Sacrifices had to be made if one wanted to maintain any semblance of peace in one's life. Even a healthy body has to cut off rotten parts in order to survive.
Their team was like that single body that was fighting against its enemy and had to sacrifice a limb in order to take down or at least survive the opponent that was stronger than them in terms of raw power and strength.
It was the only choice that had the potential to cut back their losses to the minimum. Both Zavier and Alissa understood that and were rushing to decide the actions to be taken in the worst-case scenario.
On the inside, Zavier didn't want to use such a method at all. He was sincerely praying with all his heart for Valerie so that she might be able to overcome the toxin present in her body.
If she really succumbed to it, then they would have to go ahead with their plan that would involve his sacrifice.
He would have to die once again. The pain from the previous ones and the uncomfortable out of body feeling that came with it made him wince in anticipation but he steeled his resolve.
This was the least he could do for the girls after all, for him it wasn't a permanent death at all. He could keep coming back as much as he wanted.
He had been planning on this from the very beginning. He knew that there was no way for the enemy to actually kill him, not to mention that he was the strongest out of all three of them which made him the most suitable one to be the sacrificial pawn in order to divert the attention of the enemy.
So, he had planned to stay behind while Dahila took Alissa and Valerie away from the enemies while he tried to hold them off.
That was the reason that he had stayed behind to talk to Dahila. Another reason for doing so at this time was that he couldn't do it in front of Alissa. That girl would have done anything to stay with him if the time ever came.
So, he had wanted to discuss it with Dahila beforehand so that she would be able to take her away even if she had to incapacitate her to do so.
Valerie who had just barely gotten the toxin under her control had been listening to the conversation from the entrance of her tent where she was standing.
Their backs were towards her which was the reason that they kept going further with their discussion. This was not something that they wanted to discuss in front of her so as to avoid hurting her ego and pride.
Valerie on the other hand didn't feel that her pride had been hurt at all. She was happy that her students were willing to stay behind to help her even when it had been her responsibility to safely see them home.
Though she found their resolve sweet, she wouldn't just let them go through with it even in the worst-case scenario. She had to be the first one to die not because of her pride or ego but because it was her responsibility to see them all home as she had promised them at the start of the mission.
She knew that even if their plan succeeded, there were hardly any true chances of escape. Killing any one of them would be a sin that the school would pursue till the very end. Any enemy in their sane mind would never let any of them escape if they had any say in it.
Therefore, she resolved that she would let them escape even if she had to die with the enemy by using her magic despite the presence of the toxin in her blood stream.
She walked towards the two of them with an upright posture depicting the usual grace and otherworldly charm that she carried herself with usually.
There was no trace of weakness in the way she moved about but her expression and the pale face behind that revealed the weakness that she was feeling and the strength of her resolve to get them out of this predicament.
Zavier noticed her as soon as she started walking so, he motioned for Dahila to stop talking. She caught on extremely fast but Valerie had already heard their whole conversation. She appreciated the effort though in her heart.
Overtly she couldn't do so because that would make her a bad teacher who cared more about her life than that of her students.
She stopped in front of the two of them and looked them straight in the eye. Dahila was the first to break down and managed to look away in time but Zavier didn't back down at all and stared right back.
Valerie smiled slightly before saying: "Things have not reached such a point as to warrant the sacrifices of the students while the teacher is still there. You can discuss such things after I am dead. Don't you dare think of doing something this stupid before we have run out of all the options.
You need to understand that the school won't let you get hurt, no matter what. If I am not here any longer, someone will be here to take my place but you will reach home safely just like I told you earlier. Do you comprehend what I am telling you or not?"
The last sentence had been uttered while staring at Zavier. It had become a norm for her to give special instructions to Zavier every time she had to lecture the students.
He was always the oddity amongst all her students, someone who dared to challenge her and stand up to her without any fear in his eyes. So, she had to single him out every other time just to make sure that he would comply with her instructions.
"Your teacher can still fight, okay?"
"Hmm."
Dahila responded in the positive and left to go back to her tent. It was time for the end of her shift so she wanted to go and have some rest. After all, the teacher looked all right so there was no need for her to be so tense.
Valerie sat down next to Zavier and looked at him. She had never thought that the boy that she had thought wasn't worth her attention had been such an uncut gem.
Not only was he stronger than his peers with a monstrous talent, he also had a sense of responsibility and charm that was only found in those who had gone through tremendous hardships and had lived for decades at the very least.
Zavier unlike Dahila had looked through her fa?ade as soon as he had laid his eyes on her. He had lived at Valerie's home immediately following the death of his parents which had been quite early on so, the memories in his mind were enough of an indication to reveal her bluff.
She might have looked the same to the others but he could spot the difference in a jiffy.
Zavier was worried in his heart but didn't show it in front of Dahila so that she might be able to take some rest after being relieved by Valerie.
Another reason that he did not ask her anything was that he already knew the answer to the question that appeared in his head.
She was doing this to put on a show for the masked man who had been hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to strike while she was at her weakest. He wouldn't have found it odd even if the man was hiding in the vicinity right at that moment.
Valerie had of course thought about it all and knew that she had to make an appearance and she had to act strong in order to deter those that were lying in wait and that was why she had come out of her tent in the first place even though she was not feeling good at all.
This was both an act of deterrence and a way to confuse their assailants. Zavier could only appreciate the effort that Valerie was putting in for them.
He already felt that she was in the situation because she had to take care of the three of them in the first place or she could have easily escaped on her own when she was confronted by the two masked mages.
Zavier felt guilty towards her for the same reason which was why he wanted her to escape even if he had to stay behind.
Zavier didn't leave like Dahila at the end of the shift even though he was dead tired and close to passing out.
Instead, he sat side by side with Valerie and kept a lookout while focusing on his surroundings in order to try to figure out the location that the masked man might have been hiding in.
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