The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 342: Chapter 337 — Calls

Only a few minutes passed before Zephyrion and Cassian returned to the room. Cassian wore a smile that couldn’t have looked more forced if he tried, one arm wrapped around Zephyrion’s shoulders like they were lifelong buddies.

”Haha! Friends! Hope we didn’t keep you all waiting too long.”

”The hell?” Garrick frowned. ”What’s with that disgusting smile? And more importantly, why the fuck are your hands on our little treasure!?”

”Haha, isn’t it obvious?” Cassian pulled Zephyrion even closer. ”We’re buddies now!”

”Like hell you are.” Garrick immediately pried Cassian’s arm away from Zephyrion and glared at him. ”Go hug your own damn son. This one’s mine.

Cassian scowled, but ultimately remained silent.

Garrick turned towards Zephyrion then, his expression immediately brightening.

”Good?”

”Good.”

Garrick burst into laughter, and even Garaxe couldn’t help but smile. Kastor’s expression remained unchanged, though he seemed to sit a little straighter in his seat.

Only Cassian looked increasingly sour. He glared at Garrick and the others like he’d somehow been swindled out of his own money.

”Zephyrion Calderalth.”

The laughter immediately died down.

Torvak Kharadun now stood before Zephyrion, his massive frame towering over him like a giant.

”Yes.”

”Your final fight was impressive. Your connection with the worldpulse and your rate of comprehension are among the best I’ve ever seen.”

A rare glint of interest appeared in Torvak’s eyes as he reached into his pocket and brought out a small golden token.

”Whenever you have the time, come to the west. There are some things we’ve been working on that I believe you’ll find... interesting.”

’This is even better than I thought...’

Zephyrion held back his excitement. Torvak, and the Kharadun especially, had always been something of a passive force in the Ferran Empire, rarely involving themselves in its affairs and instead focusing almost entirely on the advancement of runic technology.

Unlike Severin, who’d seen him as an enemy, or even Cassian, Torvak had seen the potential benefits in him. And given what the Kharadun specialized in, it wasn’t hard to imagine the sort of things Torvak intended to show him.

Smiling, Zephyrion accepted the token and offered a bow.

”Thank you, Lord Torvak.”

Torvak smiled and nodded, then gave the others a brief nod before vanishing.

Soon, after some grumbling and a little back and forth with Garrick, Cassian also left.

”Well then, I suppose it’s time we take our leave,” Garaxe said.

”Do we have to?” Garrick frowned, clearly reluctant to leave his entertaining nephew behind. ”We just got here. Can’t we stay a little longer?”

”There’s nothing else for us to do here, Garrick. Besides, the longer we stay, the more uncomfortable everyone else becomes. We somehow got through this without a battle breaking out. Let’s not stay long enough to change that.”

”But—”

”We’re leaving,” Kastor said, giving Garrick a long look.

Garrick’s face immediately soured. He stared at Kastor for a moment before finally releasing a deep, defeated sigh.

”You guys are literally the worst.”

”And yet you still love us.” Garaxe grinned before turning towards Zephyrion. ”It was a pleasure, nephew. Thank you for looking after Kaelion. And again, congratulations. You did us proud.”

”Thank you, Uncle Garaxe.”

”Nephew!” Garrick immediately stepped forward. ”Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again very soon. The academy is over now, so you’ll be coming home, right? You’ll do your apprenticeship at home, right? Of course you will.”

There were indeed several paths he could choose that would keep him close to home, and as First Prime, he could decide to go practically anywhere he wanted. But...

’I’ll leave my options open for now.’

”Thank you for coming, Uncle Garrick.” Zephyrion bowed to his uncle.

”Thank you... what?” Garrick’s smile immediately vanished. ”Wait. What the hell does that mean? You’re coming home, right? Nephew? You’re coming home. Wai—”

Garaxe immediately clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him away. ”Sorry about him. He recently started drinking again, you see...”

Zephyrion wasn’t surprised by his uncle’s reaction. If anything, he’d expected it.

Finally, he turned towards Kastor, who had risen to his feet and was now silently staring at him.

”The calls resume.”

’The calls? Ah...’

The biweekly calls where he reported on his training. With the test now over, there was nothing stopping them from resuming.

’Why is he even doing this?’

His father hadn’t given a crap about his training throughout his childhood. Even when the entire empire praised his awakening, called him a genius, and practically worshiped the ground he walked on, his father hadn’t once uttered a single word of acknowledgement.

His mother was the only one who had ever celebrated his accomplishments.

’Doesn’t matter. This is a means to an end anyway. Once I get strong enough, I won’t have to deal with his nonsense anymore.’

Zephyrion bowed slightly.

”...yes, Lord Calderalth.”

He completely missed the faint flicker of sadness that passed through Kastor’s eyes. A moment later, his father gave a small nod.

”Good.”

...

After they left, Zephyrion had no reason to remain there and headed back to his room. There were several things he was eager to get to. First was testing the Eryndor rune art to see if there was any way he could incorporate it into what he already had.

Aside from that, there was still the matter of Demorian and the rod.

As he reached the hallway leading to his room, though, a sudden thought occurred to him, and he frowned.

Remembering the biweekly calls had, in turn, reminded him of Ingrid. At the very least, he’d expected her to be in the room with their father.

’Maybe she had something more important to do.’

Sighing, Zephyrion pushed the thought aside. Soon, his door came into view, and he immediately frowned.

Lumi was seated right outside his door. The moment she saw him approaching, her face brightened into a smile.

”...why are you sitting out here?”

Lumi took on a thoughtful expression, then pointed towards the room before mimicking the shape of a person with her hands.

”...someone’s inside?”

Lumi nodded.

If it had been anyone threatening, Lumi wouldn’t be sitting here so calmly, which meant it was most likely someone familiar. Zephyrion nodded in understanding, patted her gently on the head, then opened the door.

He froze the moment he saw the figure seated silently at the table with her back to him.

She was tall and regal, her posture perfectly straight and her clothes as impeccable as ever.

”...Ingrid?” Zephyrion called.

Ingrid slowly turned towards him, and the moment Zephyrion met those icy eyes, his brows furrowed.