The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 333: Chapter 328 — Favor

Ingrid had risen from her seat.

”I’ll take my leave.” She bowed towards Kastor and the others.

”Leaving already?” Garrick frowned. ”Niece, we’re not done rubbing it in yet. Your uncle has barely gotten started.”

”...There’s something I need to take care of.”

”Something you need to take care of...” Garrick’s brows rose slightly as he studied her.

Ingrid refused to meet his gaze, her hands clenched tightly at her sides, while a complicated, almost pained expression lingered on her face. Garrick stared at her for another moment before something seemed to click.

”Ah... I see.”

”Then, I’ll take my leave.”

After giving Kastor a deep bow, she turned and walked out without another word. Kastor watched her leave with a long, unreadable look, while from across the room, Severin’s eyes narrowed slightly at the closing door, countless calculations seemingly flickering through his mind.

A brief silence followed before Cassian finally released a deep sigh.

”Well, a wager’s a wager. Whatever else you might say about me, I keep my word. I’ll show the boy the Eryndor rune art.” He paused, his brows furrowing slightly.

”Though I still don’t understand what you’re hoping to accomplish. Unless the boy can somehow learn an art just by staring at it, one look isn’t going to do him much good.”

Garrick merely smiled, but said nothing.

Cassian eyed him for a moment before shrugging and leaning back in his seat. ”Whatever. I suppose it’s not all bad. At least I’ll get to meet the brat who beat my brat.” There was a strange, determined glint in his eyes as he spoke.

”Now that you mention it, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Severin said, glancing towards Kastor. ”I’d like to meet him as well.”

Unlike Cassian, however, there was something colder behind his gaze.

Almost instinctively, several eyes shifted towards Torvak, who finally tore his attention away from the screen. After a moment, he gave a simple nod.

”Likewise.”

”Heh.” Garrick couldn’t help but grin.

The three were the heads of the Ferran dynasties, three of the most important men in the entire Ferran Empire, and now, each of them was personally going out of his way to meet an eighteen-year-old cadet.

’Seriously... it never gets boring with this kid,’ Garrick thought, a trace of disbelief finally creeping into his amusement.

...

With Arcturus defeated, the exercise officially ended with the southern fortress as the winner. Soon, several academy instructors arrived and began gathering the scattered cadets.

With all four fortresses reduced to rubble, there was obviously nowhere left to return to, so everyone was instead led back to the academy’s main area, where they were given time to freshen up and eat while the final results were collated.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Zephyrion calmly sliced off a small piece of steak and placed it in his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing.

Then, he picked up his spoon, scooped up some steaming chicken soup, and took a sip. A chunk of bread followed, smeared generously with dressing, before he finally reached for his cup and washed everything down with a long gulp of water.

”Not bad..”

He released a satisfied breath, a small smile appearing on his face as he set the cup down.

Then, slowly, he lifted his gaze.

Nine people were silently staring at him from across the table.

Kaiden, Tobias, Fiona, Nedra, Kaelion, Lucien, Kaelith, Horus, and Draven. Every single one of them was staring with wide eyes, as though some strange, never-before-seen creature had somehow wandered into the dining hall and decided to eat steak.

Ten, actually, if Lumi counted, but she was currently seated beside him, happily wolfing down one dish after another with bright eyes, apparently having far more important things to worry about.

Zephyrion glanced between the others.

”What?”

Nedra blinked.

”...Did you seriously just ask us what?”

”Yes?”

”Huh...?” She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head as though she genuinely couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ”What the fuck do you mean, what?”

She threw a hand towards the general direction of the battlefield,

”You don’t get to do... that! And then come here, sit your ass down, eat steak, and act like you’re a normal fucking person!”

”I am a normal person.”

”No, the fuck you are not!” Nedra fiercely shook her head. ”I knew it! I fucking called it! You’re an alien, aren’t you!? You came down here just to shove it in our faces how pathetic we are compared to you! Well, congratulations! We get it! You’re amazing! You’ve completed your fucking mission, now go back to your home planet!”

Zephyrion calmly took another spoonful of soup, completely ignoring the increasingly incredulous look on her face. ”You’re overreacting.”

”I’m... overreacting...” Nedra slowly repeated, staring at him as though something inside her had finally snapped. ”...This fucking bitch...”

”Actually, I’m curious about something.” Kaiden spoke up before Nedra could completely lose her mind, his expression turning more serious as he stared at Zephyrion.

”If you’ve been this strong the whole time, then... we were never really in danger of failing anything, were we? Not the earlier tests, not even this one. You could’ve just bulldozed through everything yourself and taken every fortress, so... why didn’t you? Was it all some game to you?”

The others gradually turned towards Zephyrion, seemingly realizing the same thing.

”Because if he had,” Kaelion suddenly answered instead, his gaze remaining on Zephyrion, ”none of us would’ve gotten the chance to earn any Temper Points.”

Several expressions changed almost instantly.

They stared at Zephyrion, the earlier disbelief in their eyes slowly giving way to something else as the realization sank in.

It was true.

If Zephyrion had simply soloed everything from the beginning, none of them would’ve had much of a chance to earn Temper Points. And the significance of those points could hardly be overstated.

Aside from determining their rankings, the amount each cadet accumulated would influence the rank they graduated with and, more importantly, the quality of apprenticeship they could receive afterward.

Someone with too few Temper Points, regardless of the reason, might not even be considered for an average apprenticeship, leaving them to serve as a foot soldier in some random fortress while another cadet earned the opportunity to shadow a great general.

Kaiden’s expression gradually changed as he looked at Zephyrion, a deep sense of gratitude, mixed with shame replacing the caution from before.

The others around the table were no different.

Without ever saying it, Zephyrion had done every single one of them a great favor.