Chapter 29: Evan's Worry
"You woke up too early today, urgh, do you not know what the hell rest is?"
Alastor calmly smiled at the grumpy Evan. Evan had just woken up earlier and freaked out once he saw Alastor staring intently at him.
"The heck? Speak already, I'm creeped out enough, okay?"
"Oh? My apologies," Alastor smiled again, "I thought you would never be freaked out with me."
Evan's gaze at that moment spoke thousands of words, making Alastor laugh more.
"Alright, my fault. Now, you may want to get ready? I suppose we need to spend this day in class and perhaps in your Ascension Battles?"
"... I am yet to arrange that."
Alastor frowned, that was unexpected. He was really on a tight deadline, and any delay in his plans could bring him down. He had already gone up in the ranks by himself in a couple of days, now the only thing left for him was fighting in the Trials Tournament.
Something was bothering him, though.
'This is going too fast, and too easy. I know for a fact that I am a genius who can, most likely, handle anything that was going to be thrown to me. Yet, this is weird.'
He had to acknowledge some facts.
Firstly, Vian and Arisa were easy to capture. It was luck and his own work with Vian, however, Arisa seemed to act completely on her own.
It was true that he had used a mark on her, and maybe that was why, but Alastor still thought it was suspicious.
Secondly, he actually had a supporter, Evan. Unlike the normal settings he expected, Evan was a genuine friend. He and the previous Alastor were true buddies.
Thirdly, Alastor was not that weak. Rather, he actually had resources that many could only dream about having. Then, why did his family hate him that much? Even slaves' children are appreciated.
The world valued the powerful and the useful.
'Maybe Alastor's background is not that simple after all. He did not clearly specify anything in that 'diary', unfortunately.'
Just from these few facts, Alastor knew he could be going on the right path or going straight to hell. Alas, he would not know until it was too late to regret.
"Maybe I will need to leave you here while I go to get that gem by myself."
"Alastor, don't joke around."
Glaring at his friend, Evan sighed. The words settled a bit, and he soon shook his head.
"Why are you so hasty? You are acting like you are being chased by a beast."
"What if that was the case?"
"What kind of beast can threaten their king?" Evan deadpanned, clearly not amused.
"Look, I can only tell you that yes, indeed, I'm on a deadline. Why? Who? I do not exactly wish, or believe I can, tell you yet."
"You've been speaking in riddles since we started talking again. To be honest, I prefer you not speaking rather than making me try to solve these riddles you create."
Without waiting for any answer, Evan stood up and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and took a quick shower while Alastor was calmly waiting for him in his room.
To be fair, Evan could understand a thing or two. But with how Alastor was not responding, only leading him ahead vaguely, Evan started to wonder as the cold water dropped on his head.
'Does he trust me or treat me as a useful pawn only?'
Evan was going to understand if it was the latter. His own idiocy was more than enough reason for that. In fact, Evan felt it would have been way harder to get back to being buddies now…
Especially if he did not have the information about how Alastor could be treated. Thankfully, he had something he could use to make sure that Alastor was going to give him a chance at least.
After finishing the shower, Evan wore his uniform and went back to Alastor. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to not question his friend any further.
It was okay, as long as they were friends now, they were going back to normal soon enough. It was the only natural possibility.
For now, he decided to ask about the most important thing.
"Vian asked me if I 'also' wanted her help to arrange my Ascension Battles, did you fight Kristen on purpose?"
Blinking, Alastor simply shook his head once he registered the question. Fighting Kristin was only a coincidence, Vian had chosen the perfect match for him. Powerful, yet not the most powerful. Influential, yet not absolutely a leading figure.
In simple words,
"Kristin was just perfect. He was a good match to go to Class 2, as it was surely going to affect me in case I joined with a weak opponent."
Even within the same class, there was some ranking. Again, Kristin was not the strongest, but he surely had caused Alastor to be one of the top in the class.
"I only asked for a good match. Vian did amazing, I must say."
Nodding, Evan asked another question.
"What about her? I never knew you two were close."
"Close?" Alastor tilted his head, humming softly, "I think you can say that. But we are not as close as you may have been imagining."
'Of course, because you did not see what she had done to the corpse of the person who dared to hurt you.'
Evan swallowed these words. The beautiful young mistress may not like him relaying her feats to her potential love interest.
'Falling like that is not worth it. I need to stay alive.'
Then, Evan remembered something.
"Ah! Alastor, we have something that may help us in our small adventure to find that gemstone."
"Hmm?"
Evan pulled the map that he and Vian got yesterday and handed it out to Alastor, "Although it's a bit dubious, this is a great lead and seemed legit."
After examining the map for a while, Alastor nodded.
"This map is indeed accurate. I have tried to send some of my Chaos Mana to check the place underneath the Academy. Indeed, the layout matches perfectly. The only thing is, we are not sure if there were any traps hidden there."
"That's true…"
"But it doesn't matter all that much. We are going there, and as soon as possible."
No more delay was allowed, now, it was the time to start the real deal in this world.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone