Chapter 126: Back with Vayne
The seventeen hunters returned to Valdris on their own feet.
Bertold walked the whole way without saying anything. Upon reaching the gates of Valdris he stopped, looked at the sky, and said:
"Ten days."
No one asked what he meant by that.
He probably didn’t need to be asked.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: Bertold staring at the sky when arriving. that man has things to process.
[Stephen_Summers]: ten days conscious without being able to move. "ten days." yes. enough.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the 17 back. mission complete. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Kai and the group entering Valdris with seventeen people who couldn’t move before. Valdris watches them arrive.
[Bangsund]: does Vayne already know they’re back?
[Drakeking]: Vayne knows everything that happens in Valdris before it happens. yes she knows... Probably.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ round 2 of Lira vs Vayne. I was waiting for this since Chapter 95. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Vayne received them in the government building.
Just her, her office, and the coffee someone had left on the corner of the desk that no one had touched.
She watched the four of them enter.
She stopped on Lira.
Lira stopped too.
The only thing Vayne could think when seeing her was that first time they saw each other.
The time they had been in the same space, Lira had arrived in Valdris transforming from bats through the main streets. Vayne had sent guards. The guards hadn’t helped much.
Both knew it.
"Duchess," Vayne said.
"Ruler," Lira said.
The same exchange as before.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: #TeamLira ACTIVATED. this is what we were waiting for.
[Stephen_Summers]: the same greeting. different in everything else. Vayne feels it. Lira feels it.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Vayne assessing Lira. Lira assessing Vayne. both recalibrating. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Mara in the background assessing Vayne in silence. she’s been doing it for two meetings. still hasn’t said anything about what she sees.
[Bangsund]: the first time Vayne tried to stop her. now neither mentioned that. that’s progress.
[Drakeking]: #TeamLira vs #TeamVayne. chat picks sides. I’m going with Lira but I acknowledge Vayne.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Vayne with the scar and the posture. Lira with the glasses — this is a meeting of equals now. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
"The seventeen are back," Vayne said.
"Yes," Kai said.
"What was in the territory."
"A Streamer. Time magic — it anchored the physical rules of the area. The hunters ended up inside the radius by accident."
Vayne processed this.
"Is the Streamer still in the territory?"
"He left."
"Was he neutralized?"
"He cooperated voluntarily." Kai looked at her. "He wasn’t hostile. Just obsessive."
Vayne looked at her hands on the desk.
"And the time magic? Can someone use that territory again?"
"No. The anchor that maintained the field was destroyed."
"Who destroyed it?"
"Me."
Vayne looked at him.
"How."
Kai considered how much to say.
"With Cristiano and Messi."
He answered while raising his left and right fists.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: "with Cristiano and Messi." Kai giving the minimum necessary information. perfect.
[Stephen_Summers]: Vayne wants to understand the mechanism. Kai isn’t going to explain Qi to the ruler of Valdris yet.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Vayne assessing "with what I have" and deciding not to press. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Vayne is intelligent. knows when to press and when not to. this isn’t the moment.
[Bangsund]: does Vayne know Kai is a Streamer from another world?
[Drakeking]: she knows he’s a Streamer. the other world thing is more complicated. she probably suspects.
[Zerox]: Kai withheld the fragment about who brought him. we saw it. Vayne won’t know that yet. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Vayne stood up from the desk.
She went to the window that overlooked Valdris’s main road.
"Before you all arrived, the kingdom handled system situations with teams of A-rank hunters." A pause. "In recent months there are situations that A-rank hunters can’t handle."
"I know," Kai said.
"The border territory is the third." Vayne looked at the road.
"There were two before — one in the southern sector four months ago that was never resolved because no one could enter, and one in the western sector that stopped being a problem on its own before we could analyze it." She turned toward the group.
"The continent is changing. Something is generating situations that the rank system can’t handle."
"And you want us to handle them."
"I want you to be available when they happen." Vayne looked at them. "Not as kingdom employees. As assets. With freedom to move, to reject quests that aren’t of your interest, and access to the kingdom’s records when you need them."
Kai looked at her.
"And in exchange?"
"That when the kingdom can’t, you can."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: Vayne offering access to kingdom records. that has real value.
[Stephen_Summers]: "the continent is changing." — Vayne feels it too. she doesn’t know why. but she feels it.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ kingdom asset with freedom of movement. that’s different from working for the kingdom. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: "the continent is changing" — what A_D_M is doing is noticeable even though no one knows what it is yet.
[Bangsund]: Kai said "I’ll think about it" in the outline. I bet he says it.
