"There's no way you two are related! I won't accept it!"
"Ahaha! Lots of people say that when we tell them we are cousins, but it's true. Lucy is the daughter of my father's sister."
Turning my head towards the girl sitting next to me, Lucy just nodded, confirming his absurd words. Still, I couldn't accept it! They were just too different for it to make sense!
Still, I could do nothing but leave it for now. After all, even if I found it preposterous, it wasn't like my personal opinions on the matter mattered.
"Haa... So that's why you approached me? Due to Astor?"
Nodding once again while smiling, she finally told me the truth.
"Yup! It's rare for Astor to find someone he is actually interested in, so I thought that would mean that you had to be different in some way. Then again, you were also the person who offended the princess of the academy, so I guess I already knew that."
"Yeah, Aarick is really interesting, isn't he? Come to think of it, this is the first time I ever heard you talking this much. How come you don't do so at the academy?"
Looking up at the man standing in front of us, a surge of frustration rose inside of me when thinking about the true reason why he hadn't gotten to hear me talk a lot. Naturally, one of the reasons was that I wanted to keep to myself, but the reason why he specifically hadn't heard me talk was...
"That's because you never stop talking! Don't pretend like you aren't aware that you are actively ignoring me every time I'm trying to tell you something important! If not for..."
"So, Lucy, what do you think? Isn't he someone who could be good for us to have on our side in the future?"
'Please help me lord, for I might otherwise accidentally claim the life of an innocent but hateful man today...'
'-Why are you praying to a god when you're a demon? Also, in what way would that ever be an accident?'
Despite Astor's excitement while talking about something I could only assume to be complete nonsense, Lucy didn't seem to quite share his sentiment.
"Maybe, but he is still so weak that even if he holds similar values to us, I'm not sure it would make a difference."
No matter what they were talking about, I knew that it was something that I wanted to stay out of, partly because I didn't want to get involved in pretty much anything at the moment, and partly as it appeared that Astor played a major role in it.
Even if I allowed him to follow me around and bother me at the academy, I had to draw the line somewhere. So, I stood up and prepared to depart.
"Well, this has been great, but I have to get going. I'll see you guys on Monday."
And then, as I turned my back to them, I heard Astor get serious for the first time ever, his tone losing all sense of his earlier playfulness and excitement.
"Aren't you also fed up with the state of our society? How one's background and the potential of one's blessing are the main factors behind success instead of traits like being hard-working or wanting to make the world a better place?"
"... are you saying you're planning on making that happen? Making it so everyone gets an equal chance in Rellea?"
"No, not just Rellea. I'm planning on changing the whole country, all of Teton"
"Pfft... Hahahaha!"
"Why are you laughing? Don't you want the same thing?"
Hearing the absurdities he was spouting, I couldn't stop myself from laughing, not caring that Lucy appeared to have found it rather rude.
Once again set my sights on the pair of fools who spoke empty words about changing the world, I took a step forward, not wanting them to miss a single word of what I was about to say.
"I'm laughing because you don't understand. I have no idea what kind of household you two come from, but after hearing what you had to say I'm sure that you haven't seen the darker side of Teton."
Raising his brow, Astor was taken a bit off guard when hearing me confronting them.
"But you have? I know that you are an orphan, but you are also attending Augustus. Wouldn't that mean that you also..."
"That doesn't mean shit."
"Aarick?"
"I have no qualms about getting along with you two if you so want it at the academy. But don't illusion yourself into thinking that you understand my position."
Finally, for the last time, I turned around and let my feet do the talking as I paced forward.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going home."
"I'll see you on Monday then!"
Despite my acting, I could hear from his voice that he still had no intention of letting me be when we came back to the academy. And although I shouldn't have, I couldn't help but smile as I realized that.
****
[Lucy's Pov]
Just like that, the white-haired boy was gone.
"Say, Astor, why is it that ya think someone like that is important? I admit that he is interesting, but thinking about how weak he is..."
"That's the reason."
Seeing the smile on Astor's face, a cheerful smile that I had learned a long time hid a lot of pain, I could only listen to what he had to say in silence.
"He is weak and he doesn't seem to have any connections whatsoever, not to mention that he has no household backing him. You know, I saw what happened that day when he acted up against Levi."
"Yeah, and?"
Walking forward, while signaling me with his head to join him, he told me the full story of what had happened. How Hugo had started talking shit to Aarick, how Matthew had taken advantage of the situation to finally how Levi intervened, even though Matthew was at least on a surface level her friend.
"So, with this in mind, what possible reason could Aarick have to act rudely towards Levi? It turns out that they have a history together, and they have a past where they would no doubt have to have been called friends."
"If they used to be friends, why would he say such things to her? Shouldn't he have tried to get along with her, using her position as the heir of Leviathan to make sure he would be safe?"
"That's the thing. He's in such a weak position that even that would mean his life could be in danger. For anyone else, it would have been a great opportunity, but he recognized that as he doesn't have anyone at all to protect him, he didn't have a choice but to distance himself completely from her."
It suddenly made sense why Astor was so interested in him. By resisting the temptation of getting along with Levi, despite how influential and how beautiful she was, he showed an incredible amount of awareness.
Though he got a target painted on his back, that target was still limited to the students of the academy, while if he had chosen to try and get along with her, the target he would have painted on his back would have extended far outside of it.
Instead of being hated by students at Augustus, he would have stood the risk of getting targeted by the Leviathan itself. There was no way the leadership of the guild would accept the heir getting along with a nobody, even more so a nobody that happened to be a weakling.
In other words, he was intrinsically aware of the dynamics of society, and he also knew how to manipulate his surroundings to his benefit. Or at least to the extent where he could make the best out of a bad situation.
"That's why I want him on our side. Because not only should there be a very strong hate for how society has treated him, he is competent."
Yet, even with all these things speaking for him being a good recruit, there was still a very glaring problem with Astor's desire of getting him as a comrade.
"But isn't he too weak? Don't we need people that perform at least at an above-average level?"
Staring straight into my eyes, I was amazed to see the burning resolve in his eyes, showing me just how much he believed in what he said next.
"He will become strong, I can guarantee it."
It was rare to see Astor let go of the disguise that was the easy-going, smiling young man that got along with everyone, but this was already the second time today that he did so. And both times had been connected to the white-haired youth he now so intently believed would grow strong.
"How can you be so sure?"
Yet, when I asked, I was even more amazed to hear his reasoning when he instantly responded without even blinking.
"I have a good hunch!"
"You're still an idiot, aren't ya?"