Chapter 190: It Turned And Turned

’Darwin was one thing, but Ulrich is another matter. What the hell are you doing here, my previous homeroom teacher?! If you’re grieving and in pain, shouldn’t a person want to rest instead of wanting to be a school teacher?’

A question kept coming back to Cillian’s mind after he filled out the forms for the classes he was willing to take for the rest of the year.

This sense of foreboding. It gave him an ominous feeling that Darwin and his gang wanted to do something big.

He was in a dilemma between helping and not helping them. After all, he had his own plans, and the two might conflict with each other the moment their ideas clashed.

They were supposed to be supporting each other, not harming themselves.

’Tsk, if I had just known that it wasn’t only Darwin who was here.’

"—Cillian."

Suddenly, Cillian was brought back to reality when Ulrich called out to him. He then looked at his extended hands as he was about to pass the enlistment form to him.

Ulrich then gave Cillian a soft smile.

"Hand it over to me, Cillian."

Even though Cillian tried to hear it as positively as possible and there was nothing wrong with Ulrich’s words, they sounded like an order urging him to hurry, at least to him.

He was the only one left in the classroom, as Phillip and Vin were waiting just outside the door.

"Right..."

Cillian handed over his form, which made Ulrich smile.

"Go. If you don’t have anything left to do here, attend the next class of your choice. You know where it is, right?"

"Yes."

The information in the forms was detailed, so anything one wanted to know regarding the courses would be included there. They just needed to remember it for today, since a schedule would be given tomorrow based on the classes they had chosen.

That’s right, unlike back then, when there was a gap between homeroom classes, the homeroom now would happen every day. It was another change that had been implemented was to ensure that the homeroom teachers would watch over and guide their students most of the time.

"I’ll get going now, sir."

"Yes. Go ahead, Cillian."

Cillian turned around and started walking until he reached the doors. His eyes shifted toward Ulrich again. This time, his face was devoid of any expression as he looked at him.

’I need to learn what they are planning.’

Cillian finally decided to understand more about these old teachers back in Viola instead of pushing forward with his own plans.

If their plan was a better choice, Cillian would lend a hand.

...

’These professors are not dumb. They must’ve realized a lot of things once all of them calmed down and thought about the recent events that happened in Viola. They probably heard about the ongoing plans involving the Underworld and the sudden emergence of Xesie in Viola, even though they weren’t helping us in the first place.’

Adding to the fact that Cillian had told Darwin about the term Helping Hands, which was what Jack Trade was, he had the urge to face-palm himself when he realized he was the one who had created this situation.

’They are misunderstanding something. They are probably thinking that the Xesie are Helping Hands, which, in fact, they are. However, if I were them, I’d say the Xesie bastards aren’t Helping Hands but rather somewhere in the middle, where they can be either Shepherds or Helping Hands.’

One thing that Cillian could confirm was that the Xesie were indeed working with the Shepherds. There were many flags that pointed to it, and he wouldn’t deny it any longer. The only thing he needed was proof.

’Wait, maybe I was the one who was misunderstanding something? Maybe the Xesie really are Helping Hands? However, according to Dennis, Helping Hands were the kind of people who didn’t mind the spotlight and mainly worked out in the open. Well, those pink-haired bastards did show themselves... However, why...’

Cillian paused as he stopped his thoughts from spiraling, realizing that he might make assumptions based only on what he knew and not on the facts.

One fact that continued to bug him was why Arthur had passed his information to him, as if the Xesie and the Shepherds were on equal terms.

’The Xesie Family is working ’with’ the Shepherds. Not for them.’

Cillian felt like pulling his hair out as he realized that every move of the Shepherds seemed deliberate and planned from the very beginning. They were the kind of opponents who were always one step ahead in every way, making Cillian feel inferior.

It sucked to feel that way.

"Hey, the guy in the back!"

And it sucked even more to be called out in the middle of a class because he had been discovered not listening to the lecture.

"If you don’t want to listen, get your ass out of here!"

The teacher was an old woman with a hunched back. Her hair was already gray, but she still continued to teach her students with the same passion as before she became the way she was now. Her name was Carol.

"I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll pay attention this time."

"Hmph!"

Carol crossed her arms before turning around. She didn’t escalate the situation any further or embarrass Cillian in front of everyone as she continued with her discussion.

This was Cillian’s class, Theory of Sorcery.

To increase his knowledge regarding Sorcery, Cillian had chosen this as his first subject for the next two days.

He just knew he was going to like this class because it was related to Sorcery, something he had started taking an interest in after achieving Circle One Sorcerer. Carol wasn’t bad herself, as she was very famous and a Circle Two Sorcerer.

That’s why many students attended this class.

And there were many familiar faces all around, mainly the main cast, who were all here. Kash was laughing as he pointed at Cillian while Willow and Ivy covered his mouth because they didn’t want to be the next ones to be called out.

’Okay, let’s not waste this lesson. I’ll worry about Darwin and the rest later—’

Thud—!

Suddenly, the side of the classroom opened, making everyone turn their heads toward the source.

A person entered. His crimson eyes darted across the hall as he searched for someone. His navy blue uniform, mixed with dark red, completely outlined his features.

"You!"

This time, Carol shouted in a heavy tone as she pointed her stick toward the man in question, Aster.

"Sit down!"

Aster bowed for a brief moment. Then, after moving his gaze all around, he finally found the person he was looking for and started walking toward him.

He ignored his main group and even ignored the women who offered him a seat beside them. He was just that dashing to ignore.

’Ah shit, ah shit. Why are you approaching me!’

Cillian, who was covering himself with a book as he placed it in front of his desk, peeked through the edge and saw Aster finally sitting down beside him.

However, something was strange about his expression, and Cillian immediately dropped any funny thoughts inside his head, giving Aster room to breathe.

He had indeed appeared at the entrance, catching his breath.

Then, finally, after managing to control his raging emotions, Cillian saw a white flag appear above Aster’s head.

[White Flag] -> [Red Flag]

And it turned.

[Red Flag] -> [Black Flag]

And turned.

[Black Flag] -> [Death Flag]

Until the latest turning point became a Death Flag.

"..."

Cillian stared blankly at the Death Flag above Aster’s head as he heard his voice.

"Cillian, we really need to talk later. Really, really."