Eleanor did not mind at all that Nero could say something so severe, and technically misaligned with military interests. Killing a valued target to protect a young prodigy, one who showed such tremendous potential, was a trade off, and a difficult one. It was easy to comment after the fact, but during the instance itself even Lieutenant Earl had not been able to make such a decision.
What Nero did not know was that Earl had already long suspected that Dave was being targeted, and there was an information leak, yet he still chose to send Dave. Eleanor, however, could see all the ins and outs of the situation through the files she had. Even if she ignored the fact that if Earl had made the decision Nero claimed he would make, Noman’s life could have been saved, the very mentality of valuing those close to him was greatly appreciated in the army.
Regardless of everything else, the Kolari army gave great importance to saving their soldiers’ lives because they were in a state of continuous war throughout the year. Compared to the other five countries, they had to face a whole lot more problems simply because the land that they controlled was a lot more - not to mention it was also resource rich. It naturally attracted more curses!
If the army’s casualty rate could not be controlled, the army would collapse even without external intervention. Thus, someone like Nero who had such strong protective instincts was someone that the army valued immensely.
Moreover, even if Nero’s views were somewhat extreme, with counselling over a five year period, Eleanor was sure that she could root out any troublesome thoughts that Nero harboured. After all, no matter how strong he showed himself to be externally, he was still a sixteen year old who had repeatedly suffered extreme situations and intense emotional shocks.
It only made sense for him to have such thoughts. In fact, had he lacked such thoughts, or had not expressed them, Eleanor would have been more concerned. It would have made her ponder exactly what kind of menacing thoughts he was trying to hide.
After that point their conversation continued, but Nero felt that the influence on his emotions diminish, meaning he had passed Eleanor’s tests. That was, naturally, because Eleanor had reduced the influence of Regal Command.
Once the session was over, Eleanor told Nero that their next session would be in two weeks, and that she would submit her report to Isabella as had been requested.
After leaving, Nero paused in front of a certain monument on the way back. The academy had countless monuments, many of which were the symbols of the three corps, or the individual divisions underneath them. A monument to an individual, however, was rare.
In front of Nero was a marble sculpture of a man holding a shield and sword, an unlikely weapon combo in Kolar yet not entirely missing.
There was no name mentioned as to whom this monument showed, only a small plaque mentioning that it was erected by the soldiers whose lives this particular hero saved.
While anyone observing Nero would think that he was observing or appreciating this statue, in truth Nero was contemplating.
He had not lied to Eleanor even once, but he had been somewhat selective in what truths he revealed. He spoke openly about things he would never mention in public, such as his critique on Lieutenant Earl. He had displayed sincerity , even if it was critical of the army, yet the response was quite positive.
While it was true that he only continued to realise how valuable Vanessa’s advice was, Nero was now contemplating something else. He had a deep understanding of how to conspire, and how people thought when they sought to manipulate others. He knew well how to build a positive reputation, and how to influence others’ perception of himself. However, one thing he might lack was how to genuinely understand or connect with other humans.
Even his method of becoming friends with Silas was not actually sincere, since he had identified a shortcoming in Silas’ character and had focused on addressing that as a means of becoming his friend. It was true that Nero had helped him, and that Silas thought greatly of Nero. But it was clear to him that his understanding of humans and human emotion was somewhat lacking.
Nero did not feel weakened, or lacking because of this. Instead, his interaction with his counsellor made Nero realise that he needed to strengthen his understanding of human emotion - even those that he himself did not particularly understand or feel.
Such was Nero’s habit. Once he identified a weakness in himself, whether it was in his personality, his skills, his ability or something else, he would immediately address it. What he had said to Eleanor was the truth: he wanted to be a complete monster, someone capable of dealing with any kind of situation that arose. Thus, Nero needed to familiarise himself with the aspects of humanity and human emotions that he personally didn’t have a strong connection to.
After all, if sincerity could be such an invaluable asset, then Nero could not even imagine what else he had been missing out on.
While walking, Nero pondered why sincerity was so effective. He thought back to Vanessa, and any time she might have used such a technique on him. At the same time, he even thought of others who might have been genuinely sincere with him. While pondering, Nero suddenly paused, and an unexpected name came to his mind.
Mrs. Aedile was his cafeteria lady, and her relationship with Nero was technically not deep. All she really did was take care of him by giving him food he liked, or needed. Besides that, she was even slightly mean and offensive, acting aggressively towards all students. Yet her influence on Nero had been so great that he still could not eat pudding without thinking of her.
On the surface, her aggressive and difficult behavior should have made him and others averse to her, yet he was not the only student who was fond of her. So why was it? Wasn’t it because of how closely and sincerely she took care of them? Even if it was only in terms of food, her genuine care had been felt by the students. Couldn’t that be considered sincere?
That could only mean that the key reason sincerity was so effective was that people could feel the care, and it made them feel valued. Even if the effect was not always so significant, the key takeaway was how it made the recipient feel.
With this new insight, Nero thought of countless other ways in which he could use this. If the key take away was how the other person felt, as long as the intended target understood the perceived intentions, the effect would be there.
Nero did not wait to put his newfound insights to the test. It was a free day, which meant that the cadets had time to relax. While it was actually meant to be used productively, no one would say anything if the cadets resting for relaxation was also a necessary part of growth.
Thus, he went to the Enlil lines and found that the cadets were actually playing cards with each other. Others were chatting amongst themselves, and some were merely laying down on nearby benches.
All the new cadets were spending time together because only they could understand how they all felt. At the same time, by staying together like this they felt safer. Rumors had already begun to spread about how the senior cadets had pranked the fresh cadets in Astarties.
Despite staying so close together, though, they were only beginning to get to know each other. Currently, they only knew each other’s names, and each other’s pain in training - which was often more than enough to lay the foundation of a lifelong friendship.
Nero smiled widely and waved to Luna and Bella - the two closest to him. This batch of Enlil cadets would be his foundation inside KMA. It was time to begin testing his insights and, more importantly, start building his network.
"Hey, where were you?" Bella asked while the somewhat reserved Luna said nothing, waiting for an answer. She was struggling to come to terms with the fact that she was not as strong as she wanted to be. She knew that once she reached the Initiate level, her innate ability would be devastatingly strong, but until then she had to suffer being weak. It was something she didn’t like at all, which is why she was one of the few who actually took training so seriously.
"I applied to Dean Isabella to take on more classes," Nero said with a wide smile, ignoring the dumbfounded expressions of the cadets when they heard his words. "Forget that. Guys, the Crucible challenges have begun, and Demeter is in the lead in our batch. There’s no way we can let them win so easily. Come on, I can teach you guys some tricks on how to win. Who wants to learn?"