Chapter 472 (1/2)

After a moment of intense scrutiny, Mrs. Hamilton bowed her head. “I apologize. What I did was out of line. I took advantage of the fact you had less information than I did to intervene directly in the process of your Class’ creation. The details I was given were vague, but it was clear that I would be able to exert an influence on you, one far beyond the usual clout I have in our discussions.”

Randidly remained silent, watching her.

Without needing to be pressed, Mrs. Hamilton continued. “I had also begun to somewhat suspect the Creature’s motives weren’t entirely hostile, and that it was rather pushing you to see how far it would be until you break. Not entirety concerned with your safety, but also not really out to put you in harm's way with the express goal of ending you. However, I made the executive decision to keep these suspicions to myself, lest it dull your edge against her.

“In addition, I recommended that Ace and his companion Rose be included in the Raid Party not because they were the most capable options as assistants to clear the Raid Dungeon, but due to political and economic concerns. It might not have become clear while you were inside there, but that Rose is uncommonly insightful; right from the original notification she reached out to me and offered me significant… bribes, as it were, in order to ensure that she and Ace went into the Raid Dungeon. But, from the success, I expect that this decision didn’t affect the result too adversely.”

Randidly opened his mouth but found he didn’t know what to say. Clearing his throat, he finally managed, “Chrysanthemum is dead, or rather dying right now. Thea… it’s hard to say how she will handle the loss of her Soulbond. From what I’ve seen… it affects people differently.”

Pursing his lips, Randidly’s thoughts turned to the Wild RIder. Abruptly, he realized that he had no idea what had happened to her after the group had begun to fight against the Dintan people. He supposed she had been wiped out of existence when the Key of Death was used.

“That… oh that poor girl,” Mrs. Hamilton said. “Is she… so she returned to Donnyton?”

“As far as I know, she remains insensible next to the body of her companion,” Randidly said, slowly shaking his head. “I didn’t have the heart to move her. Because I remember how… volatile I became when Neveah entered into her coma, prior to going into the Raid Dungeon. It was… unfortunate timing.”

Mrs. Hamilton was silent for a moment, considering that. Then she looked up at him. “I have betrayed your trust with the things I’ve been doing. My only feeble defense was that they were crimes of pride, rather than malevolence. I mean you no harm, I simply believed that I had enough information and understanding to make the correct calls without consulting you. And always, I made my decision to advance the status of Donnyton. Is there anything else you would like to ask.”

“No, I believe that covers it,” Randidly said shortly, inwardly wondering what had just happened. He had expected… well, he wasn’t too sure what he truly had expected, but what he had pictured was coming in here to her and having Mrs. Hamilton repeatedly denying him, in some sort of evil monologue, where she revealed her plan for Donnyton. Not a megalomaniac, like Ace, but more… more a self-righteous fool.

Not that Randidly was particularly astute in a lot of matters, and to be fair he had relied on Mrs. Hamilton in several instances for her ability to perceive situations, but it was clear now that the town of Donnyton had a tacit understanding of the Creature, one beyond suspecting it existed.

From the memories he received, the Creature had only made true contact with a single individual, but Mrs. Hamilton was too smart not to realize something was up. But to have all of that frankly revealed, as well as this other issue regarding Ace and Rose’s inclusion in the Raid Dungeon team...

Wasn’t this too easy?

But beyond that first reaction, he also believed that sometimes, what you saw was what you get. It would be an incredibly clever ploy to reveal all these… relatively unimportant details so matter-of-factly, only to reserve a deep, dark truth that she had been concealing, use those minor matters to buy credence for cluelessness on the big thing.

Still… Randidly wanted to believe Mrs. Hamilton. She was also one of the few people in Donnyton that he believed could destroy the town simply with her absence, so moving against her was a nuclear option.

Besides, Ace and Rose had acquitted themselves very well, especially by the end of the expedition. Although Randidly hadn’t expected this to be the case, Rose was useful just for her ability to act as a very detailed Skill radar. If a Skill was used within a half kilometer of her, she could pinpoint the direction and the Skill, with what seemed like a high degree of accuracy. Sometimes the particulars would escape her, but she could get the general function of the Skill almost every time.

With her on the squad, they hadn’t even encountered a true ambush; Rose’s warnings gave them ample time to prepare and counter threats that were heading their way. All in all, it was difficult to begrudge Mrs. Hamilton for insisting they include them. His opinion might have been different when the expedition started, but after it all, it was clear that they had thrived in that environment, and grown to a level of strength that justified their inclusion.

Still, there was a small part of Randidly that whispered that if Ace hadn’t come, Randidly wouldn’t have had to put his own life on the line, and then Chrysanthemum wouldn’t be dying, accompanied only by a weeping Thea. But very quickly, Randidly did his best to bury that impulse. Passing blame would be pointless at that point.

Upon the back of the previous thought, a strong desire to return to Thea’s side emerged, which Randidly also had to suppress. The things he was doing now were important. He needed to verify the integrity of Donnyton to his own satisfaction before he began focusing on improving himself.