Chapter 70: Staying The Course

“What are you doing?!?”

The entire room shook with the fury of Solomon’s roar.

For some reason, Abel was greatly amused by the sound.

“So much for not having a relationship with her, eh? You really need to work on your acting.”

Yari sat up on the table abruptly, knife still sticking out of her head.

’Why is everyone always coming back from the dead around me?!’ Solomon wanted to scream.

Yari frowned at the foreign object piercing her between the eyes.

“…Get this thing out of my head.”

“I didn’t hear a please on the end of that, princess.”

“ABEL!”

“What a cantankerous old woman you are…”

“I am not in the mood to play with you, boy..!”

“Yes, yes..”

Abel removed the knife from Yari’s forehead.

Once the blade was removed, the old man drunkenly waved the knife at Solomon.

“Never seen anything like Savior’s Qi, have you, boy? Kekeke…”

Solomon shook his head no. He was more than a little surprised to learn how different his instructor was when he was drunk.

But then again, that was the same for most people.

“Ugh, you smell like a tavern.” Yari recoiled.

“Is that any way to thank someone who’s just helped you, you mean old hag?”

“You should conduct yourself better as an instructor of this academy, you child!”

*Burp!*

“Pig!”

Solomon blinks slowly to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. The dynamic between the two of them made him realize that he was unaware of something he hadn’t put much thought into before.

Just how old was Yari anyway?

“Are you alright?” Solomon asked worriedly.

Yari rubbed her head where she’d been stabbed. A fog seemed to hang over her mind.

“Solomon..? What are you doing here, and…” Yari looked down at her clothes, and her face turned beet red. “What in god’s name am I wearing?!”

“I was wondering the same thing. You’re too old for a getup like that.”

Yari swung at Abel, but he ducked underneath her blow. He lie on the floor while swirling around the alcohol in his gourd.

“Speaking of age, do you mind explaining what you were doing in here canoodling with a student? You’ve got about a hundred and eighty years on him!”

Solomon almost fell flat on his face. But his reaction was nothing compared to Yari’s.

“Do NOT mention my age, you greasy little swamp rat!! And don’t you dare insinuate that I was doing anything inappropriate with Solomon!”

“I don’t need to make any insinuations, tree witch! I highly doubt the boy is putting that shiny shit on his lips in the morning!”

Yari’s head snapped in Solomon’s direction just as he turned toward the wall.

“Solomon…” She said in a dangerously low voice. “What is he talking about..?”

“That…” Solomon rubbed the back of his neck. “We should probably talk in private.”

“Deviants…” Abel uncorked his gourd.

–

“You didn’t really seem like you were in control of yourself… You were saying all of this stuff about us being closer and… you kind of…”

Yari hung her head as low as a beaten dog. “…Go on.”

Solomon shook his head as he sat beside her. “…The rest is not important. But what bothers me is what you were saying. You kept bringing up your father and… saying that he wanted you to study my armament.”

Yari flinches but doesn’t say anything. This only seems to worry Solomon even further.

“I… I don’t remember any of this.” Yari said quietly.

“…Do my words seem like a lie?”

“No, no, I do not doubt you, I just…”

I cannot face you. Yari wanted to say.

Shame for elves wasn’t the same as it was for humans. Their brains have a larger prefrontal cortex, heightening their capacity for self-reflection.

As an elder and an educator, Yari felt an intense amount of embarrassment that could not be aptly conveyed in words.

“…What are you going to do?”

Solomon’s question was not humorous, but still, it made Yari laugh. It was a bitter, depressing sound.

“I’m… going to go to my quarters… lock myself inside… and sleep.” Yari says in a fragile tone. “That is all.”

Solomon’s face becomes contorted. “And then?”

“There is no ’and then’, Solomon.”

“…What?”

Yari stared into the floor with a cold, distant gaze. The blanket Abel wrapped around her is being clutched tightly in her knuckles.

“One day, you will be the most powerful man in the world. And you still won’t frighten me even half as much as that man does.”

