Chapter 209: Chapter 209— Gathering Intelligence

Adam’s intelligence network—such as it was—uncovered the conspiracy through the most mundane of sources.

A casual conversation with Peyoro, a second-year student who hung around the dining halls collecting gossip like some people collected rare cores. Not particularly influential. Not politically connected. Just someone who listened to everything and remembered most of it.

Adam had cultivated the relationship over months through small exchanges. A few merit points here for interesting information. Help with coursework there. The kind of transactional friendship that his network relied upon.

Peyoro had approached him two days after Duncan’s tribunal, leaning in close during lunch with the conspiratorial energy of someone who’d discovered something juicy.

“Your friend Duncan. The theft accusation. It’s bullshit.”

Adam kept his expression neutral. “I’m listening.”

” Theodore Selaris orchestrated the whole thing. Had his people steal Duncan’s training gloves weeks ago—before Duncan even reported them missing. Paid off the witnesses. All three of them are minor nobles who owe House Selaris favors. The ’stolen’ items from the armory? They’re probably sitting in Theodore’s private storage right now.”

“How do you know this?”

Peyoro grinned. “Because one of the witnesses got drunk at a party two nights ago and bragged about it. Said Theodore promised him preferential equipment access for a year in exchange for his sworn testimony. The idiot thought it was funny—getting an outpost recruit expelled through fabricated charges.”

Adam processed this carefully. “Can you get me names? Specific details about the coordination?”

“Already did.” Peyoro slid a folded piece of parchment across the table. “Three witness names. Timeline of when Theodore’s people approached them. Approximate payment arrangements. It’s not perfect evidence, but it’s enough to establish a pattern.”

“What do you want in exchange?”

“Nothing.” Peyoro’s expression grew serious. “I don’t like what the noble houses are doing. The systematic exclusion, the frameups, the casual cruelty. It’s one thing to compete for advancement. It’s another thing to destroy people for sport.” He stood. “Consider this a favor. Call it in whenever you need information.”

Adam watched him leave, genuinely surprised.

Altruism. From someone in my network. That’s… new.

He read through Peyoro’s documentation carefully. It was good work. Detailed. Specific enough to be actionable.

But as he reviewed the information, Adam felt a familiar frustration building.

Sometimes during conversations like the one he’d just had with Peyoro, he wished he possessed a silver tongue like Vaelith—the Adept at Vester who could manipulate people through pure charisma. Or a compelling aura that made others want to help him rather than requiring transactional incentives.

He felt like he wasn’t capitalizing on his abilities as much as he could. Like there were dimensions of influence he couldn’t access because he lacked the right tools.

Although there wasn’t really much to capitalize with, he reminded himself. He was still an Initiate. Still building foundations.

Patience, he told himself. You’re not weak. You’re just early in development.

Still. The frustration lingered.

He gathered his documentation and went to find Bright.

—–

They met in an empty training room on the academy’s third floor—one of the spaces Duncan had habitually used for solo practice. It felt appropriate to discuss his defense in the place he’d spent countless hours refining his technique.

Adam laid out Peyoro’s intelligence on a bench between them.

Bright read through it silently, his expression growing progressively colder.

When he finished, he looked up with eyes that reminded Adam uncomfortably of Silas. Predatory, calculating and dangerous.

“We know who did this,” Bright said quietly. “We know how they did it. We have names.”

“Yes.”

“Then we confront them. Directly.” Bright’s tone carried the kind of certainty that suggested he’d already made the decision. “Theodore. The witnesses. House Selaris representatives. We expose the conspiracy publicly and dare them to maintain the frameup.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Adam said immediately.

“Why?”

“Because confrontation triggers retaliation. Open accusation against a noble house—even with evidence—will make us targets for every house allied with Selaris. They’ll close ranks. Defend their own. And we’ll face systematic retaliation that makes the current exclusion campaign look gentle.”

“They’re already retaliating!” Bright’s control slipped slightly, frustration bleeding through. “They framed Duncan for theft. They’re trying to get him expelled. We’ve been taking the high road for far too long, and it’s accomplished nothing except making us look weak.”

“The high road isn’t about looking strong. It’s about survival.”

“No.” Bright stood, pacing. “The high road is what people use when they’re too afraid to fight back. When they’ve accepted that institutional power trumps personal capability. I’m done accepting that.”

Adam recognized the anger. Understood it. Felt echoes of it himself.

But anger made people stupid. Made them prioritize emotional satisfaction over strategic outcomes.

“Violence is the most natural form of conflict resolution for us,” Adam said carefully. “We’re soldiers. We’ve been trained to kill Crawlers. Our instinct when threatened is direct confrontation. But that instinct will get us destroyed here.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Bright’s tone was sharp. “We just accept that Duncan gets expelled? That Theodore wins?”

“No. We use counter-leverage.” Adam tapped the documentation. “Exposing their conspiracy isn’t enough. We need something that ends this permanently. Something that makes continued attacks more costly than leaving us alone.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know yet.” Adam was honest about it. “But I know what won’t work. Public confrontation. Appealing to the academy’s form of justice. Hoping their fairness will protect us. None of that works when the institutions are controlled by the same people attacking us.”

Bright was silent for a long moment, clearly wrestling with the desire for immediate action versus the logic of Adam’s argument.

“How long?” he asked finally. “How long do we wait while Duncan faces tribunal?”

“We have some days before the judgment. I need two of them to find leverage. If I can’t find anything by day three, then we escalate. On your terms.” Adam met his eyes. “But give me the chance to do this smart first.”

Bright exhaled slowly. “Fine. Two days. But if we don’t have leverage by then, I’m confronting the pompous shit directly. And I won’t be diplomatic about it.”

“Agreed.”

They both knew what “not diplomatic” meant coming from someone with Bright’s capabilities.

Adam left to continue investigating, mentally cataloging what he knew about House Selaris’s vulnerabilities.

And hoping he could find something usable before Bright’s patience ran out.

—–

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