533 Sarah and Evander

In a remote neighborhood of Infini City, Sarah crashed on the bed in her temporary lodging.

Thankfully, Boo arranged for her a very 'credible' fake identity. It even provided her with ample funds, since she couldn't touch her own money without risking being tracked.

'Boo is a stock genius. Hehehe. This money is peanuts.' Saying those words, Boo was about to continue bragging when Varian entered the room and called Boo 'shameless'.

'Varian…' Sarah closed her eyes and his face came into her mind.

She knew she shouldn't be like this. She should go on a mission right away. She should fight, and grow stronger so that she shouldn't fall behind.

But there was a lingering reluctance from parting with Varian. And it just didn't vanish.

'Go back.'

'It'll be fine.'

Her mind tried to convince her.

Sarah shook those thoughts away.

'If you aren't with him…then Sia will take him.'

'You have no chance against her. You don't even know him for a year, she grew up with him for seven. Sarah, why are you being stupid?'

When she didn't budge, her thoughts spiraled in a negative direction—in a direction she was scared of.

And they did scare her.

But Sarah clenched her fists tightly and told herself.

'I'll trust him.'

Her insecurity would accomplish nothing. She couldn't watch him every second of the day, right?

'If something really happens…he'll tell me.' Sarah didn't like to pry into others' secrets.

Unless it was necessary, she left the choice of revealing their personal information to others.

Yet, if there was anyone who knew about Varian's past—other than Boo, Sia, and arguably Enigma, it was Sarah.

She knew about his memories, the feud with Xanders, and even his hatred of the two Sovereigns.

'I will destroy the Xanders soon.' His cold voice still rang in her mind. 'Those two Sovereigns…they better die, if not, they'll be slaughtered.'

It was a bold statement. If said in public, it would be considered even treacherous.

Yet, he said those words in front of her without any hesitation.

So far, Varian did reveal almost everything. She could see that he wasn't hiding anything nor was he trying to.

'Except his strength…' She still couldn't believe the rate at which his strength climbed.

From nothing to the peak of level 4 in a day and recently, he even advanced to level 5.

While he seemed to have temporarily stalled in level 5 due to what he called 'resistance', it was mindblowing nonetheless.

'That's his biggest secret…' Sarah narrowed her eyes. 'It shouldn't be told to anyone. It's best if no one else knows.'

Not even the closest person to him.

As she was lost in thought, her comm rang.

Ting!

Sarah sat up and a hologram popped up in front of her.

It was a brawny man in a military uniform. He had a fierce scar running down his cheek. He was perhaps the modern-day Reaper—he'd reap lives, not for pleasure, but for his duty.

But the Reaper, the famous Steelheart's eyes showed worry as he looked at his daughter.

"Father." Sarah greeted him softly. She knew he was very busy these days and felt bad for worrying him. 

"What happened?" He asked her gently, but there was a firmness to his voice.

After she left, he was secretly delivered a special 'comm'. Then, he was informed that Sarah was fine.

It was only after Varian personally called him that he put down his worry. But since Varian was also busy, he didn't elaborate except for informing him about her safety.

Thus, while he was relieved, he was anxious to contact her. But his workload suddenly rose and he could only contact her now.

"I…" Sarah bit her lip as she wondered what she should begin.

Varian called her and others because his identity as Dreamer was exposed.

But if she said this, it'd also reveal Varian's secret. Varian didn't tell her to reveal it nor did he ask her to keep it a secret.

As she bit on her lip struggling to find an answer, Evander suddenly said.

"Is he Dreamer?"

"Father?!" Sarah stared at him in astonishment. But as soon as she realized that her reaction was giving it away, she put on a neutral expression.

"He..."

"As I thought." Evander sighed in exasperation. Believing something was one thing, but confirming it was another. Even to him, this was a ridiculous thought.

Sarah didn't speak and stared at him with curious eyes.

Looking at her curious blue eyes, Evander was reminded of her childhood. The same eyes, the same stare.

'Father, tell me!' He could almost hear a cute and lovely voice.

"Varian asked me for Sovereign Irene's contact, remember?" Evander revealed his reasons.

"But that isn't enough…" Sarah tilted her head.

"Indeed. That's not the only reason. Back when he was in Uranus cluster cities, he asked for Sovereign Irene's contact." Evander narrowed his eyes. "According to the recent news, it was Dreamer who contacted Sovereign Irene."

Sarah nodded.

Varian retold her the whole story.

He had to contact her to help him out in the cluster cities, and the only source of her contact was his master.

Thankfully, he was quick to respond. If her father had been a bit late, then Irene would've fallen into Despair Queen's trap and would've died.

Then…

"Hiss." Sarah sucked in a cold breath as sweat trickled down her forehead.

"Sarah?" Evander called her in confusion. "Are you alright? Is the place you're staying not good enough? I'll find a luxurious pla—"

"You are a hero, father." Sarah looked at him in respect. "You also saved everyone."

"I—, that's an exaggeration, even though I'm…happy to make you proud." Evander coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment and said.

He quickly continued before Sarah could embarrass him any further.

"At Varian's…funeral, I met Varian's close people, remember?" Evander said with a weird expression.

Varian had a funeral after he 'died' after Solar Trial. He got to know Kyle, Maya, and Gareth there.

"Yes." Sarah nodded stiffly, her expression completely awkward. While her days after his apparent death were filled with grief, looking back, conducting a funeral for a living person was really a bit too much.

'Not just that, he already had a funeral after I thought he died in the dungeon.' He even had a tomb that had final lines from his best friend.

"After knowing they were close to Varian, I asked my people to put an eye on them," Evander said and before Sarah could misunderstand, he added. "I wanted to help them out if they had any trouble. After all, they're my disciple's friends, you know?"

"Well…"

"Sovereign Julius attacked Dreamer at gamma expo. And soon, Kyle and Maya disappeared. But it was you who went missing and then Varian himself telling me you're safe that confirmed my guess." Evander said with a satisfied smile as if he solved a huge puzzle, which he did.

"…You're right." Sarah finally sighed before she quickly looked into his eyes. "So you knew why I disappeared? And you were just testing me?"

"Ah, yes?" Evander admitted with a straight face. "I wondered if my daughter would tell me the secret, but she didn't. How disappointing. You didn't trust me."

He put on a sad face, causing Sarah to feel guilt. "It's not that I don't trust you.."

"I am kidding." Evander's expression flipped back to nonchalance as he said in a serious tone. "Some secrets must be kept…even from the closest people."

"…" Sarah felt a bit weird hearing that from him, but she nodded.

"Now, what are you going to do?" He asked with a concerned expression. While he could arrange forces to protect her, she'd be under constant threat from Sovereign Julius.

"I am still too weak. I want to grow stronger, quickly." Sarah said with a determined face.

"What are you saying?" Evander was taken aback. "You're already the strongest cadet in the second year…no, except for Charles, you are the strongest in the entire academy!

If I am being honest, if you participate in the solar trial again and corner Charles like the previous time, you can beat everybody else.

Why do you think you are weak? You aren't!"

"Father," Sarah looked at him with a tired expression. No. It wasn't exactly tiredness, but a sense of helplessness.

"Hm?"

"Do you know strong Varian is?"

"Er...he reached level 6 in solar trial. But he grows very fast. So, let me guess. He already reached  high level 6." Evander said and smirked at Sarah.

Seeing her stoic expression, his smirk vanished as he laughed awkwardly. "Well, even for him, it's too unrealistic. I was overestimating him."

"Actually, you are underestimating hm." Sarah said with a complication expression.

"You mean?"

"Varian is already as strong as me."

"What?!"