Chapter 39 - Manipulation

As soon as Neal left the study, Wesley immediately got back to his reading. Although the issue with the four families was not minor, Wesley was not too worried about it since all he could do was play his hand and hope that everything went as planned. On the other hand, Wesley's incursions into the mystery of mana were far more pleasing than worrying, so he went back to his reading.

The last book was simply titled *Mana*. Looking at its worn-out brown cover and modest lettering, Wesley's hopes of finding answers to his many queries were low. Wesley immediately opened the book to the first page, which read:

'I have spent the last forty years of my life researching Mana. It was, at first, something I did as a hobby, but as I delved into the mystery that is mana, all I found were questions and inconsistencies. I have come up with more than a dozen theories, but each of them proved short of explaining the entirety of mana. If you are looking for answers in this book of mine, you won't find any. I recommend that you stop looking into this subject lest you waste your life like I did mine, but if you are adamant in your search, this book contains all my failures. Make sure you don’t repeat them.

Oliver Reme'

Wesley's heart clenched as he read the first page of the book. He had been counting on this book to give some explanation, even the basics, of mana, but it turned out that the writer faced the same wall Wesley was currently facing and had even spent forty years of his life stuck in the same spot.

Next, when Wesley read the name of the author, he almost spit a mouthful of blood. If there was a mage in the four kingdoms who hadn’t heard of the name Oliver Reme, then it was more likely than not that they were an imposter. A Grand Elder Water Mage who lived six hundred years ago, he truly stood at the top of the mage community. It is said that his magic was so strong that he could drown entire cities without even being near a body of water.

Wesley was starting to become truly discouraged. To have caused someone like Oliver Reme to waste forty years of his life without even finding any answers—how deep and unfathomable was mana? Wesley truly liked to challenge himself and explore the unknown, but he was not so foolish as to face the impossible. Wesley began to suspect that mana was one of those existences that could never be understood or explained.

If this were true of mana, then Wesley was also doomed to waste his life without finding anything. This was the dilemma of those who search for the unknown. What lies hidden in the shadows of ignorance? And if they are to delve into these shadows searching for the unknown, what are the chances they will find absolutely nothing? What is the difference between the unknown and the non-existent? Are things we don’t know non-existent, or do the non-existent things exist but are simply unknown?

Wesley suddenly faced an ultimatum: continue on the path of discovery and search for something that most likely does not exist, or find something else to spend the remainder of his life doing. If this were any other occasion, Wesley would've abandoned his curiosity for practicality, since wasting his life searching for something that might not exist was simply unacceptable. However, this book he held in his hand added another variable.

This book contained forty years of work by one of the continent's greatest figures. It could be considered a forty-year head start. For all Wesley knew, the key to the mystery of mana could take forty-one years or five hundred years to find. If Wesley decided to continue his search from where Oliver stopped, his chances of finding the answers would increase, but there was also the possibility that he might not find anything.

Wesley thought of the repercussions of continuing his search, and a hint of fear touched his heart. There are many fears that linger in the depths of people's hearts—the fear of death, the fear of old age—but the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Wesley stood at the border between the known and the unknown. One side was secure and bright, the other was unknown and filled with uncertainty.

Thinking of his dilemma in this way, Wesley couldn’t help but laugh loudly. His laughter reverberated throughout the manor, causing everyone who heard it to stop whatever they were doing and stare.

Wesley was so amused by his mind's analogy that he couldn’t help but laugh. Wesley was a dark mage; he lived and thrived in darkness. If asked to choose between a well-lit existence or a dark one, Wesley's choice would always be the dark one.

Thinking of this extremely comical coincidence, Wesley turned the book in his hand to the next page. He had chosen to face the unknown. With this decision, Wesley still felt some lingering doubts and reservations, but as a dark mage, it was only natural that he sought the darkness rather than the light.

This train of thought might seem ridiculous to most people, but when faced with a choice, even the smallest of equivocations are enough to tip the balance to one side or the other.

