"A Professor? Me?"
"Yes."
"I haven't taken any examination to earn that qualification."
"That is not a problem!"
Looking at Lawson's radiant smile, Basil couldn't help humming to himself. He wondered why him becoming a Professor of Randalvine Magic Institute excited Lawson that much.
"Did the King make a certain deal with the Institute?"
"..."
At Basil's question, Lawson did a double take. He was slightly taken aback that Basil could even figure that fact out.
Regardless of how surprised he was by the fact that Basil could figure out about the deal, he didn't know what to answer the question with. He was afraid that Basil would back away after hearing the deal Anthony had made with Randalvine Magic Institute.
"It is a bit shameless, but the King promised to officially support our Institute financially if we managed to make you stay at the Institute." Lawson smiled apologetically.
Humming to himself faintly, Basil shrugged lightly. "Rather than exploiting me, he just wants to keep me away from his rivals, doesn't he?"
"Ah, yes. Also, the Church is not very fond when a Genius is born amongst the Mage, so the King wants to make sure you can live a life without worrying about their shenanigans."
"That's very generous of him," Basil remarked. "I wonder if he is going to adopt me in the future."
Blinking his eyes in surprise, Lawson said nothing. Recalling the conversation he had with Anthony the day before, he couldn't help thinking it was also a possibility.
–Like the son I never had.
Lawson was already a teenage when Anthony was born. He knew what kind of person Anthony was, and he could swear no one other than Basil had ever been viewed that highly by Anthony.
Of course, no matter how fond Anthony was of Basil, there was little to no way he would really adopt Basil. Apathetic he might look towards his sons, he still cared for them.
'Nothing, in the end, could beat the blood ties,' so Lawson thought.
"Now that the matter has been settled, here is your diploma." Lawson took out a piece of white paper that was decorated with elegant golden carvings. "This is the proof that you are a graduate from the best Magic Institute in the entire Human Empire."
"Does Iliana get this too?" Taking his diploma, Basil took a look at it briefly before storing it in his Spatial Bracelet.
"Yes, she does. In fact, Ione does too."
"Hoh? Can you tell me about it?"
Tapping on the table as he pondered if he should tell Basil for a few seconds, Lawson eventually spoke. "That lass... Iliana contacted me a day ago, asking me to provide 'asylum' to Ione."
"Do you think being a graduate from Randalvine Magic Institute will be enough reason for her to be unsuspicious?"
"Of course, not." Lawson shook his head. "However, we can provide any excuse to protect people like you, Basil."
"What do you mean by that?" Basil's eyes turned cold.
"The Pacifer. I know your Clan's ongoing feud with the Church."
Boom!
Basil's killing intent made Lawson's breath hitched. He had expected something like this to happen the moment he addressed the matter, but never had he expected Basil to suppress him with his mere gaze.
The air got colder as the silence in the office grew deafening. Basil's eyes were as bottomless as an abyss as he looked at Lawson; they made Lawson feel like he was gradually swallowed by the darkness the longer he stared at them.
"You forgot to breathe."
"Heeeuuuh!"
Lawson frantically gasped for air. If not for the fact that Basil had reminded him, he would never have noticed he wasn't breathing.
"Calm yourself down. I know that you are aware of it," Basil said calmly. "You are, after all, there the day my father was executed in front of the 'judges.'"
"H-Huh?"
Lawson was inexplicably shocked and bemused. He couldn't believe Basil had overtaken the whole conversation as easy as snapping his fingers.
Furthermore, the topic that Basil was talking about was something that almost no one other than himself and the selected few knew. Not even Iliana, his surrogate daughter knew of his past.
"You don't have to be that shocked. You know the Pacifer can do real Magic."
"I... I am afraid—"
"Halton Rothermere. Sin: mingling with one of the Witches from the Beyond, and allegedly having an offspring with said Witch. Does that ring a bell?"
After hearing those words, Lawson immediately gave up trying to come up with an excuse. It was clear to him that Basil had found out about his father from the Forbidden Section of Arthan Library since he had mentioned his father's "sin."
What he failed to figure out was the fact that Basil knew he was present on the day of the trial. Even though there was a photograph of him and his colleagues, after all, none of them revealed their face.
He would, of course, never be able to find the reason why. Even Basil had managed to figure it out thanks to one of the Guide's function: [Visualization].
