Chapter 56: Arrival (4)

“Should we go up?” Lucian asked.

It had been two hours since they left their room, and they still needed to get ready for their job.

“Let’s go.” Ayen stood up first, followed by Lucian. Their footsteps slowed as they exited the elevator on their floor.

“Do you think he’s still there?” Lucian whispered.

“I don’t know.” Why was he being asked when they were together since earlier? Ayen shrugged at him, paused, and knocked at their door.

Although this was their room, he chose to knock politely. The two were a guide and an esper reuniting after a long time, having just completed a guiding session.

The door opened soon after, and Ayen was greeted by Nolan, who looked a little better. Of course, having a guiding session would not miraculously make a guide recover from guiding strain’s effects.

He still looked thin and haggard, but the weakness he exuded seemed to have completely disappeared.

“You’re back.” He grinned, opening the door wider.

Ayen stared at him and quickly noticed something different.

“Uh, is it fine?” Lucian asked, eyes wandering about.

Nolan chuckled; he answered casually. “Why not?”

Ayen entered. True to his suspicion, Nolan was alone in the room. Clynne was nowhere to be found.

“He… left?” Lucian’s dejected voice sounded behind him.

“An hour ago,” Nolan simply answered, without elaborating.

Ayen did not listen to their conversation; he went to the bathroom and prepared for the day. Unlike Lucian, who loved gossip, Ayen was not really interested in the affairs of others.

He always thought that if he had known something about others, he needed to reciprocate and say something about himself. While this was not true in most cases, Ayen valued the notion of returning the favor.

Like with Keeran, the same with Devion and Khal.

After he was done, he found the two still talking in the bed.

“…someone told me to leave the capital.”

Lucian’s words reached his ears. The two paused and turned to him. Ayen walked to his bed and put on a thicker coat. After learning that Devion was the one who created the coats, he wanted to use them more.

“Wow. Such a high-quality coat,” Lucian commented.

Ayen did not ignore him as usual. “Thanks.”

Lucian was startled slightly, not expecting the sudden thanks.

“Oh… welcome?”

Nolan laughed at the side but did not comment on that awkward scene.

“What were you talking about earlier?” Ayen, in a rare good mood, asked on his own initiative. He was also curious as he heard the word ’capital.’

The two were stunned for a moment but quickly composed themselves. Lucian straightened his posture, feeling energetic all of a sudden.

“I’m telling Nolan why I’m here in this zone.” Lucian started in a whisper. “Someone suggested about me to leave the capital for a while, since… He said the atmosphere isn’t right.”

Ayen’s brow shot up. The atmosphere was not right?

Nolan somewhat agreed with him. There was a faint smile on his lips; his eyes told otherwise.

“I think I also realized why running to this place seemed smooth.”

His words lacked a direct meaning, but Ayen understood them. After knowing who the esper he was running away from was, if Clynne truly desired to stop him, then Nolan would not be able to leave the capital.

“Do you sense something?” Ayen asked, and he became all ears. “I didn’t come from the capital,” he then added.

Lucian and Nolan exchanged glances for a moment before shaking their heads.

“Honestly, I’m too preoccupied with my problem to sense something.” Nolan scratched his right cheek, answering in a tone lower than intended.

Ayen turned to Lucian.

“Me? Well… I figured it out somehow.”

Ayen expected such an answer from Lucian.

“I didn’t sense that something was wrong. But I suspected a little…” Lucian paused; he rubbed his head and pursed his lips. He motioned for the two to lean forward.

Nolan did, and so did Ayen.

“…after what happened in yellow zone 40. I somehow figured out something was at play behind the scenes. Surely, don’t take it as fact, and don’t tell it to others, okay? Or, even my… won’t be able to protect us!”

Ayen’s eyes flickered, his hand clenched on his lap.

Yellow Zone #40. That was his and Keeran’s zone, which was now destroyed by the monsters. Ayen had also checked some news about it, and it was considered one of the tragic dungeon breaks in the history of mankind.

