Magister Insanity

My eyes flickered before I tilted my head. Was it just my imagination? No... definitely not.

Gundric was really standing in front of me, with a trap in hand and the suffocating perfume that came off from him confirmed it. This wasn't some illusion. He was here. And he wanted to sit.

But why?

I couldn't understand. He could have gone somewhere else, yet he decided to come to me.

'Maybe he's just being nice.'

Nice, my ass. People like him didn't do "nice."

The only reason someone acted nice was to get something out of you or to cover up what they were hiding. Gundric didn't strike me as the latter, so it had to be the former.

After all, most human interactions were nothing more than transactions.

Perhaps most would say that this wasn't true.

Okay then, tell me this:

When was the last time someone truly did something without expecting anything in return? Do you take a girl out on a date without expecting 'something' from her end? Even the so-called selfless ones, the martyrs and saints, weren't exempt. They still wanted something such as recognition, redemption, salvation, maybe even the warm glow of satisfaction that told them they were good people.

Strip away the layers then every gesture, favor and smile carried weight. A price tag, whether visible or hidden.

Food for companionship. Flattery for approval. Love for love. Even kindness was an investment, waiting for interest to come due.

So no. I didn't believe in "nice."

And Gundric, radiating like some golden sun, wasn't here because the light liked to shine. He was here because he wanted something.

The question was, what?

'What is he planning?'

In the end, I frowned. After a bit of thinking, I shrugged then replied:

"No. Get lost."

"I see. Thank you."

"Eh?"

Completely disregarding my words, Gundric took the opposite seat and sat down anyways as though they had entered through one ear and exited through the other.

'What the hell?'

My brows knitted together.

As expected, the surrounding Sleepless were already whispering and chatting among themselves. The mysterious number one, the Bastard Son of the House of Snows, was sitting down with the fifth ranked Heartless Devil.

No matter how anyone sliced it, this was quite the unusual pairing.

'Curses! This was exactly the kind of attention that I have been desperately trying to avoid!'

Drawing unnecessary attention to yourself after killing someone in cold blood just the day before was bound to spiral into disaster, the sort of disaster that I wanted to avoid at any cost.

Gundric must have noticed that I was glaring at him because he opened his mouth and said with complete nonchalance:

"Please don't glare at me like that. Even if I wanted to leave, there's nowhere else to sit. If you look around, you'll notice that too. So I have no choice but to eat here."

I raised an eyebrow.

"If you were going to sit anyway, then there was no need to ask for permission."

No response came. Gundric simply picked up his fork and started eating as though I hadn't spoken at all.

My eyebrow twitched.

So what now? He's ignoring me? Just what's with this guy?

"Tch."

A hundred things crowded my mind, all the retorts I could throw at him. But if I started now, I'd probably waste every tree in the world just to get it all out.

In the end, I only let out a sigh and went back to my food.

Silence stretched forth. The both of us continued eating as though nothing had happened.

Biting. Chewing. Swallowing.

Before long, the silence slowly grew unbearable.

It was only natural.

Sitting across from someone with such an overwhelming presence was impossible to ignore.

No matter how hard I tried to focus on my meal, my attention kept drifting.

Ordinarily, holding my focus wouldn't have been difficult, but after what happened yesterday, my thoughts were anything but kind. The silence between us only sharpened their edge, increasing their intensity.

From time to time, I found myself stealing glances at him.

As expected from an Imperial, even his manner of eating was elegant. The fork was in the left hand and the knife was in the right, moving in a smooth manner. He cut each piece of food carefully, placing it on the fork with the kind of meticulousness that suggested he had done this a thousand times before. Each bite was slow, almost like a quiet performance, and he chewed without haste, savoring the flavors but never appearing indulgent.

His posture was impeccable. Back straight, shoulders relaxed but controlled, elbows tucked in just enough to look natural. He didn't fidget, shift uncomfortably, or make unnecessary movements. Even the way he brought food to his mouth was balanced, fluid, and almost hypnotic.

Even the sounds he made were controlled. The clink of knife against plate, the faint scrape as he cut, the soft bite of teeth — it was all muted. Nothing was wasted or sloppy.

It gave the impression that every single action carried meaning.

And most important of all, not once did this golden fellow lift his head to glance at me. He treated his food as if it were far more interesting than I was.

The nerve of him… just one look wouldn't have hurt, you know. Where was your curiosity, huh?

'Wait… why do I want him to look at me?' I blinked, surprised at the thought that had just crossed my mind.

It had come out of nowhere. When had I started craving the attention of random people? It made absolutely no sense.

But it couldn't be helped. The damn guy not only had the most captivating voice I'd ever heard, he was also impossibly attractive.

Honestly, it wasn't fair at all!

Gundric was tall, lithe, and incredibly handsome. His face seemed personally sculpted by a goddess, with high cheekbones and flawless ivory skin. His golden eyes sparkled with an almost electric intensity, and his lips were soft and full, like… uh…

Ahem. More or less, this fellow possessed the qualities of an irresistible model. From the corner of my eye, I could see several young ladies, elves, crossbloods, and even a few beast women, gazing in his direction. It wouldn't be surprising if they fell to the ground and kissed his feet. Perhaps a few guys, too.

