As the five walked back into the hotel room, Elijah lingered at the door, staring at the unconscious men on the ground.
"You coming in?"
Elijah turned his head. Kevin was leaning against the wall, watching him.
"Ah… I was just wondering what would happen if these guys woke up, that's all."
Quickly recollecting himself, Elijah smiled slightly,the kind of nervous smile someone might wear when almost getting caught planning a surprise party.
Kevin glanced past him at the bodies lying around the doorway. With a faint smirk, he walked over and began dragging them away.
"…What are you doing?" Elijah asked, dumbfounded.
That was exactly what he had wanted to do!
Not wanting to be outdone, Elijah joined in, dragging the bodies inside by their hands or collars.
"Are you two going to-"
Azreal poked his head out from his room, wondering why the others hadn't come in yet. What greeted him was the sight of his friends dragging mercenaries into the hotel.
Staring at the two lunatics in disbelief, Azreal's eyes widened.
"What are you two doing?"
Elijah immediately dropped the man he was dragging, raising his hands as if caught red-handed.
"I-I was just worried they'd wake up, that's all!"
"…Is that so?"
Azreal wanted to scoff at the obvious lie, but he couldn't. Elijah's expression was too earnest,too genuinely worried for it to be entirely false. Still, if they were that worried, wouldn't it make more sense to tie them up instead of bringing them inside?
"Serena! Saoirse! There's a clown show at the front door!"
Azreal shouted for the others, his voice echoing through the hall.
"Ah! Hey!"
Kevin quickly tried to cover his mouth, but Azreal dodged easily.
"So what's your real reason for bringing these mercenaries inside?" Azreal asked, catching Kevin's hand.
Kevin sighed and glanced at Elijah.
"I… I wanted to give them to you all as a gift."
"?"
Feeling Azreal's sharp stare, Kevin quickly corrected himself.
"I mean, I wanted to question them."
"Then you should've told us first, don't you think?" Saoirse said, stepping into view.
Kevin's eyes met Serena's. They stared at each other for a moment, silent.
Seeing that, the gears in Elijah's mind finally began to turn.
"Ah… You were afraid Serena would disapprove?" he asked. "You really were just bringing the bodies here because you were worried they'd wake up…"
Azreal turned toward Elijah, looking unimpressed, he had guessed what he was doing!.
Elijah, realizing how ridiculous it sounded, decided to use his right to remain silent. after sll, what would happen if they woke up here! would they have to knock them out again?
"I don't disapprove, if that's what you're worried about," Serena said quietly. "These people are criminals, after all."
"Then shall we start questioning them?" Saoirse asked, crouching down and poking one of the men on the cheek.
***
"are your eyes okay?" Evertt's voice came from behind.
"How many times are you going to ask me that?" Zaire replied, clearly annoyed as he turned around, his eyes still glowing faintly.
"I am the demigod of time. Unless I use the divinity for a prolonged period without rest, I'll be fine."
Evertt nodded, and Zaire turned back, continuing down the path.
Truth be told, Evertt wasn't particularly worried about Zaire's use of divinity. He was more worried about zaire leading him the wrong way because he was tracking the wrong thing. Even if his body wasn't the strongest, wielding the divine authority of time should be easy for a demigod, right? Demigods usually had control over their own powers. The demigod of lies, for instance,any lie spoken by them became reality (as long as it is believed) The same logic should apply to time.
Yes, that must be it.
What he was actually worried about was that they were lost in the middle of nowhere.
The two had been walking through the forest for about an hour, the only sounds being Evertt's occasional questions and the crunch of leaves underfoot. Zaire rarely initiated conversation.
'he's always been like this'
evertt suppressed a sigh.
"So… do you have any idea where we're going?"
"Not really."
"…What?"
Then where were they even going?
Perhaps noticing his confusion, Zaire continued, "I'm following the traces of the demonic creatures. There should be more in this forest. It's a breeding ground for them."
"Ah, I see."
Silence fell again, awkward and heavy.
After a while, Zaire suddenly stopped and turned around. His eyes were no longer glowing.
"What's wrong, Zaire? Are your eyes hurting? You tired?"
"You really do see me as someone younger now."
"…."
Well, he couldn't exactly deny it. Even back then, Evertt had seen Zaire as the younger one,someone reckless, someone who didn't care much about getting hurt. That hadn't changed. And now that Zaire towered over him, that instinctive worry felt almost misplaced, but still, it lingered.
But that wasn't the point.
"…What?"
They stared at each other for a moment before Zaire simply turned and kept walking.
Did he really just stop to say that? Evertt thought, shaking his head and following after him.
"You use a sword now?" Zaire asked suddenly.
"H-huh? Oh, yes, I do. I'm fine with any weapon. To be strong, one has to be proficient with all kinds of weapons, after all."
Caught off guard, Evertt quickly straightened up, trying to sound confident.
"Is that so? A lot has changed in the last twenty years,"
Zaire said quietly.
"Well, the Great Calamity happened twenty years ago. It's not exactly strange that things changed, right? Besides, i'm good with all weapons"
Evertt joked, hoping to lighten the mood.
Zaire didn't respond, and Evertt couldn't see his expression. He wondered what Zaire felt about all this,returning to a world that had moved on without him. To everyone else, twenty years had passed. But for Zaire, it was as if time had frozen.
Time truly was ruthless to all.
"We're here," Zaire said suddenly.
Evertt blinked, startled out of his thoughts as he felt his sleeve being tugged.
Looking down, he found Zaire holding onto it with his usual calm expression.
"As the demigod of strength, you'll handle all the fighting, won't you?"
So this brat was trying to make him do all the work?
Well, he didn't really mind.
"Hah, sure," Evertt replied with a faint smile.
Fighting was the least of his worries. He had far more to think about,his students, the citizens, and now Zaire, who had reappeared after all these years.
Would something that had remained constant for twenty years finally change? Would he find new purpose, or would he stay stagnant in time, always caught in the shadow of the Clock Keepers?
Evertt didn't know. But with time, everything changed.
And no matter what happened, he'd always be there for him.