Aftermath

"He is trying to run away!"

"Don't let him!"

I retreated as fast as my damaged body allowed me to, which was not fast at all. As I weighed my chances of getting out of this situation, there were only a few people who could possibly save me from the predicament.

My eyes searched through the crowd in hopes of finding the main cast, who knew the truth behind this betrayal since they had confronted the traitors firsthand. After a while, my sight landed on the trio who was watching the scene from away. They looked ambivalent as they tried to decide if it was a good idea to interfere with my public execution.

Fortunately, just as things were getting ugly, the sound of a horse galloping along the stone path was heard. Those coming after me halted and looked in the distance where Chiron was returning from the forest.

"The director is here!"

Hearing the angry shouting of the crowd, Chiron stopped in his tracks between me and the crowd, trying to understand what caused such a ruckus. As he listened to the crowd's words, however, his face darkened. He first took a peek at me then turned back to the crowd. The crowd was expecting Chiron to punish me but what they got instead slapped him back to reality.

"SILENCE! What do you all think you are doing? Killing one of your own people without a single proof, just because he is the son of Hades! We have yet to have any idea who was behind this attack but you have already convicted someone! Have you all gone insane? Pull yourself together. If you have the energy to chase someone, instead of blaming people as you please, use that energy of yours to help others!"

'Phew... Finally someone with sense...'

The crowd fell silent as everyone returned to what they were up to before I appeared. I could see bitterness and disappointment in some faces after Chiron condemned them.

Just as the commotion was subdued, the main cast stepped up and Adriel began speaking in a loud voice to let everyone hear. His aura attracted everyone's attention.

"Everyone, hear me out! I have some important things to say. To tell the truth, I and Eleanor have faced traitors during the Flag War. They were demigods from our own camp, which explains how they succeeded in breaking the barrier from the inside..."

"..."

Adriel recounted everything that happened since they left the aggression team behind with the flag. How they were ambushed by four traitors, how they killed the traitors, and finally how they prevented the raid and saved the camp. Beside him, Eleanor supported his claims.

"How can we be sure you are not the traitors and that you killed them for another reason?!"

Someone voiced their doubts which crossed everyone's mind. But Adriel had already thought about his response.

"It's quite simple really. If we were traitors, we wouldn't have come to help defend the camp from the monsters and fight against them with our lives on the line. We wouldn't have told you about the traitors either, since all the proofs of us killing them would have been covered up by the massacre caused by the invasion."

The explanation Adriel had served was plausible and made sense. They would have gotten off without a backlash if they hadn't told the camp about this fact.

"And when it comes to Blake... I am not sure if he is one of the traitors. During the flag was, he was always within my sight in the aggression group. So I doubt he had any hands in this incident. And his wounds don't suggest he was aware of the upcoming chaos."

'Tsk. You could have said these things earlier when everyone was trying to kill me...'

Chiron intervened to conclude the confusion.

"If what Adriel told us is true, which I believe to be the truth, this means we might have other traitors within our camp."

The seed of doubt was sprinkled into every demigod as everyone became uneasy and suspicious of one another. 

"But for now, we must first deal with the problem at hand! Take care of each other's wounds and recover as soon as possible!"

Chiron watched everyone get back on the track. He then turned to me to see my wound.

"Where is Grace?"

"I am here, Director!"

"Blake seems to be gravel injured! Can you take a look at it?"

"I am on my way!"

Upon Chiron's request, Grace passed through the demigods and came near me. As she realized how horrible my wound was, she gasped. Without wasting any more time, she gently touched my wound running across my right arm, which made me flinch.

"What did you do to your arm? It's completely abolished! Sigh... Why are you always injured whenever I see you..."

She began tending my wound with her divine energy, some kind of cream, and bandages. While she carefully wrapped the bandage around my arm, she asked me something she noticed while examining my wound.

"Who used healing ability on you?"

'So she realized Ilex's doings. I guess that's easy to detect for her level.'

"Some benevolent nymph saw me in pain so she decided to help me out of her good heart."

"I didn't know nymphs showed themselves to strangers this easily..."

"Right? I guess it's my lucky day..."

"Alright! It's all done. You should rest a few days and your arm will be brand-new."

"Yeah. Thanks."

Graced quickly left me to help others in need. I also quickly departed for my cabin to rest. I was out of stamina due to all the events that happened. It was a tiring day for sure.

When I arrived at Hades' cabin, I was interrupted on my way before I could even get inside. A boy with white hair was running towards me, following him two girls were walking and not rushing, unlike the boy.

"Hey! Blake, wait!"

The boy soon caught up to me and began panting. I waited for him to regain his breath which he did shortly after the two girls arrived. He had a guilty expression as if he wanted to apologize to me.

"I am sorry I didn't vindicate you when you were first convicted by the crowd. I should have acted sooner. I was just doubtful... You kn-"

Although his apology was befitting of a hero who wanted to save everyone, his pathetic attempt just irritated me to the core.

"Doubtful..? Doubtful of what? Didn't you know from the beginning that I was innocent? If you can't bring yourself to say you doubted your own conscience because I am Hades' son, then don't even try to apologize like you are my hero."

My voice was cold without an ounce of empathy towards Adriel. I coldly spoke. He fell silent for a while as he didn't have anything to say. But I wasn't done. The frustration I had been building up since I was thrown into this world was finally bursting out.

"What happened, Adriel? Why don't you talk now?"

I said mockingly. As my words dawned on them, Amelia was first to defend Adriel.

"Hey! What's wrong with you? He just wanted to apologize! Can't you just accept his apology?!"

"Amelia. It's fine... Let him be..."

"But..."

"He is right, I don't have the right to apologize to him."

While Adriel and Amelia were arguing, Adriel's face was down. Eleanor was just witnessing the events without intervening. This talk didn't pique her interest at all. Without waiting anymore, I opened the door to my cabin.

"See you guys in the group training session."

I shut the door and the silence enveloped me. I threw myself on the couch near the fireplace and I let myself melt in the couch.

'Did I go overboard..?'

I may have reacted a bit excessively when giving Adriel a lesson. But, looking at him just annoyed me. I couldn't restrain myself from being harsh with my words. However, it was necessary.

Now that he knew his wrongdoings, he would try to fix them. I was sure he would try to fix them and approach me with a neutral attitude since he was the hero of the story. His inner heroic ideal wouldn't let him be if he had given up on me and let his prejudice win over him. The fact that he came over to me just to apologize proved it.

'At least he now knows even a hero can't always save everyone...'