Chapter 117- I Owe You Way Too Much, Elise (Part 1)
"..."
"..."
The voices fell silent after what Emilia said. Not out of shock, but because of the fact that they were utterly played. They didn't know how these people were able to infiltrate the academy and even reach their houses and get this close to them. But, instead of killing them, they instead made them wake up and gave them the message before vanishing.
It was not even a mere insult or a spit in their face. It was also not a form of disdain but an outright dangerous warning to them. As if they were saying 'Your lives are something we can take whenever we want. The fact the people of their level, arguably one of the strongest humans in the whole world could turn into playthings for these unknown people was not only a disaster but something worse than a nightmare.
"Tsk… We are being played with. Everything that happened up until this point was perfectly executed from the kidnapping to the way they used their weird abilities to send these messages. They aren't simple at all."
"Darling, what are you thinking of?" The man asked with his gentle voice.
"... We can't open Gate Of Licaria. That's simply out of the question as it will be a bigger disaster than the one we have right now. Letting demons into our world is the end for us."
"But, on the other hand, the academy can't afford to get into a bloody war with these people when we basically don't know anything about them. We don't know what their goals are either. Fighting the unknown is a really bad idea, Emi." Lilia said with a grave tone.
"SIgh…" Tapping her fingers against each other rhythmically, she thought for a moment.
"Did you report to the higher-ups?"
"They already received the news they should give us an answer tomorrow or the day after."
Clicking her tongue, Emilia's face turned even angrier.
"Those lazy bastards! Taking their time while we have to keep the situation calm. Tsk!"
"We have no other choice, Emi. It's not in our hands to take decisions."
"Oh! My darling is also cute when she's angry."
"Shut your mouth, Licht." She said in a foul mood.
"Scaryy…"
"Anyway… This isn't the proper way of doing a meeting when the other morons are still not here. We will leave it at this for now. As far as I can see, they won't be moving much after this warning until they hear what the academy decided."
After that, Emilia ended the call and left the room. All of her drowsiness had vanished and she was wide awake right now. Her mind kept racing violently as she tried to comprehend what happened and most importantly, what she needed to do now. But, while the first question's answer was still not clear, she quickly came to the answer to the second question.
The image of a black-haired, handsome boy appeared in her mind.
'If things are only going to get worse. That boy is our only hope of ever guaranteeing our victory.'
For her, Rin was the only hope for this situation. If she was able to quickly develop his powers, he can easily become a trump card for the academy to win. No, not even a trump card, if he was given enough time, he could easily become a one-man army, capable of fighting them alone. He can easily handle a war front by himself.
"And here I thought that the only maniacs that can pull this off are those ten crazy bastards." She giggled sarcastically as she tapped her forehead.
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"Hah…. Hah… In the end, no one was able to win." Rin said as he lay on the ground, tired. The fight between him and Elise lasted for way longer than 5 minutes. Both of them were so engrossed in the fight that they forgot about the matter of the time. So, instead of 5 minutes, it lasted for almost 30 minutes.
Rin felt all of his stress and anger getting absorbed out of his body. Just exchanging blows with Elise had such an amazing effect on him even though he killed 5 Silver-Backed wolves just an hour ago or less. He had no idea how she was able to affect him this much but he was glad that Elise was able to do that.
"See… You aren't weaker than me… I don't know where you came up with the idea that you are a hindrance." Wiping her glistening face with a handkerchief, Elise sat down on the rock again.
"Hehehe! Sorry." He chuckled sheepishly.
"But, on a more serious note, I appreciate the help, Elise. I was really trying to self-destruct because of my selfishness. Thank you."
"..."
Elise didn't answer as she looked elsewhere with the same cold face she usually had. But, Rin had already grown accustomed to this cold friend of his so he can notice small details in her expression that no one else would normally notice. Her face was indeed more relaxed than usual and her beautiful red lips were also quite relaxed, almost smiling.
Many would think he was imagining things, but Rin wanted to believe that she was happy for him. He was selfish, he knew that but he won't change this particular part of his that wants Elise to see him as a good friend and a great partner.
That was now one of his goals that he will try to achieve in the longer term. For him, Elise deserves to at least have someone to rely on in times of need and he wanted to be that person just to pay her back for all the things she did for him across their two lives.
"Damn it, I owe her way too much for me to be able to pay it." He murmured.
However, he didn't notice that Elise was listening carefully to him. So, she asked.
"What did you just say?"
"Hmm?"
"You said something, didn't you?"
"Oh! It's nothing, really." He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Just say it."
"You are too persistent."
"And you are too stubborn. Say it."
"Ugh! Dammit! It's really awkward and stupid."
"I have already seen your stupid side, you don't need to hide it."
"Ouch! That's mean." Rin made a fake pained look and retorted.
"Then say it or I will be meaner."
"Ugh, fine. What I said is 'I owe Elise way too much to ever pay her back in this lifetime'."
"..."
"See? It was stupid and it should've stayed a secret." He said as he averted his eyes with an angry pout.
However, Elise ignored that sulking of his and focused on his words.
"You owe me something?" She asked confusedly.
"Obviously?" He said matter-of-factly.
"Since when?"
"Huh? Did you forget? You always have been a huge help to me. Ever since our days in the shelter. You always took my side against the others and tried to reason with them. I really respected you because of it."
"It wasn't really intended to help you. I was just choosing the rational decision to take at the time."
"Still, I consider that a great help that I very much appreciate. But, that's only a small example. You did many more things for me that I really can't pay back. Hell, you even saved my life back in that dungeon. It's already a huge favor that I can never pay back."
"..."
Elise was completely speechless. She didn't know why, but his words, as insignificant as they may sound, affected her emotions deeply.
'He considers what I did a great favor?' She asked herself.
All of her life, her worth was determined by what she can offer rather than what she can be. She lived a life of giving and never taking. No one even entertained the thought of giving her back anything. Even her father, her closest person, saw her as someone who took away everything he loved and cherished. He never acknowledged what she tried to do. He never acknowledged how much she worked hard to keep their family afloat when her mother was ill. He never even saw that she was trying so hard to save him and her mother from that shitty life they were in.
Hell, the main reason for her accepting the offer of that famous composer was because she saw the great future her family could have somewhere else far from that shithole of a village.
In the end, she ended up losing, she lost her childhood years working hard day and night, never sleeping enough, never eating enough, and never playing enough like someone her age should be doing.
Countless times she looked at the other children as they laughed happily as they played while she had to get ready to go home and start the accumulating house chores and the ever-deteriorating health of her mother.
But now, someone had actually acknowledged something she did. Someone said to her that she did him a great favor, that he owes her his life. How can she not feel it? How can't her heart move because of those simple yet deep words?
Rin, who didn't notice that, continued speaking.
"I don't really know how to pay you back. But, I will try to-" His eyes coincidentally landed on her face and his mouth froze open as his eyes widened.
One of her eyes had a trickle of tear moving down her cheek. She didn't look sad or angry, just a look of slight astonishment for some reason.
Elise… was crying?
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