And just like that, there it was.
The Elven Tear, the legendary item that the elves had been looking for for such a long time.
'It really was a bit too easy, wasn't it?'
Although I could justify how simple it was with the fact that the hydra was asleep and that I could launch a critical attack before the fight even started, it still felt... anticlimactic.
Taking a look at the monster who once again had its head prostrate to the ground, with the silver gem in front of it, I even got a bit disappointed.
"Haa... Guess that's it."
As I took a few steps forward, ready to pick up my reward, a voice that I hadn't heard in some time rang out in my head.
'-I wouldn't touch that if I were you.'
'-Would you mind telling me why, Loki?'
Yes, the god who had run off for some divine errands finally contacted me again, this time with seemingly impeccable timing.
That being said, I had no idea why. Thankfully, it didn't take long until he informed me about the matter.
'-If you touch that, you might die. More specifically, that's an essence filled with Theia's divinity, so I think you can figure out the rest for yourself.'
'-You're saying my vessel will automatically try to absorb it, just to be unable to endure it?'
'-Correct.'
As there was nothing wrong with taking heed to his words, I instead started to stretch my mist toward the now-confirmed essence, intending to bring it within my misty inventory. This time, I wasn't stopped by the elusive god, which made me assume it to be fine.
And sure enough, there were no complications with me grabbing and withdrawing the essence into myself.
'-So, are you done up there with whatever you had to do? I'm assuming that even if I ask, you wouldn't tell me what you were up to, would you?"
As I had no idea what a day in the life of a god looked like, I had, by extension, also no idea what kind of problems he had to deal with. Not that I really cared all that much, but I also wasn't opposed to learning more about the beings that used this planet as their playground.
'-Unfortunately, that is not so. Because of some special circumstances, I still have a lot to do. And yes, it's not something I can talk to you about. That would go against the laws of the divine world. Now, would you mind explaining what you're thinking? It seems like you have wasted quite a lot of time already.'
It wasn't really a surprise that my appointed god would know about how I had spent these last couple of weeks, but in spite of that, I wasn't quite ready for him to confront me about it. Nevertheless, our deal didn't stretch far enough for me to be answering to him.
'-I'm doing what I want to. It doesn't matter as long as I work towards fulfilling the terms of our deal, right? And I can promise you that that is the case.'
'-Tch... You're no fun. Shouldn't you at least get a bit nervous? Thinking about what might happen if you bring about the wrath of a god?'
Shaking my head, I could never quite get used to the aloof personality of Loki. He was truly a god that didn't seem to care much about anything, as long he could find his daily entertainment.
'-You still need me, don't you? Though I can't be sure, I am guessing that you aren't in a position to designate another apostle, meaning you have no choice but to rely on me. Don't worry though, if what I'm thinking is correct about this world, I have no reason to go against our deal.'
'-Is that so? Seems like I made the right choice then. However...'
'However?'
Hearing his tone changing a bit, a bit of a chill went down my back.
'-You are free to live your life as you want, however, do remember your own beliefs. All of the mortals on Tella, they are all the same. As soon as they find a reason to believe Zero is a liability, there is no doubt that they will move to get rid of him. Don't get too attached.'
With that, he disconnected himself from my mind, leaving me with myself and our thoughts. At the same time, I could see the reptilian looking very confused, most likely thinking I was insane for just standing here doing nothing.
"Haaa... Don't get too attached, is it?"
There were already some people that I knew I wouldn't want to get hurt even as James, but it was true that this number had grown exponentially since Zero became a part of me. Still, did it actually matter?
In the end, a massacre was never what I wanted, and that hadn't ever been part of my goal from the start. Even if I could feel a tangible difference in hesitation, I was still certain that if I didn't find another way, I would go back to my original plan.
What the plan was? Simple. It was to make sure that both actors in the war were of equal military power and to disrupt any decisive maneuvers that could end the war. And I knew that I could gather all the tools I needed for this even if I took a small detour.
As long as I could monitor Arthur and make sure he didn't get too strong and too weak, I had a feeling that things would work out in my favor. Also, because of my clone, I always had the option to do suicide bombings against both sides whenever I wanted.
'But then I'll have to increase my rank...'
What would happen if an [S]-rank James decided to detonate himself in the middle of strategical outposts? Needless to say, it would most likely cripple the advances or defenses of whatever actor I decided to strike against.
Though this was but one of the options I had at my disposal, I couldn't see a world where I could fail as long as I didn't waiver when the time came. Infiltrating, suicide bombings, creating a faction of my own, etc. There were so many ways I could go about it that it was hard to decide on one.
So, what was the harm in exploring project Zero for a bit more?
The mortals of Tella and the demonkind weren't actually my enemies, even if I had some very negative thoughts about the king of Mensch. So there was no need for me to think negatively about sparing some of them.
"Umm... Shouldn't we start to head back? It takes a couple of hours to fly back, and if we don't hurry we will probably be late for homeroom."
My bad habit had once again hit me, with me being stuck in my own thoughts for too long. Even if I would have wanted to stay as James for a bit longer, we couldn't allow Zero to be late for class.
After all, he still held the potential to be the greatest tool at my disposal, and for that, it didn't matter if he stayed alive or not.
'Now I just need to find time to pay a visit to a certain elven king. Let's see how he reacts to seeing his nation's long-lost treasure. Also, I wonder how the king of Mensch will react when he hears about how the king of Aldon made a deal with the demon-spawn James Jackson!'
==========
"Therefore, you will not be allowed to depart from the academy without proper documents. Also, there will be an ongoing investigation into the possibility of Ainu having gotten infiltrated by the demons. Therefore we assume that you will act amicable towards any searches or questionings that might occur."
'I guess the government also sees the need to move on the surface, even if they still disguise it as fighting against the demons.'
It wasn't unexpected for the royal house and the military to assume that there was some kind of spy from the hidden families hiding amongst the students, as it would explain how they knew about the princess's whereabouts, but I also couldn't help but feel as if they were doing things too inefficiently.
The only reason why they would advance in this kind of way would be if they truly couldn't locate their enemy, and if that was the case I had to question the intelligence of the king even more.
Who would make their intentions known to their enemies before making sure one could swiftly strike at a moment's notice?
'Or was there something else he had to prepare before that inadvertently leaked out to them?'
There was something missing in the equation, an unknown factor that I didn't have information about yet that made it hard to see the entire picture.
It was as if the king didn't actually have complete control of the situation or even his own faction. If he did, there was no way they would leave so many threads hanging loose. However, if this was the case, wasn't this a very dangerous situation?
Who would dare hunt a tiger in the dark? And, if he did, what was he willing to risk?