11 Pyrrhic Victory.

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Sitting at the long desk beside William, the current most powerful Northern sorceress continues to engage in conversation, "That is a good book, you know."

Releasing his connected fingers after roughly guessing the direction of their small chat and what appropriate response to answers so that he can get the most out of this, William nodded his head.

"Yes, Senior. It was written by the Rectoress of Aretuza, after all."

Noticing Margarita flinch at the answer, William continued to read, seemingly not realizing it. After roughly a minute went by, the sorceress then resumed the conversation with a slightly crooked voice at the start of the sentence.

"Aretuza? Isn't that one of the five delegation magic academies that just arrived here? I heard that they selected a new Rectoress because of the war. But I am a Nord, so I don't have a clear picture of what was happening. Just small rumors here and there."

Raising his eyebrows in fake confusion, William asks, "You clearly jest, Senior. How come the oldest living sorceress just stepped down because of the war? It is supposed to be the other way around."

Frowning, William continued, "And from what I know, the war in my homeland ended about four years ago. And even if war ever breaks out when I left my continent, her presence is just too much to appoint another Rectoress."

Flipping through the pages, William presented the passage, "Here. Even in her book, she stated that because of her, many magic academies are flourishing. So, there's no way she stepped down from her position when five delegations, which I too saw on the way here, are arriving at the College."

Smiling bitterly, Margarita replied with a crooked voice, "Well. I also heard that she was killed at the banquet of Aretuza. Not by an enemy, but by her allies themselves."

Now, William is the one that is genuinely confused. Because from what he remembers, Tissaia de Vries died not because of the enemy, but because she couldn't handle the fact that she doomed the Northern Kingdoms into oblivion and proceeded to commit suicide.

So, with slightly boiling lava that rose from his chest, William mumbled to himself, "Hmm? Does my Northern Kingdoms have an idiotic way of thinking? Why did they kill their own people? We are sandwiched between two empires. Surely something must stick to their brain."

Chuckling with tears that slowly ruined her makeup, Margarita exclaimed, "Hahahaha, I know, right. Idiots, truly idiots. Just because they got a taste of Magicka in these fifty years, they abandoned us."

Even though he knows that the person in front of him is under a lot of stress and might spill everything due to her emotional vulnerability, William still decides to act on his part.

"Us? I thought you were a Nord, Senior."

Quickly taking the handkerchief from her pocket, Margarita wiped the tears and explained, "Sorry, I was a bit emotional there. Yes, I am a Nord. It's just that my best friend who was taking a break for a holiday died when she was invited to the Thanedd banquet."

Just nodding his head, William then connected his fingers once again, simulating the battle on that eventful day and the continuous betrayal that Aretuzan people received in his mind. Because the information that he gathered from broken Margarita is so little, and this event is very different than the timeline in the book or the background lore in the game.

The first thing that he deduces is the person who killed Tissaia de Vries because he knows that she is not supposed to be killed just by anyone. The most likely suspect is the buffed-up Vilgefortz, knowing that madman probably wields some Daedric artifact that has the power to do mystical things even on a sorceress' standard.

Secondly, the confirmation from Margarita earlier, stating that she was killed by the person she considers an ally, just makes the pieces connect, indicating that indeed Vilgefortz is the one who did it.

Furthermore, the madman's concealed switch of allegiance, from his place of birth in the Northern Kingdoms to the Black Sun company, is still in the dark and is only being suspected by the ladies in Aretuza. This, in turn, makes the situation of that murder spree more complex and precarious, opening up the opportunity for a sneak attack on Tissaia.

Third, after killing or injuring Vilgefortz heavily, followed by twists and turns in the fight trying to discern who the real true ally is, Tissaia then decided to fuck it and teleport everyone, regardless of their allegiance, to safety. This prompted the last catalyzing act of betrayal by the Northern Kingdoms.

Realizing that their Rectoress is still in Aretuza, fighting against a party that can clearly be seen as opponents—a Magicka Mage from Hammerfell and a Scoia'tael group of elves under the Nilfgaardian hidden banner—the ladies known as the Lodge of Sorceresses later decide to head back.

They want to help her defend against the siege attacks carried out by the Black Sun company, which WIlliam assumes lasted for a very long time, knowing that it is easier now to build an expandable army that comes from Oblivion using Conjuration.

Day by day, hoping for Northern Kingdoms reinforcement to arrive, what they receive is not their allies but an army of battle mages clad in golden black enchanted robes coming from the seas. William can easily guess what the ruler of the Northern Kingdoms is thinking, 'Let these mages kill each other so that we can build our own magic academy.'

Since he knows that Aretuza is not entirely innocent in this matter, manipulating the Northern Kingdoms to refrain from creating their own magic academy. With one example being the discrete program conducted by Oxenfurt of Redenia, sending their most talented students to the College of Winterhold, in hope that they become their kingdom's personal Magicka Mages in the dark.

So, just like that, one of the oldest sorcerers ever lived died from the accumulation of all these things—her mind being broken again and again, poisoned from the sneak attack that had already entered her body, and a Daedric artifact that latched onto her very being—all in a one-sided effort to hold the academy ground.

In a pyrrhic victory that left Aretuza as just a small pebble in the political discussions of Winterhold College.

Because of that, Margarita becomes a bit emotional remembering that event. Coupled with the fact that she is wandering the castle trying to find solace in everything she can find, William can guess the result of that discussion went very badly for her.

Releasing his connected fingers, William then proceeds to patting her shoulder and continues the conversation, "It's okay, Senior. I too would be a bit emotional if my friend died in an unknown land just because of that land's political struggle."

Shaking his head, William then brought the book in front of her and asked, "Anyway, Senior, can you teach me what Tissaia means by this passage here, 'Sensing the Magicka by existence itself'? I am a little bit confused about what existence itself means."

Smiling, Margarita simply answered, "Sure."

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