(54)
To add insult to injury, human Nestra now had to wait until Ragnarok’s office was built before she could even get summoned there. Camille stuck around since they had no choice with an A-class on a short fuse around. It took quite some time for a shuttle to land on the central field carrying supplies and emergency tents, the biggest of which was used to triage and heal critically injured enclavers. Nestra had never witnessed such bullshit.
At least people gave her a wide berth. A willowy military medic had just briefly come to check if she was hurt, gave her a regen patch for her bruised arm, and then left for people who actually needed her. Except for that, no one had dared approach either her or Camille. They were just hanging around at the edge of the human equivalent of a kicked anthill.
As far as Nestra could see, Threshold was really helping both loyalists and rebels, though the latter were confined to a secluded area under solid guard. Ilar and the Patriarch landed sometime after 3AM, likely recalled from the portal world they were exploring. Ragnarok had a fast talk with the local leader by which Nestra meant that they gave up all pretense of humanity to talk at accelerated speed, like part of a video moving on fast forward. As for Ilar, he was immediately arrested. His gaze found Nestra as guards carried him to the nearest gunship. They were filled with guilt.
She was left with a choice. Was she angry with Ilar?
Well, maybe a little bit. He’d let pride or some other emotion get the better of him. His priority should have been safety, not dick measurement. Because of his decision, Weiwei and Derek had died. He hadn’t meant for it to happen though.
Nestra was feeling ambivalent. It wasn’t fully his fault. Manh was to blame for the massacre, first and foremost, so she gave him the most sober of nods. He closed his eyes. Was it relief? She had no idea.
“I would have expected you to be angrier,” Camille noted.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m really tired? I don’t feel negative emotions towards him. He wasn’t the one who killed my friends.”
“You were certainly angry against Truong.”