The headmaster’s neutral face soon morphed into a broad smile.
"You sure are being bold."
Silence.
The vibrations began.
They were smaller at first, but in a few monts the collective mana in the surroundings humd with distress.
Haa...
I could feel the pressure being exerted on my body, increasing with every heartbeat.
As I stared back into Nemur’s eyes, his smile had never left his face.
But it was that smile which felt chilling.
I knew the risks involved, but still chose to say the words.
"And you sure are being childish."
Though the pressure on was imnse, I didn’t let it affect my voice.
My words were even, as was my expression.
Haa...
Nemur’s smile disappeared along with the mana pressure that he had exerted monts earlier.
"My apologies."
Huh?
Though I wanted him to back off, wasn’t this too much?
"I should have respected my end of the deal."
The headmaster had returned to his previous way of talking, the words sweet as honey.
"You don’t have to answer, but... Does your boss own both the institutions under Syma?"
The question was simple yet challenging at the sa ti.
This guy...
Did he take for a fool?
"It’s better for you to be an actor."
Nemur raised his brow at my statent.
"Let be clear. You can kill if you want, but you see... I have tasted life for a re eighteen years. You, on the other hand, have lived for far longer and now... You are even on the cusp of evolving—so, do you really wish to risk it all just to probe my affiliations?"
"No."
After a long pause, Nemur answered warmly.
"Then?"
"I was just bored. No need to get offended over such petty things. And—"
Nemur dismissed his hand in a casual way.
"I won’t interfere with you from now on. Just rember your end of the deal. If there’s any issue in fulfilling it in the future, then... I hope that day never cos."
Saying his part, the headmaster’s warm smile returned again.
Silence.
Neither of us spoke for a minute or two.
"About the leaves?"
"You can leave the premises of the academy as per your wish. Just rember to complete all the tests and other assignnts of the given classes. Your result depends on your ability—I won’t help you in that."
"That’s... good. So, I will take my leave then."
Turning back, I headed towards the door.
"And yes—"
The headmaster called out from behind.
I stopped in my tracks without turning back.
"Thank you for the funds."
Click.
The door closed as I stepped out.
Haa...
My every encounter with this man always left feeling uneasy about our partnership.
Every ti, when I push him a little, he resists at the start and then simply steps back, giving a good amount of control in the negotiations.
Honestly speaking, he always had higher ground in the negotiations, but never used his advantage to its fullest extent.
Though my words played a decent part that had stopped him from gaining even higher ground, but—
Maybe...
I was biting more than my capacity.
Even though I had enough trust in Arthur’s capability to defend against monsters like Nemur... it still made nervous about my decision.
Should I have avoided making a deal with him?
At the end of the day, I didn’t know much about the Sovereigns on a personal level to judge their way of thinking and predict their thoughts.
Thinking about the headmaster, another possibility flicked in my mind.
If he could have known about , then what stopped the other Sovereigns from doing the sa?
Were my operations truly secret, as I was expecting them to be?
Haa...
I knew privacy had always been a myth, but the possibility of these monsters knowing my every movent sent shivers down my spine.
No.
There was no way for them to know everything about . If they knew about the existence of D.X. and all my abilities, then I would not have been able to live another day.
Though the Sovereigns normally didn’t intervene in the workings of the world, that didn’t an they wouldn’t stop a criminal organisation from breeding in the shadows.
Sigh.
I was being paranoid.
Yes, that was it.
There was no way—And then there was so mysterious entity hiding my tracks—
But could it be one of the Sovereigns?!
No.
The Sovereigns were strong, but I didn’t believe they were that capable. And hiding sothing like that from the eyes of other Sovereigns—near impossible.
No, it was impossible.
How could it be...
The air felt like it was being sucked out from my lungs.
Haa!
Huh?
I had surprisingly cald down.
What was that?
Did the headmaster try sothing on again, like the last ti?!
But I didn’t think he had done anything in our last eting too.
Or did he?
Sigh.
eting this guy was a disaster.
My brain was getting ssed up. I began circulating the mana through my nerves to calm the anxiety that was festering in my mind.
Slowly but surely the effect was visible.
My earlier panic began to subside.
I willed more of my mana to enter my brain and travel through every nerve in my body simultaneously.
The results were amplified the more mana I used.
This...
Not distracting myself, I continued doing the sa.
Bit by bit, I felt the entirety of my mind at ease like never before.
Feeling level-headed again, I had an urge to confront the headmaster, but on second thought—
There was no need for any escalation.
After all, I was currently on his grounds, and giving him another chance to ss with would be a foolish thing to do.
Crack!
Stretching my back once, I headed back to the classes.
I could discuss everything with Arthur once I returned to Tamyr.
I had to make Alfred speed up his research on everything, as not being able to summon Arthur at my will was proving to be a much larger obstacle than I had previously assud.
***
Hm?
The spell was dispelled yet again.
Tap—Tap—Tap.
Nemur’s fingers played their music as he tapped them on the table.
The smile on his face never changed, nor did the look in his eyes.
The kid was interesting.
Truly interesting.
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