- - - - - - - - - -

The next morning in a rectangular office at the top floor of the Office of Management, two men were facing each other. One of them was a white robed old man with a graying beard and hair and an emotionless face, while the other man seemed barely past his forties with a scruff dark beard covering most of his face and sharp dark eyes.

If Wesley had seen this dark bearded man, he wouldve opened his mouth in amazement. This man was Neal, only this Neal wasn’t wearing his usual dark attire, and his clean shaven face was somehow bearded.

Neal stared daggers at the old man, while the old man only sat there neither avoiding his gaze nor confronting him.

"Lord Silus. Are you saying that my entire family was wiped out under your noses, and you don't know the culprits."

The anger in Neal's voice was evident, but this so called Silus' face was unwavering, he simply looked at Neal without a hint of emotion evident on his face.

"Mister Neal. I never said we didn’t know the culprits, everyone in the city knows that the Shorn Family was behind the attacks on your family, only we don't have enough evidence to take any actions. Also, the Shorn Family were killed a year ago."

"Is that so. Have you questioned the Shorn Family in the least?"

"No."

"Have your investigators found anything of worth?"

"No."

"Then tell me, Lord SILUS. What have you been doing in the last three years."

"Mister Neal. Our policy isn't guilty until proven innocent, we couldn’t have questioned the Shorn without amble evidence. Also, When the Shorn Family were destroyed, we assumed that it was done by the Black Family, so we halted our investigations."

"Done by the Black Family? By my dead relatives, or by my four starving and homeless nephews, or by me who was thousand miles away. By who exactly."

Hearing the words 'four nephews', Silus' eyebrows quivered slightly. Not only did the Black Family have this Neal left, but they also have four young children around. Considering the amount of resources and effort the four families expended to arrange the demise of the Black family, five remaining members was simply unacceptable. Before he could even finish cursing the graves of the Shorn Family, Neal's words once more reached his ears.

"Enough of this incompetence. I want the investigation resumed, and all the culprits found and accounted for."

"Understood. Anything else?"

Neal was quiet for a moment and then he spoke again:

"Yes. I want all the assets of the Shorn Family given to my family as recompense. As well as the rulership over their Seventh District."

Silus's eyes sharpened as Neal finished his list of demands.

"The matter with the assets of the Shorn Family is doable. But are you sure you want the rulership of the seventh district, your Black Family never showed interest in such things before."

"Hmph. I have no interest in such things like politics, but it seems that if we are not involved then we'll be treated like the common rabble and trampled upon to the point that even our deaths are not worth your time."

Neal's words were like daggers striking at Silus' heart. The four families have expanded a lot of effort to eradicate the Black Family, yet they not only failed to do that, they even brought this Neal, who is not a pacifist unlike his elder brother, to power. This can only be seen falling in the holes they dug for their enemies.

"Master Neal. No need to be abrasive. I will contact the higher ups about your request."

"NONESENSE. My Black Family is High Nobility of Blackreach City, Unlike those Lowly Families that buy their nobility like the Shorn Families. We are claiming the Seventh to govern regardless if your higher ups like it or not."

Neal's words were indeed true. The Black Family were high nobility the four families, so they do have the right to govern a district of the city, just like how the four families govern their districts. However, Neal's words also meant that he was equating himself with the four families. This was exactly what the four families feared, and their actions were the direct cause of it.

"I Understand. Is there anything else."

"Hmph. Have it arranged."

With a simple disdainful snort and a command, Neal immediately stood up and exited the room, leaving a frowning Silus behind. As soon as Neal left the room, a young attendant walked in. Silus immediately barked at the young attendant:

"Contact the heads of the three families. Tell them to come see me immediately."

The attendant was frightened and spoke In a shaky, trembling voice:

"Y..Yes Lord."

The Black Family once ruled over these four families, causing them to harbors enmity and be wary of them over the years. The four families remember their years of serfdom, and although they prospered, they always felt inferior to their old master, and feared that they might stake their claim once again.

the Black Family was extremely low-key for the last thousand years, and each head of the four families always opted to simply watch over them without making a move. However, this generation's heads of the four families decided to take action, and now the Black Family are starting to become active as well. This was exactly what the four families wanted to avoid at all costs.