Rey felt something rise within his chest every time Adrien spoke, but it was always suppressed by [Dead Calm].
His words struck some kind of chord within him.
'If it wasn't for this entire incident, I wouldn't have killed anyone…'
It was Adrien's fault that he became a killer.
'No. That's not fair. I might have had to do it eventually…'
Rey knew he had to take responsibility for his actions. However, looking at the boy before him, he couldn't help but dread something.
'Will I become like him eventually?'
Was that so bad?
It was mostly thanks to Adrien that the Criminal Underworld was crumbling.
'No! He went about things the wrong way. His actions were too extreme!'
But… were they?
Rey dug deep within himself and asked himself a very difficult question—one that he was just considering at the moment.
'Who was hurt during all of this?'
It was only the members of the Underworld. They were the ones affected by Adrien's actions.
The Obsidian Houses that suffered heavy losses, like Kara's family, were not innocents. Objectively, they were a part of the cancer eating into the wealth and progress of the Alliance.
All the dead relatives of the Councilors were also deemed guilty of knowledge and connections to the Underworld thanks to the investigation he personally did.
The victims of the entire Dark Undertaking… they were criminals—the scum of the world.
And so, with all of this flowing into his mind, Rey had to ask himself once again.
'Is he really wrong?'
Rey desperately wanted to say "No" but he couldn't.
That would be hypocritical.
After all…
… He would have done the same if he was in Adrien's shoes.
"I still don't trust you." Rey spoke, almost whispering his words.
"Is that so? That's a shame…"
Adrien's face seemed to show genuine disappointment. Something akin to regret was also mixed into his eyes.
"… Rey."
The moment Rey heard his name, his eyes snapped open.
'Hold on… he knows I'm Rey?!'
Throughout their interaction, he had spoken as Ralyks, and Adrien had also addressed him the same way.
Rey wasn't completely sure, but he always thought Adrien didn't know who he really was.
But all of that was now shattered.
Thankfully, Rey's anxiety and shock were suppressed by [Dead Calm], so he didn't react at all despite hearing his own name.
He was just quiet.
"I understand why you don't trust me. It's about Adam's death… right?"
'Among other things, yeah.' Rey felt his heart pounding, but it slowed down almost as quickly as it started.
His mind was strangely clear, though that didn't do away with all of his unease.
"Adam would have betrayed the class eventually."
'Do you expect me to believe that?' Rey nearly scoffed at the words he was hearing.
Adam was a loose cannon, and he was very rebellious, but he wouldn't go that far.
At most, they could have just sent him off—the same way the Council eventually did to all of the Otherworlders.
Death was too much for one of their classmates.
"I don't expect you to believe me, but it's true. This is probably not relevant anymore, but you should know that Adam is a serial rapist and sex offender."
'What?!'
"It's weird how he's already such a shitty person despite being so young, but it's true. All those crimes were swept under the rug by his rich and influential family."
'How do you expect me to believe such outlandish claims?!' Rey's thoughts nearly burst out.
There was no way for him to verify any of the claims that Adrien was making.
The only thing he knew for sure was that Adam indeed had a rich and influential family.
That was why he was such an asshole to everyone, able to get away with bullying and the likes. Despite his terrible behavior, he was still very popular and constantly surrounded by people.
It was all due to his money and influence.
'He did a lot of shitty things in the past, but… isn't rape too far?'
"What if I told you that he also killed someone?"
Rey didn't want to believe him.
"I prompted him to kill Adonis, but why do you think he readily accepted my offer?"
'Because you influenced his mind… maybe.'
"No. It's because he's done it before."
"That's enough." Rey sighed, refusing to make any comment that would cement his identity as Rey.
For all he knew, Adrien could be guessing his identity.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He added.
Adrien chuckled, shrugging casually once again while nodding.
"I understand. Fair enough."
For a moment, no one said anything. Both parties merely stared at each other.
Then—
"I also want to apologize for the entire ordeal you had to go through in the trial."
—Adrien spoke once again.
"I also want to apologize for stealing those Monster Cores. I needed resources to obtain a bunch of things for my plans back then. I know it's not an excuse, but… I had good reasons for doing what I did."
Rey was rendered speechless by what he was hearing.
He had always thought the Mastermind was a heartless machine who manipulated everyone and orchestrated scenarios to suit his selfish whims.
After Adam's death, that concrete image had been imprinted into Rey's mind.
'But this… this is unexpected!'
Adrien seemed very reasonable, and in fact he was more similar to Rey than the latter could have imagined.
It was almost freaky how identical their views were.
'But…'
Rey searched within himself for a way to justify his skepticism towards Adrien, but his mind came up blank.
Just like Adrien, he had also gotten his own resources through somewhat illegitimate means.
Did that make him evil? No…
"Apologies are shallow, I know. So why don't I compensate you now… for all your troubles."
"What are you talking about?" Rey asked, realizing he had been silent for too long.
"I'll leave the remaining resources Scylla had, as well as all the resources of the Black Market members at your disposal. I won't touch anything."
Adrien's response would have come as a shock to Rey if he didn't already know the kind of person he was.
"You've already taken what you need, haven't you?"
In response to that, Adrien merely deepened his smile and shrugged.
"If you feel like that isn't enough, then why don't I give you some information? Consider it as a reward for getting this far."
Rey didn't like how he was being strung around like a child. It seemed like, even now, Adrien was manipulating him.
Perhaps that was what rubbed him the wrong way when dealing with this boy.
—The fact that Adrien held the advantage here.
Rey hated feeling like prey… like the underdog. However, in all their interactions, it always seemed like he was one step behind Adrien.
It was despicable.
He hated every second of it.
Perhaps he wasn't particularly angry at Adrien for his actions as much as he was upset that he never thought about them, or maybe was just one of the pieces being played by someone else, rather than being the chessmaster himself.
Even now, as he was piecing together all of the information before him, Rey couldn't help but feel like that was exactly what Adrien wanted.
It left him at a crossroads, with two equally detestable options
"I know about the whereabouts of our classmates. I can tell you that if you like."