An Extra’s POV
chapter-820

"I see..."

Rey's fingers were stroking his chin as his full mouth was chewing on the last of Ater's delicious meal served on a literal silver platter.

He had just finished listening to Ater's detailed report regarding the control of the Dwarves and Giants in the Southern Continent. The whole process seemed like overkill to Rey, but he couldn't help but see the brilliance in the plan.

'He was able to finish his task quicker than I expected as a result of that too.'

As Rey swallowed his food, washing down its contents with his drink, he couldn't help but marvel at Ater's genius.

'He used his superior strength to forcefully seize control of the Giants, and then dangled immortality before them to keep them all loyal to him. As for the Dwarves, he waged war to break their spirits by showing the gap between their might, and then offered them resources and help with their current crisis.'

In essence, a more advanced method of the carrot and stick.

'It seems the Dwarves were more problematic, but they weren't a problem for him at all. Plus, from what he tells me, they'll especially be useful to me.' Rey smiled, concluding his meal in totality.

Since the Dwarven Nation had been facing scarcity for some time now, they were trying to generate a renewable energy source.

'It's in our best interests if they succeed, since we'll reap the benefits. I was right to tell Ater not to be too rough on them.'

Sure, there would be a few among the camp of the Dwarves who resisted the Alliance-unlike with the Giants, who were completely loyal to Ater-but after seeing what Rey could do for them, their minds were sure to change.

Even Ater shared the same sentiment.

'Looks like things in the South is going way better than I imagined... which leaves the real mystery here.' Rey parted his lips to speak, but before he could get a word out, Ater smiled and addressed the thought he had.

"You desire to know what's on my mind regarding this whole war, and how it relates with the students in this Excursion, don't you?"

"So you did have something to do with it! I knew it wasn't merely a coincidence we came here."

Ater smiled and nodded slowly. "We have to make use of every opportunity that we can, don't you agree, Master?"

Rey nodded, but he was still puzzled in many regards.

"How did you even manage to... no, hold on, what exactly do you plan to do with this? You called it an opportunity, right?"

Ater's smile broadened, and he proceeded to sit in the air.

"I plan to kill as many Dragons in this expedition, while dealing a heavy blow on the Dragon Empire as a whole."

Rey already expected something along those lines, but he already knew things couldn't be so straightforward.

He wanted more details.

"How heavy would this blow be?" He asked the smiling Ater, who gladly went on with his explanation.

"The Imperial Academy houses the future of the Dragon Empire. By killing off all these young talents before they have a chance to sprout, we'll be severely wounding the Dragon Empire."

"I see..."

"The casualty will deal a heavy blow to the educational system too. By eliminating the supervisors, who are basically the competent instructors of the Academy, we'll be getting rid of powerful and skilled educators. All in all, this will help whittle down the potential enemies of humanity, which should make your mission of saving the world much easier."

" "1

Rey couldn't help but remain silent for a few seconds as he brooded on Ater's little surprise for him.

"It's brilliant..." He managed to whisper.

Despite how cruel it was, there was no objective reason to be against it.

Perhaps if he had maintained an attitude like Adrien's or Lucielle's, he wouldn't have been so taken aback by the malevolence of the plan, but he just had to view them as living entities with souls like him.

"Thank you for your praise, Master."

"It's not praise. It's just... objectively speaking, your plan is brilliant. You've done a good job here, exceeding my expectations in every way."

Yes, Rey felt conflicted about everything, but he couldn't deny that it was the best step to take.

'I can't compromise the plan, or the safety of the Alliance, for the Dragons. According to The Oracle, the Dragons are responsible for the destruction of the world, so this should be a way to somewhat reduce that possibility-even if it's only a little.'

Rey realized this was just a way for him to rationalize the deaths of so many Dragons-both the past and future casualties-but he had to make some sort of excuse in his head.

"It's all for the greater good." He added with a small smile.

"Indeed." Ater responded with an enthusiastic nod. "You have to save this world somehow."

Perhaps the Familiar had noticed Rey's discomfort with the plan, and was also trying to boost his morale by feeding into the rationalization. It didn't seem like that was what Ater was doing, but Rey couldn't help thinking that way.

In order to distract himself from those thoughts, though, he swiftly changed topics.

"How are Belle and Justin? I haven't seen them since I arrived, and I don't sense them

around."

Ater shrugged slightly as he responded. "They're helping me handle things in the other location of the Excursion... where Lucielle and Adonis are."

Rey nodded in understanding.

He had already told Ater about Adonis' presence in the Academy, so this wasn't a surprise to

either of them.

"And how about Adrien? How are things going with him?"

This time, it was Rey's turn to shrug.

"I have things handled. In fact, we've been speaking in detail about the plan to infiltrate the Capital, and he has a good plan for it."

Rey went ahead to tell Ater about Adrien's idea to use the Storm Dragon Lord's connections to get into the Capital. It would be easy to do if Adrien recommended Rey and Lucielle, since the Storm Dragon Lord would even be paying attention to the Inter-Class Exchange.

Of course, this would mean Rey had to inform Adrien about Lucielle's presence in the

Academy, but something told him that he already knew.

'I guess there's no use hiding it, then.'

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Thanks for reading!

What do you all think about this whole arrangement?