The class... was something if I had to describe it.
Everything that was being discussed was just basic risk-assessment skills that someone needed before making a choice.
While I guess it was important for a noble... for someone like me who came from the modern world and had already lived a fairly full life beforehand.
This was... just common knowledge I didn't have to listen to.
And even if there were difficult parts, I had already scanned the textbook in advance and was fully prepared to ace this class.
Photographic memory... who knew I would enjoy it as much as I do now.
And it seemed like the rest were just as relaxed as I, with the only person who even probably bothered to pay attention being Julius.
But I wasn't surprised, he was mister perfect and all that.
"You, Cael Arden."
Corvus pointed a finger at me, adjusting his reading glasses.
"Yes?"
"Let's say you are under siege, but then you find a caravan of refugees approaching your gates." Corvus smiled. "If you open your gates, the refugees are safe, but let's say through sheer bad luck the gate is now stuck and uncloseable."
Corvus paced around back and forth. "But if you don't, all the refugees die in the next arrow volley, but... your gates are secure."
"What do you choose, Cael Arden?"
I didn't even need to think about it.
"Neither," I answered. Calm. Immediate. Absolute.
A few heads turned. Corvus paused mid-step.
"Neither?" he repeated, amused. "Explain."
"There's no reason to choose between two losing options when I haven't even evaluated my assets," I said, keeping my tone even. "You haven't mentioned tunnel networks, sally ports, available mages, or whether the refugees have value, political, economical, military, or magical."
I leaned back in my seat.
"Choosing within your given parameters means accepting that your parameters are absolute. They aren't. They never are."
Silence.
Even Julius slowly lowered his pen.
Corvus raised a brow. "So what do you do?"
I shrugged. "Buy time. Delay the decision. Open a side gate, let them through in smaller waves. Reinforce the damaged gate while I gather intel on who the refugees really are."
I paused.
"And if their lives depend on me making my choice in under ten seconds… then they were never my responsibility to begin with."
A few students quietly sucked in their breath. Julius stared at me like I'd just rewritten the textbook.
"Cold…" Marcellus actually muttered
Kevin, smiling like a proud idiot, whispered, "That's my Master."
Corvus's smile widened, too much. That was never good.
"Interesting," he mused. "You imply that moral decisions should never be made within framed choices, that a wise leader rejects the question, instead of answering it."
"That," I nodded, "or rewrites it."
Now Corvus was smiling like he'd been waiting for someone to say that.
"And what," he asked, "if there truly is no time? No assets. No strategy. Only a gate, refugees, and an incoming volley?"
A valid question, while questions like that allow you to think outside the question itself, in reality, there might come a situation where you do have to choose without other parameters.
It seemed like my initial answer wasn't satisfying enough for Corvus.
He didn't just want a smartass in his class; he wanted someone who could still answer even without thinking outside the box and still give a satisfying explanation.
And that was when Evelina glanced over, mildly curious.
"…Then I choose," I said softly. "But I choose based on who watches me make that choice."
Corvus stopped smiling.
Because that's the thing.
It was never about morality.
Not in war. Not in ruling. Not in life.
It was about perception.
Leader or coward. Defender or tyrant. Beacon of hope, or architect of survival.
Sometimes the only choice that mattered… was how it made you appear.
If saving the refugees meant increasing my garrison's morale, I might risk letting them in at the cost of the gate. If letting them in were an unpopular decision, I wouldn't let them in.
What mattered most was the people I was currently protecting and ruling; morality came second, as long as the action resulted in something even more positive.
"Being morally correct or pragmatic... none of those two is as simple as black and white."
Corvus didn't comment for a good ten seconds.
Then, finally, he chuckled.
"Cael Arden," he said quietly, "Perfect answer..."
He returned to look at the board, explaining my answer more in detail, and discussing how his question was a simple trick, a trap meant to confuse those who thought they were smart, and those who believed they were pragmatic.
Because none of the answers were good ones at all.
Most students would have a hard time explaining it without stumbling over their thoughts, but by simply stating that my answer will be based on who was watching. It completely changes that situation.
The class regained its breath, slowly returning to their notes.
Evelina… actually smiled.
Barely.
But I saw it.
And for me.
That was better than any victory.
"I don't get it..." Kevin murmured beside me.
"What do you mean?"
"Well... doesn't your answer also have some inconsistencies?"
"Yeah, that's why I mentioned the black and white thing..."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Kevin nodded, writing it down for future reference.
I still couldn't believe he was destined to be the world's strongest dark mage...