Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1975: A Taste of Terror

Number 1 remained silent while Ning continued.

"You’ll be the headmaster. You’ll look after them, find people capable of teaching them, and make sure their powers become something they understand instead of something they fear."

The angel stared at him for several seconds.

"And this is my punishment?"

"Yes."

Number 1 sighed. "You decided my punishment for helping Tritus is running a school full of dangerous children?"

"You’ve done a lot of bad things," Ning said. "Instead of spending the rest of your life using clairvoyance to make money or helping people like Tritus, you’re going to dedicate that ability toward something useful."

Number 1 leaned back in his chair and looked toward the ceiling. "You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple. The work probably won’t be."

The angel looked back at him. "And you expect me to predict which children will lose control, which teachers will be suitable, and which situations might become dangerous before they happen."

"That would be a good start."

Number 1 sighed again, though this time there was more resignation than resistance in it. "Do I have a say in this?"

"You can choose to die for your crimes instead if you want."

After another moment, Number 1 finally nodded. "Fine. I’ll establish the academy."

Ning stood and looked around the large office once more. The angel had enough money to begin the project himself, but Ning wanted the academy to become something much bigger than a private institution hidden inside a small nation.

"I’ll speak with Void and Tarian about it," Ning said. "If this school is going to take children from different countries, it needs support beyond your borders."

Number 1 nodded slowly. "Political backing would help. Parents will hesitate to send their children somewhere unfamiliar, especially if those children already have dangerous powers."

"I’ll talk to President Morstell in Conjora as well. If enough governments support the academy, it can become something people actually trust."

The angel folded his arms. "You’ve thought about this more than I expected."

"I had a good reason."

Jun’Tal alone had shown Ning how badly something like this was needed. There had to be other children across Hyrron who awakened abilities they did not understand, and not all of them would have someone like Ning or Emma nearby when that happened.

With the task given, Ning left Number 1 to think about everything involved in building the academy.

There was another matter waiting for him.

Faedria.

Ning teleported directly into Leamor’s room in the middle of the night, appearing without making a sound while the High Elf slept several meters away. The room was large and luxurious, with pale stone walls, ornate furniture, and long curtains shifting slightly in the night breeze.

Leamor wasn’t alone. There were guards all around the room, in hiding. But none were able to even notice Ning’s arrival. Ning let it be that way.

Ning stood beside the bed for a moment, studying the sleeping man before quietly speaking to the System.

"Does he have any family?"

<Leamor Vanar’s only close relative is his older brother. He currently has no wife or children.>

Ning looked down at him.

"Good. Then he isn’t married. He doesn’t have a fiancée either, right?"

<He is currently searching for another surviving woman of the former Faedrian royal bloodline in hopes of marrying her.>

Ning frowned slightly.

"There is another?"

<She is currently in hiding in the southern regions of the country.>

"Has he found her?"

<He is close, but there are others ahead of him.>

Ning’s expression changed.

"Others?"

<The other two candidates are searching for her for the same reason as well.>

Ning glanced away from Leamor for a moment.

"So they aren’t that different from him."

The struggle for the Faedrian throne had never been about Leamor alone. The other candidates also wanted legitimacy, and marrying someone connected to the previous royal bloodline would strengthen whichever claim managed to secure her first.

Ning sighed quietly.

That was going to become another problem.

He would have to deal with the others eventually, especially if they intended to treat another surviving member of the royal family as nothing more than a political tool. For now, however, Ning had come to Faedria for one person.

He turned back toward Leamor.

Then he slapped him.

The High Elf woke violently, his entire body jerking as his eyes opened in confusion and pain. Before he could understand where the attack had come from, Ning was already beside him with a knife pressed against his throat.

Leamor’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to call for the guards, but Ning pushed the knife slightly deeper, forcing him to stop.

The blade pricked his skin, and a thin line of blood slowly ran down the side of his neck.

Leamor’s breathing became shallow as he stared up at Ning, recognition giving way to terror, replacing the confusion once he saw the face above him.

"You—"

Ning pushed the blade just enough to silence him again.

Then he smiled.

"It’s not going to be so simple."

Leamor remained frozen.

Ning pulled the knife away from his throat, grabbed a fistful of the High Elf’s long golden hair, and sliced through it in a single motion. The severed locks of his hair fell across Leamor’s chest and the bed beside him, giving him a haircut he most certainly did not want.

Before Leamor could react to what had just happened, Ning vanished, leaving him with the terror.

The room became silent again.

Leamor remained where he was for several moments, breathing heavily while one hand slowly moved toward the shallow cut on his throat. His fingers came away with a trace of blood, and his eyes then shifted toward the golden hair lying beside him.

Ning had been inside his bedroom. He had come despite all of his guards and shown him that he could kill him if he wanted to. The only reason he didn’t was because he wanted to torture him first.

Leamor was beginning to regret all of his actions, but at this point, there was nothing he could do.