Chapter 1946: Bigger Picture (2) |
Vadyn looked down at her plate, watching the fork twirl—a lazy spin of silver that wound around the pasta that she had no intention of eating. Her appetite had abandoned her somewhere between the second toast and the fourth empty compliment.
She lifted the fork, let the pasta slump back to the plate, and reached for her wine instead.
A deep sigh escaped her lips as she raised her gaze to look at the hall that stretched long and amber-lit.
Currently, she was sitting inside a private room with a fine table of dark oak at the center. About three dozen high-ranking officials filled the chairs along its length; their voices were a continuous murmur that rose and fell without ever forming words she needed to hear.
They ate. They drank. They glanced toward her end of the table with measured frequency.
Evaluating their positions in Vadyn’s eyes.
Just earlier, all of them approached. One by one they came to her chair, glasses in hand, faces arranged in expressions of casual goodwill that never quite reached their eyes. Corporate formality that felt more soulless than anything.
Each one spoke about her experience in her new positions.
Spoke about the departmental successes.
Spoke about the future.
Vadyn smiled and nodded; their words passed through her like light through water, leaving no trace.
As much as these high-ranking officials tried to frame this gathering as something formal and mandatory for them to hold, which conveniently included her, she understood why they were here instead of inside their mansions and with their spouses.
It was because of the incident involving her direct superior. Her lieutenant.
One that had sent her to the Western Cavity to investigate a visitor gone rogue.
He vanished not too long ago, and nobody heard from him since.
No notice of transfer. No notice of reassignment. That lieutenant simply vanished without a trace.
Nobody said it aloud, but everyone knew the lieutenant vanished because of High Lord Rashal.
And thus, this gathering was held.
Vadyn could see the nervousness behind their eyes, displaying their worry about their positions clearly. She could read it in the sweat tracing their temples that they were afraid. And could feel it in their brittle smiles that she was their hope for survival.
Everyone is afraid of a man who seized the position of High Lord—when the average age of achieving that title was way higher.
And so, the high-ranking officials of her department and beyond had spent days to exert themselves to not having any association with the punished lieutenant. To secure their positions and, more importantly, evade High Lord Rasha’s attention.
The gathering tonight was not a dinner.
It was a ritual of reassurance; a collective offering laid at her feet.
Vadyn let them offer it. Organizational life demanded formality; she understood that. If she ever wanted to step out from under High Lord Rashal’s shadow, to be seen as her own person—then she had to play by these rules; the department had ranks, and she would respect them.
And ranks came with obligations, and one of those obligations was accepting friendly invitations.
Especially when that invitation came from her superiors.
Due to that, she sat, twirling her fork, and she gave each of her superiors a turn to speak with her.
Now that the plates were empty, the candles burning low—and the conversations loosening into a mere rambling warmth of too much wine—she decided that it was enough. The gathering was nearing its own natural end, and it was time for Vadyn to leave.
She set down her glass and rose, pushing the chair back a little.
It made a louder noise than she anticipated, and her motion rippled through the hall.
Conversations faltered mid-syllable, and three dozen heads turned toward her.
"I apologize for disturbing the fun, but time flies by when the conversations are fun, and it was already late," Vadyn offered them a smile and bowed a little. "I find myself quite exhausted after work in the office had been packed. Please, remain and continue this lovely gathering. But I am afraid I must take my leave."
Each word she said was a formality within a formality.
A script recited with the precision of someone who had learned long ago that the appearance of courtesy was half the work—in this kind of setting. And because they were buttering her up to have her converse about them with High Lord Rashal in a good page, no one protested.
Normally, a junior official leaving before their seniors was a slight mark of disrespect.
One that would follow them for their entire career.
But Vadyn wasn’t only a junior. She’s also High Lord Rashal’s cousin, so that rule doesn’t apply to her.
"Of course, Enforcer Vadyn. Unlike you, we’ve all been accustomed to working on our desks."
"Get some rest, Enforcer Vadyn. Keep up the great work."
"Good night, Enforcer Vadyn."
"Our tasks are done with phone calls and pen. Compared to you, we’ve had it easy."
Vadyn bowed once more and walked the length of the long table without hurry; her heels clicked a slow, measured rhythm against the floor. The grand doors swung open ahead of her; workers standing by at each side opened them for her, and she passed through into the cool, quiet corridor beyond.
The dinner was already fading in her mind.
She had done what was required. Nothing more. And now she could return to her home.
Once she reached her car, a sleek red convertible, she zoomed out of the luxury premises and headed back to the street. Along the way, she reached for her forehead as she felt a little bit dizzy. "Egh... How many drinks did I have? I’m feeling tipsy."
As a law-abiding citizen, she decided to park in a parking space a few miles away.
But as she was about to enter, her phone rang.
It was an unknown caller, yet she picked up anyway as she never refused a call in case it was important.
"Vadyn speaking."
’Enforcer Vadyn—can you come back to the station? Someone is going to take over your responsibility on the Western Cavity.’
"Okay, I’m coming."