He did not expect to hear it from Lucian’s mouth.

“What about it?” Ayen whispered. His pupils turned slightly darker with the question, but because of his bangs, they did not notice it.

Lucian swallowed first before speaking again with difficulty.

“Ah, seriously, I’m not supposed to say this since he already warned me, but… I’ll only talk about it here.” Lucian’s voice turned lower until it was barely audible. “Some from the higher-ups intentionally let it happen.”

“What?” Nolan exclaimed violently; he almost jumped from his seat doing so.

Ayen was not as exaggerated, but his jaw clenched, and his expression hardened noticeably. He clasped his hands together so tightly that they began to shake.

“That’s why I told you, this is sensitive.”

“Why do you think so?” Ayen asked, tone slightly different from the usual. This made Nolan and Lucian look at him more intently.

Lucian cleared his throat and answered despite feeling something was amiss in Ayen’s expression.

“I mean, it’s weird that the higher-ups dismissed a lot of alarms. And it has been going on for not only a month, either. When I read the reports, I already suspected red flags everywhere. So, them not issuing evacuation and not sending reinforcements right away… Something was definitely at play here.”

Basically, it was not merely neglect, but someone had deliberately ignored them. For what? What was their goal? To destroy a yellow zone?

Again, for what?

Ayen could not imagine someone predicting a dungeon break to immediately happen, but someone definitely noticed the unusual red alarms and huge spike of dungeons in their yellow zone in those few months.

“Why did they…” Nolan was at a loss for words. He was not very familiar with what happened, but he still heard of that tragic incident.

Only a few had survived from that yellow zone; the rest… became monsters’ food.

Ayen lowered his eyes, his mind becoming absentminded.

He already said that he felt bad, but he was not guilty for his survival. That was true. However, thinking that a whole zone, hundreds of thousands, was sacrificed for an unconfirmed goal… sent a bad taste in his mouth.

And that he was almost part of that huge sacrifice. Then the idea that someone in the higher-ups had done it intentionally… It meant, that until their goal was achieved, who knew what new incidents would arise.

He swallowed with difficulty. Everything had suddenly become so complicated.

What they talked about that morning, Ayen had kept thinking about during his shift. He was already skilled enough to just work based on his instincts alone.

Ayen was aware of why he was so distraught after hearing Lucian’s suspicions. It was because the shadow of the past he had left behind in his moments of disgrace was actually evident on it.

In fact, if they were not involved, then all of this would not make sense. Only they had the motive and power to do this.

The Elite Clans.

Ayen was sure they had something to do with this.

“We’re truly ill-fated… huh?” Ayen bitterly murmured.

Was he someone implicated in a crossfire or… His place was considered because he was there? Ayen did not think he was too important, but it was worth considering. They were ruthless enough to do just that.

For the first time in a while, the anger he had bottled up for years surfaced uncontrollably. His whole being was heating up to the point that he wanted to scream.

Somehow, Ayen realized he was still capable of such emotions. He had thought that with his ability to be happy, the sadness and anger had also left him.

It seemed… Ayen was not that broken, after all.

He mechanically did his work even in such chaotic thoughts.

“Are you Ayen?” A boy asked.

“Yes?” Ayen looked at him and then at his back. Someone could not just barge into the association building. However, no one had stopped this boy.

“Someone sent you a letter.”

“Letter?”

The boy nodded and then handed over a white envelope.

“Well then, I’ll excuse myself.” The boy appeared too polite and formal.

Ayen could only nod and watch the boy walk to the exit. He then looked at the envelope curiously. This incident did help him get away from his thoughts.

He stood up and went to a rest area and locked the door. Ayen had the hunch of who the letter came from, and so he quickly went to seclude himself.

Opening the envelope, there was only a small card inside. Ayen looked at the back and read what was written on it.

[Hey, pretty Ayen.

-Come to the location indicated on the card.]

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