Chương 226: Chapter 223 - Recovery and Cookies

Ryan racked his brain, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say. Gamielle looked completely drained of all hope. Normally, when she got into gloomy moods Ryan had a way to make her laugh and take her mind off things, but well, this time… He hadn't ever seen her like this before. Dried blood on her robes, no effort made to make herself look clean, just arms wrapped around her knees, staring out at a red sun in a ruined outpost.

Nothing in his countless hours of videos with adventurers prepared him for something like this. Think, what do I say?

"Gamielle, are you okay?" Say what you wanted about Ryan, he wasn't a coward. Even if he didn't know what to do, he was more than willing to charge ahead and not lose to hesitation.

"No Ryan, I'm not."

"... Do you want to talk about it?" Ryan couldn't help but cringe a little as he said it. How the hell were you supposed to console someone without sounding stupid? It was a question he was going to have to ask Barry or Clara later.

"No, what good would it do, Ryan?" She used her real name with Luneia within earshot. It was probably a big mistake but Gamielle was truly too tired to care. Well, so was he. He had more important things to care about. Ryan thought about it for a moment. What had Barry done when he had been down due to killing Zedart? Wanted to offer him a drink but dragged him to a Manaburger restaurant instead? Greasy food and Clara was there…

Wait that motherf— Ryan realized that even now, that damned orc was still giving him lessons he could learn from. Ryan raised a finger.

"Just wait one second." Of all the things, Gamielle wasn't expecting Ryan to immediately abandon her the moment she declined to talk about what happened. She turned around as he sprinted off.

"What the f—" Ryan zoomed through the outpost and past a very confused Luneia, he sprinted out of the city until he got to the place where he dropped his backpack. He'd taken it off when Gamielle disappeared, signalling that there might have been danger. He got back in record time, breaking the sound barrier while he did. The sonic boom slammed into Gamielle's face and ruffled her clothes as she glared at him.

"Whoops sorry." Gamielle seemed conflicted in whether she wanted to engage in Ryan's antics or go back to being depressed. Curiosity won out in the end." What are you doing?"

"Just looking for something." Ryan rummaged through the backpack with the Kingdom of Valmere logo stitched to the top. He paused when he saw the class aura crystals shoved in there, the class of the [Adventurer's Guide] tempting him. He shook his head and went for a container instead. Inside were perfectly packaged snacks, the expensive paper packaging having the same imprints of the Valmere's seal on it. Ryan offered one of the snacks to Gamielle. She just looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"Why do you think I would want to eat right now?"

"I… uh don't know, you normally like eating?"

"Binge eating when you're sad is just self-destructive." Gamielle said matter-of-factly, likely parrotting her mother.

"Also, I'm still banned from eating thanks to you." Ryan thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe, but also, what kind of caring mother would stop her daughter from eating when she's sad because her mother's done something horrible?" He wiggled his eyebrows, challenging the heavens with impeccable emotional blackmail logic. Gamielle stared at the food for a second then shook her head and went back to staring at the sun. Well, that didn't work. Ryan took a deep breath and sat next to Gamielle. He unwrapped the package to find a glittering biscuit with the seal of Valmere stamped right on top of it.

He shook his head.

"He put his damned kingdom's outline everywhere he could in my backpack and even the knives. Like he thought he could make me a branded adventurer or something." Ryan had asked for some basic refresh of supplies and the King had graciously accepted. It was just… literally everything packed inside had the symbol of his kingdom all over it. Gamielle just kept staring ahead.

"He probably doesn't want to be forgotten." Wrong topic, somehow they were getting more and more gloom and doom. Ryan reached into the backpack for an emergency tool.

"I get that, but look at this." He lifted up underwear stamped with the seal of Kingdom of Valmere all over it. He put it next to his head. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Gamielle's lips twitched just a little.

"Damnit Ryan! I'm trying to be serious and sad."

"And I'm trying to cheer you up. Cookie from a long gone civilization that just wants to be remembered?" This time Ryan offered her an unwrapped cookie with what looked like crystallized sugar lumps instead of chocolate. Gamielle gave him a long suffering sigh and took it out of his hands, then took a small bite. Her eyes widened as she brought her other hand to her mouth.

"Oh damn, it's actually good." Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"You sound like you wanted it to be bad."

"Shut up and hand the tin over." Ryan took a wrapped cookie before Gamielle snatched the rest of the snacks away from him. He unwrapped his and started to dig in. Somehow the cookie was still soft and the white crystals he thought were sugar lumps were actually chewy and not half as sweet as he expected. A little bitter maybe. It wasn't bad at all. By the time he had finished chewing, Gamielle was on her fourth cookie. It looked like it had a different filling as well.

"Hey! Leave some for me!" Ryan tried to reach over for a biscuit. She slapped the hand away with a [Manabolt].

"Shut up. This is the first thing I've eaten since the Obsidian Sect. Take some responsibility."

"You still haven't told me why you're banned. I'm getting the feeling you're just using that to guilt trip me."

"Hmph! I risked my life and limb tattling on her about you to Uncle Henrik. It didn't work half as well as I wish it did, but I did do it." Ryan settled for one cookie while Gamielle squirreled away at the rest. When Gamielle was done, she leaned back and sighed, stretching her legs and kicking her feet together.

"I could have stopped my mom, you know."

"Really?"

"I've been holding back, secretly practicing with how [Remembrance of the Fallen] works. I'm the centerpiece of the Legend, I should have been able to stop it. I know I could have done it. It's my fault." Ryan didn't know exactly what ' it' was"I think that's a pretty unhealthy way to look at things." Of course, Ryan was the last person that should have been saying such a thing, but again, he was following Barry's wisdom here. Gamielle shook her head,"You don't understand, she knew.

