Lies and Deception.

Rasmus was left alone because Videl went hunting for men and women who piqued his interest. He was indulging himself with the books that were in front of him.

"This world looks so beautiful from the outside, but as rotten as Earth in my previous life. Why do you have to ruin everything that you created," Rasmus mumbled as he looked at the moonlight. "Is it boredom? Or are you dissatisfied with your creations?"

Rasmus was deep in thought when suddenly someone knocked on his door. He tried to sense the Mana behind the door, but he didn't feel anything. He knew who it was, so he went to the door and opened it.

"How's your stay? Do you like the room?" Lenin looked at the room and realized Videl wasn't in the room with Rasmus.

"It's a shame that I can't enjoy it long enough," Rasmus answered as he walked to the table.

"You're not going to let me in?" Lenin raised her brows.

"It's your tower, I don't think you need anyone's permission," Rasmus answered. "But please, come in," he said as he pointed at the chair across from him

Lenin walked in and closed the door behind her. She sat at the table and suddenly books fell from thin air onto the table.

"These are the books that you need to study. They're all important for you to understand advanced magic formation and magic circles. Some of the books have examples of magic formation that you can use," Lenin explained as she pointed at the books on the table.

Rasmus immediately grabbed one of the books and checked the content of it. He skimmed through the pages and knew that it would teach him a lot of things and would solve the problems he was having.

"Your former students are saddened when they found out you resigned. They all came to me personally and asked the reason for your departure," Lenin said as she stared at Rasmus checking the content of each book. "You created a lot more problems than the things you have done in the past months," she sighed.

"They'll manage. There's no need to be worried about it," Rasmus answered coldly as if he didn't care about them. "Thankfully, it's not my problem anymore," he added.

Lenin should have realized that Rasmus never had an attachment to his students in the first place. He treated them so greatly that she misinterpreted it as affection. Once again, she didn't understand how his mind worked, and what it was that he was looking for.

"Are you feeling dissatisfied working in the academy?" Lenin asked and was still curious about his resignation.

"A man tries to climb the highest tree because he believes it's a great achievement. Not everyone agrees with him because climbing the highest mountain, swimming in the fierce sea, or diving into the deep sea is a better achievement. Not everyone has the same view of greatness. It's as simple as that," Rasmus answered.

"And which one are you?" Lenin rested her cheek on her right palm.

"Neither. Achievement is meant to boast an ego, and I don't want to waste my time boasting my ego," Rasmus answered without hesitation. "I just do what I want to do. It doesn't matter if I'm better or worse than others," he added and began to focus on the book in his hand.

Lenin had never seen anyone like Rasmus in her whole life. She wondered if Rasmus saw things blandly or if it was because he had a specific goal in life. The more she dug into Rasmus's way of thinking, the less she understood. Something told her that he had no drive or motivation, but on the other hand, she believed there was more to it.

"Is it true that you only saw your late mother once in your whole life?" Lenin asked, changing the topic.

"The only time I met my late mother was when my late father introduced her right before the rebellion. I don't know anything about her, but her love for me was real," Rasmus answered as he leaned back and read the book more comfortably.

"Count, what do you think of the evil that your late father mentioned? Do you have any idea?" Lenin asked as she stacked her arms on the table, leaning her body forward as she stared at Rasmus.

"If Demonic beasts exist, then so are demons. What else could it be, Great Sage?" Rasmus asked back. "I believe you know more than everyone else, right? But you know it's not enough because those people hid it so well so the whole world wouldn't know."

"If you want to seek the truth, you're going to put yourself in danger. Seeing your personality, I don't believe you would go that far for a truth," Lenin said with a subtle warning in her voice. "But what do I know? Your actions always surprise me," she added.

"It's not me that you should worry about, but rather the people of Neva," Rasmus pointed out as he flipped the page. "I can feel like something big is going to happen. Two Saints coming to the academy just because of what happened to Aurelia and Monica was an understatement. They must have another reason to meet each other, hiding the truth from the world," he added.

"What are you implying?" Lenin asked, and she felt uncomfortable with the words that Rasmus said as if he knew something that she didn't.

"Anything that's built based on lies or hiding the truth would only make it break and fall even harder. I'm afraid what they're trying to hide, it would only ignite the distrust of the people," Rasmus explained. "A spark of flame can burn a whole forest."

Lenin could no longer hide her uneasiness, the feeling of fear crawling up her shoulders. She was baffled that Rasmus could say something like that like it was nothing.

"If you have to choose which side are you on, which one would it be? The one who built the lies or the one that seek the truth? As someone as important as you are, you should have thought something like this before, right?" Rasmus asked as he copied the magic formation to his notebook.

"I don't believe choosing a side would make things better. As someone who holds power like me, my job is to prevent things from getting worse and solve the problem immediately," Lenin answered because that was what she would do.

"I see," Rasmus responded.

Lenin felt like she had just made the wrong answer because of Rasmus's response. She never thought she could be judged by a young man who was 40 years younger than her.

"It's getting late. You must have things to do, so I won't take your time anymore," Rasmus said, and never even once he lifted his head from the book in front of him.

Lenin looked at the time on Rasmus's wristwatch and it was late as he said.

"You should get some rest as well. This time you can stay here for as long as you want, so enjoy your time here," Lenin said as she stood up.

"As I said earlier, it's a shame that I can't enjoy it long enough. I'm not planning to stay here for too long," Rasmus responded and kept writing in his notebook while reading the book beside it.

Lenin chuckled and nodded with understanding.

"Once you're done reading all the books, I'll test your knowledge and understanding about magic formation and magic circle," Lenin said as she walked toward the door.

Rasmus didn't say a word even after Lenin left and closed the door.