Trisha already knew

She had realized it a long time ago. It didn't matter how hard she swung her blade, or improved her form, or desired victory she was never going to get it.

Not against someone like Rey.

As the boy closed in on her after parrying her final move, she felt herself descend into a haze.

'I thought if I hit him one time, I could prove something to myself and to him. If I managed to do it, then he wouldn't have been such a liar.'

All this time, Rey portrayed himself as weak but skilled. It lit a flame within her that even she could become stronger if she kept at her training and adhered to his advice.

She indeed became stronger, but the backlash of betrayal that came from her new perception of Rey wasn't something she could ignore. She tried to, but was unsuccessful at every turn.

It seemed like Rey lied to her all along.

'This is the difference between those who have good Skills and those who worked hard to hone their skill.' Trisha closed her eyes as she watched Rey's blade near her.

'In the end, Skills are all that matters.'

~WHOOOM!~

A powerful gust of wind blew past her, and she suddenly felt something warm wrap itself around herlike a coat that covered her from the front.

It was Rey, and he was currently embracing her.

"Trisha, I'm sorry" As he whispered those words in her ears, his calm voice caused her body to grow stiff.

She wasn't miraculously relieved of the anger within her, but her heart raced regardless.

"...."

For the longest moment, she said nothing. Perhaps she derived some sort of comfort from being hugged by Rey, who now had a height taller than her.

~CLANG!~

Her weapon fell to the ground, causing a loud echo to fill the room.

Trisha remained silent, though. A conflicted expression played on her face. It was clear that she still despised Rey for his several threads of deciet, and for how he gave her a hopean expectationthat she could never live up to.

After all, back then when Rey fought and defeated Billy, he became an inspiration to her.

She monitored his growth from that point on with utmost diligence and arrived at a conclusion.

'If Rey could do it, I can too'

But that was all a lie. And Trisha hated him for that.

"I I had feelings for you for the longest time. I liked you so much, Rey."

"...."

"You knew, didn't you?"

"... Yeah."

Silence pervaded the atmosphere as the two of them remained still. Rey's arms were still wrapped around her, but there was no sign that any of that was going to end.

"You don't have feelings for me, I already know. Your eyes are for Alicia, am I right?"

Once again, Rey was forced to give the only truthful response to her inquiry.

"... Yeah."

"I'm not sad about that. In the past, I wouldn't have let that deter me, and I'd compete for your love and attention until I won." Trisha pulled back, and Rey weakly let her go.

She took a few steps away, looking at him with moist eyes.

"But I no longer think you're worth it."

Rey's face remined calm through it all. It almost seemed he was a brick wall, unaffected by the words she uttered.

'I was worried that I went too far, but it seems I was wrong.' Her unshed tears slowly began to dry up, and her trembling heart hardened.

"I don't think I can disagree with you on that." Rey's voice pierced the air, causing her heart to jump a little.

For what seemed like a tiny moment, emotions flickered in his eye before turning cold once again.

"I know what I did. I'd do things very differently if I could, but I never meant to"

"It's fine, Rey, honestly." Trisha sighed, bending a little to pick up her blade. Her sweaty ebony body gleamed as her muscles went on full display.

She grabbed the weapon by the hilt and shrugged once she stood upright.

"It's too late to change anything, anyway. Plus, it would be too petty of me to get upset with you over these minor things."

Not only was Rey responsible for a large chunk of her growth, but he also protected her and the city more than once.

She owed him her life and so much more.

"Even then I can't bring myself to forgive you. I don't know why it's so hard to just put it all behind me and only focus on the positives, but I really dislike you, Rey."

Trisha had come up with all kinds of excuses for him, but in the end none of those could heal a damsel's broken heart.

"I hope you find happiness, Rey. I just don't want a part in it." She spoke pretty bluntly, glancing to her sidethe very entrance of the room.

Throughout all of this, Rey was still silentthe cold, brooding kind.

Her distracted gaze spotted something there, and as she narrowed her eyes at the place, her lips parted.

"Trisha, I"

"Anything we can help you with, Guildmaster?" The sudden words she uttered caused Rey to sigh and also glance to the entrance, where someone was inconspiciously hiding.

It seemed even Rey had noticed his presence. That was no surprise, all things considered. The one known as the Guildmaster was merely hiding behind the partly shut doors of the vast hall, and he must have been eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

"Haha! Please don't get the wrong idea" A few seconds after Trisha spoke up, and both parties focused their attention on the door, the culprit stepped out with a slightly nervous laugh.

He had a short frame that suited him perfectly. He looked like a fine blend between a child and a teenager; cute, yet having an air of maturity about him.

His dark brown coat fluttered as he scratched his similarly colored hair. One look at him, and one would never guess he was the Guildmaster of the Adventurers City.

"... I wasn't eavesdropping or anything."

Those words were met with doubtful gazes from both Rey and Trisha as they looked at him with narrowed, suspecting eyes.

"For real, for real!" He yelled out, raising both hands in surrender.

In the presence of these two, it seemed he was nothing more than an ordinary teenager. That wasn't so surprising, considering the fact that they were all classmates.

"It's nice to see you again, Noah."

"Don't pretend like we didn't see each other just a few months ago! You think I didn't piece everything together and realize you're Jet?"

"Hold on you were Jet as well?!" Trisha's eyes widened as she looked at Rey with eyes of disbelief.

"Well, that was actually"

"Unbelievable! Just how many lies" Trisha's frown deepened, and Rey could only do one thing in response to this.

He turned to glare at Noah.

"I-I thought she knew! I mean sorry about that. My bad?"

Rey sighed and shook his head. Clearly, this entire thing had become a mess too quickly, and he honestly didn't know what to make of things.

'I'm still recoiling from this whole Trisha situation, and Noah had to rear his ugly head.'

Just moments earlier, he had been dealing with a lot of emotional turmoil from Trisha's words. He did his best to digest everything in small doses so they wouldn't be completely lost, but the information was so overwhelming that he had to calm himself to the extreme.

It hurt to see Trisha look and sound so betrayed, so he had to eliminateor at least mitigateit. If he didn't, the System would do so for him.

This was the main reason why, despite noticing Noah from a distance, he didn't pay the boy much mind. He gave Trisha, or rather, his complication with Trisha, all the attention he could.

'Not that it was any good. She probably hates me now' Was what he thought until he checked her [Additional Information] on her Status Window and realized nothing about it had changed in the slightest.

Trisha still had feelings for him.

'I really hurt her, and yet haa, Rey, you idiot.'

~Master, please don't call yourself an idiot. I don't think you are one. You're the most wondeful person in the world!~

Somehow, hearing that from Emil made him feel slightly better.

It almost reminded him of the times that his grandmother would call him handsome, giving him hope that one dayin the futuremany girls would begin to flock around him and see him for the great guy he was.

'Thank you' He smiled slightly.

~You're welcome, Master! Now, about the dare that!~

"Why are you here, Guildmaster? If not for eavesdropping, then what?"

"Actually I called him." Rey said with a sigh. "I just didn't think he'd be here so soon."

"Or you didn't think you'd spend so much time with me."

Trisha's response to Rey's words weren't particularly wrong. After all, he never expected them to fight, and he didn't think he would drag things out the way he did.

"I guess I just enjoyed the fight a lot more than I realized." He said to Trisha, flashing a genuine smile at her.

She looked, and was, shocked to find him displaying such emotion as he focused the full scope of his attention on her.

"I know my opinion doesn't really matter, and this might seem pretentious coming from me, but you've grown very strong."

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Sorry for the mixup yesterday. Forgive me!