Villain : Nonchalant Greedy-Chapter 20: Aftermath

In the corridors of the academy, a lone figure moved like a ghost in the darkness. Yet, he still carried that subtle air that hinted he was, indeed, human.

He stopped before a large door, as if preparing to enter—or more likely—organizing his thoughts for something important. Or perhaps it was just a habit, standing before the door for a moment before knocking and stepping inside.

After a while, the door opened before him. The one inside the room seemed to know he was there and awaited his permission to enter. Perhaps it wasn't even a person who opened the door—maybe the room itself had recognized him.

He wore a black robe and a black coat, had long black hair, and a few wrinkles marked his face. He looked to be in his forties. This was Erebus Solaris, professor of mind spells.

Had Arsene seen him, he would've recognized him instantly. But the same couldn't be said the other way around. All Erebus could see was a mass of fog and shadows surrounding the man's face.

Erebus entered the room to find four others. None of them stared at him. Their disregard didn't imply disrespect—if anything, he might've outranked at least three of them.

They waited for him to speak. One of them was trimming his fingernails—an odd sight considering his massive build, which contrasted with his boyish, science-obsessed face. He wore a green jacket. He didn't look as smart as his face suggested, but at least he understood the reason for Erebus's late-night visit.

Another looked like a gentleman—neatly styled brown hair, a soft smile, short mustache. His hair fell partly over his face. He was fit, handsome. Perhaps he'd look even better without the mustache, but it did give him a more mature aura.

The third was staring at the ceiling, eyeing the corners of the room. He had long black hair and wore similar robes to Erebus. He might've been calculating angles or analyzing the room's architecture.

They were Meguel, Meridith, and Malagan respectively—elite professors of the academy, though not the only ones.

But the man sitting with a wide, lazy posture radiated supreme confidence and deliberate apathy. His body was relaxed, limbs stretched out, his gaze half-lidded—a man in full control, even in stillness. His hair was long, blonde like wool, and his golden eyes lacked light.

This was Caspian Regis—the academy's headmaster.

Meridith, still smiling at the table, finally spoke, though his eyes didn't budge an inch:

"Something serious must've happened for you to call us here, Erebus. I'm sure of it! Though I do wonder... Apologies if I'm wasting your time again, I know you don't care for idle chatter—"

Caspian interrupted flatly,

"Just shut up, Meridith. You only want to talk for the sake of talking."

Meridith smiled, still fixated on the table. In his mind, he was constructing a detailed schematic and projecting it onto the surface—complex, with multiple exits and entrances. A perfect trap. He smiled again and asked Erebus,

"How?"

Erebus, face blank, replied with unreadable intent:

"I verified everything. I have no idea. My mind-bind spell on Sharlek was broken. I stared at him—but he was invisible in those shadows."

Meridith clasped his fingers, resting his forehead on them.

"Are you saying he was a demon? Or that Sharlek couldn't stop him? I don't get you, Erebus."

Erebus responded, expressionless as ever:

"What remained of Sharlek suggests he was bound by some kind of spiritual or physical restraints. I'm not sure which. When I arrived, the restraints vanished."

Malagan asked, eyes still locked on the ceiling,

"Did you stop the breach?"

"I already fixed everything," Erebus replied. "I placed someone else for security in Sharlek's stead. But the intruders remain unidentified."

Caspian raised an eyebrow.

"Intruders?"

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"So far, yes—intruders," Erebus confirmed.

Meridith was still mentally perfecting the schematic—an intricate blueprint of the cave and the mine, with narrow paths, tight corners—an impossible maze. He smiled again.

"There's no way out for them. Either they're still hiding somewhere, evading your perception—which is impossible—or they used a teleportation circle and escaped."

"The strange thing is," Erebus added, "they didn't destroy or steal the refined standard shard."

Malagan asked,

"What about Sharlek's core?"

Erebus turned to leave.

"It exploded."

Before he exited, Caspian spoke again:

"Station guards inside and outside the mine."

Caspian closed his eyes as if meditating—but in truth, he was simply tired of keeping them open.

Erebus left. As the door shut behind him, something slipped from Malagan's left sleeve. A card—an old, worn-out playing card, almost like a relic. Decorated and strange.

He placed it on the table and slid it toward Meridith, destroying the mental construct Meridith had built.

Meridith didn't react. He simply looked at the card—its image: The Mask Breaker, a circus performer hiding kind intentions behind deception.

Meguel, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly said,

"What just happened? I spaced out for a moment... Did Erebus come already?"

Meridith and Malagan smiled. Caspian quietly opened and shut his left eye. Malagan pulled out more cards, tossing them one by one to Meridith, who slid them into his sleeves.

—

Elsewhere, Arsene and Sarl were tending to their wounds in Arsene's apartment. They cleaned themselves and talked about what had happened, both agreeing to keep it a secret—perhaps even from Clem.

While bandaging his leg, Arsene was deep in thought—particularly about the fracture in his ankle.

'If the roots lead to the cooling center, and to where the shards emerge... does that mean it was never the core to begin with?'

'You could call it a core, but—'

Sarl interrupted,

"We can't go out like this. We'll draw too much attention, especially with this sunburned look. We look like we've been scorched all day."

Arsene agreed. They needed some care—ointments, extracts from medicinal herbs—anything that might help.

Struggling to his feet, Arsene winced from the pain in his ankle.

"Show me, then. You were bragging about those rings earlier."

Sarl grinned from left to right and placed the rings on the table.

"Remember when I told you the best I found were refined standard shards? Of course, I wasn't going to leave empty-handed. I filled these five rings with as many as I could find.

Let's split them!"

Arsene refused an equal share, letting Sarl take three rings while he took the contents of the remaining two.

Sarl said if he could figure out how to explain it to Clem, maybe he'd give him one too. They hadn't come out of this adventure empty-handed.

They came out with experience, rewards—and a dilemma. Arsene was still pondering how they'd gotten back to the boys' dorms.

Someone must've helped them. A third hand—an unknown ally, with motives of their own. Arsene didn't know anyone who might have such reasons.

"Ahh—!" Arsene winced. Sarl was massaging his broken ankle with hot water.

They were starving, so they ordered food from one of the academy's shops. The ordering process was simple—they used a communication stone bearing the same rune pattern as the restaurant's.

They placed the order, not expecting the shop to be open this late.

Wearing only their underwear, they answered the door.

Sarl spoke with a mocking tone:

"Told you, if you needed coin, Arsene has a few to lend."

Clem was the delivery boy.

They spent hours explaining everything to him, ensuring he only knew what was necessary.

Clem was disappointed—he wanted to be part of the adventure. If only he had skipped Malagan's class...

Still, he got a gift: a ring filled with refined standard mana shards.

They forgot to ask him why he was working as a delivery boy. Clem was relieved—they hadn't asked, and he didn't want to tell.

They warned him not to sell the shards, as it would raise suspicion. But realistically, it'd be hard to trace them back to the mine. It held hundreds of thousands of shards of all grades.

No one knew how many cooling centers existed—or how much was produced daily.

So no one would notice a few going missing.