“Attagirl…” the boy whispers to no one but himself. Even though he is currently standing in the middle of the courtyard outside the north hall, the boy is using his powers to monitor the situation that is going on in the classroom where his friends Marven Jaste and Athorius Devs are being held at the moment.

“Gods, Synnove… Tone it down a bit, will you?” the boy continues to murmurs. He almost feels sorry for the male students who are at the receiving end of the devoted maid’s treatment. Almost…

Haha, just kidding. Go ahead and release your pent up frustration, the boy suddenly grins, making the crowd of onlookers who are watching him from the edge of the courtyard recoil in horror and take a few steps back. The boy ignores them. Most of them are elite students and the boy isn’t too concern about what they think of him. The ones the boy truly cares about are his wife, his children, Athorius, Marven, and another few hundred commoner students/future knights of Enahel who died while trying to save the boy from being executed when he was a young man.

And now that things are beginning to change, the boy feels he should add Rolfe and Synnove to that list as well… and probably Headmaster Joss too.

Seriously. What the hell is taking that old man so long? fumes the boy. He is getting hungry and his blueberry muffins are getting colder with each passing second. The boy taps with his fingers the unopened parcel he’s holding in his left hand, waiting impatiently for the headmaster to arrive.

I’ve crippled a student in the view of so many people, and he’s still taking his sweet time, the boy silently complains. No wonder Master Haithur is going to replace his slow ass half a year from now.

The boy notices Synnove has finished cleaning up the trash and is now standing near the window overlooking the courtyard. The blood-splattered pigtails maid is waiting for her Master to praise her.

Good work, Synnove, the boy gives her a discrete thumb up.

Tee hee. Thank you, Master, gestures the maid as she beams with pride. All the while she is hugging a bloodied make-shift bat in her arms, pleased that her Master has commended her on a job well done.

The boy smiles as well. Secretly he is thinking that seeing such a sight a few years ago (hell, even two days ago) would have made the boy flee for his life in the other directions. But that was before the boy got to know Synnove more and learned to appreciate her. And now her antics (even though some normal people would find them horrifying) are becoming something that endears her to him. The boy wonders in amazement at how much he has changed from his past self.

There are still some aspects of the beautiful girl that are still a mystery to the boy. Because of her perversion odd behaviors during their early meetings, the boy had refused to use his powers to research more information about Synnove because he doesn’t want to get too familiar with the pigtails girl. But now, the boy couldn’t imagine what life would be like without her.

Shall I go down to where you are, Master? Synnove continues to signal the boy.

No need. I’ll come up there in a bit, the boy indicates with his left hand.

Understood. I shall be waiting, for you, Master, the maid gives a slight bow.

Much appreciated, the boy smiles again.

The crowd of people watching the boy are getting more and more confused by his behavior. Those who look in the same direction the boy was gazing at just now manage to get a glimpse at a bloody figure standing near the window of an abandoned building not too far from the courtyard. But then the figure disappears into thin air, making those who saw it rub their eyes in disbelieve and leaving them with a chill running down their back.

The boy turns his gaze away from the building and starts scanning the slowly-growing crowd of onlookers. Looking at a few commoner students standing among them, the boy is assaulted by a mixture of feelings when seeing their faces. Happiness, sorrow, joy, guilt, delight, shame, relief, remorse. It’s taking everything the boy had to restrain him from tracking every last one of them down, getting on his knees and begging the for forgiveness. Crying and asking them to absolve him for the sin of cutting their lives short during the brief war that he started.

Until now, the boy still couldn’t fathom what possessed Athorius to rally those people to come to the boy’s aid and stop his execution. He tried asking Athorius years later when they were reunited again during the war with the Razors, but the man refused to answer him, perhaps out of spite or anger at the boy for disappearing after faking his own death.

