Chapter 277: Campfire [II]

Thankfully, before I could dwell on that dreadful topic for too long, Michael spoke up.

"So," he said, tossing a twig into the flames, "anyone else still seeing dead Cadets from the

Night Sanctuary

whenever they close their eyes, or is that just me?"

Vince grunted. "Just you."

"That was too fast," Michael said, narrowing his eyes. "You didn’t even think about it."

"Didn’t need to," Vince dismissively waved a hand. "What you’re describing is survivor’s guilt. And it’s overrated. Been there, done that."

Michael tilted his head at that. "I’ve been wondering this for a while now — what kind of life did you even live, Vince? You sound like you’ve struggled a lot... yet somehow, you still sound well-off."

"Well-off?" Vince scoffed like he was offended. "Bitch, I’m filthy rich. Richer than half the lowborn nobles out there. And before you ask, yes, I’m self-made."

"Self-made?" Michael repeated skeptically.

Vince squinted. "What, you don’t believe me?"

While those two bickered, Ray was still panning his camera across the campfire like he was filming a wildlife documentary.

"Day eight or nine, I think?" he said dramatically. "The survivors of Noctveil Wilds attempt social interaction to distract themselves from the creeping existential dread."

Meanwhile, the argument continued.

"No, it’s not that I don’t believe you," Michael shook his head. "It’s just that being self-made at our age is... impressive."

Vince gave a proud laugh. "Hah! You’ve no idea of what’s impressive, my friend. I once sold a man his own house, and a bride her own groom. I could sell wings to a bird and roots to a tree.

That’s

impressive."

Wow. That was some line.

Michael looked moved for a second as well... before sighing. "And here I am, so broke I can’t even afford a mattress."

The camp fell silent for a moment. Vince frowned. Ray blinked.

Even Juliana, sitting a bit farther away from all of us, wrinkled her nose like she’d just heard something ridiculously unbelievable.

"What?" Ray shouted, baffled. "Aren’t you one of the Top Ten Cadets in our batch? Most amenities are free — or

nearly

free — for us top rankers!"

Right. Because of his goofy personality, it was sometimes easy to forget that Ray was ranked right below me — the number two among the first-years.

Before Michael could reply, Kang huffed from beside Alexia. His voice was muffled by how comfortably he was lying down. "That’s because Michael donates everything he gets to orphanages and charities."

Michael rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed. "I just... feel bad having so much when some people don’t have

anything

."

"Wow," Vince said flatly. "You’re like a walking sermon on humility. Must be exhausting."

Michael chuckled. "You’d be surprised."

Ray zoomed the camera in on him, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Look closely, chat. This is a true noble hero — kind, handsome, and broke. An endangered species, really."

Michael gave him a deadpan look. "Keep that up, and you’ll be the first species to go extinct."

Ray turned the camera slightly toward himself, smirking into the lens. "See? Even the kind ones have a dark side."

"You’re both idiots," Vince rolled his eyes. "But seriously, Michael, stop guilt-tripping yourself over helpless strangers and build some wealth already. If it makes your holy ass uncomfortable, think of it this way — right now you have

less

money to give back to the community. But if you had

more

money, you could give back

more

."

And

that

is

exactly

how every righteous civil worker spirals into corruption.

Michael smiled softly at Vince’s logic. It was the kind of smile that said this is stupid... but somehow it makes sense.

"Right," he said dryly. "So what you’re suggesting is that I should become filthy rich so I can donate even more?"

Vince nodded solemnly. "Exactly. It’s called the

circle of greed

."

"Don’t you mean

generosity

?"

He shrugged. "Same thing. Just depends on who’s writing the press release when you get arrested for tax fraud."

Michael laughed. "But I don’t even know

how

to get rich."

Alexia threw her hands up, scandalized. "What?! What do you mean

you don’t know

?! I’ve told you a gazillion times, Michael! Invest, hold for the long term, and reap profit! I’ll even share

my own

portfolio with you!"

"And if you can’t even do that," I added, "then just invest in gold."

Vince shot me a pointed look. "Hey, stop promoting your family business. Everyone knows the Theosbanes have a monopoly on gold."

I gasped like I was hurt by the

baseless

accusation. "

Monopoly

? What nonsense! We only own, like, ninety percent of the total gold market. That’s

barely

a monopoly. And if that’s your logic, then you shouldn’t invest anywhere at all. Because the Luxara Stock Exchange determines the global market trends. Which means we technically dictate the entire economy."

Vince kept staring at me for a long moment, then buried his face in his hands and sobbed. "I know! Gods, your family’s wealth

disgusts

me!"

I chuckled.

Meanwhile, Lily had quietly taken out some of the cooked serpent meat and started handing pieces around, laughing along with us.

"Thanks," I said, accepting a piece.

It wasn’t half bad — chewy, smoky, and with a faint aftertaste of burnt venom.

A delicacy, indeed.

For a while, as we all ate, the only sounds heard were the crackle of the fire and the distant chirping of enormous insects in the jungle beyond.

It

should’ve

been peaceful.

And it

was

, in its own way.

