Realm Lord
Chapter 164: An Explosion

Chapter 164: An Explosion

Aziel and Arthur stood frozen in the doorway, their minds struggling to process the impossible scene before them. The silence stretched like a taut wire, threatening to snap under the weight of collective disbelief. Arthur felt his heart hammering against his ribs as he stared at the two women, his brain refusing to accept what his eyes were telling him.

The first woman was exactly as he remembered her—short with mousy brown hair pulled up in a practical bun with golden tan skin, and a rather small figure. She stared back at them with eyes that looked like they might literally pop out of her head, her expression cycling rapidly through shock, disbelief, and what appeared to be growing horror.

But it was the second woman who truly stole Arthur’s breath away. She was, without question, one of the most stunning women he had ever laid eyes upon. Her beautiful blonde hair was cut in a perfect line at her shoulders, framing a face that belonged in classical paintings rather than military operations. Her brilliant blue eyes complemented her features so perfectly that Arthur wondered if she might actually be some kind of artistic creation rather than a real person.

Both women wore identical uniforms—tight-fitting long-sleeve black combat shirts tucked neatly into camouflage fatigue pants. The practical nature of their clothing did nothing to diminish their presence; if anything, it served to highlight the contrast between their personalities. Where her companion looked ready to explode with emotion, the blonde remained entirely impartial and stoic, her face a mask of professional composure as she studied the two silent boys who still hadn’t managed to form a coherent word.

The tension in the room was palpable, thick enough to cut with a knife. Arthur could feel sweat beginning to form on his forehead despite the room’s reasonable temperature, and he was dimly aware that his mouth was still hanging open in a way that probably made him look like a complete idiot. Beside him, Aziel seemed equally paralyzed..

Finally, the silence was shattered like glass hitting concrete.

"You two!?" The explosion came from the shorter woman, her voice rising to a pitch that could probably shatter windows. "What the hell are you two doing here??"

Myah—because of course it was Myah, Arthur’s brain supplied helpfully—took a step forward, her entire body language radiating indignation and disbelief. She looked back and forth between Arthur and Aziel as if they were some kind of particularly unpleasant hallucination that might disappear if she blinked hard enough.

"D-did you know about this?!" she demanded, spinning to face Cara with an accusatory finger pointed in their direction.

Cara blinked slowly a couple of times before tilting her head with an expression of mild confusion that somehow made her look even more beautiful. The gesture was so perfectly her that Arthur felt a rush threatening to overwhelm him.

"Of course I knew," she said, her voice carrying that same angelic quality that had drawn him to the door in the first place. "I am the guild leader after all. I did not pick them, but I was informed of their assignment."

Her tone was matter-of-fact, professional, and completely devoid of the emotional turmoil that was radiating from everyone else in the room. Arthur found himself both impressed by her composure and slightly hurt that their presence didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest.

Myah looked between Arthur and Aziel again, her expression growing more disgusted by the second. "But these two suck!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "In fact, I’m surprised they’re still alive, especially the gloomy one on the right." She gestured directly at Arthur, and he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. "Why the hell did they assign them to us?"

The casual cruelty of the comment hit Arthur like a physical blow, but before he could formulate any kind of response, Aziel finally found his voice.

"Hey, what the hell are you talking about, you ass!?" he snapped, taking a half-step forward with his hands clenched into fists. "We’re right here, you know!"

Myah turned to look at Aziel with an expression of such pure disgust that Arthur wondered if she had just discovered something particularly unpleasant on the bottom of her shoe. "I guess I’m not that surprised that you survived, given your combat scores from class," she said with venomous sweetness, "but I sure wish you’d have died instead."

Arthur felt his jaw drop even further. The sheer viciousness of the statement was breathtaking. Beside him, Aziel looked around in absolute offense, his face cycling through several shades of red as he tried to process what she had just said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" he demanded, his voice cracking slightly with indignation.

Myah rolled her eyes with the kind of theatrical disdain that she had perfected during their academy days. "All you ever did was harass and flirt with all the girls," she said, her tone suggesting that she was stating an obvious and universally acknowledged fact. "You were a real tool."

Aziel looked almost shocked by the accusation, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as he struggled to find words. Arthur had to admit that Myah wasn’t entirely wrong—Aziel had always been somewhat aggressive in his romantic pursuits—but the way she was saying it made him sound like some kind of predator.

"W-what!?" Aziel finally managed to sputter. "You should be grateful a guy like me chose to come up and even talk to a pipsqueak like you!"

The effect of his words on Myah was immediate and explosive. Her disgust transformed into pure rage so quickly that Arthur actually took a step backward. Her face flushed red, her hands clenched into fists, and she took an aggressive step forward that made her intentions crystal clear.

"What’d you say to me!!" she screamed, her voice rising to a pitch that probably violated several noise ordinances.

She took another angry step forward, and simultaneously, Aziel moved to meet her challenge. Arthur could see the confrontation escalating toward violence with the kind of horrible inevitability of a natural disaster, and he opened his mouth to try to intervene.

And before either of them could do anything, two voices rang out in perfect unison from opposite sides of the room.

"Aziel!" Arthur called sharply.

"Myah!" Cara’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.

Both combatants stopped in their tracks as if they had run into invisible walls, turning to face their respective friends with expressions of surprise and residual anger.

"What!?" they both exclaimed simultaneously, their synchronization almost comical despite the tension.

Arthur simply shook his head in disappointment, while Aziel rolled his eyes with attitude that somehow managed to be visible in his body language. "Tsk," he spat, making a sound of disgust as he walked back to Arthur’s side.

Cara stepped forward slightly, her voice carrying an authority like none that Arthur had never heard from before. "That will be enough out of both of you," she said firmly, her blue eyes moving between Myah and Aziel with the kind of steady gaze that brooked no argument. "These will be our new team members for the time being, whether you like it or not. So for now, be quiet so we can brief them properly. Understand?"

The transformation in her demeanor was startling. Gone was the quiet, somewhat shy girl Arthur remembered from their academy days. In her place stood someone who clearly knew how to command respect and maintain order. The change was both impressive and slightly intimidating.

Myah looked to the side and crossed her arms with the petulant gesture of someone who had been forced to back down but wasn’t happy about it. "Whatever," she muttered, her tone making it clear that this was far from over.

Arthur felt a mixture of relief and apprehension wash over him. The immediate crisis had been averted, but the underlying tensions were still there, simmering just beneath the surface. This was going to be a very long assignment.

As he looked around the room at the three people who would apparently be his companions for the foreseeable future, Arthur couldn’t help but think that the processing officer’s comment about their "shit luck" had been something of an understatement. They weren’t just unlucky—they were trapped in what promised to be a very complicated and potentially explosive situation.

The only question now was whether they would all survive each other long enough to face whatever external threats District 3 had in store for them. Hell Arthur wasn’t even entirely sure they would all make it out of this room unscathed.

Aziel and Myah stared silent daggers at each other as they all moved to sit on opposite sides of the long conference table that dominated the center of the room. There was still so many questions racing through Arthurs head as he sat down hoping that he could avoid anymore explosion by Myah and Aziel so he could get some.