"He spent all the money... on orphans?" Hecate muttered, surprise evident in his tone.

Severine nodded silently before she continued to speak. "He's put forth a request for money to sustain them, and also access to healers to heal them."

Hecate mumbled under his breath for a bit, acting somewhat like a madman. Eventually, his whispers grew louder and louder, till he exclaimed, "He's showing us his stance, Severine. Just a bit ago, I was wondering whether he was callous... and now he suddenly just performed a merciful act. This is all.... it's preplanned. He has us in the palm of his hands. He wants us to take a firmer stance." Pressing his palms firmly on the white desk, he leant forward, "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Severine murmured with uncertainty. She had no idea what to think anymore. Originally, she had thought that the Head Mage was just making a mountain out of a molehill, overthinking things just because the Chosen One was a second time hero, but she didn't know anymore. The Chosen One’s actions felt far too specific to just be dismissed.

An almost fanatic smile covered Hecate's face, "This is who we need, Severine. The one who's capable of leading us to a better future. There is still the possibility that he is thinking of this with cold-hearted eyes... no, maybe choosing someone like that would have been the right move all along, but..."

Severine didn’t process the rest of the Head Mage’s mumbling. She felt somewhat numb, arrays of thoughts, possibilities, concerns, all flitting through her mind at breakneck speed. Rubbing her temples gently, she asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Hecate paused dramatically before he replied, "We will give him our full support."

"What?" Severine gasped. "Full support?"

"Yes. He is sending a message, Severine. He is clearly indicating that he has no intentions to sacrifice anyone innocent for the greater scheme of things. If we, no... I still stay indecisive after this... well... let's say that my whole motive of becoming Head Mage would become obsolete. And honestly, maybe my indecisiveness is what led to the situation becoming so..."

"...unstable?" Severine finished Hecate's sentence.

The Head Mage gave a nod, "Exactly. It is time for us to act decisively. We cannot afford not to."

Severine looked down, contemplating.

"Do you agree?" Hecate asked again.

"Yes." Severine said after a moment of silence.

—

Raven stared at the Chosen One silently. His hollow eyes were focused on the ceiling, his mouth half opened. She wondered just what had happened to him in the past, what had made him like this. He was nothing but an empty shell, right now, like his soul had fled from his body.

The Vice Head told her that he was a second-time hero, and it showed. The deep trauma he had experienced was visible vividly. He’s just saved so many people, yet he’s not satisfied in the slightest…

However, the deep empathy she was feeling for him was not enough to drown her curiosity. “Chosen One, how did you know… the code?”

The second-time hero turned towards her. “Code? What code?”

“The one you told Alea.” Raven muttered, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “I am no white eyed wolf… and am loyal to the Holy Highness, was it? It was clearly some sort of code.”

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The Chosen One’s expression did not waver at her abrupt remarks. Instead, a shallow smile spread over his face. At that moment, he looked truly lonely. “It is… a privilege second-time heroes get.”

Raven nodded, a pang of sadness striking her heart when she saw his expression. That’s about what I expected too. “Would… you like me to keep anything secret? I have reported about what you did today to the Vice Head as soon as we returned, but if you have something that you would like me to not reveal to her in the future, I… shall make sure not to.”

Even the almighty Chosen One seemed to not have expected that, for his eyes widened. However, they dimmed again, “It is fine. I know that it is your duty to report my actions. I do not expect you to not do your job for me.” He distanced his gaze from hers, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

Why’s he refusing? Raven wondered, confusion settling in on her heart. He didn’t seem surprised by the fact that I was reporting all of his actions, which well, I guess is basic common sense, but wouldn’t it be easier for him to use this chance and make sure I don’t spill anything too sensitive?

Then again, there isn’t much reason for him to trust me. However, this Chosen One was a second-time hero with the privilege to know stuff. There was no way he didn’t know she meant what she was saying…? Wouldn’t it be better for him to make an obligatory, ‘I’ll tell you if there’s something such as that,’ instead of straight out refusing?

Suddenly, she had a realization.

Wait. Complex emotions surged in her heart. The privileges… Since it seems to be something related to information… Does he know about my sister? And the fact that I get money for everything I report?

Raven felt like someone had stuffed a lump in her throat. There would be no other reason for him to reject otherwise. He didn’t want her to lose out on the benefits, nor get into trouble with the supervisors. Gulping with great effort, she muttered, “It won’t be a problem. I want to help you in the little ways that I can.”

This man… is kind to a fault.

—

Two more points! TWO more points! Two MORE points!

Alastor felt like whooping. He felt like doing a samba dance. He felt like punching his bed with all the force he could muster. He felt like – you get the idea. However, he did none of those since Raven was standing right in front of him, looking at him with a concerned gaze.

He couldn’t possibly risk making himself seem unappealing to his point bank now, could he? He forced his smile down as he looked at the magical parchment once more.

24

He was already shocked beyond measure when he saw that he had gotten ten more points all of a sudden. Of course, all most likely given by this lovely fairy standing in front of him – but now she gave him two more points?! It was possible that the ten points were also contributed to by the Vice Head and the Head – Raven did report to them, after all, but Raven just gave him two points for a single conversation!

What is she even? Is she human? She’s a literal fountain of points!

This was the first time he had ever gotten ranking points from the same person twice in one reset! Well, he was probably exaggerating – he most likely would have gotten points from the same person in the second reset since he did focus on his social life back then, though he’d only unlocked the ranking leaderboard at the end of the second reset, so it didn’t strictly count. He’d only really begun focusing and caring about the ranking leaderboard at the end – maybe middle? – of the third reset.

He couldn’t really pinpoint when, exactly. It was all a blur till when he got the memory enhancement perk in the fourth reset.

But anyway, this means that people give you points again and again in the social interaction system?! How did I not know that in my past six resets?! Ah… well, I did simply blackmail, exploit and kill most after talking to them once or twice.

He felt somewhat giddy with excitement. If I don’t need to fulfill chaos level achievements or massacre requirements or world destruction markers to gain points, and just need to gain a good, positive, loving reputation? If I can find a way to grind this… Damn, the potential is limitless! I have so much to experiment! So many potential point cows to milk! I can’t stay like this, sitting around!

“Are y—you okay, Chosen One?” Raven asked, seeing him tremble in excitement. However, before he could even say anything, her gaze softened. She looked quite melancholic, all of a sudden.

“Raven. Can you please take me back to the Vice Head?”

—