>Chapter 26<

Looking at the youths, silently sitting in their seats, Caedis let out a sigh. He had to be this harsh or they would never see the world as it is and would only treat it as if it was some kind of fantasy. So he had two choices.

The first one was the more brutal choice, which would put the boys' lives on the line, so this was going to be his last resort. He didn't want to lose this type of talent right when he found it.

The second option is the one he chose for now. Make them accept reality with his words and showing them different possibilities of what could've happened. This is the more preferable choice since he wouldn't have to sacrifice one of the friends to make the others accept reality.

Caedis might seem like a heartless person, but the one thing he treasures very much is talent. And, much to the boys' luck, they have plenty of it. So, he decided to go with the lighter option and if it didn't help, he would have to resort to the second option.

There is also a third option, but this one wouldn't help them survive in this world, since it is basically just being protected by stronger beings or they would have to hide for the rest of their lives.

But, Caedis didn't want to waste their talent like that. If he were to compare it to something, I would go along the lines of "You have money to buy the medicine that will cure you a 100%, but you buy a medicine that is 70% less effective because it is cheaper, and in the end, the medicine wouldn't even work." You would basically waste the money for the medicine and wouldn't even have enough to buy the more expensive medicine. It would be a waste of money.

And waste is what Caedis hates the most. It is ungratefulness toward what was given to you for free, because most people wouldn't waste what they had earned with own hard work.

Caedis watched as the boys quietly thought things over. He needed them to properly sort out their thoughts and become mentally stronger. He then stood up and quietly walked out of the dining hall so as to not disturb the boys' thoughts.

When he walked out, he was greeted by the sight of his butler, Albert, standing by the door with his hand behind his back.

"How are they, sir?" The butler turned toward Caedis.

Caedis didn't look at his butler for too long before turning around and walking away with Albert following right behind him.

"They are currently thinking things over. Command the servants not to disturb them and to stand by the door." Caedis replied.

"Understood," Albert then changed his direction and walked toward the servants' quarters to give the order of his master.

The hallway was soon devoid of any life and only the quiet breathing of the boys resounded within the dining hall.

Although their eyes looked lifeless right now, there was plenty of life in their minds. The wheels of their brains were rotating tirelessly creating an infinite number of words per second.

Were they really that naïve?

This wasn't the hardest thing to accept. Honestly, this may be one of the easiest ones. It didn't hurt like the thought of not being home. They had thought that they had accepted the fact that they were in a completely different world from their original one, but it seems like it wasn't so. They created this illusion of them being excited about it, but it ended up in shambles because of Caedis's speech earlier.

Admitting a mistake isn't that hard if you aren't 100% sure you were correct and even a sliver of doubt exists that you were wrong. But the fact that boys convinced themselves that this was going to be flowers and roses, so it was all the harder to accept.

They started replaying the scenes of them fighting the werewolf or whatever Caedis called it earlier. Next up was the huge lion and finally the serpent. Even after all these situations they weren't worried. What for? After all, they hadn't gotten injured up until now, so they had thought that they were basically invincible.

They had fought the serpent despite there still being ways of running away. Now that they thought about it, couldn't they have just created a bridge and some shield and run away? Maybe it was their inexperience or their lingering excitement of wanting to try out their powers, the fact stands that they were really reckless.

They might not think so, but Caedis would say that the boys were pretty lucky. After all, they hadn't died yet. Their luck was so good that they were still in one piece and are not missing one or two limbs.

Right now, the group could only grit their teeth and clench their fists. They were so frustrated. They were basically one step into their grave this whole time, but because they always got away with it, they started to gain confidence, confidence that nothing could happen to them.

It worked out the first, second and the third time, so why wouldn't it stay that way right?

Only now did they realize how ridiculous their actions were. But, what can they do about it now? Cry? Laugh? Beat someone up? Would that help them get rid of this frustration?

No!

The only thing that can help them right now is to get stronger so they won't have to get into a situation like this. If they get stronger, they can act however they want to. Nobody could get in their way and nobody would be able to ridicule them anymore.

But, for the time being, they just have to hold on to this thought. Hold on to it tightly so it can haunt them. And when they finally get strong enough, they can destroy this though along with their weakness!

The boys didn't know, but, a certain stalker at the very top of this castle started laughing like a madman after seeing the change in the boys' eyes.