A bluish hue surrounded Liam as his mana grew exponentially and he prepared for an all-out assault. But...

“That’s enough, Ian. You've made your point. Call Lily and put an end to this whole thing.” The headmaster’s words finally broke the silence between us, and Liam seemed surprised by this sudden action. I had my back turned against the headmaster, so he could have attacked me anytime if he wanted to, but the fact that he didn’t could mean only one thing.

I win.

I pulled out my cell phone from my pocket and looked at the headmaster before asking,

“I want to hear your promise first.”

“Sigh. Right, I promise the two of us will not reveal anything about your ability. Of course, in exchange, you'll tell us who killed Dante.”

“That won’t be possible. I was just bluffing; I have no idea who killed him, but I'll tell you if I do find out.”

“Then what ab—”

“…It’s one of my unique skills. That’s how I was able to tell how he died.”

“I see.”

Although the headmaster didn’t fully believe my words, he reluctantly nodded. I couldn't tell him I'm from the future, but I could at least hint at being able to see it. I immediately called Lily again.

“Yes?”

“Did you already kill one of them?”

“Um. N-no, I can’t find any of them…”

Well, it was only natural. The other year groups must have already received the announcement about Dante’s death, and since it wasn’t explicitly stated how he died, many students will rightfully assume it was a murder. In a situation like that, the Ten Kings would immediately have a group meeting to exchange information, so it wasn’t that strange that she couldn’t find them.

“Well, it’s fine for now. You can go back to your room.”

“Huh? B-but you—”

“…I said it’s fine. You can come to my room later if you don’t believe me.”

“Ok.”

I hung up my phone and looked at the headmaster, who was now wearing a stern face. It was almost as if the way he acted this whole time was all just a joke. I didn’t offer him any words and turned around to leave. Before reaching the door, I bowed to Liam and finally left the room.

I had solved the situation in the most extreme way possible, but it wasn’t the only reason I did it. Though Liam and the headmaster may seem like hostile entities, they were now people I could freely move. Since they knew I had the time attribute, I could always make up a lie about ‘seeing the future’ and manipulate them to move as I wanted.

However, I was still worried about Liam, who might have been carrying a little too much hatred toward me. With such thoughts in mind, I made my way to the dorms. Since we were still under lockdown, everyone seemed to be cooped up in their dorm buildings and the academy was relatively empty.

The only other issue I had to deal with was Tim’s reign over our dorm building. Lily wouldn’t resist my invitation, so I planned on going to their so-called meeting with her.

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Would it take another risky move to bring Tim to my side?

***

In the spacious office, an eerie silence filled the room as the two individuals inside watched the door with different expressions. One was the face of worry, and the other was that of pure rage. It took a few more seconds for the individuals to finally face each other.

“I’m sure you understand this, but if you—”

“…I know.”

Liam cut the headmaster’s words as he was about to explain. He knew very well what the headmaster was going to say and didn’t want to hear it. If his reputation were the only one on the line, then he would have approached Ian with no hesitation and tried to fish for information from him, even if it meant using force. Liam thought to himself as he stared at the empty doorway.

‘The way Ian acted was beyond reckless. He has to know something about the murder.’

Liam was confident in his assessment. As the fifth prince, he was surrounded by siblings more cunning than anyone he had ever met, and because of his sharp intuition, he always somehow managed to see through most of their ploys against him. Despite being the fifth in line of succession to the throne, his aptitude for magic garnered him a lot of favor among both nobles and commoners across the empire.

“Are we sure he’s not the killer?” Liam muttered out loud as he turned around to face the headmaster.

“There’s no proof of that. Plus, this has something to do with a mind-altering authority or something along those lines.”

“Yes, but how sure are we? He could have planned everything from the very start. This whole meeting, even the fact that I stayed behind to try and overhear your conversation. Don’t you think it’s too much to be just a coincidence?”

The headmaster looked at Liam with a stern expression. It was honestly a possibility he had also been debating. Ian’s demeanor was that of someone who knew they had already won from the moment he entered the room.

'Those aren’t the eyes of a child.’

“Even if he did, without evidence, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Tsk. I know, but…” Liam’s voice trailed as he turned around and simply walked away. He had reached his emotional capacity and didn’t feel like arguing anymore. The headmaster, now alone in the room, looked toward the door for a few seconds, and despite being alone in the room, he spoke out loud,

“I’m sure you heard everything, right?”

“Indeed.”

The echo of someone’s voice sounded from his cell phone. The headmaster looked at his cell phone and couldn’t help but sigh to himself,

“So, what do you think? Could he have the ability to see the future?”

“That’s unlikely. From what you've reported about his battle against Eliana, he has at least two abilities we know of: one allows him to slow down and speed up objects, and the other can show him a part of the future. If we account for Eliana’s speed, he would need to see a minimum of 0.7 seconds into the future.”

The man on the other side explained with a calm voice. He sounded so confident, it was as if he saw the fight with his own eyes. But the headmaster wouldn’t dare make such a comment and simply spoke in a polite tone,

“Then what about what happened just now?”

“That was definitely a bluff. You should have first cut his hand off and used his cell phone to call Lily and tell her your location. Without a doubt, she would've come running your way, and his whole plan would have fallen apart.”

A slight chill ran down the headmaster’s spine. Although the other side said it as a suggestion, he was 100% sure if he were in his shoes, that was exactly what would have happened. He also got the feeling that this man didn’t like Ian that much.

“Well, I don’t think I could stomach doing that to some kids,” the headmaster replied with a softer tone.

Even if the situation came down to Ian pointing his blade at him, he would have simply conceded rather than having to fight him. His instincts as a teacher wouldn’t let him, which was also why he couldn't get over what Ian had done.

It's like he knew my nature very well.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t. You are too kind. One of these days, that kindness will cost you your life. You are either a killer or a kind person, but you can never be both. So choose wisely, headmaster Lloyd.”

The phone hung up before he could respond, and silence once again filled the room. Another exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he stared at his cell phone with a blank expression.

‘There’s no such thing as a good killer and a bad killer.’

What a scary ideology, he thought to himself as he shook his head. The man he was talking to was many years younger than him, and despite that, his values were like that of someone who had lived for hundreds of years.

A small chuckle escaped the headmaster’s lips as he muttered to himself,

“As expected of the Dragnok family.”