Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hilbert gave Oliva a cold smile, ”Are you... speaking to me? Here and now?”

Although he didn’t make it clear, everyone understood what Gilbert was asking Oliva: Are you planning to suppress him in front of Archmage Ruth, using Ruth’s influence?

Ruth shook his head helplessly: Gilbert didn’t make his point clear, which was giving this teacher of his the greatest respect.

And Oliva, the flaw of being at a loss when faced with a difficult situation, really couldn’t be changed.

Of course, he didn’t really mean it, but with his nature of not wanting to take responsibility, what he did was indistinguishable.

The reason why Oliva’s limits could only reach this level has much to do with his somewhat cowardly disposition.

Exceptional talents only got him this far, the rest... the willpower and decisiveness that couldn’t even compare to Kamente Tower, what else could be expected?

It would be great if Aislin’s somewhat cruel and ruthless nature could be given to Oliva a bit.

Ruth of course knew that little flaw in Aislin’s nature... otherwise, look at those mages who fall into love dilemmas, regardless of gender, how many could, like Aislin, repeatedly fail but still keep trying?

One failure is enough for them to be disheartened for a long time.

Not to mention, anyone who betrayed Aislin didn’t end well... The final death might even be a relief for them.

But Aislin placed her only bit of kindness and humanity in him, this teacher of hers.

She is a child who would betray the world but would never betray Ruth.

So no matter what, Ruth couldn’t give up this slightly extreme, always troublesome disciple.

After all, he’s no saint, he won’t waver over whether others would encounter suffering.

Of course, the most important thing is still...

Ruth abruptly cut off his own thoughts, turning around to look at Gilbert, who had a disdainful look: ”Gilbert, are you planning to share some of Oliva’s burden...”

”Ah~” Hilbert directly interrupted Ruth’s threat, looking at Oliva with a spring-like smile, ”What’s past is past, Mr. Oliva, just be more careful in the future.”

Everyone in the hall, regardless of their relationship with Gilbert, couldn’t help but laugh at this moment: this guy really hadn’t changed a bit.

He indeed has a bad temper but genuinely doesn’t want to meddle in affairs.

And to avoid being dragged into those troublesome matters, Gilbert was always willing to step back a bit... Of course, if it were someone else, they wouldn’t even take those steps forward.

Faced with Gilbert’s helplessness, Oliva and Aislin wouldn’t put their awkwardness in front of him.

Just like Ruth would never say such gentle words to them... What is a troublesome task to Gilbert is a lucrative opportunity to them.

But similarly, given Gilbert’s strong control over the magic array, it’s indeed not worth his time.

Selling a couple of magic array diagrams when in need of resources is this guy’s customary way to meet his daily needs.

For Gilbert, it’s Ruth wanting him to come out and work, but he doesn’t want to... That woman, Aislin, is always most wary of Gilbert, isn’t that the reason?

Even though Ruth’s words seemingly hoped Gilbert would give up chasing Oliva... They all knew their senior brother’s nature of making mistakes under pressure.

So Ruth’s students were used to handling their own matters, really as a last resort, they would directly approach Ruth, not Oliva, who supposedly should manage their juniors.

Aislin never saw him as a threat, which was related to this trait... Ideally, their relationship with Oliva, who managed them during apprenticeship, should have been the best.

Oliva was indeed very responsible for the junior brothers and sisters Ruth entrusted to him: fair and just, never delaying the delivery of resources by a second, let alone short.

However, such a person, didn’t have much support from behind... It’s imaginable how serious his indecision was.

All the goodwill ultimately retreated completely on the fact that he couldn’t be relied on at crucial moments.

-----------------

After completing his social duties, Hilbert fell silent once again.

Of course, he wasn’t really that dissatisfied, but he had to show his dissatisfaction and presence and imply, sometimes explicitly, that he wasn’t planning on managing affairs in the future.

Ruth was indeed trying to drag him out for work... Though the remark seemed like a threat, it was actually a thread he threw out.

As long as he was willing to hold onto it, he could instantly become the one holding substantial power within the Ruth Faction... Aislin was definitely going to remain quiet for a while.

Those tasks could indeed be entrusted to people Aislin trusts but could also be handed to those Ruth trusts.

Especially since Ruth, to some extent, understood a bit about the peculiarities of the Hainarson Clan.

A person like Gilbert, blessed with relatively good luck, once entirely integrated into his faction, could undeniably bring him not insignificant benefits.

Sadly, Hill didn’t plan to satisfy this small ambition of his.

Luckily, Ruth understood a bit more... A person like Gilbert, with his peculiar fortune, cannot be forced.

Forcing him into things he didn’t want to do would only lead to results opposite to what Ruth wanted to achieve.

Hill even suspected a little that Ruth allowed Aislin to offend him in method, and Oliva to stimulate him in words, was all to provoke Gilbert’s rebellious psyche.

As long as Gilbert couldn’t tolerate those two nuisances acting wild above him, he would naturally accept the favor Ruth always insisted on throwing down.

Heh~ Otherwise, Hill would never believe that a mage like Ruth would be so gentle to a student with a slightly extreme personality and just a good talent.

Even for someone like Hill, he couldn’t do that.

Don’t be fooled by Hill’s somewhat rebellious attitude, compared to the former Gilbert, it could even be described as gentle!

Gilbert, who had just become an official mage, due to the constant turmoil in his mental sea, had a violent temper and extreme character... Look at Oliva’s indifferent attitude after being targeted by Hilbert, actually, it was clear he didn’t even feel that offended.

Hill hadn’t planned on mocking Oliva.

But he suddenly sensed something amiss... He felt that someone was observing him.

Not Ruth, then... Nicholson or Kamente Tower?

Or possibly, the so-called Rommel?

Hilbert gathered his spirits, racked his brain, sketching again and again in the mental sea what Gilbert’s performance would be like once he recovered his health, and only when necessary, did he unexpectedly interject a few times.

Now, he had already completed his performance.

Feeling the gaze shift away from him silently, Hilbert forced himself to lean slanting in the chair, crossing his legs, seemingly casually listening to Ruth’s instructions to Oliva.

Apart from him, the one being watched due to the so-called mental soothing potion, it seemed that all those scrutinizing gazes now centered on Aislin.

That woman was looking somewhat displeased, listening to the tasks Ruth was assigning to Oliva, alternately clenching her teeth and coldly sneering... Probably thinking that Oliva would certainly fail, and eventually, it would still fall to her to handle.

Oliva really was somewhat baffling.

When given proper tasks, he completed them well, but when it involved people, especially those with whom he had certain ties, he wouldn’t know what to do.

Hill knew about the existence of such people... But in the world of mages, such people were also too rare.

Of course, it’s possible in those previous worlds, mages like him ended up in seclusion, avoiding any interactions.

Hill was now a bit curious, why were Ruth’s only two usable students of this kind of personality?

It’s not quite normal.

One must know, Ruth is the Main Tower’s real controlling power in the Tower of Dark Enigma, his first disciple, even if not a successor, should be someone with brains and schemes right?

Either Ruth’s real chief disciple wasn’t here... Although Hill thought it unlikely but the continuously emerging secrets in the Tower of Dark Enigma this time made him not so sure.

Or, Ruth himself had some problems.

Or perhaps, Ruth, was he from the start, the heir to the Main Tower of Night’s Mist?

From Ruth’s way of handling things, Hill couldn’t help feeling he was more in line with the Mystery of Darkness which Kamente Tower occupied, you know?

But Nicholson, his incomprehensible style, indeed matched well with Hazy Moon.