Realm Lord-Chapter 178: Ask Me More

Arthur and Aziel stared at Myah in contemplative silence, the weight of her ominous words settling over them like a heavy blanket. The reality of what they were walking into was beginning to clear into uncomfortable clarity, each passing moment adding another layer of uncertainty to their already precarious situation. The gentle rumble of the armored vehicle’s engine provided a steady backdrop to the tension that had suddenly filled the passenger compartment.

Arthur gulped audibly, the sound seeming unnaturally loud in the quiet space. The simple reflex betrayed the anxiety that was beginning to gnaw at the edges of his carefully maintained composure. He had thought he was prepared for this mission, but Myah’s matter-of-fact assessment of their chances was forcing him to confront the harsh realities of their situation.

Myah, still sprawled across her bench seat with her eyes apparently closed, opened her left eye and gazed at them with the calculating look of a predator sizing up potential prey. As she took in their expressions of growing concern, a wry grin began to develop across her features, transforming her face from one of casual indifference to something far more mischievous.

"Getting scared?" she asked, her voice carrying a teasing tone that seemed designed to provoke a reaction.

Arthur, startled by her sudden direct question, stared at her in silence for a moment as he processed what she had just asked. The challenge in her voice was unmistakable, and despite the very real dangers they were facing, he felt his competitive nature rising to meet it. After a brief pause, he developed a grin of his own, one that matched her cocky expression with equal confidence.

"Not a chance," he replied, his voice steady despite the lingering traces of anxiety that continued to flutter in his chest.

Myah chuckled at his response, a sound that carried both amusement and skepticism in equal measure. She rolled her eyes with the practiced ease of someone who had heard similar bravado countless times before, clearly unimpressed by his display of confidence.

"Scared?!" Aziel interjected, his voice rising with indignation at the very suggestion. "Aziel Borasten doesn’t get scared!" His declaration was delivered with the kind of absolute certainty that only came from either supreme confidence or complete delusion, and Arthur wasn’t entirely sure which category his friend fell into.

Myah sighed deeply at Aziel’s outburst, the sound carrying a note of resignation that suggested she had expected exactly this kind of response. She closed her eyes again and rolled over to face the wall of the SUV, clearly indicating that she had heard enough masculine posturing for the moment.

Arthur couldn’t help but grin as he looked at his friend, a mischievous glint entering his eyes as he remembered a particular incident from their recent past. "Oh yeah? But what about the monster of the halls from the castle?"

The effect of Arthur’s words was immediate and dramatic. Aziel’s face froze in place, his confident expression crumbling as if it had been made of sand. Red began to flush throughout his skin in waves of embarrassment, starting from his neck and spreading upward until his entire face was the color of a ripe tomato.

"Dude! I told you to forget about that!" Aziel protested, his voice cracking slightly with the force of his embarrassment. "It wasn’t even fair!"

Arthur couldn’t contain his laughter at his friend’s reaction, the sound bubbling up from deep in his chest as he slapped his leg in amusement. "My bad, my bad," he managed to say between chuckles, though his tone suggested he wasn’t particularly sorry for bringing up the embarrassing memory.

Aziel let out an attitude-filled "hmph" and turned away in a display of wounded dignity, clearly hoping that would be the end of the conversation. The gesture was so dramatically petulant that it only served to make Arthur’s grin wider.

Just as it seemed like the moment had passed and they would return to their previous awkward silence, Myah suddenly was no longer turned away and lying down. Instead, she was sitting up and fully attentive, her eyes wide with an intensity that hadn’t been there moments before. She stared at them with such focused attention that it caught both boys completely off guard.

The sudden transformation was so unexpected that it jump-scared Aziel into coiling back against his seat. "Ahh... creepy!" he exclaimed, his voice carrying a note of genuine alarm at her abrupt change in behavior.

Arthur rolled his eyes at his friend’s dramatic reaction, but before he could comment, Myah was giving him a glaring look that suggested she didn’t appreciate being called creepy. The intensity in her gaze was almost unsettling, as if she were seeing something in him that he wasn’t aware of himself.

