Despite the glamor and esteem of the Atlas academy, in truth, each subject had few teachers, one for each class with an assisting teacher spot that served as a training occupation. The majority of professors were researchers in various fields. Thus, most teachers and lecturers worked overtime and with full schedules. Only the sweet release of retirement could end the pain, though a coffee break eases it.

"Nice work out there, Norman." Hugo Jean Granger, the full-time illusion magic teacher, sighed. "I have to say, I was a bit skeptical when I heard the news, but you are not bad at all." He slumped on the sofa with his jiggly belly and a mug and pasty in his hands.

"Thanks, I guess." Norman sipped on some coffee. "What happened to Mr. Roswall?"

"Retired last year. His back finally gave out."

"I see. Is Mr.Johnsson any better?"

"He has started giving out lectures again, but hasn't used any magic so far."

"So it was that tough." Norman looked down at the pitch-black reflection in his coffee.

"Speaking of it, the kids took you surprisingly well," Granger said, biting the muffin, and whitening his mustache with sugar.

"They might act like that in class, but they know me."

"It's not that big of a scandal anymore, things come and go. Sure, some words might float in the air, but I looked at you working there. I saw those smiling faces. You're a good teacher, aren't you?"

Norman drank the compliment down. "Your mustache, Mr. Granger." He gestured at his freshly shaven beard.

"Oh, goodness me!" Granger swiped them clean. "Thank you, Norman, and please, call me Granger."

"No problem, Granger."

"I must say this, Norman," Anita Kaye Terminus, the full-time transmutation teacher, walked over in a black, skin-tight suit with her long hair hanging down to her hips. "You must have done something great to have gotten the principal's permission."

"You as well, miss Terminus. Aren't those clothes a dress code violation?"

"These are my battle equipment. They are purely practical." She felt the elastic material over her slim body.

"You must be popular with your students." Norman averted his gaze.

"Of course I am."

"Especially the boys."

"You are a funny one, Norman." She walked away to fetch herself a cup of tea.

"You seem to know everyone here, Norman the abominable," said a robed man with his hair bundled tightly at the back of his head. His stature was pompous, with his hips showing off the sheath hanging from his waist. "You must know me as well."

"No, not really," The words left a sour taste in Norman's mouth. "But you must be the current conjuration teacher."

"How is that?"

"Your sheath, it's empty. I suppose you conjure it."

The man laughed. "What a stupendous assumption."

"Oh. My mistake. Then why the sheath?"

"Do you have dirt for eyes? My sword is right here-" His hand grasped the air.

He looked down at his waist. His face returned as blank, if slightly twitchy.

"Please excuse me for a moment." He walked out with quick steps.

Norman took another sip. "So, who was he?"

"That was Antoni Trueno Diamante. He teaches self-defense."

"Didn't Warren Alcaeus teach self-defense?"

"Oh, yes, but Espada teaches advanced armed courses. Do you know Mr. Warren, perhaps?"

"He is my father-in-law."

"Right, right. I should have known. So you married one of his daughters?"

"Annabelle."

"The name doesn't come across me right now. What is her occupation?"

"She organizes gatherings as well as manages our finances."

"I see. Your family must have a lot to manage."

"Nowadays, at least. We were just a branch in the family tree until grandpa suddenly got everything right."

"Yes, I have heard of Norman's in the research wing. I was more surprised that none were teachers, though."

"Research is all they care about. Not all of them, but most. I am, or was, like that too."

Granger lifted himself, sparing the springs on the sofa. " In my humble opinion, while I think research is important, it's the basis of learning, after all, it's completely different from presenting it in a way that other people understand. That's what we teachers are for."

"That! That's it!" Norman nodded enthusiastically.

"It's good to see like-minded people." Granger smiled his large cheeks red. "Do you have prior experience in teaching?"

"I did some lecturers before, but not much else." Norman thought back. "Oh, but I taught one boy."

"Private lectures?"

"Something like that. I couldn't teach much more than the basics, since he turned out to be a conjurer," Norman stood up and dusted his clothes.

"I see. It would have been hard for you to teach as an illusionist."

"Heh, true." Norman remembered his lie. "I bet he could find a better teacher than me."

"Oh? How long did you teach him?"

"A few years."

"Wouldn't he have found a better one in that time if he wanted?"

"Well, maybe eventually."

"Well, I can't tell what sort of bond you had, but I can tell it was strong."

"He was a stubborn boy, that's all."

"But you could see it in him, didn't you? You have the skill to see the strength of people. A true teacher's skill."

"Don't flatter me." Norman put his mug away. "Let's get going. Lunch is already over."

"Right, right. Let's head back to work. Did you print those papers I asked?"

"They are at your desk."

"Thank you, you are a lifesaver, Norman."

"What about tomorrow's schedule?"

"I had planned some outdoor activity, but seems like there's a storm coming."

"Right." Norman went to the door. "We have to reschedule, but first, the class is starting."

"Right, coming." Granger bounced away.

