“Huh, are you hiding sothing Ryan? Don’t make co over there and kick your ass.”
Ryan’s eye twitched, it didn’t seem like Clara or Barry figured out what he had, only that he was hiding sothing. They hadn’t been there when he had seen the Fallen appear in the Obsidian Sect. It still haunted his dreams from ti to ti. All of those adventurers that everyone thought was alive, dead. And now Seffara was one too.
It was going to tear Barry apart.
He tried to communicate that with her with his eyes. It had no effect on the stubborn heroine. Ryan gritted his teeth.
“Now you want everyone to be open. Are you even sure you want to tell the others about what I’ve figured out?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Seffara was genuinely confused. Ryan frowned, Seffara wasn’t that great of an actor, at least she wasn’t the type to lie well from his experience. Either she was missing all his implications or he… might have made so mistaken assumptions.
Ryan frowned. “Why are you talking over the laptop instead of coming here? You could have used [Return to Earth] or just jumped into a portal.”
She was a Destined like him. She wasn’t realmbound and finding a safe spot in a frontier city to return surely wasn’t that difficult. She hadn’t ever done this before either.
“I haven’t acclimatized to being a dragonslayer yet you idiot. The world’s basically made of cardboard and I have to be careful or I might accidentally knock down a building if I trip. Also, despite how important you think you are, my hubby cos first.”
A handso elf leaned in for the cara, giving them all a wave. He took a peck at Seffara’s cheek and started putting sparkling blue flowers in her blonde hair.
“It’s the reason why she let do her hair. She can’t stop from fixing her looks without being terrified she’s going to hurt , isn’t that right my beautiful flower?”
Seffara stayed frozen still, as if afraid she might accidentally move too quickly and shatter her husband.
“Please honey, I told you to leave alone while I’m talking to these idiots.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll leave you to your friends, my heroine.”
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Seffara blushed hard enough to show on screen, then she coughed.
Ryan sagged in relief. It was hard to describe just how much tension he had been holding back, trying to look fine for the rest of his team. He stared up at the ceiling and thanked his lucky stars because he sure as shit wasn’t thanking the Manager for this.
Seffara frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Ryan shook his head. “Nothing, I just thought you might have beco a Fallen or were an illusion by the Witch Tyrant. I completely forgot you needed to acclimatize, and that you had a husband.”
There were rules regarding realm advancents and not being allowed back into most cities without proof that you could handle yourself. Ryan had been worried about the worst case scenario for so long that he had had completely skipped past the basic.
At least that was what he thought… until Seffara’s eyes widened and froze at what he’d said. She quickly tried to mask it, but Barry had seen it. He grabbed the laptop with his hands, cracking the screen. In a rare mont, the orc raised his voice in panic.
“Seffara? Tell it’s not true, why the fuck do you look so guilty?!”
“Calm your tits! Damnit Ryan see what you’ve done?! You’re going to give Barry a heart attack.”
“Answer. The. Fucking. Question! ARE YOU A FALLEN?”
That was the thing about talking to Clara and Barry, they could read the guilt right off your face. It might have also been why Seffara never really tried to lie around others either.
“Alright, fine! I’m guilty because I made a deal with the Witch Tyrant that if I died, I would retire with my husband and she’d help trick you all that I was alive. It didn’t happen so everything’s fine, okay?”
There was a mont of relief on Barry’s face, it was quickly replaced by bubbling rage.
“Everything’s fine?! EVERYTHING’S FINE?!”
Barry was shouting so loud that both Milo and Clara had to cover their ears.
“How irresponsible do you think it is to make a damned [Witch’s Bargain] with her of all people. Now of all tis?!”
Seffara laughed hysterically. She did not take getting yelled at well.
“That’s very rich coming from the one who made a deal with her first! You kept a secret for fifty years Barry! Fifty damned years! Do you know how shit it feels when your best friend lives like a holess man and refuses to take anything in return? And then I find out that you made a deal for it?”
She was venting her own anger as well, perhaps trying to justify her own actions. Barry was having none of it.
“Unlike you, I knew what I was doing. How long did you think a deal like yours would have lasted before Ryan figured it out? Wait no that’s right, he figured it out imdiately! Did you think about what would have happened then?!”
Ryan raised his hands up. “Hey, don’t drag into this.”
They completely ignored him. Seffara herself was getting worked up and defensive at the sa ti.
“Oh yeah, look at I’m Barry Johnson, when I do it it’s okay, but when others do it, it’s irresponsible and short-sighted. It’s like that ti in Frelya’s Peak where you charged ahead because you, ‘knew what you were doing–And we ended up in the shit. When Mark made the right call you got pissed off just because it hadn’t worked out!”
“Bringing up old news?! How many tis—”
While the vets kept arguing, Ryan turned to his friends and nodded sagely.
