Seed of Titan-Chapter 227: A Trail, a Threat, a Toast

"I hope you forgive me for keeping you like that, Private Drai," Stacy said as she walked Drai down the hallway, causing him to raise a brow.

The lieutenant seemed to misunderstand his side glance, as she quickly added, "Believe it or not, it was for your own good. You might not realize it, but more than a few people have been complaining—both openly and privately—about the blatant favoritism shown to you by the General."

"Oh... Thanks for your concern, Lieutenant, but honestly, that doesn’t really bother me."

"...May I ask why?"

"Well, back then in the academy, people often badmouthed me too. At first, when I was told about it, I thought I had unknowingly done something wrong, but turns out it was just because I had been minding my own business. That’s when I realized there will always be people who complain or get offended for the most trivial reasons. And I’m not just making excuses. One of my squadmates once told me a really messed-up Chapter of her past, which only cemented my view."

Since Stacy had no idea what Drai had actually done back then or what had happened to this squadmate of his, she decided to stay silent instead of refuting him. Although she mostly agreed with the general statement itself, she didn’t think the favoritism she mentioned was so trivial that it should be casually dismissed.

And after a moment of silence that followed, they finally arrived at the front lobby where Ailem was already waiting. She exchanged a few words of formalities with Stacy before taking Drai away.

After getting on the jeep, Drai bowed slightly and said, "Sorry I kept inconveniencing you, Captain."

"At least you’re aware..." Ailem muttered. She then waved at a few colleagues before driving away.

Drai was particularly quiet during the ride, busy planning for his training since he intended to practice the numerous moves he had been picturing this past week or so. Only when he realized where they were heading that he finally broke his silence.

"Am I getting another trial?"

"No. General Alancho wants you in his office. Looks like he has a few things to talk about."

As the imposing Command Center slowly came to view, Drai couldn’t help but worry about the matters that awaited him. He wasn’t against getting kicked out of the army, but he didn’t want the General to abandon the operation they had arranged.

But upon arriving at the rather modest office, Alancho’s first words following his short greeting instantly dispelled his worry.

"I have good news. My team just obtained some information related to your parents’ disappearance."

Leaning forward in his seat, Drai eagerly asked, "Did they find them?"

"Unfortunately, not yet. Don’t get too excited, Drai. What my team found was just a small piece of information, and personally speaking, an odd one."

"Huh? What do you mean by ’odd’?"

"See for yourself," Alancho said as he handed Drai a VPad.

At first, Drai didn’t know what to make of the picture he was looking at. It was seemingly a random selfie by a cheerful-looking man in what seemed like a streetside restaurant based on the various gourmet dishes in front of him and the similar tables behind him.

Noticing Drai’s puzzlement, Alancho remarked, "Try zooming in on the crowd near the lamppost."

Drai did just that, and immediately, his expression changed.

"These two! They’re Mom and Dad!" he blurted upon seeing the two hooded figures whose side profiles were barely showing.

"Supposedly so. From what I gathered, my team dedicated a few people to scour the web and targeted images that were taken around the approximate time and location of their disappearance, and this is the only thing they managed to find so far," Alancho explained.

Drai wasn’t really listening to him though, as he was busy inspecting his parents. Unfortunately, the image was rather blurry, so there wasn’t much that he could discern aside from their obvious attempt not to stand out.

"Wait a second... Does this mean they weren’t actually abducted like I thought?"

"Well, about that, our team couldn’t come to a definite conclusion. You’ll see why if you slide the picture to the left a bit."

Once again, Drai followed Alancho’s instructions without a word, and what he saw stunned him. Less than a meter in front of his parents was a similarly hooded figure with a somewhat familiar face.

"I figured you’d probably recognize him since you told me you met him before," Alancho said.

Drai turned to Alancho, clearly baffled.

"W-Why is he with them, Uncle?"

Alancho shrugged. "I’m sure that’s what my team questioned too when they saw this. And as I suspected, you’re just as clueless as they are, otherwise it doesn’t make any sense that you had never mentioned this, unless your search for them is just a ruse, which I can easily find out with Ailem here."

"His shock is genuine, General," Ailem quickly confirmed, and Alancho nodded with a slightly pleased look.

He then said, "Think hard, Drai. Is there anything you missed that might actually link your parents with your friend’s guard?"

Drai closed his eyes and rapidly skimmed the few months that he spent in Soluna Academy. Yet, there was nothing in his recollection that suggested any connections between his parents and Christo aside from himself, and he still couldn’t fathom how Liam could be with them around the time of their disappearance.

In the end, Drai gave up. He opened his eyes and asked Alancho, "Was this taken after Christo left the campus?"

"Yes. After further investigation, my team managed to determine that the photo was taken a day after Christopher Maglan was last seen in Soluna Academy. They also found that he went straight to his hometown, Crown’s Passing, after he left—though I can’t be too sure that he wasn’t feigning his departure. After all, that shrewd boy probably knows already that people are keeping tabs on him."

After hearing this, Drai opened his comm, which he had just gotten back after his release. Upon seeing that his messages to Christo were still pending, he immediately let out a strained expression, a look he never showed whenever he checked them out before this. There was nothing strange about this though, as his usual longing for his friend was now laced with desperation.

Drai turned to Alancho again. "Uncle, can you write me a leave so I can go to Crown’s Passing?"

"No."

Drai was taken aback by how abrupt the rejection was since the General didn’t even pause for a second to think about it.

"I know what you’re thinking, but my answer is still no," Alancho added. "That area isn’t under my jurisdiction, and I currently can’t spare the resources to guard you throughout your tentative journey and stay. Besides, I don’t want to risk losing you to the opposing faction, whether by recruitment or elimination."

Alancho’s warning caused Drai to chuckle lightly. "What are you saying, Uncle? Elimination? Aren’t you being too paranoid? Why would they kill a close friend of their own?"

"You’re still wet behind the ears, Drai, so you can’t possibly understand the machinations of those twisted loyalists. They’ve been laying low for a while, but I know how ruthless they can be."

Drai obviously looked unconvinced, so Alancho leaned forward with a serious expression and added, "I’m aware my words might sound like an old man’s paranoia to you, but trust me, you don’t want to carelessly dip your toes in their territory, especially since they must have found out by now how close you are to me. If the information concerning their past deeds wasn’t so confidential, I would have shared them with you already just so you don’t remain ignorant of the cabal behind your friend."

Being stared so intensely, Drai couldn’t help but back away. Meanwhile, Ailem, who was watching all this from the side, simply shook her head while suppressing her urge to giggle.

"Alright, enough of this," Alancho remarked as he straightened up. "Stop thinking of going there, or else I’ll put you in detention again. And if you ever come across something that might enlighten us on the matter of your parents’ peculiar companion, immediately notify me or Ailem. Now, let’s move on to the next topic—the gala dinner."

"What dinner?"

"Gala dinner, don’t you know that term? It’s basically a celebratory dinner, whether for commemorating something, accompanying some awards, or even fundraising."

"Oh, rich people stuff. I get it. But what does it have to do with me?"

"Do you remember when I told you that Maximillian Velles and I have been in talks? Well, we’ve come to an agreement, which is why we’re holding a gala dinner."

"You’re doing that just to celebrate your agreement?" Drai questioned, quite perplexed by how rich people vainly spend money.

"Of course not, that would be too ostentatious even by my standards. We’re doing it to commemorate the return of a proud member of the Velles, the resurrected martyr of the deadly plague that once befell us, an indisputable hero of recent times!"

Alancho’s proud declaration left Drai speechless, for in his mind, Max’s image was merely that of a hobo-esque campmate.