He was simply that attractive.

If only he weren't so infuriatingly arrogant. No, "arrogant" didn't quite capture it. It felt more like… an unshakable self-assurance. At least, that was the vibe I was getting from the golden fellow.

Still, what were the odds that someone like him, the complete opposite of me, would take my company?

It felt like fate was playing a cruel prank on me. Maybe I was just the universe's most expensive punching bag, because this was too much misfortune.

'Goddamnit!'

Silently gritting my teeth, I resumed my stress eating with even more intensity.

Then someone else approached.

"Ah, excuse me. Can I sit here as well?"

Surprisingly, it was a familiar face. Huh? What was Lancer doing here?

Gundric lifted his head to glance at him with an indifferent expression, then shrugged and went back to eating.

"If you want."

"Thank you very much. If I may?" Lancer said, taking a seat near Gundric, directly opposite me.

How lovely. Just ignore me, why don't you.

"I must say, I was quite shocked. I didn't think you'd defeat everyone, especially Zarugan."

"It's nothing special. I just used an old trick. If it wasn't for that, I would have lost immediately."

"Are you trying to be humble? Because you're doing a terrible job at it, your highness."

Would you look at this? Even Lancer was sucking up to him. That was the laws of the strong for you.

'Hold on… did he just mention Zarugan? Wasn't he the one with the highest punching power?'

Filled with curiosity, I couldn't help but interrupt their conversation.

"Sorry, but… who is Zarugan?"

Lancer glanced at me, a hint of puzzlement on his face. After a brief pause, he answered cautiously:

"Zarugan is a demonic Sleepless from another batch, separate from our group. Apparently, he's ranked number one over there. But during today's combat class, our two groups trained together, and our little prince here managed to defeat him."

"I see. And that's… special how, exactly? It's just a spar."

Taken aback, he retorted,

"What do you mean by 'that's special how'? Of course, it's a big deal! I can only count on one hand the number of people who can take down a demonic species. And this individual belongs to the Immortal Demon Tribe from the demon domain. Not only are they known for their immense physical strength and four arms, they also inherit the trait of [Immortality] through their lineage, which makes defeating them in mortal combat extremely significant. If you also consider their individual Legacy, they become even more terrifying. They call me Serpent Slayer, but I doubt I would win if I hypothetically challenged him. On top of that, he has a rough appearance, he's genuinely scary."

The Immortal Demon Tribe, was it? If my memory served me right, the demon domain was the continent where demonic species had settled after the Great Old War, when their home worlds were destroyed.

Needless to say, I was already aware of their existence and their powers. Their trait of Immortality, in particular, had always caught my attention. By all accounts, they were stronger than both the Oni and the Tyrand Tribe. It wasn't an exaggeration to say they were the most powerful of the demonic species.

And from what I was hearing, Gundric had actually managed to claim victory against such a beast.

What a monster.

Then again, the golden boy himself admitted he had used some kind of trick to win. And considering it was only practice, the Immortal Demon likely wasn't fighting at full strength. Despite having the highest punching power, he still lost to Gundric.

Perhaps the outcome would have been different in a true life-or-death battle. But like any hypothetical scenario, it was impossible to predict with certainty.

"Hey, now that I think about it… aren't you the rumored Heartless Devil?"

Ouch. Well, that question was bound to come up sooner or later. Anyone would be curious.

Setting my fork down, I let out a quiet sigh before answering.

"My name is Sonny Crow, pleased to make your acquaintance. And yes, I am the one people call the Heartless Devil, though for reasons I can't quite explain."

"Oh, is that so? Are you saying the rumors are nothing but lies?" Lancer asked, clearly intrigued.

"Well… I wouldn't go that far. But the truth is a little more complicated. The rumor was born after I shared some details during the induction ceremony about what happened to me in my First Phrase."

I paused, then continued.

"I come from a planetary system called Earth. At the start, there were about forty to fifty of us. But one by one, they died along the way."

"How did they die?"

"To put it plainly, they were killed. Some were mutilated, had their ears and other parts hacked off. One was stabbed clean through the eye socket. Things just spiraled from there. In the end, only four of us remained out of the entire group… but even they didn't survive."

I leaned back slightly, my tone steady, almost detached.

"One was pushed off a mountain right in front of me. I watched him fall. Another never woke up the next morning, I buried her in the snow. The third was shot between the eyes while trying to escape. And the last… the last I killed myself. I stabbed him again and again in the neck, watching the life fade from his eyes. I didn't even enjoy it… well, not that much."

My lips curved faintly in a bitter smile.

"That's what I told the administrative worker. Perhaps it was why the Spire or the Murmur had rated my performance as treacherous and cowardly."

The story was quite funny when I thought about it but no one was laughing.