This time, Grey obediently nodded, but he did not rush to agree.
There were several reasons for this.
First of all, he considered himself a man of experience and clearly understood his feelings toward Lady Veronika. He sincerely wanted to become her life partner, not just another nameless follower.
The relationship between master and disciple was a dangerous thing that could turn against him at any moment. Grey did not see such a relationship as an obstacle. On the contrary, he found it quite intriguing.
What concerned him far more was Junior's reaction and Veronika's attitude.
After all, Veronika was not merely a powerful expert, but a true priestess of an Olympian goddess. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise, they stood on opposite sides of the barricades. It was one thing to cooperate on minor matters and enjoy mutual benefits, and quite another to try to bind themselves together through such a formal relationship.
Grey simply could not agree to that.
If he accepted her offer, he would become more than just a hired hand. He would become a true disciple, someone obligated to honor their master's teachings and never question their orders.
Such were the traditions of this world, and Grey did not dare underestimate them. After learning from Junior's lessons that karma and fate truly existed and could be wielded by certain powerful individuals, he no longer dared to treat such matters lightly.
Noticing the hesitant grimace on Grey's face, Veronika grew genuinely angry. From her perspective, his reaction was downright insulting.
Experts of her caliber rarely took disciples, and they approached the selection process with the utmost seriousness. The mere fact that she had deigned to accept a cripple was already an act of great generosity, one that had not been easy for her to agree to. Her offer should have been the greatest honor of Grey's life, yet he grimaced as if he had seen something disgusting.
She had explained all the benefits in such detail, tempted him with promises, and even intended to help him heal, and this was how he repaid her? Why had she bothered to explain herself at such length? Was it even worth wasting her breath on him?
Grey did not say a word, but Veronika had already understood his attitude from his body language and had no intention of putting herself in an even more awkward position.
"Forget what I said. It seems I wasn't thinking clearly. Get back to work."
Grey understood that his refusal had offended her pride, so he desperately wanted to explain himself, but Veronika had no intention of listening to his excuses. Before he could utter even a single word, he was shown the door.
Veronika was so angry that her beautiful face flushed red.
"That insufferable brat. He doesn't know what's good for him. Who does he think he is? Alexander the Great?" She stomped her little foot several times.
"You're nothing but a cripple with a pretty face and a decent brain. How dare you reject my goodwill? Just because I've been gentle with you and allowed you certain liberties, do you think I'm easy to deal with?"
"Ptui!" She spat in contempt.
"I even considered using Aphrodite's powers to help him, and he... Ungrateful... Insolent... Arrogant..."
"To hell with him! Let him deal with his own problems. I'm done getting involved... I'll be eagerly waiting for the day he comes crawling back to me on his knees."
Meanwhile, Grey stood staring at the door, his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Are you satisfied with your performance?" Junior's angry voice rang out in his head.
"What do you mean?" Senior put on the most innocent expression he could manage and pretended not to understand the question.
"You know better than anyone what I mean. You broke your promise again and tried to get closer to Lady Veronika while I was unconscious. You even put on an entire show to impress her. Are you going to tell me I imagined the whole thing?"
Senior had no intention of admitting his guilt so easily.
"Hey, hey, calm down. I was just trying to demonstrate how effective our plan was. We'd been planning this for a long time, so what's there to get worked up about?"
"Don't take me for an idiot! I know better than anyone what you were really thinking!" Junior protested. "Do you think I didn't see how jealous you were? Or notice all those ambiguous remarks you made to her? Do you really think I'm stupid?"
Senior had nothing to say in his defense. He simply had no way of knowing when Junior had woken up or how much he had seen, so he chose to remain silent.
"Seriously, what are you even thinking? Weren't you always the one telling me to avoid trouble? Weren't you the one who said you feared death more than anything? Then why are you actively seeking it out?"
"Do you really not understand how dangerous it is to get close to her? I was hunted all over the world because of Apollo's orders, and you're trying to court Aphrodite's own priestess right inside her temple... Is there something wrong with your brain?"
Junior was so outraged that if he and Senior had not been sharing the same body, he would have jumped on him and started throwing punches.
Senior had anticipated this scenario long ago, so he had prepared a reasonable response.
"Listen. There's a famous saying in my home world that fits this situation perfectly. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never lose a battle. If you look at it from this perspective, isn't it perfectly reasonable to take advantage of this opportunity while Veronika doesn't know our true identity and try to gather some information from her?"
Junior had no intention of listening to any more of the endless stream of nonsense coming out of Senior's mouth. He let out a deeply contemptuous snort.
"Do you think I'm five years old? Look at yourself in the mirror and tell me if you believe your own bullshit. Your mouth spews noble intentions, but your heart conceals sinister schemes. You're not even thinking about how to use her for our own purposes. You just want to seduce her! Seduce a priestess of the goddess of love! What the hell are you thinking, you hopeless romantic?!"
"One doesn't exclude the other," Senior pointed out. He no longer intended to deny the accusations.
"Damn it. You just never listen to me," Junior cursed once again. "Do whatever you want. But remember, if you cross the line, we'll either remain weaklings forever or end up dead in some back alley, with no one left to mourn us."
"I remember..." Senior decided to comply.
