The Legendary Fool

‘I- she… she really wasn’t lying,’

Tom was utterly baffled.

They had known each other for a few minutes— if trying to kill each other counted towards that— making their relationship too shallow for an emotional appeal to work. She was strong enough to compel him to act, so trickery or deceit held little meaning. She had revealed an identity to him that she, in her own words, would kill to keep a secret; yet claimed that if he wished to leave, she would not stop him.

‘This woman is completely crazy!’

It was hard to stop his cheeks from flushing a little, though. Well, not like he could control a perfectly natural physiological response, right?

“You weren’t wrong, you know. I do want something from you. Something selfish,” Aleph began, her tone relieved—as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her chest. “The reason why I was tracking Zakeran’s group was because I couldn’t see any way to accomplish my goals, atleast, not alone. If I was to conquer the hardest sector of the Zelez Dungeon, I needed a team,” She explained.

Tom found the sincerity in her tone almost off-putting, entirely caught off-guard by her willingness to be honest.

“The Nameless District is a hub for ambitious youth that gather from all over the Syrelore Kingdom in search of wealth and glory. Fallen Noble I may be, but I still have access to considerable wealth and resources, a small chunk of which I was willing to expend to hire a team.”

“So why didn’t you?” Tom asked, his tone coming across as sceptical. Surely this wasn’t the first time she was tracking a group, considering how seriously she seemed to take her goals and the difficulty of the task she had planned.

Aleph sighed.

“The best among the Nameless District are either chosen by the Academy or the other organisations within the Noble District. The ones that are left behind, well.. In an effectively lawless district, power is inevitably conflated with greed. Their resentment at their failure needs an outlet and it is… hard to return to a life of tending to herbs after you’ve gotten a taste of true adventure.”

“So you were looking for disposable manpower,” Tom pointed out, his voice coming across harsher than he had intended for.

“I…,” Aleph began, her tone defensive before she sighed again. “Well, I won’t lie to you. Though in my defence, the only reason why people choose to stay in this shoddy, beaten-down, thief- filled town is because they are precisely looking for opportunities like these.”

“Then why didn’t you approach them?”

“ Nylev Jaxenor recently conquered the hardest sector of the Zelez Dungeon and now he is celebrated as a hero. The part of the story they don’t want the general populace to know was that fifteen academy students headed down the dungeon, over half of them Noble descendants and he was the only one who returned.”

Tom felt a chill run down his spine.

“So they weren’t powerful enough?” Tom asked, struggling to keep his expression from wavering.

“Zakeran’s group? Ha,” Aleph dryly chuckled. “His group is only third in overall strength, but he was the least belligerent among my options. Do you know what the most important factor in clearing a Dungeon is?”

“Uh…. a powerful card?” Tom offered, not really knowledgeable enough on the subject to give a meaningful opinion.

“Trust,” Aleph replied, her expression deathly serious. “Those from common backgrounds don’t trust the Nobles. Those from the side-branches don’t trust the main-family branch Nobles. Those from different Noble Houses manipulate and scheme against one another. My own family was too mistrustful of the other houses to cultivate any meaningful relationships with them and when our Ancestor passed away…. there was no one left to stand on our side.”

“So you want me to trust you?” Tom asked, his tone incredulous. “Why do you think that I am worthy of your trust?”

“Because you are an outcast,” Aleph calmly replied, as if she had been waiting for his question. “Because,” Aleph reached for her eye, pinching at them to reveal that she had been wearing a crystalline contact lens of some sort. “This artefact lets me see the statuses of people below or equal to my level.

Tom’s voice dropped as he muttered grimly, “You saw…”

“Yes. I saw you change your display name.”

‘Well fuck.’

“I know that your [Soul Card] is a fake too. A [Common] ranked card cannot allow you to slot as many cards as you have, especially not at a measly level 6. The natural conclusion that I draw is that your real [Soul Card] specialises in illusions, which makes its value rather limited to most Nobles. Yet, your actions seem to indicate that you are being pursued by someone and if I had to guess, it would be someone of a Noble Stature.”

“Are you threatening me?” Tom asked, his voice falling dangerously low.

“Nope!” Aleph cheerfully replied. “I’m making you an offer. The power you have— I will teach you to refine it. Hone it until you approach my standard. The resources I have, I am willing to share. Knowledge, by the looks of it, is something you desperately lack—- I shall give you the answers you seek. Instead of trying and failing for the same reasons my family did, I would much rather trust someone and see where that leads,” Aleph had a small grin on her face as she extended her hand forward for a second time.

Tom noticed as her hand lightly trembled, the anxiety she was holding at bay behind a cheerful facade revealing itself a little.

“You expect me to… head to a dungeon that is almost guaranteed to kill me… in exchange for your tutelage and… you call that friendship!?”

The light in Aleph’s gaze dimmed a little, her gaze lowering as she inwardly let out a long sigh. She knew— she knew that no one would possibly accept her offer if she was upfront about the risks but… she had to try. Forcing someone held no meaning and lying to them would only mean getting them killed for no reason.

The truth… the truth was really all she had left to offer— and the boy before her was the closest she had gotten—- perhaps the closest she would ever get after months of searching. And time was running out.

A warm hand wrapped around her own, offering her a firm shake.

“It’s a good thing I left most of my sanity back home. Friends?”

“Friends,” Aleph replied as warm tears trickled down her cheeks. “Friends,” she repeated again, her voice barely above a whisper.

Aleph Longstradia had gotten so used to lying—about her past, about her goals, about her ambitions, about her desire for revenge— that the truth had set her free.

For once, her words were spoken without any falsity or deceit.