The hitman ran with the efficiency that could have come only from those who knew the layout of the ruins. The speed at which he ran was silent, nimble, and difficult to follow.
However, Isaac was keeping up with him. He breathed and ran in the most efficient way possible, which he optimized throughout his routines and practices back in the academy.
All that he did before the run was to fire the flare. A sliver of thought swept through Isaac as he ran. He is running with certainty. He knows where his ally is. He knows where Camilla is. This is only possible if they planned out the spots at which they will ambush us. The assassination has been thoroughly planned… He grimaced as the face of the academy's headmaster, Seran Crane, appeared in his mind.
"Hah! Still keeping up?" The hitman cackled as he ran. The howling was everywhere now, coming from the walls, from behind them, from ahead—from everywhere.
Clearly, the flare had done what Dodyon said it would.
Isaac felt the gazes of numerous wolves. Their eyes were brimming with thirst for blood as they ran around him and the hitman without attacking, as if they welcomed their venture deeper into the ruins.
Camilla. Camilla Hedron. Isaac couldn't help but growl. Ever since the first time we met, up until now, you've been nothing but a nuisance.
Camilla Hedron. The only child of the current head of House Hedron, the noble family known to be just below the Five Pillars in the noble society. The fact that she awakened A-rank: [Mystical Swords] on top of that showed the bright future that she had.
Many looked up to her. Many feared her. There was no one to condemn her because she stood at the top of the kingdom, and thus, she became who she is today… arrogant, egoistic, and selfish—or so would people think.
"I am Camilla Hedron, but please call me Camilla. I am aware that our engagement was done without consent, but… I still want to be genuine."
The nobles were curious about who she was, because her debut was, compared to other nobles, very late, being about two years ago or so. They seemed to think that the reason for this was because she focused on learning the necessary skills as the future heiress of House Hedron, that she was talented from the start.
Little did they know that in the past, Camilla used to be considered a failure like him.
F-rank Total Reserve. F-rank Mana Efficiency. Her future was seen bleak, and House Hedron found her an embarrassment such that they decided to hide her. They decided to spend her as the tool to form connections with one of the Five Pillars, House Valerius. Two failures of respective houses, finally getting some uses to benefit their families—was what Valerius Patriarch said to him back then.
She was timid. She was depressed. She was afraid of so many things, and yet, the moment they met, she opened up to him. The fact that their situations were alike seemed to comfort her, that she wasn't alone in the world.
Isaac found himself panting. He'd long lost the control over the temperature of his ambient surroundings, and the heat of the ruins was scorching and sticky against his skin. His body was sweating, and the wolves' eyes gleamed dangerously as they witnessed his growing exhaustion.
Yet, he couldn't stop. Going against all the logic, Isaac ran beyond his normal pace to keep up with the hitman, even as the sun's ray apathetically shone over him through the high walls of the ruins, completely unaware of the fact that its existence was wearing him down.
He couldn't understand himself. All that he could tell was that if he weren't to chase after the hitman right now, he would regret it.
Yes, a nuisance you are. Isaac couldn't help but grit his teeth as the past memory surfaced.
___
"Miss Camilla Hedron of—"
Three years ago, they met, at the private garden of House Valerius.
"Camilla. P-Please… call me Camilla."
He remembered her smile.
"Can I… call you Isaac?"
His first impression of her was that she was, although timid and shy in appearance, seeking to bond. He read loneliness in her, and resonated with her.
"Sure."
They sat still in silence after that, not knowing what to do. At last, Isaac awkwardly held his hand out, and she grabbed it. They shook rigidly, confused by their own actions.
It was the engagement that was done in secret, and was to be made public after the Rite of Manifestation.
They frequently met—the meets were obligatory. They talked about their daily lives, of their hobbies, or their future plans.
"I want to prove everyone wrong." That's what she said back then, "that I am not a failure. That I am better than all of them."
Some days, she visited him full of sorrow. "They called me useless. They called me a failure. I… I was mad… by the fact that I couldn't deny those claims…"
In those situations, he wouldn't know what to do. The best that he could do was to hold her and wait until she calmed down.
"Thank you… I feel better now." After a while, she would always give him the smile, though her reddened eyes contained the sadness that wouldn't leave her—because she knew the cruelty of the world. She knew that the only way to make a turnaround would be to awaken a high-rank skill, which tend to be very rare for those without talent in mana control.
…She may not have known, but she was his sole relief point back then.
Ignored. Called a failure. People called him privileged, but he was granted barely any of said privileges. Instead, he was burdened with duties, and his incapability to shoulder them the way the golden child, Caspian Valerius did, made him the disgrace to House Valerius.
Every night, he cried at his deceased mother, asking her why she brought him into this hell hole. Then, during the day, he would mask his emotion and act stoic, trying his best to earn compliments from Caspian, his older brother, and the Patriarch, his father.
No one bonded with him. Except Camilla. She was his outlet.
He may have, in fact, loved her at one point.
Do you… want to run away with me? Always, as he met her, such words lingered in his mouth. However, he never came to say it out loud to her, for when she smiled, all the worries would melt away.
"Isaac." Once, she whispered as they, for the first time, decided to lay on the grass like the way commoners would do, "promise me."