"Now hand over control," Junior demanded. "Unlike you, I actually have something useful to do."
The body shuddered as if Grey had suddenly woken up, and the atmosphere around him changed ever so slightly.
The kind and naive smile that Senior always wore gave way to the mask of cold indifference characteristic of Junior. It was almost amusing that both of them had grown accustomed to wearing masks to hide their true feelings.
Junior and Senior did not try too hard to conceal their oddities. Their personalities were so different that pretending to be each other was an extremely difficult task. The only thing even more pointless was trying to change each other's personalities to fit their own standards.
Long ago, they had given up on that and simply decided to leave things as they were.
Of course, they would never admit that two different personalities lived inside one body. Everyone had the right to keep secrets, and Grey did not consider himself an exception. It was better to look insane than to openly reveal that he was a soul from another world and a creature born of darkness.
After descending the stairs, Grey returned to his private room, locked the door, and only then took several strangely shaped metal tools out of his bottomless pocket.
He examined the objects for a long time, turning them over in his hands as if waiting for them to change or try to break free from his grasp. In the end, however, nothing changed.
Grey let out a heavy breath and put them away.
"Are you really planning to go through with this?" Senior asked nervously.
He no longer seemed confident and composed. On the contrary, he looked like a frightened teenager desperately trying to talk his friend out of a crazy idea by any means necessary.
"Yes, you already know the answer. So why ask?" Junior replied.
"But there's no point in this anymore. Just this morning, Josh brought a message from Achilles. It clearly stated that the diversion had worked. They successfully redirected the trail toward the Green-Toothed Hyenas' real hideout and drew everyone's attention there. Our base is safe. I even gave the order to resume training. So why take the risk?"
Junior curled his lips into a smirk and looked out the window at the slowly setting sun.
"You know, I genuinely admire your intelligence and your talent for planning." He paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts and choose the right words.
"No, really. Whenever I'm confused and can't figure out what's going on, you always manage to look at the problem from the most unexpected angle, finish your analysis in the shortest possible time, and quickly choose the best solution available."
"I've never met anyone with better logical reasoning skills."
"What's with all the flattery?" Senior asked, sounding slightly uncertain.
Compliments poured from his mouth like water from a cornucopia, leaving Senior genuinely confused and unsure what Junior was trying to achieve. Junior's words were so flattering that even his thick skin couldn't stop his face from turning slightly red.
The more Junior spoke like this, the more uncomfortable Senior became. With every word, an imaginary alarm siren blared louder in his head.
If he hadn't just been caught red-handed, he would have definitely thrown a fit and done everything in his power to stop his alter ego. However, he had genuinely crossed the line this time, so all he could do was make concessions and choose his words carefully.
Junior paid no attention to Senior's question and continued without the slightest change in expression.
"However, there's a fatal flaw in your personality that completely overshadows all your positive qualities."
"You're indecisive and cowardly."
"You're only willing to enter a battle when you're absolutely certain of victory. You're unwilling to take risks, and because of that, you keep missing opportunities."
"I understand your desire to control everything and keep us safe, but there are times in life when you have to act quickly and be willing to risk your life, so you won't end up regretting a missed opportunity later."
Senior did not answer immediately. He was not naive, did not consider himself infallible, and knew that Junior's analysis was correct, but he was unwilling to admit it.
As someone who had died once before, the last thing he wanted was to experience it again.
It seemed that only a fraction of a second had passed between his memories of the hospital room and his awakening on the scorching sand in a new world, yet Grey felt a paralyzing fear whenever he remembered his death.
It was as if the unknown void he had crossed had been teeming with enormous, terrifying creatures. They had watched him with ravenous madness, eager to devour him and inflict as much pain as possible.
These memories were paradoxical and inexplicable, yet Senior simply could not rid himself of them.
When no answer came, Junior continued.
"We're facing exactly such an opportunity right now. Yes, the operation is extremely risky, but we've spent the entire week preparing for it. I admit that our original goal was simply to distract the cultists and prevent them from finding our hideout, but now we can achieve much more..."
"If I succeed, we'll put an end to this problem once and for all. We can send a clear message to their potential allies and subordinates. No member of the Merciful Flame's Cult will ever feel safe again, and our organization will be able to operate with far greater independence."
"There's a risk, but it's still within reasonable limits. Is there really any reason to hesitate? Won't you regret missing this opportunity and losing the advantage we have?"
Senior remained silent. The more Junior spoke, the more he wanted to curl up into a ball and run away. He did not want to take part in this insane plan. More than that, he had been against even considering it in the first place.
It was Junior who had kept insisting, over and over, like a spoiled child. Under constant pressure, Senior had agreed to make some preparations, but he had never even considered the possibility that they would actually go through with it.
After all, if the cultists really discovered the manor and managed to find the runaway teenagers hiding there, he would have neither the time nor the opportunity to change anything.
And yet, right now, Junior was preparing to carry out the desperate measure they had agreed to resort to only if they had no other choice.
"Are you absolutely sure you won't change your mind?" Senior made one last attempt to talk him out of it.
"No," Junior replied firmly.
"Then go ahead. I wouldn't be able to stop you anyway." Senior sighed, admitting defeat.
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