"Are you alright?" The soldier next to Noble asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." The professor moved away from her quickly.
In truth, she was anything but fine. Her insides felt like they might soon become her outsides.
This was it.
Valor hadn't succeeded in killing Tamar before the solstice, and so they had gone after a much bigger, much more public target instead. Who was more beloved in two worlds than Lady Changing Star?
When word got out, and it would get out, the entire population of humanity would be outraged. The government would look like it had no control in the waking world, and Morgan would be sure that Clan Song got the blame.
The world would have to choose a side, whether it wanted to or not.
The tipping point had been reached. Noble was certain that they were past the point of no return.
War was here.
But that was not what had made Noble sick. What had caused her to feel violently ill was the realization that she had helped to cause it.
Morgan might not have recognized Noble from their previous conversation, but it seemed the Princess had taken the words of the exchange to heart.
Hadn't the professor warned Morgan that harming either Changing Star or Tamar would cause a public outcry? Clan Valor had failed to kill the latter, so they had shifted their sights to one of their own.
Something told Noble that Morgan would not have been terribly heartbroken if Nephis had been harmed, but the crimson-eyed princess had not made that her goal. Whether she lived or died, Nephis was a beacon for humanity, especially the Sword Domain.
Additionally, Noble had helped Helie conquer a Nightmare, making her a Saint. Without Helie's archery prowess, this plot would never have worked.
Although inadvertently, Noble had provided the idea and the manpower. The professor held her head, feeling the emotions beginning to leak out of her. If they did, she was sure the potency of them would poison or kill the Awakened around her.
She needed to calm down.
'This isn't your fault.'
Noble took a deep breath. She took the world on her shoulders much too often, and other people's choices had done this. Even without Noble's input, the war was coming.
While any part she might have played was regrettable, she had not done it intentionally or even willingly.
The real question was, what would she do now? What could she do?
Pointing a finger at Helie without proof would not go well for her. The number of people who knew that Helie was an expert shot was very small. Even if Noble tried to justify her accusation, would anyone believe her?
Unlikely, unless she revealed how she knew.
That brought with it more problems.
Just like the scene around her, it was a proper mess.
The only two who could advise her were Fort and Sunny. The former was in the Dream Realm, completely unaware of the catastrophe that had just taken place. The latter was much closer, but just as unavailable.
So rather than outing the perpetrator and sending the scene further into chaos, Noble remained silent.
With a heavy sigh, Noble turned back to the Saints. They were concluding their business. Child of Promise was glad to see Morgan leave on her own. Nephis and Kai looked like they would leave together as well.
'Maybe, just maybe I can catch Sunny before...'
"Will you join us?" Nephis's invitation to Lord Shadow crushed any hope Noble had of gaining an audience with the mysterious Saint.
When they moved to leave, she did as well, glancing only briefly over her shoulder at their departing forms.
'Good luck, Sunny. I hope you know what you are doing. I certainly don't…'
Noble took to the sky, rising high above the city while keeping away from the protective dome.
The distance from everyone else's emotions gave her a little reprieve. By the time Noble had reached the Academy, she had regained most of her calm.
As soon as she landed by the Academy entry, Noble could already feel a shift in the mood of those around her.
Having been recently released from the evacuation gathering point, most of the students were not eager to return to their dorms. Oblivious to the cold, they stood in pairs and in groups, glued to their communicators.
'Oh no…'
"Director…Professor Noble!" Nail, who hadn't quite gotten used to the lady's change in title since moving from one Academy to the other, rushed toward her with his device in hand. "Were you there? Is it true?"
Noble furrowed her brow. "Slow down. I am going to need more information."
"They said you were there." Nail passed her his communicator.
Noble could barely believe her eyes.
'Tech doesn't usually work around gates like that…'
Noble frowned.
Although it hadn't caught anything of the Nightmare gate's opening or conquering, somehow, one lone security camera at the far edge of the park had not only survived the devastation, but it had also come back online right when a certain fateful event occurred.
The car bomb, the arrows, the dreadful heartbeat where no one was sure if Lady Nephis was alive. All of it was played out before Noble for the second time that day on Nail's tiny screen.
The angle was poor, and the figures were grainy, but the caption underneath said it all.
"Justice for Lady Changing Star." Noble read the words with a sigh. 'Wouldn't that be nice?'
Morgan might have been involved in the plot today, but Lady Nephis's emotions indicated that she certainly was not. Justice would mean tearing down Lord Anvil, who had certainly approved the plot. Barring a miracle, there would be no justice in that regard any time soon.
"Someone said you were there. Is it true?!" Having watched the professor view the clip, Nail repeated his question.
"I was there when this happened, yes." Noble nodded slowly. "Everyone is fine, though."
"They are saying…Dar did it!" The young Sleeper continued. "But he couldn't have! H-he wouldn't have!"
"He didn't," Noble pursed her lips.
Even ignoring the fact that she knew who it was, the professor had seen Dar handle a conflict recently. The man was calm and collected in the face of opposition.
Noble couldn't picture him committing an unprovoked hit and run on another Saint. He had too much honor for that.
"Who exactly are they?" Noble waited as Nail shifted to the comment section. Hundreds of comments were already under the clip. Most of them were calling for Dar to answer for his actions.
"So many people…" Nail sighed.
'Either that is the price of being famous for archery, or Valor was already prepared to flood the channels.'
Noble had a feeling it was a combination of the two.
"They are wrong." Noble furrowed her brow. "And don't you dare get caught up in the madness. Do you hear me?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" Nail was caught off guard by her sudden forcefulness.
"I have to go," Noble hurried away from the stunned young man.
Her mind was too full. They had even managed to record it all! Such careful, meticulous planning. How had Valor done it?
One thing was for sure. Lord Anvil had shown what it meant to be an inheritor of the War God's lineage without ever having to lift a finger.
And he was just getting started.