Chapter 484 - 483 - Curious!
A profound silence settled over the Vice Dean’s office.
The warm morning sunlight continued filtering gently through the tall windows, casting long golden beams across the polished wooden floor while a gentle breeze wandered through the slightly opened panes, causing the curtains to sway with quiet elegance. Dust motes floated lazily within the streams of light, their slow dance lending an almost timeless quality to the room. Beyond the windows, the distant sounds of students beginning another day at Arcadia Academy drifted faintly through the air, but within these four walls, the atmosphere had become so still that even the soft ticking of the antique clock resting upon one of the bookshelves seemed unusually loud.
Luca remained seated.
His crimson eyes never left the Vice Dean.
The older man’s gentle smile had not changed in the slightest, nor had his relaxed posture behind the desk. It was almost impossible to reconcile that warm, approachable expression with the question he had asked only moments ago.
"Is this the journey of a hero from a beautiful fairy tale... or is it the path of one who brings destruction wherever he walks?"
The words echoed once again within Luca’s mind.
His eyes gradually narrowed.
Not out of hostility.
Nor suspicion alone.
But because he found himself unable to grasp the true intention hidden behind that question.
Was the Vice Dean accusing him?
No...
There had been no malice in his voice.
Was he praising him?
That seemed even less likely.
There had been neither admiration nor criticism.
Only...
Curiosity.
As though the man seated before him genuinely wished to know the answer.
Luca slowly replayed every word.
Every pause.
Every subtle change in tone.
Every expression upon the Vice Dean’s face.
He had long since learned that conversations with extraordinary individuals were often battles in their own right.
Sometimes swords were unnecessary.
Sometimes...
Words alone were enough.
What exactly are you trying to tell me...?
Luca’s thoughts moved rapidly.
Are you testing my character...?
Or...
His gaze sharpened ever so slightly.
Do you already know something I don’t...?
That final possibility lingered within his mind.
Ever since stepping into this office, he had possessed the unsettling feeling that the Vice Dean wasn’t simply speaking to him.
It was almost as though...
Every sentence carried another meaning hidden beneath the surface.
Like a calm lake concealing immeasurable depths beneath perfectly still waters.
Luca disliked conversations like these.
Not because they were difficult.
But because they denied certainty.
One careless answer.
One misunderstood implication.
Could reveal far more than intended.
For several long moments, he chose not to respond.
Instead, he simply observed.
If words could conceal intentions...
Expressions often could not.
The Vice Dean, meanwhile, quietly watched the young man sitting across from him.
His crimson eyes rested upon Luca with patient interest, never rushing him, never attempting to interrupt the silence. There wasn’t the slightest hint of impatience upon his face.
Instead...
The corners of his lips slowly lifted.
His smile became just a little brighter.
He seemed to find something unexpectedly amusing.
Luca noticed the subtle change immediately.
His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
What...?
The Vice Dean continued looking at him.
For another heartbeat...
Then another...
Before—
A soft chuckle escaped his lips.
It was quiet at first.
Almost restrained.
Yet within moments, that chuckle grew into genuine laughter.
"Hahaha..."
The sound filled the previously silent office with surprising warmth.
It wasn’t mocking.
Nor was it the laughter of someone ridiculing another.
It was sincere.
Completely unrestrained.
The Vice Dean leaned back slightly in his chair, one hand lightly covering his forehead as his shoulders shook with quiet amusement, his laughter echoing naturally through the room as though he had just witnessed something thoroughly delightful.
Luca instinctively flinched.
His eyes widened ever so slightly.
For the briefest moment...
He simply stared at the silver-haired man before him.
Among the countless possibilities he had considered over the last several minutes...
The Vice Dean suddenly bursting into heartfelt laughter had not been one of them.
The quiet laughter lingered within the Vice Dean’s office, carrying through the spacious room with an ease that somehow made it feel even more unusual. The warm rays of the morning sun continued to stream through the tall windows, painting the polished wooden floor in shades of gold while the gentle breeze drifting through the slightly opened panes stirred the curtains and carried with it the faint fragrance of blooming flowers from the academy gardens below. Outside, the sounds of students beginning another ordinary day could still be heard in the distance, but inside the office, the atmosphere had become strangely detached from the rest of the academy, as though this room existed in a world where time itself flowed at a slower pace.
The Vice Dean’s shoulders shook lightly as his laughter gradually subsided, and after another quiet chuckle escaped him, he slowly raised a hand to the corner of his eye as though brushing away tears brought forth by genuine amusement. His smile never once carried ridicule or mockery. Instead, it was the kind of laughter born from witnessing something unexpectedly fascinating, something that had genuinely delighted him in a way only he seemed capable of understanding.