It had been a close call. If Lawson had decided to not take off his mask to pay respect to the dead Halton, Basil would never be able to know that one of the "judges" was Lawson, even after "travelling to the past."
"I am sorry." Lawson bowed his head so low to the point of almost touching his desk. "I was still blind at that time. My friend—your father's death was what awoken me from my blind faith."
"I am not here to hear your apology, Mr. Lawson. Why don't you tell me of the reason why you chose to take care of Iliana."
Raising his head slowly, Lawson took a deep breath before saying, "The Paladins ransacked the Pacifer's village five years after your father's death. Your mother, who had been the most wanted person for five years, was found around this time."
"Wait. What do you mean by 'found around this time?'" Basil put up his hand. "My mother... Wasn't she held hostage here?"
A light of understanding entered Lawson's eye. "Ah, I see... That lass lied to you, huh? Well, I can't blame her. If I were her, I would be afraid of being honest too."
"Please, don't keep anymore secret." Basil's eyes darkened. "Who is Iliana, and what kind of relationship does she have with my mother?"
Lawson looked hesitant, but upon noticing the cold gleam in Basil's eyes, he eventually sighed and spoke.
"Iliana is..."
A fact that really shocked Basil was revealed to him. His eyes remained wide open as he listened to the real story from Lawson; he still couldn't believe that such a lie could be kept away from him for such a long time.
Staring at his hands emptily after listening to Lawson's version of story, Basil thought to himself, 'Why do you feel the need to hide this thing from me, Iliana?' He was hurt and disappointed.
...
Iliana and Ione, who had finished their matters quickly, were waiting for Basil in the hall. They were leaning on the wall, while constantly glancing towards the door of Lawson's office; they wondered what took him so long.
Iliana, who was completely unaware of the fact that Basil had figured out the truth, worried that Basil might have an argument with Lawson instead. He was, after all, a carefree soul, who didn't like to be under someone else.
"You can just take a seat here. Only men should act cool—we, women, don't care about it."
At the suggestion from the voice, both Iliana and Ione turned to their right. There, Jacinda was sitting comfortably in the high quality sofa that was put in the hall.
She had said that she had something to talk about with Basil, thus she was waiting for him. Unlike the two, however, she was patient enough to wait for him while calmly sipping a tea.
Thud!
As Jacinda put her teacup down, the person they had been waiting came out of Lawson's office. Nothing changed outwardly, but Basil's mood was slightly heavier than a few hours before.
No one other than the two Pacifer, of course, could notice that. Jacinda didn't sense anything was amiss, and still greeted him brightly.
"I have been waiting for you, Professor Basil. Fufufu." Jacinda covered her mouth as she giggled faintly. "I can't believe the day I call you professor came this quick."
"Headmistress Jacinda." Basil put his hand on Jacinda's shoulder.
Stunned, Jacinda squeaked, "Y-Yes? D-Did you find the offer unsatisfactory."
"I still have something to do, so let us have our alone time somewhen in the future."
"Okay..."
Taking his hand off Jacinda's shoulder, Basil walked towards Iliana. He pinned her to the wall as soon as he arrived in front of her, shocking Ione and Jacinda.
'Eh?! A couple quarrel?!' the two women shouted in their head.
Iliana, by this point, had been thinking about hundreds of possibilities why Basil was mad. She admitted she had done quite a lot of lewd pranks to him, but she swore she didn't do any of that to harass him; she was just too fond of him.
She was about to immediately apologize for her pranks when she smiled bitterly. She knew, of course, she was merely entertaining a silly thought.
She had already figured out the real reason why Basil was upset, but it was rather hard for her to accept it. She wanted to believe that Basil was still unaware about it—she still wanted to spend more time with him.
'Now that the truth has been known, there is no—hm?!'
Iliana's thought was interrupted when Basil suddenly kissed her in front of everyone present there. Her eyes widened in shock and elation; she couldn't believe the choice Basil had chosen even after knowing the truth.
"Nothing shall obstruct us." After kissing Iliana, Basil met his forehead with hers. "I am still disappointed regardless, so please think of a way to make up to me."
"... Thank you."
Iliana cried softly, and immediately buried her head in Basil's chest. Lawson had joined the others by this point, and just like them, he was extremely bewildered by the scene.
While all of them had a different reason on why they were bewildered—for example, Jacinda was feeling bitter seeing two people being lovey-dovey with each other—Lawson was the only one who was bewildered by the right thing.
... Basil's choice.
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