A Calculated Value
Not much had changed.
It wasn't a fight where the loser had to fulfill some condition. We had simply clashed with our pride on the line, and a winner had been decided.
However, the way people looked at me had shifted slightly.
It wasn't any grand reputation. Until proper events like field lessons or group projects began, I had no way to leverage this newfound fame.
'Maybe choosing dark magic was a mistake...'
If I had chosen the route where the protagonist used the power of light, I might have been able to spend this time more productively.
Being classmates was the perfect starting point to strike up meaningful conversations and build rapport.
But I was a dark mage. The other ordinary cadets wouldn't look kindly on a dark mage.
It wasn't a massive hurdle. Unless they were extremists, people didn't usually shun someone they knew personally just because they were a dark mage.
But if a complete stranger approached them—and a dark mage at that—it would inevitably trigger their guard.
For now, I needed to raise my own strength. I had to cast as many spells as possible and clearly understand what I could and couldn't do.
"Um, Cadet... Wade?"
Unfortunately, peace was not in the cards for me.
"Ah, Sir Kellin. What brings you to me?"
I could sense dark energy. It felt different from before.
I couldn't be certain, but it was safer to assume Katarin was watching this encounter.
"Lady Katarin has summoned me, you say?"
I had a lot to think about.
First, I had to consider whether someone like Katarin was necessary for my party.
'Since I'm here, I don't urgently need run-of-the-mill dark mages.'
But Katarin wasn't just some run-of-the-mill dark mage.
The destructive power of her Hellfire, combined with her insidious and terrifying political influence, could be highly effective in many situations.
While a 'good' party would run themselves ragged just to resolve a single quest, she could ruthlessly leverage her authority and family name to execute the most efficient tactics.
'But if I build a party entirely of evil-aligned companions, we won't be able to sustain our dark energy.'
If intense battles dragged on, a steeper price would inevitably be demanded.
A couple of dark mages or Dark Knights were fine, but if the entire party was evil, we wouldn't be able to generate the wicked deeds needed for offerings.
Unless, of course, we slaughtered every civilian in sight and became public enemies of the entire continent.
'At the same time, running a purely good-aligned party would be a waste of Claire.'
I had invested quite a lot in Claire. Until I had an abundance of usable assets, it was better to boldly utilize a reliable force like her.
However, her strength lay in holding together a party that should have fallen apart, and uniting people who otherwise would never have cooperated.
In other words, that strength became meaningless in a party that would have naturally stuck together anyway.
Even if I didn't absolutely have to use her, it was better to keep the option open.
I couldn't afford to make an enemy of Katarin right now.
"May I ask why she summoned me?"
"She said it concerns Lady Claire. A matter that requires urgent consultation."
'Claire?'
There was no way she genuinely cared about someone like Claire. To Katarin, Claire would be harmless and utterly worthless.
This was just an excuse to meet me.
'To be this direct...'
"S-she asked... to keep the meeting a secret. Tonight..."
A secret nighttime rendezvous between a man and a woman at the Academy. It might sound romantic on the surface, but the reality was far from it.
She wanted to evaluate me. She wanted to gauge what kind of person I was with her own eyes.
'Hah.'
It wasn't a bad thing. Katarin was dangerous.
Rather than letting her operate completely out of my sight and cause a catastrophic incident, it was better to anticipate her movements and guide them.
"Understood."
I let out a wry smile and prepared to meet her.
Cold.
Her black hair seemed to dominate the entire room.
'...'
I had to admit it. She was strong.
Or rather, she had put immense effort into making others perceive her as strong. And for the most part, she had succeeded.
Any dark mage with a half-hearted resolve would have fallen to their knees the moment they entered this room and met her gaze.
"Still as impolite as ever, I see."
Humans are creatures easily swept up by atmosphere.
When a disaster strikes, if a crowd of people is running away, you will turn back too, even if the danger isn't that great.
Conversely, if others around you walk calmly through the same disaster, you will follow the majority. And most of the time, that judgment is wise.
And this woman's presence was more overwhelming, more colossal, than any crowd.
Simply by naturally carrying herself with the absolute conviction that 'I am above you'—by employing that tone, that expression, and that attitude—she made it so.
One could feel Katarin's presence and status prickling against their skin.
Internally, I smirked.
'Amusing.'
As a character in the game, Katarin hadn't been particularly special.
Of course, she wasn't 'unimportant.' But there were countless students the player could recruit in this game, and many among them were far more crucial than her.
A princess, the disciple of a legendary knight, a historic administrator, or an alchemist destined for greatness.
Compared to them, Katarin didn't amount to much.
Nevertheless, facing Katarin in person was a different story altogether.
A general viewed from a leader's perspective in a strategy game could never be the same as a general looked up to from a foot soldier's point of view.
"Why did you call for me?"
I didn't bow my head.
I had a decent grasp of what kind of person she was. What I needed to focus on now was how I appeared to her.
I couldn't grovel. While provoking her suspicion or hostility was bad, being dismissed as a 'harmless nobody' wasn't desirable either.
"I hear you've been getting close to a girl named Claire."
"To some extent, yes."
"It's nothing major. However, it seems one of the cadets serving me... has feelings for her."
It really was a trivial matter. But that only made it more significant.
The Katarin I knew would never personally show up over something as petty as a subordinate's love life.
As expected, her target was me.
"But having another one of those ridiculous duels would be bad for our dignity. If a duel breaks out twice over such an ordinary girl, it becomes a farce. A complete farce."
Katarin shook her head as if in pity.
"So, before you get hurt, why don't you give her up first?"
From here on out, every step was critical.
How much to bend, how much to pretend to bend, and what intentions and motives Katarin would read into my words. I had to calculate everything.
"Hmm..."
I let a flicker of frustration cross my face.
Her words just now were a provocation.
A provocation implying that no matter what backing or power I possessed, my actual skills were nothing to write home about.
And that would put her at ease. It would give her the comforting assurance that, in the worst-case scenario, she could always suppress me with brute force.
There was no need to overact. The emotion I wanted to project wasn't a man flying into a blind rage, but a man barely suppressing his resentment.
A person capable of analyzing the slightest micro-expressions would inevitably rationalize any minor discrepancy if it fit their expectations.
I had to display a controlled emotion that aligned perfectly with what she expected me to feel.
But I couldn't stop there.
"That will be difficult. It's not that she and I share a special relationship, but..."
"Why is that?"
"Has that man obtained Claire's consent?"
She would think it was a farce. At this moment, she might be looking down on me.
That wasn't good. I shouldn't provoke her guard, but I couldn't allow her to look down on me either.
The thought process of people like her was fairly predictable.
They perceived good people as threats—hypocritical, deceitful fanatics who could never align with their goals and shouldn't even exist.
They viewed the weak and the ambitionless as mere livestock. Harmless, occasionally useful, but never worthy of being treated as human.
They didn't care about their feelings, nor did they believe their opinions deserved respect.
To command even a shred of respect from villains like her, I had to first make her recognize me as one of her own kind.
Someone who would readily exploit others to achieve his goals, discarding values like goodwill, love, and justice like worn-out shoes.
"Why does that matter?"
Lying was out of the question. Deception and intrigue were Katarin's specialties.
Just as it was reckless for an ordinary citizen to challenge a lifelong professional athlete, it was foolish for me to match wits in lies and conspiracies with a woman who had spent her entire life weaving them.
I had to shroud my intentions within the truth.
"Because a miserable Claire holds absolutely no value to me."
I met her gaze, a faint smile playing on my lips.
A flicker of intrigue danced across Katarin's face.