“Yari, I-”

“You know, before I learned about your past on Sword Island… I thought he had done it. It’s not something I could really put outside the realm of his capabilities.”

Yari turns to her student, and her gaze is heartbreaking.

“I cannot fight him, Solomon. And Komen is not my home, I have nowhere to run to..”

“There are plenty of places you could go! Plenty of people you could ask for help!”

Yari scoffed. “I value but two other people in this life. Nila is but a child. And the other…” Yari’s eyes became complicated. “She can’t do what needs to be done. Despite all that she is. I… have no alternative.”

“No alternative..?” Solomon repeats the words like a ghost. “You would let him continue to manipulate you..? We still don’t even know what he has done!”

“I… can wager a guess.”

Yari briefly let go of her blanket to take Solomon’s hand.

“I’m asking you to keep all that has happened today a secret. I’ll… work on some kind of protection enchantment so that this doesn’t happen again, but if it does… I believe that you won’t take advantage of me, and you’ll go get Abel to- Ah!”

Yari winces and pulls her hand away quickly.

Solomon is the sun.

His skin burns with such an unnatural heat that his clothes begin to smolder.

The glow of his eyes is so bright that it resembles a raging fire. Yari has to put distance between the two of them, as it begins to feel like she is standing in front of an open oven.

Solomon is rage.

Anger and frustration roll around in his stomach, intensifying but never exploding.

He looks at Yari, but he can barely see her.

She is surprised by the way his mood has changed. “…Are you angry for me..? Or… are you angry with m-”

Solomon stands up.

He leaves the room abruptly, his boots beginning to melt on his feet and embers trailing in his path.

He doesn’t say a word. He cannot.

He exits the door and doesn’t look back. No matter how badly he wants to.

–

The sound of metal scraping against something hard was the only sound the group was privy to.

Dakota, Everett, and Nila stare at Solomon in the corner.

Two one-handed axes now adorn his belt buckle. He takes his time to sharpen each of them on a flat, grey stone.

The trio makes sure they are far enough away from him before they start talking amongst themselves.

“Just when I was getting used to him chatting and being normal… he’s been like this for days now.” Everett shivers.

Everett watches Nila pick up a stick and begins drawing in the dirt.

Eventually, Dakota joins him in staring at her.

“…What?” The elf looks up.

“I thought you would know what was wrong with him.”

“Why? He doesn’t really talk to me anymore than he does to either of you.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re always hanging around his attendant, right? Wouldn’t he have told you what was going on?”

Nila shrugged.

“He doesn’t seem to know either. Says the furball is the only one Solomon really talks to these days.”

“…You mean the creature of death and destruction that he’s keeping in his dormroom?”

“That’s the one.”

Suddenly, the group hears footsteps approaching their positions and stands at attention.

“Mornin’ kiddos!” Jiaoying waves in a friendly manner. “Ready to bust some heads and make me look good by association?”

“””Yes ma’am!”””

“Love the enthusiasm.” Jiaoing claps her hands with a smile.

It doesn’t take her very long to notice that a single figure is missing from their merry band of fighters.

She finds Solomon a few yards away, his back against a tree and a newly sharpened axe in his hand.

“…What’s up with him?”

“We’re not sure, ma’am.” Nila said respectfully. “He’s been like this all week.”

Jiaoying blinked. Her mind immediately went back to the last interaction she had with Solomon. The last time he seemed to be somewhat normal.

“This so isn’t a part of what I signed up for.” She holds her head in her hands and nearly resorts to pulling out her hair.

The three students facing her haven’t the foggiest idea of what she is talking about, but judging by her naturally depressing aura, they can’t help but pity her nonetheless.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Abel approaches the group with the team they would be facing today.

Nila and Dakota wince.

When they were going over the habits of every other student in their class, there was a short list of students that the group wanted to face the least.

It was a great big cosmic joke that the one group they wanted to avoid facing was the exact one they were given.

“Now for your roles…”

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