The boy suddenly sees Porkins standing among the crowd of onlookers. Before the boy could say or do something, the sixth year commoner student notices the boy looking at him. Porkins immediately turns around and flees from the scene. Contrary to his portly build, Porkins moves pretty fast for a guy his size. On seeing Porkins’ shrinking back as he disappears into the distance, the boy is assaulted with a sudden sense of loneliness that he can’t explain.

The boy isn’t lonely for too long. A figure appears from the crowd and begins approaching the boy standing in the middle of the courtyard.

“Morning, Headmaster Joss.”

“It’s nice of you not to put the word ‘Good’ in front of that greeting.”

“I try to be as accommodating as possible.”

“I haven’t had a decent drink for two days.”

“I can point you in a few direction, far from Master Haithur’s poisonous touch.”

“Much appreciated.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“Before I forget. How’s your living arrangement with Rolfe Primero?”

“It’s going okay so far.”

“Want me to change it for you? Find you a place in the first year dormitories?”

“No thanks. I think I’ll stick with it for now.”

“Then would you please remind Rolfe Primero later he is currently under-house arrest for three months.”

“Understood.”

“I don’t appreciate him moving about the school earlier this morning.”

“Believe it or not he was actually asking the students what my preferences for breakfast are.”

“If he is caught leaving his house and the small area around it, even if it’s for a trip to the nearby town, I’ll immediately expel him from this academy.”

“I will convey your message word for word.”

*sighs “Never in my life I imagine myself to be this calm and start my conversation in a nonsensical manner when faced with an absurd circumstance such as this.”

“How do normal people react in an odd situation like this?”

“Usually there’ll be a lot of shouting and cursing. Words like ‘what’, ‘the’ and ‘fuck’ would be thrown about.”

“How do people manage to communicate in that way?”

“Typically it’s just one side screaming his head off while the other party bears the full brunt of his wrath.”

“Doesn’t seem like it will leave much room for a civil discussion for all participants.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Luckily we’re two adults who can converse in a civilize manner.”

“Indeed we are.”

“…”

“…”

“You know what, Headmaster Joss. Just get it out of your syste-“

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

“There you go.”

“…”

“Is that all?”

“No, I think there’s one more left.”

“M’kay. I’ll wait.”

“…”

“Any time now would be nice-”

“I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!”

“…”

“…”

“Are you done, Headmaster Joss?”

“Yes. I feel so much better now.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“You’ve changed me, you know.”

“I sincerely hope it’s for the better.”

“Now, would you mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“Open this and read the letter inside.”

The boy throws the parcel he’s been holding to the headmaster. Headmaster Joss opens the parcel and examines its contents. Inside the parcel there is a letter, a vial of clear liquid, a silver ring and a necklace that has an emblem of a crescent moon attached to it. The headmaster takes the letter and begins reading it.

To whom it may concern.

If your powers to tell the future are real, then I don’t need to tell you to whom the ring and the necklace belong to. In fact, I don’t even need to tell you the time and place to meet.

But just in case, come to the courtyard outside the north hall at 8 a.m. sharp.

PS Do I really need to tell you what will happen to Marven and Athorius if you alert the teachers, fail to show up, or if you do not come alone? Why don’t you use your powers to find out hahaha.

“The smug fucker lying over there thought it would be funny if he wrote it like that.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Yes. But very soon, he will wish I had killed him today.”

“Looks like he’s barely breathing.”

“Nope. He’ll be fine. He’s just passed out from the pain of what I did to him.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I paralyzed him from the neck down. He can’t move his body but he is still able to feel every sensation, every pain, in all parts of his body for the next few months.”

“…”

“Okay. Maybe my definition of ‘fine’ greatly differs from yours, Headmaster Joss.”

“And what are your plans to deal with his father?”

“When you send a messenger to alert the father of his son’s current predicament, please pass along this letter as well. You can read it now if you want.”

The boy takes out from his pocket an envelope that contains the letter he had written in Rolfe Primero’s manor this morning. He passes the envelope to Headmaster Joss who takes out the letter inside and begins reading.