"Are you talking about the ever-changing castle we saw in your files?" she asked, her voice carrying an urgency that hadn’t been there during their previous conversation.

Arthur laughed awkwardly, suddenly feeling like he was under a microscope. "Uh... yeah," he confirmed, not sure why this particular detail had sparked such intense interest from her.

Myah seemed to stare through him as she gulped audibly, her composure cracking slightly as she spoke. "C-could you tell me more about it?" The question came out in a rush, as if she were afraid she might lose her nerve if she didn’t ask quickly enough.

Arthur looked confused by her sudden shift in demeanor and the obvious importance she was placing on his answer. "You uh... want to hear about the ever-changing castle?" he asked, trying to understand what had prompted this dramatic change in her behavior.

Myah seemed to realize how eager she had sounded and began to blush heavily, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red that rivaled Aziel’s earlier embarrassment. "Uh well... um nevermind," she said, her voice becoming smaller as she quickly turned away, clearly regretting her moment of vulnerability.

Arthur seemed genuinely confused by the entire exchange, his mind racing to understand what had just happened. ’What was all that about?’ he thought to himself, trying to piece together the sudden shift in dynamics.

But before he could dwell on the mystery any further, Cara’s voice drifted back from the driver’s seat, carrying a note of amusement that suggested she had been following the entire conversation with interest.

"Myah is obsessed with realm history and undiscovered areas, and more specifically, the gods they worshiped," Cara explained. "When she found out that you guys discovered two unknown locations in the second realm on your first trip, both of which being homes to altars, you should have seen her face."

Myah whipped her head in Cara’s direction, her face now beet red with embarrassment at having her obsession exposed so publicly. "S-shut up!" she protested, her voice carrying a mixture of mortification and indignation.

Both Cara and Arthur laughed at her reaction, the sound filling the vehicle with a warmth that helped dispel some of the earlier tension. There was something endearing about seeing this composed, seemingly aloof young woman reduced to blushing embarrassment over her academic interests.

"If you want to know more, feel free to ask," Arthur offered, his natural kindness overriding any awkwardness he might have felt about the situation. "I don’t mind answering some of your questions."

For a second, Myah looked at him with eyes that seemed to be filled with stars, her entire expression lighting up with an enthusiasm that transformed her face completely. "Really?" she asked, her voice carrying a note of hope that suggested this meant more to her than she was willing to admit.

Arthur giggled awkwardly at her intensity, not quite sure how to handle this level of academic fervor. "Uh yeah..." he confirmed, though he was beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

Myah gulped, clearly trying to compose herself before speaking, but her excitement was too powerful to contain. "Well then um..." she began, and then proceeded to spew out what could only be described as a complete article’s worth of questions. The words tumbled from her lips so fast and jumbled together that Arthur couldn’t even keep his thoughts straight as he tried to remember all of them.

The rapid-fire interrogation covered everything from the architectural details of the structures they had encountered to the specific iconography of the altars, the environmental conditions surrounding the locations, potential connections to known historical events, and theories about the gods that might have been worshiped there. Her questions demonstrated not just casual interest, but deep, scholarly knowledge of the subject matter.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Arthur interrupted, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "One question at a time."

Myah, who had been stopped mid-sentence in her enthusiastic barrage, blushed deeply and averted her eyes in embarrassment. The realization that she had gotten carried away seemed to hit her all at once, and she looked mortified by her own behavior.

"Oh um s-sorry," she stammered, her voice small and apologetic. The confident, aloof persona she had maintained since their first meeting had completely crumbled, revealing someone who was genuinely passionate about her academic interests but clearly self-conscious about showing that enthusiasm.

She took a deep breath, visibly trying to compose herself and approach the conversation with more restraint. The internal struggle was visible on her face as she fought between her desire to learn everything immediately and her embarrassment at having revealed so much of her true nature.

As she prepared to start her impromptu interview with more measured questions, Arthur couldn’t help but feel a new appreciation for his enigmatic teammate. Beneath her rough exterior was someone driven by genuine curiosity and scholarly passion – qualities that might prove invaluable in the dangerous territory they were heading toward.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