Free Web NovelChapter 143: An Inspiration (Bonus GT)
Just as expected, someone was playing dirty in the background.
And since Ragnar was involved, Matilda and Bree could assume that it was the Chancellor.
It was mostly the Chancellor whom the student council answered to.
"But even so, when you learned Kai was making a group, you decided to opt out of making a group and get the rewards for yourself?" Matilda raised a brow. She was skeptical about his reasoning. "You don’t know Kai, so I find it hard to believe that you’d stop."
Since Rifky was the one who warned Kai, it doesn’t make sense for him to make a group.
Had that been the case, he wouldn’t say anything to Kai.
But he did.
So, Matilda was quite puzzled about why on Zeus’ name Rifky would help Kai when he wasn’t even close to Kai in the first place. Heck, Matilda was pretty sure Kai doesn’t know anything about Rifky.
"I wasn’t planning to stop, as you said. But I changed my mind."
"Changed your mind?"
"Yes... It was the day of the weekly quota submission."
"It was during the day of the weekly quota..." Rifky’s eyes trailed to the side, seeing through the void with clarity as if he could replay that day in his mind so palpably that it manifested in his vision. "I saw him drag three sacks full of mana ores through the street. Many students in my class knew about his quota as it’s ridiculous. And many believed that he’d die.
"But then, that day... he came back with three thousand mana ores. It’s impossible. Gathering that much mana ore should be impossible. If I were him, I’d have given up. But he didn’t. And he survived. He motivated me to work even harder."
Bree encouraged him to keep talking.
Frankly, she wanted to know how it was for Rifky and other normal Angels to see Kai coming back with three leather sacks filled with mana ores. She wasn’t there to witness it first-hand, avoiding being too obvious in siding with Kai.
But she regretted not seeing it with her own two eyes.
Rifky explained that ever since he became an Angel, a below-average Angel, things have been really rough for him. Not being able to enter the big groups. Forced to pay taxes. And even always constantly scrutinized whenever he walked.
It was horrendous.
Not a life he wanted to live in, especially considering the future is not going to be brighter.
He thought about ending it all.
So, seeing Kai, who was in a far worse situation than him kept going, kept fighting to survive; it made him realize that his predicament isn’t that bad. At least his quota is the same—as the other Angels. At least his food and lodging are fine. At least the academy treated him fairly.
Compared to Kai’s situation, his was nothing.
His accumulation of suffering doesn’t even compare to a day of what Kai went through.
Because of that, he decided to help, even though it was only a small help.
"My Patron God’s rating is merely 7.1—I got lucky all this time. And I thought I would die sooner or later," Rifky smiled sheepishly, but his eyes flashed with newfound hope. "But seeing him try so hard made me also want to try my best. If I’m going to die, then at least I’d die after trying as hard as I could."
"No matter the situation, there is always a way out," Bree fisted the air—as encouragement. "Don’t give up! You can do it!"
"Yes, I can..." Rifky nodded, also fisted the air though not as strongly as Bree did.
It wasn’t entirely intentional.
Kai probably didn’t think that anyone would be awed at looking at his ferocious struggle.
But some of the Angels were inspired by him.
’He needed to gain the attention of the people on the surface, that much is true,’ Bree thought inside, eyes sparkling as she watched the contour of Rifky’s face becoming brighter at the mere thought of Kai. ’But perhaps starting from here is a good idea. I doubt every single person in the sky is like the Chancellor. He can attract those minorities.’
"Ragnar, huh..." Matilda looked down, contemplating what to do—with this information. "Did he talk with other students?"
"Andre and a few others, but it backfired. Andre made a big group—and that made it harder for the others to make a new group," Rifky replied, giving the good news. "Besides, something happened to Ragnar."
"What do you mean?"
Moments later. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Matilda rode her Pegasus and went to the Fire Swamp, making a descent on the backside and then made her way to where Kai and Dorian should be. But throughout all of that—her mind was still replaying what Rifky said earlier.
’Someone paid Ragnar a visit late in the night?’
In order to save Ox Leaves, Rifky liked to stay inside the classroom.
He dozed off accidentally; fortunately, the grey-masked Angels didn’t realize.
As he exited the classroom and made his way back, he stumbled across Andre. He looked to be supporting Ragnar to walk slowly. And from the direction they were heading, Rifky was quite sure they were heading to the infirmary.
And he also said Ragnar seemed to be terror-stricken.
It was written all over his face.
’Kai is stronger now,’ Matilda thought and stared ahead. ’If he knew that it was Ragnar who was sabotaging him from behind, he could pay Ragnar a visit without being detected by the grey-masked Angels.’
