Chapter 76: Awake

Sometime later…

A smile rested on Scar’s face as he lay there. He had dreamed of his parents and Isaac, not briefly, but a whole life lived alongside them. He had grown old in that dream, watched his parents become grandparents, and somehow, impossibly, Isaac had outlasted them even into Scar’s fifties. Still alive.

Then, suddenly, his eyes were open. The familiar ceiling of his room looked back at him, the same one he had stared at more times than he could say.

He smiled briefly.

Something in him felt free in a way it hadn’t before, light in a way that had nothing to do with his injuries. He was alive. And Isaac had been avenged. Both of those things were true at the same time, and he let himself feel them.

EHEM

“You are finally awake, how sad…”

Scar’s head turned toward the voice. Julien lay on his bed, book in hand, unbothered.

Scar smiled.

“How long was I out? And how did I even survive?”

Julien shrugged.

“You were out for two days… don’t ask me how you survived. They say an old man performed a martial arts technique on you.”

Huh? Old man?

Only two days unconscious, that surprised him. The old man’s martial arts healing technique explained it, and Julien was grateful. Though honestly, sleeping longer would’ve been fine since the Epic Competition was still two days off.

Even through his noble thoughts, Scar frowned.

“Wait… where’s Haven? Is she alright?”

Julien seemed perplexed at first, but then his expression hardened.

“She fought Robin, took his arm and leg… but collapsed before finishing him. He got away. That’s what Purple said, and I’m guessing she’s in serious trouble with her father now.”

Scar sneered. He was glad she was alive, but her father not giving her a break even after what happened made his blood boil.

Julien rose from his bed, stretching his legs.

“Now that you’re up, it’s time to head to the Supreme Council.”

“Huh?”

Staring at Scar’s perplexed expression, Julien couldn’t help but laugh his ass off.

“You destroyed countless houses in your fight, so they want to punish you for it. You’re lucky. Without the old man and Luccy, the Supreme Council would have executed you.”

Scar took a deep breath and hauled himself upright. His body was stiff and heavy, protesting every movement, but he had no choice.

Before the battle with Adisa, he’d already imagined a scenario like this: the Council trying to execute him. Not for the destroyed houses, he hadn’t anticipated that collateral damage, but for murdering Adisa.

Adisa was a wanted criminal because of his Inheritance, but was somewhat protected by his high-ranking family connections.

The Inheritance’s previous wielder had been locked away for decades. Killing Adisa, knowing the power would just transfer to someone new, wouldn’t earn the Council’s approval.

Above all, the Council wanted Breath of Hell, the Inheritance itself. Killing Adisa had effectively freed it to find a new wielder. Scar was lucky that the Supreme Council was lenient compared to the High Court.

The fact that some unknown old man had saved him twice now was remarkable. He needed to track the man down and thank him.

“Well, let’s go then.”

…

Before long, Scar stood before the Supreme Council. He took in the room quickly, and two gaps stood out immediately. Karl Velanora, Haven’s father, wasn’t there. Neither was Aina Zheng, head of the Zheng clan.

He kept his focus on Arthur for the most part, while the talking came from Lotus Morales, the man whose stomach could have housed the world and whose loyalties were no mystery to Scar. An ally to his enemies, doing what allies to enemies did best.

As it had always been, Scar had no say. Whatever the Council settled on would be handed down, and he would have to carry it. That was familiar enough to his stomach.

But the thing sitting heavier than that was Lotus. The feeling wouldn’t leave him. Lotus knew who he was now. And a man like that didn’t let something like that go freely.

“Do you know who he killed? That child was a member of the Dion family, one of the foremost names in the agriculture industry. Compensation is owed.”

“This is hardly fair. According to the eyewitnesses, Adisa was the one who nearly killed the boy.”

“Nothing else matters in this matter. We must simply determine an appropriate punishment.”

“Of course. The damage he caused in the residential district is unprecedented. The property owners are furious.”

Scar couldn’t help drifting from the talking. His attention kept finding Arthur. The man looked like he was in his late thirties now.

