“Is that all?” Half an hour later, Wolf asked the same question again.

After a lengthy conversation with Headmaster Smith, Wolf was in a daze. The youthful-looking ancient man answered all of his questions logically. He perfectly explained his inaction, as well as why and how he steered the entire situation in Wolf’s favor.

Lord of Steel nodded, and the youth quietly left the room.

“Sir,” Richard started after closing the office door. “Don’t you find his answer odd?”

“Which answer?” Smith asked. Plenty of Wolf’s answers were odd or overly naive. It was obvious the kid was out of touch with reality.

“When you asked him whether he really wants to waste his time lecturing for a semester, he said that as long as that’s a part of regular student life, he’d do it.” Richard mussed about Wolf’s statement.

The Headmaster fell silent for a moment, thinking about Richard’s question, but didn’t notice any peculiarity.

“What’s strange about it?” Headmaster Smith asked. “He’s trying to blend in…”

“Poorly,” he added after another brief pause.

“It’s the word choice,” Richard said, then waved his hand. “Never mind, ignore it. I’m probably overthinking it. Right, is there any reason you didn’t confer him with his noble title now?”

“Well,” Headmaster Smith said with a sly smile. “He can’t get a noble status without officially becoming a True-Namer. If I were to suddenly confer him with a noble title, he would no longer be a student. Besides, why would I give him all of his due imperial stipends?”

Hearing that last line, Richard rolled his eyes.

It’s about the money in the end, the secretary thought, but refrained from commenting.

***

While the two old men discussed technical issues Wolf had caused, the youth in question moved towards his dorm. He was once again unaware of the fact that he kept dragging his feet, subconsciously trying to avoid the awkward situations which awaited him.

He failed to notice that the way people looked at him had changed yet again. As he passed them by, students and professors glanced at him fearfully, murmured and even moved out of his way.

The only ones who didn’t seem to fear Wolf were the common-born students. They clenched their fists in excitement, their eyes shining with fervor. As far as they remembered, this was the first time a commoner beat up and seriously injured their oppressors.

But Wolf paid them no mind. He still thought about the Headmaster’s words.

“What do you mean, I was endangering you?” the old man answered Wolf’s accusation with wide eyes and a hurt expression. “I was allowing them to give you extra money for simple missions. I practically had them fund your progress.”

Wolf couldn’t refute those words. His enemies really threw money at him in order to eliminate him in a way with the least legal repercussions. The only really dangerous situation he faced was when fighting Van Dale, but even that was mostly Wolf’s fault and lack of experience when fighting powerful foes.

When Wolf confronted Lord of Steel about the crimes at the Mage Academy, the answer was no longer as simple, nor as irrefutable, but Wolf didn’t want to argue.

Smith was right in saying that happenings outside Mage Academy were out of his jurisdiction. But Wolf disagreed when the old man claimed that crimes would just move out from Mage Academy and that they would turn more brutal, since witnesses needed to be eliminated.

Those thoughts naturally led to what Daniel Smith said about his youth, and how rivers of blood flowed back then. The person who stopped him when he was close to going too far was the previous Headmaster. Apparently, stopping potential threats to social order came with the job, but Wolf failed to notice the veiled threat in that sentence.

So, I’m not the first person who wants to purge evil and reward the virtuous, Wolf thought. But all these assholes are descendants of virtuous or wise people of the past. So, even if I go through a purge, will I change anything? Will I make the world a better place, or will it sink back into the filth after a couple of decades? Would I just end up repeating the Headmaster’s futile effort? Will I meet the same disappointment? Will I also turn into an indifferent spectator?

With those thoughts, Wolf opened the door to his and Wayde’s suit.

Inside, Wayde nervously paced. He’d been doing it ever since Wolf had left. The report on Wolf’s battle had already reached him, but he lacked some critical information. He didn’t know what the Mage Academy’s reaction would be, and whether Wolf could bear the consequences of his violent outburst.

“How are you? Did they punish you?” Wayde asked, jolted by Wolf’s typically dramatic entrance. “I’ve already heard about the duel, but what happened to Anna? You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

Wayde nervously fired a barrage of questions, snapping Wolf back to reality.

“Ah?” Wolf said, with some confusion as he stupidly opened his mouth.

