Cæ couldn't even believe what she was saying to him.
"This… this is a good thing?" his gray eyes sharpened.
She heaved a sigh. "Naturally, the losses are regrettable and sorrowful. The people who died at the hands of Master Mordir will be remembered. In particular…"
Her tone grew softer. "The loss of Senior Surven is particularly unfortunate. However…"
Her gaze returned to Cæ. "It is indeed true that the benefits vastly outweigh the detriments. We have made the first step of major progress in unlocking the slums from their shackles and giving a portion of them the opportunity to gain the power of magic."
Cæ gazed at her with silence, before asking—
"Your political goals matter more to you than the people you are entrusted with responsibility over?"
His tone was not accusatory.
And yet, it was heavy.
She simply gazed at him with a calm and composed expression.
"Wars cannot be fought without collateral damage," she replied simply. "However, that doesn't mean that there aren't wars worth fighting. I have taken more than what one could reasonably expect of me to ensure that I minimize the loss of life on our side, including personally intervening the moment I got even a hint of the movements of the late master of the Colohen Mafia."
Cæ stirred at her words with a hint of acknowledgment in his eyes.
Indeed, the Headmistress had hardly been remiss in her willingness to protect her own. She had even given him a powerful artifact to protect him in the field, and it certainly was the reason that he hadn't experienced anything nearly as bad as the others in the task force.
"…We do not live in a perfect world, Mr. Cæ," she continued. "We make do with what we can to achieve the goals that we seek to, even when we know that loss is inevitable. The people who died this time are certainly not something that I disregard with apathy, but they are a price I'm willing to pay to achieve my political goals if I have no other choice."
She gazed deep into his eyes.
"Do you truly disapprove of that sentiment?"
Cæ's eyes closed.
"No."
A glint of determination flickered in the depths of his dichromatic gray eyes.
"I am willing to kill to achieve my goals, but…" his tone grew heavy. "I am more reluctant about letting my people die."
There was a subtle yet important difference between the two.
"Willing to kill to achieve your goals, but unwilling to let them die, is it?" Headmistress Lenolia raised an eyebrow. "Even if you know that you cannot stop them from dying?"
"I know I cannot," Cæ's tone was soft. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't do what's in my power to stop it from happening."
He thought about something happening to Feidin or Seliphaz in his quest to achieve his goal.
The very thought of it was painful.
Not just because of the damage that losing a business partner did.
In some ways, they were family.
And yet, strangely enough, if they stood in his way, he would not hesitate to eliminate them.
He shook his head lightly as he exhaled deeply.
It was an absurd hypothetical, as were his other thoughts. He just found himself in a rare introspective mood upon the little pang of guilt he felt at the death of the assistants, and the pain that they had gone through.
If he actually exited this abstract echelon of thought and returned to his normal state of mind, he knew that while there may have been things that he could have done to reduce the death count or ameliorate the damage, any notion of him shouldering the blame for what happened was absurd. They were ambushed by a master mage, something that was extraordinarily unlikely to occur.
His gaze shifted to the Headmistress Lenolia with a gaze of gratitude.
"Thank you for saving me—for saving all of us—Headmistress Lenolia," Cæ's tone was earnest. "We would have all died a painful death if it weren't for your quick intervention. I'm sorry for not thanking you earlier, Mam."
A small smile emerged on her face. "You're very welcome, Mr. Cæ. I don't blame any of you for not offering a word of gratitude. You were all in a state of shock, and we were immediately swept up in dealing with the aftermath. Besides, I was just doing my duty."
Cæ heaved a deep breath, glancing around the office. "Er, don't you have a lot of important stuff to do now? Why did you want to speak to me when dealing with the storm that this event is going to cause? Like I'm sure that you have to speak with the authorities of the city and even law enforcement from the central government, no?"
Just the fact that there had been deaths meant that there was no doubt that investigative agencies were going to be all over the Elendir Institute of Magic for a while. Not just to speak with the Headmistress but also to get statements from all the survivors, and to make sure that the records match all the asserted facts and announcements.
Then there was the fact that she killed an important figure in the Colohen Underworld.
Cæ didn't really know who the hooded master mage was, but he knew that he had to be a bigshot.
Virtually every master mage was a big shot in Elendir.
The death of one, good or bad, would not be passed without being subjected to extreme scrutiny. Headmistress Lenolia would have to coordinate with not just the investigative agencies, but also an official inquiry from the Elendir Mage Association, as well as the Ministry of Magical Affairs.
Such an event would undoubtedly draw a PR storm from across Elendir, not just Colohen City.
And then there were the families of the dead employees of the Elendir Institute of Magic.
