Yuui looked at Kexi with a supremely confident smile.
Naturally, he had his reasons for being so confident.
The reason was that he possessed the vast historical information of card art stories accumulated in his previous life, a massive trove of knowledge unknown to others.
Added to that were the experiences he lived through in this life before being sealed away; those experiences were themselves a part of many spirits' history.
With such memories, he had no need to continue researching the histories of spirits like those scholars did.
He himself was the very history of the spirits.
And because of this, what he needed was never research; What he had always needed was time to grow—whether to restore his strength or to allow Alicia to grow, both required time.
However, when it came to card creation, he did not actually need time. All he needed were sufficient magic power and enough materials.
Within him were recorded the data of thousands of Monster, Spell, and Trap cards. With that information, as long as he possessed enough magic power and materials, he could completely reproduce those cards.
And among those cards were quite a few that could be considered gods in this world—some were even gods themselves.
If Yuui could remake all of those cards, he believed his strength would surpass even what he had thousands of years ago.
So yes, he did need a faction to support him in card creation. And now it seemed that the King's Faction was indeed a good choice.
This faction did not appear to be as fickle as he first imagined. On the contrary, they were the true pillar of the Bredt Kingdom. The Prince's Faction and the Grand Princess's Faction were more like two branches, each just waiting to see who would grow to be the tallest.
Having figured everything out, Yuui looked at Kexi.
And when Kexi heard that Alicia (Yuui) actually chose the second method, he frowned slightly at first, but then recalled the monster she used when dueling him—the one called Elemental HERO Stratos, and the ones she later summoned: Liquid Soldier, Great Tornado, Neos… even the so-called evolved form of Neos, Elemental HERO Grand Neos.
To possess so many spirits that had never appeared before, and even summon their evolved forms, it seemed Alicia (Yuui) must have her own unique history related to the HERO series.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain how she could know the knowledge of these HERO spirits. And Kexi suspected that the information Alicia (Yuui) obtained likely came from that so-called Elemental HERO Neos.
If that wasn't the case, how could a young girl with no background obtain historical knowledge that even the kingdom did not know?
And this also led to another conclusion: that Neos' memories were likely complete; otherwise, he could not have told Alicia (Yuui) so many stories about the HERO spirits.
If that was the case, then Alicia (Yuui) indeed had her own unique understanding of history.
What remained was the matter of magic power.
Anyhow, Alicia (Yuui) was only fourteen and already a Great Magician. At her rate, she might become a Magus before reaching third year. Until then, becoming a cardmaking apprentice would not be bad.
With that thought, Kexi looked at Alicia (Yuui) and said, "Alright. Since you wish to choose the second path, then I will return later and have my father write you a letter of recommendation."
Seeing that Kexi actually agreed, Yuui paused for a moment before asking, "I'm curious—why exactly are you helping me? The Prince's Faction matter may be an order from your faction, but when it comes to Cardmaker training, you don't really have a reason to help me."
"Heh…" Kexi chuckled. "Indeed, even if your talent is exceptional and your dueling ability strong, and you have the potential to become a Cardmaker, it still wouldn't be enough for our Arce family to invest so much in you.
"The one who truly wants us to help you has never been us. It is the Headmaster."
"The Headmaster!" Yuui seized up, and immediately the image of that elderly yet still remarkably handsome man appeared in his mind—Crowley Aleister Bredt.
Yuui truly did not understand why that old man—or rather, Aleister—was helping them.
From the very beginning, when Alicia enrolled, the man could unquestionably see Yuui's true identity, yet he never exposed him. Instead, he acted as though nothing had happened.
During the Three Sacred Beasts incident, thinking back carefully, Aleister seemed especially willing to believe Alicia's words. Even though Alicia had not demonstrated discovering the spirits of the Three Sacred Beasts, Aleister believed in their possible appearance.
Then, after the Three Sacred Beasts were resolved, the reward he gave Alicia—the repeatedly flashing Odd-Eyes Dragon—Yuui remembered clearly. It was obvious Aleister wanted Alicia to choose that dragon, the one representing "Foundation" among the Four "Heavenly Dragons".
And then there was the Eye of Wisdom hanging around Alicia's neck. Although they normally used it as a magic storage device, its true purpose was as a key. Aleister had even said before that the key would lead them to the reward most suited to them.
Albeit since Yuui felt there was something off about it, Alicia had never activated its gate-seeking function.
Thinking about it now, it seemed Aleister had been helping them both openly and secretly. As for why, he had never explained. Yet this kind of help without expecting anything in return made Yuui feel uneasy.
After all, the man was far too much like an old fox!
On the other side, seeing Alicia (Yuui) fall silent, Kexi said, "Although I also do not know why the Headmaster wishes for me to help you, since he chose you and instructed me to assist you, then I will do everything within my power to help you.
"As for the King's Faction… if you wish to join, you are naturally welcome. We do not reject talented individuals. If you do not wish to join, that is fine too, but in that case, you will only be able to receive support from our Arce family."
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