“Stop pretending.”

Alastor flinched, closing his eyes in sheer frustration as soon as he realized his mistake. That fucking eccentric old man. Turning around, Alastor asked bitterly, “What gave me away?”

Standing behind him was a kindly old man, his long beard just a bit shorter from touching the floor. Hecate replied while chuckling, “Oddly enough, nothing. It was a mere whim, on my part.”

God darn it. Alastor bit his lip lightly. A miscalculation. I knew this man was eccentric, but still, I didn’t think he could be this eccentric.

The Head Mage chuckled lightly as he walked to his desk. His twinkling eyes were constantly focused on Alastor, almost as if he was afraid the Chosen One would vanish the second he blinked.

Tch. To think my expectations would go wrong so soon. I guess it was only to be expected. It's not like I interacted with the people of Primus much after the fourth reset.

The countless reasons Alastor gave himself did nothing to assuage the bitterness he was feeling. However, born along with the bitterness was a spark of competitiveness.

“So, you must be the mythical second time hero.” Hecate declared, a kind smile etched onto his face. “How blessed we are.”

Well, that is the only thing they could reasonably assume. Alastor pondered and replied, “Yeah. This is not the first time I’ve transmigrated, no.”

The Head Mage’s eyes wandered towards Severine, who stood silently, her gaze too focused on the Chosen One. Eventually, his gaze lingered back to Alastor, “May I know why you’ve been hiding your spectacularity, oh hero?”

What… do I reply to this? Fucking fuckity fuck. This is why I hate social interactions. Well, I guess the best strategy would be to be as vague as possible and give no solid answers.

“Have I truly hidden it, Head Mage?” Alastor replied, his face expressionless.

Hecate’s smile grew ever so slightly as he stared at Alastor silently, “I guess not.”

A rather awkward silence settled upon the room as Hecate continued gazing upon the Chosen One silently. Alastor felt cold sweat litter his back. No way, is this guy actually a pervert?

“Could I know why you’ve revealed yourself, hero?” The Head Mage leaned onto the desk with his elbows, cupping his beard filled chin within his hands. “There is no way that someone as experienced as you exposed himself accidentally, is there?”

Well, he’s right on that one. It’s not like I exposed myself accidentally.

Alastor continued to maintain a stoic expression, “Do you not know, Head Mage?”

“I have a few… guesses.” The Head Mage replied, his smile as mysteriously kind as usual. “What do you need me to do?” Before the teen could even reply, Hecate continued in a depraved tone, “Perhaps, you wish to seize power? If there are sufficient gains, I would be pleased to assist you, without a doubt.”

The Head Mage looked at him eagerly, with his eyes widened. His smile no longer seemed kind; it stretched over his face, gaining a tinge of insanity to it.

Alastor looked at him stoically. It was like he was unaffected by the sudden change in the Head Mage’s behavior. However, he was indeed very affected.

What in Chaos’s name? Wasn’t this old man- supposed to be eccentric, but noble? Was it a miscalculation on my part? Why would there even be non-cliche NPCs?! Maybe he is indeed an evil old dingleberry! Or is he testing me? But is it even possible to be paranoid enough to suspect me, even after the fucking gods’ themselves declared my character is solid—

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Alastor took a deep breath as a small smile spread over his face.

No, why am I even panicking? At worst, even if I die, I have quite a few ‘revive’ cards. On a side note, I should accumulate a few points in case I’d ever need to use the fifth reset’s bonus.

Not to mention, Alastor’s smile grew wider, this is fun. How long has it been since I’ve felt such tumultuous emotions?

His smile faded when he reconsidered his current situation. How do I even reply to this wildcard of a person? Is there even a way to be vague this time? Wait. If he was actually an evil mastermind, why would he even approach someone supposed to be ‘good’ with a proposal that’s clearly evil?

This is definitely a test.

Or maybe he’s just incredibly dumb. It’s worth betting on the former.

“There are many ways to achieve power, Head Mage. The power I desire is different from yours.”

Hecate's smile faded and his eyes widened. After a few seconds, his kind smile returned once more, "You truly are a unique one, dear hero." Standing up, the Head Mage continued, "I shall do my best to help you in this journey of yours. Ah, do you perhaps need any training equipment?"

Alastor nodded, surprised. That worked?

"I'd like a sturdy sword and mana potions." Alastor replied, his expression once more stoic. Noticing that the Head Mage expected him to list more, he pondered about his immediate needs. It’s worth a try. “I would also like… someone to kill easily.”

“I see.” Hecate nodded and turned towards Severine. “Teleport—Wait.” His eyes widened as he realized what Alastor had just requested, “Someone… to kill?”

“Yeah. Prisoners slated for execution, criminals you’d not mind me cleaning up… Easy targets to kill, basically.”

The Head Mage blinked twice blankly before recovering his composure. “I—I understand. I shall get arrangements made as soon as possible. Severine, please teleport the Chosen One to his dormitory.”

The Vice Head nodded, her stern expression nowhere to be seen. She seemed genuinely confused as she waved her hand, a translucent white ball of mana covering Alastor within a split second. Before he knew it, his surroundings changed once more.

—

“You seem to have a pretty high opinion of him.” Severine muttered, sighing.

“Of course, of course.” The Head Mage chuckled jovially and gestured for her to sit. His eyes twinkled exceptionally brightly as he began talking about the second time hero, “He’s one amazing young, or well, old man. I felt like a child in front of him. He had the capability to see through all my schemes instantly, and responded in truly unpredictable ways to them.”

The Vice Head conjured up a chair with her mana and placed it in front of the grand white desk. Seating herself opposite to the Head Mage, she muttered, “Well, he is unpredictable, yes.”

Hecate chuckled, “Why do you think he wants to kill people?”

"Well. He either is practicing some sort of dark arts that require people's deaths," Severine replied, "Or is just a sadist. Either way, at least he seems to be only targeting criminals." Before the Head Mage could reply, she asked, “How do you plan to fulfill his requests?”

Hecate stroked his beard, pondering carefully, “There are a variety of methods that could be used, but I plan to make him the executioner in a relatively small noble’s territory. I would like to understand his personality.” His eyes turned slightly cloudy as he sighed, “People… they turn callous, no matter how good their personality is, after being exposed to evil for a long time. He most probably is too, but I would like to know to which extent.”

Severine nodded curtly, “When do you plan to do so?”

The Head Mage regained his kind smile as he replied, “Let the man rest for today. I’m sure someone like him would barely get the opportunity to take a break. We can start tomorrow, once official training begins. I plan to make you an official supervisor for him.”

The Vice Head nodded, as curt as usual, and stood up from her chair. Waving her hand, she disintegrated the chair back into mana and bowed deeply. Just when she was about to teleport, the Head Mage asked, “Who’s his Caretaker?”

“Raven.” Severine replied. “The half blood elf.”

“Ah,” The Head Mage exclaimed lightly, “The elf. Yes, based on her character, she wouldn’t go overboard, so there should be no problems. Just in case, inform her about the situation.”

Severine nodded in reply and waved her hand, teleporting away instantly.

The Head Mage’s eyes lingered over the spot she had been before for a few seconds, a somewhat lonely look on his face. Eventually, he muttered, “Is this too big of a gamble?” He leant back into his chair and closed his eyes, sighing deeply. “Can I even defeat this hero if something goes wrong? Should I just kill him right now?”

There were no movements from him for a long time after that, almost like he had fallen asleep.