Lord of Charm

"I understand Lord Rob's grief and want to offer my cooperation."

Gale agreed to the interrogation under pressure for two reasons – one, he was sure he could go through it with his new mental strength, and two, he wanted to feel the pressure emanated by a magus.

"Are you sure?"

Albus asked him again doubtfully. After hearing the story from Alice, he doubted that there wasn't something fishy in the situation. He thought Gale might have been underestimating the power of a magus.

"I'm sure."

"Kevin, you can do it. don't overdo it, we can't have his mental state collapse and hinder his growth. I suggest pressure of 50 MSU, a young mage is unable to resist such pressure."

"Headmaster Albus, I believe a genius like Gale should have a much sturdier mind. You should interrogate him under 150 MSU."

Rob quickly raised the first suggestion by three times. Albus glared at him and shook his head.

"Do you want to break our student's mentality? Kevin, in order to appease Rob for his great service to our empire, use 75 MSU."

Rob just nodded with satisfaction. He was sure that Gale wouldn't be able to go through 50 MSU, but he wanted to rise it a little just in case. He just threw a high number to make Albus raise his offer to the maximum instead of suggesting 75 MSU himself and settling eventually for 60 MSU.

Albus gave green light to Kevin who stepped forward and looked into Gale's eyes. He exuded his aura and pressured Gale, making him feel a strong dread. This pressure wasn't the same as the one from the device which made his head hurt; it was just filling him with dread and fear to make him tell the truth.

"What's your name?"

Gale felt a strong fear in his heart, but although he couldn't suppress it since his mental strength was only at 72 MSU, he could still function just fine despite the fear. It didn't reach the point of losing his wit and rational thinking.

"Gale Sto-Stormborn."

He faked a slight shaking in his voice to make it more convincing. Kevin nodded and asked the next question.

"What was your relationship with Ronda Lawler?"

"We were lovers."

"So why did you kill her?"

"I'd never kill her… I loved her! It was the tiger who killed her."

"It's your fault that she died!"

Kevin kept exuding strong pressure on him as he blamed him for Ronda's death. It was meant to force him to admit any wrongs.

"It's my fault, it's my fault!"

Rob stood up from his chair and clenched his fists in anger as soon as he heard Gale's confession. He still didn't dare attack next to Albus, who just frowned after hearing Gale admitting he was guilty.

'He underestimated the power of a magus. That's disappointing.'

But Kevin didn't stop there, he kept pressuring Gale.

"Tell me everything you've done."

"I didn't do anything, that's why it's my fault! I was the weakest of the three, and after the tiger ambushed Lidia and killed her first, Ronda used herself to shield me and buy me time to run away. I could only watch her get ripped to shreds by the tiger's attacks without being able to save her. If I was stronger, if I could get to the next stage sooner, I would be able to save her!"

Gale spewed lies and bullshit one after another, acting like he was blaming himself for his weakness.

'I've judged him too soon. This also must be the reason he was able to advance so fast to the next stage; instead of being traumatized he chose to get stronger so he will be able to defend the ones he holds dear in the future.'

Albus nodded in appreciation as he listened to Gale's pained monologue. Rob also sighed and unclenched his fists. Although he was still partly blaming Gale for Ronda's death, he understood Gale couldn't stop it. His daughter let her emotions control her and saved her lover instead of running away.

"Ok, that's enough, Kevin. We understand what happened, no need to continue or he might go through trauma. Rob, are you satisfied?"

"I am. However, I'm disappointed with the academy's inability to protect their most precious and talented students."

Although Rob complained, he could do nothing against a gold force. He could only step back and do his best to get to the eighth grade and stand as Albus' equal.

"We apologize for our failure to take care of Ronda. We will learn from this painful accident in the future."

Albus offered a few last words and vanished from the room. Soon, Rob and Kevin vanished as well when they left at a speed a mage like Gale couldn't perceive, leaving only Alice, Gale, and Will the guard.

"I will take my leave now, Lady Alice."

Will bowed and left awkwardly. Did they have to just vanish and leave him to walk out normally alone?

"I'm surprised, how did you manage to go through the interrogation? And don't sell me the crap about you and Ronda being lovers and that her death will be your biggest regret until the day you die. I'm not buying."

Alice asked Gale straightforwardly after everyone left. She raised a barrier with her wind magic to prevent anyone from listening to them.

"Professor, are you doubting my integrity? I thought you were the one who would always stand by my side and trust me."

Gale asked with an offended tone, clenching his chest with his hand to convey how she broke his heart with her words.

"Stop fooling around. Hurry up and tell me."

"Fine, my mental strength rose to 72 MDU after advancing to the fifth stage. I could easily control my words and tell what I wanted."

Alice gaped at his claim and instantly pressured his mind with 72 MSU. However, instead of kneeling in pain as she expected, he remained standing and smiled at her. It wasn't comfortable, but he could withstand that pressure.

"How is it possible?"

"Haha, let me show you one more secret then."

He took out a green orb and started pouring his mana into it in front of Alice's eyes.

"Wind Orb? Do you have wind affinity as well?"

She found it weird that he only had two affinities with his talent, but she didn't want to force him to show her his other affinities. Gale just nodded while he filled the orb with his mana.

"No way! That's… SSS-1! Hahaha, now your advancing speed makes much more sense than before!"

Alice laughed as she smiled widely. Now she felt that betting on Gale was a great choice, he had an SSS affinity! Although she assumed it was at the top of SS before and advanced to SSS after he strengthened himself, it didn't matter.

Gale's reason to show some of his secrets was that he believed the more dazzling he would be, the more the academy would take care of him and nurture him.

"Professor Alice, I still don't control my powers so well, so how about you train me for a few weeks now?"

"Sure… that might help. When you're out, I expect you to get the first rank of your age group. We will start tomorrow at 9 am, make sure to be at my office."

Alice thought for a moment and agreed. She already understood that Gale lacked a lot of practical training, and even his basics weren't too special. Gale agreed and the two parted.

Now free, Gale decided to go and make amends with Valentina. Since the problem was solved, he believed she wouldn't have a reason to be mad at him anymore. He went to her apartment and knocked on the door.

Soon after, the door opened, and he stepped inside. The dining area was empty, so he entered the bedroom and found Valentina sulking in her bed.

"You took long to come."

"Sorry Vale, I had to prepare for my interrogation. Look, I advanced, I'm an Advanced Mage now."

He smiled at her as he emanated his aura to make her feel his stage. Valentina's countenance gave in her surprise when she saw that, but she didn't say anything.

"The matter with Ronda's father was concluded, and he won't pursue the matter any further now. Your family is safe, I told you that you could trust me to take care of you."

He sat by her side and caressed her hair with his palm. He wanted to calm her down and make her understand she was safe by his side.

"But now you're an advanced mage and you're just 20."

"Yes, but I will turn 21 in a week."

"Gale… I don't think we can be together."

"Why? What do you mean? I thought you'd be happy for me. Is it bad that I'm growing stronger?"

Valentina sighed. She enjoyed his caresses, so she chose to relish those last moments before having to break up. She placed her hand on his thigh and stroked it gently with her fingers.

"You're too strong, Gale. The imperial family will only let you live if they can make you fall in love with one of their descendants and bind you to them. Otherwise, you'd be a two-edged sword for the empire; while you could help the empire win its wars, you could also go against the imperial family and destroy it."

She understood that she could be killed just for telling Gale this information. The imperial family would have a better chance of getting Gale's support if he didn't know they'd kill him if they failed.