The Sixth School.

Chapter Fifteen: Hunter and prey…

If there had been any doubt in Greg’s mind that there was something up with his uncle, it was completely discarded in this moment. Throughout his little speech, Greg had kept his eyes fixed on the man, studying him very closely. He knew that this man had been with him on the ill-fated hunt that had ended the former Roka’s life. As such, he had been hoping to gain some clue or obtain a hint at something that would guide him in what direction he should take his investigation. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t what he saw, but what he didn’t see that caught Greg’s attention. Flowery as his words were, Greg could see no grief or remorse in the man’s eyes. As his uncle had said, he did look wretched. Perhaps enough so to convince others that he was overwhelmed by grief over the loss of his brother. Nonetheless, when Greg looked past his outward demeanor and into the man’s eyes, he couldn’t see even a hint of sadness. One would be forgiven for thinking that he was talking about the death of a stranger.

A smile crossed Greg’s face as he looked at the man. With the mask that covered his face, no one would notice it as the smile never reached his eyes. “I forgive you,” Greg spoke up loud enough to be heard by all. The words were carefully chosen by Greg. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to underestimate the man. If his uncle had actually harmed his brother, then the only reason he would dare to show his face here was that he was certain that Greg didn’t remember. His mother, not knowing any better, had probably confided in the man about Greg’s amnesia about what had happened on the hunt. Greg knew that any attempts to rattle the man with threats probably wouldn’t work. He was someone callous enough to kill his own brother and then come to parade his false grief to his brother’s family. Greg knew that if he wanted to catch the man off-guard and have him slip up in some way, he’d have to come at him from an angle he’d never expect.

And the three simple words that he’d spoken had done the trick.

Whereas everyone else looked at Greg with confusion at his words, his uncle showed a look of slight surprise and hesitation. Had Greg gone on the attack, the man probably wouldn’t have faltered in the least. He would have just continued with this callous charade. Being told that he was forgiven, however, left him with nothing to defend against. Instead, it left him wondering what exactly he was being pardoned for. That surprise in the man’s eyes was only further evidence against him in Greg’s eyes. If he had nothing to be forgiven for, the man would have the same look of confusion that everyone else had. The way the man’s eyes subtly narrowed only reinforced Greg’s belief that the death of his father and the former Roka, wasn’t a simple case of a hunt gone awry. Greg didn’t know if he was the only one that could hear the suspicion in the man’s voice as he asked. “For what do you forgive me, my child?”

“Grief muddles your thinking,” Greg spoke up. “Otherwise, I’m sure you would never mean to say that my father raised a man incapable of taking care of his household,” He declared, the ice in his voice clear to be heard by all. It was a play on the man’s words. When his uncle offered to take his mother and sister under his roof, everyone understood it to be him offering to help them during these hard times. But as someone that had lived in the twenty-first century in the age of the internet, Greg knew just how easily one’s words could be twisted and made to mean something completely different from what the speaker intended. While it was common for widows to be taken in by the brother to their lost spouses, it was usually as a last resort, when no one else was willing to take them. The brother of the late husband making the first move and offering to take the widow would actually spare the woman’s reputation. In such a situation, no one could say that the woman was unwanted and only married because convention dictated so. As such, in the ears of those around, his uncle’s words had actually been very kind and considerate of his brother and the widow that he’d left behind. Perhaps even the former Roka would have been touched by the man’s offer.

Greg, however, had no intention of parting with either his mother or sister, least of all to the man that he suspected to be his father’s killer. As such, Greg had given a new meaning to the man’s words. As a student of the internet, Greg knew that the best way to do it wasn’t to put words in the man’s mouth or even to give some outlandish interpretation to his words. The most effective way to achieve his goal was to actually use another interpretation of the man’s words that was logical. His saying that Greg didn’t have to take up the responsibility of taking care of his mother so soon after being injured could easily be him offering to help just as easily as it could be him saying that Greg wouldn’t be able to do it. Hidden in this reinterpretation of his uncle’s words, was the trap that his uncle had unwittingly fallen for.

From the surprise, followed by a look of understanding in the man’s eyes, he picked up on this fact a second too late. Greg couldn’t help but raise his assessment of his uncle. Even though he hadn’t made any accusations against the man, his uncle had immediately figured out that Greg had been testing him with his words. The scowl that had been on the man’s face morphed into a small smile. It was almost like two enemies across a battlefield silently acknowledging each other. Though it hadn’t been his intent to put the man on alert, Greg had inadvertently let the man know that he was on to him. And though it hadn’t been his uncle’s intent, he too had slipped up and shown Greg that he did indeed have something to hide.