He’d gone to Anna’s room, but didn’t know how to face her. Instead of the cold and brutal puppet master, he found a sobbing girl who kept cursing him. So, he went to vent his anger on the perpetrators, but after talking with the two old True-Namers, he’d forgotten about Anna. More importantly, he had even forgotten about Mandy.

What am I supposed to do now? he wondered, but had no idea where to look for an answer.

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Wolf said, realizing he’d busied himself with matters which were easy to resolve, while ignoring the two crucial people in this incident.

“Thanks, Wayde,” Wolf said. He turned around and left after hardly setting foot into the suite. “I have to talk to Anna!”

With that line, Wolf ran towards the woman’s dormitory.

Wayde stared dumbly at the open door. He blinked, unable to believe what was going on.

“He actually forgot about Anna,” Wayde muttered, his face showing genuine disbelief. “What the hells? How?”

Rushing out of the building, Wolf discovered another issue. How could he forget about the two women in this situation? This whole affair suddenly turned into the disgusting difference between those who were privileged and those who weren’t. Suddenly, the social implication and injustice became more important to Wolf than the actual people involved.

Stop thinking about unimportant things and focus, Wolf berated himself mentally. I first have to talk to Anna. I need to hear her side of the story. Oh, gods, what do I do if Mandy bragged about what happened, and then this whole mess happened? Who’s at fault in that case?

As Wolf entered the building, he saw the hallway monitor on patrol and realized he’d have to have this conversation with Anna in front of a chaperone. Wolf closed his eyes and took a deep breath in frustration.

Never mind. I can turn the hag into a living puppet, he thought and acted on his thoughts.

As soon as Wolf climbed the stairs, he saw the chaperone in charge of Anna’s floor and approached the old woman.

“Good evening, young man. May I help you with something?” she asked politely. “I should remind you that the evening curfew starts in less than forty-five minutes.”

Wolf hardly spared any attention on the woman as he cast a Subtle Living Puppet. For a moment, the old minder turned stiff as Wolf suppressed her will. Then she relaxed.

“Follow me and stay quiet,” Wolf ordered, and the elderly woman followed without saying a word.

The young Mage went over to Anna’s and Matilda’s suite. He rapped at the door and awakened his senses.

He clearly heard Anna’s muffled sobs, and he heard them halt abruptly. However, Anna remained silent. She said nothing. Wolf heard rustling as Anna moved around, making herself presentable.

Seeing what was going on, Wolf didn’t barge in. He gave Anna enough time to settle down, delaying the unpleasant conversation as much as possible.

Inside the girl’s suite, a door opened and then softly closed. Wolf heard the scraping of a chair against the expensive wooden flooring and finally, the rustle of fabric as Anna sat down on a chair.

“Come in,” Anna shouted.

The despair and weakness were gone from her voice. What replaced them was the fury of a woman scorned.

Wolf did as ordered. He opened the door and walked in.

Anna sat there, staring at him. Her arms and legs were crossed. Just from her stance, the woman was clearly ready for a confrontation.

Wolf looked at his girlfriend. The only remaining hint of that sobbing, fragile creature was the puffiness of her eyes. If Wolf hadn’t seen her cry, he would’ve come here in fury, but now… Now he didn’t know what to feel. He was still furious, but he also felt guilt, pity, and maybe even a trace of understanding.

“Is Matilda here?” Wolf asked, surprising even himself with this question. He was still skirting around the incident.

“I asked her to spend the night at her place,” Anna replied frostily.

The question caught Anna by surprise. She expected Wolf to explode, to rage, but the man was unusually calm. Then she saw the chaperone walk in and thought Wolf was keeping up appearances because of the old woman.

Mentally following Anna’s gaze, Wolf remembered the chaperone.

“Go there and don’t come out until I tell you to.” he said and pointed towards the door to Anna’s bedroom.

The woman immediately went into Anna’s room without uttering a word.

Anna noticed the slight stiffness and awkwardness of her movement and recognized them as telltale signs of a person moving through compulsion.

“Living Puppet?” Anna asked, her expression changed and her voice lightened. “That means you advanced your Order!”

For an instant Anna forgot about everything, feeling happy for Wolf, but then faltered as the reality came crashing back the very next moment.

“We have to talk,” Wolf said seriously, then threw a dagger towards the ceiling, shattering the damn scrying sensor and startling Anna.

Those old men have too much spare time, he thought with a sigh.