Looking at the five, they all had training attire on.
Brutus wore light armor, the age and luster of his equipment pretty glaring to an observant eye. Justin and Clark wore similar-looking armor, with the former's looking a lot lighter, while the latter had more bulk to it.
Belle and Lucielle had some Enchanted Items on them, and Belle still had a book in her hand, which made it clear they were most likely practicing Spells. While Belle had the attire similar to a student, Lucielle wore a Mage's cape,with her inner attire being a loose white shirt and long trousers.
Based on everything about their appearance, coupled with the slight looks of exhaustion on the faces of the three Otherworlders, it was easy to deduce that they were just finished with training.
Justin and Clark were with Brutus, while Belle was with Lucielle. They rendezvoused and decided to visit Alicia's room together.
~They come here every day, Master. Ever since she fell asleep and was admitted here.~
The moment Rey heard those words in his head, he felt a little startled and also slightly suspicious.
'Ater, you… did you know they would come here at this time, yet you didn't tell me beforehand?'
Rey's initial plan was to approach them after properly organizing his thoughts. However, that didn't mean he was actively avoiding them.
After all, once he sensed their presence approaching the room, he had more than enough time to leave. They wouldn't have spotted him at all.
But… he didn't.
Perhaps that was because, deep down, he just wanted to get things over with. He didn't want to run anymore, and he simply wanted to see how they would react to him after all this time.
And now…
'... It's the moment of truth, I guess.'
Rey watched as the three finally got over their shock and looked at one other. They nodded, clearly in agreement on something.
Then—
'Here it comes!'
—They finally stepped forward, entering the room while walking towards Rey.
They had serious expressions on their faces; a sharp contrast to the jolly reaction that Lucielle opened up with. Brutus had a fairly neutral expression on his face, and after apologizing for Lucielle's behavior and dragging her away from Rey, he was silent.
Rey was grateful for Brutus getting the Grand Mage away from him, and also for his non-judgmental gaze.
His warrior-like aura remained the same, and while he had a stern demeanor, there was no anger or malice in his eyes. He simply stood in a corner, his hand tightly holding onto his colleague so she wouldn't interrupt Rey's interaction with his classmates.
They hadn't seen each other in nearly three months, after all.
'According to what Ater told me, he didn't allow me to have any visitors during my coma. It was for my safety, so I can't particularly get upset at him…'
Once Rey was done making this thought, his classmates were already right in front of him already.
He was already taller than Belle, and about the same height as Justin. However, Clark still remained the biggest in the group.
The resolute faces on their faces slowly began to break as Rey watched them part their lips.
Everything seemed to slow down, and he prepared his heart for whatever he would hear.
"Thank you for saving our lives, Rey." Clark spoke up first, his calm tone completely surprising Rey.
He never expected that kind of response.
Not from them!
"Yeah man… we would have been toast if you didn't come when you did. Thanks…" Justin proceeded with his own words, a whimsical smile on his face.
Once again, Rey found this to be odd.
'Ater, did you mess with the minds of my classmates? Why are they being so nice to me?' He swiftly sent a message to the Familiar who stood a distance from him and watched everything unravel in silence.
~Master… of course not! You already told me not to.~
Rey knew Ater was telling the truth, but that only made the situation all the more unbelievable.
'Why are they saying this? Eric and Billy died because of my negligence. Adonis left… Alicia is in her current state… and thousands of people are dead.'
It was only human nature to seek who to blame for such a misfortune.
The Dragons were the obvious targets for the anger and scorn of the humans, but for his classmates, Rey knew they would find it easier to fault him.
He lied to them. He made them risk their lives. His carelessness caused so much tragedy.
~If I may, Master…~
Ater's words echoed in his mind, just as Rey was about to listen to Belle's words.
~... For every life that was lost due to your supposed carelessness, several more were saved from your actions.~
"You could have chosen to escape without us. You got hurt so badly… and yet…" Belle's eyes were surprisingly teary as she spoke.
Rey had never seen her this emotional. He probably didn't even know she was capable of such feelings.
"... You fought for us and saved us."
'Well… not really. I was practically fighting for my life for most of the battle.' Rey thought to himself.
Belle wasn't strictly wrong, though. If Rey wanted, he could have indeed abandoned the Capital completely to save himself.
But…
'That would mean abandoning Alicia…' He clenched his fist and felt his heart tighten a little.
There were over a hundred thousand people living in the Capital. Rey was no saint, but he understood enough about life to understand that he couldn't just let them die.
… Especially when he could save them.
'By the time I realized I was no match for that Beast, I couldn't even escape any longer. It was after my life.'
Rey could now understand why his classmates were going easy on him despite how hard he messed up.
'I fought tooth and nail to protect the city and them. How could they blame their savior who risked it all, and entered a two month coma to protect them?'
They would be the assholes if they did that.
In a way, it was convenient for Belle and the rest to believe their side of the story.
But…
"No, you're wrong. It's not what you think at all."
… Rey was not satisfied. He couldn't be satisfied with the way things were going.
"I didn't trust you all, which is why I didn't say anything about my abilities. Even when I finally decided to say something, I postponed it, thinking it wasn't necessary."
Then, when it became a necessity for him to reveal his true identity, it suddenly became complicated—an action that would probably make some of them dislike him.
"The same people I previously thought of as inconsequential suddenly began to matter to me. I previously didn't care what you thought of me, which was why I decided to remain weak in your eyes…" Rey clenched his fists as he looked at them.
"But after getting to know you all more, both from the perspective of Rey and Ralyks, I guess that changed."
He became acknowledged by them in both regards, and he also acknowledged them.
"That's what made it so hard…"
But what did all of that matter now? People were dead, and everyone had to find out in the worst possible way.
Yet… YET…!
"Rey… we're sorry for everything."
… Why was no one blaming him?
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Thanks for reading!
What do you think? Do you think the students should blame him for his sealed lips?