The man offered a slight bow as he answered Greg’s accusation. “I spoke carelessly,” He said apologetically. The man could have easily argued that Greg was misconstruing his words. He, however, seemed to realize that there would be no point in doing so. Greg hadn’t really been interested in accusing him of anything. His only objective had been to test the man and he’d already gotten the result he wanted. To try and argue against the accusation would achieve nothing. But just because he wasn’t arguing against Greg’s assertion, didn’t mean he didn’t counterattack. By apologizing and offering a slight bow to Greg, he too was using the same tactic Greg had. He wasn’t allowing Greg to have anything to argue against or to defend himself against. By taking this tact, if Greg further tried to antagonize the man, he would probably look bad in the eyes of his neighbors. On a personal level, Greg didn’t care what any of these people thought of him. Apart from his family, Greg felt no particular attachment to this town or the people in it. As soon as it was convenient, Greg planned to leave it to go and explore the world. Unfortunately, if his mother and sister were going to have an easy time after he was gone, Greg would have to foster a good reputation with his neighbors.

“Still, my only desire is to help,” Unexpectedly, his uncle continued to persist in asking for Greg’s mother and sister. Greg’s words and tone of voice should have already made it clear to everyone that he had no intention of parting with either his mother or sister. While everyone else looked at Greg, waiting to see if he was going to react even more harshly, Greg himself kept his eyes fixed on the man before him, trying to figure out what exactly he was up to. The silence lasted far longer than it should have. Greg, however, didn’t care. The only way the man before him got what he wanted was if Greg played by his rules. Greg wouldn’t be giving up his family. And yet, somehow, Greg suspected that if he tried to refuse the man verbally, the man would have a counterargument ready. As such, Greg just silently glared at the man and allowed the uncomfortable silence to continue to drag on between them. In the end, it was his uncle who couldn’t bear the silence anymore.

With an exaggerated sigh of disappointment, he pretended to lament to himself. “My only wish is to do right by my brother,” He said. “He hasn’t even gotten an honorable send-off,” he added. He pretended to be talking to himself, but seeing as Greg could hear him from where he stood, he knew that the words were meant to be heard by all. When a man with sons died, it wasn’t just their wife that had obligations placed on them. If the late man’s sons were of age, then they were each expected to go on a hunt and bring back a kill to honor their father. Greg knew that the man was trying to provoke a reaction out of him. Still, Greg was yet to puzzle out why. Was he trying to bait him to go on another hunt? Was his uncle planning on finishing what he started? An even more pressing question that Greg couldn’t puzzle out, was why was this man so hell-bent on harming his family. Try as he would, Greg couldn’t find any reason in his memories that would justify this man’s actions.

“Seven days from now,” Greg spoke up. “I will be holding a ceremony to honor my father and to give him an honorable send-off,” Greg declared, garnering a pleased smile from his uncle. Greg, however, ignored him and continued. “There will be enough meat for everyone here to take something home,” He added, garnering shocked whispers from his neighbors. The hunt to honor one’s father didn’t require one to hunt enough game to make a feast of. Nevertheless, after making such a promise, if Greg didn’t fulfill it, he would garner mockery from all those around him, and by extension, he would have dishonored his father instead of honoring him. The smile on his uncle’s lips only widened at his words. Clearly, he believed that he was the one that had instigated Greg into over-promising.

Greg knew that he was stepping into the plot that his uncle had set out for him. This was completely intentional on his part. As things presently stood, Greg had nothing to go on in his investigation. If he remained defensive then he’d always remain on the back foot, groping in the dark hoping for some clues. Greg, however, had no intention of spending too much time on this investigation. He was already itching to start working on his foundation as a mage. He needed to be done with this investigation as soon as possible. Which was why he was allowing himself to play into his uncle’s hands. Only by giving the man a chance to make a move would he reveal what his motives are and what he plans to do. This was why he had made such an over-the-top promise about his father’s send-off party. It would give him logical grounds to go hunting for the next seven days straight. Greg was almost certain that, in that time, the man would have made his move. All that remained to be seen was who would turn out to be the real hunter and who was the prey.

Having achieved his objective, his uncle didn’t even hang around to pretend to mingle. He just turned around and left the compound directly. Greg, on the other hand, did the exact opposite. Although he cared about these people just as little, if not less than, his uncle, Greg had two reasons to hang around and interact with his neighbors. The first was simply because, like his father, Greg wanted to maintain a cordial relationship with all his neighbors. The second reason was that this gathering was a rare chance. A remote town in the mountains is not exactly what one thinks of when one thinks of open-mindedness. Interactions between men and women in the town are usually very restricted with only one’s spouse and immediate family members being allowed to interact freely. Under any other circumstances, the interaction would have to be very brief or with a third party there. At this party, the neighbors had come with their wives, which, to Greg, was like bringing little lambs into the den of a wolf.

