Deception: A Tactician's Card

Agony's Borrowed Memories 2

"If you think that even a still have an ounce of pity towards you, you are sorely mistaken. You crossed the line. I thought I could trust you. But in the end, I should have listened to Yukti's advice to cut ties with you a long time ago."

"P-please, let me explain for a second Cory! I'm also a victim here! I need to do it, or else he might kill me and my family!"

"I understand that you pity your life and family that much that you need to betray me. However, you got something wrong. Your family has been dead four days ago."

"W-what? What do you mean?"

"That guy who hired you killed your family."

"That's not possible—"

"It is possible. That guy is a heartless individual that could abandon his family in pursuit of power."

"N-no. Why...? It's all lies. It's ALL LIES!"

He leaped towards me and was about to swing his hammer when I countered it with a swift s***h from my scythe.

"N-n-no, it's not this is impossible...Guh...!"

"Accept the reality. Don't worry, you'll be with your family this time."

Blood splattered at the wall and the head rolled away. I picked it up and gently put it beside the now beheaded body. I don't want conflict, but I guess friendships could only last until it gets disrupted by a bastard. That is, my father.

Damn it.

Is this the price that I get from having my bastard of a father a former accomplice of that shitty cult?

This is when I, Cory Lore, ignited the ticking of the clock of my life.

•••

"Mom!"

"Oh, Kory. What is it?"

"I can not sleep."

What is this?

"Oh is that so? Come here. Let me tell you a story."

"A dream?"

"It was once said that ten years ago, there exist a certain individual so full of malice that needed to be slain immediately. But then every time met their demise at the hands of that ruthless killer. The citizens of the kingdom named Lumen successfully droved the man away by lying at that person that in the far north of the region, there exists a village full of ruffians and that they needed to be wiped out.

This is a world where a system of nobility exists. The people who lived in a kingdom's capital or a city within its boundaries reside according to their status. The ones living in the outer layer, of course, are normal families; the ones who lived in luxurious mansions are the rich ones. The nobles also govern a certain plot of land so that the kingdom will forever be fertile thanks to the resources.

But despite that ever nice peace-loving kingdom everyone can see in the prosperous kingdom, it's only a facade; hiding the real reason why it got the progress it currently has now.

The Lumen Kingdom is a place of superb beauty. And yet if it weren't for a single person whose sole purpose is infiltration and sabotage, this kingdom would've already been in shambles. What did that person do? She's the sole reason why the kingdom suffered zero casualties against that rogue kingdom. But after all, she did, she was grounded by the upper echelon and restrained her actions, fearing that the living weapon they have might turn its fangs towards them.

Normally, anyone who gets this kind of unfriendly treatment despite the one who truly made this kingdom not suffer any necessary deaths may be bound to retaliate against the people she can easily devour; lucky for them, Aura seems to ignore this kind of stuff and even said the words anyone didn't anticipate to hear."

Er... Now that I think about it...

I've always adored stories that are not suitable for children ever since a kid. My mother at first don't know why I love it but soon understand my peculiarities.

"Lucent Academy, a facility where people go to educate themselves according to their respective departments is the sole educating facility of the Lumen Kingdom. There are a total of five departments; Physical Department, Magic Department, Medical Department, Smithing Department, and General Education Department. The Physical Department reaches out to those who boast their physical capabilities; Magic Department for those who are magic maniacs, frankly speaking; Medical Department for those who are knowledgeable in medicine; Smithing Department is more on utilizing in creating various equipment for both military and commercial purposes; the General Education, allows those who can't compete well in the first four departments, and they've seen in the public as the low-class among all students in the academy. To the people, being in that department during their school life is a disgrace. Little did they know that this is the department of the scholars and the kingdom's manpower for documents and paperwork. In this world, only the ones who could get the prestige of rising in ranks are those who excel in military arts and magic, medical professionals, and excellent smiths; General Ed. students only get a small amount of recognition."

What's the point of remembering her story?

"Inside the meeting hall of the kingdom's pride, the five department heads of the academy's faculty along with the dean, Robert Jayce, a tall man in his forties with a physically fit physique, possessed brown eyes and a semi-bald scalp, started the informal assembly. He, as a master of ancient magic, wore a black robe long enough to reach his knees. He put a portrait of a lady on a piece of paper on the round table they're sitting in front of.

"She's Aura, seventeen years of age, a black-haired and blue-eyed person; average in height. She may be a normal teenage girl in front of our eyes. But she has a dark past and she's always been shackled by the upper echelon. But instead of hating it, she preferred to be shackled than to go back to her dark self, which is truly commendable. Now, she'll be a second-year high school student. She still asked the same things she wanted to have. She wanted to still be under monitoring state and patrol the area around the kingdom."

Emilia Mago, the head of the Magic Department and supreme beauty, raised her voice and asked politely. She's already in her thirties, yet her figure and face are still the same from when she's still nineteen years old; as if she's some kind of a goddess. Her proportions are as refined as the w****s in the red light district (Emilia if she sees my description: Hey that's rude!). She's currently wearing a dark blue-dyed witch hat, and a dark blue robe enough to her knees, just like Robert's but the design on her clothing is more detailed, and unlike Sir Robert's traditional long-sleeved robe, her robe is more on the girly side.

"What department did she choose sire?"

In the Lucent Academy, one can only attend the departmental class during their second year. The first year in the academy is more or less an excuse for individuals to enhance their potentials in their own way, even going so far as to use a living person to bombard magic with.

"As what she told His Highness, she's on your department, Drake."

After hearing this, the head of the General Education was totally shocked -- it's not just him; all of the other department heads dropped their jaws. The General Education department head's name is Drake Willem, a twenty-one years old; possessing brown eyes and yellow hair with a slim figure. It's a most notable feature of his is the dark circles under his eyes due to overwork

"W-w-what? I thought that the General Education department will be permanently closed?"

"Yes, in the previous meeting, we all came to an agreement that your department will be removed. But His Highness, the king, declared that that department will stay since Aura herself asked it. For a lady like her, prestige and wealth don't concern her; she preferred to have that wish granted instead."

Mmm... I wonder why.

"Yawn..."

"Oh? You're sleepy now? Very well, have a good night's rest. I hope that the life story of my mother and your grandmother would help give you hints of how to evade the world's demise."

My mother hummed me for one last time before she was found dead the next afternoon.