Head Instructor Ardent sighed softly, and his eyes on him narrowed. "Is the Headmaster truly involved in sending the boy into the Sector Delta?"
Darius Faulkner froze, his expression stiffened, and his one eye rested on Ardent with a cold glare. "What are you saying, Ardent?"
Ardent pushed off the wall he was leaning on. He looked at the forr commander for a while before he sighed. "I don’t like politics, Darius Faulkner. But... who exactly is Ace Eros?"
Darius’s face stiffened, then it fell flat. "Why are you asking? Just because the boy picked you up and turned you into a patron, you think it’s a big deal? House Chains? That’s nothing. He’s nothing."
Ardent took a step forward and smiled. "Do you know, you are a man that doesn’t speak a lot, but you always do when you have sothing very important to hide. Do your enemies know about this?"
Darius’s face darkened. "I don’t keep my enemies alive."
"Eh? Is it the sa with the boy? Is he your enemy?"
They looked at each other, and their gaze clashed. Sparks seed to fly between them, and coldness filled the room. Darius leaned back, and his face beca expressionless. "Alright. Tell what you know."
Ardent stared at him for a long ti. "Ace Eros. An orphan on the street, a beggar. But then he vanished for so ti, only to miraculously appear. Right here in Zenith Hero Academy. Right here, when you brought him."
The silence in the room was so loud it filled everywhere.
Darius stared at Ardent. "I’m an instructor here. Why’s it bad to register a student?"
But the way he now looked at Ardent was different. It was sharper. "And, who’s helping you spread such rumors? Where did you hear it?"
Ardent didn’t reply to that. He shook his head. "You are not just an instructor, Darius Faulkner. You are the Head Instructor. You are a forr commander in the military. You are soone that does not suffer fools. Or the weak. Why did you bring him here? An orphan? A beggar?"
Ardent really didn’t care about all of it until an anonymous letter was left on his food table in the House building. It apparently ca from Ace’s partner, and it talked about the link between Ace and Faulkner.
Pointing out, asking why Faulkner would then send him to Sector Delta later?
Darius Faulkner smiled, but there was no amusent on his face. "You have little right to ask all of this. I’m only doing my job as the instructor of this institution. Do you know how many students I bring here every year?"
Ardent hesitated, then he sighed softly. "Out of all the children you brought through the years, three of them were sent to Sector Delta, and none have made it back."
Bang!
Suddenly, as he finished speaking, sothing dark shot off from Faulkner, and the air exploded around Ardent. The space around him suddenly shuddered violently, but Ardent wasn’t touched. Even his hair didn’t ripple.
He had locked down the area around him in a domain. He raised his brows to Darius Faulkner.
Darius looked confused, and he stared at his hand where a bolt of black lightning had just shot off. His hand tightened, and he gritted his teeth bitterly. "I don’t like being threatened."
Ardent looked at him for a long ti, then he turned to go. "Let’s pray he cos back, Faulkner. I don’t like when my employer owes money. And that boy is owing a lot."
The door closed firmly behind him.
Darius Faulkner stood there with his one eye glazed over, his brows furrowed. "That boy... Ardent... how did he know such information?"
His eyes darkened, and he smiled. "Maybe I should go for the position of the Headmaster. Only then can I perfectly keep my tracks hidden in the Academy. But then, there’s really no need. Most of my work here is already done."
He stood. "That Ardent is still as powerful as before. He won’t be an easy enemy to deal with. Fortunately, I already have my own people in place in the Academy. I think I can deal with a single man.
"But first, I must know how he got the information."
It was as if he was speaking to empty air until a cold, dark voice answered him. "Why the hurry? Your job here isn’t done. We must break the seal!"
Darius Faulkner snorted. "Break the seal? You are a fool. Do you think the Emperor, the Divine Continent kingdom, and all the other powers in this continent would leave Sector Delta without protection?
"Don’t be foolish. Be patient!"
"Patient? We, the Obsidian Bleed, will not just wait! I don’t care about your petty politics. Tell that Emperor of yours that we want to break the seal! Our lord must have the seed already. It’s ti!"
Darius Faulkner went very still. The air quivered around him. "The Emperor? Do you dare to threaten him?"
The dark voice went silent for a long ti, as if it was not going to ever reply, but Darius stood there unmoving.
Finally, the voice ca. "Do you think we don’t know, Darius? The position of the Head Instructor is that of the agent of the Emperor regarding the Sector Delta. That’s why there would always be a clash between you and the Headmaster.
"You work for the Emperor. We need to break that seal."
Faulkner snorted. "I know you are not stupid. I know you are intentionally provoking and speaking nonsense so that I can reveal what I know. Have you forgotten that in Obsidian Bleed, I am also a Master in the organization?"
The voice was silent for a long ti and then sighed. "That’s exactly the problem. If you are a master, then who is the Grandmaster? Is it the Emperor? We cannot have such in the Obsidian Bleed!"
Darius Faulkner snorted coldly and smiled. "So this is it. You want to know if the Emperor is interested in your petty organization?"
When the voice ca, it ca even sharper. "A petty organization? Ah, I see. The Obsidian Bleed. Are you the one now provoking , Darius Faulkner?"
Darius gritted his teeth. He always hated it that the other knew of his identity while he didn’t know the other’s identity. He gritted his teeth. "Find out how that mad instructor knows about , and then I’ll see if I can pass the ssage through the chain of command."
The voice didn’t reply. There was no reason to.
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