Chapter 115: Nasst's faction

…

The next morning, Evin woke up slightly groggy, due to the unfamiliar bed that he slept in. After spending a moment, wondering where he was, he finally remembered the previous day's events. Stretching a bit, he found that his body was slightly sore due to the workout yesterday.

Well, a little soreness could be easily solved my magic, so Evin thanked the Empress for letting him be born as a mage and mended his body into tip-top shape. 

He then looked around the room, curiously eyeing his new living quarters. First thing he noticed was the size of his bed. King sized and supported by four pillars at each corner, silk curtains draped on each side.

There was something akin to a round tea table as well, with three seats put around it. The table's existence in the bedroom felt a bit weird to Evin, but who was he to judge? Next to the tea table was a fireplace of some sorts, built into the stone walls of the house. 

A bookshelf stood nearby, but it was mostly empty. Evin got up and walked towards the wardrobe and found it empty as well. Then he walked towards a closed door. Opening it, he found the bathroom. 

Compared to the slightly modernized long drop that Evin's old house had, this one actually had a proper toilet with seats and everything. Evin then looked at the bathtub and the sink, which also seemed to use proper sewer lines and could not help but wonder.

'Is this the master bedroom? Did I just kill someone and steal his bedroom?' he then though with dread, but decided that it was best to not think about it. 

It is what it is.

He got himself presentable and woke Rith up, who apparently slept inside his shadow(which is very comfortable). Alongside the Cosmic, Runa had woken up as well and started pestering Evin with her questions. 

'Aren't you supposed to be a being made of Darkness? Why are you so lively and bright?' Evin complained after a long session of Q & A.

He then opened the door out of his room, but some funny business immediately caught his attention. The whole mansion's floor excluding his room's had disappeared into nothingness. Evin could see the limestone foundation of the mansion cut off perfectly and then the soil underground with some rock here and there, also smoothly cut. 

Evin looked down the hole and judged that it was maybe three or four stories deep. There really wasn't much to comment here aside from questioning where the floor had disappeared. 

[Where's the floor?] Rith asked with confusion. 

'See? She knows what's up?' Evin thought before shaking his head. He floated over the hole and started searching for Nasst and found the man preparing some breakfast in the kitchen.

"Uhhh… Good morning, Nasst," Evin greeted.

"Good morning to you as well. Surprised you didn't fall into the hole outside your room," Nasst said and laughed loudly.

"Do you know what's happening?" Evin asked.

"Oh, just a little remodeling. Since we're going to be spending a lot of time here, training and testing magic and all that, we need a proper place to do those. Else the building will be gone in a few weeks," Nasst explained.

"I see. So, we're remodeling the underground?" Evin asked.

"Yep, well, not us. Most of the children will be assigned some missions to help out with the construction. They should come by in a few hours, holding a bunch of mission papers. Adorable little critters… Anyway, eat up and we'll talk about what we're gonna do afterwards," Nasst said. 

The two had breakfast, which Rith joined and had a few bites of poultry. Nasst stroke up some conversation with the Cosmic, asking her about how one was supposed to receive the tutelage of the Cosmics and such. All in all, it was a pleasant breakfast.

20 minutes later, Nasst lead Evin to a mostly empty room, which only had a desk, a somewhat comfy looking wooden armchair and something that looked like a podium. Though there was also a soft armchair next to it.

Evin guessed that the desk was for himself and the podium was for the instructor, so he walked up and sat on the wooden chair. Nasst walked to the soft one and got himself comfortable. Subconsciously, the man started caressing the podium that sat close to him. It was a bit distracting to Evin, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Well, as I've said yesterday, the North is divided into a few factions. I'm part of the Control faction, while Deminte is part of the Traditionalist faction. Then there's the Neutral faction, which is the faction with the largest amount of members… but they're mostly the quiet and reserved type of people, who don't really wish to dip their feet in nasty stuff," Nasst began explaining and Evin understood the gist of things.

The traditionalists, as their name suggested, were a faction that adhered to keeping to the old ways and mostly advocated peace and took on a non-invasive approach when interacting with the other countries. They pushed for the idea that the war with the South is not the concern of the North and that they should pull their resources back, since it also enabled a lot of Northerners who harbored ill intentions to defect to the South, causing the Northern image to plummet greatly. But the traditionalists would still obey the instructions of Selat, or in their case, Kal, if they every decided to act on something. 

The Authorities weren't allowed to take part in mortal matters personally, but they could still order around their kin to a certain extent. Kal had a tremendous advantage here since he could enjoy the benefits of both sides. He was not considered an Authority, so he didn't have anything binding him... But also thanks to Selat's disappearance, he could participate in the Authorities' affairs and receive some extra information. 

The Control faction, on the other hand, advocated that they should actively take part in the Empire's affairs and try to establish an even stronger position in the World. To them, the war with the South was an excellent opportunity that had to be used. 

They also advocated more invasive methods when dealing with other countries, not shying from the uses of spies and sentry devices. They also weren't afraid of using force to solve their problems, which was the biggest difference between them and the Traditionalists who advocated negotiations and communication.

The Neutral Faction, on the other hand, acted more like a spectator. The higher ups in the Paradra usually conformed to this view.

Evin scoffed when he heard the unenthusiastic propaganda that came out of Nasst's voice afterwards. World peace, a better life for the citizens, etcetera. From what Evin could hear, Nasst, who was talking about it himself, only seemed to do it because it was necessary. 

Evin disliked politics greatly. When he lived as a spirit, he witnessed one too many corrupt old men doing corrupt-old-man-things. He personally watched as a 50 something old politician would talk about protecting children from abuse and harassment on a podium, then going home to piss on a 13-year-old girl while his naked wife watches from the sidelines with a glass of wine in her hands.

The sudden memory made Evin frown, as he forced himself to focus on the twin-horned man in front of him. The unenthusiastic way of Nasst's speech sparked Evin's respect for the man.

"But at the end of the day, all those things should be pretty meaningless to you, since you're still technically a child and also a Westerner originally, right?" Nasst laughed loudly at the end of his speech.

Evin didn't know if he should nod or laugh with the man.

"But I can't just teach you freely, due to reasons, so I need to make something clear with you. I'll give you most of the resources and knowledge you might need, but after I deem that you've become useful enough, you will have to work under me for a year," Nasst said.

"What kind of work will I be doing?"

"It could be anything, really… paperwork, fighting, investigations, espionage, research, and even assassinations and other jobs also might appear. I won't lie about these to you. We're both adults, so there's no point in pretending otherwise," Nasst said with a shrug.

"What will happen after I'm done?" Evin asked.

"I won't keep you long. You'll get a special sort of Oath that would keep you from speaking about your various jobs and you can get back to your family. Oh, and this will also count towards your three times that the North may call upon you… Well, obviously, if you wish to continue working, I won't keep you away. Though that will depend on your results," Nasst said.

Hearing everything, it seemed a bit too good for Evin. Obviously, the part about spying and killing was a bit worrying, but as the elder man said, Evin was an adult. He knew that some things were unavoidable. But this thought made him realize his own faults.

'I'm such a hypocrite… For some reason, other people having sex with teenagers is the worst thing that can happen, but it's totally okay if I go around assassinating people in the name of politics,' Evin depressingly sighed.

'Honestly, not thinking suits me better,' Evin decided. He forcefully ignored the matter and started thinking about the offer. Evin realized that it was a perfect opportunity for him to get stronger faster. After he receives this elder man's instructions and receives the Horn, the only thing he would lack were real life battles.

"Now that we're done with the difficult stuff, let's get to your studies," Nasst said and stood up from his seat.