Chương 204: Chapter 201 - Unburdened

Despite how professional the hotel staff were, it was only a matter of time before the news would spread. Even if they didn't, sooner or later someone would report that Seffara's Trial entrance had reset. Then the speculation would begin. It was a bigger deal than you might think. There were an estimated three hundred dragonslayers out there. Estimation because maintaining any sort of permanent outpost at higher Sectors was a joke. Estimation because plenty of dragonslayers weren't as public about their realm.

Partly because many of the older adventurers still remembered how the Tyrants had ruthlessly purged some of the most talented individuals during the war. Three hundred dragonslayers over seventy years. Sixty years considering it took ten years before the Tyrants had hit dragonslayer themselves. That was on average five dragonslayers a year. While it was said that it had become easier in recent years, anyone ascending to the tenth realm was something that would be noted by every single nation across both worlds.

Especially if you remembered that Seffara the Sapphire had gone in solo. Only a handful of adventurers were known to have soloed their Tenth Trial. Ozyell had been one of them but that had been a lie, something perpetuated by the Witch Tyrant and impossible to be verify because Ozyell was both a [Savant] and not a combat class. The [Stallmaster Thief] was another.

It was said that nobody had wanted to team up with her and the kleptomaniac was forced to ascend or face justice from the hundreds of angry adventurers she had stolen from. And now Seffara the Sapphire was another. The newly ascended dragonslayer tier adventurer sat in front of a camera, her blonde hair neatly braided with flowers artistically weaved inbetween. No makeup because even her husband couldn't force that on her. Not that she needed it with her realm advancements.

Perfect skin and piercing blue crystalline eyes gave her a chiseled beauty that could compete with any elf. Seffara was also wearing her half melted soul armor. It had hardened in a way that resembled a badly made toga. A light dress worn underneath, covering her exposed skin. Her soul weapon was on a dresser behind her, broken in pieces. Both of these iconic gear had been crafted by the Dwarven Tyrant. Say what you wanted about her. After fifty years, Seffara knew how to make an impact.

Her smile dazzled the world as everyone watched the video.

"So, I was told that my actions were irresponsible and childish. I do have to admit that I was a little hot-headed. At the very minimum I should have told you all what I was going to do and why.." Seffara let the silence linger for a moment. When the moment was finished she started her explanation.

"When I retired, I thought the world no longer needed me. The world moved on so quick that despite my ninth realm speed, I was falling behind the times. Even so, the main reason I retired was because I thought it would do better without some old granny nagging at the rest of the world from behind." She smiled at the joke, or perhaps she was smiling in self-deprecation.

"It was clear I was wrong." There was another pause of damning silence.

"I was made aware of the nature of the major events in recent times before they happened. I knew how bad it could have gotten. I know that all of you understand it too. There are deep unresolved issues amongst the strongest of adventurers that still lie till this day." Seffara took a deep breath.

"As always, I feel that I wait too long before taking action. I consider waiting until now to come out of retirement to be one of my greatest mistakes." Nobody with sanity would ever use an admission like this against the heroine of Sapphire. For she had been the first adventurer to publicly speak out against her own government for their atrocities in the Settler war. For it was found out that she had always tried to do the right thing.

"I don't know what the right thing to do is. I don't think I ever do. What I do know is that I could not stay comfortable in my retirement and hope that the next generation would be able to fix the problems my generation have caused." Seffara put her hands together and smiled at the camera. Not completely warmly, but in the manner a stern mother would look at you for messing up.

"All that to say, I'm here to help." It wasn't some sort of masterful artwork of a speech. Seffara had tried that once, she found out she was no good at it. What she did find was that being simple and honest tended to work the best. —— It did wonders for the rest of the world. From what Ryan could tell, to The Realm especially.

