Chapter 62: I'm Sorry

Velac arrived on the second floor first and knocked twice. The door opened almost immediately, as if Diaz had been waiting for him.

"Hmm."

"Hmm."

The two exchanged a tacit nod.

After entering the room, Diaz knew time was of the essence and stepped right toward the door. "You wait here for a moment, I'll go check."

"Alright, stay safe." Velac sat down on the sofa, removed his hat, and waited for Diaz's news.

Judging by yesterday's situation, Diaz wouldn't take more than a few minutes to confirm, but for Velac, those few minutes dragged on endlessly. He crossed his hands and closed his eyes while waiting. Most of his thoughts, however, were consumed by what he should say to Nord if he saw him, how to explain all of this to him, and how to break the news of Dempsey's death.

This meeting was undoubtedly necessary, but it might deal Nord both a source of strength and a devastating blow simultaneously.

"Sigh..." Velac let out a heavy breath.

He admitted that he had made a misstep here; he shouldn't have brought Dempsey and Nord along, dragging them into the abyss without telling them the truth. This guilt would linger in his heart forever.

"Tap, tap, tap." A knock sounded—Diaz had returned.

Velac sprang to his feet, but in his haste, he banged his lower leg against the corner of the table. Enduring the pain, he hurried to the door and opened it. Seeing the joy on Diaz's face, the boulder in his chest lifted.

"Mr. Chris, the door is locked!" Diaz closed the door and smiled.

"That's good." Velac smiled back.

"Based on my recent observations, those watchers usually stay for a very long time, but accidents can still happen, so we'd better hurry," Diaz urged, seeming even more anxious than Velac. "I'll help you open the door in a moment, and I'll keep watch outside. The moment anything happens, I'll find a way to draw those people away, and you take the opportunity to leave."

Velac shook his head. "Even so, I wouldn't know how to lock the door from the inside. You know what kind of chain reaction it would cause if they came back and found the door unlocked... Anyway, I'll get out as early as possible."

"Alright, let's go then."

The two of them went up to the fourth floor. To be safe, Velac hid around the stair corner first. He watched as Diaz tiptoed up to the door of Room 7, squatted down, and tried to pick the lock with a piece of wire.

After a dozen seconds or so, Diaz slowly withdrew the wire and waved at Velac in the corner.

Velac walked over quickly.

"The door is open. I'll keep watch on the side, don't worry," Diaz whispered before stepping back to be ready for any unexpected incidents.

Velac stood before the door of Room 7 and gripped the knob. Now there was only a single door separating him from Nord, and he felt exceptionally nervous.

He glanced back at Diaz, who gave him a slight nod.

"Hoo..."

Velac's gaze hardened. He gently pressed down on the knob, and the door opened.

What came into view was a small, crude room.

The window directly opposite the door was boarded up with wood, making the interior somewhat dim. The room contained only a table, two chairs, and a bed, upon which sat a solitary set of meal boxes.

Velac walked in and saw someone sleeping on the bed. The person was lying on their side with their back turned to him, but Velac recognized him at once.

It was Nord.

Velac gently closed the door again and approached Nord step by step.

Presumably because there was nothing else to do here, Nord could only pass the time by sleeping.

"Nord." Velac stood by the bed, leaning over to call out softly.

Nord did not respond.

"Nord." Velac called him a second time.

Nord's body stirred. He slowly opened his eyes, rolled over, and glanced at Velac. His drowsy eyes instantly widened. His face, covered in stubble from days without grooming and looking weathered and haggard, was filled with sheer disbelief.

Velac had initially thought Nord might scream out upon seeing him, and had even prepared himself to cover Nord's mouth at any moment. But to his surprise, Nord didn't make a single sound when he saw him.

"Nord?" Velac figured Nord might still be half-asleep, so he called his name once more.

Nord didn't dare blink. Staring straight at Velac, he sat up, his lips trembling slightly. "Is... is it you... Velac...?"

"It's me." Velac felt a sour sting in his nose and forced a tight grin.

"I... I'm not, not dreaming, am I? Velac?! Is it really you?!" Nord stammered out of overwhelming excitement, joy rapidly flooding his face. "Y-you, how did you get in? How are you? Are you alright? Did they bully you?"

Velac placed a hand on Nord's shoulder. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay, pretty good too. I knew you would find me." Nord was overcome with emotion, his eyes bright as crystal tears streamed down his cheeks. "I knew it. Velac, you'd find me. Everyone's going to be okay..."

"I found you." Velac's eye rims reddened. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and tried to steady his emotions. "You've been waiting for this day for a long time, haven't you?"

Instead of answering the question, Nord immediately shared what he considered to be the most crucial piece of intelligence: "Velac, you have to watch out for Dempsey. Over ten days ago, that butler came to see us once and wanted us to betray you. Dempsey couldn't resist the temptation—"

"He's dead." Velac was still keeping his head down, not daring to look into the eyes of the Nord who had just learned of this. "...I killed him."

Nord froze.

"I was afraid he would bring about my ruin, so I killed him." Velac stated it bluntly. He had repeated these words in his mind tens of thousands of years ago—only when facing Nord would he drop all self-defense and expose his most despicable side.

"He... he was just..." Nord couldn't finish his sentence. The joy of finally seeing Velac was completely washed away by Dempsey's death.

"I'm sorry about this." Velac opened his eyes, filled with deep remorse. "If I hadn't acted on my own and brought you both to Lezein, Dempsey wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have been imprisoned until now..."

"You? Weren't we brought here by people from the Thomas family? What does this have to do with you?" Tear tracks still stained Nord's face, but the truth of the matter continually shattered his understanding.

Velac remained silent for a long while before finally summoning the courage to raise his head.

Two bloodshot pairs of eyes locked onto each other.

"I knew long ago that people from the Thomas family would find me." A tangled mixture of emotions on Velac's face made him look exceptionally desolate. "I thought I could use my advantages to lead you all to the life we wanted, I thought... I... I ruined you..."

Nord's face was filled with disappointment and disbelief.

This reaction caused Velac even greater torment and pain, but he urgently needed to release the crushing guilt toward his friend that weighed upon his soul.

Dempsey's death tortured him through every sleepless night, driving him nearly mad.

"Nord, I'm sorry."