Noctar accepted Garner's hand, the grip now one of alliance, not assessment.
"The honor would be mine," he said, the words feeling foreign on his tongue but strategically correct. A necessary formality to seal the contract.
// Deception and social engineering module rating: Five stars. Flawless execution, S.A.R.A. chimed, her tone dripping with pride. // You successfully concealed the divine backend, leveraged the extraordinary, and presented a palatable, world saving truth perfectly tailored for a military logistical mindset. I am thoroughly impressed. The 'legendary class envoy' framing is a masterstroke.
Garner gave a final, firm shake and released his hand, immediately shifting into operational mode. "Good. Rest here. Heal fully. The medics say your physical trauma is minor, but your neural pathways look like they were used as a lightning rod.
We can't have you frying your brain on mission one." He began outlining details with crisp efficiency. "Once you're discharged, you'll be debriefed, given secure identification, and introduced to the team."
At the word "team," Ardyn's eyes, which had been watching the exchange with intense focus, lit up with an unmistakable, brilliant excitement. It was a look Noctar had never seen on her, not the cool calculation of a knight, nor the weary relief of a survivor, but a pure, unadulterated passion, like an artist being handed a masterpiece to restore.
Garner noticed it too and let out a long suffering sigh that seemed to carry the weight of years of similar expressions. "Yes, that team. The one she's permanently attached herself to." He turned his explanation fully to Noctar. "The 'Death Team', internal designation Sigma-7, is our most classified, direct action strike force. Its sole purpose is the investigation, containment, and where possible, neutralization of Death Dungeon anomalies.
Its members are not the strongest in raw power, necessarily, but the most unique, specialized talents we have across the continent. Legendary, Unique, and high-tier Rare classes only. Seven members in total. One S-Rank, four A-Ranks, and two B-Ranks who punch so far above their weight class it's statistically terrifying." He gave Noctar a pointed, significant look. "With your capabilities confirmed, you will be our second S-Rank. The operational anchor."
The implication was clear and heavy: Noctar wouldn't just be a new recruit; he would be a pillar, a cornerstone upon which the entire high-risk strategy now relied.
A sly, almost imperceptible glint entered Garner's eye, a predator testing new terrain. "Ardyn, be a dear and fetch us some decent coffee from the staff cafeteria. The sludge they bring patients is an affront. Your… friend looks like he could use the proper stimulant."
Ardyn, for all her battlefield brilliance and tactical genius, was utterly transparent when it came to her guardian's subtle machinations. She immediately turned to Noctar, her expression soft with concern, silently asking, Is that okay? Are you alright alone with him? Do you need anything else?
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Garner's knuckles, resting on the molded plastic bedside table, turned white. The casing of his secure comms device emitted a faint, stressed creak. The message was deafening: She checks with him. Not with me.
Noctar, wisely, gave a single, neutral nod, his face a placid mask. "Coffee would be fine. Thank you, Ardyn." His tone was courteous, nothing more.
The moment the door clicked shut behind her, the father figure vanished, replaced entirely by the apex predator. Garner leaned in, closing the distance, his voice dropping to a low, vibrating threat that carried the weight of absolute, unshakeable certainty.
"Listen to me, boy," he growled, the professional warmth from their agreement utterly gone, scoured away by a more primal fire. "You might be Gaia's own blessed janitor. You might be the master key to saving this whole damn world. But if you hurt her, if you so much as chip that brilliant, stubborn heart of hers, or get her killed because of your own recklessness or your cursed 'mission', I will personally ensure you spend the rest of your very, very long life wishing you would die. I will reassign you to a dungeon so deep and dark you'll forget the sun exists. Do you understand me?"
The threat wasn't hyperbolic. It was a statement of fact, delivered with the calm certainty of a man who could make it happen. Noctar didn't flinch. He didn't offer empty promises or defiant boasts. He simply met Garner's burning, protective gaze and gave a slow, solemn nod. In this, silence was the only answer that held any weight. Acknowledgment, not just agreement. Understanding the stakes.
Garner leaned back, the terrible promise hanging in the antiseptic air between them like a naked blade. He still didn't like him. This enigmatic, low level man with world altering power was already, clearly, taking root in his daughter's heart, and there was no enemy to charge, no dungeon wall to break down and stop it. It was a battle he was uniquely unequipped to fight.
When Ardyn returned, balancing three steaming paper cups, she found a room blanketed in a quiet, dense tension. Sensing the atmosphere, she immediately launched into an animated, surprisingly detailed tactical breakdown of her fight with the dragon, her eyes sparkling as she focused on Noctar's impossible, mid-air interception. "... I watched the dungeon camera feed before it fried...and his entry vector! He didn't just teleport in, he hacked the spatial lock! And he's really, unnervingly good with a gun! You should have seen the shot placement on the Sand Worms while he was overheating! Surgical!"
With every admiring word, every flash of vibrant enthusiasm in her eyes when she glanced at Noctar, Garner's face grew stonier, settling into a grim glacier of paternal displeasure. He sipped his coffee in silence, a monolithic monument to thwarted protectiveness.
And though Noctar's expression remained a mask of polite, attentive neutrality, his heart that cold, logical organ he relied on for survival did something entirely illogical. It warmed. It swelled against his ribs. Seeing her like this, unleashed and vibrant, fighting for him with words and shining eyes where swords had failed, made something deep within his meticulously ordered psyche click into a new, permanent configuration. It was more terrifying and more exhilarating than facing the dragon.
Later, after Garner had left with a final, warning look and a list of administrative promises, and the evening shift had dimmed the lights, Ardyn finally succumbed to her own exhaustion in the chair beside him. The room was quiet, bathed in the soft glow of a single crystal lamp.
S.A.R.A. broke the silence, her voice uncharacteristically soft, almost hesitant.
// Post-operation analysis complete. The decision tree ROI for saving Ardyn Vermont has been recalculated. It now shows a positive return that exceeds all previous computational models for optimal survival and goal acquisition pathways. It was, objectively, the most strategically sound choice you have made since your arrival.
// Additionally… boss? There is a tertiary data file. I took the liberty of creating a local backup cache during your convalescent periods when my primary functions were prioritizing your biological stability. Designation: ARDYN_CARE_PROTOCOL_01. It contains approximately 4.7 hours of compressed audiovisual and biometric data from the period when you were non-responsive. It consists primarily of her providing medical supervision and… non medical support.
Noctar's breath hitched in the quiet room. Show me.
A private window, invisible to all but him, opened in his mind's eye. The footage was stark, clear, and utterly captivating. There she was, the unbreakable Rose Knight, her face etched with a worry so deep it looked like physical pain. He watched, transfixed, as she gently smoothed his blanket, her fingers, so capable of violence, brushing the hair from his fevered forehead with a tenderness that seemed to awe even her.
He heard the soft, raw murmur of her voice, a constant stream meant for his unconscious ears: "…just hold on, Noctar. Don't you dare quit on me. I have questions… You owe me answers… Stay."
He watched it all, the logical part of his mind analyzing the stress biomarkers in her voice, the exhaustion in her posture, while every other part of him simply… felt. He saw the moment she thought no one was looking, resting her forehead gently against his bandaged hand, her silver hair a curtain around them.
The most formidable force he had encountered in this world, divine or mortal, was not a god's power or a dragon's fury. It was this. This relentless, terrifying, beautiful care.
He let the playback loop, a secret warmth in the cool hospital night, as he watched over the woman who had, without permission, begun rewriting his own core code.