[A/N: A Shoutout to my new patreon members. KingDre_22, Otku_2245, Reno, Bruno_%98.]
Chapter 51: Freya's Qualms
The moment Kaku and the Iron Fangs filed out of the chamber, the tension in the air didn't lessen, it just shifted. The City Lord started conferring with his captains again, and the rest of the room was swept back into the chaos of reports, updates, and arguments about where to move troops next.
I barely had time to breathe before Freya's hand clamped around my wrist.
"Come with me," she muttered.
Her grip was firm, borderline painful and I knew better than to fight it. She pulled me toward a side corridor, her steps quick and deliberate. The voices in the main hall faded behind us until there was nothing but the sound of our boots on stone and the flicker of torches casting shadows across the walls.
When she finally stopped, she didn't waste time.
"What the fuck was that?" Her voice was low but sharp, like a blade against my throat.
I raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to be more specific. I've done a lot of 'thats' today."
Her glare could've cracked granite. "You stood in front of the City Lord and fed him exactly what he wanted to hear, without a shred of proof. And you didn't just describe a threat, Kaizen. You described it like you'd seen it before. Like you knew it would be there."
I shrugged. "I was there when the breach happened. I saw it. Big-ass lion. Hooded figure. Kind of hard to miss."
"Don't." She stepped closer, her eyes locked on mine. "You've been shadowing me since the day before the invasion. You're always exactly where I am when things go to hell. You knew I'd be in that pit of corpses. You knew I'd need saving. And now, conveniently, you point the entire guild toward the thing controlling these beasts."
"That's called good instincts," I said, forcing a smirk.
She didn't blink. "Good instincts don't explain how you move like a lower classed C-rank with zero mana. Or how you've survived this long when better fighters haven't. Or how you seem to know exactly what's coming before it happens. I've been trying to ignore it, but you're making it impossible."
Her words landed harder than I wanted to admit. The System's countdown ticked somewhere in the back of my mind, a constant reminder of just how much she wasn't wrong.
I could tell her. I could finally spill the truth, about the missions, about the fact her death meant mine too, about the stupid cosmic contract I never asked for.
But no. Not here. Not now.
"I told you before," I said instead. "I owe Rorden. If something's leading these things, killing it gives you a better shot at surviving. That's it."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're lying. Maybe not about owing him, but there's more you're not saying. And you're not going to tell me, are you?"
"I won't tell you everything," I said, my voice flat. "But I told you enough."
For a long moment she just stared at me, reading my face like she was trying to pry my skull open. Finally she stepped back, arms crossing tight.
"Fine," she said, her tone like a slammed door. "But if your secrets get me killed, Kaizen, I swear I'll drag you to the grave with me."
I forced a grin. "Wouldn't be the first time someone's threatened me with that."
She didn't return it. Just turned and started walking back toward the war room.
I let her get a few steps ahead before following, the countdown still ticking in the corner of my vision.
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