The location was undisclosed. The drivers were shot as they arrived. A group of people gathered, one y one with grim expressions written over their faces. They arrived in the room, with only chairs for them. Only one chair sat empty, yet the meeting had already begun.

"It is a shame to start this meeting in this manner." The leader of the largest Guerreterrarian mafia, Pain Rouge, Jules Parrain opened the meeting, hiding his disappointed face behind a pair of round sunglasses. "As you might already know, Grandfather has fallen, thus Avus will not be joining this meeting. Let us have a moment of silence for them."

After the moment had passed, Jules opened his daunting eyes, like searchlights in the night. "Let us treat this incident in a civil manner. This was not what we wanted from this meeting, and whoever is responsible for this should explain themselves at once."

Hào stepped up into the dim light coming from the center.

"So it was you." Jules turned his head.

"Do not be mistaken. My hands are clean from this incident, though I suppose you would not believe that."

"Then what did you want to say?"

Hào cleaned his face off of his usual smirk in preparation. " To put it bluntly. Why do you care?"

Jules reached into his long jacket. Others did as well, yet froze as Hào raised his hand.

"Let me explain. There is no need for blood."

"I was going to ask that myself." Jules put the gun away.

"In my eyes, this was, though unfortunate, inevitable. The course of nature cannot be stopped. The old and weak fall and only the strong and cunning survive. The weak can only grasp at the power dangled before them, and this was the result."

"So, you are saying we should not care about this?" Jules asked.

"This is a den of wolfs. Only fools would think that they would not eat each other, given the chance."

"Do you have anything more to say? Not only did you disrespect an old friend of mine, but did nothing to defend yourself."

"No proof would satisfy you of my suspicion. No word of mine would suffice, only my head. I can only ask you to be sensible and trust me if you can. I would have never dealt with this in such an unsightly manner."

"Is that all?"

"There exists only one truth. The person that committed this, is indeed in this room. I am certain of it."

"A weird way to say it's still you," said Nakki, the leader of Kotsi, the largest drug empire in the northern hemisphere. The metal strapped to his leather clothes competed in gloss with all the piercings on his face. He possessed the largest sign of his gang, the rune of wealth tattooed over the left side of the face where his eye rested between the horizontal lines of the letter. Nakki was the youngest of all the leaders, yet he compensated with the intense amount of scars all over his body. He had them all, from gunshots to stab wounds, even some attempts to steal his tattoos.

"Do not make false assumptions, warrior of the north," reminded Chief Gambala Cony, the arms dealer king.

"I've heard your people going wild too, zookeeper, so don't start with me." Nakki pointed out.

"People please, we are trying to have a civil conversation," Jules waved his hands.

"You keep out of this, whisker-frog," Nakki spat out a piece of chewing tobacco. "You know nothing but war."

"Pick it up." Jules looked down at the spot with disgust. "Get that filthy thing out of my face."

"Make me," Nakki Grinned with his yellow teeth.

Watching the tension rise made Hào's grin creep up. He could feel the blood in his veins as his heart danced with glee. Everything was going according to his plan.

A set of footsteps echoed from a long, dark hallway. An uninvited guest made everyone ready themselves, whether it was with weapons or magic. The figure came into the light, carrying something in its bloody hands. It threw it on the floor. A head rolled with a trail of blood, stopping at Nakki's feet. The person stood tall, with ragged clothes and a broken mask covering his head.

"Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" Jules asked, pointing his gun.

"My name doesn't matter. I just came to deliver her." The man pointed at the head.

Nakki looked down. Even he couldn't help but jolt from his seat. It was Mel, with her the patch from her pants stuffed in her mouth.

"She's not my problem anymore, so sort it out among yourselves," A pair of eyes sharp enough to kill peeped through the mask.

"How did you find this place? How did you get past the guards?"

"Consider yourselves lucky that I have other plans." The man swiped blood off his gloves. "You are all scum to me, but I won't be your trashman." He walked away with a limp.

"Wasn't that..." Gambala watched the man's back disappear into the shadows.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Nakki asked.

"That's not important now. I want to ask you this, Nakki. What is the meaning of this?" Jules turned.

"I've never seen this bitch." He kicked the head away.

Jules took off his glasses and opened his right eye. It revealed a shining, white jewel in its place. It was grotesque, yet undeniably beautiful.

"You can't lie to me."

Hào recognized it instantly, though begrudgingly.

"Talk about creepy," Nakki Frowned. "Whatya mean with that anyway?"

"Prism Album sees through all lies. You just lied."

"Don't talk crap. I can shove a diamond up my eye too if that's what it takes."

"Then, stand up." Jules pointed his gun.

"Talk about frogs waging war, am I right?"

"Stand up. I will not say it twice."

"Yeesh, fine." Nakki straightened his back. "Just remember that this is for diplomacy, or whatever, not because you told me to."

"Call it whatever you want. Now, put your hand behind your back."

"Sure, sure."

"Keep any number of them up so that others can see them."

"Yeah?"

