The clouds roared as thunderstorms illuminated the dark sky. Heavy rain crashed onto Dimrath as people took shelter or simply didn't really care about getting soaked. Some gathered accessories to shield them from the water even as they walked, while others immediately hid below a building or a tree.
The underground expanse, meanwhile, was blissfully untouched by the rain. Not even a single hole was present in the ceiling, courtesy of Vekas, who had sealed off all the ventilation holes here.
This made the underground expanse a better hiding spot, as Vekas is supposed to be missing from the face of Varkana. Since semi-spiritual lifeforms like him didn't need to breathe to survive, Axthoref — the air humans breathe to stay alive — was unnecessary.
Vekas sat silently, grilling a beef steak using the fire he had lit up. His black, pearl-like eyes seemed dull and fully focused on the fire and the beef. The fire illuminated his white hair, his pale, smooth skin, and his white cloak and robes, accentuating his alluring features even further.
I am sure he has at least some admirers. Sierra thought to herself, her own figure illuminated by the fire's light. Her ocean-blue eyes studied Vekas's figure, which seemed like a god in human flesh, with utmost sharpness yet detachment.
To her, his outstanding features meant nothing. She was never too much of a fan of beauty, after all. Even if she was a gorgeous woman herself, did it matter? Of course not. In the end, beauty does not achieve your goals unless what you want is only to charm.
Charming wasn't Sierra's goal, nor was her goal to be charmed. As a result, she found beauty meaningless. She scoffed inwardly, considering the idea as something not worth her concern.
Nevertheless, she wondered. Did Vekas have a goal to charm? No, of course not. He didn't seem like the guy obsessed with beauty. His dull eyes conveyed a sense of duty rather than lust or any other emotion.
He cared only about his kingdom. That much was obvious. She could respect that goal of his.
What truly troubled her, however, was the mystery of Revan's true goal. His looks were charming and heavily alluring as well, perhaps even more than those of Vekas. And yet, she could tell that charming others or being charmed wasn't his goal.
So what was his goal? Acting for himself? Helping the kingdom? Eating Augustus's burritos? No, it couldn't be that. Could it just be interest in the situation, or could it be something else?
Revan was a far more mysterious man for her than Vekas, who made his ideals obvious for anyone to see, and he didn't seem ashamed by presenting them to the world.
Yet, Revan's ideals and goals were hidden in a mask so perfect that it seemed uncrackable. Whenever she looked at him, all she could see was his infuriating smirk, his taunting words, his deep ruby-red eyes that held a glint of amusement, his messy jet-black hair, and his suit that seemed foreign to all of Varkana, let alone her.
Yes, his appearance. This appearance was the only thing she could see when she looked at him. She couldn't see his thoughts, the reach of his abilities, the ideals he holds dear, the intelligence he wields with finesse. Nothing of it.
She gulped silently, her lips pursed as that lack of insight into him bothered her. She was good at seeing through other people. It was one of the perks she got for living for a whole millennium.
And yet, Revan was like a blank slate that she was trying to find something on. No, he wasn't blank. That would be an insult to his appearance. It would be more accurate to call him a slate with a design that was only meant for show, with its real design hidden beneath it.
But isn't a slate supposed to have one design? To Sierra, the answer now seemed unclear. Can a slate truly have a design hidden under another design? Isn't that 'hidden' design merely part of the exterior design?
Yet, it didn't feel the same with Revan, as if both were different. It was a feeling she couldn't understand. Her teeth gritted at the thought. Even Vekas wasn't completely safe from her natural insight, let alone her [Sage's Insight], which was greater than [Appraisal].
And yet, Revan was untouched by both. Was this a joke? Was this an insult to her analytical ability? It may be, and it may not, because Sierra was sure that she wasn't the only person incapable of seeing through Revan at all.
She turned to Vekas, and she could tell that he couldn't see through him either. Revan was just that mysterious, after all.
"Hey... I never asked how you met Revan. Care to tell me about it?" Sierra asked, her gaze directed at the general.
Vekas turned his sharp eyes to her, making them lose their dullness. "And why should I tell you about something so insignificant? We should focus on our objective."
His answer made Sierra scoff softly, somewhat expecting the response, yet still unnerved by it. She could feel Vekas's gaze still on her, studying her figure and her furrowed brows with those sharp eyes that looked like black pearls.
Truth be told, he had been using [Accelerated Perception] the entire time he was sitting there. He couldn't remain idle with no thoughts, after all, so he began planning ways to further harm this rebellion and help Aethelgard.
When Sierra called him over, his attention shifted to her, and with [Accelerated Perception], he began to wonder about her. Specifically, he wondered why she had previously gone after Princess Sofamy.
She said that Princess Sofamy had harmed her family, but how could that be possible? Princess Sofamy was kind, gentle, and nurtured by the kingdom. She isn't used to being even near any vile behavior, let alone having done something so vicious that even a semi-spiritual lifeform was after her.
