Chapter 77: A Different Side

The moment Stella read the first part of the message from the slip, she did not hesitate and immediately activated the transmission array going to the entrance leading to the northwest tower courtyard.

This was the same array she used to lead Kyran to the training ground. The truth, there was another one at the front steps of the northwest tower, and it was closer to the training ground, but if she appeared there, it would draw too much attention. After all, the northwest tower was where the barracks and the infirmary were located.

Stella levitated and rushed to the building inside the training ground.

'That stupid Sigma,' she thought in exasperation while she flew directly to the room where she left Kyran. 'I said not to lay a hand on Kyran and yet!'

She knew that Sigma was dissatisfied with her decision to be lenient with Kyran. However, she did not expect him to disobey her orders. Although Sigma was headstrong, he had always been obedient and only had the Conclave's best interests at heart.

Originally, Stella planned to clear all misunderstandings during the meeting. However, with this incident, would they be able to reconcile properly?

As soon as she arrived, she blasted the doors to the training room and roused her magic.

"Stop!" She shouted as golden clocks appeared in all corners of the room.

But.

"What?" Stella stopped in midair when she realized that the room was empty. She descended to the ground and surveyed the whole room. She immediately noticed the huge hole on the wall at the back of the room. There were also traces of fighting inside.

'The array did not activate?' She wondered and examined the array on the floor.

'No. It did. Initially, I suggested this room for Kyran cause his magic was pretty destructive, but if he's only using it for practice, the array could withstand it.' She pondered and looked at the hole on the wall. 'But if Kyran uses his magic seriously. He'd be able to destroy the whole place, not to mention the array.'

Her brows creased slightly while she remembered the message on the slip.

'It said Kyran had unleashed his magic so I was expecting to see a ruined training room but... apart from the hole on the wall and the destroyed array. There were too little damage.'

She suddenly remembered that the slip had another part, but because she was too worried, she did not bother to read the rest and rushed to the training ground.

'And... where is everybody?' She wondered and surveyed the whole room again.

"Milord!"

A male's voice suddenly called out to her.

Stella turned her attention back to the hole and saw Avrum approaching with an awkward smile.

"Milord," he greeted with a slight bow. "I'm sorry for sending out such an alarming message. At that time, I thought Chairman Malia would not be able to stop them and-."

"Where are they?" Stella interrupted. She felt a little relieved that Malia was able to stop Kyran and Sigma's fight.

"They are at the infirmary right now, Milord." Avrum replied, not minding her interruption.

"Infirmary?" she repeated, her voice rising a notch.

Seeing her worried expression, Avrum hastily added, "Rest assured they had not suffered any-."

However, Stella did not wait for him to finish. She immediately levitated and flew out the hole and straight to the infirmary.

Avrum could not help but sweat. When he sent the message to the Lord, he did exaggerate a bit. But he only wanted to emphasize the urgency of the matter to her. Who would have thought that after just sending it for a couple of minutes, Malia arrived with Sigma and Kyran acting civil?

Malia told Avrum to go back to the training room and wait for the Lord. She also told him to explain that she managed to resolve the matter temporarily.

'I'm sorry Chairman. I may have triggered the Lord's reversed scale,' Avrum thought uneasily and followed suit.

"Milord, please slow down. There is nothing to worry," he called after her.

Instead of slowing down, Stella picked up her pace.

It only took almost a minute for her to reach the northwest tower.

The northwest tower had two entrances. The one on the left side led to the barracks, while the one on the right led to the infirmary and alchemy chamber.

Obviously, Stella entered to the right. As soon as Stella entered the infirmary, it caused a commotion among the people inside.

"It's the Lord of the Tower!"

"Was she not supposed to be in closed doors?"

"What are you talking about, she already left this morning. There were talks that she will make a very important announcement later!"

Whispering among the patients ensued. A few minutes ago, they were actually surprised when Malia and Sigma came in with a young man they did not recognize. Speculations roused about the young man's identity.

And now, even the Lord of the Tower had come.

Every attending nurse rushed to the entrance and lined up. It was a sight to see how in sync they all were. It was also hard to differentiate them, with their uniformed white robe with green accents and a white cap. The only indication was their silver badge with their names pinned on their vest.

"Milord," they all bowed in respect. 

Stella nodded her head in response to their greeting. She looked at the nearest nurse and asked at once, "Where are they?"

