Aftermath (1)

A blinding light shone through Andrea's eyelids, activating her pupils and reawakening her consciousness.

Andrea blankly stared at the familiar ceiling she had been seeing since she was young when she awoke in a vast room. Andrea looked around the room with a light lift of her head.

The room was spacious, and beside her was a gigantic bookshelf brimming with books. In the right corner of the room, there was a large desk. A white desk lamp rested in the right corner of the desk, surrounded by neatly stacked books.

The room exuded a pleasant, woody, quiet atmosphere that could soothe anyone who entered it. The huge windows around the area allowed direct sunlight into the room, enhancing the surroundings.

Her thoughts were comforted by the calmness and silence in the room.

"... ugh!"

When she touched her head, she had a severe headache when she tried to recall what had happened the other day. Her head felt as if it were being split in half.

Two cold eyes stared at her the last time she remembered seeing him.

She doesn't know how much time has passed since that incident. Seeing that she is in her room, she knows that her father must have come there.

Andrea's mind was racing with questions as she remembered the young man who had killed Liam James.

David Foster

What happened then was still a shocking thing to hear. And the amazing fact is that he ranked last in Horizon. The one that killed a D-rank person without any struggle.

All that was running through her mind was his face. Especially his eyes. She had never seen such darkness before. When he looked at her, she felt fear. Dominance. That's all she can think about recalling him.

Despite the fact that she had never given him any attention, she did observe him from time to time, as did all of her classmates. In fact, she had a preconceived notion of him due to his proclivity for strange behavior.

He appeared to be a sloppy student in both electives and class. He didn't seem to care about anyone around him, and he seemed bored in a class all of the time.

...Her earlier view of him had been completely destroyed by the events that had happened the other day.

Amanda felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered his two emotionless eyes that looked down upon Liam James. She didn't expect such a sight to happen.

It shattered her preconceived notions about him. He took down Liam James as if he was nothing, by the way, whom she wasn't even able to leave a scratch on.

Despite her general lack of interest in most things, she couldn't help but be curious about him. He was a sloppy, good-for-nothing eccentric at one moment and a cunning, cold-blooded killer at the next.

... what was his true personality?

-Bam!

Then a tall man entered the room.

He sat next to her, nervously looking at the young girl who was resting on the bed. Her skin, which was flawless, was currently pale, and if not for the fact that her breathing was stable, someone could've easily mistaken her for a dying patient.

"... Mmm."

Damian Lewis, Andrea's father and the man that was in the room, called the doctor after seeing her daughter awake.

"You're up. How are you holding up? "

"... Fine."

Andrea sat up on the bed and bitterly smiled at her father's worried expression. Soon, a doctor came running in to check her pulse, but Andrea pushed him away with a smile.

"It's fine, Dad. I feel a lot better now. "

"Really?"

"Of course. Do I look like someone who would get injured so easily? Plus, didn't the doctor already confirm I was fine? "

"I, I did."

Hearing Andrea mention him, the doctor lightly shuddered and hurriedly nodded.

Damian Lewis was a powerful figure who had many titles to his name.

Each title is more fearsome than the other. The doctor knew that being on this man's bad side would only make his life more difficult.

Looking at his daughter up and down a couple of more times, Damian eventually relented and gestured for the doctor to leave.

"She seems fine, so you can go now."

"Yes, sir."

The doctor, without skipping a beat, hurriedly ran out of the room. Looking at the closing door, Andrea spoke briefly.

"... Dad."

"Hm?"

Damian Lewis replied in a gentle tone.

"About the incident..."

Before Andrea could finish speaking, the room's temperature increased dramatically.

"..Dad?"

Noticing the changes happening around her, Andrea quickly tried to stop her father.

"Dad, stop!"

Putting her hands on her father's cheeks, Andrea tried her best to calm her father down.

Despite being one of the strongest people in the human domain, Damian Lewis had one fatal weakness. His daughter

Ever since his wife's death several years ago, the only memento he had of his late wife was his daughter, Andrea. Even though he was busy with his job, he always made sure to find enough time to spend with his daughter.

Seeing her in this state, rage clouded Damian's mind as he couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation hit his heart.

It was only after he felt his daughter's warm, soft hands that his rage slowly started showing signs of subsiding.

"... Dad, please stop."

"Sigh."

"You do not need to worry about it." It's something beyond you, so don't think much about it. Leave it to your father. I will take care of it. "

Damian Lewis smiled while looking at his daughter. He could see the worried expression on her face.

'She had gone through a lot of struggle.'

Slowly, tears started to roll down from Andrea's eyes. She was unable to get a hold of her emotions.

Damian Lewis quickly hugged her. Tears started to flow more when she was in her father's embrace.

"You did well. Now don't worry about anything. " Damian Lewis tried to comfort her.

"No, dad. It's all my fault. I should have listened to your words. If only I hadn't insisted on going alone..."

Damian Lewis stopped her.

"It's not your fault, child. It was your foolish father's fault. I was being selfish. I didn't consider your feelings. So it's my fault. "

"No, dad. All you did was for my own safety, so it's not your fault. I wanted to become stronger so that you would not need to worry about me. I wanted to stand beside you and help. "

Andrea said while resting her head on Damian Lewis's chest.

"I always treated you as a small kid till now and didn't see that you were growing up. Yesterday I realized you are not a kid anymore."

Andrea had a puzzled look on her. She didn't know what her father was talking about.

"I should have overseen your training schedule, but I was afraid that you might get injured and didn't come to see it."

Andrea was listening.

"You see, I never wanted to have a life such as mine where one needs to fight to make the living end. Even my return from such a mission isn't guaranteed. A job that has life and death situations. I don't want you to live such a life.

But it was to my surprise that you showed such potential from the start. I always wanted you to have a normal and happy life. If it's required, I will remove all the thorns that might get in your way. "

Andrea stayed silent. She knew how much her father worried about her. He was a selfless man. He never cared about anything other than her.

"I always thought this would be best for you, but I never asked what you wanted to do. I was too selfish.

But I never expected you to grow to such an extent. Not acknowledging you even know will make me a bad father. "

She didn't understand what he was talking about.

"To expect you to defeat someone higher ranked than you is truly commendable."

"Huh?"

"As expected, even if we want, we can't stop that blood that flows in your body. You have taken after your mother, who is kind and beautiful."

"I hope you will continue to grow in the manner you desired."

"No, dad. Listen..."

"It's OK. You will not need anything from now on. Your father will cheer you on. "

"I'm taking a lot of your time now. I will go now. You take a rest, and we will talk later. "

With that, he left the room.

She defeated someone who was ranked higher than her?

Then she opened her phone and looked through the articles. It says that she is the one that killed Liam James.

[During a club trip to Arcelia City, a D-rank villain who had infiltrated the top human academy, 'Horizon,' attempted to murder/kidnap Andrea Lewis, the daughter of Damian Lewis, leader of the human domain's strongest guild, <GrimoireHeart>. An anonymous tip alerted the <GrimoireHeart> who quickly swung into action, and upon arrival on the spot, they found the corpus of a D-rank villain. The corpse of the villain has multiple arrow wounds all over his body. And upon investigating, it came to light that they belonged to Andrea Lewis, who had managed to kill him before the authorities had arrived. Currently, all the club-related members are under question. It's still unknown at this point how he entered Horizon, where a strict screening process would take place. Is the security of students compromised? A lot of questions are being asked....]

It must be his doing.

David Foster

"Forget what you saw." She remembers the words that he told her before she lost consciousness.

He must be the one who did this. He must have erased all his traces and replaced them with hers. That must be the case.

"Tsk, how troublesome."