Chapter 82: I’m Not Just Collecting Every Antagonist

"An abandoned warehouse?"

Aqua said it like she wasn’t even sure why she was still following us.

We were standing in the middle of an abandoned dock on the city’s edge. According to Seraph, the place had been deserted decades ago when the Federation took over from the previous administration.

Now, apparently, Lillith had decided it was the perfect place to invite me.

"Let me go in alone. You two keep watch and make sure nothing followed us."

"You still haven’t explained why I’m here." Aqua sighed.

"Once we have the other two, I’d rather explain it once, with all of you together."

I walked off toward what looked like the entrance. The moment I cracked the door open, the scent of blood hit me like a wall.

It wasn’t the smell of some ordinary murder. I knew this scent. I’d smelled it before, right after marching into a city I’d besieged, forced to walk its streets lined with the bodies of dead soldiers.

It almost made me not want to go inside.

An ambush?

I pushed the thought aside. This was Lillith. There was no way she could be ambushed. And there was no way she’d attack me either. According to the book Seraph had given me, the bond made certain of that.

"Lillith?"

The warehouse was dark, almost no natural light. Every window had been covered with curtains. Then I heard movement.

It was Anna.

"He’s here. We should turn on the lights."

So this really was the surprise.

Click.

The light runes flickered on. And what they revealed explained the smell.

Anna stood in front of twenty-five injured, obviously tortured people bound and gagged to chairs. Lillith was beside them, covered in what I assumed was everyone’s blood.

For a second, I almost thought Anna had lied to me. But then I remembered my question had been specifically about killing people, and she’d answered that she hadn’t. Looking around, there weren’t any dead bodies.

Maybe I should have framed that question better.

"What’s going on here?"

I moved to stand beside Anna, overlooking the gruesome scene.

"I suspect the Federation may be plotting against the Academy. More specifically, they seem to be targeting you."

"Lady Rose asked for my help rounding them up. That’s how I found you. I was mostly hunting the black-robes. Saving you was just a bonus."

I didn’t know what I’d been expecting. I should have known Anna would figure out the Federation’s plot even without me telling her.

In the original novel, she’d been just as oblivious as anyone else. But that clearly didn’t apply to an Anna whose character development had been rushed.

"And what did you find out?"

"It’s the theatre. I have reason to assume they’ll attack there. How they’ll do it, I have no idea."

So she’d figured that out too.

But it looked like she hadn’t realized Lucius would be the one used to carry out their plan. That made sense. She wasn’t in the same class as me. She wouldn’t have seen Lucius glaring daggers at me.

"Well, lucky you. I already have a plan for it."

"You figured it out already?"

"Not everything, but mostly."

It was the truth. This theatre plot was a huge deviation from how Lucius actually got manipulated. But almost everything else was the same.

"I’ve already recruited some people for this. Now, as for these people... can you make them forget this ever happened?"

"Easily." Lillith answered.

"Good."

I crossed my arms. Honestly, I was optimistic. Before last night, I wasn’t sure this gamble would work. But after Lillith’s new power-up and Anna’s intelligence on the situation?

Maybe everything would be fine after all.

"Reyn." Anna said while Lillith was distracted using her magic on the bound people. "You used a spell that was beyond your level, didn’t you?"

"You could tell?"

"You idiot! I told you not to use those. That was our one rule."

"I have a perfectly good explanation for it, trust me."

The moment those words left my mouth, Anna’s expression shifted. Her pink eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in that way she had when she was deciding if I was competent or only a lucky, lovable idiot.

"Then explain," She said.

I glanced toward Lillith, who was still occupied with the bound Federation operatives. Her magic pulsed in slow, rhythmic waves, wiping memories with a precision that bordered on surgical. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to us.

"A few hours ago, I found out Lady Seraph’s father was sick. It was almost like a curse, something that had been eating at him for six years. The only spell I had that could fix it was True Healing."

Anna’s breath caught.

"Reyn. That spell is in the final Chapter of the textbook. We hadn’t even... I hadn’t even read past the theory section. You could have killed yourself!"

"I know."

"And you did it anyway?"

"His daughter was watching him die. What was I supposed to do?"

Anna stared at me for a long moment. Something flickered behind her eyes, something complicated. Frustration, obviously. Fear, definitely. But also something warmer.

"You’re impossible. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve said this, but..."

She finally said, but her voice had gone soft.

"...You’re absolutely impossible. First you save Trish’s house, then you give Aqua an artifact map, then you take Lillith in, and now you’re curing curses for people we met three days ago."

"I have a type."

"Trish told me it involves crazy women."

"To add, it also involves people who need saving."

Anna laughed, a genuine one, but it faded quickly. She reached out and pressed her palm against my chest, right over my core. Her healing magic pulsed into me, light and careful, probing for damage.

Her brow furrowed.

"I guess you’re unharmed, but... does that mean you’ll be having Lady Duvall as... y’know...?"

"No, not at the moment."

"Eh, really?"

"Lady Seraph is beautiful, but she’s not on my list at the moment."

I wasn’t even lying. Seraph was far from a villainess. Yes, she was an antagonist, but she didn’t have the same kind of crazy I preferred.

Besides, unlike the women I actually pursued, Seraph was doing all of this for her father, not because she was unhinged. She already had her happy ending. No need for me to interfere.

"I’m not sure if I should be relieved or even more confused..."

"Probably both," I admitted.