Even to him as well, considering that the rest of the world was now less focused on digging up everything they could about 'Ryan Robinson' and was now moving on to Seffara's triumphant return. All the top trends were dominated by her speech and speculations surrounding her new class and skills. As an avid optimizer he was curious too. He wondered how she would stack up against a veteran dragonslayer. What happened when a maxed out ninth realm adventurer ascended?

Would she immediately be stronger than older dragonslayers or would she need an adjustment period? Her skills weren't considered optimal either, having been chosen haphazardly during the Settler war, did she fix that with the new skill offerings or did she go for the direct route? What grade did she get? Naturally, Seffara refused to answer the questions through a video call so he was forced to wait before throwing all these questions at her.

Ryan was excitedly about to go back to The Realm and spread the good cheer with Gamielle—when something else unexpected happened. Clara had packed her bags and was getting ready to go. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"What? You're leaving now?"

"Yep, unlike you unemployed bums, I got work."

"I thought you were getting fired?"

"Uh, no. I took time off work. I'm not going to have breaks for a while. Besides, everything looks like it'll be alright here." Clara had a bunch of shopping bags that the hotel's staff member was only happy to help carry back to the lobby. At the moment it was just Clara with the last two shopping bags beside her. Ryan turned to Barry who was raising a suspicious eyebrow at her. Clara had heavily implied that she was going to get fired and had guilt-tripped Barry into giving her Seffara's card.

Something that both of them were now realizing was a lie. Ryan jumped forward to rummage through Clara's stuff.

"Hey! That's private!"

"What's this? Multiple fashion wands and a buckler? I thought you only wanted one?"

"They're gifts for work friends. I've gotta give them apology gifts for having to go so suddenly, you know?" Clara's face with her sunglasses was almost unreadable, though Ryan could tell that she was doing something sneaky and had been hoping they hadn't noticed. He narrowed his eyes at the random 'Raidco's Sparkling Maple Wand'.

"They're awfully expensive apology gifts."

"Well duh, I told them it was an emergency. Now they're all finding out about that viral video with you, me and Chester and sooooo, it's an apology bribe! Get it? Okay byeeeeee." Clara ripped the shopping bag from Ryan's hands and ran off, waving at them as the three of them were left dumbfounded at her abrupt leave. Milock turned to Ryan, as if he would have the answers.

"What just happened?" Ryan took a moment to think.

"Clara started shopping before I got famous. I think she just used Seffara's credit card to raise her social standing with her coworkers." It helped make things click for Milock. His friend shook his head in exasperation.

"Doesn't she know that she can live like a king just with Seffara's credit card and your money? And didn't she have that offer from [Witch] Grettfield?" Ryan just stared at the empty hallway that Clara had run through.

"I think she was serious about rejecting Grettfield's apprenticeship. Besides, I think she lives off of gossip. She's probably dying to tell other people about some of the stuff that's happened here."

"Yikes, I can't imagine turning down an offer by a dragonslayer. That's like a guaranteed sponsorship into being an adventurer isn't it?" It was true. Filthy amounts of money could help you buy your way into a Trial System slot. While there were other nations with cheaper slots, even America had auctions for Trial sponsorships. Ryan had no doubt that Grettfield would pay for a something like that. It sounded crazy to decline that, but he was used to Clara being weird.

"Unlike you, some people actually think things through before signing the first offer that comes to them." Milock threw a pencil at Ryan's head, he let it bounce off his skull as he thought about Clara's perspective. It was a good reminder, Clara never actually wanted any of this… Ryan had not missed the terror in her eyes every time she faced Pinkie, nor the quickening of her pulse as she desperately tried to find a peaceful solution to everything that was happening.

Despite it all, she had stuck around because it was important, because she knew she was needed. In that sense, Claribel Waters was as much of an adventurer as he was. Ryan couldn't help but think that she deserved an adventuring spot as anyone else. As Ryan stood there, imagining a world where Clara had taken Grettfield's apprenticeship, an orc was scrolling through his phone, only now going over exactly what the tricky girl had spent on his friend's credit card. Barry whistled appreciatively.