Although there was no doubt that the Elendir Institute of Magic did not employ simple civilians who weren't up for the task of risky jobs, it was still a blow to how attractive the Elendir Institute of Magic was as a place of employment. She would most likely need to increase wages and take other measures to ensure that this didn't erupt into a much worse nightmare.
And, of course, there were the parents of the students who had been hurt.
It didn't matter if the students were going to get premium treatment that would heal perfectly and quickly; there was no doubt that the parents of the Elendir Institute of Magic would take great issue with the idea of their students having their hearts crushed by a master mage.
She had so much to deal with that it was a wonder that she sought to even talk to him at all.
Their agreement was complete now.
They had both largely gotten what they wanted.
There really wasn't anything more to say to each other in the capacity of associates.
"I am indeed going to get very busy from this point on," she replied. "As are you, since the new academic year and your first year in the Senior Program will soon be starting, and you will be swept with your magicademics once more. That is why I wanted to get this done as soon as possible before I grew too busy to speak with you in the future."
She waved her hand as a file from her filing cabinet floated over to Cæ.
It was sealed in a filing envelope.
One that brimmed with magic and encrypted runes and magic circles across the entire filing envelope.
"This…" His eyes widened with realization. "Is this…?"
"It's a copy of the sealed investigation into the car crash that put you in a coma," she confirmed with a serious tone. "All the details, testimonies, forensics, transcripts, and everything related to the investigation are in there, just as you asked of me."
The air shifted.
The atmosphere tingled with tension.
Cæ's expression grew menacingly intense as his gray eyes grew ferociously intense.
The boundless rage and hatred he harbored in his heart boiled to the surface.
One moment, he was calm and composed.
The very next moment, his presence gained the edge of bloodlust.
Headmistress Lenolia watched the change keenly and quietly, interjecting when she saw him trying to open it.
"Not here." She stopped him with a knowing expression. "Not now. The press is going to be here soon, if they haven't already arrived. I would rather avoid taking any risks."
His sharp eyes remained fierce. "Risk? Of them learning about this report by some absurd turn of events?"
"Yes, that is why I have gone out of my way to cast one of the most powerful anti-divination enchantments on the filing envelopes that I could. Make sure that you don't read it outside of your room," she instructed him with a calm and unyielding tone. "You will understand when you read it."
His narrowed gaze remained focused on the Headmistress. "Headmistress Lenolia… did you read the report?"
"Only to ensure that I had the right one," she replied, heaving a resigned sigh. "Rest assured, I want nothing to do with it. I have no interest and no inclination to involve myself in this matter whatsoever. In fact, after reading the party involved, I somewhat regret having accepted your request as a reward instead of insisting that you ask for another one. Knowledge is indeed power, but in the same way that a ticking time bomb is. I have no interest in putting up with the risks that come with knowing this."
Her tone was heavy.
Heavier than it was when she spoke about opposing the Colohen Mafia.
She directed a meaningful gaze at him. "Since I am your Headmistress, I will repeat what I told you one last time and insist even strongly that you do not pursue vengeance. Not only will it leave you feeling empty and broken, but in this case, it is also extremely dangerous and vastly out of your capabilities."
This confirmed Cæ's suspicions that the person responsible for the crash that killed Lila and put him in a coma for six months was undoubtedly someone very powerful and rich.
And yet, it didn't add up.
What kind of rich and powerful person rode a truck across the city?
He didn't understand.
"I will just have to find out when I'm by myself then."
He got up from his seat, throwing a deep gaze at the Headmistress. "Thank you once again for saving my life, Headmistress. Thank you for fulfilling my request. And… goodbye."
It was a strange thing to say to the headmistress of his magicademy, a magicademy that he would undoubtedly be spending several years in.
However, she understood what he meant.
"Goodbye, Mr. Cæ."
She was going to be very busy from this point forward, dealing with not just the aftermath of this event, but also dealing with a new academic year with students from the slums from a very different time in the history of the nation.
She had won a battle, but if she was careless, she would lose the war.
It was hardly going to be the case that they would never speak with each other again, but from this point forth, their relationship would return to that of a normal student council member and the Headmistress.
Cæ heaved a deep breath before departing from her office, only to find himself gazing at a crowd of journalists and camera crews, blinding him with a series of flashes and a dizzying flurry of questions.
"Were you involved with the most recent incident today?!"
"Please tell us your side of the story!"
"What do you know about the anomalous black cloud deep in the slums spotted from within the inner city?!"
The journalists were like sharks that smelled blood.
Their eyes were unnervingly overzealous while they spoke and acted in hyperdrive.
"I am willing to answer your questions."
Headmistress Lenolia's authoritative voice drew their attention away from him, allowing him to pass through the crowd, only to find plenty of police who had already begun speaking to the task force and others alike.