An illusion spell... Princess Sofamy was a master at Illusion Magic, but it was never to the extent that it could fool the royal family or powerhouses like him. She was still a normal being, not even semi-spiritual.
There was some flaw in Sierra's explanation, yet he couldn't figure it out. Even Revan was certain that there was a flaw, so it had to be true. Augustus was taking her side, yet Revan was defending him.
This confused him further. Revan was siding with one of them, but was suspicious of the other. It was an unpleasant contradiction. Maybe Revan knew more than what he let on? Why wasn't he saying anything, then? Why was he acting as if he was still figuring it out himself?
Ah, there is no need to wonder about that... The simple answer was that Revan was bored, and to entertain himself, he didn't reveal any more knowledge than he already had. At least, that was Vekas's theory.
It could be fully possible that Revan was still somewhat clueless, or maybe he knew everything. The general sighed, realising that the more he thought about Revan, the more his headache grew. He was too mysterious to be thought of too much.
He turned back to Sierra's question despite having refused to answer it. How did he meet Revan? Ah, he didn't tell her. Nor did he tell Augustus. Both didn't know what Revan was even doing in this nation, and it obviously puzzled them.
And now, Sierra sat before him, asking the question that both Silent Harmoners were secretly thinking about.
Thanks to [Accelerated Thoughts], only a second had passed as he thought all this, as well as a few more thoughts.
"All I say is that Sir Revan came into my life unexpectedly. Even I am still bewildered by it," he spoke as if he didn't have a whole discussion in his mind about Sierra and Revan.
His answer made Sierra narrow her eyes, with those ocean-blue eyes seemingly scrutinizing his every move, tremor, and stillness all at once.
Unexpectedly? That only made Revan more mysterious. His answer didn't solve anything in her mind. If anything, it made the situation even worse.
Who the hell is Revan? Why is he in Aethelgard? Why is he helping the kingdom? Why is he going against the rebels? What is going on?
"Yet, you came unexpectedly as well." The general's words brought her back to reality as he gazed at his black eyes.
"You came and attacked the empire's princess. I still need to know your true goal here. Why are you helping us, Sierra?" Vekas's black pupils stared into her ocean-blue eyes, as if trying to examine her soul.
Sierra met his gaze head-on with narrowed eyes. She resisted the urge to clench her fists, the urge to show an unsightly expression, and the urge to show the absolute hatred she had in her heart.
She merely sighed in response. "My goal is none of your business, General. However, you already know that it is revenge, so why do you ask?"
"Because there is no evidence for the thing you seek vengeance for," the general replied sharply, his tone seemingly colder than normal, something that only a being of Sierra's caliber could notice.
"You have no proof that Princess Sofamy did any of the things you want revenge for."
"And since when do I have to prove myself, General?" she retorted. "My goals, my conquests, my vengeance; all of this is mine to worry about. I don't need to prove them to anyone. Is it their vengeance? Is it their struggle? No, so why do I need to prove anything to them? Neither you nor Sir Revan needs to know anything about the details of my revenge. Have I not already told you more than necessary?"
Her words struck with a tone colder than ice. Her eyes shone with a certainty that seemed to move Vekas's heart in an unnerving way. She was resolute, and he knew that she would try to kill Sofamy as much as she could.
"Your evidence matters because you are going against us. Against Aethelgard. Against me. If you don't wish for further trouble, you must truly explain yourself. Why do you wish this? What exactly did the princess do to your family? How did she do it? How bad was it? Tell us everything so that the kingdom of Aethelgard can help you resolve the situation as peacefully as possible."
The general's words hit with resolve, yet Sierra's lips curled upwards to form a cold smile. "How presumptuous of you to believe that I care about ease and a peaceful resolution to it all. There is no peace in this. My revenge wants an eye for an eye, a life for a life. No, it would be more accurate to say a life for multiple lives. I don't need your intervention. I don't need your help in taking revenge. All I need is revenge and revenge alone, because revenge is all I want."
She narrowed her eyes. "Be grateful that I don't want lives for lives, or else I would be going after the entire royal family. I am sure you don't wish for that, do you? So here is my advice to you, General. When I seek my revenge, don't try to get in my way like last time. I assure you that you won't regret it."
Vekas gritted his teeth in response. Her narrowed eyes, coupled with her cold smile, made her look eerie and unsettling. It made it seem like she was a bigger monster than the entire rebellion he had seen so far.
Princess Sofamy... what exactly did you do to have such a monster come after you?
He personally didn't believe that she did anything. That would be pure accusations without any evidence. Yet, that pure, unconcealed hatred and coldness made him uneasy. Cold sweat flickered down his cheek as he clenched his fists till his knuckles turned white.
He slowly considered the possibility that Sofamy was indeed involved, yet he couldn't really tell if she truly played the role that Sierra said she did.