Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Chapter 105

Ingrid and Lysander walked back towards Nurse Maya’s office, keeping their pace steady as they made their way through the corridor.

Ingrid had several things on her mind, especially after her conversation with Berthanon, but she decided to put them aside for the moment. There was no point worrying about things she couldn’t handle yet, and she still needed to discuss their next move with the others. When they finally reached the office, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find that Hunter G had already woken up.

Freya was sitting right beside him, practically tucked into his arms. One of her hands rested against his chest while the other held his, and Hunter G seemed perfectly content to have her so close. Even with his pale face and the exhaustion still visible in his eyes, he had one arm wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her near him.

Ingrid paused briefly at the sight, finding it difficult to believe that the two had spent so long pretending they were nothing more than companions. They looked so much like a couple that anyone who didn’t know their history would have assumed they had been together for years.

Hunter G noticed her almost immediately. His expression changed, and he carefully moved his arm away from Freya so he could sit up a little straighter.

"Ingrid, you’re back. I wanted to thank you properly for what you did. Freya told me everything, including how you managed to get that pill to work when even Maya couldn’t find a way to treat the poison. I owe you my life, and I don’t intend to forget that."

Ingrid shook her head as she approached the bed. "That’s the least I could do. You’re the one who suffered the most for going against Berthanon, and if I hadn’t been able to help you, you would have died. Besides, you were the one who tried to protect me when he wanted to force the memory search. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with helping someone who was willing to stand against him, even when he knew how dangerous it was."

Hunter G smiled, but there was little happiness in it. He lowered his eyes to his hands, his fingers rubbing against each other as he considered her words.

"I honestly didn’t think he would go as far as trying to kill me. I’ve disagreed with him plenty of times, and we’ve had our fair share of arguments, but I never thought he would decide that my death was necessary. I knew he could be cruel, but I still believed there were certain lines even he wouldn’t cross. It seems I was wrong."

"Berthanon doesn’t care about lines," Ingrid replied. She pulled a chair closer and sat down, looking directly at him. "As long as something gets him what he wants, he’ll do whatever it takes. He doesn’t care who gets hurt, and he certainly doesn’t care about the people who have spent years working for this Guild. However, there’s something I want to ask you. Haven’t you noticed anything suspicious about what happened to you?"

Hunter G raised his head. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Berthanon poisoned you from the beginning, and according to what Freya told me, he made it clear that you would die if you didn’t cooperate. But he didn’t know you had an antidote hidden away, did he? As far as he was concerned, you had no way of escaping that poison. So why would he need to use another kind of poison on you? If his intention was simply to get rid of you, the first one should have been enough. He had already put you in a position where you couldn’t refuse him, and he believed you had no way out. Why go through the trouble of poisoning you again through the antidote that you had kept hidden?"

Hunter G fell silent. He seemed to be turning the question over in his mind, and after a moment, he nodded slowly.

"I actually thought about that when I woke up. I wondered why he would bother using another poison when the first poison was already enough to kill me. But I couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation. Apart from Berthanon, I can’t think of anyone else who would want me dead. I’m an important asset to this Guild, and even if Berthanon doesn’t see me that way, there are plenty of people who do. I’ve spent months building my position here, and I know there are Hunters who would be furious if something happened to me."

"Then maybe someone else had a reason to make sure you didn’t survive," Ingrid said. "Someone who doesn’t care about your position in the Guild, or how many people might object to your death."

Hunter G’s expression became serious. "You think someone else is involved?"

"I’m saying we shouldn’t rule it out. We don’t know enough about what happened yet, and I don’t want us to assume that everything begins and ends with him."

Freya suddenly tightened her grip around Hunter G’s arm. She had been listening quietly, but the longer the conversation continued, the more anxious she became. She looked between Ingrid and Hunter G before finally speaking.

"Then we should leave. We should get out of this Guild with Ingrid, we should do it as soon as possible. We don’t have time to sit here trying to figure out every little thing that might be happening behind our backs. If Berthanon finds out that Hunter G is still alive, he’ll come after him again, and he’ll definitely target Ingrid even more when he discovers that she’s the one who saved him. What if he decides to poison him again? What if he finds another way to make sure he dies this time? I don’t want to wait around until something worse happens."

Hunter G blinked at her. "Leave? Where are we going?"

"Out of this place!" Freya exclaimed, turning towards him with an exasperated expression. "I’m saying we should leave the Hunter’s Guild with Ingrid. Didn’t you hear what I just said? We can discuss where we’re going after we’ve escaped, but staying here is no longer an option. You’ve already seen what these people are willing to do to you, I refuse to wait for them to try again."