Medici's head snapped up, his expression colder and more serious than ever.
"Adam's a real bastard, though. I'd support you taking him down." Alaric added unhurriedly, meeting Medici's gaze fearlessly. His emerald-green eyes sparkled with unmasked anticipation and a clear desire to stir the pot.
Alaric continued, "Of course, if you really don't want to follow the True Creator anymore, I'm sure my teacher would welcome you jumping ship."
Despite Alaric's seemingly heartfelt concern for Medici, his main goal in dropping this bombshell was to have some fun. After all, he'd been the butt of jokes today... he had to get his revenge!
If Medici actually turned against the True Creator because of this, well, that wasn't Alaric's problem. He was just an ally to the True Creator, and as long as Medici wasn't foolish enough to burn bridges with both the Creator's faction and him, it was all fine.
Medici locked eyes with him, clearly exasperated by Alaric's blatant "let's watch the chaos" Attitude. After a long pause, he scoffed, not holding back. "It's already dark out, but you're dreaming a bit early, aren't you?"
The implication was clear: You're daydreaming.
Alaric put on a disappointed look, even sighing dramatically before saying earnestly, "No worries, I'll ask again next time."
"Tch!" Medici pulled out a cigarette, biting it fiercely. After smoking most of it, he suddenly said, "I want to see Sasrir."
Alaric looked up at Medici. Through the white smoke, he could see the unreadable expression on Medici's handsome face, which made Alaric raise an eyebrow.
Medici finished the last drag under Alaric's gaze, stubbed the cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table, and spoke again. "I know Lucifer can make it happen. In exchange, I'll work for him an extra year."
"I'll pass it on to my teacher, but no need for the extra work. He won't mind helping a friend with this." Alaric said, nodding but shaking his head.
He didn't mind doing this favor. Truth be told, he was curious about the legendary Dark Angel Sasrir and saw this as a chance to meet him.
"…Thanks." Medici said, closing his eyes and slumping onto the sofa.
Alaric looked at him like he was some rare creature but didn't say more. He just gestured to the puzzled Klein to hold off on questions, then glanced around and said seriously, "By the way, shouldn't we do something about this corpse?"
Klein blinked, only now remembering the body still lying in the living room.
No wonder... tonight had been too intense. From "an assassination sparking a revolution" To "the naive sweetheart crashing and revealing a cunning schemer core." Then "the mystery of City of Silver's Creator's revival." And finally Mr. Red's drama, which Klein didn't fully grasp but clearly wasn't trivial.
With this barrage of revelations, Klein's brain was nearly overloaded. Who could remember a corpse?
"I'll handle it." Medici said, his voice cutting in again. He glanced at Alaric. "I'll take care of it and deal with the fallout, just like you said."
His words weren't just about the body... they signaled his stance. No matter how he handled his relationship with the Creator's faction, he wouldn't abandon the reform. He'd follow through with Alaric's plan.
This wasn't surprising. The reform aligned with both the Creator's faction's interests and Medici's own, and it was what Alaric, his current "boss." wanted. There was no reason for Medici to back out.
It also showed that while Medici was conflicted, he wasn't so opposed to the True Creator or the Ancient Sun God as to become hostile.
Not surprising, since unlike the original story, the True Creator wasn't devoured by Adam this time… Alaric mused to himself, smiling at Medici. "I trust you'll handle it well."
Once Medici manipulated the corpse and left, Alaric quickly explained to Klein, keeping it brief. "Here's the deal: I mentioned Red got stewed by Tudor, right? That happened because Adam betrayed him. Adam's the other half of City of Silver's Creator."
Klein's eyes widened in realization, understanding what had just happened. He couldn't help frowning. "That's rough for Mr. Red."
Betrayed by the Lord he'd loyally followed... and only by half of him, at that.
Klein now understood Medici's earlier behavior. In his shoes, he'd be conflicted too.
"Alright, don't dwell on it. It's their business, and we outsiders can't meddle. Let's think of something happier." Alaric said, waving a hand. He rubbed his chin, thought for a few seconds, and suddenly asked, "Do you think Meursault counts as the strongest Hunter?"
"What?" The absurd topic shift left Klein's brain stalled for a few seconds.
Alaric analyzed with a straight face, "Look, the Hunter pathway is tied to war... even the godhood ritual involves it. Meursault, a mere Sequence 9 Hunter, single-handedly became the spark for a global revolution. Isn't that a kind of strength?"
"..."
The sheer sophistry of the logic silenced Klein for a few seconds before he said earnestly, "Jack, maybe you should go back to sleep. You seem tired."
He was starting to talk nonsense.
Alaric gave him a regretful look, feeling the sting of a failed joke.
But… he yawned, realizing he really did need to catch up on sleep.
…
"So, do you really see Sasrir as your mother?"
The next day, in Backlund's outskirts.
Alaric, now in his Lucifer persona, suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Pfft... cough, cough!" Medici, mid-smoke, choked hard, coughing for a while before saying, "What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it true?" Alaric looked at him matter-of-factly. "People instinctively call for their mom when they're in pain. And I know Sasrir raised you. After finding out you were betrayed and asking to see Sasrir, doesn't that mean you see him as your mom?"
Medici nearly cursed on instinct but froze before letting loose, not because he agreed with Alaric's bizarre logic, but because old memories surfaced.
***
Every 100 Power Stones and 5 Reviews will earn you a Bonus Chapter.
And if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)