It took another couple of hours for them to navigate their way out of the catacomb. The outside was a deep valley which looked more like an ancient heritage spot, not that it took away anything from the murky darkness of the place. On top of that, there was mist in the air, hampering their sight and other senses, providing evidence that this wasn't any heritage spot at all.
Moreover, the mist wasn't natural. Perhaps so old security hack or the power of the rift mutated the natural manifestation of mist.
Other than getting out of the catacomb, there was another good news. After tinkering with the longread for so ti, Agnes managed to get in contact with the others. Thankfully, they all were together and safe. After telling them about the goblins and orcs, she asked them to not be hasty in joining up. To take their survival as the utmost priority.
The two of them were on the correct path, anyway. She told them they would wait for their arrival near a landmark.
Warden was roasting the at when he found Agnes coming back after the call. She looked much more relieved now.
"We're resting two hours here," she said. Warden nodded. After thinking a while, she asked, "You'll be well-rested in two hours?"
He nodded again. Agnes sat on the opposite side of the fire, watching the slow fla roast their al.
"It will only take a few more minutes," he said. "Are you hungry?"
"Well, yeah," she said with a sigh. "Did you have to roast so much, though? This is like enough for our entire team…"
"I have an appetite unusual compared to most people," Warden added.
"Of course," she said.
After spending so minutes in complete silence, Warden began to serve the food, cutting out from the roasted deer over the fire.
"So, let's do so bonding over the al," Warden smiled, handing her the food.
"No thank you," Agness declined without thinking. "I have no intention of bonding with you."
"That's cold," Warden said with a mock hurtful expression. "I thought the mada captain takes care of everyone in charge… my fragile heart cannot take this much coldness."
She snorted. "Has everyone ever told you it is very hard to judge which one is the real you?"
Warden raised an eyebrow.
"There's the one who's petty, acts rashly, who makes fun of their superior officer for the smallest reason," Agnes continued. "There's one who repairs their companions' tools and weapons for the simple promise of training. And then there's you, who becos like a single-minded monstrous force in a fight…"
"I think you're not thinking it right," Warden said after so thought. "They all are . Just different shades."
|em|p|yr.
Agnes perked at him, munching the at.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Warden laughed. "Anyway, how's the al?"
"Decent enough," she said.
"Only decent? Looks like I have to up my cooking skills."
"No, this is pretty good," she said. "It's hard to get even decent quality on a mission… Not to ntion nothing lasts in the front lines for long."
"Ahh," Warden ate slower than usual, even though it would take him so ti to finish up. "So, what you used to do before becoming the most revered captain of the 16th infantry?"
Agnes didn't say anything for so ti, concentrating on her food.
"I… I guess I adventured, though that didn't last long," she said with a sigh. "I used to take open contracts and take care of people's problems for a few months… then land myself a spot in the 16th infantry. That was like… five years ago? Ti doesn't really make sense with the dilation, sigh!"
"What did you do to get here?" Warden said, lifting his head to look at her. She didn't et his gaze. "You don't have to tell if you don't want to."
Agnes helped herself with so water, satiating her sore throat. "I killed a person."
"Did they deserve it?" Warden said. "I an, you have so—"
"No, he was innocent," Agnes said, her face laced with deep regret. "It was an accident."
Agnes didn't explain more, and Warden didn't ask either. This seed like a sensitive topic to be pried over on just a al. Still, she opened her mouth after a while.
"I used to beat myself in my early days," she said. "Used to have nightmares of the accident… but now not so much… I guess ti had healed it. Or perhaps I overco that with darker, nastier nightmares from spending my ti in the front lines."
"Hey, look at you now, you're a captain, and at iron rank at that," Warden said, unsure if he was any good at consoling anyone. "I don't know how many can manage such a feat, but you surely are one of the best."
Agnes snorted. "Do I look like soone who needs consoling?" she said. "I know what I am."
"And that is?" Warden perked up.
"A genius," Agnes said, grinning. "More than that. There's no one who can compare to … Nobody brilliant enough to deserve ."
Warden looked at her flabbergasted. At first, he thought she was joking, but looking at her impression, it was clear she ant every word of it. And sohow, it didn't sound wrong with the sheer level of confidence she was radiating.
"Well, there are better traits than narcissism," Warden said, eting her grin with his own. "But it does look good on you."
"It's nothing but the truth," she snorted. Finishing up her al, she cleaned up the plate with her darkness power and settled it next to him. "I'm going to take a quick nap. Don't ogle at when I sleep, or my impression of you will revert to day-one."
Saying that, she moved a few steps away from the fire and wrapped herself in a blanket to rest. In no ti, she was asleep.
Warden stared at her with an odd smile.
"Hey, I'm watching you," she said in her sleep, eyes still shut. "I'll give you another week of cleaning of toilets if you don't look away."
Captain Agnes was surely a peculiar thing.
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