Chapter 82 - 81: Familiar Faces
Nina’s breath caught in her throat.
For a moment, everything around her seemed to disappear.
The voices of the other survivors faded.
The unfamiliar buildings blurred.
Even the people standing around her became nothing more than shapes.
Veronica.
She was alive.
Nina couldn’t move.
As though sensing someone staring at her, Veronica turned.
Their eyes met.
Veronica froze.
Nina froze.
Neither of them moved.
For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.
Then Veronica’s lips parted.
"Nina?"
The moment she said her name, Nina’s composure shattered.
Veronica rushed toward her.
"Nina!"
Nina barely had time to react before Veronica threw her arms around her.
Nina’s knife nearly slipped from her hand.
She held Veronica tightly.
For days, she had forced herself not to think about the people she had left behind. Every memory had been another weakness she couldn’t afford.
But now Veronica was standing in front of her.
Alive.
Warm.
Real.
Nina began crying.
Veronica pulled back slightly, her hands moving over Nina as though checking that she was actually there.
Then her eyes dropped.
Her expression changed.
She stared at the empty space where Nina’s arm should have been.
"Oh my God."
Veronica’s voice trembled.
"Nina... what happened to your hand?"
Nina looked down.
For a moment, she couldn’t answer.
Then she shook her head.
"I..."
Her voice broke.
Veronica’s eyes filled with tears.
Nina tried to smile.
It didn’t work.
"I lost it."
Veronica covered her mouth.
"Oh, Nina..."
That was all it took.
Nina broke down completely.
She buried her face against Veronica’s shoulder as everything she had been holding back finally came spilling out.
The fear.
The pain.
The exhaustion.
The memories of King’s Territory.
The Beast Tide.
The people who hadn’t made it.
The moment she realized she would never get her arm back.
Veronica held her tightly, crying with her.
"I thought you were dead," Veronica whispered.
"I thought you were dead too."
They stayed that way for a long moment.
Two people who had spent days believing they might never see each other again.
Eventually, Veronica pulled back and wiped at her face.
"You should’ve followed us."
Nina gave a broken laugh.
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"I was stuck."
Veronica stared at her.
Nina looked away.
"There was no way through. By the time I got free, everyone was already gone."
Veronica swallowed.
"We thought you didn’t make it."
"I almost didn’t."
Neither of them said anything after that.
They didn’t need to.
They were alive.
Somehow, against everything that had happened, they had both survived.
Nina eventually noticed the others standing nearby.
Her gaze moved over them.
She recognized several faces.
People she had seen around King’s Territory before.
Iris was there.
So were Benjamin and Caleb.
Henry stood nearby as well.
Nina’s eyes lingered on them for a moment.
She didn’t know them personally, but she remembered seeing them around King’s Territory.
And then there were several others she vaguely recognized too.
The people who had always seemed to stay close to Iris’s family.
Bodyguards, perhaps.
Nina had never had much reason to speak to them, but their faces were familiar enough that seeing them here felt strange.
After everything she had been through, finding Veronica alone would already have been unbelievable.
Finding all of them here was something else entirely.
Iris noticed Nina looking at them.
She gave her a small smile.
"I’m glad you made it."
Nina nodded slowly.
"So you all came here too?"
"Eventually," Iris replied.
There was something careful about her answer, but Nina was too exhausted to question it.
Her gaze moved around the village again.
"Who rules this place?"
Several survivors turned toward Iris’s group.
It was the question all of them had been thinking about.
The walls.
The road.
The buildings.
The strange entry fees.
None of it made sense for a Level 1 village.
"Yeah," someone else added. "Where’s the Lord?"
Iris looked toward the Village Center.
Then she shrugged.
"I don’t know."
Nina frowned.
"You don’t know?"
Iris shook her head.
"We came here and saw people building things, but we never saw anyone claiming to be the Lord."
Several survivors exchanged confused looks.
"You’re saying nobody introduced themselves?"
"No."
Iris kept her expression calm.
"We just assumed the System was handling everything."
A man looked toward the massive walls.
"The System?"
"Maybe."
Iris shrugged again.
"Think about it. The defenses, the roads, the buildings, the prices. Everything is already organized, but nobody seems to know who the Lord is."
The survivors fell silent.
Nina looked around.
It did make sense.
A strange territory appearing in the wilderness.
A Level 1 village with defenses far beyond anything they had seen.
A system-controlled entry system.
Prices that were almost absurdly low.
And no obvious Lord walking around giving orders.
