“Good evening, ‘Principal’,” said the blond man, supporting one side of the starship with a single hand.
The Principal, who had been shielded beneath the ship, was suddenly struck by the blinding glare of the overhead lights. Forced to squint, she lay peacefully on her mechanic’s creeper, her hand tightening around an old-fashioned pair of pliers. “...”
A moment later, she opened her eyes and silently regarded the silhouette standing against the light.
Two pairs of eyes, both blue as the deep sea, met in silence.
*CLANG!!!*
The ringing sound of metal striking metal echoed through the hangar.
The Principal, hovering in mid-air in a downward-striking posture, roared, “You little brat! Do you have any idea how heart-stopping that is?!”
“...”
The tall, lean, and handsome blond man slowly closed his eyes. With a sigh, he raised a long, powerful hand, pressing a finger against the pliers that had slammed into a blurred phantom of armor protecting his head. As he slowly pushed the tool away, he said, “It has been ten years. I am glad to see you are still so full of life.”
“Tch...” The Principal flicked her wrist, and the pliers dissolved into drifting blue flames. She landed lightly on the ground, scanning the man—who stood over 190 centimeters tall—from head to toe. Suddenly, she remarked, “You’ve gotten thinner. And you have wrinkles at the corners of your eyes. I never thought I’d see the day—you’re only forty-four, Evenheiler.”
She spoke with natural ease, even though standing next to him, she looked young enough to call him ‘Uncle.’
“Everyone faces this day eventually, whether through aging or death,” the blond man known as Evenheiler replied calmly, his eyes half-lidded. “I should be grateful that I’ve lived to see it.”
“Listen to you, sounding like an old man...” The Principal sighed. “I won’t ask where you’ve been all these years. But tell me: what brings the great legend ‘Starlight’ back to this place?”
Evenheiler remained silent for a moment.
“For a person,” he said. “Someone who was caught in my wake a few days ago. You certainly know him—his name is Lei Ting.”
***
“No wonder Angye’s people acted so stupidly, attacking my student even after they’d dealt with those blind star pirates...” The Principal rubbed her chin. “That fellow suspects you aren’t dead and tracked you to your new identity? Ten years and he’s still nursing that grudge? Incredible...”
“Perhaps to hatred, ten years is shorter than a single breath,” Evenheiler said, having lowered the starship. His tone was inscrutable.
“But you resisted the urge to charge into Angye’s manor and carve him to pieces. Why? Even, when did you become so cold?”
“I apologize for failing to meet your expectations. But perhaps I have never changed.”
The Principal gave a short laugh and turned to inspect her ship. “Really? You think I’ve forgotten the scene on your graduation day when you ran off to kill? And that was for a complete stranger, a mere commoner...”
“Nothing more than a fool’s fury. I’ve made a spectacle of myself,” Evenheiler said, bowing his head slightly. His golden, mid-length hair veiled his eyes and his gaunt face.
“Your way of speaking is truly bizarre now...” the Principal grumbled. “You sound like you’ve actually spent these years as a corporate clerk. And specifically in the sales department, without ever getting a promotion.”
Evenheiler blinked, his face still devoid of a smile. If anything, his expression grew even more faint.
“You have keen eyes,” he said, straightening his back and adjusting his black shirt, which subtly highlighted his lean, resilient build. Though he wore no tie or uniform, he suddenly exuded the aura of a ‘businessman.’
“Indeed. And thanks to your patronage, my alma mater recently ordered 3,118 different types of raw materials from my company’s branch,” he said. “A significant commission. It gave my salary—which hadn’t budged in eight years—a rare upward nudge. My deepest thanks. We look forward to your next visit.”
“...” The Principal’s expression slowly turned peculiar. “You’re that one-man show from ‘Far-Light Materials’ who can’t sell a single thing? You’re Enan Valen himself? To be honest, when I first got your message, I thought Valen was just your informant. That face isn’t your usual style of disguise.”
At this, a smile finally touched Evenheiler’s handsome face. The expression lent him a startling charm, though it was entirely lost on the Principal.
“Actually, I have made sales. My transaction volume here is now two. So, the bet you placed has concluded, and I’ve earned a bit of pocket money. It’s quite nice.” He bypassed her other questions entirely. “Because of that, I must protect my young client just as I protect the Academy, mustn’t I?”
“It wouldn’t kill you to just say you felt guilty about him getting dragged into your mess...” the Principal muttered tiredly, though she knew well that this man would likely prefer physical pain over blunt honesty. “You noticed it too?”
“Of course,” Evenheiler said softly. “An A-rank mental specialist... is not enough to hide from me.”
Even among espers of the same rank, there were tiers of capability. Moreover, Evenheiler was an S-rank—the last S-rank nurtured by the Academy. In his eyes, most supernatural traces in this world held no secrets.
The Principal watched him. After a long silence, she suddenly sighed.