"She bought a first class ticket back as well as paid for express delivery of all of her things. Clever girl must have copied down the card numbers. I'll have to get Seffara to change that." Ryan laughed.

"She got you good, huh?" Barry scoffed right back.

"Me? You're the one that Seffara is going to make pay for it." Ryan narrowed his eyes at the orc.

"Are you sure about that? You're the one that gave Clara the card. You're the one that just got done making Seffara feel guilty enough to do a press release. I bet she would love for some payback." The orc crossed his arms, unimpressed by Ryan's logic. The silence said it all really. Say what you want about adventurers, having a good natured laugh at each other's expense was just socially expected of each other. … Of course not everything went quite as smoothly.

For one thing, Ryan had completely forgotten about his parents and how having their son being some sort of mysterious popular adventurer would impact them. Or rather, their perception of what he was doing.

"Yes mom. I'm sorry, it was an emergency! No I'm not dating her! She kissed me! … That's the first time, see the full video mom! No wait just stop watching it and pretend it never happened." Mrs. Robinson was doing all the usual stuff of 'you better not let that one go.' and 'make sure not to use protection.' and 'you should have introduced her to us before it went viral.' As embarrassing as it was… it was nice.

He had a feeling his mother was getting all of the mothering she couldn't do while he had been so focused on the sword and then his focus at getting his life together. Ryan spent the rest of the day updating his parents about all the things he could talk about. First about the priority one call with Valee then about how they'd worried about Seffara then the screaming match between veterans and then they wrapped back to more mundane stuff. Like Clara the credit card thief.

If his mother had heard about his meeting with the Secretary and all the rumors regarding that, she didn't bring it up. Perhaps she realized he needed this. Perhaps it was only now that Ryan realized how much he needed this. Just to take a proper day off without training or planning ahead. It was telling that relaxation felt weird and out of place. He wasn't sure he had ever had a day like this before today. Perhaps not since the days in Seffara's compound… but even then he had constantly been training.

It still didn't feel quite like this. … it was nice. It was only until half a day had gone by in the presidential suite that Ryan realized just what it was. It wasn't about how Seffara had taken attention away from his identity becoming the most popular topic on the realmnet. It wasn't just that he had been stressing about what her death would mean. No… it was that Seffara being out of retirement meant that Ryan had someone to rely on one hundred percent.

Someone else to take the immense amount of burden he had felt. In fact, her speech might not have been meant for the rest of the world. The more he thought about it, the more clear it became that it had been meant for him. Seffara the Sapphire. Say what you wanted about her. But she always did the right thing in the end. —— Thirty-thousand feet in the air.

"Mirelda you evil bitch." Clara was not enjoying the first class flight as much as one would expect. Namely due to a suspicious sudden onset of indigestion the moment she had left Ryan's vicinity. While the wording of the agreement had covered all of Ryan's friends, he had technically given Mirelda the go-ahead to hex Clara. Obviously the [Witch] had taken it.

"That's what I get for being nice—" And all of a sudden, the airplane disappeared. The luxurious amenities all replaced with an inky dark room and a table. The other side had a smiling homely woman in a brilliantly floral suit dress. The Manager smiled warmly at Clara. … For the Trial System had its own criteria for the Destined you see. It was not a matter of achievements, it was not a matter of ability or talent, it was a list of who exactly would end up bringing the most amount of… variation in the Trial System.

Claribel Waters had passed that threshold awhile ago, though it was only now that the Manager summoned her into the room. As Clara's indigestion magically disappeared and something else heavier replaced it, the Manager opened its mouth— And Clara promptly shoved her pinkies in her ears and started shouting at the top of her voice.

"LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALALA—" The Manager maintained its kind smile as Clara continued. Indeed, she did have a pair of lungs on her and a headstrong determination to do this for as long as she was able. All good qualities in a Trialist. Unfortunately for Clara, the Manager had all the time in the world.