Eve sighed; they were silent for almost 5 minutes. No one has started speaking, from the look of it Adrius will not. He seemed to love sitting in silence. She saw from the corner of her eyes Sophie squirm and play with her skirt like it was the most entertaining thing in the world.

Eve took a deep breath and spoke. “Adrius, first of all, I congratulate you for completing the mission.” Adrius only acknowledged her with a nod from his masked head.

“Second of all,” she said in a more venomous tone, “what is wrong with you? We send you to kill a mere rank 3 magus apprentice and you kill 300,000 people.” She spat with venom.

Adrius didn’t seem affected by the tone she used. He only looked at her with these dead black eyes like he was studying her. “I don’t see any problem with it, so what if 300,000 mortals died. I still don’t understand why headmaster Buros was so angry over it.” His tone was boring, like it was something he did every day. And not a genocide that resulted in the deaths of thousands of women, men and children.

Eve wanted to snap at him and tell him why the headmaster was so angry but she refrained from doing so, it was not wise to get frustrated in front of this man. He was a snake, the moment he saw her weak he would strike.

She took a deep breath and spoke, this time slowly so she can weigh her words before she speaks them. “The headmaster was not angry because you killed 300,000 mortals. Don’t get me wrong, I am totally angry at you for doing it. But this is not what the headmaster is angry about.”

That seemed to intrigue the man, he leaned a little forward. “Oh, please tell, why is Jason Buros the rank 2 official magus angry at me?”

Eve was silent for a few seconds thinking about how she will word this. She finally found what she wanted to say and opened her mouth to speak.

“You see,” she said in a slow manner, just to mess with the man in front of her, “Valaq was a big trading city for the Raven Region. Also, it was one of the only cities where the three Original Races lived peacefully and in harmony. When you destroyed the city, you kind of destroyed a big part of the region’s economy, also because you are a human, the other races didn’t take it very well for you killing their kin. The already high tension between humans and dwarves and elves is almost at the brink of exploding, which could result in a war between the three races. Don’t forget, the elves have a peak rank one official magus, they say that she is almost at the point of a breakthrough. So, this will spell a disaster to the Region, it is right the magus Buros is strong, but rank 2 magi don’t interfere in battles if there is not another rank 2 on the other side. So, basically you and I will fight, and die. All because of your madness and twisted logic.” Eve couldn’t hide the frustration from her voice at the end.

The situation was bad, the tension between the races has always been high, it became very high the moment headmaster Buros became a rank 2 magus. This made the other races in the region afraid for their survival, so from their intel the elves and the dwarves made a pact to fight the humans together if the time ever comes. And it seems that it has come, all because of this mad man sitting in front of her.

Adrius laughed at her, Eve was very confused, ‘did he finally lose his mind?’ she thought. He stopped laughing and became dead serious. “You are naive Eve, aren't you?” He said with a serious tone. Eve wanted to protest about him calling her naive but she was overtalked by Adrius who continued. “You think these two races will go to war just because of some few thousands useless mortals?” She wanted to nod her head but was stopped by the look in Adrius’ eyes. She never saw such a look in his eyes, it was blank. His eyes were blank! She couldn’t find the madness she always saw in his eyes, nor the intelligence she saw when he explains something. They were just blank.

“This is nothing but an excuse,” he continued, “they have been ready for battle for some time now, and the thing I did was just the thing they needed to declare war on us. Tell me, this info about the female elf who is at the brink of breakthrough. How old is it?” He asked her with a calm tone that suggested he already knew the answer.

Eve thought about the date they got the info, at least the date that was registered. “It is 3 years old….” She whispered to herself more than to Adrius.

Adrius didn’t laugh or anything, he just waved his hand. “Here you got it, the info was old, it is possible that the woman is a rank 2 now already. And this was just the opportunity they waited for to go into war with us, while not seeming like they are the evil side. Because in this situation they are the good side, I killed their people and now they want to avenge them, making us the bad side. It is just simple politics. Also, I’m pretty sure the headmaster already knew of the play, but he faked his anger at me to not raise suspicion. Suspicion that he knows of the plan of the elves and dwarves. This way he can scheme and plan on how to kill the other rank 2, while the other doesn’t even know that their enemy knows about her. And remember the one who is prepared better wins last.” Eve was speechless, this absolutely made sense, of course it was still Adrius’ fault because he gave them the chance. This conspiracy on the humans made her mind hurt. Of course, it is still a theory. They can’t be 100% sure of Adrius’ claims until they see the other rank 2 magus of the elves. But it is still a very valid theory.

“Now,” Adrius’ voice made her look at him, he was still serious, “Sophie, I think you have something that belongs to me.” Sophie was quiet the whole time they talked; she didn’t speak even one word. She reached down into her pouch and retrieved a scroll. It was ancient and looked honestly like any other old scroll. The scroll floated from Sophie's hands, surprising Sophie and landed in Adrius’ hand. Eve hoped that this scroll will not have a real inheritance, she didn’t want to see this monster as a magus.