Chapter 257: I am me
He paused for a moment and then made an expression as if he had suddenly realized something.
"Ohh, that matter with the Church that is all over the internet right now. You must be thinking about that, I guess. So, that explains why you aren’t sleeping. Yeah, so what did you want to ask? Go ahead. I have to return to sleeping after this."
Edward looked at Asher for a moment.
He remained silent for several moments, carefully observing him before finally asking,
"Who are you?"
Asher went silent for a moment before saying in a serious tone, "Did you start smoking some mystical weed or something?"
Edward replied instantly, "I did not."
Asher replied again, "Then why are you spouting nonsense questions right now? Of course I am me, and I have always been me. What nonsense are you talking about?"
Edward remained silent for a moment, studying Asher’s expression through the projection.
"I see. And also, what are you thinking of doing now?"
Asher looked at Edward for a moment and then said, "You are probably smoking something. I am thinking of sleeping for now, then waking up after some time. After that, I will go out of the academy to restock my vanilla ice cream from my usual restaurant."
He paused briefly, as if carefully planning his day.
"Then I’ll probably have dinner at the academy. Today’s menu is full of spicy food that I like. After that, at night, I will probably play some games and then watch some eSports whi—"
Edward intervened before Asher could continue any further with his list.
"I meant the important thing you are thinking of doing in the future."
Asher replied instantly, "Again, spouting nonsense. These are the most important things for me. To enjoy my life however I want."
He shifted slightly under the blanket and continued in his usual casual tone.
"You should stop overthinking everything. You should also step out of your office sometimes and enjoy your life. You spend too much time thinking about unnecessary things."
Edward remained silent for a moment.
He sighed before finally saying, "Yeah, you are right. I was just overthinking, I guess. I will end the call now."
Asher simply replied, "Okay."
The call was cut, and the projection disappeared, leaving Edward alone in the room.
For a moment, Edward remained completely still.
And then Edward suddenly laughed.
"’I am me. I have always been me.’ Yeah, right. You are still the same, and what you are doing is still the same. Doing whatever you want without caring about what others think and fighting for it alone, without caring about whom you are going against."
Edward laughed again.
"Yeah... doing what you want is really good for happiness, I think."
He suddenly laughed even harder this time, almost as if he had completely lost his mind.
Just then, Arthur suddenly entered the room and found Edward laughing by himself.
Arthur looked at Edward with a confused expression for a moment. Edward still didn’t seem interested in stopping, which only made Arthur more confused.
After waiting for a few seconds, Arthur finally asked, "Why are you laughing? Did something funny happen?"
Edward looked at Arthur and calmly replied, "Nothing, Arthur. I just beat the dog that had been annoying me for a long time."
Arthur became even more confused after hearing that.
"What dog are you talking about?"
Edward looked at Arthur and replied in a calm tone, "I am talking about that Cardinal, Solarius. I just beat him up and gauged out his bone and then shoved it in his mouth to taught him a lesson because he was being annoying."
Arthur remained silent for a moment.
He stared at Edward as if he was trying to process what he had just heard.
Then his eyes widened.
"You did what?! Have you gone crazy?"
Edward looked at Arthur, who was now clearly panicking after realizing what Edward had done.
"Don’t worry. They are too busy to take any action right now, and I had more than enough justification to do that."
Edward paused for a moment before shrugging.
"Well, fuck the justification too. They won’t do anything anyway, so don’t worry."
Arthur continued staring at Edward with wide eyes.
He had come into the room expecting to discuss something important, but instead, he had somehow discovered that his father had just dealt with a Cardinal in an extremely humiliating way.
Arthur slowly closed his eyes.
’Everyone has gone crazy.’
He sighed inwardly.
’First, his son gouged out Leon’s eyes, and now Father has gone and beaten a Cardinal and humiliated him by gouging out his bone and shoving it in his mouth. He even went further than Asher did.’
After that, Edward explained the whole thing that had happened there, including how someone had suddenly appeared before them and then openly announced war against the entire human force.
After hearing everything, Arthur looked at Edward for a moment, wondering if he was joking or if he was actually being serious. However, knowing Edward, Arthur quickly realized that he was not joking. Edward would sometimes speak casually about things that would make anyone else panic, but there was always a reason behind his calmness.
Arthur then looked at him and asked in a confused tone, "I didn’t understand the whole thing about that man, but if he is really going to do all this, then why aren’t you worried?"
Edward looked at Arthur with a slightly confused expression, as if he didn’t understand why Arthur was asking such a question. After a brief pause, he calmly said, "Being worried won’t change much anyway, will it? We just have to fight and try to survive."
Arthur remained silent after hearing that. He looked at Edward for a moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel as calm as him. There were too many uncertainties, and the thought of an entire war spreading across the Continent was difficult to ignore.
Arthur then thought inwardly, ’But what about the infants and other children, just like my Grandson? If everything he said is true, wouldn’t it mean that they will all die?’