Chapter 231

Chapter 231 – One in a Hundred, One in a Thousand

A decent amount of time had gone by following the conclusion of the auction in the Black-White Slums.

The grueling final examinations that had been weighing heavily on the academy students were at last finished, and shortly thereafter, the second school break commenced.

Throughout this period, Evelyn and Aster had been constantly traveling to and from the Black-White Slums, and today was no different.

“…….”

After concluding her straightforward discussion with Timur, Evelyn walked up to the rooftop terrace of the Svetlana hideout building.

Waiting there, as he always did, was Knight… rather, Aster.

Stepping out onto the open roof, Evelyn paused briefly, observing Aster as he stared down at the sprawling landscape of the Black-White Slums.

With his lips tightly sealed and his back positioned against the bright sun, he looked down at the slums, appearing somehow disconnected from his surroundings.

As if he belonged to another realm entirely?

He had always carried an ethereal quality, giving off the impression that he might dissolve into the breeze at any moment, but this trait had become far more pronounced since the auction wrapped up.

Just as Evelyn began to feel a strange, unbridgeable gap separating them, Aster shifted his unfocused eyes away from the slums and looked toward her.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Ah… yes. The discussion went smoothly. Timur promised to grant us his backing. But what exactly are you up to? You’ve spent the last several days cooped up on this rooftop. Are you perhaps…”

…getting ready for an onslaught from Decullan?

The query surged up to the edge of her lips, but Evelyn forced herself to keep it contained.

The advice of Shine—the mysterious partner she recognized as the Mage—suddenly echoed in her thoughts.

This clever bastard is essentially a powder keg waiting for a spark. He is clearly harboring a massive weight in his soul, so there is absolutely no reason to bring up Decullan or anything of the sort to him. Even if we remain completely silent, he is already the one enduring the absolute most pressure.

Though delivered casually, the core message was to show true empathy toward Aster.

Consequently, Evelyn had no choice but to keep her mouth shut, causing an uncomfortable silence to settle between them.

It was Aster who chose to break it.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Are you aware of the two specific methods to completely infuriate a person?”

“……?”

“The first method is beginning a sentence and then cutting yourself off. Exactly what you are doing this very second. How am I supposed to interpret that?”

“……”

Aster began shifting his clenched fists around, looking as though his entire frame was restless for a brawl.

The distant, unearthly demeanor vanished in an instant, replaced once again by his characteristic, irreverent attitude.

That sudden shift signaled danger to Evelyn, but right at that moment, Aster spoke up.

“I’m only teasing.”

“Ah, right.”

Evelyn let out a breath she had been holding.

Even so, the tension between them failed to completely dissipate.

‘What on earth is going on with him?’

Ever since the auction in the Black-White Slums reached its end.

Specifically, the very day he severed the right arm of the Azure Ice Captain’s secondary commander and delivered it back to them.

From that exact moment onward, Aster had been drifting off into deep trances with increasing frequency.

Could he be feeling anxious about the reckless action he had taken? Yet, that explanation didn’t quite seem to match his character…

‘You claimed everything would turn out fine.’

Indeed, this was the exact same Aster who had boldly guaranteed both her and a panicked Timur that absolutely no repercussions would follow after aggravating the Decullan forces.

Naturally, the words of the Mage carried far more weight for Evelyn than Aster’s confident bragging, but Aster’s reasoning wasn’t entirely without merit.

‘While the cold war persists with Lortel… Decullan won’t be able to act without extreme caution, right?’

Furthermore, the Mage was hardly a common adversary.

In order to confront the Mage, Decullan would be forced to mobilize a Seven Mage or an equivalent level of military power, a gamble far too dangerous for them to take during a time of peace—or at least, that was how Aster rationalized it.

Following that line of reasoning naturally brought a specific inquiry to the forefront of her mind.

‘What… is his true identity?’

Identified by the public merely as a vagrant of the Black-White Slums, Aster possessed an abundance of questionable traits.

To begin with, he counted an unidentifiable, immensely powerful entity like the Mage among his close allies, to say nothing of his own formidable individual combat prowess.

And the mysteries didn’t end there.

He spoke with absolute certainty regarding an inevitable conflict between the factions of Lortel and Decullan.

Yet, the most perplexing element of all was Aster’s bizarre, deep-seated animosity aimed directly at Decullan.

It was… truly something else.

