Strax walked silently down the corridor, his steps firm but unhurried, like someone who had learned not to react impulsively to the chaos around him. Still, there was something different about that moment. It wasn't visible tension, nor blatant urgency—it was a kind of heavy expectation, as if the next step could alter more than just the immediate course of things. He had faced monsters, monarchs, and even death itself, but this… this had a different kind of weight.
As soon as he pushed open the door, his eyes immediately met the two figures already waiting for him.
Cristine and Yennifer were seated side by side at a small table, a simple tray between them, with two cups of coffee still steaming. The scene was almost too commonplace for the kind of people they were—as if they were just starting another ordinary day. But a closer look revealed that there was nothing ordinary about it.
Their silence was not comfortable.
It was calculated.