"I will ask you how many you have up, and you will answer. You can lie as well, of course."

"So what if you get lucky?"

"We can repeat it as many times as you want."

"And what if you guess wrong?"

Jules took his gun by the barrel and offered it to Nakki. "Then shoot me. I am a man of my word, after all."

The first guess was correct, as well as the second, the third, the twelfth, and the twentieth. They could have continued forever, but time passed as well, and Nakki grew increasingly aware of it.

"Are you about done?" Jules asked.

"Fuck," Nakki stepped back to his chair.

"Then, why did you lie? You know this girl, right?"

"No really-"

"Another lie." Jules kicked the ground.

"...Okay, yeah, she's my subordinate. Some dirty kid I picked up from the streets."

"Then it was you who got Grandfather killed, wasn't it?"

Nakki looked up at Jules with the sourest look since the person who ate an onion with a cut lip. He glanced at Hào, who brushed it off like flicking off a cockroach from his robes.

"...I..."

"How do you know that man wasn't lying?" Hào asked.

"What?" Jules turned his head.

"As I said. How can you be certain that the man that appeared was speaking the truth?"

"I can't tell if you are too old for this, but I just explained that I-"

"Your Nazar can only tell answers to your questions, am I correct?" Hào interrupted.

"What are you saying?"

"How about we put it this way? What if Mr.Nakki put his hand behind his back again, but this time he would say how many he has himself without you asking, would you be able to tell?"

"...Damn it." Jules tsked. "But what matter does it make?"

"It may be my old age, but I cannot remember him ever saying that she killed Grandfather."

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

"Is it? That girl might have worked for Nakki, but she could have done anything or maybe nothing at all."

"What sort of crap is that?"

"You never even asked who the man worked for either."

"Well, um..." Jules squinted his sparkling eye. "Did he seem familiar to any of you?" He turned to the other members.

Mumbling ensued, with no clear answer. Only one openly raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Gambala?" Jules pointed.

"I swear I had heard the name from one of my men..." Gambala scratched his long, braided hair. "Yes, Ocham! He reminded me of him, not that I've seen him."

"I do not know about you, but I have a hard time trusting such a meager defense," Hào shrugged.

"Why do you keep interrupting us?" Jules asked. "Don't you want to find out who did it?"

"I have never been against it. I am merely making sure that no hasty judgment is made. You would not want to be wrongly accused either, would you?"

"But I can still ask if Nakki was part of it, whether that girl did it or not."

"What if he doesn't know? Even if she did commit the attack, her death also seems like a surprise to Nakki."

"Then he would still have attacked him!"

"And?"

"And what?"

"What does it matter if he merely tried to? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. Or would you perhaps like to ask if any of these people have tried to kill me for example?"

Concerned looks were exchanged each other all around.

"And who says that it could not have been a group effort? Would you want to start asking one by one who was involved here? Would you like to know that? Lies are the backbone of all society. No happiness or business can prosper without it. To tear down that curtain would only mean bringing down everything we had built. Therefore I ask you, Mr.Parrain, are you sure you want to hear that answer?"

"Then, answer me this, Mr. Emperor, were you involved in this?"

"Do you know the other fault in with your Nazar?"

"Don't dodge the question!"

"Indeed, if you never answer, you will never know," Hào hid his smile behind a sleeve.

"Tell me! Otherwise, you are as good as guilty!"

"Stop with these unreasonable remarks."

"You are the one being unreasonable!"

"You have insulted me long enough." Hào stood up and drew a deep breath. "I will tell you. I did not urge anyone to attack Avus." He looked back at Jules with sharp eyes.

Jules' eye glimmered. With a stern face, he looked away.

"I have had enough of these baseless accusations. I will consider joining back in the conversation with a formal apology." Hào walked off.

"Stop there, Mr. Empreror," Gambala raised his dark hand. "I have something to ask you."

Hào stopped at the edge of darkness. "I will offer my ear to you, but only this once, so choose your words carefully."

"I have had the feeling for a while, but I am quite sure about it now. You are contracted with a spirit, are you not?"

The onlookers could only look in horror at the grim expression on the slim face as it turned past them.

"What did you say?"

"Making contracts is a dangerous gamble that few are willing to make. Only blind hunger for power or desperation would call for such a thing, but I would have never thought you would be willing to risk your very soul for such a thing. It did seem suspicious that you conquered all of Huangok by yourself, but now it is clear as day. Your plans, your connections, they are not vowed by you at all, but that thing you made a promise with."

"What nonsense." Hào tried to wave it off. "You dare to tarnish my efforts and time with those words?"

"In denial, are you? You are not the only one that has meddled with spirits. They fell my ancestors into ruins. The curse reminds me of it every day."

"What nonsense. You have truly lost my respect if you keep going."

Gambala leaned closer with his bony frame. "I can sense it. Eight legs, hundred eyes, and red like rivers of blood."

Hào's face soured further until his thin eyebrows reached his eyes. He released them with his eyes wide open and pinned at Gambala.

"Do you want to die?"