Chapter 410: Naive

A brief silence enveloped the area around us, and it wasn’t me thinking in some fancy words.

The area around me felt like it was surrounded from all sides by an extremely thin layer of mana.

Was it a spell?

I felt like it was one.

The noise from the outside had completely disappeared, and that meant the spell was likely used to stop anyone from eavesdropping on our conversation.

It was similar to Mana Silence, which was the spell that I had used while fighting against Victoria to stop her from hearing any advice from the outside as well as during the brief conflict between the werewolf siblings.

But feeling the mana that was used for the formation of the barrier around us, I had an instinctive feeling that whatever the bald instructor had used was far different from my own spell.

At first glance, it might have appeared like it was simply a spell to block our conversation from being heard, but the actual extent of its powers felt far deeper than what actually appeared on the surface—

"Are you even listening to me, Kael?"

This time the instructor vigorously shook my arm, which made the numbness in my brain reduce by quite a margin.

Hm?

This—

"You shouldn’t have accepted the offer to join House Black, let alone agree to become one of their commanders."

Focusing my eyes on the instructor, the guy seemed a lot more destabilised than his normal state.

And the thing about House Black—

"I had indeed accepted to become one of their commanders, but I haven’t really joined their house."

"..."

Zenur observed me with an expression that was similar to someone looking at a fool.

"Isn’t that the same thing—"

"It’s not, and before you give some other advice... I don’t understand why you are even trying to interfere in my decisions. You have no obligation to worry for me—"

"You are my student for the god’s sake!"

Raising his voice, the bald instructor gripped my arm with more force, prompting me to withdraw—

"I don’t know what your understanding about world politics is—"

"I am fairly knowledgeable—"

"It’s not the time to joke around, Kael!"

"..."

"There will be goddamn war soon, and House Black will be at its centre. They are just trying to use your name—"

"I know."

"..."

"Leon had told me about it."

Using my other hand, I applied the least amount of force on the instructor’s hand that was currently grabbing my arm, before freeing it from his grasp.

Maybe it was the fact that it was none other than the heir to the Blacks who had informed me, as Zenur appeared visibly disoriented for a moment, though it didn’t last long as he closed his eyes for about ten seconds or so, before opening them and staring at me with a gaze... that felt ’different’ for some reason.

"I think you should first discuss your decision with your house... your father—Castor Frost in particular, before committing yourself to the Blacks—"

"Listen here, Sir instructor."

"..."

My words seemed to have the intended effect as Zenur swallowed the rest of his sentence before nodding his head as if willing to listen to whatever I had to say.

Though his clenched teeth hidden behind the closed jaw were a dead giveaway of the emotions brewing within his heart.

He was frustrated at my behaviour, of that I could be sure, but—

I wasn’t one to care about it.

"I have long ended my ties with my house... at least until it is led by Castor."

Taking a step further, my distance with Zenur was reduced to mere inches, as I stared into his eyes.

"I don’t need anyone’s permission to do something."

I had purposely made my statement sound arrogant, and seeing the forced smile on Zenur’s face—

"You are being arrogant, boy! War is not some academy battle where the instructors would intervene if someone’s found cheating their way in order to win—"

"What’s your relation with the headmaster?"

"..."

My question was out of the box, and completely unrelated to our current topic of ’argument’, but I asked it nonetheless.

A second passed, then another, but the bald instructor made no effort to reply to my question, choosing to simply stare in my eyes... an action that didn’t land well with me.

"Did the headmaster send you to convince me to avoid aligning with the Blacks—"

"He didn’t."

"Then—"

"I will be clear with my words, boy."

Taking a step forward, Zenur raised his right hand before placing it on my shoulder and applying the least amount of force so as to deter me from doing anything unnecessary.

"Maybe it was intentional on your part or it was simply a coincidence, but your actions so far in the academy have created quite an army of followers. If you decide to align with the Blacks, then that would in itself strengthen their claim for the war. Their narrative would gain credibility, and I think... you understand the consequences of such a blessing for the Blacks."

Sigh.

"I have decided to align with them after analysing all the benefits that my presence would bring to their house. My deal with Leon was formed on this very foundation of mutual benefit, and if we are talking about the narrative during the war and its credibility, then instructor, you should very well know that in a war... no one is right and no one is wrong."

"..."

"Everyone fights for their own objectives... something that they believe is the only right path for their house and their race."

The Elves and the Vampires... I considered both of them to be right in regards to fighting a war against each other.

Vampires wanted the World Tree while the Elves had been resisting the former’s claim for centuries or even more.

"Isn’t it a practical decision to align with the party that would benefit you at the end?"

Zenur didn’t respond and I could even feel his grip on my shoulder loosening as the instructor took a step back, then another before creating a reasonably polite distance between the two of us.

"You sure are good with words."

Shaking his head in what appeared to be a gesture of disappointment, Zenur looked in my eyes with a defeated look in his own.

"You are a genius, something that you might have already known, but I still feel like I should acknowledge it before you."

That was just the fact, nothing for the old man to comment about.

"I just thought, with your talent... you would walk on a path that would be helpful for the peace of the world. I never expected you to be a righteous person, but at least with your power... in the future, if you could have taken a balanced approach, then at least... your power could have served as a deterrence to those who always wish to push this world to the brink of destruction for their own selfish motives."

The instructor seemed genuine in his words, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

I had expected more out of him, but Zenur turned out to be a naive person.

Everyone in this world was born selfish... and without being selfish, there was no way one could survive, let alone prosper in their lives.

Even a baby in his mother’s womb tries to get all the nutrition for himself so that his or her body survives despite not having developed a conscious mind.

If that baby thought to let his mother get his share of food... then would it survive?

Maybe my logic wasn’t clean, but it was enough to justify my claim.