I Am the Strongest Femboy, So Stop Protecting Me!-Chapter 27: The Complications of Being an Attention Magnet.

Chapter 27: The Complications of Being an Attention Magnet.

Virginia was more concerned about the meeting happening somewhere upstairs than the Aureate itself in front of her.

A room full of people trying to figure out what to do about an Aureate reappearing after years of classified absence, not yet knowing that the person who had extracted him had also cleared an Aberrant dungeon three days prior. When those two pieces of information arrived in the same room, the meeting was going to change its shape entirely.

It was truly an otherworldly mess.

The entire medical ward paused for a moment when she walked in, quietly taking a moment to acknowledge her presence before the doctors, healers and nurses got back to their duties.

Aris was laying in a bed on the far end, hand covering his eyes, the posture of someone who was exhausted of the whole situation.

Amari Stormborne was sitting in a char beside him.

She wasn’t particularly doing anything, simply watching the medical professional do their work with the quiet air of someone who was still processing what had happened. She had turned to look at Virginia when she entered, seemingly loosing interest as she was now back to studying the treatment.

Virginia quietly walked up to them, giving Amari a curt nod before sitting on the side of the bed.

"So?"

Aris voice was muffled when it came out.

"I just want some sleep."

She looked at him—at the hand over his eyes, at the soft line of his jaw, at the particular quality of stillness in the rest of him that wasn’t at rest so much as a decision to stop moving for a moment. It was unnerving, the contrast of him being so controlled to the clumsy boy she used to know.

She internally scolded herself for letting such a thought surface.

"They aren’t going to let you go anytime soon." She said after a moment. "I’d suggest getting a nap in while you can."

This made him look at her, he took his arm off from his eyes, shooting a glare.

Which looked... a little cute coming from him. If she had to be honest.

"There’s someone dying next to me." Aris mumbled.

Amari quietly chuckled.

Virginia turned to look at the group of professionals huddled around the bed the Aureate was on.

"How did you even find him anyway?"

Aris didn’t say anything for a long moment, quietly staring at the ceiling.

"It was a spontaneous gate opening, I went in thinking it that it might break open before it had the time to manifest the seal."

Virginia nodded.

"And?"

"And what, the first thing i saw when i went in was that guy getting jumped by a moving mass of flesh, which smelled as horrible as it sounds, by the way." He paused for a moment, a shiver seemingly going down his spine as he relived his experience inside the dungeon.

"The dungeon seemed more interested in me since that guy, Aureate or whatever, was actively one foot into the grave. Brought me time for the clear and escape with him."

She nodded again, letting the silence settle around them for a while as she thought.

"What about the classification?" She turned to Amari.

The woman was an old acquaintance of her, which was a good thing. Being a Halcyon, there was barely any awakened on this country that she hadn’t met one way or another. Even among them, Amari was still quite the distinguishable figure. A veteran S rank despite her young age, and a dazzling portfolio. On top of which, being a Stormborne, a family that was a vassal of the Ashbornes until they split off to build their own legacy a few decades ago.

She didn’t speak immediately, studying Virginia for a short moment as her brain worked furiously out of sight. She had that same quality that heirs of noble families had, that quiet, rigid tension surrounding their every moment, every interaction.

"The rank was hard to determine, there wasn’t any real leakage apart from the common turbulence." She said finally.

Virginia’s eyebrows rose by the littlest bit, impressed.

Eye balling a dungeon rank measurements was... something.

"From what i could see, it clearly had intent."

The silence settled like the gavel of a judge.

There it was. The confirmation they all were reluctant to make.

"So it’s true."

Amari quietly nodded.

Virginia let out a long exhale, studying the commotion around the bed of the Aureate as she wondered about how to quell this flame.

"What about that guy?"

"He’ll live."

"Not that. Isn’t he supposed to be sixty years old?"

Amari didn’t reply.

Instead Aris did.

"Time was broken inside that place."

She turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"I was in there for more than ten minutes," Aris looked at Amari, quietly considering his words before speaking. "Outside, it looked like only a few seconds had passed."

"So we have a dungeon where time was broken, which conveniently appeared in front of two S ranks, while actively being an aberrant dungeon, which miraculously housed an Aureate that was supposed to be dead sixty years ago?" She sighed, "Sounds about- Why are you looking at me like that?"

Aris was staring at her with visible confusion.

"Two S ranks...?"

Virginia blinked.

"Oh..."

The quiet groan that the young man let out would have made people wonder what kind of horrible fate had fallen upon such a poor soul.

Virginia herself too, was a little impressed at Aris’s luck in finding himself stuck in so many messy situations.

She had forgotten in all this mess, despite being an Ashborne, this guy was still far removed from the new politics between clan legacies. Especially the ones surrounding private S ranks.

She let out a chuckle, shaking her head. And then, slowly rose from the side of the bed, pulling out her phone from the pocket of pants.

"You guys stay here, i have to make a couple of calls. I’ll be right back."

"Bring something to eat when you come back."

She gave Aris a nod, a light, reassuring smile stretched on her face as she turned around to walk out of the room.