"Promise what?"
"That you wouldn't change."
After a pause, he answered, "wouldn't change, as in—"
"Always… always be there for me." She whispered, "there is no one but you. Who understands me."
He turned his head within the grass patch and looked at her, who was gazing back at him.
"…Why, you are such a nuisance." In the end, he promised. "As long as you don't… I will be there for you. Always."
Words never felt heavier as he stated. When he made the promise, he had a firm belief that no matter what the world throws at him, she will be there, together with him. He felt hope.
Then, she changed. Overnight.
"Isaac Valerius. I am here to announce the end of our engagement."
"…Camilla?"
"Whether you like it or not, you don't have a say in this." Her eyes no longer held the warmth, but the coldness—the same gaze as any other noble. "After all, you are a failure."
He was genuinely terrified. For the second time in his life, the first being the death of his mother, he felt his heart breaking.
"W-What do you mean? If this is meant to be a joke—"
"Quiet. I am not here to listen to your pointless words." She snorted, with demeanor full of pride. "Our engagement didn't exist. After all, why would someone like me stoop so low to be acquainted with likes of you?"
She left, with him dumbfounded and at loss of words.
Later, he was given more context.
Mana Solidification Syndrome.
That was the reason why Camilla's Total Reserve and Mana Efficiency were F-ranks. Unlike him whose Manafold Circuitry was too narrow and amount of mana was too little, she unknowingly had an ailment that hindered her progress.
"She has too much mana in her. There are two ways by which the abnormal degree of mana is expressed: Mana Overload, as in death, or Mana Solidification—where mana decides to become compact to prevent the rupture of the Circuitry."
"And so? What are you trying to say, Nicholas Hedron?"
"Forgive us, Lord Valerius. Camilla now holds a potential beyond that of the engagement with your second born. We will have to break it."
It was about a year that the engagement lasted. Without his consent, it began, and without his consent, it ended.
However, how is it that she could change overnight? Regardless of the revelation, how could she, someone who had always smiled at him, become the same as those who made the two of them suffer for years?
"…Why?" In the end, he whispered in the darkness. There was no one to answer his questions.
The nightmare continued. Ignorance. Words of failure. His continuous effort to truly be accepted as part of House Valerius, but to no avail.
Before he knew, his emotions became more manageable. Unlike before where he had to consistently put in the effort to keep his overwhelming emotions under the surface, now, his face would be blank at its default state. Though the agonizing pain still existed deep in his heart, his expression suggested otherwise, acting nonchalant.
Another year passed, and he was enrolled in the academy as the first year. He hadn't seen Camilla once. He only heard by rumors of who she had become.
And then, the second year came. He awakened F-rank: [Condensation], while she awakened A-rank: [Mystical Swords], a fabled skill recorded within numerous tales. He was disowned. Branded Nameless. Logically, he should've been concerned by his circumstances. For some reason, he instead felt freedom, as if alleviated from an unknown weight that had been crushing him.
Then, the Golden Repose. The higher class. They met at the highest point possible in the academy. While she was, according to everyone, the upcoming heiress of House Hedron, he was Nameless.
She mocked him. Belittled him. Cursed at him. Yelled at him. And he felt nothing as he confronted such a person.
Feeling his steadfast heart, Isaac accepted at last, the girl I knew is dead.
___
Yet, here I am. Why? Isaac panted heavily as he faced off two enemies who stood just ahead. What are you doing, Isaac? Why risk your life for Camilla Hedron?
"Isaac…"
Isaac didn't know what he was doing as he stood in front of the fallen form of Camilla, who had severe burns all around her body. Her long, hazel hair that reached below her shoulder was burned short and messy, now just below her chin level. It was burned in a way she herself would consider hideous. She was, by all means, in no condition to continue the battle.
In agonizing pain and fear, her tearful eyes trembled.
"I can't… I no longer… can…" Then, she stuttered. Her voice shook. It wasn't just that she was physically wounded, but that her will has shattered. Her eyes were full of fear as they hovered over the thin air. Her body shivered as she hugged herself. "Father…" She cried in nothing but sorrow. "Why… why do you want me dead…?"
She then coughed up blood. Her body shook violently from the pain. "Leave… me…" She managed to mutter, barely audible. "I… am a dead… weight…"
"You are right. A dead weight. You are a nuisance, Camilla." Isaac, with his eyes alert as they darted to locate the wolves that surrounded them as well as the two hitmen just ahead, stated. "If anything, I should be using you as a bait to escape safely."
So why, he couldn't help but growl, why can't I do that? Why can't I be rational for once?
"Is it because I am weak?" Isaac let out a hollow chuckle. "Is that why I can't throw you away, just as how you once did with me?"
He no longer knew what he was doing. The chance of surviving against all these threats was quite low. He cursed Vane and Randal, and Camilla too, for bringing them into this kind of situation.
He took a deep breath. Decided to push those thoughts aside as he calmed himself. Stated, "this is just a part of the assignment. Teamwork is likely part of the criteria, and I am acting on behalf of that."
As he stood in front of Camilla, she stared at his back, numerous emotions swirling in her eyes.