But it was also the kind of peace that felt too fragile, like it would break any second.

And very soon, Lily

did

break it. "Does anyone... miss the Academy?"

Everyone looked up.

Ray snickered. "Miss what exactly? The daily exhaustion, weekly assignments, horrifying lectures, or morning dorm coffee that tasted worse than what I’d feed to my dogs?"

"Yeah," Lily said with a small smile. "That."

Michael leaned back, staring into the flickering fire. "I kinda do, actually. Back in high school, I didn’t have any friends. So these past few months at the Academy... with so many people growing closer to me... I liked it."

Kang snorted. "You know they’re only trying to make connections since you’re in the Top Ten, right?"

Michael nodded. "I know. And that’s fine. I don’t expect anything from them in return. It just... feels nice to be included by your peers for once, instead of being shunned."

Ray rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Wait, didn’t you and Samael go to the same high school? I thought you two were friends."

"Hah!" I barked out a laugh. "Friends? No, I

bullied

him."

Ray looked like he heard me wrong. "Wait— seriously?"

"Yeah, he did," Michael heaved a resigned sigh.

"Huh?" Ray let out a half-suppressed laugh. "Guess you’ve always been the Tyrant."

In the brief silence that followed, I furrowed my brows in confusion.

When no one elaborated, I finally asked, "What?"

That one word got their attention.

Everyone — even Kang, even Juliana, who’d been pretending not to listen — turned to look at me with identical looks of dawning realization.

"Oh..." Alexia was the first to catch on. "You don’t know."

"I don’t know

what

?" I asked slowly.

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances among themselves.

At last, Vince decided to answer me. "That’s your nickname back at the Academy — the

Tyrant

."

I was stunned, utterly speechless for I don’t remember how long.

Then I turned to Michael. He gave me a helpless nod, looking unsure whether to laugh or comfort me.

I clenched my fist in the air like I was strangling someone. "The

Tyrant

? That’s the best they could come up with for me? Who did I tyrannize, huh? I’ve been on my absolute best behavior ever since I joined the Academy!"

They shared a collective look that said:

That... was his best behavior?

Alexia began counting on her fingers calmly. "You beat down ten of the Top Twenty Cadets. Then gave a humiliating speech while they were carried out on stretchers. Then restricted mission access to anyone below a certain rank."

Vince joined in. "Oh, and don’t forget the time you burned down a dorm."

I sat upright. "

Allegedly

! The Cadet Council still hasn’t given an official statement on who did it!"

"And that," Ray said, zooming his camera in on me like he was getting a confession, "is why people think you’ve got the Council in your pocket. Basically, they think you bribed the Academy."

"

Bribed

?" I repeated, incredulous.

Michael scratched his cheek, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah... someone even wrote an article about it in the Academy newspaper. But then that person

mysteriously

got kicked out of the media club. People think you were behind it."

I dragged a hand down my face. "I don’t even leave my room to get food! I make Juli bring me something! You think I’d have the motivation to run a conspiracy?"

Juliana nodded from the edge of the firelight. "That’s true. He can’t even run an errand properly."

I pointed at her. "Thank you! Not the best defense, but thank you!"

Alexia still didn’t let go. "Okay, then what about the time you controlled the first-years’ cafeteria dessert menu for a week?"

I froze. "...That’s because their desserts were always so subpar!"

Juliana murmured without looking up, "You ordered the kitchen to replace the entire sugar supply."

"Well, yeah!" I exclaimed, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. "Because they were using low-quality sugar! I’m sorry I care about the culinary wellbeing of my fellow Cadets!"

Ray chuckled. "See? That’s exactly why they call you the Tyrant. You act like a dictator who justifies every decision with moral superiority."

"That’s not tyranny," I said indignantly. "If anything, that sounds like

efficient leadership

."

"Uh-

huh

," Vince drawled. "Sure thing, Supreme Chancellor Samael."

Lily giggled aloud.

Michael also smiled. "Well, at least the nickname’s not that bad. It could’ve been worse."

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Like what?"

"Like...

’The Golden Brat,’

" Vince suggested.

Everyone burst into hushed laughter. Even Juliana’s lips twitched — which, for her, was basically a full-blown laugh.

I didn’t join in.

I leaned back, rolling my eyes as I gazed back up at the shattered sky through the branches, their laughter fading into a comfortable blur.

It all felt so... warm.

Maybe it was the fire.

Or maybe it was the rare peace after everything that had happened.

Either way, that was the first moment we all truly enjoyed there.

Then Vince, because he couldn’t help himself, ruined it. "So, who do you think will die next?"

Everyone groaned.

"Seriously?" Michael threw a twig at him. "

That’s

your idea of small talk?"

"I’m being practical!" Vince protested. "You gotta prepare for these things. Statistically, someone’s luck is bound to run out soon."

"Statistically," Alexia said, "it’ll be you."

He gaped. "...What?"

She smiled serenely. "You talk too much. In stories, characters like you either die right before or after the climax."

Ray immediately turned the camera toward him. "And there you have it, folks — foreshadowing."

Laughter broke out again. And this time, even I couldn’t help but smirk.