I breached Zacks room with him completely unawares.

!? Oh, its you. Howd you even do that

Once he noticed I was there, Zacks eyes bulged in shock.

Hehehe, nice reaction. I really liked this guy and his totally cliche reactions.

Heres that meal. Have at it. He said, handing me a plate full of food.

Thanks. Ill borrow the table.

Be my guest.

Time for the moment of truth.

On the menu this time, we have bread and cream stew, along with steak and vegetables.

Simple and plentiful.

The bread was actually white on the inside and smelled pretty good.

The cream stew had a variety of veggies and lots of chicken in each spoonful. Not bad at all.

The steak was big. An 18 ouncer I reckon. The meat was lean with little fat, cooked soft and juicy. Just how I like it.

It was a far cry from real gourmet food, but it was delicious in a normal way. Best of all was the fact that there was so much of it.

I didnt imagine thered be food this good served at a concentration camp.

The country may be fucked, but its still the Country of Art. Our average quality of food is on the upside.

Makes sense.

In the future, when its all over, it might not be so back to move here.

I have a dream. A dream, to be a power in the shadows.

But once I do that, once Im satisfied with it to the fullest extent, I wonder what Ill do with the rest of my life? Id sometimes ponder such things during my days of constant training.

I could become a power outside of the shadows, I could become a demon lord set on destroying the world, or I could become something like a master who trains future heroes. I thought on a lot of possibilities and ended up on something very simple.

Id want a life where I could eat good food every day and sleep to my hearts desire. Id be happy with just that much.

Id spend my whole life at full throttle only to end up at a slow cruise.

Yes, that, just makes sense to me.

What if I poisoned you?

Who do think youre dealing with? I can tell poison by smell.

I really cant.

Doesnt really matter when I can break down any poison with mana.

Good nose on ya. Wish I had one. Especially that one time, back when I was still in the business yeah, one of my boys tried to poison me. Not a fun time, let me tell ya. Made it out of that alive, but as you can see, it all went to shit and here I am.

Zack began talking despondently.

Gimme a sword and I can fight. This damned country, I tell ya, magiswords arent worth a damn. Stealing pays more than working for some retard noble. I honestly thought Id make it like that yeah, all in the past. Royalists didnt give a damn about magiswords and it bit em back in the ballsack when Doem used em to take over. Some irony.

Okay.

Talk to me about that Clara girl.

I was done eating now, so I went on to the main topic.

Why do ya gotta ask me. You should know all there is to her a lot better.

Sure I do, but maybe I dont know everything about the here and now. No loss in making sure my own intel matches up with everything else. Apt diligence, leads to a longer life I narrow my eyes and smile meaningfully.

Tsk, you know your stuff. I really cant tell you a lot.

Not a problem.

Hmph. Zack let out a snort and started talking. Should be obvious from the name, but Clara Oriana is that infamous Rose Orianas little sister. She tried to go against the Doem Faction early on, got caught, ended up here. Still, shes royalty, and they cant execute her right away. Even Lord Doem is having trouble on how to deal with her, but that aint the real story at all apparently.

Go on

Clara Oriana is a big face of the anti-Doem flag. Shes got a lot of people listening to her. Even here in the camp

Zack raised a corner of his mouth in a smirk.

Apparently, Lord Doems tryna use Clara Oriana to gather in the people opposed to him so he can get rid of em all at once. Thats it. What did I tell ya, its not a lot. Dont you know a lot more?

Perhaps I hid my mouth behind my fingers and, with serious eyes, stared directly at Zack. Care to know?

Naturally, I didnt know a thing, so I used some insta-mana release to add on the pressure.

!! C-cut it out, I said I didnt give a damn about the politics!

Wise decision.

My smile was a smile that implied dark, terrible secrets

With an attitude as if I see all and know all, I acted the part of a power in the shadows. Its not a matter of my speech but also my mannerisms from my eyes to my fingertips.

This is it, this is perfection!

Come on, man, this aint good for my heart

Zack wiped off the sweat hed been building up and got up.

I got business to take care of. Boss called.

Your boss?

Yeah Doem Camp boss.

Zack said with irritably before finally leaving the room.

Good

Nothing to do other than tail him.