Greg made sure to talk to every single one of his neighbors. However, someone who observed him more closely would notice that he usually spent almost twice as long speaking to men who’d come with their wives than he did with those that just brought their sons or daughters. Now, one might think Greg to be despicable for going after the wives of his neighbors rather than their unmarried daughters, but this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. Greg had thought it through before going with this course of action. His reasoning was simple, secrecy. Greg knew that if he slept around with several of his neighbors' daughters, chances are that, being young and still innocent to a degree, they would become attached to him. This, however, ran against Greg’s interests. The system had already made it clear that it wanted Greg to sleep with as many women as possible. If he slept with one of his neighbors’ daughters and they became attached to him, expecting a relationship to come out of the act, it would be troublesome. If the same thing happened with several of his neighbors' daughters, chances are that Greg would have to flee the town to escape the enraged fathers, to say nothing of if he impregnated them. With the wives, however, there would already be an implicit understanding between the two that whatever happened between them could never come to light.  Greg also wouldn’t have to worry about them wanting a relationship afterward.

Of course, this thought process didn’t make Greg any less of a scumbag. It just made him a logical scumbag as opposed to a purely horny one.

The first couple that Greg interacted with was the carpenter who’d made his mask and his wife. When Greg approached them, he hadn’t even been thinking of the title he now had. He’d been planning to thank the carpenter for the mask and at most interact with the carpenter’s wife briefly and have her appear on the missions list. The carpenter, however, was a talkative man and wouldn’t let Greg move on quickly. About five minutes into the interaction, however, Greg noticed that the man’s wife who’d so far been acting normal, had started to blush and avoid eye contact with him. At first, Greg hadn’t been sure what was going on, until Olivia reminded him of the title he now had. It was a good thing that Greg had a mask on at the time, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to hide his shock.

“Isn’t this a little too fast?” Greg had asked at the time.

“The people in this town lead hard lives, and as such, they aren’t exactly pushovers, “ Olivia had replied. “However, at the end of the day, they are all just mundane humans going about their daily lives,” She had gone on to say. “None of them have developed or trained their willpower to a high degree,” She declared. “Trust me, the higher you go in the magi world, the more people with strong willpower you’ll meet. By the third tier, the title will take a month to have the same effect it’s having now. By the fifth tier, that period will grow to about a year and by the seventh, even a decade might not be enough to affect them,” Olivia explained.

Greg had continued to calmly mingle with his neighbors even as he turned Olivia’s explanation over in his head. He had to admit, he did find it secretly thrilling to watch as the married women started to fall victim to his title all the while their husbands were right there with them and didn’t even notice it. Some were even bold enough to start checking him out while their husbands weren’t looking. Greg was no saint. In the course of interacting with the various couples that had attended the party, what began as a logical decision on his part, morphed into some kind of twisted fetish, the longer it went on. How he managed to keep himself from getting a raging boner, Greg would never know. At some point, it became a game to Greg to see just how long the wives of the men he was talking to would take before they started blushing like little girls. At the same time, however, this became a sobering lesson for Greg. The importance of having strong willpower simply couldn’t be overstated. Without it, he could fall under someone else’s influence and never even notice it. Along with his foundations, his willpower became one of the things he planned to devote a lot of time to training in.

Eventually, the party came to a close and everyone left. After seeing off the last guest, Greg turned around and prepared to walk back into the house. However, in the process, he caught sight of his mother cleaning the compound. This brought Greg to a screeching halt even as a thought occurred to him. ‘Wait, my mother, has been around me for longer than most of the women I’ve interacted with today,’ Greg mentally said to Olivia. “How come she remains unaffected by my title?” He asked.

‘This is why I told you that the subject of willpower is a lot more complicated than the simple summary I gave you,” Olivia replied. “You see, willpower isn’t a static thing. Think back to the hurdle example I gave you. Various things can affect how high or low that hurdle is. The bravest man you know may turn into a coward if their life is in danger. The meekest woman may turn into a ferocious beast if their child is threatened. In other words, if the right conditions are met, a person’s willpower may either falter or turn into steel,” Olivia explained. “Take your mother for example. I doubt that her willpower is that much stronger than that of the other women you’ve affected before. However, you happen to be her son. A fact that for her means you are off limits. In other words, this fact raises the hurdle that you have to jump over far higher than that of the other women. The good news for you is that this doesn’t make her immune to your title. It just means that it’ll take the title far longer for the hurdle to be pulled down by your title compared to that of others. How long it will take is dependent on how much your mother thinks a tryst with her son is a taboo,” She declared. “The more she is resistant to it, the longer it’ll take,” Olivia informed him. “I give her a week at the most,” She then added mischievously.

After getting the explanation, Greg continued to walk back into the house. His sister was helping his mother out in cleaning the compound, so he was alone in the house. He would have helped them but Greg had something more pressing to deal with. He had pretended to have fallen for his uncle’s provocation and promised to bring enough meat for their neighbors to take home something. But while this had been a ruse to get his uncle to make a move, it might prove to be his undoing if Greg didn’t take the time to plan out how he’d deal with the man. Weapons, armor, potions, magical items, and so on, Greg had a whole shop full of items that could help keep him safe and even enable him to counterattack if he was in danger. He planned to fully leverage this hidden advantage that his uncle was unaware of. His uncle thought that he was the hunter and Greg the prey, he would be in for a rude shock...