It didn’t stem merely from the recent losses suffered by the vagrants of the Black-White Slums.

It was rooted in something far more profound and ancient.

With these pressing questions stacking up one after another, Evelyn’s internal musings naturally grew increasingly tangled, which ultimately drove her to finally vocalize her thoughts.

“What… are your actual intentions here?”

“Huh?”

Evelyn knit her brows together, annoyed by Aster’s typical display of ignorance.

“Stop pretending you don’t know. Over the past few days, you’ve been behaving as though you’re preparing to pack up and vanish. I heard the exact same thing from Damian and Chenbi. They mentioned that you’ve been intentionally keeping your distance from everyone…”

“It probably just appears that way because the affairs of the Black-White Slums have kept me completely occupied.”

“Occupied with what? I was the one who managed every single piece of logistics. Stop fabricating stories—give it to me straight. Weren’t you the one who insisted we were companions? What is the purpose of having a companion if not for this?”

“Hmm.”

Evelyn glared with disapproval at Aster’s unexpectedly solemn expression.

“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like I’m some sort of anomaly?”

“No, I was just realizing that you truly have transformed into a completely different person.”

“……?”

Evelyn tilted her head, thoroughly perplexed.

However, that confusion lasted only a brief second.

A wave of annoyance washed over her, causing her expression to sour.

“Stop trying to steer the conversation away. I am well aware of your patterns—whenever a situation becomes uncomfortable, you attempt to dodge it with ridiculous nonsense.”

“Did I really do that?”

Aster tilted his head to the side.

He was genuinely unaware that he possessed such a tendency.

“Yes, you absolutely do. So there is no running away this time—reveal what is on your mind right this second. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?”

“I will take all your funds and abandon you completely.”

Evelyn spoke with absolute gravity.

Aster suddenly erupted into a hearty laugh.

“How bold of you.”

“So just tell me already.”

Evelyn urged him forward, completely unwilling to yield ground on this occasion.

At the same time, an intrusive thought drifted through her mind.

‘Even if he tells me… what power do I have to change anything?’

Evelyn possessed a vague understanding of the reality.

The reality that Aster existed in a realm that was distinctly separate from her own—no, a realm that was entirely altered.

Just as that realization settled in, Aster finally broke his silence.

“In that case, take a step closer.”

区域“……?”

Evelyn advanced toward him in response to his physical prompt.

As they stood side by side, the entire expanse of the Black-White Slums stretched out beneath them, completely visible to their eyes.

“It isn’t exactly a breathtaking panorama, is it?”

“……No, it isn’t.”

Structures thrown together haphazardly due to unchecked expansion, degraded building fronts, intoxicated individuals stumbling through the pathways, and syndicate enforcers covered in elaborate body art.

Even with the most generous perspective, it was a dismal sight to behold.

“Right down there.”

“……?”

“I intend to construct a sanctuary for parentless children right around that area.”

“A… sanctuary for children?”

“Yes. Didn’t your meeting with Timur conclude successfully today? Svetlana is going to provide financial aid for the social enhancement of the Black-White Slums. I plan to utilize those specific resources to construct it.”

“Why would you suddenly want to establish an institution like that…”

Evelyn tilted her head in confusion.

It seemed completely inconsistent with the Aster she thought she knew.

“Does there really need to be a grand justification? I simply desire to do it, so I am going to do it. At any rate, pay attention. We are going to build this sanctuary. We will provide garments for the youth of the slums, supply them with sustenance, and offer them an education. Given that, what do you imagine they will grow up to become?”

“……How could I possibly predict that?”

Under normal circumstances, child sanctuaries operated by syndicates simply cultivated future syndicate soldiers.

Yet, the project he was describing didn’t seem to align with that model.

“Who can say? That is precisely where the enjoyment lies.”

“……”

“A few of them might end up becoming petty thieves. Others might take the knowledge they acquire and offer it directly to a syndicate to become high-ranking operatives. Some might even duplicate the actions of the local drunks throwing up in the pathways. But regardless of the outcome, I am indifferent. They are free to choose their own paths. Even so, you see…”

By this point,

Evelyn abruptly recognized that Aster had removed his face covering.

A vibrant, genuine grin was visible on his face. It shone brilliantly, despite the sun casting shadows behind him.

While she found herself captivated by that expression,

Aster turned his eyes directly into hers.

