Stella clenched her fists tightly upon hearing Kyran’s words.
She knew it. Kyran had not given up on diverting the army’s focus away from his clan.
If the army thought Kyran planned to go to the Chaos Palace, they would not make any drastic movement. Since the Chaos Palace itself was a dangerous place, even with Kyran’s Void magic, it was still uncertain whether he would be able to survive. His magic might be invincible, but as a newbie mage, his magic reserves were limited.
However, if Kyran’s destination were the Archadia Republic, the army would definitely make a significant movement. The Royal Army stationed in the south borders might even get involved. They would not want Kyran to leave the empire’s jurisdiction.
Others might think it was good riddance for the empire if Kyran went to Archadia. At least the trouble of apprehending or executing him would now fall under the Archadia Republic’s government. After all, they also knew about the Dark Sage’s terror.
However, their hatred towards the empire was deep. With Kyran’s magic and innate talent, there was no telling if the Archadia Republic could ignore the fact he was initially from the empire and use him against them. After all, there was an old saying that ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’.
The others had the same thoughts. To them, this was the right course of action for Kyran if he wanted to divert the army’s attention and fight them.
But if Kyran did this, a war would break out that would change many things and affect many innocent lives.
Callan asked apprehensively, “Do you plan on making contact with the Archadia government?”
Hearing Callan’s question, Kyran raised both his brows and looked at him and said, “Of course not. I only want the army to think this way and put pressure on the mastermind.”
He looked at the parchments in front of him and added, “After looking at all this information, I have a feeling the army’s situation is not that simple. If I provoke the army too much, the mastermind behind them might end up ordering to destroy my clan first.”
“Quite right,” Callan agreed. “There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered beast.”
Kyran nodded in agreement. He continued, “So I will leave just enough evidence that I did go south when I hunt the forest beasts.”
He looked at Callan and Hugh.
“You can find a trustworthy mercenary who will come from the south and let him submit the evidence after a few weeks.”
“Hm. If the mercenary had a record of staying south for a few weeks, the army will not doubt the evidence he provided,” Hugh agreed with a nod.
“Yes. Well if there is no mercenary you have in mind whom you can trust, you can first have your trusted mercenary take a mission south. Whatever works with you is fine with me,” Kyran said.
Hugh smiled, “No need to worry. We can handle that.”
Kyran nodded.
“However, this will only work for a month at most. The army would definitely tighten the south borders to make sure it will be hard for me to pass. Of course, I am not really going to pass through it and they will probably realize it soon. If that happens, they will retrace my last known location. I will make it so that the evidence I leave will have a trace going west.”
“You want them to think you will go west?” Stella asked in confusion.
Kyran nodded, “Yes. And so, I will leave some evidence when I get the rare stone. Again, I will let you guys handle when you want to submit it.”
“You…” Hugh started realizing something. He realized how Kyran’s route coincided with his plan in getting the materials for them. “Did you have this planned out right from the start?”
Kyran scratched his ear and replied uneasily, “I did. But I had no idea that the locations of the materials you needed followed the route I had in mind.”
He did not want them to think he was good at reading ahead of the situation. Besides, he only finalized his schedule for the week after he confirmed the locations of all the materials. Suppose there was enough information about the location of the rare stone of Shaiha; he would have that crossed off his list first.
Honestly, getting the stone was far more manageable in Kyran’s opinion than hunting forest beasts.
“Do you have any questions?” He asked them.
None of them spoke.
“Good. As for how I will provide more evidence in the future, I’ll tell you by the end of this week. Right now, we can first focus on those two routes.” Kyran told them.
“Very well,” Hugh replied.
“That’s all I have to say,” Kyran said after a short pause.
Seeing that the discussion had ended, Malek stood and addressed them.
“If there are no more questions, we can now adjourn.”
Hugh and Callan stood up and bowed, “Yes, Headmaster.”
Stella also stood up and looked at them with a smile, “I’ll see you both at the banquet.”
The two turned to her and also bowed, “Yes, Milord.”
Stella nodded and looked at Malek. She said, “Malek, please tell Smith that the banquet will start in half an hour.”
Malek nodded his head in acknowledgment. He bowed and answered, “Yes, Milord.”
The three of them left, but Kyran and Stella remained in the conference hall.
When the doors at the hall closed, Stella turned to Kyran. She watched him looking at the parchments in front of him with a very thoughtful expression.
“Kyran?” She called softly. Worried that she might distract him from his thinking.
Contrary to her expectation, though, Kyran looked up with his brows raised, “What is it?”
Stella sat down and also looked at the parchments. She hesitated for a second before speaking, “Are you planning to leave the Tower?”
“Yes.”
The curt answer he made saddened her. She lowered her head and stared at her hands in silence.
When Stella asked Nolan to become her exclusive mercenary and train Kyran, she thought that the two of them would only go on missions from time to time and would return to the Tower afterward. She did not expect that Kyran had thought of really leaving the Tower.
Seeing the sad expression on Stella, Kyran frowned a little. He also felt a sudden sadness in his heart after seeing her look this way.
But for some reason, Kyran had a strange feeling that the sadness he felt was not really him. He could not explain it, but the foreign and yet nostalgic feeling he felt around her sometimes was there again.
Kyran leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes. He belated realized that his magic had subtlely started to circulate inside him again. He remembered that the first time he felt a sense of familiarity around her was because of his magic.
But was it because they both have ancient magic? Or was there something more?
Taking a deep breath, Kyran opened his eyes and said, “Staying here is unwise.”
Stella looked at him and said, “Why? Are you worried that the army might find out?”
Kyran shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. He stared at the array above and said, “Your people had seen me use my magic. Although Callan manipulated their memories, there is no telling when they will start to remember. Besides, I have to get used to my magic. If I stay here, it can only get me so far.”
“You and Nolan can go on a mission,” Stella insisted. “Then you can return here when you are done. You really don’t have to leave.”
Kyran shook his head and lowered his gaze. He stared at the parchments on the table again and said, “It’s not enough.”
Stella fell silent.
She knew there was little she could really do to help him, as long as the Conclave remained neutral.
“Well, its not as if we will not visit again,” Kyran spoke after a short pause.
He looked at Stella and smiled slightly, “I still need your magic.”
Stella blinked once before chuckling at his words, “I see.”
“Anyway,” Kyran stood up and stretched his back, “All that talking and sitting is exhausting. Since we have a short half an hour left before the banquet, I’ll train a little.”
Stella’s expression immediately turned blank.
This guy… was all he could think of was to train?
“You… Do I have to remind you, you’re already dressed for the banquet?” She said in a monotonous voice.
“Ah,” Kyran stopped and looked at his clothes.
‘He did forget,’ Stella thought with a sigh.
“I can just change again-.”
“No!” Stella rejected and stood up.
She waved her hand, and the parchments on the table arranged themselves and flew inside her storage ring.
“I’ll give this to you later,” she said with a smile. Then she hooked her hand on his arm and pulled him closer.
“O-Oi!”
Stella grinned at him and said, “Let’s go find Malia. I have a feeling she and Avrum are talking about your idea at this moment. Why don’t we go check on them?”
Kyran frowned but did not protest.
“Fine. Just don’t pull, I can walk-.”
“Who said anything about walking?” Stella interrupted him as she started to levitate.
She pulled him up, and the array above lit up. A semi-transparent gold sphere enveloped the two, and they flew toward the array on the ceiling.