Chapter 136: Lianne (1)
Their question was answered by nothing but silence and drifting dust. But their confusion didn’t last long, because all of their gazes eventually landed on the same person.
Rohan.
There was no missing him.
He stood in the middle of the ruined road like a man who had already died and somehow forgotten to fall over. Blood covered his mouth and chin, caking him from head to toe, even. His clothes had been cut through in several places long ago, and even their heat resistant properties weren’t able to protect them against his Molten lava in some areas.
One shoulder was hanging lower than the other, while his right leg looked as if it was only staying locked beneath him by sheer stubbornness.
Yet despite all that, he was still standing.
That was more than enough for the newcomers to fall into silence.
No questions needed to be asked to understand the story behind this scene. As the saying goes, a pictures is worth a thousand words.
"Lady Lianne, what do we do now...?" A voice suddenly called out from the rear.
But Lianne, the woman who’d called out earlier and the leader of this group of Awakened, didn’t respond.
She dismounted in a fluid motion, landing lightly against the broken stone with the cushioning of her boots. She looked to be in her twenties, though Rohan knew by not that meant next to nothing among Awakened. She wore a fitted set of dark leather armour reinforced with metal plates at the shoulders and chest, and unlike the rough, practical equipment used by most hunters in Erenhot, hers looked far cleaner and more expensive to belong to some wandering Awakened. One glance was all Rohan needed to see that her armour was actually a genetic armament.
A curved sabre rested at her waist, no doubt also a genetic armament, and her horse behind her was fitted with all kinds of fancy equipment as well.
Coupled with how her subordinate had just called her "Lady", there was no doubt that this woman came from quite a high class background.
She was strong too, judging by the pressure emanating off her, and several other Awakened behind her.
She approached him cautiously, not exactly in a hostile manner, but definitely not trusting the situation for a second either.
"What happened here?" She asked.
Rohan blinked slowly, just trying to get a grip with his situation.
He didn’t respond immediately, propping his one free hand up in the air in a gesture of wait towards the group, while he slowly and carefully made his way over to an ancient looking bench and sat himself down.
"Ahhhhh...." An instant sigh of relief exited his mouth as the mounting pressure of having to keep his body upright disappeared.
Now that he was more comfortable, he returned his gaze back to Lady Lianne.
"So, what is it you want to talk about?" He asked.
Lady Lianne, seeing that Rohan was getting straight to the point, matched his pace. "Was there a hoplite warrior here just now?"
Rohan’s eyes narrowed, but that certainly made things more interesting.
"You guys already look pretty sure about the answer to that," Rohan replied, coughing a few times and spitting some dried blood that lined his throat.
Slightly surprising Rohan, Lady Lianne did not look offended by his defensive attitude. Considering she was definitely from a high class background, he was half expecting her to act all high and mighty like the young lords and ladies he’d read all about in the novels he read in his youth.
If anything, she looked relieved that he was lucid enough to speak in complete sentences. Her gaze drifted over him once more, taking the dents in his skin, the torn clothing, the blood, and especially the fact he was still conscious after whatever the hell had played out here.
"That isn’t an answer." Her tone remained calm, but she did add some extra pressure.
"Was there a hoplite here or not?"
Rohan sighed. ’This conversation won’t go anywhere unless I start to ease up.’
He let out a slow breath through his nose and tilted his head back for a moment, staring at the broken rooftops and drifting dust from his battle.
He felt utterly exhausted.
"...There was," Rohan admitted at last. "You just missed him."
His answer had an immediate effect on the group. The tension among them heightened all at once. Several of the Awakened standing near the front exchanged looks, while those still on horseback instinctively began scanning the area.
Lianne, on the other hand, didn’t let the reaction show much beyond a slight tightening around her eyes.
"...Judging by the scene here, it looks like you had a few exchanges with it. But that fills me with even more questions. We’ve been chasing after this hoplite for a while now, and we know its strength clearly—"
"Lianne!" A voice cut her off from the side.
"Should we really be telling this sensitive information to someone we’ve just met?"
A man, who looked to be her second in command, questioned Lianne before she could continue.
"Relax, Simon. He already knows about the hoplite, so what’s the point in hiding our reasons for being here?" Lianne quickly quipped back.
Simon didn’t argue back after that. Although he still had a disgruntled look on his face, he respected his leader enough to know when to back down.
"—As I was saying, we know this hoplite is an E rank, and not an ordinary one at that, so how is it that an F rank like you was able to survive its attack?"
Lianne was extremely curious about this aspect. Now that she knew the hoplite had already escaped, her attention quickly turned to the last person who came into contact with it.
Rohan swore she looked more interested in him than the hoplite itself now...
Even Simon, the one who seemed to be most opposed to his presence here, started to show some interest after hearing Lianne question him.
"I’m tougher than I look."