It was a strange thing to witness, though the shock had worn off some time ago. Scar had been watching Arthur grow backwards for weeks now, but it was impossible to explain. He had grown used to the sight of it. Arthur’s reason for it was another mystery entirely.

“And what about the girl he was with? Karl Velanora’s daughter.”

“She caused no harm. Her opponent has yet to be identified, so it would be improper to pass judgment.”

Scar sighed.

Relief and something more complicated moved through him at the same time. He was glad Haven wasn’t in trouble, he wouldn’t have wanted that.

The pardoning wasn’t about Haven. It was about who her father was and what family she belonged to. The Velanora name was what they were really honoring.

If Scar had been acknowledged as a Rover by now, he suspected his own treatment would have followed a similar logic. It hadn’t happened yet, and so here he was.

It got him thinking about the Rover family and when he was going to find his way back to them. The protection alone made it worth considering. With Dain in the picture, having that name behind him wasn’t a small thing.

Isaac had been avenged now. That Chapter had closed. He was ready to drop it. What he would never drop was what it meant to him, he would always be a Hide at heart. But the name was something he could release.

’After this, I just need to tell Uncle about it. I’m ready.’

His eyes found Arthur again. The man looked so proud it was almost threatening.

“The matter is settled. Scar Hide, you are sentenced to pay for all the damage you caused in the residential district. You are granted two months to deliver 200 gold. Failure to do so will result in your execution.”

His jaw dropped before he could stop it. He couldn’t speak without being addressed, but the expression on his face communicated everything words would have.

Two hundred gold. The kind of sum that made major companies hesitate, the kind that would drain even Council members if handed over freely. And the expectation was that he would find it in two months?

EHEM

“I’m afraid you are mistaken, Master Ash. This is Scar Rover, the only son of my late brother, Bryan Rover. He was lost… but he has been found.”

Arthur said, stroking his beard with a gentle smile.

’Oh, my dear, doting uncle… you’ve saved me again.’

Relief coursed through him. He didn’t know when Arthur officially made him a Rover, but the timing wasn’t hard to guess. While Scar was unconscious, most likely.

Arthur had probably feared the worst and acted on it. Scar was grateful, this was Arthur’s second time saving him.

“Wait… I thought Bryan’s son died years ago.”

“I didn’t even know Bryan had a son.”

While the rest of the Council filled the room with talk, Scar found Lotus’s eyes, or rather, Lotus found his. The disgust there was plain and unfiltered.

Arthur had done something Lotus hadn’t anticipated, laying Scar’s identity out openly in front of everyone. That had consequences. It was practically a public announcement to Dain: come and try, my nephew, if you dare.

“Being a Rover changes things. The Rover family is one of the pillars of humanity. We cannot treat one of their own with such severity.”

A brief murmur moved through the Council before they came to a decision.

Though Scar couldn’t help wondering why they were being so open about it. Corruption and abuse of power of this kind were usually handled in private, even when everyone knew about it.

“Scar Rover’s actions cannot go unpunished. He is hereby ordered to pay ten gold within two months. The damage to the residential district must be repaired. Furthermore, you are tasked with bringing whoever Breath of Hell chooses as its next wielder before the council.”

Lenient, relative to what came before. Two hundred gold had just been on the table, so ten felt almost reasonable by comparison. Almost.

Ten gold wasn’t nothing, and while the Rover family could part with it without feeling it, Scar had a feeling it wasn’t going to be handed over that easily.

The latter carried a quiet cruelty to it. Adisa’s Inheritance choosing a successor wasn’t something anyone could predict or put a timeline on. It happened when it happened, if it happened at all.

He was dismissed before long and stepped out of the council room with his mind already moving. Arthur was a priority, but not the first one. There was something else he needed to handle before that.

Emma was still in bed, and the reason she was in bed traced back to him. He had asked her to dig for information, and she had, and someone made her pay for it.

That someone still had a name he didn’t know yet. He intended to find out, and when he did, the debt was going to be collected in full.

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