Chapter 231: Ezra In Danger.

Time passed as the two siblings continued eating in relative silence, the earlier conversation faded, leaving only the occasional clink of cutlery against plates and the quiet sounds of them enjoying their meal.

By the time they were mostly through with their food, Lyra finally leaned back slightly and looked across the table at Kael.

"Okay. Let it out."

Kael raised his head, a faint crease appearing between his brows.

"Let what out?"

Lyra gave him an unimpressed look. "What’s on your mind?"

Kael paused.

"You’ve had that look on your face for a while now," she continued, pointing her fork toward him. "The one you get whenever you’re deeply thinking about something. So just let it out."

Kael stared at her for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. He placed his cutlery down and shifted his attention fully toward her.

"Okay." He leaned back slightly. "What do you think about moving?"

Lyra blinked.

"I know you’re attached to this building," Kael continued, "but things are different now. I don’t think staying here is going to be convenient anymore."

"How?"

Kael proceeded to explain the situation to her, carefully choosing his words as he went. He told her about the attention that would inevitably come with becoming an S-Rank Hunter, the increased scrutiny, the organizations that would eventually start approaching him, and the problems that could come with having his family live in such an accessible location.

Of course, he left out everything concerning the other safe zones and the confidential information. There was no reason to burden Lyra with something she didn’t need to know.

Lyra listened quietly throughout the explanation, her brows gradually furrowing as she came to understand the situation.

"So you’re saying that now that you’ve become an S-Rank Hunter, things are going to become troublesome because you’ll have a lot more attention on you?"

Kael nodded. "Exactly."

"That bad?"

Lyra fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking it over. Then her expression suddenly changed as though she’d remembered something important.

"Wait." She turned toward Kael again. "You said the Vice President of the Hunter Association gifted you a building in this Tier Zero District?"

"Exactly."

Lyra stared at him.

"How does that even make sense?"

Kael blinked.

"How did you get to know the Vice President of the Hunter Association well enough for him to give you a building? And since when was there a Tier Zero District? What the hell is even going on?"

Kael’s expression slowly became confused.

Given their previous conversation about moving, he’d expected this to turn into some sort of serious discussion. He had even spent time thinking about how he would convince Lyra that relocating was the right choice.

Yet somehow, she seemed far more concerned about his relationship with Vice President Jonas and the existence of the Tier Zero District than the actual problem they were discussing.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Of course I do. We have to move, yada yada yada. That’s fine with me."

Kael froze.

"But..."

"I already had my reasons for disagreeing back then," Lyra interrupted, "but right now, those reasons aren’t an issue anymore. So we can move whenever you want."

She waved her hand dismissively before pointing her fork at him.

"Now answer my question."

Kael stared at her for a moment.

Then he smiled.

He had spent the last several minutes thinking about how he was going to convince her, only for the entire conversation to end this easily. A sense of relief washed over him as he realized he wouldn’t have to argue with her about it after all.

He was just about to answer when something suddenly tugged violently at the back of his mind.

Kael’s smile disappeared.

His expression turned serious almost instantly as he reached toward the connection.

Then a voice echoed directly inside his mind.

"Master. That girl is in danger."

Kael’s face snapped upward.

His chair scraped violently against the floor as he shot to his feet so quickly that Lyra was startled into standing as well.

"What happened?"

Kael took a breath and forced himself to settle his mind.

"Sorry, but I have to head out right now." His eyes hardened. "I’ll explain everything when I get back."

Before Lyra could ask another question, Kael had already turned around.

He hurried out of the kitchen, crossed the apartment, and immediately stepped outside. The door closed behind him, and the moment he was out of sight, his expression became cold.

He reached toward the connection between himself and Varek.

"Varek. What happened?"

Varek’s response came immediately.

He began explaining the situation, and with every word, Kael’s expression grew darker.

After discovering the existence of another consciousness residing within Ezra, Kael had taken precautions. He couldn’t constantly keep an eye on her himself, so he’d ordered Varek to secretly place one of his shadow constructs inside her shadow. Its purpose was simple: remain hidden and watch over her. If anything happened, Varek would immediately know.

And now, something had happened.

Apparently, after separating from Lyra, Ezra had begun making her way home. Somewhere along the route, she’d been cornered by a group of thugs.

Ordinary thugs wouldn’t have been enough to warrant Varek contacting him.

Which meant these people were anything but ordinary.

"My shadow is trying its best," Varek continued inside Kael’s mind, "but against their strength, there isn’t much it can do."

Kael gritted his teeth.

His own ignorance had come back to bite him.

From the memories of his future self, Ezra had never encountered any life-threatening danger that he could remember. That was precisely why Kael had only assigned one of Varek’s ordinary shadow constructs to watch over her.

If he’d sent one of the strongest members of Varek’s shadow legion instead, this situation might never have escalated this far.

But there was no point regretting the decision now.

Ezra was in danger.

That was all that mattered.

"Master," Varek’s voice came again. "I’ve transferred control of the shadow construct to you. You should be able to sense its location now."

Kael’s awareness shifted.

Immediately, he felt it.

Apart from the two shadow constructs currently guarding Lyra and his mother, another presence had appeared within his perception.

A third shadow.

Kael instantly locked onto its location.

His eyes narrowed.

Then his body moved. He launched forward, his figure shooting through the streets with frightening speed, buildings blurring past as he tore through the city, following the connection toward Ezra’s location.

There was no time to waste.

Whatever was happening, he would get there before it was too late.