"I'm not sure whether what you are doing is intentional or not, and I doubt you would be willing to answer that question."
Rather than reacting in some kind of a way that I expected him to act, Makay dived deep into the sea of his thoughts before responding. In fact, even when he did, his head was shaking to the sides, as if he couldn't believe either in how naive I was, or how naive I thought him to be!
"I have no idea what your lordship means!"
Exclaiming straightforwardly, I spread my arms wide in the classing shrugging expression. This act was so plainly obvious that I would have to reconsider helping this man out if he failed to notice the meaning behind it.
"So, playing dumb. I get it."
Finally pulling his sight back down on the papers, Lord Makay nearly instantly pulled himself out of the conversation as if he was worried that actively participating in it would be easily discovered by the potential spies who would understand the meaning of the situation as well.
"Let me tell you just this one thing."
His hand already picked the goose's feather that he dropped before, as his fingers directed it on the paper where a full row of new marks appeared.
"Whether you are as smart as you think or as dumb as I'm worried you are, you need to hear this one, little thing."
Looking at the lord, I could tell how every inch of his existence expressed how he was fully keen on continuing writing, sending me off with some kind of lacluster sentence aimed at making sure I wouldn't bother him anymore.
"This is not your fight."
In this one single moment when Makay's lips parted, I suddenly saw him entirely in a different light. And it didn't mean that the heavens opened up announcing him as a messiah. It didn't also mean that I suddenly realised how actually smart he was under the pretence of this boorish skin he showed to everyone.
Because in what seemed like just a small fraction of a second, I realised that he wasn't as weak as he wanted to appear as!
The initial stage of immortal? That sentence couldn't be any further from the truth! In fact, in this very moment, I realised that I just met the very first person in my entire life, that could possibly outmatch me in terms of strength!
As for whether he was middle immortal or high immortal, I couldn't say. Not because I wasn't sure about the extend of his strength - that was something that I could rather accurately gauge from what I saw - but simply because I didn't know the borders between the inner realms of immortal cultivation rank!
Just like mortal was split between ranks like body enforcing, soul hazard and up to the spirit attainment rank, I could tell that immortals weren't equal amongst each other, even if one were to take their individual knowledge, skills and talents out of the picture!
"That is not for anyone but me myself to decide."
With this moment of revelation ending, I still stood strong. I couldn't tell right away whether this showcase of strength was actually an attempt to scare me off, make me understand the real gravity of the situation in here, or just a slip of Makay's control over his own power that he was attempting so hard to hide from the others. Yet, no matter which one of those possibilities the reality was, I was unwilling to just let his mood and intentions sweep me along!
"And with that, I hope you will allow me to excuse myself, your lordship."
Nodding my head slightly, I had to try hard to not burst out in giggles. Just as my head made this small motion, I just couldn't help but recall all those moments in the novels I read and games I played, where the protagonist would refuse to bow his head for the most idiotic of reasons.
Pride? Honour? Composture?
Those were nothing more than the word that idiots would come up to bury their arrogance up with! There was nothing humiliating or degrading in giving the proper honours to someone who deserved it. After all, contrary to what some unmatured kids would think, even if one were to disagree with someone of a higher social rank, that didn't deprive the other person of the respect earned by holding that rank itself!
"You may go now."
Not even bothering to raise his sight above his documents again, the lord just waved his hand at me, dismissing me with nothing but that simple gesture. And I wasn't someone who would ignore such a great opportunity to escape from this place!
As curious as I was about the true nature of the Makay's action, not to speak how his potential possession of the system made him more likely to either allay or clash with me in the near future, acting recklessly in the face of what I could only describe as overwhelming strength would be simply stupid.
After all, I wasn't some kind of comedy cultivation novel protagonist, who even if defeated, would grow stronger and then come back to take revenge on those who wronged him, by not only punishing the people at fault, but also eradicating their entire bloodline just to sate the thirst for vengeance and the feeling of power in the people reading this kind of stupid novels.
Even if I had to admit that I had this one phase where I could just act like that, believing myself to be some kind of fucking god of the place, it was already a long time ever since I matured beyond this point. Yet, even then, only the case where Eve's health and wellbeing was put into a grave danger was capable of pushing my emotions, feelings and determination to its absolute limits, making me capable of achieving the same stupid deeds as some kind of novel protagonist!