Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 77 A Changed Man

"...Rhys?"

"Emilia."

Rhys thought of the possibility of seeing his sister again since she was in the same building, but he thought she would already be gone since she and Sylas were obviously being given special treatment.

But now, she was standing in front of Rhys; her eyes, slightly trembling as she stared at Rhys's right arm, or at least it should have been there, but all Emilia's eyes were reflecting was his sleeve just freely waving even with the slightest movement.

"You…" Emilia slightly gasped and blinked before looking at Rhys's covered face, "...You were back?"

"..." Rhys did not really answer Emilia and just stared at her face. He could try finding the right words to say, but he had actually already said everything the last time they spoke. And so, Rhys really only let out a small hum before just turning around.

"Wait, Rhys!" Emilia loudly whispered as she tried to grab Rhys's hand, completely forgetting there was nothing there, "Listen. About… about the last time we spo—"

"Rhys… Wilder?"

"..." Rhys wasn't going to stop for Emilia no matter what words escaped her mouth, but the voice that suddenly whispered into his ears quickly made him turn around.

And there, was Sylas West, his eyebrows upturned and his mouth slightly opened.

"You're… Rhys Wilder, right?" Perhaps even more so than Rhys, the shock Sylas was feeling was obviously more prevalent due to the tone of his voice, "It's you."

"Hm," Rhys did not say anything as he just literally stared down at Sylas, even as he very slowly got closer and closer to him.

"How… are you doing?" Sylas took in a small gulp as his eyes did not seem to know whether to look at Rhys's face or not, "Shit… that's a stupid question, fuck."

Rhys watched as Sylas gritted his teeth and his hands started fidgeting. Sylas also started looking at Emilia, who really only glanced at the both of them back and forth; her eyes, seemingly wanting to separate the two far away from each other.

And soon, Rhys saw Sylas's eyes reddening and his breaths turning heavier by the second. And then, all of a sudden, tears seemed to fall from the edges of his slightly trembling eyes. Before any of them could build up and trail down his cheeks, however, Sylas quickly turned his head up, subtly covering his face and gripping his white hair tight as he tried to calm his breath.

"Rhys…" Sylas once again took in a large gulp as soon as he made sure no tears were going to fall from his eyes. And then, without even as much as a warning…

…he kneeled down on the hard floor, hard.

"...I'm… I'm so sorry for what I did to you, to the both of you," Sylas glanced for a second at Emilia before just looking up at Rhys. His neat white hair that was previously brushed back, now as messy as his breaths,

"I… am not going to make excuses for the horrible things I did back then — because there is no excuse for it, it was… just fucked and evil," Sylas gripped his hands tight; tight enough for blood to escape between the gaps of his fingers,

"I have changed, but I know that doesn't matter to you because I was in your position… you would probably want to strangle me right now. But Rhys… what are you doing? Becoming an Explorer? Even joining the Underworld Corps? I have no right to say this but please, stop trying to kill yourself. It's me…

…everything that happened back then was my fault."

Rhys watched as Sylas started gesturing to himself while trying to look at him in his hidden eyes.

"I know… I know that what is happening now isn't fair," Sylas slowly started to stand up, slightly struggling as his legs seemed to be trembling uncontrollably, "I know that you think that society and justice have failed you, and it did. But it's me, I'm the one that did that and I will never, ever forgive myself. But Rhys, please… stop trying to kill yourself."

"..."

"You can kill me now if that is what you want," Sylas once again gestured to himself before stretching his arms to the side, "If that is what will bring you peace…

…then kill me. No one here will stop—"

Rhys did not let Sylas finish his words as he finally responded with a heavy breath and a touch. He did not grab Sylas's shoulder, he just lightly placed his hand on it as he leaned close to him and whispered right into his ear.

"Justice is fair, Sylas West," Rhys said with his teeth almost sticking together, "It just has not reached the both of us yet…

…but it will."

Rhys could just swing his hand right now and Sylas's head would just quickly fall to the ground. But as he said, justice still has not reached the both of them just yet… not yet.

"And stop it with the tears, you can control water as easy as breathing."

"That's not what—"

Before Sylas could say anything else, however, Rhys just backed away from them; disappearing into the crowd which had already gathered and circled around them.

The crowd was inevitable, and perhaps welcomed for what Rhys wanted… but he did not really care for them at all, as he was truly just trying his best not to try and kill Sylas there — and even if he did attempt to, it did not escape his eyes that as soon as he placed his hand on Sylas's shoulder, his bodyguards who were hiding within the crowd all flinched and started to move closer.

"Rhys!"

Rhys could hear his sister calling and chasing him, but Rhys just swiftly moved through the crowd; even using his extremely enhanced senses to weave and disappear from her eyes altogether.

Emilia did not give up, however, as Rhys could still hear her calling for his name even after several minutes had passed. It wasn't until Rhys was called to the knowledge test that Emilia's voice no longer plagued his mind.

And perhaps out of all the already simple tests, the knowledge test topped all of it as it was literally just a digital written exam. They were given a tablet and they needed to answer all the questions there.

And as a matter of course, Rhys just drifted through the entire test; not even knowing whether what he was answering was correct or not. How could he even concentrate in the first place after what just happened?

The entire hour just disappeared and Rhys found himself just passing his paper with a blank expression on his face as they waited for the results.

And as another matter of course, Rhys actually failed the written exam, and failing the written exam meant he wouldn't be able to take the final test — Actual Exploration.

…Or at least that would have been the case, if not for Kenneth, the guild master of the Laughing Bronze, finding his name amongst the thousands of papers submitted and changing the test results.

"Wow, you've passed. What a surprise."

And as Rhys returned to the receptionist, Hannah, to have his papers stamped so he could move on and join the Actual Exploration test.

"Ugh, I hate people like you who rely on their connections," Hannah rolled her eyes as she stamped Rhys's papers, "I should have just stamped this earlier this morning."

"...What do you mean?" Rhys squinted his eyes.

"Don't feign ignorance, tch. You were always going to pass," Hannah groaned as she started waving her hand, "Someone called me from the Mayor's office and told me to ensure you pass. You know who?"

"...What?"

"The Mayor himself," Hannah bobbed her head from left to right as she looked up at Rhys, "I told you, you were wasting both of our time…

…mine, mostly."

And unbeknownst to Kenneth, everything he did was actually completely useless…

…as someone above was already pulling the strings from the start.

***

"Rhys! Is that you…? Why do I suddenly feel scared looking at you, my boy?"

Rhys had already grown a few inches taller in his time in the Underworld Corps, and yet the person in front of him still towered over him the same as before — the Mayor of Old York.

"Ayesha told me you were missing an arm. But honestly, I am just surprised you're even alive."

"Mayor…

…What are you trying to do?"