Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Chronicle Event Capable of Altering a Life

"Everything is because of my father—that lazy, womanizing piece of trash, the laughingstock of the royal capital's nobility!!!"

"From kindergarten all the way to high school, the moment people heard I was the 'son of Duke Moss,' my classmates would steer clear of me. Even a sow wouldn't want to get anywhere near me."

On the training grounds, Tonk roared with intense emotion: "A sow! Do you understand?!!!"

Lak stared blankly, wiping the spit off his face.

Having vented his emotions, Tonk took a deep breath, looked up at the blue sky with a melancholic gaze, and sighed:

"Yeah, being a Duke's son gave me so many advantages. Endless money, unlimited gourmet food, the ability to be a useless parasite from the day I was born... Do you think that kind of life feels good?"

Lak let out an "uh," and following the other's lead, asked hesitantly, "It doesn't?"

"It feels good, of course it feels good." Tonk nodded as if it were a matter of course.

"..." Lak’s fist tightened.

That’s right, even though you said it with such a heavy tone, you kid, you’re still having the time of your life.

"But even so, twenty years—I’ve lived this life for twenty years, and it lost its meaning long ago..." Tonk lifted his head, looking desolate. "That was when someone told me: If a person has no pursuits, how are they any different from a salted fish?"

Someone... A knot tightened in Lak’s heart, and he instinctively wanted to ask: "The person you’re talking about couldn't be..."

"I finally understood that the value of life must be defined by oneself." Ignoring Lak, Tonk was completely immersed in his own world, suddenly smiling foolishly: "It was also at that time that this person took me to do a world-shaking good deed."

"After we did that, my soul felt like it had been sublimated. I realized for the first time that a person could actually perform such a noble and pure act of kindness."

Lak’s eyes widened in astonishment. What kind of event could be so powerful that it influenced the Duke’s second son to this extent?

Recalling the major events that had occurred in the capital during that period, he had some guesses: "Could it be that you participated in the decapitation strike to dismantle the human trafficking hubs in the capital?"

Tonk shook his head.

"Then... could it be the civil unrest in the capital when we repelled the Hirst rebel army?!" Lak’s expression grew even more solemn; that was a coup he hadn't even dared to get involved in at the time.

Tonk shook his head again.

"I know, you must have participated in the Great Relief Operation at the Holy Cathedral during the worst year of the famine..." Lak ventured again.

Tonk shook his head so hard his brain felt like it was being scrambled.

"None of those are right," Tonk sneered. "What that person taught me to do was a hundred times more noble and great than those things."

"And that is?"

Lak felt a shock in his heart and grew vigilant. Could it be that "that person" had done something earth-shattering in a place he couldn't see?

Tonk rubbed his nose, appearing somewhat embarrassed.

"He took me with him to help an old woman, a commoner, cross the street."

—Are you f***ing kidding me!!!

Lak’s glasses let out a "crack" as several fissures appeared! Matching his expression, which had completely shattered!!!

"Damn it, Lak! I can't take it anymore!!! Let me out, I want to bite this brat to pieces and do a 'great good deed' for his old man!!!" Deep inside, the "Darkness" roared, veins bulging.

Helping an old woman cross the street and you’re acting so proud?!!! If you just help one and your character is sublimated, if you help another dozen or twenty, are you going to ascend to heaven on the spot, you idiot?!!!

A maddening murderous intent surged from within.

Lak could feel the "Darkness" inside him losing its temper; it almost wanted to break free from his body and devour the Tonk before him.

"Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive!"

Lak felt a throbbing headache and hurriedly tried to comfort the entity within. It took a massive effort to suppress the dark power that was on the verge of erupting...

He glared at Tonk with a look of deep, bitter hatred.

You kid... you really almost committed a "world-shaking good deed" just now by using your life to expose the true dark form of Lak, the Chief of the Magic Tower—

"Chief Lak, don't forget," Tonk finally offered an explanation.

Tonk patted his chest: "I am the 'son of Duke Moss,' someone who grew up eating high-end food and wearing expensive clothes. Would I ever treat those lowly commoners as equals?"

"In my eyes, the status of those plebeians is no different from ants. Would you help an ant on the side of the road cross the street?"

*Hiss*... That actually makes some sense?

But it feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before.

Lak’s expression remained blank for a moment, and he instinctively answered: "No."

"See!" Tonk immediately spread his hands: "Now do you understand how great the thing that person brought me to do was? Before that, I wouldn't even have dared to imagine it!"

"Heh, hehe." Lak’s mouth twitched; he was rendered speechless.

"By the way, who is the person you’re talking about...?"

Tonk said with a look of longing: "Of course, it’s that most noble hero, Mino! Mino Rake!"

*Snap!*

Lak tore off his magic-guiding glasses and crushed them into dust with his fingers.

"Mino, I really thank you so much...!!!" Lak gritted his teeth, squeezing the words out through the gaps.

You, a dignified hero, have nothing better to do than take a Duke’s second son to help an old lady cross the street? Was your head kicked by a donkey? If there were a priest standing by to witness it, would the old lady be recorded in the Kingdom’s Chronicles? That old lady could be canonized as a god, for heaven's sake!!!

"I’ve always wanted to thank him, too," Tonk nodded, then looked regretful. "Unfortunately, Mino is already... and it is precisely because of this that I want to carry on his will."

A trace of resentment appeared on Tonk’s face: "From that day on, I changed. I decided to fight for a better and more comfortable living environment for the commoners of the capital, and even the entire kingdom."

"To that end, I kept persuading my father to donate the family's money and idle properties to the impoverished masses."

He’d have to be brain-damaged to agree to your stupid suggestion... Lak thought to himself.

"He told me I was brain-damaged and nearly kicked me out of the house."

"What’s worse is that just because I’m the son of Duke Moss, even when I go out to do good deeds, I’m treated as if I have ulterior motives. Once... I even made a little girl at an orphanage cry and run away; she screamed at me, 'Don't come over, you'll get me pregnant!'"

Tonk lifted his head, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Do you know? That is the trauma of my life!!!"

Little girl, well done!!! Lak secretly clenched his fists.

"So I’ve decided: the moment I have enough power, I will shake off the influence of my father and my family! I will become the most famous philanthropist in the entire kingdom!!!"

Under the sunlight, Tonk’s figure seemed exceptionally imposing.

Lak stared at Tonk deeply. Stripping away the cause, the process, and the result, honestly, it was actually quite inspiring... not!

You are an absolute disgrace to the textbook villain!

"Whew, I feel like I’ve said a bit too much today." Tonk wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and looked at Lak with a smile: "This is the first time I’ve met an elder I can trust and open my heart to. Mr. Lak, you will support me, won't you?"

Lak fiercely wiped his face, took a deep breath, and slowly spat out a single word.

"Get out."

"Huh?"

Lak held up a finger.

"Right now, quickly, get the hell out of my sight."