Rivers of the Night-Chapter 287: Coward
Chapter 287: Coward
Sura paled after Faustin finished his words. It was subtle, nonetheless, but the feeling of her heart dropping couldn’t be stopped or faked by her.
She had done her best, but there was only so much change she could force with the arguments that Lyn and Theron had laid out for her. The only silver lining was that she would probably score well enough anyway—after all, this was a 1v1v1v1v1 situation, not a true 2v3. However, the loss would still ding her, and the ultimate result would end up harming the next round for the Firewings.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. Lowering her head, she shook it slowly before standing straight and tall. She had to be graceful in defeat as well, otherwise she might lose points for that too.
Everything here was being graded.
“Ah, is it my turn?” Theron asked. He blinked toward Mello, who seemed to have forgotten to announce the opposition’s closing statements.
The howl of the crowd was still ongoing, and they seemed very much invested in Faustin’s words, reacting as though the doors had been closed.
Theron’s words weren’t very loud, but they seemed to ride the waves of the crowd quite well, reaching the ears of Mello. Ultimately, everyone here was a cultivator, and the location they stood on was designed to project voices one way or another.
In the end, they had no choice but to hear Theron speak.
Mello waited until the shaking of the arena finally came to a pause before he looked to Theron.
“Of course, of course. It is now the turn of the opposition to lay out their arguments. Please come forward, Scholar Galethunder.”
Theron’s smile didn’t fade, still just as gentle as always as he finally took a step onto the platform. This time, there was no one to interrupt him.
However, even then, he didn’t start to speak immediately, his gaze sweeping the crowd for a moment, then the judges, before his eyes finally landed on Drake and Faustin. The time ticked away, but his smile remained.
Slowly, though, that smile began to fade, replaced by a cool sort of calmness as the sweeping of the wind was all that could be heard.
“If I just stood here and said nothing at all, what do you think would happen?”
Faustin’s eyes narrowed.
“Sure, it would be quite incompetent of me, but the ultimate result would be quite obvious. A loss. A resounding one. In fact, this round is already quite the loss already, don’t you think?
“My opening statement was garbage, Scholar Auran’s follow-up sounded as though it was cobbled together by a child, and Scholar Firewing, although a great talent doing her best, could do very little with what we gave her to work with.”
A thrumming pulsed in Faustin’s chest as he seemed to realize something. His expression changed, and he wanted to speak, but he realized immediately that if he did, it would come with automatic loss.
This was a sanctioned debate; there was no room for interrupting. Everything was divided into clear lines. It was either your turn to speak, or someone used a flag to stop you. But only your teammates themselves could do that, and both of Theron’s teammates had already used theirs.
“By comparison, the opposition has done quite well, don’t you think? A single man laying out his arguments, while the other watches on because there wasn’t much of a need for input. Your argumentation was solid, your refutations better. You’ve proven yourself to be quite the decent scholar, and you’ve displayed that quite well to everyone present.
“But by doing so, you’ve already made my point.
“In a large enough group of people, the talented will stand out one way or another. Do you know why I had the opportunity to ruin my teammates’ chances of making good arguments? It was because I was such a standout that you deemed it necessary to point it out.
“I only had the power to ruin everything because I am a talent, and that is the same thing that happens throughout history. No matter how you try to hide it, no matter how non-confrontational you are, the moment you display the slightest hint of value to others, you’ll either be targeted or pushed into leadership roles.
“By the time such a talent stands on the precipice of power, they have two paths they could take—one path leading to the ruin of the people that chose to follow them, and the other path leading to the prosperity of the very same group.
“I have all of the power right now. I could have chosen to not say a single word, to just stand here and let the efforts of my teammates rot, to feel that my backing was strong enough that I would not need to say anything at all.
“But, instead, I chose to speak, to exert my influence, and to use my talent in the right way.
“And like that, as a single person—a singular talent—even while surrounded by so many others, I alone can change everything.”
Theron’s gaze deepened as he met Faustin’s eyes.
“When someone is talented enough, they don’t need to rely on others. When an Emperor is wise enough, it doesn’t matter how poor the talent of his people is. When an Emperor is foolish enough, it doesn’t matter how great his people are.
“I can stand here by my own merit. I don’t need to rely on others. After all, like I said in my opening statement, only one of us is a coward.”
After Theron finished speaking, he stepped off of the stage. He still had more time, but he didn’t feel the need to use it at all.
He returned to his teammates, his gentle smile returning. He looked like every bit the little boy one would want to cherish and protect from the harshness of the world.
And yet, to his back, it felt like they were staring into the roaring, open maw of a lion.
