Like with most things Raze did, he had planned for the worst-case scenario.
In his mind, he always envisioned things going sideways, just in case. It was the safest way to operate. So when he made his way into the principal’s office, he’d already considered the possibility that soone might discover his presence there.
Maybe there were magical traps set up. Maybe alarms had been triggered. Maybe the academy had hidden surveillance or enchanted contraptions ant to alert faculty or summon guards in secret.
Yet... none of that had happened.
Everything had gone smoothly. Too smoothly.
Which ant Raze had gotten lucky. For now.
It was turning out to be his best-case scenario. But even then, in the event soone had appeared, he was prepared. Prepared to do what was necessary.
That ant eliminating the witness, cleanly, silently. And with his Dark Magic, he could make a body disappear without leaving so much as a fingerprint behind.
He wouldn’t even need to cause much destruction. Just a whisper in the air. A flicker of mana. The body would be gone, and no one would suspect a thing.
And if soone did go missing? Well, the assumption wouldn’t be that the person had been killed, at least, not right away.
It wouldn’t be their first thought.
Even if there were traces of a struggle or hints of battle, the way the Central Mage Academy functioned, the way its leaders thought, ant they would never shut down the event.
The pride of the academy ran too deep. The arrogance even deeper.
All it would an was that Raze’s movents would beco a little harder to pull off. But the mission wouldn’t stop.
And yet, here he was.
Faced with the one outco he hadn’t entirely calculated for.
Soone had caught him.
And it wasn’t just anyone, it was soone he had spoken to just hours earlier. Soone with questions. Soone watching him now with the one expression Raze didn’t want to see: suspicion.
"If I told you the truth," Raze said, turning to et the man’s gaze, "you wouldn’t believe ."
His voice was calm. Steady. He stared straight into the man’s eyes.
Tink.
The professor’s brow furrowed as he took a step closer. "Raze," Tink said quietly, shaking his head. "There can only be a few reasons why you were standing outside the principal’s office just now. I saw the seal you drew. You replicated the original barrier spell perfectly."
He paused, clenching his fist as frustration began to rise.
"And based on that... and the timing of our last conversation, my guess is that you’ve been inside that office for a while now." His voice dropped lower. "None of the reasons I can think of for why you’d be in there... are good ones."
Tink drew in a deep breath, holding it for a mont.
"But please," he finally said, his tone cracking, "at least tell why. Give a reason, any reason."
He wasn’t accusing yet. Not outright. But the implications were loud enough.
Raze could sense the inner conflict.
Tink had been on his way to the event grounds. He had spent too long in his office and decided to take a short walk around the academy to stretch his legs. Just by chance, he had stumbled upon this mont.
And he had never expected to see Raze standing there.
A transfer student. Talented beyond belief. But also one who seed to know everything about the academy.
Tink’s mind couldn’t help but go to the worst place. He could only assu one thing: that Raze was a spy. Soone planted to move against the academy from the inside.
But even with that possibility gnawing at the back of his mind, Tink didn’t want to believe it.
That’s why he asked. Why he held on.
He wanted Raze to say sothing, anything, that would give him a reason to doubt his doubts.
"Tink," Raze said suddenly, changing the subject. "You were here when Cromwell was a professor, weren’t you?"
The question hit like a brick.
Tink blinked, confused. For a student to bring up that na, that na, wasn’t just surprising. It was shocking.
"The real na..." he muttered. "You an Cromwell?"
"Yes," Raze replied. "That’s the one."
Tink straightened his posture. "I was," he answered slowly. "But I had only just started. I’d been a professor for about six months back then."
"Right," Raze nodded. "So you had ti to form an impression, but maybe not enough to know everything."
Tink said nothing.
"And that ans," Raze continued, "you’ve been working with Ibarin for far longer than you worked with Cromwell." His gaze sharpened. "So based on everything you’ve seen. Everything you know. Tell this, do you think Cromwell really did what they said he did?"
The air between them shifted.
"Do you think it’s possible," Raze went on, "that Ibarin set up Cromwell? That he frad him, just so he could take the principal position for himself?"
Tink didn’t answer right away.
Even with everything swirling in his mind, he took the question seriously.
If he’d been asked years ago, back when the accusations first surfaced, his answer would have been simple. At the ti, his impression of both professors was the sa. They were good n. Dedicated to their work. Highly respected.
But over the years... things changed.
He had witnessed things, subtle things. How Ibarin claid credit for research he didn’t author. How professors with potential mysteriously faded from the academy’s spotlight.
They weren’t expelled or punished. But they stopped being ntioned. Stopped rising.
And sohow, even when they joined other institutions, their projects would collapse.
Entire operations mysteriously shut down.
No one talked about it.
No one dared.
Because they all knew, it was Ibarin.
"I’ll give you my answer," Tink finally said. His voice was quiet, but resolute. "Based on what I know now... yes. I think it’s possible. I think Ibarin could have done sothing like that."
Raze didn’t react. He just listened.
"But just because sothing is possible..." Tink continued, "doesn’t an it’s true. I still don’t understand, why are you asking this?"
Raze raised a hand and touched his face. He had made his decision.
He would try the peaceful route, one last ti.
"I told you before," Raze said. "That if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe ."
His hand dropped back to his side.
"I am Raze Cromwell."
*****
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