Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 78 - 77- Sudden meeting(2)

"What are you doing? Don’t touch that." A grumpy voice made her pause as she turned towards him.

The old man had a frown on his face as he scolded her, "I prefer things to remain where they belong."

The girl, very quietly, protested, "...but I thought that I should clean up a little..." The room was very untidy. A normal person couldn’t survive a day here. No ventilation, nothing to eat, and a scarce quantity of water. Not to mention, everything was scattered around as if an earthquake had hit the bunker.

However, the man spends most of his time here as if he doesn’t care about anything, including his health.

"Move your little ass outta my workshop. I don’t need you." He cruelly spoke those words and even shoved her away.

Anyone might have felt bad or even blamed the man for treating the girl badly while she was trying to take care of him.

However, a beautiful smile formed on her lips as she hummed and stepped away.

For someone who has been with him for the past seven years, she understood the meaning behind each of his words.

Climbing the stairs, she reached the upper floor...and it felt like she had stepped into a completely different world.

A fluffy bed with pale blue curtains. White walls that give comfort to the eyes. Small decorations and fragrant candles add serenity to the room, which could attract anyone to take some time out of their life and just sit here and relax.

He built this room just for her.

That’s why she knew when he said, ’I prefer things to remain where they meant to be,’ he didn’t just mean his tools...but her too.

He wanted her to live a good life.

...

"Ah." Her eyes fluttered open, as the strongest Warden in existence felt annoyed by something quite trivial at the moment

Sunlight.

With a groan, she sat up on the bed and exhaled for a long sigh.

...she was having such a good dream...or more like, a visit to the memory lane.

These are the memories that she never shares with anyone because she knows they won’t understand what it means to her. What values do these memories hold for her?

She was happy to have these memories, but sometimes she feels lonely because the other person who shares this memory is not with her.

’Don’t be depressed, Bella...as promised, he will appear before me again.’

Saying so, she got up and left the room...

...a room which could easily horrify anyone with countless scribbles filling the room.

On the wall, on the ceiling, everywhere on the floor, and even on the bedsheet.

And each one of those scribbles represents a single word.

Darling.

°°°°°°

"Uhm...what can I do for you?" In the end, Adrian had to ask the lady about her motive to come here.

It has already been five minutes since she walked inside and after humming in response to his greetings, all she has done is walk around his office as if she were inspecting his room or something.

Tia hummed as she returned to the table and asked, "I was inspecting the armament you tuned, and I must say that your work was quite impressive."

"Thank ...you." Surely she didn’t come here to praise him, right?

Tia, finally, sat down on the chair across from him and asked, "From whom did you learn Runesmithing? Who was your mentor?"

Adrian was honest, "I learned from books."

"Oh, I am curious which books taught you something that every other Runesmith across the globe couldn’t learn."

Adrian sighed, "I just tweaked things here and there, brought changes to the technique which the books offered, and derived my own methods."

Tia smirked, ’Tweaked a little, huh?’ which book gave him the idea to draw elemental insignia of the deities to derive the attribute of an individual? As far as Tia remembers, none of the books nor any Runesmith in the past ever derived any different method other than using the crystal ball for the First Thread.

Then this ’tweaking’ and ’bringing changes’ he talked about was completely false.

’Hiding the secret behind your speciality is common...’ she didn’t mind being lied to. She also has many secrets that she couldn’t even tell to her closest ally. That’s why she didn’t continue to question him about it any further.

"I wanted your help with something. Will you?"

Adrian nodded, as long as she changed the topic.

Tia got up from her seat and, after walking to the other side, she rested a parchment on the desk.

Adrian wore his glasses, his brows drawing closer as he read the runes written on the page.

"This...?" Adrian asked. He could understand what it was, but was unsure what she wanted from him.

"The runes are incomplete, and I couldn’t find the right dialect to continue it."

It was the runes for second-thread, from what Adrian could tell. However, it wasn’t complete—the runes which define the places from where the threads are drawn were written, but the last rune was missing.

"Hmm, three runes used for several threads, I can see." Adrian muttered under his breath as he picked up a pen, "...seven mana points in one rune...that’s impressive." He was talking to himself, but Tia was so close that she could hear him.

The dialect is, "Whisper Runes...and Surge runes...very unusual." You don’t see someone having a low affinity and a broken affinity on a regular basis.

If someone has double affinity, it is most likely joined from end to end.

Like subtle affinity and balanced affinity, or balanced affinity with broken affinity.

That’s why it surprised him.

"So, can you fill the space?" Tia asked with her brows raised.

Adrian never felt that he couldn’t understand the runes, so failing to finish it never crossed his mind.

His fingers guided the pen to draw the Surge rune in the blank space, which balanced the equation.

"Here you go."

Tia’s expression brightened, not because the equation was solved—she couldn’t possibly bring the runes for any practical use—rather, she was happy because her theory was correct.

The note she brought was something copied from the Original, and naturally, something which cannot be comprehended by a regular Runesmith.

But here, not only did Adrian understand the runes, he even completed it, proving that she was right about it.

’Adrian is, somehow, connected with Sir Avirin.’

She didn’t know how, but all the evidence indicates that way.

And now, Tia’s only motive was to prove it to the world.

"Is there something concerning, Lady Tia?" Adrian asked, seeing the sudden shift in her demeanor.

However, the woman shook her head and stepped away from him, "My goal to come here is fulfilled. I will take my leave now."

Leaving those words, a happy Tia walked out of the room—leaving a confused Adrian behind.

’What is wrong with her?’

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. I realized something...Bella and Annabelle...name and characters are nearly the same.