Chapter 69: Academy Factions!
"Not the Academy Master himself?!" Tony asked.
"No, young master. Academy Master Da Vinci appears to be uninvolved. It’s Rutherford who has the direct connection to the Imperial family. He processed the assignnt personally and made sure it looked routine." Sunil t his eyes. "It was deliberate from the beginning."
Tony turned that over quietly. He had spent the last two days assuming the Academy Master was the axis the conspiracy rotated around. That assumption had been wrong, which ant his read of the situation needed adjusting.
"The academy factions," Tony said. "Give
the full picture."
Sunil nodded. "Two main groups. The first supports the current Academy Master, Da Vinci — Sword Peak falls here, and Da Vinci has the edge in pure strength, which keeps the balance tilted slightly in his favor. The second faction supports Vice Master Rutherford, who controls Rising Sun Peak and Falling Sun Peak. He’s been building toward replacing Da Vinci for years — patient, careful, using every connection he has." Sunil paused. "Peak Master Natasha of the Healing Tower is neutral. She declared openly that she has no interest in academy politics and answers to neither faction. Both sides have tried to bring her over. Both sides have failed."
"So she’s the wild card," Tony muttered, more to himself than to Sunil.
"Yes, young master. If she ever chose a side, the balance would collapse imdiately."
Tony stared at the oil lamp on the courtyard wall, watching the fla move in the cold mountain air.
Mark Smith put
in the Healing Tower through Rutherford. Rutherford is Natasha’s technical superior — but Natasha doesn’t play politics. So Mark’s move lands
in Natasha’s space, which should be controllable, except Natasha is the one person in this academy who doesn’t owe either faction anything.
Interesting choice, Prince. Either you miscalculated her, or the plan doesn’t need her cooperation.
He was still turning it over when the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps broke the courtyard silence — uneven, heavy, gasping.
A round figure ca barreling through the courtyard gate with both hands on his knees, heaving for breath, face red from exertion, robes twisted sideways from running.
Fatty Lin had arrived.
"WHERE —" he wheezed, holding up one finger, "— have you — been running —" another wheeze "— do you know how many — stairs —"
"Catch your breath," Tony said.
Fatty Lin stood bent over for thirty seconds, making sounds that suggested his lungs were considering legal action. Sunil watched him with a carefully blank expression.
Finally Fatty straightened up, smoothed his robe with what remained of his dignity, and stepped forward with the bearing of soone delivering state secrets.
"Sorry for the delay, young master," he said, back to normal as if the wheezing had never happened. "I was gathering sothing specific. Sothing that couldn’t wait." He reached into his robe and produced a folded letter, slightly crumpled from being clutched during the run, and held it out with both hands. "Please read this."
Tony set down the apple core and took it.
He unfolded it and read.
His eyes moved across the page once. Then again. His expression stayed neutral but sothing behind it sharpened — the specific quality of attention that ans the information in front of you is more important than you expected.
"The eting between Mark Smith and the Healing Tower doctor," Tony said. "Kelly Don. Rank Five." He looked up at Fatty. "How did you get this?!"
"I have my thods, young master," Fatty said, with enormous satisfaction.
"The thods have a na?!"
"...I bribed one of the mountain fort servants," Fatty admitted. "Three tis the going rate. Very cooperative after that."
"Good." Tony continued reading. "Kelly Don is going to position herself close to
from tomorrow. Steer
toward terminal patients. Make every death look deliberate." He folded the letter slowly. "Mark wants the academy to see
as a walking execution."
Sunil’s eyes widened. "Young master, that’s —"
"Clever," Tony said. "It’s actually a clever plan." He didn’t sound troubled by this. He sounded like soone acknowledging a well-executed chess move before deciding how to respond to it. "If I’m seen near dying patients and they all die, the story writes itself. Nobody investigates whether the patients were already dying — they just rember that Tony Clark was there."
"There’s more, young master," Fatty said, his expression going more serious. "Turn to the second page."
Tony turned it over.
"Oh," he said quietly. "Edward."
"The ninth prince hasn’t forgotten what you did to him at the Seventh Octopus House," Fatty said. "He has a vicious servant lady — very capable, very motivated. They’re planning sothing. From what I gathered, they’ll move soon — within the week, maybe sooner."
"Two fronts," Tony muttered. "Mark from inside the Healing Tower, Edward from outside." He almost smiled. "I’ve been here three days and I already have the Imperial family running two separate operations against . I should feel honored."
He stood up, folded the letter, and looked at both of them.
Fatty Lin was watching him with eager eyes. Sunil stood straight, waiting.
Tony reached into his storage ring.
He produced an Earth Rank Sword — clean, well-balanced, the kind of weapon that cost more than most outer disciples saw in a year — and held it out to Fatty Lin.
Fatty Lin stared at it. His mouth opened. Closed. He reached out and took it with both hands, and for a mont the unshakeable cheerfulness cracked into sothing genuinely moved.
"Young master, this is —"
"You earned it," Tony said simply. "That letter was worth more than everything else brought tonight combined."
Fatty bowed his head three tis in rapid succession, clutching the sword to his chest like soone who had been handed proof that the universe occasionally operated fairly.
Tony turned to Sunil and produced a Human Rank Movent Technique scroll.
Sunil took it, and Tony watched the brief flicker of calculation move across his face — comparing it to the sword, asuring the gap — before Sunil buried it under a respectful bow.
"Thank you, young master. Next ti I will bring better information."
"I know you will," Tony said. He looked at both of them. "Starting tomorrow — eyes on both princes. Mark Smith and Edward Smith. Every eting, every movent, every servant that cos and goes. If you need to bribe soone, do it. Don’t worry about the money." He paused. "And if you can get access to Clark family surveillance equipnt — the advanced listening devices, the ones my father uses for compound security — use them. Bug their residences if you can manage it without getting caught."
Both of them looked at each other.
Sunil’s careful general posture flickered slightly. Fatty Lin broke into a wide grin.
"Young master," Fatty said, "this is considerably more exciting than practicing martial arts."
"Don’t get caught," Tony said.
"We won’t!!" they said simultaneously, with the confidence of people who had not yet fully thought through the consequences of getting caught.
Tony watched them go — Fatty Lin bouncing slightly as he walked, one hand still on the sword, Sunil already ntally organizing his next information run — and then sat back down on the steps alone.
The courtyard was quiet again. The oil lamp fla had settled. Sowhere on the mountain above, the snow leopard was tied to its pine tree, probably plotting sothing.
Tony stared at the folded letter in his hands.
Kelly Don moves tomorrow. Edward moves within the week. Mark Smith thinks he’s already three steps ahead.
He tucked the letter into his storage ring.
Let’s disappoint him. Hmmhh... "--"
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