Chapter 11: It's Still A Snake
Appearances can be deceiving.
If someone is constantly smiling while looking at you it doesn't always mean they are happy seeing you, it could also mean that they are laughing at you for falling in their trap.
In this world, how can a person really trust someone when they are just acting like they can trust them.
In an old house, an eighteen year old boy was sitting on his bed and a twenty year old looking man was standing in front of the boy.
These two were Dreamer and Liberi.
After hearing Liberi's cause of death Dreamer was silent.
"My lord, it's fine now. I got a second chance, this time it will not happen. I won't make the same mistakes twice and I will also make sure to stop you from making such mistakes. I learned it the hard way" Liberi said, breaking the silence and assuring Dreamer.
"You...you learned it the hard way? What do you mean? I thought you were deceived by the noble's son and his father, they stabbed you from the back, right?
And the principal was with you too so he must have helped you, didn't he? And what was the reason for killing you?"
Dreamer spoke for the first time after learning about Liberi's death and the first thing he spoke was a couple of questions.
"My lord, I meant what I said. I learned it the hard way. Yes, the father of the noble's son stabbed me from the back but that man wasn't the only culprit.
There was one more, can you guess who was the other culprit, my lord?" Liberi answered and asked at the same time.
"You.. you don't mean!?" Dreamer said feeling shocked.
"Yes, my lord you guessed it correctly, it was..."
"The Principal!" Both Liberi and Dreamer said in unison.
"But why would he do that? Why would he side with the noble? Was it because of money or something else?" Dreamer asked after knowing the principal was also the culprit.
"My lord, the monsters don't always lurk in the shadows, sometimes they hide in plain sight. I mean the principal wanted this to happen all along." Liberi said.
"What do you mean?" Dreamer replied not being able to understand.
"My lord, you remember the day of my graduation ceremony when the principal saw my sword and instantly liked it." Liberi said.
"Yeah, I remember that he was not letting go of your sword. So...do you mean!" Dreamer realized.
"Yes my lord, the principal wanted my sword all along. He was just waiting for a chance to take it from me. That's why he offered me a position in the academy so that I will be staying in the academy and he can take my sword whenever he sees a chance.
Because he knew that with my certificate I can easily join a faction and then it will become extremely hard for him to get my sword. " Liberi revealed.
"Ok, I get it but why after five years? And why did the noble kill you? Were they ordered by the principal to kill you? But why would the noble listen to the principal?" Dreamer again asked many things.
"My lord, do you remember how I got my sword and the explosion that happened that killed all the students who were after my collected cores?" Liberi asked Dreamer in return.
"Yeah, I remember. The students were killed by that explosion and you found the sword in the middle of all the blood. But how is it connected with the noble wanting to kill you?" Dreamer answered and wondered why Liberi asked this.
"My lord, it is connected. When I was stabbed, they told me the reason why I was being killed.
My lord, you remembered the explosion that killed many students. Well, among the students who died that day, there were some noble's children too. And when I came to the allocated place at the end of the final exam, my sword and clothes were all red with blood.
So I am sure that the teachers, principal and others must have misunderstood that I was the one who killed all those students.
And about the noble who stabbed me from the back.
Well, his first son was also among those students who died on that day and I am sure that when he inquired the reason of his son's death everyone had said that I was the one who killed that student.
So the noble joined hands with the principal and the noble sent his second son to the academy to keep an eye on me and to keep on informing them about my moves, skills and rank.
The principal wanted my sword so he also went along with the plan. And when the graduation ceremony came the principal decided to take action and announced a banquet and also he insisted that I should come too. I never would have guessed that it would be my last day.
And the noble's son asking me to show some of my sword skills was also part of their plan as they wanted to tire me out so that I can't resist.
But they caught me off guard, even if I would have resisted it wouldn't have done me any good as the sword that pierced my heart was successful in harming me.
They also told me that the other nobles also wanted me dead as their children also died on that day.
I was lying on the floor and was losing consciousness but I still managed to look around and then I saw that there were many nobles standing around me, smiling and cursing me for killing their children and then the realization struck me.
They planned this all along, the banquet was just a farce. They just wanted to kill me today.
Then I saw the principal and the noble, who stabbed me, talking with each other and then they shook their hands and the principal came up to me as he smiled and took my space bracelet which contained my sword, my certificate and some millions of gold coins. Then he looked at me.
His eyes with vertical pupils were looking straight into mine. And then with a smile, he spoke in a voice that was only audible to me...and those were the last words that I heard. The image of my mother and father flashed before my eyes before closing forever" Liberi stopped and closed his eyes.
"What did he say exactly?" Dreamer asked in a serious voice as he was feeling bad for whatever happened with Liberi.
After Dreamer's question, Liberi closed his eyes once again and a tear drop could be seen coming from his left eye. Liberi looked like he was deeply regretting the decisions he made in his life.
"My lord, he said, 'No matter how much a snake sheds its skin, it is still a snake.' "
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