38: Did you do it? - Part 2

Liam felt a wave of relief wash over him as Elder Erin nodded, albeit reluctantly, at his explanation. He had managed to trick the seasoned magician, at least for now.

Liam sat there, watching the elder's thoughtful expression, a nagging sensation tugged at the back of his mind. It felt as though he had forgotten something important.

Before he could figure it out, the silence in the room was broken by Elder Erin's phone ringing. The elder glanced at the number on the screen and frowned before answering.

"Hello? This is Eryndorius Valtessar speaking." 

The elder said, his tone professional.

"Ah, Elder Eryndorius, this is Lucas from the store. I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you knew where Liam was. He hasn't come back, and it's been over three hours. He told me to call this number if he didn't return on time."

Liam's stomach dropped as he realized what he had forgotten. He had told Lucas to call his emergency contact if something went wrong. Of course, his boss had taken his words seriously.

Elder Erin's eyes narrowed as he glanced at Liam, his suspicion clearly reignited. 

"He's here with me, Lucas. I was just having a conversation with him about the magical fire incident earlier today," the elder replied.

"Oh, good to know he's safe. He made it sound like something serious might happen. Please remind him to get back to work soon. The shop's been chaotic without him" 

Lucas said, his tone lightening.

"I'll be sure to let him know." 

Elder Erin said before hanging up.

The moment the call ended, the elder turned his piercing gaze back to Liam. 

"It seems your boss is concerned about you. You told him to call me if you didn't return on time? Why would you need to do that, Liam? Didn't you say you were out for a delivery?"

Liam knew this was his chance to steer the conversation away from any dangerous territory. He stood up quickly, smoothing out his shirt and giving Elder Erin a polite but firm smile.

"I told him that just as a precaution, Elder Erin. You never know what might happen when making deliveries in this city. People can get… unpredictable," 

Liam said with a shrug. 

"And speaking of work, I should really head back. Lucas doesn't sound like he's handling things too well without me."

Elder Erin's eyes remained fixed on Liam, studying him as if trying to see through his words. For a moment, Liam thought the elder might call his bluff, but instead, the man let out a resigned sigh.

"Very well, Mister Sanders. I won't keep you any longer. But I must warn you—if you know anything about that fire or the rain that followed, it's in your best interest to come forward. Magic is not something to be trifled with, and the consequences of misuse can be severe."

Liam nodded, doing his best to appear both respectful and clueless. 

"Understood, Elder Erin. Thank you for your concern."

Without giving the elder a chance to question him further, Liam walked toward the door, his steps measured and calm. 

The moment he was out of the elder's line of sight, however, his composure faltered. He exhaled sharply, realizing just how close he had come to being exposed.

As he made his way back to the shop, Liam couldn't shake the feeling that Elder Erin wasn't entirely convinced by his story. The elder's parting words echoed in his mind, a reminder of the precarious situation he had found himself in.

When he finally arrived at the shop, Lucas greeted him with a relieved but exasperated expression. 

"Took you long enough! I thought you'd disappeared or something."

"Sorry about that. The police decided to take a detour and a fire broke out on the way." 

Liam said, scratching the back of his neck. 

Lucas gave him a skeptical look but didn't press further. 

"Just don't disappear like that again. I've had enough excitement for one day. And also, I cannot handle Aria Duskwood."

As Liam resumed his duties, he couldn't help but feel the weight of the day's events pressing down on him. 

He had managed to escape Elder Erin's interrogation, but how long could he keep up this charade? And more importantly, what would happen when the elder inevitably dug deeper?

All that was for later concern. For now, Liam had much more pressing matters to attend to, and the name of that calamity was Aria Duskwood.

Liam looked at the place where Aria was standing, and her eyes narrowed as they looked at Liam.

[System warning: Aria Duskwood is trying to peek at the user's hidden information. The system will block any attempts made by Aria Duskwood toward the user.]

'No, don't! It would only make her more paranoid. Instead, make a fake profile that says nothing is wrong. Just hurry.'

The longer Liam talked to himself and told the system what to do, the more Aria seemed to be getting suspicious.

But her expression returned to normal the next second as Liam commanded his system to let Aria see his stat.

"Miss Aria, is something the matter? You've been staring at me for quite a while now."

Liam asked in a serious voice, and most people would get flustered when asked this question and stop looking. But Aria was different.

Instead of turning away or even apologizing, she decided to give Liam a curious look and leaned close to him.

"Hmm, I tried to peek at you, but for a full minute, all I saw was a blank screen. I was getting worried and was about to try magic on you when your status returned to normal. Sigh And to think that I thought I actually found something fun at last. Looks like I'll have to try again."

Aria sounded disappointed at the fact that Liam's status had returned to normal, but Liam felt lucky and relieved to hear these words.

He had almost become a part of Aria's experiment had he not done something to help himself out.