Stone Mage: Revenge of the Villain System

"Just how powerful do you reckon your servant Ronin could be?"

Don frowned at the question.

"What do you mean? Why did you suddenly asked about Ronin?"

Calla continued arranging his hair and caressing it. "Well, I simply wondered about it since you are his master after all. You share the same room, and so I supposed he has to look after you and you must have a decent estimate of how powerful he is."

Edelweiss eyes also widened at this. "That is true.... Even I have not really figured out how powerful he id in terms of his Mage Focus."

"Ronin is a Clairo lightning mage. Much like the Zafeiri family itself." Don was confused by the sudden shift into this topic....

But he did remember seeing Calla holding many papers in her hand earlier. It was really dark, so he did not see what was written there---

But could it have been related to Ronin.

"What is your impression on my servant?" He asked straightforwardly. "I know that Edelweiss was on the same class as him.... But what about you? The way you spoke to him...."

"It sounded like you have a certain impression on him that was not quite positive."

Calla's fake thin red smile faltered, and turned into a real amused one.

"You are very observant, dearie. And wise for your age too."

She squeezed his cheeks. "Ah, it's so adorable, but you shouldn't be so serious all the time! With how worried you are towards Ronin...."

"I might begin to suspect you have other form of ties with him..."

Don panicked, thinking that Calla managed to caught on their familial ties and also knew that truth about his brother....

"Do you like him?"

"What!?" Don felt like puking. "Ugh, that's disgusting!"

"Ah, so it's like he is a brother to you, eh?" Calla grinned.

"Yes! I would never..... How did you even reach to that conclusion!?"

"I worry about Ronin because he was the closest to an actual brother I can have! My eldest brother is always away, and my second eldest is the embodiment of a daemon travesting this earth, and so I only had Ronin to rely on!"

"I see....." Calla placed her hands to her hips. "Then have you noticed anything strange about him lately? Something changing?"

Don thought about it, and there really was one thing.

"There's the matter of him being more dazed and quiet than usual.... Not to mention colder. He had always been cold, yes, but there's this sudden malignant shift in his coldness that was like how a small dusting of snow turns into a raging blizzard....."

"And it all started when he befriended Cermin Drychspiel."

Edelweiss gritted her teeth at the memory. After being saved by Cermin from Sordido who assaulted her....

She thought he must have been a good man, until he assaulted her too during the chaos of the fall of the Blanc D'Argents. But the Councillor also told her that he was innocent according to her interrogations, and could not remember a single thing about this.

That Cermin may have been manipulated or possessed in some form.

She wondered if this has something to do with Ronin too, and shared her thoughts with Calla and Don.

".... Daemons." Calla took out the files. "All of them are concerned with daemons, those former friends of Cermin. Even Rabuka, most likely, that's why she spoke of this threat to Magecia."

Don frowned. "Can someone explain everything to me in full detail what exactly happened to Cermin? Everyone is avoiding him like the plague, and he claims Ronin 'saved' him, but Ronin would not tell me about it."

Calla and Edelweiss gave him a brief summary of all the scandals and drama involving Cermin so far. About how he was once a beloved prince by everyone and a new rising Warrior.....

Until it all fell apart once his predatory friends showed their true colors.

Even his one loyal friend that stuck to the end, the priest Zeriav, was affected by this 'misfortune' and 'daemonic possession' that was surrounding him.

"And right when everyone had left him, Ronin came. They've been an unbreakable pair since then, always seen together far from the judging eyes of the majority of this Academy." Calla told the story just like a skilled storyteller would.

"One could not be without the other. The timing, however...."

"Doesn't it feel too convenient?" Calla pointed out.

And now that she mentioned it, Don and Edelweiss could not help but agree a little bit too.

But....

Both refuses to believe that there was any fault in Ronin, as they have good impressions of him.

Don said: "Perhaps they really were fated to become friends, as much as I hated to say it. Despite this sudden coldness and blank stares.... Ronin does not seem uncomfortable aroun that annoying prince."

Edelweiss agreed. "Neither of them feel like they would commit any of those crimes, so it must be a daemon that was just linked by Rabuka to him. Because of this near perfect timing."

"Besides, they were the actual evil people, worse than the actual 'daemon' that protected Cermin. And until now they wouldn't give up on wreaking havoc. First Volken targetting Don, and now Rabuka targetting Ronin....."

But Calla remained unconvinced. She kept it to herself, and merely said.

"Well, maybe it would be safer if none of us would approach those two."

They went quiet as tension hang in the air over those words, until---

"The thought of a daemon is so scary! I would not want either of you adorable little darlings be affected by this~"

She hugged both of them close to her breasts, surprising them with the sudden shift in tone!

Edelweiss protested. "Hey! Calla, let go! Alright, alright, we'll be careful!"

She scoffed. "But you should too, you know. If there's really something dangerous afoot...."

She took the confusing woman's hands. "Promise me that you will not step further past the boundaries of safety. I know that you can be too nosy for your own good."

"But as your friend, I want you to let your curiosity go before it harms you.... Or worse."

Calla did not expect her usually reserved Edelweiss to express her worry so frankly, and her cheeks tinted red a little.

"I promise. After I take some matters on my hands...." She gestured on the file. "I would no longer persist unless there's a direct affront to me or either of you."

After that, they talked about nicer things and went to sleep.

But Calla could not stop thinking about one thing.

A familiar concept that performers like her knows.

'The twists to a tale never reveals itself until the third act.'

And she can't help but feel that they were nearing that act, and the ugly truth was slowly rearing its head behind the curtains.