Chapter 653 - Colder (1/2)

Leonel's pupils constricted. Had he heard wrong?

His hand couldn't help but tighten slightly against Aina's. He still hadn't gotten an answer for his worries, but he felt as though he was inching closer to it.

Leonel didn't quite understand why he cared or why he had a sinking feeling to begin with. Valiant Hall didn't mean much of anything to him. No one he really cared about was a part of it. In fact, he had only interacted with two members.

One was Sael who he had a bit of a complicated relationship with. After he dealt with their misunderstanding, he didn't hate her, but he also didn't have strong feelings toward her either. At best, they were just acquaintances who got off on the wrong foot.

The other was Gersan. Though he hadn't seen him since their battle, that could be considered to be a negative relationship.

This was all to say that Leonel shouldn't care about what happened to Valiant Hall in the slightest. In fact, he should care so little that if things made sense, he'd be eager enough to get back to his and Aina's alone time that he might very well leave this very second. As for whatever backlash that came with that? Why would he care?

All of this was only one aspect of these matters. The other aspect was something that seemed even more difficult to wrap his head around.

Demoting Valiant Hall to a Peak? How?

If the organization was structured such that Valiant Hall was the only neutral party, the only party that could settle disputes, the only party that could maintain order… Then what Hero Peak was essentially demanding was a complete restructuring of Valiant Heart Mountain.

Was that even possible? Was it allowed?

The only answer could be yes. Leonel didn't believe that Hero Peak would actually be stupid enough to propose something that wasn't feasible.

Leonel was faintly aware that there was some competition between Hero Peak and Valiant Hall. But as a new member of their organization, he hadn't paid much attention if any at all. It seemed that those matters hadn't been as small as he once thought…

The young man continued to speak unperturbed as though he couldn't sense the shock of the crowd.

”In recent years, Valiant Hall has had an unprecedented strength in controlling the outcome of matters in our organization. Despite supposedly being neutral, they seem to very clearly have their own biases and have grown corrupt to the point of believing themselves to be infallible.

”Two years ago, my Hero Peak proposed a plan to bring our Valiant Heart Mountain out from the brink of despair and back toward a brighter future. But, instead of calmly analyzing this plan as they should, Valiant Hall ignored our pleas.

”In the past, I thought that maybe we were in the wrong. The plan we set forth was indeed ambitious. And, though our hearts were in the right place, the truth was that changing the status quo after so long would be jarring for all.

”However, the actions of Valiant have made my heart run cold.”