Capítulo 269: Little Bird

"We're back!"

"Mm... I can see that. So? How did it go?"

Looking at Midgard's returning members coming to Jotunheim after concluding their work, I let go of the papers in my hands and met them with a gentle smile. Seeing Stella's excited face and Jessica's slight smile while looking at her former student, I could only assume that it went well.

Still, that didn't mean I didn't want to hear what they had to say about it.

Due to the established hierarchy, Jessica was the one who presented the report.

"It went well. All in all, there were no major issues, but there were..."

It didn't take long until she told me all about the attack that we had launched on Genua, looking a bit proud when she could once again present the fact that no civilians had died. It was something that I was also genuinely happy with, but not to the same extent as my former teacher.

I already knew that my decision would eventually lead to the deaths of many, but that didn't mean I wished for anyone innocent to die.

At the same time, I could see Stella blushing a bit, staring down at the floor with a smile of her own. Clearly, she was waiting for me to say something, and it wasn't difficult to guess that she wanted me to compliment her. And that I did. Albeit barely.

"You have done well, both of you. Now, make sure you get plenty of rest and training before your next mission."

Stella's ocean-blue eyes shone a bit as she understood the meaning behind my words. Yes, this had been her first mission as a member of Midgard, and due to the fact that it had gone well I wasn't going to withhold her from going on missions anymore. This did not, however, mean that I would send her out on missions where her life might be at risk.

As the two of them left the room, I couldn't stop myself from grinning a bit.

'This time, I'm the one holding the gun.'

Right now, we were the ones in complete control and Mensch were the ones who had to dance to our tune. In other words, we held the momentum and I had no plans of letting it go. All thanks to the 'gift' that my former principal had given us.

"But who knows for how long this will last..."

Staring out the window behind my desk, seeing nothing but empty fields of dryness, I wasn't a big enough fool to pretend like the status quo couldn't change at a moments notice.

No matter what, it would be impossible to try and compare our resources to the military power that Mensch had at their disposal. Which meant that they would at some point find ways to not only efficiently defend against our attacks, we would likely find ourselves with a lot of casualties.

In other words, we needed to make sure we got the most out of our current approach before it was too late.

My plan was pretty simple, really.

First and foremost I needed to make sure that all the guilds that got the reports was cognizant of the fact that we only targeted political officials.

'And there is no way that the bigger guilds would miss that...'

Obelisk and the Denver guild, as well as the Rue family... all three of these guilds most likely had their own information networks and was large enough that I doubted that they wouldn't have access to restrained information.

In the best of worlds thus might lead them to become hesitant to join the fight, making Mensch even more fragmented and disjointed than it already is.

The second part of my plan was a bit less complicated.

I merely wanted to plant a seed of terror within the civilians. Because that sense of hopelessness and uncertainty would at some point lead them to question things.

And that could lead them to me.

"Thinking about it... I wonder how the little green-haired bird is doing?"

I already knew that I had someone within my territory that wasn't all too excited about being here. Someone who I had more or less never talked to but at the same time someone I was very much excited about to see what she was going to do.

'Games are more fun when there is a wolf amongst the sheep... or I guess a sheep amongst the wolves in this case...'

*****

[Celina's POV]

'How did this happen...'

Staring at the wall in my newly acquired room, I was still not able to accept what was going on.

It had all happened so very fast. From the day my grandfather had given me instructions to 'join James' in front of all the other students to coming here. To the place they called Jotunheim.

"Grandpa... why would you join hands with someone lika that..."

James Jackson. No matter how I tried it was impossible to regard him as anything other than a complete maniac.

I could somewhat understand how he had come to this point after getting, supposedly, betrayed by the king and his nation, but wasn't he just a terrorist?

Despite my grandfather's attempts at telling me that they would make sure to not hurt any civilians, did that make their actions okay?

No, it didn't.

Having lived most of my life in hiding, making sure that no one knew that I was the heir to the family, I already knew that this way of acting was pointless.

For how many years had my family fought with the other hidden families already, even if just to make sure we had a place to live in this world? And what did that lead to?

Absolutely nothing.

"Haaa..."

Throwing myself back on the small bed that I was sitting on, I once again felt my heart rumble.

"I just wanted to live a normal life..."

After years of trying to persuade my grandfather I had finally been allowed to try and integrate into the normal world which had led to me being admitted into Ainu.

Though, when thinking about it, it was hard to call it a normal life even then. Because I still had to try my best and keep myself hidden, hiding not only my strength and abilities from my classmates but even my real last name.

But it was still a huge step forward. A step that was necessary for me to finally begin my way to becoming a normal citizen of Mensch, getting to the point where I could find a normal kind of love, have kids without having to worry about their safety and get a chance to grow old in peace.

Now all of that had been blown away, all because of the ramblings of a mad man. And the worst part was that it didn't seem like he had any intention of stopping any time soon.

'And no one else seems to think that something is wrong with him.'

Even the other students that had followed us from the academy had now accepted his words as the truth, almost to the point of worship. Especially Stella whom I could barely even recognize anymore. Not because she had physically changed but because her eyes now seemed frantic, desperately searching for the approval of our leader.

"Is there really no one other than me here that thinks that this is insane...?"

At first I had thought that the other clan members were merely following grandfather but now I had begun to have my doubts. To me it seemed like even Mark had started to 'believe' in James, someone who I knew was incredibly hesitant to follow anyone other than my grandfather.

So if even he had begun to accept James as our leader, that likely meant that the others did too. Including my sister who I heard had tried to kill him when he came to our previous hideout.

Naturally, she hadn't been successful in that venture as he was still very much alive. Or, at least I think he was alive. Which brought the question of; How was it that he was still breathing?

Was he actually a demon like the king said, or was he something else entirely?

'I don't know. But I do know that he isn't sane.'

SItting back up in my bed, my mind once again came to the same conclusion that I had come to so many time before during my time here.

I had to do something.

I knew that there was no use in acting recklessly, as that would not only put myself in danger but also my family who I loved dearly, but I also knew that i wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't do something.

And I had already begun planning that something. Something that would make it impossible for James to continue whatever he was thinking of doing.

It would all begin with a small little bird, a bird who might be able to get the word out to the world.

comentario 4 comentario

Votar

ENVIAR REGALO

Load failed, please RETRY