Chapter 227: The Loose End

“It’s a bold thing to say, sure,” Jack said, leaning back casually in his chair, “but yours was an even bolder thing to do when someone’s watching.”

Noah’s expression didn’t change. His voice didn’t rise.

But something in the air shifted. It was subtle, yet heavy enough to make Jack’s next words hitch in his throat for a moment.

Jack forced himself to continue, riding his own adrenaline high. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

Noah tilted his head slightly. “Saw what?”

Jack’s voice lowered, almost gleeful now. “That night. The night Galahad Lawless died.”

“I saw you, Noah. I saw you climbing into his room through the window.”

“I saw the fire. The light. And then…” He smiled, tapping two fingers against the table. “Silence. You left, and he was dead.”

Noah said nothing for a moment. Then, slowly, almost lazily, he smiled.

Jack blinked, thrown off by the reaction. “You think that’s funny?”

Noah’s voice was calm as ever.

“So, let me get this straight,” he said.

“You know someone who killed a second-year student and got away with it. Someone who’s supposedly powerful enough to walk free after doing it.”

He chuckled. “And you’re sitting here, trying to blackmail him?”

The color drained slightly from Jack’s face.

For a heartbeat, he looked like he wanted to backpedal. But then he forced a laugh, waving a dismissive hand.

“Blackmail? No, no, don’t make it sound so ugly.” He leaned forward, trying to regain the upper hand. “Let’s call it… a mutual understanding. A trade.”

Noah’s smile didn’t waver, but his eyes hardened into that endless darkness that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“A trade,” he repeated softly. “You’re not very good at this, Jack.”

Jack’s grin faltered but didn’t vanish.

“I’m good enough to know when I’ve got leverage,” he said. “You see, if I go to the professors, or better yet, the Investigation Authority, and tell them what I saw, I’m sure they’d take me seriously.”

Noah leaned back in his chair, one hand resting loosely on the table. His smile widened, faint amusement flickering in his eyes.

“Alright,” he said lightly. “Let’s pretend I care. What do you want?”

Jack’s grin returned in full, and for the first time, Noah saw the true smugness behind it. The kind that came from a man who believed he’d finally caught someone untouchable.

“I want an invitation to the palace ball,” Jack said.

Noah blinked. “What?”

“The ball,” Jack repeated, leaning forward eagerly. “The royal palace ball, the one they’re holding during the holidays.”

“You’ve been spending time with the princess, haven’t you? Everyone’s heard about it. I want in. One invite. That’s all.”

Noah regarded him silently for a long moment. Then he chuckled, low and disbelieving. “That’s what this is about? A party?”

Jack shrugged, unbothered. “It’s not just a party. It’s a chance to meet the real players. Nobles, royal guards, archmages.”

“If I’m going to make it in this world, I need to be seen.” He leaned forward, his grin turning sly. “And you, my friend, can make that happen.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. He looked at Jack for a moment. Really looked at him.

The hungry gleam in his classmate’s eyes, the way his hands fidgeted on the table as he spoke, the slight twitch at the corner of his lips.

This wasn’t confidence. It was desperation.

Finally, Noah gave a small nod. “No.”

Jack blinked. “What?”

“No,” Noah repeated, his tone calm. “You’re not getting an invite.”

For a moment, Jack simply stared, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

Then, the confidence came back, but this time, it was forced. “You don’t seem to understand, Noah. I’m the only person who saw what you did. I could ruin you.”

Noah exhaled softly through his nose, almost like he was sighing at a misbehaving child. “Then do it.”

The words hit Jack like a slap.

“What?”

“Go ahead,” Noah said, meeting his eyes. “Run to whoever you want. Professors, investigators, the princess herself. Tell them whatever you like.”

He spread his hands slightly, the faintest smirk appearing on his face. “You have no evidence. Just your words. And it’ll be your word against mine.”

Jack froze.

“And tell me,” Noah continued, his voice dropping lower, silkier. “Who do you think they’ll believe? Who do you think those in power are much closer to?”

Jack opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Noah leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, eyes hard. “So, I’ll ask you again, Jack. Are you sure you want to take that bet?”

The air between them thickened, charged with tension. Jack’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, his confidence bleeding away under Noah’s gaze.

Finally, he pushed back his chair abruptly, the legs scraping loudly against the floor.

“Y— you’re crazy,” he muttered, trying to laugh, but it came out thin. “I was just kidding. Just wanted to see if the rumors were true.”

Noah said nothing.

Jack’s grin slowly melted away for the last time. He turned quickly, mumbling something incoherent, and began walking away.

Noah watched him go, expression blank.

He picked up his fork, speared something on his plate, and took a bite of his food, chewing slowly.

“Idiot,” he murmured under his breath.

Jack Daniel had just become something far more dangerous than a nuisance.

A loose end.

Someone who had seen him that night. Someone who knew.

And that was something Noah couldn’t allow.

He closed his eyes briefly, reaching inward, deep into the place where his mana and shadows intertwined.

He sent a sliver of mana into the network of his soul shadows.

They responded instantly, writhing beneath the surface of reality like snakes under glass.

Then, with a thought, he pulled some of them partially into the world.

Half-real, half-ethereal shapes uncurled around him, invisible to anyone else.

They slithered soundlessly across the floor, slipping into cracks, vanishing beneath the doorframe.

Outside, the shadows stretched across the courtyard like living mist, weaving through corridors, drifting past unaware students.

They trailed after Jack silently, their presence thinner than air.

Jack never noticed a thing.

By the time he reached the first-year gold-tier dorm, the sun had climbed higher, and the hallways were empty.

He fumbled with his key, muttering under his breath about arrogant heroes.

His hands were shaking, though he tried to convince himself it was just anger.

He opened the door and stepped inside.

The air was cold.

The moment he shut the door behind him, the light dimmed subtly, almost imperceptibly, until the corners of the room blurred with darkness.

Jack froze.

“Hello?”

There was no answer.

He frowned and turned, reaching for the light crystal by his bed.

That was when he saw it. Something moving in the far corner.

A shape, humanoid, but made entirely of darkness. It stood motionless, watching him.

Jack stumbled back, hitting the wall, his voice catching in his throat. “Wh— who’s there?!”

The shadow tilted its head slightly.

Then it smiled.

Not a grin, not a sneer, just a slow, eerie curl of lips that weren’t lips at all.

It lifted a hand, its long fingers stretching toward him.

Jack’s eyes went wide. “What the fuck?!”

The shadow’s mouth opened, and Noah’s voice echoed softly through it, distant but unmistakable.

“Feast.”

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