Chapter 187: Adam did not exist

A chill ran down her spine, from the base of her neck to the bottom of her back. Her fingers twitched, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt the faint tremor of real fear. It was not the fear of a fight.

She had been in a thousand fights, and she knew exactly what to do in them. This was the fear of looking at something she did not understand and knowing that it could do exactly what it said.

She had not been afraid since before she took her seat.

She was afraid now.

And yet, a moment later, a slight smile spread across her face. It was a calm, polite smile, the practiced kind, and it did not shake at all.

"Of course, Mr. Allistar," Milda said gently. "We would never do anything to harm the newest SSS-rank."

"Better," Leon said.

He nodded once, and the smug smirk on his face softened into something calmer.

It was not a friendly look, but it was not a hostile one either. It was the look of a man who had asked for a fair price and gotten it.

Milda let out a quiet breath and straightened up. The chill she had felt a moment ago was still crawling along her spine, but she kept it out of her face.

Years of sitting in meetings with people who wanted to see her afraid had taught her how to do that.

"I will begin the arrangements today," she said. "But I should be honest with you, Mr. Allistar. It will not be quick."

"A public ranking needs preparation. The venue, the announcements, the guests from the other guilds, the records that have to be updated. It cannot be done in a single night."

"How long?"

"A few days. The official ranking will be held then."

"A few days," Leon repeated.

"And before I can do anything else, I have to speak with the other Heads." Milda glanced down at the city far below, as if she could see the Association’s headquarters from here.

"They will have felt something happen. Thokas has probably guessed already. If I do not go to them first, they will hear it from someone else, and I would rather they hear it from me."

Leon considered that for a moment. He did not care much about what the other Heads thought, but he could see the sense in it.

If they were as strong as Milda and Thokas, he would rather have them informed than surprised. Surprised people did stupid things.

"Fine," he said. "Go and talk to them."

"Thank you."

"Do whatever you want. Arrange your ceremony, write your reports, make the speech." He shrugged. "I do not care how you do it. Just make sure that nobody tries to disobey me."

"Nobody will."

"Good."

He did not say goodbye. There was no flash, no wave of wind, and no warning at all. One moment Leon was standing on the green shield with his hands in his pockets, and the next there was only empty sky where he had been.

The Aegis was gone with him, and the clouds drifted along quietly, as though nobody had ever stood there.

Milda stared at the place where he had been.

She blinked. She looked to the left, and then to the right, and then down. There was nothing. He had not flown away, and he had not fallen.

She had been looking right at him, with every sense she had trained for decades, and she had not even seen him move.

Her shoulders slowly dropped.

She exhaled, long and unsteady, and pressed a hand against her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel it against her palm. It had not slowed down at all during the conversation.

She had been smiling and speaking calmly the whole time, but underneath it, her heart had been racing like that of a girl who had just seen a monster.

"Terrifying," Milda muttered.

The wind carried the word away.

She stayed there a little longer, floating alone above the clouds, until her breathing was steady again.

Then she smoothed down her nightgown, straightened her hair, and lifted her hand toward the city. A white light began to gather around her fingers.

She had a great deal of explaining to do.

Iris sat at the small table in her kitchen with a cup of tea she had not touched.

It had gone cold a long time ago. A thin skin had formed on the surface, and the steam that had been rising from it had stopped.

She had made it after the news came on, because she had needed something to do with her hands. But when she sat down, she had only stared at it, and she had not been able to drink a single sip.

The house was very quiet.

It was a small house, and a tidy one, and until a few weeks ago it had been a place she felt safe in. She knew every creak in the floor and every crack in the walls.

She knew where the light fell at each hour of the day. It was her home, and she had always thought she knew exactly who was in it.

She did not feel that way anymore.

Iris pressed her fingers against her forehead and closed her eyes. She kept seeing the broadcast.

The announcer’s steady voice, the photograph on the screen, the name written in large letters across the bottom.

Leon Allistar. The same face. The same dark eyes. She had looked at that picture for a full minute before she was able to admit what she was seeing.

It was Adam.

Or it was not Adam, because Adam did not exist. She had made him tea, and let him sleep on her sofa.

And all that time, he had been Leon Allistar.

The man who had destroyed the Roaring Lions. The boy who had killed an S-rank with his bare hands, and who had a bounty of a million gold on his head.

The man the whole world was talking about, whose name was being spoken in every house and every street and every shop.