Coyle tried hard to lower his head even further, barely daring to breathe.
Rojas behind him had not raised her head from the very beginning.
Logically speaking, Coyle and Rojas had not only accepted a mission that should have meant certain death, but had escaped through luck and Russell's help. Then, before Rute arrived, they had diligently prepared the groundwork and assembled the information to perfection. They should not have been acting so humble.
But the two of them, who had personally gathered all the information in that notebook, had absolutely no desire to make their presence known.
In fact, Aislin and Oliva's behavior made it clear that although Rute treated his students well, he was also extremely traditional.
Rute had genuinely continued to observe certain master-disciple formalities that other Mages did not care much about... perhaps because he wanted to use them to commemorate those beautiful days of the past.
Like today, when he said nothing and did not wait for Oliva to relay a message as he had in the past, it could only mean that Rute's emotions were completely out of control.
Even back at Sia Tower, when he watched Aislin transform from a beloved student into a ticking bomb, he had remained steady... Though he had constantly sought a sliver of hope for Aislin, Rute had still maintained that calm, composed demeanor.
Coyle had come to understand his teacher somewhat, so he knew even better that Rute would explode at the slightest provocation right now.
Even if Rute later realized that Coyle and Rojas had done nothing wrong, what would that change?
Coyle knew Rute would certainly offer plenty of excellent resources as compensation and might even sincerely apologize.
But he still did not want to suffer through that.
Even Oliva, who usually had the sharpest