Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain

Chapter 355 355: Bittersweet Reunion

Noah appeared on the roof of the tallest tower and stayed low, one knee against the stone, looking down at what he had done.

The academy spread below him in various stages of reconstruction.

Earth and stone mages moved through the grounds in small teams, their work visible from this height as a slow, methodical erasure of the damage.

New walls were rising where old ones had stood, and rubble was being cleared and carted away, scaffolding climbing the faces of buildings that had survived the night but only barely.

The central area where the faculty building had been was the most changed.

The dragon monolith sat there like something that had always been there and was simply waiting for everyone to acknowledge it, ringed by guards stationed at close intervals.

The entire structure was layered with wards that Noah could feel from where he was, the defenses dense and carefully constructed, drawing heavily on the academy's remaining defensive capacity.

Which left the rest of the grounds relatively unprotected. If the protections were in place, he wouldn't have been able to just teleport in freely like this.

A normal person might have felt something about that. Guilt, perhaps. Or at minimum the discomfort of seeing damage you caused laid out in front of you in full daylight.

Noah looked at it and felt nothing particular.

Camelot had reached into another world and pulled him out of it without asking. Whatever it had since lost was a transaction, not a tragedy. The kingdom was simply collecting what it had always been owed.

He settled into a comfortable position and began searching the grounds with patient eyes, letting his vision do the work.

The academy was nearly empty as the students had been sent home while the rebuilding continued, which meant the usual noise and movement that made observation difficult was gone.

Only staff remained, and they were few and purposeful, moving between specific points without lingering.

He waited.

Ten minutes passed.

Professor Faye walked out of the infirmary building at the eastern side of the grounds, pausing at the door to speak briefly with a guard before continuing towards the staff quarters.

Noah watched her until she was out of sight.

From what he knew, Faye and Cecilia were close friends. Close enough that wherever one was, the other was usually nearby.

And the infirmary was where you kept someone who was sick or injured.

His stomach dropped. 'Was she...'

Fortunately, he was very familiar with the infirmary. So he stood, oriented himself, and teleported.

He appeared in an empty ward, taking in the sight and making sure there were no hidden enemies around before exiting the ward.

He moved through the next ward slowly, checking each bed as he passed. They were all empty.

The sheets were clean and undisturbed, the room carrying a hunting dust on every surface, signifying that it hadn't been occupied for some time.

He reached the far end and stopped, looking back down the row.

She wasn't here.

He retraced his steps and tried the corridor beyond, checking doors as he went.

All he saw was another ward that was just as empty, a few supply rooms, a small office, and a washroom. Then a narrower passage that branched away from the main wards, lined with private rooms.

He tried the first door. It was empty.

He left to the second, opened it, and stopped in the doorway.

Cecilia lay in the bed nearest the window, her hands folded over the blanket, her brown hair spread across the pillow.

Her face was relaxed, looking like she was relaxing or sleeping, rather than in deep unconsciousness.

The worst part was that he couldn't see any visible injuries. She had no bandages nor discoloration, nothing that announced itself as wrong. If his senses weren't telling him she was unconscious, he might have assumed she was simply resting.

He walked inside.

He stood beside the bed for a moment, looking down at her, and felt the guilt arrive before he had time to prepare for it.

He hadn't expected it. Hadn't thought there was enough left in him for it. But it was there, settling into his chest with a weight he couldn't reason away.

He crouched down until he was level with her face.

"I'm sorry." His voice came out wrong. Quiet and unsteady in a way he hadn't intended. "I'm sorry, Professor."

He didn't say anything else.

"Her consciousness has been locked away," a voice said from the doorway. "Lady in Dark sealed it before she left on that day."

Noah straightened but didn't turn around. He had sensed the approach two minutes ago and recognized just who was approaching the room before the footsteps became audible.

He waited while Arlo crossed the room and came to stand beside him, both of them looking down at Cecilia's face.

Arlo was quiet for a moment.

"I don't know what to feel," he said finally. "Seeing you here. Standing there like that."

He exhaled.

"I'm glad you're alive. I'm glad the Leech is gone. That part is genuine." He paused. "But I can't make myself forget the rest of it."

"No matter how many times I try to find an angle where it makes sense, I keep coming back to the same number."

Noah said nothing. He kept his eyes on Cecilia.

"How do you feel about them?" Arlo asked. "The ones who died because of your actions."

Noah considered the question honestly.

"Camelot summoned a savior," he said. "They chose that word themselves, not me. They decided that the survival of this kingdom was worth pulling someone out of another world without asking."

"They decided that a few lives lost in a summoning was an acceptable cost, that the compulsion they wove into the ritual was a necessary measure, that whatever the hero needed to sacrifice was simply part of the arrangement."

He paused.

"So tell me why Camelot gets to call itself a defender of humanity and I get called a criminal for the same arithmetic."

Silence settled between them.

Noah finally turned and looked at Arlo properly for the first time.

He could sense his friend's new rank. C-rank. Arlo had grown noticeably stronger, and even the way he held himself was now different.

His white hair was tied up in a ponytail, and his previously luminous green eyes were now a shade darker.

"You advanced," Noah said.

Arlo nodded slowly. "I got a new skill that night. A skill that helps me accelerate my advancement."

"Then you benefitted from that night too." Noah snorted.

"I'd trade it back," Arlo said, and his voice carried no hesitation. "Every rank this skill has given me. If it meant bringing them back, I'd hand it over without thinking."

He met Noah's eyes, and something in his expression settled into something sad and certain at the same time. "Which is why I've decided to stop you here, Noah. Once and for all, before you do something more dangerous."

Noah looked at him for a moment, then laughed softly. "Arlo. You're C-rank. How exactly do you plan to stop me alone?"

Arlo smiled, the expression not quite reaching his eyes.

"That's why I'm not alone," he said quietly.

A hand closed around Noah's shoulder from behind.

"Hello, Noah." Daisy's voice was pleasant and completely calm. "Did you miss me?"