Chapter 546: Zelos Reed’s Change
「Let’s see… Fran, you are somehow related to him, am I right?」
Weena Rhyn asked Fran, who only had her head out of the water sphere a question.
「Nn…」
「Haah… If I’d known about it beforehand, I might have been able to prevent this, but I’ve been so busy dealing with something that I haven’t had a chance to look through your files」
「My files?」
「Yes. When interviewing a staff member, the research office is supposed to provide a briefing on the person in advance. Well, in your case, since you’re quite famous, they’ve been gathering rumors about you from the beginning」
She said they would gather information before the interview. So, they have a special department for that, huh? And then they would pass on the information they had gathered to Weena Rhyn.
「I’ve been looking for him since yesterday. We’ve been trying to seal him up ever since, and we finally caught him this morning. It was finally going to be over and I was just about to take him to the isolation room…」
Then Fran came across him at the worst possible time.
「When I interrogated him, he told me that he came from the Beastman Nation to the continent of Zilbert, but did you have a grudge with him?」
「Nn」
Fran nodded and turned her eyes, filled with dark emotions, to Zelos Reed.
Kiara had told us not to seek revenge, but as expected, she couldn’t just ignore it when Zelos Reed appeared in front of us.
Zelos Reed, who had been hit with killing intent, was standing behind Weena Rhyn, instead of running away. Weena Rhyn had said that she had caught him, but what about his current treatment?
「As I said before, I still can’t let you kill him. Besides, he is being treated as one of our temporary employees right now. So, we need to protect him, that’s how it works. Well, I understand that it may not sit well with you, so I’m not asking you to accept it right now」
「…」
「However, I’d like you to choose the place to get your revenge on him next time」
「?」
「Just take a look around you」
Around us? Fran and I then looked around us as we were told.
Then we saw a group of students who had been watching us from afar fall on their knees.
「I’ve made a barrier beforehand, so the damage is minimal… But before that… When you attacked him, the students got the full brunt of your power and intimidation」
The barrier must have been the magic that surrounded the area after Weena Rhyn mumbled something back then. Apparently, it had the effect of blocking damage from the inside to the outside.
So, it was definitely our fault that the students were scared.
When Weena Rhyn appeared, I thought she looked like a dragon in front of us, but to the students, Fran was exactly like that.
I guess they were too frightened to even run away in the face of the mysterious being that had suddenly appeared, clad in super magic and spreading vicious killing intent. They were looking at Fran with a mixture of fear and terror.
「Aah…」
「This time, there were only a few students around, so we only suffered this much, but if it was in the town, the whole town would have panicked」
「…I’m sorry」
She finally realized how little she had been aware of her surroundings. Fran then bowed her head with a heavy feeling.
「Ara? You’re apologizing?」
「?? Because I did something bad…」
「You’re quite an honest girl, aren’t you…? Well, let’s take care of him for the time being」
Weena Rhyn then looked away from Fran, who was bowing her head and approached Zelos Reed, who was standing behind her.
Even though it had been prevented, my blade had slightly cut Zelos Reed’s neck.
And at that time, she was clothed in Divine Attributes due to her Sword God Transformation. So Zelos Reed was unable to recover from the wound on his neck, and could only hold back the unstoppable flow of blood with his hands.
「Just sit tight for a bit… Divine Water Creation, Aqua Heal」
Weena Rhyn waved her hand lightly as she created a new sphere of water. The water then clung to the wound on Zelos Reed’s neck and began to glow dimly.
After a few seconds, a section of the slashed flesh rose and began to regenerate itself at high speed.
Shouldn’t the Divine Attribute be quite effective against the evil gods…? Or was it because she used a recovery based on the divine water?
In no time, Zelos Reed’s wounds were healed. Then Weena Rhyn gave him an order.
「Stand up」
「Yes」
Although she had healed him, Weena Rhyn’s gaze on Zelos Reed was very cold. Without complaining about such treatment, Zelos Reed nodded quietly. His gaze turned to Fran for just a moment. He was neither frightened nor angry, just quietly staring at Fran. But that was impossible, to begin with.
Is this really Zelos Reed? His atmosphere has changed to such an extent that I doubted him.
When their eyes met, Fran began to glare at Zelos Reed again. This was not good. If this continued, Fran’s anger would flare up again.
When Weena Rhyn saw this, she raised her voice.
「We can’t even talk properly with him around, huh…? Colt, take him to the Third Tower, I’ve already spoken to the other side before」
Oh, we forgot about Colt. We forgot he was here ever since Weena Rhyn showed up.
「Are you sure you’ll leave him to me?」
「I’ve put a seal on him, and Berthoudi and the others will keep an eye on him. Besides, he won’t do anything stupid while he was still healing, right?」
「Yes」
「I’m going to have a talk with Fran then」
「Understood」
I don’t know the details, but it seemed that something magical was binding Zelos Reed.
「Also, call the other staff members to come and administer first aid to the students. None of the students is in any serious condition, but they can take a break from their classes for today」
Fran’s head drooped as she listened to the exchange between Weena Rhyn and Colt. She was probably regretting now that she had caused damage to unrelated students because of her hatred of Zelos Reed.
「You should go now」
「Yes. Come with me」
「Okay」
Zelos Reed then quietly obeyed Colt’s words and started walking slowly. So, he had really changed, huh? I guess I could call it a transformation. Was it because of Weena Rhyn’s magic? Or…
「Fran, why don’t you just talk to me for now?」
Weena Rhyn’s body then blocked Fran’s gaze, which was staring at Zelos Reed’s back with a complicated expression.
「I’m going to release you now. I hope you won’t run away. Besides, you must want to know about a lot of things, right?」
「No problem, I won’t run away」
「Thank you. Then, I’ll release you now」
Weena Rhyn then snapped her fingers, and the water sphere that had been holding us disappeared.
「Come with me」
Weena Rhyn turned and walked away as the two of them landed. Fran then picked me up from where I was stuck in the ground and followed her with a short run.