Chapter 174 — A Grateful Mother

Chapter 174: Chapter 174 — A Grateful Mother

Chapter 174 — A Grateful Mother

Victor walked out of the building.

The moment the door closed behind him, he slowed down.

His mind returned to Elder Benton.

There was something about that man that bothered him.

It wasn’t just the questions Benton had asked.

It was his reaction to the cellar.

Victor could still remember the moment Benton opened the door.

The smell had been horrible.

Even Victor, who had already spent time inside the cellar, had to fight the urge to react.

Benton was different.

He hadn’t reacted at all.

His expression hadn’t changed even once.

Victor’s expression became serious.

The Evil God worshippers weren’t simply some mysterious organization that wanted to destroy the Tower or help the beasts enslave humanity.

They were people willing to murder innocent people.

They were willing to perform rituals and sacrifice lives simply to gain power.

All for the sake of their god.

Victor’s hands slowly tightened.

Why did Benton know so much about them?

Why did he understand their rituals?

Why had he remained completely unfazed by the cellar?

And most importantly—

Who exactly is Elder Benton?

On the surface, Benton was simply an elder of the Alchemy Tower.

There was clearly more to Benton.

Victor didn’t know what it was yet.

And guessing wouldn’t help.

Until he had more information, he would keep his distance.

Benton was already suspicious of him.

There was no reason to make that suspicion worse.

Especially after Victor had somehow managed to stumble into a serial killer connected to the Evil God worshippers on his first day back.

I need to stay out of this.

At least for now.

Victor looked ahead.

Lyra was waiting for him.

He started walking toward her.

As he got closer, he noticed Tony standing nearby.

Lyra was still sitting on the bench, with the little girl beside her.

Except the girl was practically glued to her.

Her small arms were wrapped tightly around Lyra’s waist, refusing to let go.

Victor was close enough to hear their conversation.

"I need to take the little girl back to her mother," Tony said.

Lyra looked down at the child.

"I’m sorry, but she won’t let me go."

Tony glanced at the girl.

Lyra continued.

"It’s okay. Victor and I can take her back. We know where her mother is. We left her at a bench not too far from here."

Tony opened his mouth to respond.

Before he could say anything, Victor approached.

Both Lyra and Tony looked up.

"Hey, Victor."

Victor nodded.

"Hey."

He walked over and stopped beside Lyra.

The little girl immediately noticed him.

Without warning, she let go of Lyra and ran straight toward Victor.

Victor barely had time to react before she grabbed onto him.

He froze.

His arms remained slightly raised as he looked down at the child clinging to him.

His expression shifted from neutral to slightly uncomfortable.

He clearly hadn’t expected that.

Lyra noticed.

The corners of her mouth lifted.

She covered the small laugh that escaped her.

Tony smiled as well.

"Looks like she’s taken a liking to you."

Victor looked down at the girl.

"Yeah..."

He paused.

"So it seems."

The girl only held onto him tighter.

Victor sighed quietly.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do.

Eventually, he lowered one hand and rested it gently on her back.

"I heard your conversation," Victor said. "Lyra and I can take her back to her mother. It’s no problem."

He glanced down at the girl.

"Doesn’t seem like she’s going to let go of us anyway."

Tony smiled.

"Yeah. It does look that way."

He paused.

Then his expression became more serious.

"Just so you know..."

Victor looked at him.

"It may not seem like much to you, considering what you found tonight, but you probably saved a lot of people by finding that serial killer."

Tony looked toward the girl.

"And you definitely saved her life."

Victor remained silent.

Tony sighed.

"We can’t put everything you did into the official report."

He paused.

"But personally..."

Tony straightened.

"I’d like to thank you."

He bowed toward Victor.

Victor immediately looked uncomfortable.

He wasn’t used to people bowing to him.

"No, no. That’s not necessary."

He quickly reached out and shook Tony’s hand instead.

"It was just the right place at the right time."

Tony smiled.

"Either way, you did an amazing thing tonight."

He looked directly at Victor. ℴ

"You should be proud of yourself."

Victor smiled slightly.

Tony hesitated before continuing.

"And I’m sorry for interrogating you as hard as I did earlier today."

He gave Victor a slightly embarrassed look.

"Tonight showed me more than anything that you’re definitely one of the good guys."

Victor gave a small laugh.

"Don’t worry about it."

Tony nodded.

"Take care of that little girl."

Then he turned and walked away.

Victor watched him disappear into the distance before looking down at the child still attached to him.

"Well..."

Lyra smiled.

"Looks like you’re stuck with her."

Victor sighed.

"Apparently."

The two of them started walking.

The little girl remained in Victor’s arms.

For the next fifteen or twenty minutes, they made their way through the Tower’s streets.

Eventually, they reached the area where they had originally found the girl’s mother.

She was still sitting on the bench.

But she had changed.

Earlier, she had been frantic.

Crying.

Running from person to person.

Now she simply sat there, staring blankly ahead.

The life in her eyes seemed to have faded.

Victor slowed down.

"Ma’am."

The woman turned.

Her eyes met Victor’s.

Then she saw the little girl in his arms.

For a moment, she didn’t move.

Then everything changed.

She scrambled to her feet.

Her legs nearly gave out beneath her, but she caught herself and rushed forward.

"My baby!"

The little girl immediately reached for her.

Victor lowered her.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she ran into her mother’s arms.

The woman dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around her daughter.

The little girl buried her face against her mother’s chest.

Both of them began crying.

The mother held her daughter so tightly it was almost an iron grip, as if she was afraid that letting go for even a second would make her disappear again.

Victor stood quietly beside Lyra.

After several moments, the mother finally looked up.

Tears still covered her face.

"Thank you."

Her voice trembled.

"Thank you so much."

She looked between Victor and Lyra.

"There’s nothing I could ever do or say that would show you how grateful I am."

Her voice broke again.

"But you deserve everything good in life."

Victor gave her a small smile.

"Don’t worry about it, ma’am."

Lyra nodded.

"We were happy to help."

The woman smiled through her tears.

She pulled her daughter closer.

Victor and Lyra waved goodbye.

Then they turned around and began walking toward their new home.

He had spent the entire day dealing with questions, suspicion, strange discoveries, and things he didn’t understand.

But at least one thing had ended the way it should have.

A mother had her daughter back.

And for tonight, that was enough.