Adrian and Ruby were walking down the quiet street, making their way back to the mansion on foot.
It was only a fifteen–minute walk from here, so they didn't bother calling a carriage. The cool evening breeze carried the faint scent of food stalls, mixing with the clink of Adrian's cup of iced tea.
The research center's atmosphere had been suffocating after Adrian tuned that armament. Everyone had been left stunned, barely able to speak. Ruby alone had remained calm—as though she had expected it.
Still, she had worried when the artifact refused to work the first time. And ever since then, curiosity had been eating away at her. Finally, she asked,
"What exactly happened back there? You looked pretty annoyed."
She knew he had tried something and failed, and as a Runesmith herself, she understood how frustrating that could be.
Adrian exhaled slowly, his expression more at ease now as he sipped from his drink. After a pause, he said,