Matilda knew how terrifying Kai could be when he was focused on killing.
Like the one she saw during the Blood Rite.
If that version of Kai was out, then he could pay Ragnar a visit with ease and scare him.
’But why didn’t he say anything?’ Matilda’s forehead creased into a frown. ’And is it really a good move to scare Ragnar like that? More importantly, can he even scare Ragnar? As far as I know, Ragnar is strong. Perhaps an Ascendant Supernal. He’s too strong for Kai to scare.’
"Whatcha thinking about?"
Bree’s voice snapped her out of her daze.
Both of them were now heading to the meeting point with Kai and Doriuan.
"Just thinking about what Rifky said."
"I wouldn’t take his words at face value. He had only woken up that night, and he said that he only got a look at Andre and Ragnar from afar. Who knows? Maybe Ragnar was breaking through to the next rank and got hurt in the process."
"Rifky sounded convinced about it, and I feel like I can believe him."
Matilda knew that she must be biased now.
Hearing how much Kai inspired Rifky made her look at him in a favourable light.
But her gut feeling told her that he was telling the truth.
"Are you seriously thinking Kai was the one who scares Ragnar? That doesn’t make sense."
"How?"
"He could sneak—into the student council room easily enough. But scaring Ragnar? That’s another matter entirely. And even if he could—do you really think he could frighten Ragnar so quietly that the grey-masked Angels patrolling the main building wouldn’t catch a single sound?"
"..."
Matilda has no answer to that.
If Kai was somehow able to scare Ragnar, then there should at least be a struggle.
The noises from that struggle should pull the attention of a few grey-masked Angels.
And since there’s been nothing from the grey-masked Angels these last couple of days, it was proof that they weren’t aware of what happened to Ragnar. ’If it’s really Kai, then Ragnar would do something by now. I must be overthinking it.’
Matilda shook her head, agreeing that it must not be Kai.
Moments later.
Others were taking a break after mining for a few hours.
Striking the boulders for hours on end with their pickaxes demanded a high physical toll, and their bodies were screaming to rest. Bryan had arrived about half an hour ago, so their group was now complete.
But while the others were resting, Kai kept going.
He was a few dozen feet away near a water body, his sleeves rolled all the way to his shoulders, striking a big boulder with the pickaxes hard and firmly. By now, his aim was already perfect as he struck the weakest point of the boulder over and over again.
Sweat drizzled down from his forehead all the way to his chin before dripping into the mud.
For a second, Matilda was entranced by the sight of him.
Pieces of what happened yesterday night came rushing back to her again.
But she cleared her throat and shook her head when she saw Bree walk over to him.
She caressed Kai’s arm, put her face in front of his to make him pay attention, and then said something to him that made him stop. From the way his forehead creased, Kai seemed to be confused as to what Bree was talking about.
Just then, his face reddened almost in a blush.
Seeing it made Matilda’s eyes narrow.
He stammered out a reply; Matilda caught the faint tremor—in his lips. When the exchange ended, Bree offered Kai an encouraging smile before making her way over to Matilda. "I asked him what he’s been up to these last few nights. He got strange. I don’t think it’s about Ragnar, though." Her voice dropped. "Do you know anything?"
Matilda could instantly feel heat rising up to her face.
Only now did she realize—Bree had asked Kai anyway, just to confirm he wasn’t the one who had frightened Ragnar. But her question must have come out ambiguous, and Kai had clearly interpreted it wrong.
Interpreted it as being about last night instead.
Kai must’ve thought Bree suspected something happened between him and Matilda.
She didn’t, as the two acted the same even after last night.
Or at least, neither was acting weirdly about it.
Matilda was not sure if the shift between them was real—or imagined, or whether the others could feel it too. But their interactions hadn’t changed. No secret glances exchanged. No trace of tenderness. Nothing visible. Nothing that could say they were closer.
But Kai misunderstood Bree’s intention, and now she might sense something happened.
"Didn’t you say it’s basically impossible for it to be him?" Matilda averted her gaze and asked. "Why are you asking him about that?"
"Just to make sure that I’m right," Bree said nonchalantly. Then—she crossed her arms. "You see, I can read people’s faces. If I asked him directly, I can tell whether it was really him or not from observing his face alone. It’s not a gift from my Patron God, but more like a gift from my parents. Both of them are quite social and political.
"And I can tell that you seem to know about this." She pivoted towards Matilda. "Did something happen between you two that I’m not aware of?"
