Scarlet

After doing a quick use of the clean skill – which I have to say, is a life saver and probably one of my favorite things outside of combat that I get being a Guardian, since I don’t have to do anywhere near as much getting up from bed anymore – I glance at the clock once, briefly noting that it’s already evening on Thursday before I head towards the living room. Then I halt in my tracks at the doorway and do a double take towards the clock.

I’ve been out for almost a day?!

“Been wondering how long it’d take you to notice that,” Tar mutters, sounding slightly amused.

I ignore him as I stare at the clock for a few seconds, briefly mourning the lost time that I could’ve spent studying or training. But after a few more seconds, I get over it and continue walking out of my room, closing the door behind me. And right when I’m about to reach the front door to my suite, I hear a set of footsteps passing through the hall outside in my direction.

Wait, I can hear through the walls?

“Remember? Your hearing improves with your stats,” Tar says, vanishing on account of the person walking down the hall, “although part of it is likely because your right next to the door, closer to the source of the sound and with less walls in between you.”

Hmm. I’m not sure how I feel about my hearing anymore. Although I guess I could always switch ears if I end up hearing too well.

Actually, come to think of it, I know some Guardians tend to change appearances as they advance to the next Classes. Will that happen to me?

Tar doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, leaving the only sound in the hallway to my suite being that of the clicking of what sounds like boots outside stepping down the hall. Then he eventually sighs and mutters, “I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you. But we should wait for this conversation till after you see whoever is waiting outside your suite.”

And right when he says that, the footsteps stop outside my door, making me briefly wonder just what he is able to see from that place he goes to after vanishing.

I stare at the ground for a few seconds, wondering just what he meant and what he’s planning on telling me, only to shake my head and tap on the terminal, making the screen display live footage of what’s outside of the room. And immediately after seeing it, I wish I could find some other way out of my room.

Right when I’m wondering what to do, I hear the door buzzing, followed by Cynthia’s voice, “I know you’re on the other side of the door. Might as well open it, sweetheart.”

I sigh.

This is gonna be a pain.

I tap on the screen, making it record my audio for her to hear before saying, “No hugs.”

She visibly deflates, even as I open the door. And I can’t help but notice her hands twitching, likely itching to hug me. But she holds herself back. Which is a good sign.

“So, Scarlet,” she awkwardly says while stepping back a little to let me into the hallway. And after I leave my suite, I lock the door behind me and turn around to look at her, my hands firmly in my pockets. “Are you feeling okay?”

She’s wearing the same outfit she’s almost always wearing. A black, white, and pale blue set of magi-tech gear. Not made out of any sort of metal, outside of her chest, shoulders, wrists, and ankles, but instead made out of some sort of special fiber developed by Silver Works. The outfit has a cloak that goes all the way down almost to the floor, despite her being slightly taller than myself. Meanwhile she herself has blue eyes and black hair, tinted with shades of pale blue.

“I’m fine,” I answer her, glancing behind her to see if there’s anyone else in the hall, only to find no one. Then I look back at her again and add, “Thank you for the help yesterday.”

A faint smile stretches across her face, and she says, “Of course. I’ll always be there if you need the help. Just say the word.”

And there she goes again. Hinting but not outright saying that she wants to help me. Particularly by adopting me.

But my answer is still no. If the CEO of Silver Works – a Class IV well-known Guardian – and his wife – another well-known Class IV Guardian – adopted an orphan, even if she is a Guardian herself, it wouldn’t look good for them. It would massively hurt their reputation, give Allen’s brother a chance at Allen’s position as CEO again, and hurt his credibility with the board of shareholders, and I really don't want to cause harm to them considering all they've done for me.

Only way I'd consider it was if I reached Class III myself. Then the people in this city probably wouldn't look down on me at that point.

In fact, most people kind of just forget you’re an orphan after you reach Class III. Or at least, that’s what happened with any other orphans who’ve contracted and reached that level of power.

Mostly because there have been Class I and Class II 'Guardians' who were actually changelings in disguise. It almost never happens, but it has happened before.

But there has never been a Class III 'Guardian' changeling. Probably because the creatures themselves are Class III, or at least start out that way. So it likely gets a lot more difficult to mimic a human Guardian at the same Class as themself for some reason.

So then I’d be fine with an adoption. But only then.

“Of course,” I answer her with a smile before asking, “how’s the frontline?”

She seems a little disappointed with my answer as always but follows our little routine to the letter and answers, “It’s been slow. No real progress has been made towards taking back the island from the demons. Mostly because that damned bastard Satan keeps changing up his attack plan as if the sky would fall should he use the same tactic more than once!”

I grimace at the mention of the Oni that managed to sneak his way through the only Class V Fracture that was opened in Japan before the fall of the old nation and before that Fracture’s core was shattered.

“Whoever let that bastard out of the core’s range of control before they shattered it should be drawn and quartered for all of the problems that demon has caused,” Cynthia continues complaining, seemingly uncaring of the fact that I’m pretty sure the one who let him out of the core’s range died in the process of doing so.

In all honesty, humanity is just lucky that only three Class V Fractures have appeared in all of history. Only one of which was stopped. The other two – one that led to the downfall of Japan, and the one that led to the downfall of the northern pole of the planet – weren’t. Although everyone was rather surprised about the one at the northern pole of the planet considering the minimal number of people there in the first place.

Another reason why no one could stop that one.

The third one happened somewhere around nineteen to twenty years ago, right here in this city. And three of the Knights were present and managed to stop it.

Honestly, the only reason the world is still free from demon control right now is that there appears to be a limit on who can actually come through the gates that the cores manifest into, and how strong the ones who can pass through can be. Along with a cap on how many at once without reality becoming shaky around the gate, possibly collapsing the thing in the process.

“Well, enough about that,” Cynthia suddenly says, surprising me that she isn’t gonna drone on and on about how much she hates Satan. Or Blue for that matter, who is in charge of the assault on the old island nation. “You’re probably starving by now, so go ahead and get something to eat. Meet with me and Allen in his office once you’re done, okay?” she adds this last part while reaching out and caressing my face, making me want to back away from the physical contact. But this time I let her, purely because I know she was worried about me.

“Okay,” I answer with a light nod of my head, glancing behind her to see Michael and his team turning the corner in the hallway. Then I focus on her again.

At least it’s not the ears.

She glances at my ears.

I narrow my eyes.

She pulls her arm back and begins to walk away while waving and saying, “I’ll see you in a bit then, sweetheart!”

“By the way, she touched your ears while you were unconscious,” Tar whispers into my mind, making my eyes flare as I shout, “You stars-damned sneak! Do not touch my ears!”

Cynthia just starts walking faster while waving behind herself.