"Tch, you can’t be helped..." Irelia retorted with a disappointed huff as she watched Soren move closer to the edge and sit on the railings, waiting.
"Sooouuu..." she said, closing in on him and pausing when she reached the railings.
"We’re just going to stay here, looking blankly at the ground?" she asked him, as Soren shrugged.
"We have to stick to the mission," he said uncompromisingly.
It resulted in Irelia scratching her jaw with a lost expression, something Soren picked up on as he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Don’t tell me you didn’t read the report at all..." he said out loud in disbelief, watching her confused expression.
’Tsk, idiot...’ he thought inwardly, but the weight of the mission was serious enough for him to break his peace.
"Let me run you through it... for the last time," he said, as she beamed.
"Our mission is simple. Just two tasks," he said, pausing to look at Irelia, who nodded twenty times in three seconds.
"Firstly, we watch over the soon-to-be-Chosen, ensure no harm comes upon her until she reaches the Dominare Royal Grounds, while also keeping an eye on her every move and gathering as much information as possible." He said, and she bobbed her head once more.
Soren nodded before turning his head downward.
"So... what’s the second task?" she asked, and snapped his head to her in shock.
"What the!? But I just said it!?" he replied, watching her confused expression grow.
"You... you did?" she asked, confused, as he groaned in pain before replying.
"Let’s simplify it like this."
"My mission is to watch her every move and pick up as much as I can about her."
"Your mission is to make sure no harm comes upon her until she reaches the Dominare Royal Grounds."
"You get it now?" Soren asked, watching as her eyes lit up.
"Oh, oh, that makes sense now."
"Good."
"Why am I in charge of making sure no harm comes upon her, though? That should be a male job, no?" she asked, confused.
Soren replied with a shrug, "You’re two times stronger than me... at least," he said flatly, then turned to her.
"Don’t tell me you forgot that..." he said with an unbelievable gaze, but the confused light in her eyes was all he needed to know.
"Wow," Soren called out in shock before shaking his head.
"Your family possesses a Pseudo-Divine Grade Law Anomaly, but now I understand why no one ever wishes to be born as a Lucemore."
"What’s the point of so much power at the cost of rapid forgetfulness..." He said, his voice filled with pity as he turned to look at the ground where various Fallen Angels scrambled around.
"Such things are not important anyway. Why keep it in your head all the time..." she said with an uncaring scoff, resulting in a huff from Soren.
"Yeah, right. The mission assigned by the Vice Pracch of the Dominare family to pick up their future Chosen isn’t an important one..." he mumbled beneath his breath.
Only he knew if they failed the mission, their status would most likely fall lower than even ordinary Fallen Angels, something as bad as a death sentence.
He’ll most likely spend his life in a cave after that due to the shame.
They couldn’t afford to fuck this up. He, most especially, can’t allow that.
"So... you said your mission is to, um..." Irelia said, but paused again, as Soren sighed tiredly before replying.
"Watch her every move and pick up as much as I can about her?" he completed.
"Yes, right. I was just about to say that."
"Of course you were..." he replied cynically, but it didn’t bother her as she exclaimed,
"So... what are the things you’ve gotten down about her?" she asked, and Soren’s eyebrows furrowed.
"Why do you ask? You’ll forget in 30 seconds anyway..." he said with a shrug, but his spine chilled when
CREEEAAAAKK
He saw the railing he sat on squeeze slightly and audibly fracture as he turned to look at the beaming Irelia, whose hands gripped the railing tightly, her hands slowly morphing to form claws.
"Because I’m booooooorrrreeed!"
"I need to do something to direct my want of crushing something," she said, resulting in a chill that traveled down Soren’s spine.
’How did I get stuck with this maniac in the first place...’ He thought, but then responded.
After all, he was the closest thing to her.
What if she forgot they were mission partners and decided to crush the thing closest to her?
He’d be getting screwed over then.
"I’ve gotten a couple of things down about her..." he said, waving his right hand as a hologram materialized out of his outstretched palm.
"Oh really, what do you have..." Irelia bubbled, her face bursting from behind, and appearing a few inches before the holograph.
’...She has so much energy.’
"Well, the first thing I got is that she’s the only child, and the other person that came with them doesn’t have a familial connection to her, contrary to the reports we got...or hoped" Soren explained to Irelia, who continued nodding expectantly.
"And the second thing is, her relationship with him, since it’s not familial, has to be romantic..."
"Oh... rooomanticccc," Irelia called out as Soren rolled his eyes.
"That sounds so beautiful, no?" she asked, and Soren shrugged.
"Maybe."
"But it won’t be soon enough. I can already see it collapsing," Soren said without a care in the world, but the same couldn’t be said for Irelia, whose eyes colored in confusion.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Well, I don’t know. Because the girl is too valuable to be married off to some lesser wild-world animal?" he asked, his voice lacking empathy or concern.
"Lesser wild-world animal? He doesn’t seem like an animal."
"If anything, he looks very handsome to me. He wouldn’t pale to many of the Angels in terms of beauty..." she explained as Soren chuckled mockingly.
"Handsome... Hahaha."
"When has that ever been a factor about familial fusion?" he asked in mockery, but she was adamant,
"So, why did you call him a lesser wild-world animal? Why is he less valuable..." she asked, confused, as he sighed in tiredness but still forced to reply.
"You see, the girl is the soon-to-be-Chosen one of the Dominare Family, and not only that, she has a bloodline purity of 87.9%."
"The current highest among the Dominare family, and most likely ever recorded in their entire existence."
"She’s more than valuable—not only as a Chosen Bloodline Lighter, but as an important tool for family fusion..."