“A handful of them might become simple bakers. Others might escape these slums to find legitimate employment. Perhaps a single one will grow into a respected academic, or with an abundance of fortune, a celebrated knight or a prominent mage renowned throughout the lands.”

……Naturally, the individuals who achieve such heights will be few and far between.

Nevertheless.

“One out of a hundred, or perhaps one out of a thousand—that alone makes the endeavor entirely worthwhile, doesn’t it? I merely wish to witness that outcome. And then, I will track down the ones who achieve immense success and look them in the eye,”

“Say what…”

“’Every bit of your success is owed entirely to my intervention.’”

“……”

“Visualize the scenario. Walking up to a highly celebrated mage and declaring, ‘Indeed! I was the one who provided your meals and garments when you were a mere child—it was entirely my doing!’ What do you think? Just contemplating the idea is absolutely magnificent, isn’t it?”

“Th-that…”

Is that truly magnificent?

“Doesn’t that strike you as incredibly… petty? Are you seriously planning to pour an unimaginable fortune into this project just so you can deliver a single line of dialogue?”

She found herself entirely unable to comprehend his thought process.

Yet, Aster remained completely unwavering.

“That precise element is what makes it so entertaining.”

“……”

She had absolutely no concept of what could possibly be entertaining about it.

Evelyn glared at him with a critical expression, and after a short pause, Aster spoke once more.

“So, does that sufficiently address the question you had?”

“You have been behaving with such profound gravity recently… entirely over a matter like this?”

“Without a doubt. It requires a massive financial commitment, precisely as you pointed out. It demands deep contemplation. Furthermore, I am highly uncertain if such a project can even survive within these slums. And to be perfectly frank with you…”

“To be perfectly frank?”

Aster let out a soft laugh as he offered his explanation.

“It brings immense agony to my stomach.”

“……I beg your pardon?”

“In the environment where I was raised, child sanctuaries were completely nonexistent. Can you even conceive of being provided with free food and garments? Yet here I am, executing this plan using my own hard-earned funds… oh, the sheer agony of it.”

In all honesty, the thought had nearly induced a medical crisis within him.

Funds were far too scarce and precious.

It was entirely infuriating.

Gazing out over the Black-White Slums from the Svetlana hideout rooftop terrace was his method of soothing that internal torment.

“You are, without a doubt… garbage.”

“The kind that can be repurposed?”

“The kind that is completely non-combustible.”

Evelyn shook her head from side to side, looking as though she could no longer tolerate his antics.

In the meantime, Aster turned his body away from her, immersing his senses in the grand view of the Second Black-White Slums.

Naturally, the scenery remained largely unimpressive.

Down in one corner of a pathway, a group of vagrants was collective intimidating a passerby; in the very next corridor, an intoxicated fellow was emptying the contents of his stomach onto the bare earth.

Aster’s acute perception gathered every single detail without any filter, yet the vision he was truly focusing on was not the present state of the Second Black-White Slums.

Instead… he was looking a bit further into the future.

A marginally upgraded iteration of the Second Black-White Slums.

And positioned right at its core…

‘…I am highly skeptical about establishing a magic tower, however.’

His initial blueprints had included placing one right in that location.

Yet, the recent sequence of events had driven a harsh truth home.

Any piece of land that plays host to a magic tower will inevitably transform into a theater of war.

Given that reality, what was his next move?

The truth of the matter was that Aster’s deep reflections on the rooftop terrace were not solely centered around the agony of parting with his money.

He was actively reordering the desires of his own soul.

[So… your decision to depart remains unchanged?]

Aster gave a nearly imperceptible nod of agreement toward the voice of Shine—who was observing from an unseen vantage point—ensuring that Evelyn remained completely unaware of the exchange.

Shine fixed his gaze upon him for a prolonged duration before offering a final remark.

[Ensure your return before the school break reaches its conclusion.]

Aster offered no verbal covenant.

……And when the following morning arrived.

“……?”

Awakening within her rented quarters inside the Black-White Slums, Evelyn noticed a written message resting right beside her resting place and tilted her head in confusion.

However, her sense of wonder vanished at an accelerated pace.

She scanned the text with a composed demeanor, but as her focus shifted toward the bottom of the parchment, an involuntary trembling manifested in her eyes, intensifying with every passing second.

Upon finally arriving at the concluding words,

Evelyn grasped the stark reality.

Construct the child sanctuary flawlessly. Do not misappropriate a single coin from the allocations.

Aster had departed.