The administrative staff had made every effort to get to the bottom of the Black Arms attack on the academy. Rosay, however, whose identity had been used to pull it off, decided to take the case as the final mission for the third-year students. She was the Ace. She’d already confronted them. The request was granted without much effort.

’But Rosay cannot fight. Leading the Calamities and all third-years with the stamina of a sluggish horse would not work. I cannot fight for her, but I can give her people to use as pawns. Protecting her is what my contract demands of me.’

He was seated in the dim strategy room. Alfred at the head as always, Lucius across from him, and Warner and Charlotte alongside Leomaris himself at the other end of the table.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He had a mission: to convince the class to raid the Great Citadel before things got out of hand. He’d stood before the Crimson Order and made claims that could get him killed.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The harm was already done. He didn’t know what exactly the Devil’s Fruit and Le Mythe des Quatre were capable of, but he knew one thing. If he stood any chance of survival, it was only when he had those items, and Einstein was dead.

"Are you suggesting we raid the citadel next week? We haven’t made any plans yet. Everything must be discussed with the class so the other factions can prepare as well," Alfred said, his eyes never leaving Leomaris.

"That’s exactly why I said next week. How hard can it be to plan for a harmless citadel?"

"We need a reason to attack this early. Besides you, Leomaris, none of us has included anyone below second-class in our factions. That means third-to-fifth-class will have to form their own raid groups. They will need information."

Warner asked with a tone calmer and gentler than Alfred’s, and that had Leomaris reconsidering his thoughts for a moment or two.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Einstein was lord of the citadel and currently in the early stages of his dark mage evolution. But that was exactly the situation. The main reason he’d ended up threatening an organisation that could wipe him out was, ironically, to avoid danger.

Survival was his priority. Now, though, he’d realised the hard way that without a legitimate feat recognisable by the underground community, he would never be welcomed. But he didn’t want to die either.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’If Einstein becomes a Berserker, we’re done for. I may not even be able to recover those items. We must attack sooner rather than later.’

He leaned into his seat and, soon enough, settled on something.

"I sent my butler, Hazel, to survey the mountains, and she came back with information we can’t ignore. Spiders were heading into the citadel, and she believes the lord is currently a Lesser Lord, slowly rising toward Elite Lord status."

He got what he wanted. They were listening. Even Lucius was.

"I don’t think we have a choice in this matter. I doubt any of you could defeat an Elite Lord of a Great Citadel."

Lucius leaned into his seat and stroked his chin, thinking for a moment.

"I’m with you, Leomaris. If what your butler found is true, we can’t just ignore this."

Alfred frowned. His anger boiled over, as though the suggestion were a blade to his pride.

"We haven’t strategized yet. We also need to notify the administration when we plan to raid the citadel."

Leomaris furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you think? That’s exactly why I called this meeting."

He turned to Charlotte, who was seated to his right.

"I already have my faction. Everyone important to me is in it." His head jerked toward Alfred. "I believe you all have your faction as well."

"Soon, as it has always been, the strategy is to send the fifth-class to the citadel first to test the waters. This is not about points, but rather experience and reputation. There is no need to dwell on it longer than necessary."

Lucius leaned forward, his expression unreadable as ever. But the tragic scent he always carried never left him.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Are you saying we’re sacrificing the entire fifth-class? Forty-five people... you know that, right?"

Leomaris locked eyes with him, his own narrowing slightly. He knew he wasn’t particularly on good terms with Lucius, and yet, for any chance of Lucius sparing his life in the future, looking ruthless before him might only worsen the case.

But there was no choice. Trying to please Lucius would get him killed much sooner than Lucius’s revenge ever would.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"That is exactly what I said, Lucius. We are aspiring war veterans, not university candidates."

Lucius smirked. "You keep impressing me, Leomaris. Not only are you strong, but your judgment is excellent. I’m glad to have you as a rival."

Leomaris smiled awkwardly. All of Lucius’s actions were contradictory to the original story, and situations like these never failed to make Leomaris paranoid.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Maybe... I can’t die."

Charlotte’s broken words cut through. Every eye in the room found Leomaris, expecting him to interpret.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Saying they might not die?"

Charlotte motioned positively.

Alfred groaned. "If you can’t speak Caelish, at least use the tongue of giants, Vorloge, or something fancy like Valer. Why does he always have to translate your words like you’re a toddler?"

The first thing that came to Leomaris’s mind when he spoke was to console Charlotte, and without missing a beat, he reached for her shoulders and calmed her down. He was right to do so. Charlotte would have killed Alfred.

"What? Were you trying to attack me?" Alfred rose to his feet, and a reddish grimoire appeared in his hand almost instantly. "Go on... try me, Charlotte."

Lucius shook his head in disbelief. It was as though the incident were seconds away from breaking his patience entirely.

"Please, Alfred... can you act like an Ace for once?"

Alfred felt the gaze on him. With an irritated look, he took his seat.

Warner puffed out a breath.

"We cannot necessarily kill all the fifth-class cadets. This is our first mission; wasting an entire class will come back to haunt us."

Leomaris eased himself.

"I’m with you on this, Warner. At minimum, we must lose half."

Warner’s mouth fell open before shaking his head in disbelief.

"That’s not what I meant..."

Lucius cut in immediately.

"The day is running out. We have a Citadel Simulation test in two days. Perhaps we should work together and use this opportunity to form a better strategy."

Leomaris and Charlotte nodded in agreement.

"That sounds great," Warner said.

Alfred got to his feet, however, drawing five envelopes from his pocket and distributing them accordingly across the table.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris stared at it in confusion. The crest was familiar. It belonged to the Silverbird family. Why would they send him a letter?

Lucius was the first to read his. "This is from Alicia Silverbird. It’s an invitation for all Calamities to attend a party tonight."

Leomaris had been on the verge of opening his. Lucius’s words made him pause. He tucked it into his overcoat.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Why would a fourth-year invite us? I thought she was really prideful," Warner asked, sounding confused. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Alfred sneered. "Why does it matter? She’s one of the academy’s top cadets. It’s a networking opportunity."

Leomaris shrugged. Alfred wasn’t wrong. Manage to get on Alicia’s good side, and she could be a great ally.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

—

Soon enough, they arrived at the hall. Hazel was supposed to be keeping the members of Leomaris’s faction occupied until their arrival. But what they were welcomed with had them frozen in place.

At the podium, before Hazel’s feet, lay one of the cadets Charlotte had recruited. Tall, cocky, dark hair, and darting legs. But he didn’t look very cocky now.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

On his knees, blood trickling from his dislocated shoulders, his brown gaze was lost in a daze as though staring into the abyss. Tears streamed down his face.

Leomaris knew it was Hazel’s doing. But why?

Soon enough, Hazel registered Leomaris’s presence. The cold, emotionless expression gave way, shifting to one of devotion and welcome.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"He insulted you, young master."

Not even her voice faltered when she spoke.