Chapter 402: Commander

The silence stretched for quite some time and far longer than I had expected it to be.

This time Sophie didn’t narrow her eyes, nor did she make any other expressions to convey her thoughts over my statement.

The girl just plainly looked at me, as if she was seriously thinking about what I had just said—

"I know... for all my life I had been a burden to my father, and it was due to me... that he had to join people he would never have worked with in his life."

"..."

"You don’t have to worry about me, Master Kael Frost."

"..."

"I am perfectly capable of looking after myself, and yes... please do not take the efforts to order me, as you already know... how worthless I am."

Saying the words, Sophie stared into my eyes for a second longer before turning around and making her way towards Yennifer.

Maybe... I shouldn’t have said that.

Being born an orphan, I knew how difficult it was for someone who was born without power to climb the steps of social hierarchy and become something worth enough to be proud of.

Searching for food on the busy streets... stealing when possible or even fighting people to death in order to survive had been a normal routine for me, and it was through these steps that I had climbed to where I was in my life as X.

Even if Sophie wasn’t born an orphan, I could somewhat relate to the feeling of being powerless and incompetent to not be able to do things like how other people often did them.

For the first time in two lives... I really began to regret something that I had already done.

Sigh.

Still, it wasn’t like what I said was completely inaccurate either.

Sophie may have had the talent but she was in no way strong enough at the current moment.

Hm?

During our talks I hadn’t been able to sense her rank, so shifting my focus to her retreating back—

Huh?

Blinking my eyes a couple of times, I once again sensed the rank of Sophie’s mana core—

This... wasn’t it too ridiculous to believe in.

Sophie... her mana core was currently at the peak of Silver 3.

No matter how monstrous of a talent one may have... the situation was far beyond my expectation.

Though the last time Arthur had talked about his daughter, he had indeed told me that she would soon become a Bronze 2... but even at the time I had taken her sudden rise as an aftereffect of being crippled for a long time.

I had thought that after evolving to the Silver core her speed would return to normal, but... that didn’t seem to be the case anymore.

On the contrary, her speed felt faster than when she was in the Bronze core, as the difficulty of raising one’s tiers in the Silver core was far more difficult than bronze—

"Kael brother... I know that girl’s a beauty, but isn’t it a bit creepy to stare at her... this hard."

John’s voice echoed in my ears, prompting me to turn towards my left, only to find him staring at Sophie—

"Don’t stare at her."

"Hm? Why?"

"Just... don’t stare."

"..."

Sigh.

Why was I even trying to explain myself to this guy.

"Why are you following me? Don’t you have anything else to do—"

"I have heard some spicy news... so just came to confirm it with you."

Hm?

What was he talking about?

Looking at the expression on John’s face, for some reason I didn’t have a good feeling about whatever he was going to ask—

"Is it true that you have decided to align with House Black?"

"..."

"And I also heard that you would be appointed as one of their youngest commanders? Also—"

"Where... where did you hear—"

"Ah Kael! I was searching for you."

Before I could interrogate John further, my focus shifted towards Leon who walked towards me from the side.

"Can we have a quick talk—"

"We would need a detailed one."

Interrupting Leon, I looked at John, as the guy nodded his head in return, before leaving the place altogether.

"Oh! Quite the obedient dog you have—"

"What are you trying to get at?"

My voice had a certain edge to it, as I didn’t like the playful smile that was still plastered on Leon’s face.

Though we were going to make my relation with the Blacks public... doing so behind my back didn’t sit well with me.

It felt as if the Blacks were the ones guiding our relation, and I was just a pawn—

The mere thought disgusted me, as I stared at Leon without blinking my eyes.

"Calm down, will you?"

Placing his hand on my shoulder, Leon moved closer to me, as he whispered in my ear.

"Circumstances made me take the decision without consulting you, and I must apologize for it, but still... you don’t have to be so worked up about it."

I didn’t respond to Leon’s words, simply choosing to stare at him, as the guy took a step back to create a safe distance between the two of us.

"There had been a change in the situation with the elves, and so, maybe... there would soon be a war."

Silence.

This...

My earlier anger dissipated a bit, as I thought over Leon’s words.

There had been wars fought between the various races inhabiting Jutan in the game as well, but it was far off in the future, and under circumstances that were completely different from the current timeline.

It wasn’t like I was averse to considering the deviations that were expected to occur due to my interference in this reality, but even if I was open to calculating these derivations, it didn’t necessarily mean that I would be able to predict the entire future of my current reality.

There was no way I could have guessed the sudden arrival of the war, but... it was an opportunity for me as well.

"Isn’t telling me all this risky? I haven’t even officially joined your—"

"That’s why I had spread the news of you being appointed as the newest commander of our forces."

Leon’s words fell on my ears, though at the moment I was thinking about something else.

"Is it about the World Tree?"

"..."

That felt like the only reasonable explanation as to why the vampires would wage a war against the Elves.

"You are pretty informed for someone who was considered a failure for the past years."

Leon smirked as he looked around the place, before shifting his attention back on me.

"I can’t tell all the details here, but yes... it’s related to the World Tree. You don’t have to worry about immediately departing for my house. The tournament would be there in about a month, so you can prepare for it, as the war is still some time away. Your faction winning it would only go on to increase your value, and boost the morale of my people."

Well... that was true.

After all, the main reason Leon was recruiting me was to portray the increase in the prestige and might of his own House.

I was supposed to be a symbol for him, and given the benefits that I would be able to derive from our partnership... there was no reason for me to be offended over it.

"I will be leaving for my house before the tournament. Till then, if you require my assistance for anything... just tell me."

Tapping my shoulder, Leon walked away with a wide smirk plastered over his face.