The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 231: Chapter 227 — Rankings

After a moment, Zephyrion answered,

"As long as you don’t give up, you’ll overcome it."

The light seemed to return to Tobias’ eyes as he clenched his fists and shouted;

"Yes!"

Lumi suddenly pulled down her blankets and glared at him, causing him to stiffen before muttering meekly,

"Sorry."

She scoffed, shaking her head, and the ward realized it was her final warning. Somehow, Tobias didn’t dare speak after that.

’Is she that scary?’ Zephyrion wondered, glancing at Lumi’s chubby, squished cheeks as she smiled brightly in her sleep. What was possibly scary about her? She looked like she could barely hurt a fly.

Knock.

Zephyrion turned toward the door, frowning. Who else could it possibly be?

He opened it to find three figures waiting on the other side.

Fiona. Kaiden. Kaelion.

"...what?"

Both Kaiden and Kaelion glanced away, arms folded, each clearing his throat. Seeing this, Fiona realized it fell to her to speak.

"...we couldn’t sleep waiting for the results, so... we were hoping we could wait here together."

Zephyrion glanced at Kaiden and Kaelion once more, both still refusing to meet his eyes, then sighed.

Since when had his room become a meeting place?

"...alright."

Fiona smiled, delighted that he agreed.

"We tried looking for Tobias, but he was nowhere to be fou—"

The three blinked at Tobias sitting on the floor.

"Hey, guys." The ward waved, smiling awkwardly.

"Tobias! You came here by yourself? Why didn’t you tell us?"

"Well..." Tobias cleared his throat, unable to hide the hint of pride in his voice. "My lord needed me, so... it just sort of happened."

Zephyrion gave him a look, his eyes silently asking what the hell he was talking about. The ward immediately avoided his gaze.

"Ah, I see," Fiona said.

The door clicked shut behind them.

Zephyrion didn’t miss the brief flicker of envy that crossed Fiona’s eyes at the sight of Lumi sleeping on the bed. Their eyes suddenly met, and she quickly cleared her throat before looking away.

"..."

Fiona claimed the lone chair while Kaiden and Kaelion took up positions on either side of the door like sentries.

Zephyrion had no intention of breaking the awkward silence. Fiona and Tobias exchanged several knowing looks, while Kaiden and Kaelion both looked as though they’d been dragged here against their will, each seeming like they had somewhere far more important to be.

Zephyrion still wasn’t sure why they were here.

Eventually, it was Fiona who broke the silence.

"...that pressure test was insane. I genuinely thought we’d been kidnapped! I lost count of how many times I prayed to the Iron Father, haha."

"Me too." Tobias let out a weary sigh. "Thought I was done for. I think I even caught Kaiden praying."

Kaiden’s glare made Tobias flinch. Then he realized everyone, especially Zephyrion, was staring at him. He cleared his throat, avoiding their gazes.

"...it was nothing. I was just biding my time. Give me a little longer and I would’ve pummeled every last one of them."

"...eh, really? You could barely walk when my lord rescued you, though."

"You..."

Kaiden’s glare would have pierced right through Tobias were it tangible. The ward promptly cleared his throat and fell silent.

"It was all calculated. Once they let their guard down, I would’ve taken them." Kaiden said.

"Ah..."

"Okay..."

Tobias and Fiona slowly nodded.

A scoff came from Kaelion, drawing Kaiden’s eyes toward him.

"...what? Got something to say?"

Kaelion met his fierce stare without the slightest hesitation.

"You’re still in denial. It’s bad. Accept your weakness. Once you do, you’ll become stronger."

"...are you calling me a liar?"

"Yes." Kaelion gave a small nod. "Zephyrion agrees with me too. Tell him."

All eyes turned to Zephyrion.

He met Kaiden’s demanding stare, then Kaelion’s expectant one, and found himself utterly speechless. Not even he had expected this turn of events.

This was exactly why he hated group discussions.

He cleared his throat, intending to buy himself time while deciding how to play it.

"I—"

Ding.

All eyes snapped toward their rune tabs as they lit up. The results were out, Zephyrion realized.

Feeling both delighted by the perfect timing and excited for the results, he tapped his rune tab.

Temper Points: +2300 pts.

Zephyrion wasn’t certain whether it was good or bad, so he decided to compare it with the others. Lumi groggily held up hers.

+1400 pts.

Kaelion had received 400. Kaiden 700. Fiona 650. Tobias 600. Zephyrion ended up showing them his own as well.

"T-two thousand points!"

Tobias immediately received another glare from Lumi and shrank back, realizing he’d fucked up.

"Honestly, that was expected." Fiona smiled. "He was the one who rescued all of us, after all. Without him, I doubt any of us would’ve made it out."

Kaiden and Kaelion remained silent, though Zephyrion noticed both had unconsciously tightened their folded arms.

’So that’s why they came.’

To confirm his temper points.

"Hm? What’s this? Looks like they added something... rankings... ah! It’s the rankings!" Tobias exclaimed.

’The rankings.’

Zephyrion looked back at his rune tab, noticing the same thing. He tapped it, and two categories appeared.

House Rankings.

Academy Rankings.

Zephyrion was far more interested in the second. Now he could see the overall rankings of the entire academy. All four houses, in real time.

He tapped it without hesitation.

...

Arcturus Aur Eryndor— 3750

Rhaena Kharadun — 3710

Zephyrion Calderalth — 3690

Malach Sanct Sarakhel — 3670

He was third.

Third, despite his astronomical gain during the pressure test.

’They must have also performed well.’

It would seem the competition was fiercer than he’d anticipated.

He noted the gap between the points. Only twenty separated him from second, sixty from first, and he realized the difference might have come from the academy’s opening day, where he had received forty points for placing fourth.

The others had already begun discussing the results, but Zephyrion ignored them, his gaze fixed on the screen.

He had to achieve first place by the end of the academy, without question. The benefits were simply too great. The right to choose where he wanted to spend his two-year apprenticeship, the rewards, the political significance. All of it.

Zephyrion lowered his rune tab, his eyes turning cold.

The pressure test was merely one of many yet to come.

He just had to make sure he came out on top.