"Hahahaha! Take another hit. Don't worry. It'll grow on you. You'll need its effects to understand what I'm about to say to you on a deeper level."
Eren said amusingly as he looked at the coughing royal. The latter looked angrily at the butcher. This time, the staring contest didn't last long because Rodrick couldn't keep his watery eyes open for long.
"I'm not saying anything until you take a few proper hits."
Eren said as he took a long drag from his own smoke. Rodrick felt angry that he was being looked down on. So he steeled his heart and his lungs before taking another drag.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Altashia saw that Rodrick wasn't feeling too good after the second hit as well. She felt another bout of pity towards him. So she tapped Eren's hand before commenting.
"Eren, he is not a drug addict like you. Why can't you say whatever you have to say to him without trying to make a smoker buddy out of him?"
Eren still had his eyes fixated on Rodrick who was trying to bring his breathing to normal while holding his chest. He replied to Altashia after taking another drag.
"Al, this is a talk between men. Why don't you go outside if it bothers you? Or maybe stay quiet and don't disturb us if you want to stay here. What will it be? You tell me."
Eren looked at Al after he finished his statement. He saw her pouting with her hands folded under her bosom. She looked like she was going to say something to him. But Eren's unflinching gaze and his stoic expressions shut her up. She merely hmphed to register her dissatisfaction with him before looking in front of her.
Rodrick was listening to everything unfolding between the couple. It looked like Eren was trying to criticize Altashia. But he felt like the subtle dissing was meant for him.
Rodrick took another hit out of his smoke after exhaling a long breath. Then he took another. Then another. His expressions relaxed after a while as the effects of the Stellar Sativa kicked in.
"How are you feeling now?"
Eren asked Rodrick. The latter nodded his head slowly before responding.
"As... as light as a feather. How… How do you stay functional after smoking this?"
Eren smirked before answering.
"Because I used to do a lot worse. But we are not here to talk about any of that. We are here to talk about your battle style. I need you to pay me your undivided attention. Do you understand?"
Rodrick processed Eren's words slowly before nodding his head. He was glad that he was sitting in front of his new counsellor. Otherwise, he might have tripped. Not that he wasn't tripping mentally at the time.
"You need to quit being a berserker. Start from scratch. That path is not meant for you."
Eren said and let his comment sink in. Altashia was the first to open her eyes wide in shock. But before she could say anything, Eren raised his index finger and pressed it against his lips, telling her to keep quiet.
"I… I now understand… the reason behind why you made me smoke this shit before giving me advice.
I would have… hehe… I would have left you guys by now after listening to something absurd like this."
Eren shook his head before commenting.
"Nope. That's still the trippy-you talking. You would have had me beat up by your goons' hands if I had said this before that "shit" as you called it calms your nerves. If it was not in front of Al, it would have been done when I was alone."
Rodrick flashed a cunning smile at Eren when he heard that. He wondered how this seemingly unnoticeable youth could be so perceptive about him.
"Hehe. Cough! Cough! Cough!
Alright. Give it to me straight. What are you trying to say to me?"
Rodrick said after taking another drag. He kept on observing the trails of smoke that he had released for no reason. He found this job to be more intriguing and relaxing than dealing with royal politics.
Eren saw that Rodrick was finally at a place where he could listen to his advice with an open mindset. So he continued after taking the last drag out of his smoke.
"Rodrick, I'm sure you might have gone through an aptitude test and found out you were suitable for being a berserker. Maybe you still are. But that path can not bring out the best in you.
I mean look at what you did in your duel against AI. Did you even fight like a berserker? All you did was execute plans you had already come up with in your head. Does a berserker fight like this? Hell no."
Eren said and watched Rodrick clenching his fist. He was angry. Not on anyone else, though. On himself. The butcher could see that every word of his stung him like a hive of bees. He didn't feel pity for him and carried on.
"Even if you win by employing strategies like this, what's the point?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against someone using their brains in battle. But your plans should be adjusted as per your battle style. Not the other way around.
Going against the path you have set for yourself to fit the plan is counterproductive. I'm sure you are smart enough to see that yourself. You are asking about someone else's opinion on the way you fought. That makes it pretty obvious to me that you are starting to have doubts."
In a flick of his fingers, Eren kicked the remains of his smoke into the ashtray. A sigh escaped his lips as he rested one hand on the couch's arm support and verbally marched on.
"Still, you chose to not fight like the berserker that you are in the fight. No matter how dense a ranker might turn out to be, they wouldn't do something like this under normal circumstances. I'm guessing you had strong reasons to do this."
Eren said and looked at the closed door after saying this. When he was sure that there was no movement, the butcher pressed on.
"Here we are now, with you left wondering. Was it worth it? Let me clear that doubt for you if you still haven't found the answer by yourself– It's not."
