"Or at least threaten them," I continued. "Make it clear I'm under your protection. Surely they wouldn't be stupid enough to mess with you after that, right?"
Virion glanced at me, his emerald eyes glinting strangely in the pale winter light, before turning back to his fishing hole.
"Sure," he said lightly. "But what about the consequences?"
I think I already knew the answer even before he continued.
"If I get rid of this one," Virion explained, his tail flicking idly, "or the next, or the one after that—the ones pulling the strings will notice. And then protecting you becomes... complicated." His voice dropped, taking on that dangerous edge I'd only heard a handful of times. "And there are people in this world who could kill you even with me standing guard right beside you. Unless..." He smirked. "You want to spend the rest of your life trapped in my playground?"
I shook my head immediately. The thought of being confined to Virion's training dimensions forever was worse than death.
"Besides..." His fishing line twitched, though he didn't react. "I can't intervene every time. You need to grow on your own too." A pause. "And... I can't reveal my presence fully. For reasons."
My mind raced with possibilities.
It made sense—someone as strong as Virion would have equally dangerous foes. And while he could probably escape or fight them off...
Innocent people wouldn't be so lucky.
"Alright, stop those wild thoughts," Virion suddenly snapped his tail—
And my stool vanished.
"Ow! Urgh—!" I hit the ice hard, my tailbone screaming in protest. I glared up at him, rubbing my sore backside. "Was that necessary?!"
Virion grinned, utterly unrepentant. "New task for you: come up with a plan that doesn't involve me directly. Use that brain of yours." His eyes gleamed with challenge. "Let's see if you can walk the path of a true Mystic."
I growled under my breath but nodded.
...Why did you have to drop me on the ice though, you snake?
"A-Alright, I'm thinking."
I rubbed my sore backside as my mind raced through possibilities.
If Master can't intervene directly...
Then we'd have to handle this ourselves.
Prevention would be ideal—handling the threat before anything actually happened. But that required information I didn't have. Resources I didn't have. Even if I suspected something was coming, I couldn't act on a hunch alone.
Alerting the academy or town was still an option. But without proof?
They probably think it is someone overreacting. Worse, it might alert the real perpetrator—whoever was pulling strings from the shadows. If they were skilled in disguise, as I feared… they could simply disappear, change their face, lie low. And next time, they wouldn't leave any traces at all.
What else? What could I do?
I considered a few more possibilities: shadowing suspicious figures, setting traps, and trying to provoke them into action.
But they all sounded risky and flawed.Or most of them relied on the enemy making a mistake.
Then, all at once, an idea sparked.
My eyes lit up as the pieces clicked together.
I turned sharply to look at Virion, who had just freed something with a casual flick of his tail. "Master."
He glanced over as I spoke. "What if we do it ourselves?"
"Do what ourselves?" he asked, clearly amused.
I smiled—sharp and sly. "Cause a beast horde."
Virion's fishing rod paused mid-pull. "...What?"
"Not a real one," I clarified, raising my hands before he could throw me into the lake. "A fake one."
Virion didn't respond immediately. His rod remained still, the line taut in the ice. He studied me in silence, a flicker of something unreadable in his emerald eyes.
"We stage a controlled beast attack ourselves." I elaborated, my words coming faster as the plan solidified. "Then we wouldn't need to convince anyone with words. The town and academy would react on their own, as they should. No one would call it paranoia if they saw beasts with their own eyes. And if we control the variables… no one gets hurt."
Virion raised a brow. "You're proposing to terrify an entire city just to lure out one saboteur."
"Only mildly terrify," I amended. "Think of it as a stress test."
I stepped closer. "Master, think about it. The enemy has planned something. They're waiting for the right moment. But if we force their hand—if they think the moment has come earlier than expected—"
"They might act," Virion finished, now watching me with genuine interest.
"Exactly. Maybe they'll slip up. Reveal themselves. React in a way they weren't prepared for. Or just go along with it. And even if they don't… we can still force the academy and the town to raise their defenses. No one gets blindsided."
Virion leaned back slightly, tail coiling in a slow spiral behind him. "You're not wrong. But the logistics?"
I nodded, already thinking it through. "We don't need to summon a massive horde. Just a cluster. Maybe a few powerful beasts. Ones that can be fought off by the outer guards, or even a one or two high-tier Resonators. It will be enough to be seen, to raise alarm—but not enough to cause real damage."
I hesitated. "Both are options. If we use illusions, it's safer—no real risk. But there's a chance people might suspect something's off if they fight them and they behave… strangely. On the other hand, using real ones would make the fear and response more authentic. We'd just need to control them."
"Ok, that's actually a good idea." Virion nodded, finally understanding my plans. "But, how are you going to do it?"
A slow smile spread across my face. "This is where you come in, Master." I held up a placating hand. "No offense, but... aren't you technically a monster too? I'm sure you have ways to control lower-ranked beasts."
Virion's tail twitched, but his expression remained unreadable.
"And," I added quickly, "you wouldn't even need to appear in your true form. Just... influence them from the shadows."
When he didn't immediately refuse, I pressed further. "Or! If you really don't want to be involved, we could always use the Turtle Brothers for help. They're plenty strong, right?"
The moment I said it, another brilliant thought struck me.
Good, this might work out too!