Eventually, he let out a long, contented breath before looking back toward Luca.
"I must apologize."
His voice was calm once again, though the warmth left behind by his laughter still lingered within every word he spoke.
"I truly should not have laughed in front of you like that, especially when we have only just begun our conversation."
A faint smile remained upon his face as he gave a small shake of his head.
"So please, do not take my reaction too seriously."
His eyes rested quietly upon Luca.
"It was simply that..."
He paused for a brief moment, carefully choosing his next words.
"...a man cannot help but become curious after looking back upon the story that follows someone like you."
His gaze drifted ever so slightly, almost as though he were reading through invisible pages only he could see.
"When I look upon the path you have walked thus far, I see a young student who saved Beastridge Mountain from calamity, stood amidst the bloodshed beneath the hidden church of the Cult, witnessed the collapse of the ancient Elven Forest, survived the Trial of the Dwarven Lands, and became involved in the upheaval that shook the Holy Kingdom."
A thoughtful smile slowly returned to his lips.
"Each event, when viewed separately, can be dismissed as coincidence."
His fingers gently tapped the polished surface of the desk.
"But when they are placed together..."
His eyes met Luca’s once again.
"...they begin to resemble something far more extraordinary."
The room once again descended into silence.
Luca neither smiled nor frowned.
His posture remained perfectly composed, his crimson eyes never leaving the silver-haired man seated across from him. He listened to every word with complete attention, not allowing even the slightest change in his expression to betray the thoughts moving beneath the surface of his calm exterior.
From the moment he had stepped into this office...
He had done little more than observe.
Every smile.
Every pause.
Every carefully chosen word.
Every subtle shift in the Vice Dean’s expression.
He was searching.
Searching for a contradiction.
Searching for an opening.
Searching for the true intentions hidden beneath the seemingly harmless conversation.
The Vice Dean, meanwhile, continued watching him with quiet interest.
After another few moments of silence, a knowing smile slowly appeared upon his face.
"You do not seem particularly fond of me."
The words were spoken so naturally that they almost sounded like an idle observation rather than a question.
For the first time since entering the office...
Luca finally answered.
His voice remained calm, carrying neither hostility nor warmth.
"How can someone be fond of another person..."
He held the Vice Dean’s gaze without wavering.
"...when that person is someone he has never met..."
A brief pause followed naturally before he completed the thought.
"...or even heard of?"
Silence settled between them once more.
The Vice Dean simply looked at him.
Then, almost unexpectedly, another quiet chuckle escaped his lips.
"I suppose that is a fair answer."
He leaned back comfortably in his chair, his expression remaining as relaxed as ever.
"Then by that logic..."
His smile widened just enough to reveal a trace of amusement.
"...you must feel exactly the same way toward every single person you encounter for the very first time."
Luca’s crimson eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
There it was again.
That strange feeling.
The Vice Dean possessed an uncanny ability to turn the most ordinary sentence into something that seemed to conceal another meaning entirely. Every response he gave felt as though it carried two conversations at once—one spoken aloud, and another hidden quietly beneath the surface.
The Vice Dean noticed the subtle change in Luca’s expression immediately.
His smile did not falter.
Instead, his crimson eyes seemed to deepen ever so slightly, becoming impossibly tranquil, like an endless lake whose depths could never be measured no matter how long one stared into it.
He continued looking at Luca for several long moments before speaking again, his voice carrying the same gentle warmth as before.
"And yet..."
He tilted his head almost imperceptibly.
"...I wonder if that is truly the case."
The office fell completely silent once more.
The breeze that entered through the open window gently stirred the pages of the book resting upon the desk, and the faint rustling sound seemed unusually clear within the stillness.
The Vice Dean’s gaze never left Luca’s.
His smile remained unchanged.
Yet somehow...
The atmosphere within the room had quietly shifted.
It was no longer the expression of an academy administrator speaking with one of his students.
It felt as though an ancient observer was carefully examining someone standing before him after an impossibly long passage of time.
Then, in the same calm voice with which he had begun the conversation, he softly asked,
"Or is it..."
His crimson eyes seemed almost unfathomable at that moment, carrying within them a depth that Luca could neither understand nor explain.
"...that I am the only person..."
Another brief pause naturally followed, allowing every word to settle into the silence surrounding them.
"...whom you have truly met..."
The Vice Dean’s smile became almost imperceptibly gentler.
"...for the very first time?"