She knew that I'd be distracted and be in a leveled zone. The moment I pushed too hard, the Trial System clamped down on me and she took full control. All that practice meant nothing because she was ten steps ahead." She was absolutely still blaming herself.

"She just has more experience than us. Do you think I should blame myself when I fail to see what your mom is planning?"

"No, but… that's…" Gamielle trailed off, then sniffed.

"I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Keep going. Most people that find out the truth end up giving up. Even Mezhar… only wants her to leave him alone. Everyone else, well they end up like Indigo or Pinkie. When they finally snap, they just find out they were always stuck in her trap all along. I… how do you keep going?" Ryan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He understood how Pinkie felt.

Every single action they took, every single progress they made, they were still pieces on a board the Witch Tyrant and the Manager were playing against the Trial System. But his anger and frustration wasn't what he talked about. He took off the Artigan mask and met Gamielle's eyes.

"Good friends and good food." Gamielle raised an eyebrow, searching for a bad joke, then found none.

"That's it?" Ryan laughed.

"Maybe a pain in the ass mentor as well. But, well… every time I think about doing something excessive, I stop and try to come up with a solution I'd be proud of telling them in an after-action report. That's what keeps me going." That's what stops me from being the [Dread Revenant] or the [Conceptual Reaver]. Ryan didn't say that last bit out loud. Both of them turned to the horizon, the red spire-scattered landscape casting long shadows throughout the land. A red world with dark purple and black foliage.

There was a different vibrancy here that grew on him during his travels.

"Must be nice." Gamielle said, spoken as if she never had anyone else she'd had after-action reports with.

"You didn't have teammates?"

"I did, I just knew I'd outgrow them so I never tried to get too close. That's my fault, really."

"Ah." Ryan was silent for a bit.

"Do you want to try an after-action report with me? I'll tell you mine and you can tell me yours… if you want of course." He didn't want to pressure her if she really didn't want to share. Gamielle didn't answer him, she just put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Ryan blinked in surprise for a few seconds, his heartbeat increasing slightly. Then he focused on the task at hand: Trying to cheer her up. So he began his after-action report, adding a bit of an exaggerated, arrogant flair into the mix.

It made Gamielle scoff and shake her head which he thought was a resounding success. Though it was a legitimate one, he did end up pointing out his mistakes and misconceptions he had regarding skills and the immortality of the Fallen, saying things like 'he should have predicted it, and he had a bunch of things practiced in secret.' Parroting what she'd said earlier. She poked him in the side and Ryan laughed. The end conclusion he came up with was that he was still risking too much and getting caught off-guard.

He might have been strong for his realm but that was all he was, he needed to do some caution before shit hit the fan. That seemed to make Gamielle feel better at least. She didn't want more Fallen added to the Legend. For the most part, Gamielle didn't comment or give her opinion. She was just content to lean on Ryan's shoulder and listen to him speak. —— Luneia frowned as she watched from a distance.

[The Knight] had no hesitation in watching what looked like an intimate moment only—her brain was a little short circuited here. Vulnerability from Lady Gamielle? Artigan being Ryan Robinson? When she took a step forward to get some clarification, a voice cut her off her tracks. I will cut you out of existence if you interrupt this moment. Understand [Knight] Luneia? The mental threat from the centerpiece of [Remembrance of the Fallen] made her stop and immediately leave the two alone. All the while her mind raced.

A little while later… Ryan Robinson had gone, leaving Lady Gamielle floating alone with an empty metal tray below her.

"That is one suspicious individual, Lady Gamielle."

"He's a good person, [Knight] Luneia. And I told you to stop calling me Lady Gamielle." That of course was a request that she could not fulfill. The Tyrants were a royalty above kings and queens and they all treated Gamielle like she was their most precious child. As such it was her job as [The Knight] to protect her from dastardly playboys that tried to claim maidens' hearts.

"I don't mean to question your judgment, but my class warns me otherwise. I refuse to believe anyone can reach unity with such classes without having sinister inclinations."

"A class does not define a person, Luneia." Gamielle then looked at the empty tin… and the underwear that had been thrown in the distance.

"Do you really think King Theskar would be trying to brand him in his kingdom's symbols if he did not approve of him?" Luneia shifted.

"Kings and Queens have been fooled before. He will become a ruthless dictator in the future, I'm certain of it."

"You really reached class unity too quickly, Luneia. Someone really should have taught you how to separate from your class." [The Knight] had seen maidens in love before, you needed to knock them out of it.

"Did he ahm, not kiss Valee?" Gamielle's eyes flashed." She kissed him, not the other way around. Besides, she was looking for a fling not to settle down. Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do [Knight] Luneia. You will stay silent about my affections. Lady's orders." Duty warred with chivalry in Luneia's mind.

"Do you ah, wish for me to stay my hand?" Gamielle eyed [The Knight] from the corner of her eye. Ryan and Luneia were indeed going to end up fighting again, he hadn't received the [Strongest in the Fifth Realm] title before he returned to Earth.

"No, you should give it your all. Prepare thoroughly, you can even bring out that secret weapon you have in your spatial bag." Luneia raised an eyebrow.

"Truly?" Gamielle closed her eyes, meditating again.

"You're still going to lose. Once he understands what he's up against, he never loses."

"We shall see about that." Truly, love could blind even geniuses. Luneia would gladly suffer execution if it meant that she could get rid of this mad little playboy that had pulled the rug over Lady Gamielle's eyes.