"Senior, that’s not possible. Elinor is too straight-laced to pull sothing like that," her father said, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "I was so disappointed in her that I threw her into the C.I.B., believing she was hopeless. But if what you’re saying is true… I might have to reconsider my plans for her."
He paused and narrowed his eyes, asking, "Who did Elinor supposedly kill?"
"The mutated rust worm that was occupying that kid Beyton’s body," Atticus replied without hesitation. He didn’t even need to check the surveillance tapes—though, even if he had, he wouldn’t have found a shred of evidence. Da Wasp had already taken care of that.
Thanks to the chaos, slipping into the local C.I.B. branch servers had been almost too easy for her. Truth be told, the curse tools and cores that Doctor Druid had scavenged weren’t even the biggest haul of the night. The real prize? The classified data Da Wasp had extracted from those servers.
Elinor’s dad stiffened. "Wait… when did they get Sir Beyton?" His voice carried genuine shock. He just got back from the void and had no idea what was going on.
However, the reason for his shock was that he had quietly supported Beyton on more than one occasion, using him as a counterweight to Matthews and her ever-growing influence in the C.I.B.
Atticus barely spared him a glance as he warned him, "Brace yourself. Knowing Matthews, she won’t hesitate—sractch that, she’ll definitely drag you and the McSuile family into this shit show to cover her ass." With that, he sank back onto his stool, looking like an old watchman, yawning as if he had all the ti in the world.
Elinor’s dad frowned. Watching Atticus lounge around while the chaos was still far from being concluded, he finally asked, "You’re not gonna deal with those Curselings?"
"The president only tasked to guard the holding cells of this branch. What happens outside?" Atticus shrugged, shaless as ever. "Not my departnt. But if you’re so concerned about it, maybe you should go help."
He said it so casually, even though the eighth underground floor was still in complete disarray—and, more importantly, soone had infiltrated the third underground floor and assassinated an inmate.
"Nah, I’m too exhausted, and it’s not worth it," Elinor’s dad said falling to the ground and sprawling. He then asked Atticus, "Are you sure it was Elinor?" He still couldn’t believe that Elinor would steal from her superior and kill an inmate yet to be proven guilty. That was not the daughter he rembered.
"She’s the only girl I know with a hundred eyes. If soone was disguising themselves as her, believe , I’d know," Atticus said confidently—completely unaware that he had, in fact, mistaken an imposter for Elinor McSuile.
Not that it would have made a difference. With his ego, even if the imposter themself ca forward to correct him, he’d still shalessly insist he was right.
"Forget it," Atticus went on, shaking his head. "I saw her curse spell—they’ve advanced considerably. Looks like putting off blind tier climbing and focusing on mastering her curse spells to hone the abilities of her innate curse tool and arts is finally paying off."
He recalled the mutated rust worm that the Mortal-Tier following Elinor had been carrying on his back. Her curse spell on it had been too strong even for him to break. It was the source of his confidence that he ran into the real Elinor McSuile and not an imposter.
Elinor’s father scoffed. Then, shaking his head, he remarked, "Curse spells alone aren’t enough. They don’t help much in combat."
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To him, all the ti his daughter spent perfecting her curse spells was a waste. Instead of honing what she already had, she should have been mastering new arts and pushing to advance her tier. By his mid-twenties, he had already been preparing to break through to Ocean-Tier. It wasn’t anywhere near Crimson Eyes’ level of achievent, but it still cented him as a genius, even by the current standards.
"Tsk." Atticus clicked his tongue in irritation, deciding not to bother. He wasn’t about to waste his breath on a pointless argunt with a stubborn person.
Executing curse spells took ti and ingredients, but when used properly, they were lethal.
Take the one Elinor had used on the mutant rust worm—now that it was under her spell, she could track it anywhere in the world. Not that she’d need to. Her curse had already stripped it of its abilities, leaving it completely powerless and in pain.
"Any news on your father?" Atticus asked, shifting the topic.
"Sa old. Why do you ask?" Elinor’s dad narrowed his eyes. Atticus wouldn’t bring up sothing that sensitive—that top-secret—unless he knew sothing. Or unless sothing was very wrong.
"The Cyclops was here," Atticus said, his tone grave. "Ca looking for the princess after hearing the Sole Ring was found in this area."
He figured it was better to tell him now before it was too late, considering he just got out of the void. Though, in his opinion, the McSuiles had brought this on themselves. Greed had a way of coming back to bite.
Elinor’s dad stiffened. Then, as the weight of those words sank in, he sat up straight on his ass.
"…What happened?" he asked, his voice low, the seriousness of the situation settling over him like a cold shadow.
"I have no idea. He had left before I had the chance to even et him," Atticus said in a grim tone, knowing that only one reason could have caused the Cyclops to turn on his heels so quickly: he got what he ca for—clues on the whereabouts of the Sole princess. Considering what he found, it could be both good and bad news for the McSuile family.
"It seems a lot has happened while I was stuck in the void," Elinor’s dad said, getting to his feet, planning to return ho to catch up before it was too late for them.
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