To Ser Derek Acanthus

Hello. I have just crippled your son.

Don’t worry. Your son is a major asshole by the way. Don’t believe me? Check behind the loose shelf in your son’s bedroom, third one from the bottom. There you will find the locket he ripped from your wife’s neck as he pushed her down the well in your garden to join her child that he had also thrown down there earlier.

Oh yeah, the remains of your wife and son are in the sealed well in your garden. Maybe I should have stated that from the start as evidence of why your son is a major asshole.

PS I’m sorry for your loss.

“What a heartfelt letter.”

“Bite me. I was a bit rushed writing it when I realized my friends were taken.”

"Now I understand why you said he will wish you had kill him today."

"His father is a really creative man when it comes to torture."

“And where are Marven and Athorius?”

“In the old building northwest of here. My maid Synnove is with them. And erm, maybe I should have mentioned this from the start but so are three heavily injured Ouroboros members.”

Headmaster Joss gives the boy a stare that makes him shiver for just a bit. The headmaster then sighs before beckoning a couple of teachers to come to his side. Based on the boy’s direction, the teachers together with some commoner students and a few stretchers went off to the place where Marven and Athorius are being held hostage.

After a while, three stretchers are seen exiting the building and heading towards the infirmary in a hurry. The unconscious seventh year Class A student that the boy had made paralyzed is carried on a stretcher towards the infirmary as well.

The boy and Headmaster Joss could also see the teachers escorting and supporting two first year students who are dazed and have trouble walking. Looks like it will be some time before they could fully recover from their recent ordeal.

“So Synnove was the one who put those three boys on the stretchers in serious condition?”

“Yes.”

“Did you change her as well?”

“I’m not ashamed nor afraid to admit that I might be a cause of that.”

“Can you really look me in the eyes and tell me you change her for the better?”

“I actually don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe.”

“You know, you could have easily rescued them without resorting for violence.”

“I know.”

“But then they would have tried it again some other day.”

“Indeed.”

“You did what you had to do in order to protect your family.”

“Family comes first.”

“Just like what I did to those men I’ve got buried in the back of my garden.”

“The flowers growing off their bodies really look beautiful by the way.”

“Thank you for not throwing that fact in my face when I was about to get all holier-than-thou just now.”

“You would have come to that realization eventually without having me pointing it out.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“The usual. Take over Ouroboros. Get the leaders of the nine kingdoms under my control. Stop the imminent destruction of Mankind. Eat a blueberry muffin.”

“Don’t you mean take down Ouroboros?”

“Eh? Didn’t I just say that?”

“No, you said- You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Okay then. Would you please pass me the vial of clear liquid that is in the parcel?”

“Here. What is it?”

“It’s poison. The smug fucker whose spine I broke earlier thought it would be funny if I was the one responsible for taking my own life. He enjoys making other people do things for him while avoids getting his hands dirty. Except for when it's personal like sending his own stepmother and baby brother to their deaths.”

“What are you going to do with the vial?”

“I’m keeping it as a memento.”

“Only serial killers keep mementoes.”

“Fine. As a trophy then. I’ll just put it inside my shrine with the rest of the trophies I took from my victims defeated enemies.”

“I am really glad you’re not living together with the rest of the first year students.”

“Could you do me a favor, Headmaster Joss. Could you return the ring to Athorius and the necklace to Marven?”

“You don’t want to give it to them yourself?”

“No. The longer I avoid showing my face to them, the longer it will take for them to realize.”

“What?”

“That I am the one responsible for putting their lives in constant danger from now on.”

“I guess now I know the whole point of today’s events to you. You needed to show your enemies what will happen if they try to mess with you again. You wanted to release a statement.”

“Close, but no cigar. You misunderstood my intentions. And it’s not a statement but a promise.”

“And what promise is that?”

“Touch my friends or lay a finger on the ones I love and it will be the last time those motherfuckers have hands.” says the boy as he leaves the headmaster and heads towards a reunion with his devoted maid.