Vadyn pressed the button to end the call and reclined her head back against the headrest; a sigh escaped her lips. Rest, it seemed, would not come tonight. Not for her. The day had been ordinary enough, but the gathering had drained her mind and soul completely.
All she truly wanted was to go home right now.
But work calls, and all she could do was answer.
"From the start, I’m not happy that Rashal got involved with my business."
She clicked her tongue in displeasure, shifted the gear, and turned the steering wheel sharply.
A few hours later.
Vadyn sank into her office chair and closed her eyes, hoping to steal a few minutes of rest. She wanted to sleep in the office, which wouldn’t be her first time for her, but her mind refused to quiet. Too noisy. Earlier, the new enforcer group had come to meet with her to talk about the specifics.
She knew about their leader; a well-known woman far older than she was.
Someone who knew what she was doing and was also stronger.
One of the specifics being her first encounter with the rogue visitor’s display of power.
Considering how gruesome and performative it was, Vadyn couldn’t possibly forget that scene.
And recalling that rogue visitor made him remember Rex.
"I haven’t told Rex about our intel on the dangerous person in the Grey Realm, but by now, it’s almost certainly too late." Vadyn sighed; her fingers massaged her throbbing temple. "Since Rashal’s evaluation was coming, things had been very hectic. High Lord Ursa is maneuvering to seize the Grey Realm, and now this rogue visitor is threatening chaos in the Western Cavity. It’s all happening at once.
"If the worst happened to either problem, Rashal would be in trouble."
Vadyn tapped on the table, and a holographic interface appeared.
She straightened her back and scoured through it until a map was opened.
It was the cluster that also enveloped the Grey Realm, right beside the Western Cavity.
Vadyn checked on the realms around, wanting to see whether Rex and the Red Skull Elite Force were doing well or not, but stopped when she saw an odd dot travelling out of the Grey Realm, and from its trajectory, it was heading for the Western Cavity.
"Hmm... what are you doing?" She voiced the question aloud—already piecing together the answer. A Demigod fleeing the Grey Realm—one of High Lord Ursa’s, no doubt. Her lips curled. "Has Rex already won? The Red Skull Elite Force too? That was fast." She tilted her head, eyes tracking the fleeing figure. "Let’s intercept you, shall we?"
A savage grin crossed Vadyn’s face.
She still has the new group on call right outside, so she could tell them about this.
About the escaping Demigod who has no other choice but to go to the Western Cavity—though heavily monitored, it could accept anyone entering. For this particular Demigod—this was his only lifeline. Of course, this was assuming Rex and the Red Skull Elite Force had already won.
...
Meanwhile, back to the Grey Realm.
"Rex, we need to have a talk," Davina said.
She had been watching Rex checking something on the ground, and was curious as to what exactly he was doing, forgetting why she was coming to meet him in the first place. And when she remembered, the urgency resurfaced again.
"Then talk," Rex said without turning.
After reading the System’s notification, he tried channeling his Law of Inevitability into the ground—testing whether he could replicate what Manvac had done. The odds of failure were high. He had never attempted anything like this before.
But that didn’t matter to him, and he pushed forward anyway, hoping for the best.
Normally, he would use the power of law instantaneously.
Be it using them raw or through his Spirit Genesis.
Rex had never tried channeling the power of law first before unleashing it.
"I feel like there’s something bigger at play here," Davina said.
"How so?" Rex asked back, still focused on what he was doing. "Did you see or sense something?"
"No... It’s a gut feeling."
"Gut feeling?"
"Yes, gut feeling. Don’t act like you’re not using your gut feeling at times to sense danger."
"I’m not acting like anything," Rex chuckled. He was treating her seriously, but her action made it hard for him to focus. "Instead of arguing, let’s talk about why your gut is telling you that when everything was going smoothly."
"That’s precisely why I feel like we’re missing something here," Davina continued. "Things are falling into place so easily that it’s suspicious."
"It’s not," Rex shook his head. "High Lord Rashal got his hands on good intel, and the enemy forces aren’t expecting us to anticipate their moves. Everything is going smoothly because it was supposed to go smoothly."
Noticing that Davina was burning the side of his face with a glare, Rex finally turned to look at her.
"Okay, let’s assume that something is really happening beyond this. How do you propose we approach this?"
"Start from the beginning. Like what started this mess from the start."
"It’s bad blood between High Lord Rashal and High Lord Ursa. I don’t know the specifics, but that’s the start."
"Then, in that case, what’s High Lord Ursa trying to achieve by ransacking this realm?"
"The Grey Realm houses three Divine Sources and serves as a critical gateway—one that opens access to the neighboring realms. If it falls to chaos, High Lord Rashal’s standing in the upcoming evaluation of the Cavity’s governance will suffer a devastating blow."
"Hmm..." Davina placed a finger on her chin, contemplating. "In that case, why can’t High Lord Ursa attack the Cavity directly? He would undermine High Lord Rashal even more with that. And if there’s really bad blood between them, wouldn’t it be more logical to think that High Lord Ursa would aim to hurt High Lord Rashal even more?
"Attacking the Cavity would seal High Lord Rashal’s fate for good."