Chapter 361: Expectations of a Hero
Chapter 361: Expectations of a Hero
“Roel? You’re fine! Thank Sia!”
Several minutes after William and Teresa’s departure, Charlotte found the room Roel was in through her connection with the Golden Soul and barged in through the windows. Upon seeing that he was fine, she leaped forth to tightly embrace him.
To her surprise, Roel’s reaction was a little abnormal.
“You’re here, Charlotte. Has the battle ended yet?”
“Mm, it has ended, but your safety is much more important here… Is there something there?”
Charlotte noticed that Roel was staring dazedly at the interior of the room, but she couldn’t find anything worthy of note when she looked over. Roel could tell that she was confused, but he chose not to say anything.
William’s distrust in Nora and the others wouldn’t affect how Roel perceived them, but he wanted to respect their wish for privacy. Putting aside the fact that their ancestors were fellow members of the Twilight Sages Assembly, he was also indebted to them. It would be wildly inappropriate for him to reveal their existence to someone else contrary to their will.
“It’s nothing much. I was just curious why there was a barrier erected around this room. Someone important must have rented this room.”
“It should be someone of distinguished standing judging from the extravagant interior decor. The barrier was able to block off the black miasma? That means that the caster of the barrier has received the blessing of a god.”
“The occupants are probably watching the aurora at the Blessing Square.”
Roel carried the topic across with a chuckle.
Fortunately, Charlotte was not in a mood to probe deeper into this matter. The battle with the Saints Convocation had just ended, so she was more worried about her contribution to the battle and the final verdict regarding the allocation of Roel.
It was no wonder why people said excessive competition was terrible for an industry. With multiple competitors gunning for a single prize, the ladies wouldn’t hesitate to resort to underhanded measures so that they could emerge victorious above everyone else.
Anxious to return to the scene, Charlotte lifted Roel into her arms and quickly left the room, not giving this matter much thought. Meanwhile, Roel started musing over his earlier encounter.
He truly didn’t expect to meet William and Teresa here, but it allowed him to grasp important information that he was previously unaware of.
It should be safe to say that the Dawnbringer Order was an attempt to bring back the Twilight Sages Assembly, albeit in a slightly different fashion. If the goal of the Dawnbringer Order was really the same as the Twilight Sages Assembly, Roel was fully supportive of this move.
There were simply far too many threats lurking in this world that there was an urgent need to build a specialized team to tackle them. Things might still look relatively peaceful at the moment, but it would be too late once things blew up.
There was just one thing Roel was concerned about—the political association of the Dawnbringer Order.
William Cambonyte was the adopted son of Knight Kingdom Pendor’s royal family, and he appeared to wield considerable power in the Dawnbringer Order. This suggested that the Dawnbringer Order was mainly active in Pendor, possibly even under the command of the Cambonyte House.
That was something worrying.
Why was the Twilight Sages Assembly such a powerful organization?
It was an organization that surpassed national boundaries. The members moved for the survival of humankind and many other races. It was this noble goal that united them and instilled devotion to the organization, sometimes to the extent of laying down their lives to accomplish their missions.
It was this extreme degree of unity and devotion that made them a powerful force, allowing them to keep in check crises that were arguably even beyond human civilization itself.
But what if this organization was bound to a country? What if the leader of this organization happened to be its royal family? Would this organization still be the guardians of humankind, or would it be reduced to a toolbox for the stated country?
Roel had no idea whether the Cambonytes were truly selfless or not, but his opinion didn’t really matter here. As long as there was a seed of doubt regarding the true nature of the organization, its members would be unable to fully devote themselves to its cause, especially when there was a conflict in national interests when carrying out missions. That was why neutrality was of absolute importance.
Besides, he thought that it was weird how William and Teresa were unwilling to come into contact with outsiders.
Now that he thought about it, Knight Kingdom Pendor was a fairly isolated country. Just the disproportionately low number of Pendor students in Saint Freya Academy said a thing or two about that. It was hard to acquire any meaningful information on them.
To be honest, Roel hadn’t really paid much heed to them under the subconscious influence of his prior knowledge.
In Eyes of the Chronicler, the ones who had taken him down were the protagonist and the female capture targets, so his attention had been on them. Inevitably, this meant that he had less energy to spare for other matters.
In the game, William had transferred to Saint Freya Academy just as Paul and the others were advancing to the Second Grade. Now that he thought about it, William could have been keeping an eye on the in-game Roel Ascart to check if he had awakened to his bloodline.
Of course, the in-game Roel didn’t awaken to his bloodline; in fact, he even ended up becoming an evil cultist. That could have been the reason why William didn’t intervene when the protagonist and the female capture targets dealt with him.
Having finally understood the rationale behind William’s movements, Roel nodded in realization. However, he soon recalled the latter mentioning something about how they would meet each other very soon before his departure.
Wait a moment, those words… Does this mean that…
…
While Roel was thinking about the affairs surrounding William and the others, an armored figure and a pink-haired lady were also analyzing the earlier encounter and exchanging their views in a room located in the suburbs of Aurora Capital Ols.
“I concede that I was too anxious back there. Based on our interactions, it appears that he’s still wary about our organization.”
I’m of the same thought too. I think we should wait a while longer.
“To be honest, I thought that there was a good chance that he would accept my offer right away. Somehow, he feels different from what I imagined him to be.”
Meaning…?
“… I can’t put my finger on it, but it feels like there’s a clash between our ideologies. I could be overthinking things too.”
William looked out of the window contemplatively as he spoke. It was impossible to read his expression through the thick helmet he wore that hid even his eyes, but his voice still betrayed his worry.
This encounter with Roel Ascart was unintended and outside of their plans, but it did come with several advantages. For one, the inability to prepare in advance allowed for an earnest exchange of opinions.
Roel was clearly surprised when Teresa informed him that they didn’t want to get too involved with the rest of the world. From that, it could be deduced that he had no intention of cutting off his connections and retreating to the shadows. This was at odds with how the Dawnbringer Order operated.
Defining him based on your own imagination of how he ought to be, only to be disappointed when it’s at odds with what you expected. You shouldn’t do that.
“I know, but frankly speaking, Teresa, have you really never harbored any expectations for their clan? The lineage of the Ascart House traces all the way back to the founders of the Twilight Sages Assembly! It took centuries before that clan finally gave birth to an awakener. As an offspring of a sequestered house, is it even possible for you to not bear high hopes for him?”
“…”
Teresa was in the midst of writing something on her notebook when her hands slowed to a halt, and she lowered her head. She didn’t answer William’s question, but her silence showed that she felt the same way. She, too, bore great expectations for the offspring of that clan.
It was a natural reaction when she found herself face to face with the descendants of the heroic clan often mentioned in the stories of her ancestors. That was why she lost her composure upon meeting Roel and appeared a little flustered.
What if he isn’t the kind of person you imagined him to be?
There was a long silence before Teresa finally scribbled this question in her notebook. William fell into deep thoughts upon reading the question. It took some time before he answered softly.
“We don’t need to answer that question yet. It’s too early. We still don’t know what kind of person he is.”
But how are you intending to know him better? He doesn’t live in Pendor.
“That’s simple. If he doesn’t come to us, we’ll just have to go to him.”
William looked at the woman in front of him as he voiced his decision.
“I’ll be transferring over once we return.”