“I never thought I’d see the day you stood before me like this,” she said. “I once thought you would reach the summit, using that blade of yours to sever the shackles and chains, leading us into a new era before the Academy was forced to perish alongside those fools... but I was wrong. Look at you now. You aren’t even as powerful as you were ten years ago. And you’re still so young.”
“I’ve encountered some minor issues,” Evenheiler said calmly. “And, I am deeply sorry, but I have never desired to wear a crown.”
“Of all the things you’ve said today, those two are the biggest lies.” Blue fire ignited around the Principal. She said coldly, “But it doesn’t matter. Since you haven’t broken your promise, I can forgive you an infinite number of times.”
Whatever the reason for that forgiveness, Evenheiler bowed his head deeply. He knew that the person before him cared for him profoundly, as she did for every promising Orion human like him.
“Thank you for your understanding. Truly...” he whispered. “Now, can we discuss business?”
“...Is this the tone you usually use with people?” The Principal, having pulled a wrench out of the blue flames, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “No wonder you can’t sell anything! Is that why you couldn’t even afford to bring a sales assistant?”
“It wasn’t always like this, but later... ha, the result is the same regardless.” Evenheiler sat cross-legged on the floor. “Besides, as someone once said: a loveless romance is not much different from doing business for a boss. If you put your heart into it, the one who ends up satisfied is never yourself. I find myself in deep agreement.”
“Good grief, a regular philosopher,” the Principal remarked, savoring the words. “Who said that? Which cynical relationship guru?”
“My young client,” Evenheiler answered succinctly. “He bought my goods today, and we had a good talk. About five hours. It was a pleasant conversation.”
Back in the dormitory, Lei Ting, who was joking around with a few classmates, felt a sudden chill down his spine. He felt as if something was thinking about him. However, since quite a few things tended to 'think' about him lately, he figured he just had to get used to it.
“I haven’t spent much time with him, but according to the Logistics Department’s reports, he doesn’t seem to have given much thought to the issue of mental interference,” the Principal said.
“Yes, that is itself a symptom of deep mental interference,” Evenheiler said. “Subjecting a Federation citizen to mental interference is a serious crime. And since the target is a minor, the penalty is tripled.”
Hearing this, the Principal tilted her head and looked at him. A moment later, she broke into a meaningful smile.
*You little brat, and you still claim to be cold-natured?*
Evenheiler realized he had said too much. He didn’t panic, but he stopped speaking, silently averting his gaze to reorganize his thoughts.
“He should receive appropriate training. I know you’ve already started, but it isn’t enough.” As he spoke, a brief flash of that wave-like golden glow from the ship that day crossed his mind.
The Principal watched him.
In truth, both of them knew that the subconscious of someone under deep mental interference had already been warped. Whenever they faced the person who had influenced them, their very instincts would be distorted...
And if the victim was an adolescent in their awakening period, such influence could even achieve the effect of ‘harmlessly customizing a superpower.’
The best solution was to use the victim’s own power growth process to suppress, consume, and eventually nullify the influence of the one who had interfered with them.
However, there was a problem: the moment the mental interference failed, the victim, recalling their true memories beneath the facade, might suffer a violent psychological shock.
“After ‘Pacific’ cross-referenced the data, we identified the suspect that very day. But space is vast; secure information relays take time,” the Principal said. “We’ll discuss it later, Even. Perhaps one day, I’ll need you to head out for me...”
“I haven’t fought in many years,” Evenheiler said calmly.
“Is that so, ‘Half-life’?”
The Principal sneered. It seemed she had already learned everything about the ‘Valen’ identity through Pacific.
“To hide your true identity, you even disguised your abilities and made a name for yourself in a new field under a new alias. That sounds like you... but if you ask me, isn’t being a ‘pro gamer’ a bit ill-suited for you?”
“It’s not exactly professional; I only play in competitive and exhibition matches,” Evenheiler said modestly. “Just some minor scuffles in a virtual game...”
“Enough, shut up. Do you think I don’t know you well enough?” The Principal waved him off impatiently. “If you can crush those players, you can crush your enemies. A drop in energy levels means nothing to you as long as it hasn't hit the critical threshold. So—get lost! Don’t let a ‘dead’ man interfere with my actual work!”
“...Actual work?” Evenheiler blinked, rising gracefully from the floor. Simultaneously, his brilliant golden hair quietly turned black, and his features shifted rapidly. In an instant, ‘Manager Valen’ reappeared on the *Sun*.
Throughout this transformation, there was no obvious fluctuation of supernatural power.
“Didn’t you feel it?” The Principal ignored his change, her back to him as she asked gravely, “The Second Galactic War... it may have already begun.”
“...” Valen replied calmly, “Yes. Of course. And in the end, we shall secure the final victory.”
*Swish.* The sound of a digital tablet mimicking a paper page turning echoed. With a visual ‘page-flip’ effect, Lei Ting finished reading a file on combat on the surfaces of planets with extreme environments and saw the title of the next document.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, an expression of interest crossing his face.
It was a record concerning the *Third* Galactic War.
***
