[James's Pov]
It was truly a great feeling. The feeling of planting seeds for the future, seeds that would someday become the foundation of fulfilling my goals.
Staring down at the illuminated academy in the darkness of night, I still wasn't sure if the pieces I was preparing to collect were going to be useful. But as it wouldn't be a problem to throw them away, I wasn't too worried.
'-What a soft-hearted apostle I have. Pieces to be used? Don't you just want to give them a better chance to survive?'
'-Shut up.'
'-Though I have to say, it was quite impressive how you spent so many nights influencing that girl's mind. Pretty twisted, but impressive nonetheless. But I have to say I'm surprised. Shouldn't you have picked up that little snake as well? From what I've seen, she could have become a great tactician.'
He wasn't wrong, that annoying god of mine. From competence alone, I had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that Caroline was better than any students at the academy.
Though she lacked combative capabilities, her mind was calculative enough that it wouldn't surprise me to see her rise to the skies in the future. From the way she carried herself, to her ability to recognize opportunities, there was no doubt she would be making a large impact when she grew up.
However...
'-Why would a snake ever want to invite another snake to its feast?'
As stated previously, if I couldn't even trust myself, how could I trust someone so very similar to me? The answer? There was no way I could do that.
Ultimately, I knew that the pieces that I could collect from here without anyone getting suspicious were limited, and one of the biggest reasons why Stella and Thomas were good finds was because they were alone.
Stella had lost the last of her family during the monster invasion, and from what I could infer from how Thomas acted, I doubted he had something one could call parental love to return to.
Dr. Smith was the same. Even if he had a lot of connections, it was key that he didn't actually have someone he could call family around him. As soon as the concept of family came up, things always got a lot more complicated to deal with.
Now there was just one more piece I wanted to obtain from the academy, or rather, one pawn I wanted to make sure I could control. Even if this control ended up in getting rid of it.
I had already conceded my plans of acquiring Arthur, even if I could still say with certainty that he would be the most potent piece on the chessboard that I could ever get access to.
And the reason behind my decision was simple. I wanted to crush the allied races even when they had obtained the treasure that was the bringer of light.
Because that would be a lot more fun!
Just imagine it, an unknown man known to the world as James, revered as Zero, acting as One, bringing down both the demons and the allied races all by himself. Proving to the world just how uselessly ignorant they were when going up against someone who did not care for the rules of this world.
No matter if it was the rules of warfare, politics, or even the rules relevant to further one's individual power. I would reject all of them.
Acquiring pieces that were said to be off-limits, creating situations where large factions had no choice but to bow down in search of survival, all of this without even using my blade to convince them.
'I'm excited...!'
Sadly, the future was still far aware, and how fortunate that was, seeing as I still needed a lot of time to prepare. Right now, as stated, I was merely sowing seeds.
'Come to think of it, those elves should have safely returned to Aldon by now. Maybe it's time for me to see the king that will be allowed the privilege of keeping its nation alive.'
****
[Trelis Aldon's Pov]
Seeing my missing people returning home in a caravan, their families quickly running forward to hold them underneath the protection of our forest, I couldn't help but get a bad feeling about it all.
Although I should also be crying with joy to see my kin returning, there was something incredibly uncanny about this whole situation. A feeling of slowly getting trapped in some sort of web, a web that no matter how I could sense it, I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of it.
"My liege? Are you alright?"
"Ah, I'm fine. I was merely lost in thought for a moment, please don't worry about me. Instead, go and see that daughter of yours that has returned."
"But I'm still in service. There's no..."
"Just go. I'm right here anyway. So, go."
With tears in his eyes, the father who had lost his child finally allowed himself to dash forward, taking his young daughter in his arms, her eyes also filling with tears that had been repressed for too long.
Seeing the reunion between the man and his child, I forced myself to regard this situation as a blessing, no matter how much my heart was telling me it was a curse.
There had already been too many moments of despair in this lush forest of us, and so I didn't want to believe this to be another one. Even if the roots beneath our feet had begun to wilt.
Then, another one of my loyal soldiers returned from the collection of people shedding tears of relief and happiness, with a letter in his hand.
"What is this?"
"Your honor! One of the survivors brought a letter, telling us you had to read it. Even after asking her several times, she seemed to have no knowledge about the contents. We have already scanned it with magic, and there seem to be no curses attached to it, so it should be safe for you to read, but I still wouldn't..."
"Give it to me."
Not minding the overly protective soldier in front of me, as I knew that he ultimately just wanted what was best for me, I still couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. Annoyed that a whelp that had barely lived for a hundred years was trying to coo someone of more than triple his age.
Taking the white envelope in my hand, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of anxiety when seeing a pitch-black wax seal guarding whatever message was inside, a seal that I had never seen before in my life.
Though most seals carried the symbol of the factions sending their letters, this seal wasn't in the form of anything I could recognize as a faction. Instead, it was portraying nothing but a single scythe.
==========
Having returned to my quarters, I had finally opened the letter sent to me, unwilling to show it to anyone else before making sure I understood the contents.
And now, my hands were shaking, tightly gripping the piece of parchment containing the words of a snake. A snake whose words were as vile as ever.
[Greetings, my dear king of the forest. It is I, your lovely business partner! As you might have seen, I have sent you a gift. A gift to show my absolute sincerity in hopes that it will allow us to foster an even greater bond than what we already have achieved. I have also attained ownership of the relic that you seek, and though it will be a shame to part from the lustrous piece of art, I will be visiting you soon for the trade to be made. With much love and care, the One that rejects.]
'Are you telling me you did this, James...?'
It wasn't a secret to me that the one behind the kidnappings of my people had to have been that disgusting man hiding in his academy, the king of nothing himself. So, how in Theia's name would someone like James be able to somehow convince him, or force him, to release my people?
To some extent, I couldn't believe it. Even if he had sold his soul to the demons, he was still a child without connections and without any real power. A [B]-rank like him would have never been able to convince Frederick to let them go just like that, even more so when thinking about the fact that he was more or less omnipotent while dwelling in the academy.
Yet, to an equal extent, I somehow had a feeling that he was the only person who could have been able to make this happen. Because he didn't conform to the unwritten rules that kept the balance of the world.
He wasn't bound by politics or laws like I was, nor did he seem to have people he treasured to the point where he would be scared to lose them.
And that was what made him terrifying.
Because he was a snake with nothing to lose.