Chapter 133: The Girl Behind the Rumors
"You really love monsters."
Nearly an hour had passed since Silas dragged Darius away for their conversation, and half an hour since Cher confronted Alfred in the shuttle. Only Terio and Lara remained behind, leaving him with nothing to do but watch the girl play with her squirrels.
"They’re my babies."
Lara laughed as she skipped from side to side, holding a long wooden stick with a chunk of meat tied to its end. Around her, the squirrels chased after it with unrestrained excitement. Despite being monsters, they looked more like oversized cats than fearsome beasts.
"Babies?"
Terio frowned. He knew Tamers had a reputation for being eccentric, but Lara seemed to have taken it to another level.
"I know people think I’m weird whenever I say that." She shrugged without the slightest embarrassment. "But I don’t care. To me, these babies are the loveliest creatures in the world."
The longer she spoke, the more convinced Terio became that she had a few loose screws.
"By the way, we never properly introduced ourselves."
After nearly ten additional minutes of silence, he finally broke the awkward lull.
"Oh, you’re right."
Lara flicked the meat into the distance. The squirrels instantly abandoned their playful appearance, transforming into swift predators as they dashed after it, shoving and colliding with one another in a frantic race.
"I’m Lara, Lara Schroden. Nice to meet you."
Her cheerful introduction caught him off guard, but it was her surname that struck him like a bolt of lightning.
"Schroden... the Schroden Clan?"
His voice trembled slightly, his eyes widening in disbelief.
Rather than finding his reaction strange, Lara’s smile only widened.
"That’s right." She nodded. "And yes... I’m the girl from those stories you must have heard."
Terio froze.
’No way...’
’It’s really her.’
’The girl who brought down the king’s wrath upon her clan.’
Countless rumours resurfaced in his mind. He remembered hearing about the tragic downfall of the Schroden Clan, about how its destruction was brought over by the leader’s daughter.
And now she stood before him, smiling as brightly as ever.
The more he recalled those stories of ruin, bloodshed, and loss, the less genuine that smile appeared.
’She’s pretending...’
That was the only conclusion he could reach.
"Aren’t you afraid of him?"
Knowing who she was, he couldn’t help but think of the man responsible for her clan’s tragedy. Ironically, that man’s son was studying at the academy as well, only a few years ahead of them.
"Why would I be?"
Lara’s smile never faltered.
"I’ve got my babies to protect me."
"I have Cher."
"I have Silas and everyone else."
She said nothing more, yet Terio understood far more than her words alone conveyed. Terio felt as though he was seeing Lara for the first time.
From the stories, he knew she was the girl whose clan had fallen because of an Avaron princess.
’So the princess is Cher?’
To distract himself from this terrifying realisation, he recalled the tricky part of the stories.
Stories claimed that a Schroden princess had overheard a confidential conversation and, without intending to, ruined an important engagement with an Avaron princess. The boy’s father had flown into a rage, yet the Avaron clan stood far beyond his reach.
The Schroden clan, however, did not.
A few whispered words to the king and several carefully laid schemes were all it took to reduce her clan to ruins.
’She even lost her father because of it...’
"Enough about me."
"How about you?"
Lara’s voice interrupted his thoughts, pulling him back to the present. After a brief pause, he answered,
"I’m Terio, Terio Lanfover."
"Lanfover..."
She tilted her head toward the sky, deep in thought.
"Hmm... never heard of it."
She said it with genuine innocence, almost as though she had just remembered something important. To Terio, however, those words landed like a hammer.
"It’s... a mid-tier G-clan."
"Never heard of it."
He tried mentioning famous members of his clan, then listed the achievements of the few remarkable Enhancers they had produced over the generations.
"Still never heard of it."
’She is a hopeless case.’
After several minutes of futile explanations, Terio finally gave up.
He attempted to steer the conversation elsewhere, but Lara seemed far more interested in his background than he expected. She kept asking one question after another: where their territory was, who led the clan, how many generations had produced Enhancers, and countless other things.
He answered a few at first, yet every response only gave birth to more questions until he finally decided to stop.
