บท 19: A Nutjob

Kristin kicked and raged for a while, pulling his hair in frustration before mumbling, "Fuck it, he asked for it!"

As he was leaving the place, he did not know that Alastor was behind him all the time, having recorded what he wanted in a magical orb.

On the other hand, he was holding a diary that had pretty interesting information.

{Upon coming back, I had a deal with Kristin Marjin. I do his dirty work, while he hides the evidence behind me. There was no major benefit for me, you may wonder about that. It is true.}

{The benefit from this deal would not show immediately. Rather, it was a small benefit that could only be recognized later. He wanted to use me, meaning he needed to protect me. Although the arshole allowed the rumors to spread, there was no evidence that it was me.}

{I did what I needed to survive when my family decided to screw me up. I enjoyed working from the dark, knowing I'd be absolutely safe even if I committed treason.}

'In a sense, you did.'

Alastor laughed.

That was why he needed this kind of solid evidence that he could edit later to hold more clues about the nature of their deal.

Even if worse came to worst, Alastor was sure he would never get inside there. Kristin had tried to use the previous Alastor as his errand boy to screw the Imperial family that had abandoned him.

Now, Arisa was also trying to take hold of Alastor. Though, the current Alastor.

Two members of the Imperial family were fighting for him. Instead of falling in between them, Alastor preferred to let them handle each other.

Especially because the previous Alastor was not completely innocent. He did not stop with only doing Kristin's bidding, he did some shady things by himself, too.

It was all prepared for his big plan…

Alas, he could never use it now that he had disappeared from this world. But the current Alastor was more than willing to continue that experiment before the Trials Tournament even began.

Alastor swiftly left the place and went back to his room, once he stepped inside, the room changed with his whisper.

The room that seemed pretty empty and dull before was now a completely different place. The door was locked with two thick locks.

The windows disappeared, allowing the room to be completely dark. Then, a few torches were lit on fire, illuminating the room. There were around three large shelves stacked with books and documents, one fancy chair and one desk in front of them.

In addition to that, the room appeared bigger than before as it was still able to contain a small resting space with a tea table and some coaches, and even a bed in the corner with a closet.

The first time Alastor was here, he was elated. Space Magic was not simple, setting this up was not impossible but it was complicated. Not to mention how much effort and time it would cost him.

In this place he had found that the previous Alastor was an absolute nutjob, in a very good way for him.

"To think he will actually manage to almost gather those blackmail materials of everyone, and yet he had never tried to retort to their rumors."

That way, it was easier. They thought they were above him.

"Ah, I'm in love with his style, he's like me for real!"

Alastor coughed, clearing his throat. That was a moment he usually had at times like this. Recovering from it, he put the recording orb carefully inside the section called 'Kristin Marjin'.

Now, all it was left was to fight him. And if that idiot dared to try him, Alastor would be more than happy to crash him onto the floor.

Soon, the time of the fight will arrive. Alastor went back to his normal room design and immediately heard a knock. Without pondering who the person was, Alastor opened the door and was met with Evan.

Before he could even greet his friend, Evan threw a question at him.

"Can you craft advanced magic devices?"

Blinking, Alastor responded, "And what if I can?"

"Can you or not?" Evan repeated, clearly his agitation was growing stronger. Alastor noticed how his eyes were bloodshots and paused.

"Magic devices, is that about your sister?"

Seeing how Evan flinched, Alastor knew he was right. The reason for Evan and the previous Alastor to go to that dangerous place was actually to find a cure for her. They failed, and Alastor was badly injured instead.

Thankfully for Evan, his sister was supported by the Imperial family themselves.

At that memory, Alastor's lips curled into a frown for the first time in a while.

"I thought that Arisa was a little good inside… But I guess she is just a human, giving in to those pesky desires and fears."

Evan felt his knees weakening and he almost gave up on staying upright, he leaned himself on the door frame and sighed.

"Please tell me you can help me, then… You know I cannot betray you but I also cannot watch my sister die…"

"Don't worry, you aren't going to do either of these. And the support from the Imperial family is not going to be cut."

Shaking his head, Evan objected, "No, we are talking about the princess here. She sent an official threat. I either comply, or I know my family will never survive."

"Not with me around," shrugged Alastor.

"I know you aren't as you show, Evan. You are just afraid of being threatened by the Imperial family. Everything from your strength to your actions, and even your appearance all seem to be affected."

Evan lowered his head, unable to retort or say anything for what seemed like half a day. Finally, he sighed, dropping any act he tried to put up with.

Only fatigue seemed to plague his face now, no fear or worries. However, there was some rage in his eyes.

"You are right. Sorry, even with you, I thought keeping the act was safer."

Alastor motioned to the couch while checking the clock, "We have some time, you can explain to me in short."

"Fine…"