The nurse was quick to understand who Stella meant and immediately pointed at a private room located at the end of the hall, "If you're looking for Chairman Malia and President Sigma, they went to the room at the far end of the hall, Milord."

"Thank you," Stella thanked the nurse with a faint smile. She levitated once again and directly flew to the room where the nurse had pointed.

Every person inside could not help but look at each other in wonder. Although Stella looked calmed, they felt her distress. After all, they never saw her fly her way to her destination looking like that.

A few seconds later, Avrum also entered.

"Hah..hah.." He panted.

"Head Alchemist Avrum," they once again bowed down in greeting.

"N-No need... to bow..." He told them, still catching his breath. He was a mage and an alchemist, his stamina had always been bad, yet he noticed he had been running around a lot lately. Whether it was to get ingredients for the potions, they were brewing or running errands for the Chairman and the Lord of the Tower.

'Ah~ I badly need a break,' he thought.

He took a few deep breaths before straightening his back and asked no one in particular, "The Lord?"

"The Lord went to the room where Chairman Malia and President Sigma are," the previous nurse answered.

"Thanks," he replied and followed Stella's tracks.

Once again, all the attending nurses, and some patients, could not help but look at one another.

Just what was going on with the council today?

====================

Inside one of the private rooms of the infirmary.

Kyran sat at the edge of the bed while Malia sat on a chair in front of him.

She volunteered to concoct a potion for him, but he refused and said he had some pills but wanted to let his bones heal normally. When she asked why he would subject himself to much pain, he answered that he did not want to always rely on potions and pills when healing himself.

Malia then remembered that one of the reasons the Regis were feared was their excellent tolerance in pain and natural healing ability. So she did not insist further and only applied some salve on his arm. 

Before she could dress his arm, he stopped her and said he would do it himself.

Malia watched in silence as Kyran wrapped his left arm with a bandage. She was surprised at how adept he was at patching his own wounds. But she also felt a slight tug in her heart.

If Kyran was this adept at patching himself, it meant he had a lot of practice.

Sigma, who was standing by the door with his arms crossed, was also silently watching Kyran.

He hated this boy for causing such a ruckus to the Tower of Conclave. Most importantly, for beguiling their Lord. However, after fighting and observing him now, he felt that he misjudged this boy's character... just a little.

When they fought earlier, Kyran acted cocky to Sigma. But if he thought of Kyran's upbringing and current circumstances, he realized that he was not really cocky. He was only being guarded.

Sigma was suddenly reminded of a porcupine. As long as you stay away from it, you will not get stabbed.

He also remembered the purple half-sphere Kyran released. Based on their understanding of his magic, it could destroy anything it touches. That was why he avoided making direct contact when it appeared on Kyran's feet. After all, he could only recreate his magic to form a weak spot on Kyran's magic, not defend against it.

But the purple half-sphere did not destroy everything.

'Does it mean he can control it now? If yes, then did he use it knowing that I would avoid it? Doesn't that mean he was only trying to keep me away because he only want to destroy my arrays?'

This boy actually did not want to hurt him?

Sigma scowled. Just thinking about it annoyed him. Right from the start, he was the only one who seriously wanted to hurt the boy. The boy only retaliated in defense.

Even when Kyran kicked him, Sigma had a feeling that he was only testing his endurance.

'Annoying rascal,' Sigma thought. But his annoyance had alleviated a little.

BANG!

The door burst open so suddenly that it almost made the three of them jump.

"Kyran!" Stella emerged from the door.

"Stel-Oi!"

Kyran was immediately flattened on the bed as Stella flew on top of him.

"Milord!" Malia and Sigma exclaimed, both flustered and a little embarrassed after seeing the inappropriate position the two made.

"Geroff-!"

"Where were you hurt?" Stella demanded as she leaned back and checked every inch of his body.

"O-Oi just where are you touching-!" Kyran protested. He wanted to get Stella off, but he was unsure where to touch her without giving that Sigma another thing to overreact.

It was too late, though. Especially with their position and Stella's expression, Sigma could not believe that he saw a different side of their Lord.

On the other hand, Malia simply sighed since she was the closest to Stella and anticipated her reaction.

"Your arm!" Stella exclaimed as soon as she saw Kyran's bandaged forearm. Her eyes glinted malevolently as they turned to gold.

Black lines appeared on Kyran's head upon seeing her expression.

Stella's magic pressure surged as she turned to look at Sigma.

"Sigma!" She shouted.

"Y-Yes, Milord!"