Chapter 63 - Used (2/2)
“And I, as it happens, am undying, so you’ll be able to watch the show on the side, watching us break each other’s heads?” Roland sighed. “Your utilizing people in this way, not to mention speaking so arrogantly about it in front of the one being exploited, aren’t you afraid that I won’t cooperate?”
“Now that the circ.u.mstances have been set, you can’t avoid it,” Aldo said with a smile. “I know you’ll be somewhat unhappy, but I’ll compensate you—as long as I can do it, you can ask for anything.”
After some deliberation, Roland said, “I want to know why you’re always targeting the headquarters.”
“Must you know?” Aldo squinted his eyes.
A dark and oppressive air came from Aldo.
Roland shook his head. “I’m only curious; if you don’t want to tell then forget it. But I won’t guarantee that I won’t leave this place.”
The smile on Aldo’s face disappeared. Aldo looked at Roland and suddenly said, “Do you think Vivian is cute and considerate?”
“What? What does this have to do with her?” Roland frowned. He couldn’t understand why Aldo’s thoughts suddenly jumped to someone else.
Ignoring Roland’s look, Aldo was engrossed in his memories. “When I was still a mage apprentice, I knew a young female apprentice the same age as me. She was just as cute and considerate as Vivian; I liked her very much. Can you guess what happened afterward?”
Roland seemed to guess the reason why Aldo always held hostility toward the headquarters. “That girl was a genius and she created a magic model or made some great contribution, and then the results were concealed by the headquarters?”
According to Roland’s usual line of thought, this would probably be the best plot.
“Hahahahaha!” Aldo let out maniacal laughter.
Roland felt that he seemed to have brought up a heartbreaking matter for Aldo. He even thought that the young girl might already be…
In the end, Aldo laughed for a while and suddenly stopped. His expression made a 180-degree turn. With a frigid look, he said, “No, you guessed wrong. The person who found results in their studies was me. At the time, I was too happy: I shared my own theory with this tender young girl and even gave her the ill.u.s.tration. The next day, she disappeared from the magic tower. Soon after, a young, genius female mage appeared at the headquarters.”
Dang!
“I went to the headquarters to confront her. I was humiliated, but I still found out her ident.i.ty. It turns out she was a distant relative of the chairman of the headquarters. I will never forget that moment when she so arrogantly threw twenty gold coins at me, saying that this was a pittance for me.” Aldo covered his face and laughed maniacally again, his laughter sharp and unpleasant. “Do you know? At the time, the more furious I was the more cowardly I feel now! I don’t even have the courage to look her in the face.”
“You don’t dare to resist?”
“I don’t!” Aldo looked at Roland through the crack of his fingers. The expression in his eyes was like a beast’s, trapped in a cage. “I still have parents, friends, and relatives. I wouldn’t dare! I can’t harm them with my fury. But you’re different… you Golden Sons aren’t afraid of death and are very kind-hearted.”
Roland closed his eyes lightly. He opened them after a long while and asked seriously, “So, you’ve wanted to use me all along!”
“After I saw the craziness of your two fellow compatriots, I came up with this idea. However, they aren’t mages so there wasn’t a good way to broach the topic. Just when I was faced with difficulty, you came.” Aldo stood up and said with a sliver of regret, “I knew you were in the city from the moment you entered. Even if you didn’t come find me, I would’ve gone to find you. As someone who is also a mage, even if you didn’t create the model this time, I would still have thought of ways to guide you to stand in opposition to the a.s.sociation.
“I just never imagined the chance would come so quickly.”