I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!-Chapter 54: Missing Kaely

"...No... Kaely left after I turned her away... I assume she went to Aran to try her tricks on him, but where is she now? And that blood on Aran’s cheek..." Lin stood up and said to the others:

"Let’s look for Kaely first. It wouldn’t be right to leave her alone."

Wed and the other guy nodded, and without saying anything, Aran also stood up and followed Lin.

As the group split and went in different directions, Lin turned his head toward Aran and asked with a distorted face:

"Where is Kaely? She definitely went to you after I rejected her."

Aran smiled slightly, raised both hands and said:

"Lin, don’t be so harsh. I didn’t even see Kaely after that dinner... And why did she come to you anyway? Did she perhaps offer you something?"

Lin’s expression twisted even more, and he was about to draw his katana and beat the information out of Aran, when he suddenly heard Wed shouting:

"Sir Lin! Sir Aran! There’s a note from Kaely!!!"

Lin immediately looked in his direction and saw Wed waving a piece of paper in his hand. Aran turned as well and, seeing the paper, said:

"See? I didn’t do anything to Kaely," he smiled at Lin and walked toward Wed.

Lin frowned and looked at Aran’s back, thinking:

"We’ll see about that."

Lin and Aran quickly approached Wed and took the paper, on which Kaely had written:

"I truly enjoyed my time with you, but... I must say I don’t feel safe among four guys, especially when each of them is capable of pinning me down and forcing me to do "that"... So I decided to leave you, for everyone’s sake. You may judge me and call me "selfish," but I made this decision on my own, so yes. I’m selfish... I hope you survive and return home, just like I will..."

After quickly reading the words written in charcoal aloud, Lin sighed and looked at everyone, asking:

"This is pretty strange. Yesterday, she seemed fine and was behaving normally. Could our arrival have unsettled her that much?"

Wed scratched his head and said:

"Well, before you came, she was pretty quiet. Although Kaely acted a bit distant, we didn’t pressure her... And we certainly didn’t force her to do "that." I don’t know where she got that from."

The other guy nodded and added his opinion: frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

"Even if Wed can be harsh at times and tries to act like a leader... he never went that far..."

Wed looked at him, and the guy flinched slightly, then looked at Lin with hope.

Lin just snorted and looked at Aran, waiting for his response.

Aran gave a small smile and shrugged.

"I don’t know where she is."

Lin looked straight into Aran’s eyes, and seeing nothing hidden there, he simply snorted and walked back to the campfire, saying to everyone:

"If she chose to leave, then that’s her choice. We need to eat quickly and move on."

Everyone nodded and went to the fire.

...

After breakfast, the group quickly packed their things and set off. Along the way, since the scenery was quite repetitive, they passed the time with conversations and various topics to avoid boredom.

"I wonder where Kaely is now? And would we be able to catch up to her if we walked faster?"

Wed shook his head and replied:

"I don’t think so. We don’t know which direction she went..."

"It’s a bit of a shame she left. With her, it was a little... better, I guess..."

Wed sighed.

"Yeah. Things were definitely more interesting with her around. But if she made such a hard choice for herself, we have to respect it and move on."

While those two were talking about Kaely, Lin looked at Aran and said:

"I don’t know what you did with Kaely, but I’ll admit... I’m surprised. I just hope..." his eyes turned cold as steel, and he continued: "...that you didn’t eat her."

Aran laughed at Lin’s words and smirked:

"What an interesting joke, Lin. Why do you keep thinking I ate her? Do you think I’m a cannibal? Besides, we figured out she "chose" to leave us, so there’s nothing to be done now... Or wait — was she so beautiful that you fell for her and now feel the need to protect her?"

Lin scoffed.

"Just a warning. Maybe I won’t kill you, but I could definitely maim you."

"Ha-ha-ha. Of course, of course. Lin, in terms of strength, you’re an unmatched genius. For a moment, I even consider the possibility that you might beat me one-on-one in battle..."

"After all, your speed is beyond what’s normal for an Awakened. Only those of the Call rank or higher could perceive it... I’d definitely lose if I couldn’t outsmart you."

Lin listened carefully to Aran, processing some important information about himself — and about Kaely. In general, he suspected Aran was indeed the one who did something to Kaely, and based on the blood on his cheek that morning, Lin feared he had eaten her — which filled him with rage. Although it wasn’t confirmed and there was no evidence, dismissing the idea outright would’ve been foolish.

Aran’s claim that Lin’s speed was beyond the field of regular Awakened and only the Call rank or higher could perceive it — that was also important information. It would help him better assess his power and compare it to others’, greatly improving his awareness of himself and his enemies.

"But... cannibalism... I can accept a lot of things a person might do. But eating another human being — and not in a critical survival situation — is true savagery. It shatters the very definition of what it means to be human."

"If Aran really is a cannibal... It would be a major scandal. But without proper evidence, it would be hard to prove."

"In any case, I need to be even more cautious around Aran — so I don’t end up in his stomach one day..."

While Lin was deep in thought, Aran was chatting actively with the other guys:

"I’m also really curious about where Kaely went, but what can we do? All we can do is keep moving forward until we reach the fabled Fort Post, which will lead us to the exit."

"Sir Aran speaks the truth. It doesn’t matter what happened to Kaely — what matters now is our survival. If we can survive, we can talk about it later."

Wed nodded and added:

"I think with Sir Aran and Lin with us, nothing ahead can stop us. Getting to Fort Post is just a matter of time."

"Of course, ha-ha." Aran laughed along with the others, while Lin kept his eyes on the road ahead.

Watching the horizon, Lin noticed countless dark-blue silhouettes in the sky, heading toward them.

"What is that..." Lin squinted, trying to make out the shapes.

Then suddenly — he realized!

They were countless birds flying their way!

"Those are birds — and most likely Distorted creatures!"

Lin immediately turned to everyone and shouted:

"Up ahead — countless birds are coming that could kill us!"

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