Chapter 36 - Pieces of knowledge
Silas was not surprised by the reveal. He knew the king was long gone.
Currently, the royal capital is controlled by many factions. They held the real influence and power. All the power in the king’s hand was falsehood.
That was why Silas didn’t report his finding to the king. It was useless. If he really wanted to find real authority, the crown prince was the best.
But now was not the time. The crown prince was probably busy gathering the remnant of power lost by his father. He didn’t have the time or energy to make enemies with Floen.
So, Silas knew that the threat using the king’s name was futile. He said it because he wanted to see the cards in Andile’s hand.
’Show me. Show me your cards so that I can break them.’
"Looks like your information is quite good. You even know about the king." Andile said, seeing that Silas didn’t react to his information. Either Silas was the best actor or he already knew about the king’s situation.
"Yes. I know. I also knew about your backers."
Andile lifted an eyebrow and smiled. It was chilling. A smile crafted by someone other than human.
"I see. Your network is surprising. I already read about your story. And it seems that the information there was incorrect. They said that you only focus on catching up to your sister."
"You can believe that." Silas said.
"Are we in a stalemate? You can’t attack me with the information you have and I have nothing to gain from attacking you." Andile said.
"That... that is not true, Floen." Silas smiled. "You see. I am not going to attack you with the information alone."
"Oh." Andile said. "Tell me."
"That is a secret you need to discover." Silas laid back down and took the blood wine.
"Is that so? Intriguing. Let’s see. Even if you don’t tell me your secret, I will tell you mine." Andile said with a smile.
"Those kids you killed.." He paused for an effect. "Those kids can be saved."
Silas frowned and placed the wine glass.
"Don’t believe me?" Andile said. "Ask the mage in your mind. Oh.. how did I know about that mage? That is a secret. Terrifying right? How a single piece of knowledge can shatter your world."
Silas didn’t ask. He worked through his mind, replaying all the kids he killed. All the death he caused.
He said it was a mercy kill but was it really? He didn’t know.
"Thamior, answer me."
[It is true.] Thamior said as it was a matter of fact.
Before he could ask why he didn’t reveal this knowledge, Thamior cut in quick.
[I hide it because I want to take over your body by causing extreme stress.]
Silas laughed, holding his face, containing his laughter.
Andile watched him with a wine glass.
After he felt a sharp pain in his chest, Silas stopped his laughter. He was truly the worst.
Sure, he didn’t know that he could still cure the kids at that time but he should. He held himself accountable for that.
Just because his mind was hazy by the explosion, he took the easy way out with the kids.
’They are going to haunt me.’ Silas thought and focused his attention on Andile.
"Sorry for an ugly sight." Silas apologized.
"Don’t worry about it. I enjoyed it a lot." Andile added salt to his aching wound.
"I am sure you would." Silas said.
"To be honest, I was hoping to see you in agony." Andile admitted.
"Not right now. Now is not the time for emotion." Silas said slowly. "For my mistakes, I will find forgiveness. Forgiveness by giving those poor souls your blood."
"Blood is not enough for those kids." Andile said. "Now, I will list everything."
"First, I can kill you. In a literal sense, right now, I can kill you. You have no protection whatsoever. I am really surprised at your courage."
Silas frowned.
"Second, you don’t have a backing."
"Third, your goal is unsure. Even to yourself. You are lost. But that is normal for your age. You are wandering between childhood and adulthood. Your goal is not fixed. It could change in a flip. I considered this fact as a welcome. You know why?"
Silas shook his head.
"Because your goal can be the same as mine. To become the absolute."
Becoming absolute means replacing every single working mind with your own. To be a tyrant.
Silas wished he could kill Andile right there. He imagined the man’s head blew to pieces, blood splattered across the room, dripping down from his face as he tasted the iron in his blood.
"You want me to work for you."
"It will be better if you and I work towards that goal." Andile pointed out. "After that, we can plan how to kill each other. There is no need to be an enemy. You have a very good trait I desire."
"What about your children? Are they not aligned with you?" Silas asked.
As far as his knowledge of the game goes, Andile had three children. Two sons and one daughter.
They were the same old arrogant young masters. Although, The oldest son was quite devious if his memories served him right.
"They are not worthy." Andile explained.
"I am Viremont. Don’t you hate Viremont with your entire being?"
Andile nodded. "I hate them. They always stand in the way of reaching that absolute one way or another. But right now you are not Viremont."
Silas frowned. ’Here it comes. The mystery behind Viremont’s ritual.’ He braced himself.
"Is my family hiding something from me?" Silas asked. It was laughable that he was asking about his family situation to their enemies.
But rather than asking others, Andile was the safe choice. Sometimes, the enemy knew better than you knew about yourself.
"Ah, the ritual. The famous ritual that everyone except the children from Viremont didn’t know about. I wonder how they concealed the information from you. They must spend a lot of resources on that."
Andile said in amazement. He was genuinely surprised.
"I can excuse the first and second point from your list. Yes, you can kill me and yes, I don’t have any backings. But I have a goal. It was an abstract goal but still a goal I wished to achieve. Now that ’s out of the way, tell me about my family?"
Andile smiled and poured a drink. "The night is long. We still have a lot of time to enjoy ourselves. Here."
He placed the glass in front of Silas and motioned him to drink. Silas did it without a pause. He felt heat rushing to his mana core and helping him circulating.
The wine was doing the opposite of what it should do. His mind was so clear that he could conjure up two parallel thoughts simultaneously.
Seeing Silas enjoying the wine, Andile also drank his as well.
"Viremont has a tradition. You denied the third part right? About having no goal. I still stand correct. Because if you knew about your goal, you wouldn’t be in the ritual at all."
Silas tilted his head, not understanding what Andile was saying at all.
"An old tradition from your family." Andile muttered.