“And this is exactly why lesson three is important guys, you don’t tell each other important things and it blows up out of proportion like this. Understand guys? Lesson three is important, right guys?”
Both Milo and Clara rolled their eyes at him.
“Understand, no more secrets like this alright guys?”
“Yes Ryan, we understand.”
“Good.”
The yelling continued between Seffara and Barry. They were arguing over so sort of death march and beating up lieutenants in the army for one reason or another. It wasn’t out of control toxic. Ryan was pretty certain half the reason this was happening was to let Barry vent so of that pent up anger.
“THE MAJOR?! I TOLD YOU THAT WASN’T MY FAULT.”
“IT’S NEVER YOUR FAULT!”
…it was probably healthy.
Ryan took out a slightly crushed packet of popcorn from his pocket and offered it to his friends.
Milo eyed him weirdly. “Where’d that co from?”
“Bought it after watching the drama between Pinkie and the Secretary. I’m never watching real life drama without popcorn again.”
Barry was still going at it. Ryan had to give it to him, the old orc still had his lungs and did not tire. In fact… if he watched closely he could actually see so weird outlines around the orc that he recognized as concepts. It felt like, anger? Rage? Controlled anger?
It was far too faint to understand properly. He turned to his friends and verified neither of them had concepts surrounding them.
Huh, so even when the Trial System takes away your class, you still retain so of the concepts. I wonder if I can do anything with that.
Ryan wondered if that was what was letting Barry continue keeping up the yelling match with a dragonslayer tier Seffara.
Clara took a bit of the crushed popcorn.
“Caral, that’s nice.”
…
Thirty minutes later…
Ryan was outside the hotel room, talking to a staff mber. The yelling was still going on and was quite audible all across the hallway. Apparently, there’d been so complaints.
“I’m sorry about that. Old people and inability to control their emotions, you know? I’ll get them to knock it off.”
For so reason, the staff mber was considerably more understandable than expected. Although it beca quickly apparent why that was the case.
“Sorry, but you’re Ryan Robinson, right? The competent adventurer that’s dating Valee the Spider.”
Ryan was surprised he’d got recognized until he rembered that his face had been on the top of trending. He felt a little embarrassed that this had been his first celebrity sighting.
Ryan scratched his neck. “We’re not dating, uh she just kissed in a heated mont.”
The staff mber nodded politely and took out his phone and dialed reception. He gave Ryan a wink.
“I might be able to pull sothing and give you an upgrade, just give a second.”
While the hotel staff was on the phone the yelling continued. Ryan was getting sick of it. It had been okay while he had been in the room but he hadn’t realized how much the room lacked soundproofing.
And just how much Barry’s voice carried across the hotel.
Ryan opened the door to yell at him.
“Oi! Knock it off Barry! You’re disturbing everyone else! Yell at her after she’s back, alright?”
It actually worked. Barry saw the hotel staff mber and scratched his neck in embarrassnt. Controlled anger or not, Barry was a reasonable guy that didn’t like disturbing civilians. Ryan turned around to the staff mber who had been mid call with the reception.
Ryan started apologizing. “Sorry, I think we have it sorted, don’t worry about us, I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”
But the staff mber wasn’t listening to him. He was looking past Ryan and into the room, staring at and angle at the laptop screen.
He dropped his phone.
“I-is that Seffara, Seffara the Sapphire?!”
Even through a cracked monitor, the heroic adventurer was distinct. Barry looked at the staff mber for a second, then smiled as he turned the monitor so Seffara was facing the hotel employee directly.
At first, Seffara gave a fake smile.
“Hi, yeah, it’s .”
All professionalism was gone as the hotel staff mber looked like he was about to drop to his knees in relief.
“Manager’s abode, I’m so glad you’re alive. When I heard you went to solo the dragon. We… I… ah. Ahem, I’m sorry.”
Seffara scratched the side of her head, she looked embarrassed for a second. Then she sat up in her chair, taking on a brilliant smile while her sapphire eyes twinkled and reflected the light. Ryan recognized the look well. Everyone did, really. A smile that promised that everything would be alright, that as long as she was alive, there would be soone in power that would always try to do the right thing.
No matter how difficult it was.
That was right. After interacting with her so much, Ryan had forgotten about it too.
Seffara the Sapphire was the oldest darling of Arica. A shining beacon that everyone could look up to for direction. Whether she believed in it herself, she knew it was important to maintain. Because even if it was just an illusion, it still made people believe in being better.
Whether it was on purpose or not, it was a very good spiteful move from Barry. A reminder that there were so many people looking out for and worrying about her. That the world would be just a little worse without her.
“Yes, I’m back. I should have said sothing, I’m sorry.”
An upgrade to a presidential suite was only natural after that.
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