Chapter 135: We’ve been summoned
Yeon noticed immediately, setting aside the small notepad he’d been using to sketch out a rough list of surviving guild contacts.
"You’re back early," he said. "Something wrong?"
Pale Smoke hesitated at the doorway, glancing briefly over his shoulder before stepping fully inside and closing the door behind him.
"We’ve been summoned," he said.
Yeon’s brow furrowed slightly. "By who?"
"Him," Pale Smoke said simply, though the weight behind the single word made the answer unmistakable.
Yeon’s expression shifted instantly, understanding settling in without needing further clarification.
There was only one presence powerful enough to warrant that particular tone in Pale Smoke’s voice, only one figure whose attention alone was enough to visibly unsettle a man who otherwise carried himself with careful, practiced confidence.
"The one from the sky," Yeon said slowly. "The one who told you to heal me."
Pale Smoke nodded once, his jaw tight. "A player reached out about an hour ago, and we dare not show up."
Yeon studied him for a moment, noting the faint, involuntary tension still lingering in Pale Smoke’s shoulders.
"You’re afraid of him," Yeon said.
"I’d be a fool not to be," Pale Smoke said flatly. "You didn’t see what I saw that day. The pressure alone nearly stopped my heart, and he wasn’t even trying to kill me. Just giving an order."
Yeon absorbed that quietly, filing it away alongside everything else he already knew about the terrifying entity that had judged his brother from the cracks in the sky.
If even Pale Smoke, a man who’d survived plenty of dangerous situations by his own account, considered this figure genuinely frightening, it wasn’t something Yeon intended to take lightly either.
"When do we need to leave?" Yeon asked.
"Now," Pale Smoke said. "The location isn’t far. Some private estate on the outskirts of the city. I don’t think showing up late is something either of us wants to risk."
Yeon nodded, pushing himself carefully off the cushions, testing his strength again despite the lingering soreness still radiating faintly through his midsection.
Whatever discomfort remained, it clearly wasn’t going to be an acceptable excuse for delaying a summons like this.
They left the branch office shortly after, stepping out into a waiting cab Pale Smoke had apparently already arranged, the vehicle sleek and unmarked, giving nothing away about its destination or purpose to anyone who might happen to glance at it.
The ride passed mostly in silence, the tension between them thick enough that neither seemed particularly inclined toward conversation.
Yeon spent the time staring out the window, watching the city blur past, his mind cycling steadily between anxiety and calculation.
Whatever this meeting turned out to be, he knew it wasn’t simply a courtesy call.
"Do you know what he wants?" Yeon asked eventually, breaking the silence.
Pale Smoke shook his head slightly. "No idea... but it’s certainly related to Leon."
Yeon considered that, turning the possibilities over carefully.
If the meeting concerned Leon specifically, it might actually work in his favor, an opportunity to align himself with whatever authority the Association intended to bring against his brother, strengthening his own position in the process.
If it concerned something else entirely, he’d simply have to adapt.
"Stay close," Yeon said finally. "Whatever happens in there, I want you beside me."
Pale Smoke glanced over at him, something unreadable flickering briefly behind his expression before he nodded. "Of course, guild master."
The title still sat strangely in Yeon’s ears, though he supposed it would take time to feel natural.
Pale Smoke’s easy compliance, his quick agreement to remain close, his earlier acceptance of the role as right hand man, all of it settled a little more comfortably now that Yeon had actual confirmation of loyalty behind it.
What Yeon didn’t know, couldn’t have known given how carefully Pale Smoke guarded his true intentions, was that very little of that loyalty was genuine.
Pale Smoke had already concluded, back in that room only hours earlier, that Yeon stood almost no realistic chance of ever matching his brother’s current strength.
Whatever revenge Yeon eventually attempted, Pale Smoke doubted it would end favorably.
But proximity to power, even power destined to eventually fail, still held value.
Staying close to Yeon meant staying close to whatever resources Roaring Lions still had access to, whatever connections might eventually open doors toward the S-rank status Pale Smoke had been chasing for years.
If this meeting with one of the Association’s heads offered any opportunity to get promoted to S-rank, Pale Smoke had no intention of wasting it.
Sucking up to Yeon cost him nothing. And if it eventually put him in a position to benefit from whatever came next, Pale smoke would take it without hesitation.
The vehicle slowed eventually, turning off the main road onto a narrower, private drive lined with tall, well-maintained trees.
Yeon caught glimpses of an expansive estate coming into view ahead, the architecture sleek and imposing, considerably more modern than the older, worn buildings that made up much of the rest of the city.
"This is it," Pale Smoke said quietly, his earlier composure tightening further as the vehicle came to a smooth stop just outside the estate’s main entrance.
Yeon stepped out first, glancing around at the property with careful, measured curiosity.
Everything about it radiated quiet, understated power, no excessive displays of wealth or grandeur, simply the unmistakable confidence of someone who didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.
A pair of attendants waited near the entrance, dressed plainly, though something about their posture suggested considerably more capability than their simple appearance let on.
One of them stepped forward as Yeon and Pale Smoke approached.
"Yeon Allistar," the attendant said, not quite a question. "You’re expected. Please, follow me.
Yeon exchanged a brief glance with Pale Smoke before falling into step behind the attendant, the two of them moving through the estate’s entrance and into a wide, elegantly furnished hallway beyond.
The interior carried the same understated quality as the exterior, expensive without being showy, every detail deliberate and controlled.
Yeon’s pulse quickened slightly the further they walked, and he got more nervous the closer they drew toward whatever room waited at the end of the hall.