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund of course. Kai doesn’t reject information or access. but he also doesn’t commit without thinking.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the kingdom records could have information about the frequency near Valdris. Kai knows it. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
"I’ll think about it," Kai said.
Vayne nodded.
Not with the expression of someone who expected a different answer — with that of someone who expected exactly that one.
"Good."
The group started moving toward the exit.
Vayne said:
"Duchess."
Lira stopped.
Kai looked at Vayne. Vayne looked at him. Something in that look clearly said that what was coming was private.
Kai kept going toward the door.
Serah kept going.
Mara kept going — though her steps slowed for a moment before speeding up again.
---
In the hallway, Serah waited for the door to close.
Her markings rose two degrees.
Kai looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Kai looked at the closed door.
"The markings say something."
"The markings always say something."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: THE MARKINGS ROSE TWO DEGREES WITH THE DOOR CLOSED.
[Stephen_Summers]: Serah didn’t hear anything and the markings rose anyway. that’s primordial instinct.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ what did Vayne say to Lira?? ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: "the markings always say something." Kai quoting Vayne.
[Bangsund]: Vayne separated Lira from the group deliberately. that was calculated.
[Drakeking]: two degrees without hearing anything. if Serah had heard whatever Vayne said the whole building would be frozen.
[Zerox]: chat in total panic. WHAT DID VAYNE SAY? WHAT DID SHE SAY? ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Lira came out of the office two minutes later.
With her sunglasses on.
It was late inside. There was almost no natural light left.
The glasses had no practical function at that moment.
Kai looked at her.
Lira looked at him.
"Everything okay?" Kai said.
"Yes."
Serah stared at the glasses.
Mara stared at Lira with her usual assessment.
Lira started walking toward the exit.
"What did she tell you?" Serah said.
"Nothing relevant."
"The glasses say it is relevant."
Lira stopped for a moment.
She kept walking.
"Nothing relevant right now."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: THE GLASSES. THE GLASSES WITH NO SUNLIGHT. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
[Stephen_Summers]: "nothing relevant right now." — right now. that "right now" is going to matter.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Serah identified the glasses as a signal. Mara assessing in silence. Kai looking at Lira. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Vayne told Lira something that made Lira put her sunglasses on inside a building. that’s information.
[Bangsund]: "nothing relevant right now" isn’t "nothing." it’s "something I’m not going to say yet."
[Drakeking]: Vayne calculated exactly what she was going to say to Lira. that moment was planned.
[Zerox]: #TeamLira chat in crisis. #TeamSerah on alert. #FirstChild taking notes. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Aldric was at the guild when they arrived.
With coffee.
He watched them enter. Looked at Lira’s glasses. Looked at Serah’s markings. Drank.
He placed an envelope on the table without saying anything.
Kai looked at it.
"What is it."
"It arrived while you were with Vayne." Aldric. "A_D_M messenger. Delivered this and left."
Kai picked up the envelope.
The A_D_M seal on the front.
And below the seal, a notation that wasn’t part of A_D_M’s standard format:
There is a Streamer classified as an active criminal in the eastern sector. They’ve been generating anomalies in the zone for six months. A_D_M considers Kai Reno’s group the most probable variable to resolve it.
Kai read the notation twice.
"A_D_M sends us quests now?" Lira said.
"It seems so."
"Are we going to accept them?"
Kai looked at the envelope.
"The eastern sector."
Mara, who had been reading over Kai’s shoulder, said:
"The eastern sector borders the main Orc territory."
Kai looked at her.
Mara held his gaze.
"Do you want to go?" Kai said.
Mara considered it for exactly the time she needed to consider it.
"I want to see how everything turned out."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: A_D_M sending them a quest directly. the A_D_M that wants to erase Kai sending him quests.
[Stephen_Summers]: "the eastern sector borders the main Orc territory." Mara said it before anyone asked her.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara wants to see the Orc territory. that’s the next arc. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: "I want to see how everything turned out." — two years away. Mara wants to know.
[Bangsund]: A_D_M sends a quest at the same time [ORIGIN] is active near Valdris. coincidence?
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund in this stream coincidences don’t exist.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the eastern sector. the Orc territory. the criminal Streamer. what Vayne said to Lira. everything for the next Chapter. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
[System — notification]
[Current viewers: 8,900,000]
[The system notes that Vayne offered the group as kingdom assets]
[The system notes that Vayne said something to Lira in private]
[The system notes that Lira came out with her sunglasses on inside]
[The system notes that A_D_M sent a quest directly]
[The system doesn’t know what Vayne said to Lira]
[The system isn’t going to know yet either]
[The system waits]
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