"In truth, compared to your clan, mine falls short in every way."
"Even after its downfall, your clan is still famous, while mine barely leaves a trace."
That finally silenced her.
The cheerful expression vanished from Lara’s face, replaced by a quiet gloom as she remained silent for nearly a minute.
Then, as though nothing had happened, she suddenly asked,
"What about your ability?"
"What can you do? Are you a Hunter or a Mage?"
Terio blinked in disbelief. Even mentioning her clan’s tragedy had failed to distract her from questioning him.
Resigning himself to his fate, he answered plainly.
"Neither."
"I’m an Elementalist."
"What?"
Only moments ago, Lara had been standing several meters away, happily watching her three squirrels hop around while she stroked their soft fur.
The instant she heard his answer, she rushed toward him until their faces were barely a hand’s breadth apart.
Her wide, sparkling eyes stared directly into his.
’She really is eccentric... and unbelievably annoying.’
"Still..."
Without thinking, the words slipped from his mouth.
"You’re quite beautiful."
It was little more than a whisper, yet at such a short distance, Lara heard every syllable.
"You mean boy!"
Her face turned scarlet in an instant.
She stomped the ground before hurriedly retreating several steps away. Even so, she never actually left.
With her back facing him, she stood perfectly still, while Terio had no idea what was going through her mind.
"As an apology..."
"Show me."
Terio frowned, unable to tell whether she was still angry with him.
"Show you what?"
She kept her back to him, her voice carrying the faintest tremor.
"Elementalists are rare."
"I’ve never seen an Enhancer like you."
"Can you show me your ability?"
He wasn’t sure whether she was serious, so he asked cautiously,
"If I do, will you forget what I said earlier?"
Silence answered him for a long while.
"I won’t forget."
Her reply only made him more uneasy.
"But I won’t be mad if you show me."
Terio cursed inwardly. He had no idea why he had spoken his thoughts aloud in the first place, trapping himself in such an awkward situation.
"Fine."
Fortunately, her request wasn’t anything outrageous.
’At least she didn’t ask me to babysit her babies.’
"But first... could you move a little farther away?"
He expected her to ask why, yet she remained where she was without moving an inch.
"My ability is dangerous," he explained. "It releases fire in every direction, and I still can’t control it perfectly. Stay at least a hundred meters away."
"You’re just like my sister, Cher."
The unexpected comparison left him speechless, though she finally obeyed. After putting enough distance between them, she turned around to watch.
Even then, she hid her face behind her hands, spreading her fingers apart just enough to steal cautious glances at what he was about to do.
The sight drew an inward sigh from him.
This time, however, he kept his thoughts to himself. Speaking carelessly had already gotten him into enough trouble.
After making sure both Lara and her babies were safely out of range, he closed his eyes, gripped a Mana Crystal tightly in one hand, and took a slow breath.
’Please... don’t lose control this time.’
As he opened his eyes, the transformation began.
His irises ignited into brilliant yellow stars, while his hair glowed with an intensity that made it seem ready to burst apart.
Then the flames erupted.
A violent torrent of orange fire exploded from his body, swallowing the surrounding area within moments. It wasn’t ordinary fire, but a raging inferno that moved like a storm-tossed ocean, surging and crashing with terrifying force.
Towering waves of flame rose several meters into the air before rolling outward, spreading destruction in every direction.
The spectacle was as breathtaking as it was dangerous. And he maintained it for barely twenty seconds before letting the flames die.
’Still... this is the best I can manage with a single crystal.’
Looking at the handful of grey dust left in his palm, he let out a quiet sigh.
’At least I didn’t lose control.’
When he finally looked around, the damage was even greater than he had expected. The ground had been scorched black, while thin streams of smoke drifted upward from patches of smouldering earth.
He was about to ask Lara what she thought of his ability, but before he could even look at her, a low growl shattered the silence.
It wasn’t just one growl; it was three.
’Shit.’
’I got so used to calling them Lara’s babies that I forgot they were still monsters.’
The next instant, all three squirrels lunged at him.