Keep Your Enemies Closer

Pavone was not the most intelligent man in the Academy. He was not one of the highest-ranking in the examinations, even though he was above average and doing quite well.

Despite this, he was smart in other matters.

His father had taught him well how to pick and choose people carefully. He once brought him to look at a pile of eggs.

"Some people are good eggs, some are bad. You don't have to crack them open to be able to tell that." His father told him, handing him one. "You just have to watch and observe."

He took out a deep bowl full of water, and placed the egg there.

It floated.

"That means it's old and no longer fresh. But not bad yet." Pavone said.

"That's correct. Now observe it and smell it."

He took it and did a sniff. It smelled putrid, and as he looked closer there was a bit of a crack and some sliminess to it.

"This egg is bad." Little Pavone pointed out.

"Yes. And so, we get rid of it. Like people, it takes a while for us to make a full observation whether an egg is perfectly good or bad."

"But Pavone, when I say that some people are bad eggs like this, I do not mean that they are unkind or immoral." He chuckled. "After all, eggs cannot be good or bad in a moral sense."

"Good people are those who are useful. You may hate them, but you must always keep them by your side. You can only get rid of them once they cannot be used."

He had their personal chef take the good eggs that did not float, and make Pavone a nice omelet with it.

Pavone kept these words in mind, and now he's the Head of the Student Council for 3 years in a row. In his 6th and last year, he will still maintain that position.

He had many bad and cruel people with him in the Student Council, but they were all good eggs. They all make the perfect omelet that he needed to consume in order to stay at the top of his game.

After the incident with his former girlfriend, who was no longer with them at school... he still maintained his friendship with Cermin Drychspiel.

He was still a good egg. In fact, these incidents made his quality even better.

He became a person that could not be trifled with. Whether or not it was truly him that was the mastermind behind Volken and Rabuka's destruction, or someone 'possessing' him.....

It would not be as easy to mess with him as he initially thought.

"Perhaps it is daemons that have taken over because you have not been praying much lately. When was the last time you visited the temple?" Zeriav said seriously while they were eating.

Pavone does not believe in daemons. The only daemons were those who were incompetent and unuseful to society.

Like those Commoners. Those bottom-feeders born without Flames. Terrible, terrible eggs.

"It may also be possible that you had a problem with the mind. The way you describe these blackouts.... and the way Rabuka describes this sudden change in your demeanor... It sounds to me that there may be something that had affected your mental stability."

"Your mind is just blocking off the memories that's why you cannot recall them. That's why they felt like the world turning black to you. But with proper medical treatment, perhaps you will be rid of this condition."

Cermin shook his head fearfully. "No way... I'm not going crazy, aren't I?"

"You're not a hopeless lunatic yet that sings and dances and laughs and cries for no reason... You just need a little assistance, that's all."

Of course, Pavone does not believe what he was saying himself. He was testing Cermin's reactions.

It seemed that his confusion from the thought of being mentally unstable was genuine. And so, he may not have been the mastermind behind all this, there was some force watching over him.

This person.... Or 'persons'.... He will not trifle with them. They make Cermin even better and undefeatable.

"I believe in your goodness, Cermin. In fact, I wanted to ask you before to run as the Lower Year's Representative for my party next year. I felt that with you overseeing the Lower Years, the school would be a better place."

"I.... I don't think I can even consider that yet.... I mean, how can I fit as a leader if I'm going insane?"

Ronin was listening in on their thoughts as always, and even found Pavone's whole rhetoric about good eggs and bad eggs interesting. He would be a challenge to take out of Cermin's chess board.

And he does like a good challenge.

He heard Cermin think. (Am I really going crazy after staying in the HTM for so long? Did I suddenly get a split personality or something? I don't even know anymore.... Maybe it's because that I stayed as different people for so long that it had really affected my brain.}

Ronin scoffed. 'Don't take too much credit. Even if you got a split personality, it wouldn't be as capable as me.'

(No..... That's really not it. I don't want to believe it. This is already my 5th world, why would it only affect me now?)

(Maybe it's really a daemon, an undercover villain that's mind-controlling me or something.....)

Ronin tilted his head in interest. 'Hmm. Seems that he is slowly developing a brain even without me.'

Though that's not enough to put Cermin out of the 'gullible protagonist' type. He was still very much that if he couldn't tell that Pavone was only keeping him out of usefulness.

'He really follows that saying to "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". Too bad for him, keeping Cermin closer would only bring trouble than its worth.'

He went back to class, as today was the start of their report for that cultural influence project.

Calla Lily was in Lily mode at the moment, the shy and nerdy girl. They had excused her for their class, and were now bringing her to their Altair classroom.

She suddenly asked. "C-Can I ask you guys what you think of Cermin Drychspiel? I mean, he has a bad streak right now because he was accused of cheating with Rabuka, but he must be innocent since Pavone still stayed friends with him, right?"

"I don't trust guys that appear all nice and handsome like him." Klio frowned. "I only trust those like Queen Lovushka. He just acts as himself and does not care about what others say about him."

"I don't know much about him or the situation to make a judgment," Edelweiss said.

Ronin just made an empty answer. "I agree with Edel."

Lily then nervously nodded. "O-Okay."

Once they reached the room, she took off her vest and glasses, and transformed into Calla.

"I do have some difficulty believing that though, Ronin." She said with a wry smirk, and said nothing else as the report started.

Ronin narrowed his eyes. He should also keep close attention to this harem member, just like how Pavone pays attention to Cermin.