Ever since the last meeting of the Seven Deadly Sins, Friedman had been troubled by the task the Sin Eater had assigned him.
The second matter was manageable. The Sin Eater had given him six months to prepare, so at least he would not have to worry much about it this semester.
The first matter, though, was a real headache.
Put an end to the Merfolk Tribe farce and preserve peace and unity at the school—entrusting that to a student from a secret society was absurd to begin with. Besides, the conflict between the two academies went back a long way. Their differences in educational philosophy and institutional rules were only the conflicts visible on the surface.
The deeper conflict lay in Jiu You Academy's attempt to reclaim its thousand-year glory and challenge the new order Alpha Academy had built over the past few centuries.
If Friedman had been asked to stir up trouble between the two academies, he could have come up with a hundred different plans.
But if he tried to reconcile them, he suspected he would be burned to ash by the towering fury that erupted from Alpha Castle the moment he opened his mouth.
Given how sensitive and difficult the matter was, he had thought long and hard before deciding to start somewhere inconspicuous. He would put his cousin, who had traits of both Alpha and Jiu You Academy and was closely connected to him, out front as his proxy and a means of testing the waters.
If it worked, everyone would be happy. If it failed, Matthew Callan was only a first-year and would not be singled out.
Now, when his cousin asked whether he had a concrete plan, Sir Friedman's mouth turned down in a troubled expression. "Almost none."
As he spoke, he raised