IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 98

[CHAPTER 98]

It was the morning of the seventh day since Code Black had been declared.

“Oh my goodness, it’s so hot!”

Magia wiped the sweat beading on her forehead after returning from grocery shopping at dawn.

“Welcome back.”

Meyna, who had been eating a light breakfast before work, quickly stood up to greet her.

“Give me the groceries.”

“They must be heavy.”

Meyna gently stretched out both arms.

However, Magia suddenly flipped the large bag upside down.

“Huh?”

The bag was completely empty inside.

When Meyna looked at her in confusion, Magia began fanning herself with a flushed face.

“You wouldn’t believe it.”

“Bread, canned food, even raw fish.”

“Everything edible was sold out.”

“I went around the square again and again, but every stall was totally empty.”

“Hoarding.”

Axelt joined the conversation as he came down the stairs from the second floor.

“Things will be extremely chaotic for a while.”

“It’s a wartime situation.”

“Frightened citizens will stockpile emergency rations.”

“And groups taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes will also appear.”

“What should we do…!”

Meyna soothed Magia by gently rubbing the back of her hand, then cleared away the empty plates and mugs.

“I’ll wash up and come right down, Axelt.”

“I’ll be waiting in the yard, so take your time.”

Axelt bowed politely and stepped out through the front door.

“Honestly.”

“What kind of training could you possibly do with such a delicate body?”

Magia said with concern as she stroked Meyna’s back.

“I’m not delicate at all.”

Meyna smiled even brighter on purpose to reassure her and spread her arms wide.

“You know.”

“I made a huge protective barrier and saved people.”

At that moment, Barbread arrived carrying a massive sack of flour and dropped a bundle of newspapers onto the dining table.

The headlines on the front pages spread out before them.

[The Nightmare of a Midsummer Night! The Day the Holy War Was Drenched in Blood]

[Grand Saintess Vaneisa Gronigall Falls into Critical Condition… Citizens Holding Flowers Offer All-Night Prayers in the Backyard of Casadin Central Hospital]

[The Hero Who Appeared Like a Comet, Meyna Winslet’s Shocking True Identity?! “From Top Star’s Aide to SS-Class Healing Mage”]

Seeing her own article, Meina hurriedly turned around and headed toward the second floor.

“I’m going to be late!”

“I’ll go brush my teeth right now!”

Magia and Barbread let out soft chuckles.

It felt awkward and uncomfortable, like wearing clothes that did not fit.

Being the center of the spotlight was.

* * *

Reporters camped outside the Ocean Agency building wiped sweat and vented their frustration.

“Damn it.”

“It’s scorching, and we’ve been wasting time for hours already.”

“Everyone goes to work by portal.”

“How are we supposed to get interviews like this?”

“Senior.”

“Should we climb over the wall and sneak in?”

Just as a rookie reporter from a daily paper was about to act on reckless courage.

“Huh?”

“That car!”

“It’s Caliph!”

A blood-red car screeched to a halt, kicking up clouds of dust.

When the driver’s door opened, a casted leg and a crutch emerged first.

Flash.

Flash flash.

Cameras from the reporters who swarmed in all at once captured Caliph’s face in rapid succession.

One week ago, on the horrific day of the holy war.

He was the hero who saved the nation by completely eradicating the monsters that poured out of the Mountain of Silence.

Together with an SS-class healing mage who awakened as if bestowed by the gods.

“Sir Lennox!”

“Just a word, please.”

“How do you feel about your former aide awakening as a healer?”

“I’m Penny Raige, reporter directly affiliated with the Imperial Family.”

“How is your condition?”

The noticeably gaunt face of the hero turned toward the reporters.

As the price for saving tens of thousands of imperial citizens, he had suffered severe injuries.

He had fortunately survived, but no details about his physical condition had been made public.

Caliph’s indifferent gaze swept across the wide training grounds, then stopped.

“Are you looking for the young lady?”

Rob asked with inconvenient sharpness.

“Am I?”

An odd answer slipped out reflexively.

Had I been looking for her before I even realized it?

“Pardon?”

Rob asked again, eyes wide in confusion.

Caliph slowly lowered his eyelids.

Outwardly, his relationship with Meina was nothing more than that of a superior and subordinate whose work contract had ended.

No one outside Lennox Castle knew what lay beneath the surface between them.

The only outsider who had vaguely sensed it was Rob.

Because Meyna had not visited him even once during his hospitalization.

Rob must have sensed the unsettling undercurrent, yet he showed the courtesy of not prying further.

“Have you checked the joint training team assignments?”

Rob changed the subject.

Code Black detailed clause number three.

At least three guilds must form an alliance to operate together.

When Caliph shook his head, Rob projected letters into the air.

[Elite Team: Guild 928, Guild Jaguar, Guild Imperial]

His emotionless gaze quickly scanned the familiar list without the slightest surprise.

“Most teams were formed within the same agency.”

“But we’re an exception.”

“Apparently, we’re considered a special elite unit.”

Rob added with a worried expression.

“They’ll conduct reconnaissance and training at the same time.”

“According to Grand Duke Motenson, we’ll probably depart for Hiskarn immediately tomorrow.”

Hiskarn, the western city of Sahal.

Presumed to be the region where this strange phenomenon that engulfed the Empire first occurred.

Just then, Hugo noticed Caliph and waved others away before approaching.

After bowing slightly, he patted Caliph’s back with his thick hand in encouragement and went straight to the point.

“Prince Parker and Lady Winslet will be joining the elite team.”

I only hoped it would not become reality.

“They call it training, but it’s practically a life-risking subjugation mission.”

“Both of them possess top-tier abilities.”

“For Ocean, there couldn’t be greater fortune than this.”

For Meyna, it could never be fortune.

“She doesn’t yet know how to control her mana.”

“So you’ll take full responsibility for guiding her.”

“As for swordsmanship, there’s no better teacher than you.”

“You’re as close as family to both of them, so how fortunate is that?”

Each of Hugo’s warm and rational words cut into him, and that pain was his alone to bear.

At that moment, one side of the training grounds suddenly grew noisy.

Amidst heated attention and a barrage of questions, Meina and Biterion appeared.

Meyna’s cheeks, awkwardly flushed, shone brilliantly under the sunlight.

She approached with her characteristic calm steps.

Her lips parted cautiously after a brief breath.

“It’s been a while, Sir Lennox.”

“Are your injuries all right?”

Her concerned gaze and gentle question.

Beyond that, the long-buried emotions known only to the two of them had vanished without a trace.

Caliph straightened his posture, which had unconsciously slackened due to the pain in his injured leg.

It was an instinctive reaction, born from the desire not to appear weak or pitiful, even a little.

“I look forward to your guidance.”

“I’ll do my best to learn during the training period.”

Meyna showed no hesitation at the prospect of living, eating, and sleeping together for a time.

By saying she would learn from him, she effortlessly redefined their relationship.

Your ability to do this is the most unbearable thing of all.

Even her hatred was no longer something permitted to me.

“Yes.”

Just like the answer spoken aloud, is this something I must finally accept?

That Meyna, standing beside Biterion, was shining with renewed freshness down to every single eyelash.

“I look forward to working with you, Sir Lennox.”

Gentle, kind, and decisively born of noble blood, Biterion Parker.

This man, whose very existence is my reverse scale, might be fortune to Meina.