The Anomaly Beyond The System

"Don’t look at me like I did something wrong. I’m not apologising or anything..."

Lucian’s annoyed voice echoed through the Director’s office as he sat comfortably in the chair placed before the Director’s desk, with Selene sitting beside him.

His expression remained completely unapologetic, as if he hadn’t done anything wrong... and mostly as if he hadn’t just put an Association staff member unconscious.

Hearing his words, Cedric stared at the boy for a few more seconds, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache beginning to form.

"I don’t know if you were lying or not..." Cedric finally spoke, his voice tinged with faint exhaustion, but carrying an undeniable seriousness beneath it.

"But I cannot let you go off that easily after you did whatever you did to this poor girl."

He shifted his gaze to his side, where Axel stood awkwardly, with Ava clutching onto him from behind. She peeped out from behind him, her gaze flickering again and again towards Lucian before quickly averting it, her expression carrying a mixture of confusion and fear.

Even she herself didn’t understand what she had seen before fainting.

She only knew that it had been something terrible...

And the source of that dread was the same handsome man sitting casually before the Director.

The same man who... hadn’t even bothered looking at her since entering the room.

"The same poor girl who decided to kill someone during a spar."

Lucian’s words were calm, but there was a clear edge to his tone, as he barely suppressed his killing intent from leaking out.

Ava immediately flinched, hiding even further behind Axel, the poor man who had no idea why he had been dragged into this office in the first place along with them.

He had nothing to do with any of this, yet somehow, he was now standing there like a human shield for Ava.

"And old man, you’re also gullible for this."

Lucian’s voice sharpened.

The air inside the office seemed to become heavier as his gaze shifted towards Cedric.

Cedric’s brows furrowed into a frown, while Leonardo, standing nearby, immediately darkened his expression.

"You knew this was a simple test," Lucian continued, his voice carrying obvious irritation.

"And yet you placed an untrained person against my..."

He immediately corrected himself before accidentally saying ’mother’.

"...partner."

Cedric wanted to argue that Ava wasn’t exactly an untrained woman.

She was an E Rank awakened who had already undergone Association training and had even taken part in clearing several dungeons.

But...

He couldn’t completely deny Lucian’s words either.

He was right to some extent.

The purpose of the examination had been to test them, not to push them into a serious situation where they would be at each other’s throats.

Despite being told that it was simply a spar, the moment she lost... utterly and completely, Ava had clung to her wounded pride, refusing to accept her own defeat.

"Lucian... calm down."

Selene’s voice came from beside him, soft and gentle, prompting him to turn towards her.

His brows furrowed slightly, but after a brief second... he nodded, his expression softening faintly.

However, he didn’t back off.

"Anyways, I don’t care about any of that."

He leaned back slightly in his chair, resting his cheek against his knuckles.

"Now... apologise."

Cedric’s mind went blank for a moment.

Had he heard the bo—

"Not you, old man. I’m asking the woman to apologise to my partner."

Lucian interrupted, stopping the Director before he could think anything else.

’Can you stop calling me your partner...?’

Selene thought from beside him, letting out a frustrated sigh inwardly, though she didn’t try to interfere with whatever her son was doing.

Cedric’s jaw tightened.

As much as he wanted to argue about the apology... especially when it involved one of his own staff members...

He knew he was in the wrong.

More importantly... he couldn’t allow someone as talented—and perhaps as dangerous—as Lucian to leave with a bad impression of the Association.

"Ava..." Cedric finally sighed.

"I think you went a bit too far this time."

Ava flinched.

Her shoulders dropped slightly.

She slowly shifted her gaze towards Lucian, and the moment their eyes met, her body stiffened.

As she looked at his face, she felt an instinctive fear, as if something... something inhuman lay behind those glasses of his.

Slowly, almost awkwardly, she walked towards them with weak, shaky steps.

"I-I’m s-sorry, sir...!"

She lowered her head deeply, her voice trembling as she tried her best to show the guilt in her words.

Lucian’s expression didn’t change.

"Not me. Apologise to her."

Ava froze for a second before instantly turning towards the masked woman and doing the same, lowering her head once again.

"I’m sorry, Miss...!"

Selene didn’t know what to say, since she didn’t really need the apology in the first place.

The match was already over, and she had gained something from the fight too. She had been able to experience what it was like to fight someone at a near-equal strength level, since there wasn’t anyone like that inside the Scarlett Castle.

Even the maids there could probably kill her with a flick of their fingers.

Still...

She slowly nodded, her expression softening slightly.

She hadn’t seen many people who could apologise without hiding their anger beneath their words, and in Ava... she could tell that the girl was being genuine.

"It’s fine."

Ava couldn’t help but feel something close to appreciation in Selene’s voice, and that... somehow made her feel even guiltier.

The moment Ava lifted her head, her eyes widened as she saw Lucian’s smile...

It looked kind of warm.

Almost... gentle.

"Good girl," he muttered softly.

Ava froze.

"...Eh?"

For some reason, the warmth in his smile felt completely different from the cold monster she had seen only moments ago.

Her cheeks slowly warmed before she hurriedly looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

And seeing the reaction on her face...

Everyone’s eyes twitched.

’This bastard...’

Every man in the room instantly glared at Lucian, who seemed completely oblivious to their reactions.

Or perhaps he knew and was simply enjoying it.

He didn’t really care about the woman’s reaction, but the men’s expressions were priceless, as if they had just eaten something rotten.

"Ouch!"

He turned towards Selene, only to see her hand slowly moving away from his thigh, annoyance flickering behind her mask.

After a moment of silence, Cedric immediately sent Ava and Alex outside, wanting to speak about something important with the two people remaining inside.

The moment they went away, Cedric slowly focused his gaze on Lucian and Selene.

"I’ll apologise in place of my staff," he said, letting out a faint sigh.

"But let’s get to the main topic."

His eyes fixed themselves on the young man.

"What do you think about my previous proposal?"

His voice became more serious.

"Are you willing to work in the Association? I’ll make sure you get a good position and resources to grow stronger."

By resources, he meant monster cores, which were the main source for increasing their rank, skills that could help them on their journey, and artifacts if they performed well enough.

And mainly... protection.

Protection against the other Guilds who might be after them, or in case... the hidden, dangerous Associations that worked shady jobs and even carried out assassinations.

Lucian remained silent for a while.

And the moment he opened his mouth—

"What do you all even do?"

Cedric’s lips immediately twitched.

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