"Could it be System-owned?" someone asked.
"That’s what I’m thinking," Iris replied.
Another survivor nodded slowly.
"That would explain a lot."
"It would," someone else agreed.
Nina looked toward the walls again.
A System-owned territory.
It sounded strange.
But compared to everything else they had witnessed?
It was probably the simplest explanation.
"What happens if there isn’t a Lord?" Nina asked.
Iris gave a small shrug.
"Maybe the System manages it until someone takes control."
Nobody seemed able to come up with a better answer.
Nina eventually nodded.
"That makes sense."
Iris quietly let out the breath she had been holding.
Inside, she was desperately trying not to smile.
It had worked.
Nobody suspected a thing.
She glanced toward the Village Center.
Her territory.
Her people.
Her walls.
Her roads.
And now, a growing number of survivors who believed the System had somehow created everything by itself.
Iris kept her face perfectly neutral.
For now, that was exactly how she wanted it.
Scene 7: Iris Pretends
Nina’s gaze moved from the massive walls to the buildings around them.
Everything about Velaris raised the same question.
Who had built this place?
More importantly, who ruled it?
She looked toward Iris.
"You said you came here before us?"
Iris nodded.
"Yeah."
"Then do you know who the Lord is?"
Iris paused.
Only for a second.
But Benjamin noticed.
So did Henry.
Veronica’s lips twitched slightly before she quickly looked away.
Iris kept her expression calm.
"No."
Nina frowned.
"You don’t?"
"We never met anyone who introduced themselves as the Lord."
A few survivors exchanged confused looks.
"But someone has to be in charge."
"I’d assume so."
Iris glanced toward the Village Center.
"It’s just that we never saw anyone giving orders or claiming the territory."
One of the survivors looked around.
"Then who built all this?"
Iris shrugged.
"Maybe the System."
"The System?"
"Think about it."
She gestured vaguely toward the road.
"The walls. The buildings. The roads. Even the entry system."
She paused.
"Everything seems to already be organized."
Nina looked around again.
It was difficult to argue with that.
The territory was strange enough that the explanation didn’t sound impossible.
Another survivor folded his arms.
"So you think Velaris doesn’t have a Lord?"
"I didn’t say that."
Iris smiled faintly.
"I’m saying we haven’t seen one."
That answer seemed to satisfy them.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then someone looked toward the enormous walls.
"A System-owned territory."
The words sounded strange.
But the more they considered it, the more reasonable it became.
A territory appearing in the wilderness.
A Level 1 village with walls that looked more like a fortress.
Proper roads.
Organized buildings.
An entry fee of only five copper.
And no visible Lord.
It was certainly unusual.
But System-owned territory?
That could explain everything.
"Maybe that’s why the entry fee is so cheap," someone said.
"Could be."
Nina slowly nodded.
"It would explain the walls too."
Iris nodded along.
"That’s what I thought."
Behind her, Caleb suddenly coughed.
It sounded suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh.
Iris glanced at him.
Caleb immediately looked away.
Benjamin lowered his head, hiding the faintest smile.
Henry simply stood there with the patient expression of a father who had already realized his youngest son was about to become a problem.
Veronica, meanwhile, was doing a terrible job of hiding her amusement.
Nina didn’t notice.
She was still looking around Velaris.
"So if there’s no Lord, what happens to the village?"
"Maybe the System manages it," Iris said.
"And if someone claims it?"
"Then maybe they become the Lord."
Nina considered that.
"That makes sense."
Iris nodded.
"Probably."
Caleb’s shoulders shook.
Iris slowly turned her head toward him.
He pressed his lips together.
"Sorry."
"You’re not sorry," Benjamin muttered.
"I am."
"You’re literally smiling."
"I can’t help it."
Iris narrowed her eyes.
Caleb immediately straightened.
"I’m done."
Henry cleared his throat.
"Good."
Nina glanced between them.
"Is something wrong?"
"No," Iris said quickly.
"Nothing at all."
Caleb nodded far too enthusiastically.
"Yep. Nothing."
Iris gave him another warning look.
He looked at the ground.
Nina seemed satisfied.
Her attention returned to the village.
She still couldn’t understand it.
Everything about Velaris was strange.
But at least she finally had a possible explanation.
Perhaps the System had created the territory.
Perhaps there had never been a Lord.
Perhaps someone would eventually claim it.
For now, she didn’t have enough information to know.
And honestly, after everything they had survived, Nina wasn’t sure she cared.
They had found shelter.
They had found safety.
That was enough.