"Governor, I..." When Renata saw Caleb return, she stood beside the desk with a faint look of fear.
During the two months the Governor had been away, she had not made Zaun's economy more prosperous. Instead, she had drawn sanctions from Piltover. Relations between the Twin Cities had suddenly fallen back to almost what they had been more than a decade ago. People had loaded their weapons one after another, ready to risk their lives against those topsiders. In the end, she had managed to talk them down, but no matter how furious the public was, Zaun still needed to eat.
Renata felt that the few routes she had opened could only be called a drop in the bucket. They could solve the immediate crisis, but they could not completely resolve this disaster. This was only Zaun's first attempt, yet it had already suffered such a setback.
Renata had already imagined that she was probably going to be removed from her position. Right now, the only thing in her mind was that after she was scolded, she absolutely could not cry.
Caleb looked at Renata, who was trying with all her might to wrinkle her nose and bite down hard on her lip, and he could not help finding it a little funny.
"It's fine. This work will still be yours afterward. Don't even think about dumping it on me."
The current Renata was different from the one Caleb had seen through the system. After all, she had not yet gone through the deaths of her parents, nor did she need to install a bionic arm and a mask on herself.
So compared with that cold, ruthless, formidable woman, the current Renata was clearly still somewhat idealistic.
Given that, for her first confrontation with Piltover's merchants, being able to achieve this much had already exceeded Caleb's expectations.
After all, she did have capable people under her, but war was still too cruel for this young woman.
And unlike Caleb, she did not have a name that could make Piltover's Councilors feel deeply wary all by itself.
So the young woman's performance could be considered acceptable.
For the time being, there was no way to turn her into someone like Caleb, someone capable of commanding the entire city.
But in terms of ability, she had no problem handling Zaun's affairs, big and small.
"But this time, you really did make a mistake."
Caleb's words made Renata's heart, which had only just settled, immediately tighten again.
"Yes... Where did I go wrong?"
"Your methods were a little too gentle."
Caleb was not teaching her how to do her job. It was just that the other side had already pushed things right up to their doorstep this time, yet Renata's thinking had still remained at the level of "wait until he comes back."
Of course, that was neither a success nor a failure, but it was not what Caleb expected from someone acting as Governor.
She was still not independent enough.
"Yes. I'll remember that."
"Mm..." Caleb thought for a moment, then said, "Then keep working."
After thinking it over, Caleb realized he was the one who had taken over someone else's space.
"No need... I'll work next door."
Renata picked up the documents she had not finished and hurried off to the next room.
She had also been badly frightened by Jinx, so her workplace had long since moved next door.
Caleb, however, had not known that, so she had returned here and waited nervously.
"Hah..."
Caleb let out a long breath. Ever since he returned to Zaun, matters had been piling up again one after another.
But perhaps because the mission completion rate had not been high this time, the system had only rewarded him with a single ten-pull.
It was also possible that since Caleb already carried a World Rune, strengthening him any further would only backfire and make him lose his mind even earlier.
"Still, I should take one step further..."
As Caleb thought that, he picked up the least conspicuous little item from the ten-pull, an ancient ornament.
Caleb did not think this object was like the "Ionian frying pan" he had received before, the sort of consolation prize the system handed out.
On the contrary, Caleb felt this thing was extremely important.
"Although it's ancient and plain, the patterns on it are very delicate..."
Caleb carefully rubbed the ornament. Considering the two regions he had been to, he did not think this accessory came from Shurima or the Freljord.
"Noxus to the north... probably wouldn't have this kind of refined leisure either."
Noxus had a long history, but like the Freljord, ornaments there were generally made of bone.
Their style was also mostly rough and ancient, not something with such a refined appearance.
Although time had carved marks into it, even from a modern perspective, one could still tell just how exquisite this thing was.
"Ionia, or Mount Targon?"
Caleb considered where this ornament might have come from.
After all, Demacia had only existed for four generations, so it had no connection to the word "ancient" at all.
"It would be nice if someone could help me figure out what this is."
Caleb stuffed the little object back into the system inventory.
It was not that Caleb lacked experience, but Mount Targon had many Aspects, while Ionia's artifacts and traditions were also far too complicated.
If Caleb really had to search for it himself... he might lose his life before he found the answer.
Maybe he could let Yuumi take a look?
Perhaps she could identify where this thing came from.
Caleb thought for a while, then temporarily gave up on researching the origin of this ancient object and chose to continue studying Rune Magic instead.
Caleb had basically mastered the three main runes.
Summon Aery, which could both attack and defend. Arcane Comet, which allowed him to freely control the output of his magic. And Phase Rush, which could greatly increase his speed.
After that came Nullifying Orb, which could block damage, Manaflow Band, which could continuously restore his mana, and Nimbus Cloak, which also increased his speed.
Then came Transcendence, which reduced cooldowns and allowed Caleb to cycle through his abilities faster, Celerity, which increased speed, and Absolute Focus, which strengthened the power of his abilities.
At the bottom were Scorch, which caused his abilities to deal continuous damage, Waterwalking, which increased his speed on water, and Gathering Storm, which continuously strengthened his abilities.
The various runes could work together. For example, Caleb could use Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm at the same time to increase the power of the Arcane Comet he summoned.
However, when using the runes, that feeling of magic naturally flowing, as if the whole world revolved around him and he stood at its center, gave him a sense of omnipotence.
To Caleb, it felt almost the same as Shimmer.
So he had to be careful. Caleb knew the harm caused by abusing Shimmer. As for the consequences of abusing runes, he had no idea at all.
Maybe he would become the next Brand.
His reason wiped away, acting only on instinct?
Fate's gifts always had their price marked somewhere in the dark. Caleb believed this rune was the same.
Caleb looked at the shining rune in his hand and remembered the look in Viktor's eyes when he had stared at the Hexcore before.
He could roughly understand why something like this was so fascinating.
"Governor, two people want to see you."
Zeri walked in. The shoes that allowed her to move through Zaun's walls were extremely useful when it came to transmitting information.
"Two people?"
Caleb could not help frowning.
Was he that easy to meet? People could just say they wanted to see him and he would meet them?
Or were these two people very unusual?
Caleb shook his head. Generally speaking, anyone who could get to him would probably not be simple.
But Zeri was still relatively young and childish, so she did not always get to the point when she spoke.
"You're kidding me, right?"
Looking at the man and woman standing at the entrance of the building, the man holding two guns, while the woman carried a weapon even larger than herself, Caleb could not help frowning.
"I have a really bad feeling about this."
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