"Mm, well." Landis smiled for the same reasons Tappy had laughed before. In this Trishna was entirely correct - there was a long road ahead before Schlagenweit could survive that burden, if he could ever be trained to willingly shoulder it at all. It almost wasn't even a matter of the employees turning like jackals on their new, diminished lord. Who had met Sasha that would think him suitable to inherit a criminal kingdom? "Yes."

Kronos could twist and blacken Sasha's paranoia, turning it into an instinct welded offensively... "just in case." Killing was easy after the first time. But could that pesky sense of wrong and right be permanently buried? It was a hell of a thing to pin an empire on. Landis had seen in Sasha nothing so ruthless.

"Yes, I've encouraged that," Landis said, as placidly as if they were talking about passing the pumpkin juice down the table. "On Malvivicus' orders. Malvivicus was the one who planted the seed, unless Sasha possessed it all along. We don't talk of Light or Dark magic in our lessons, only of what use a spell might serve."

Tapendra sighed again; in a way, it was a relief to know that, to know that the seed of that terrible idea had been planted. The offhand comment that Sasha might have possessed such an idea, such a...a weakness of moral character was one he chose not to consider. Despite Sasha's stubbornness on the subject, he had more faith in the boy than that.

"Fear's a useful thing, isn't it," He said. It was said dryly, and with some level of darkness. Fear had apparently bent even a man like Morgan to this Malvivicus's will, and while Morgan did not strike him as brave, he did strike him as proud - and proud men did not bend easily.

Then again, that was the same reason Morgan was speaking to him at all, so that quality and circumstance was useful for him, too. Sort of.

"I had wondered why he keeps saying he's being taught to defend himself when none of the spells he's been...resorting to...would be categorized as defensive," he said.

Of course, there was now the elephant in the room, one that had been ever present but largely ignored until now. Tapendra looked at Landis again, the expression careful and thoughtful.

"I want Malvivicus gone," he said, tilting his head slightly. "The only safe out for Schlagenweit seems to be Malvivicus's death - though I know Schlagenweit would prefer otherwise. You, Mister Morgan...what do you want?"

"Mmm." It was a noncommittal noise, for Landis had caught the same parallel that Tappy had. He considered the fire as it crackled across the grate, throwing its shadows out before it into the room. In here, whatever their topic, he did not feel fear. But familiarity was deceptive, wasn't it? It lulled one into complacency. It was so easy to encourage the steely distaste that hardened Trishna's resolve, so easy to think himself safer for investing in a distraction to keep Malvivicus' eye. But he would be wise to remain cautious in what he thought, what he confessed. "Sasha intends to use them defensively and prefers not to consider that they can be used in other ways." As planned.

"You, Mister Morgan...what do you want?"

Landis hesitated rather than reply immediately. The question was too direct. He turned it over, looking for ways his answer could be used against him - not by Trishna, necessarily - just heeding the old habits that rose in his throat, caught his tongue, careful, careful.

"I wish to be free of his service with no harm done to me and mine, nor the threat remaining," Landis said slowly, eyes cast down to deliberately trace the carpet. He wanted Malvivicus dead, ultimately, but powerless first. He wished for him a lingering loss of control, the stripping away of his resources and rank. But it wasn't necessary. It would just feel so good. He could live without revenge, though it was much less satisfying.

He raised his gaze back to the man before him.  "Though if something were to happen to him," he said softly, meaningfully, "I could hardly object."

Tapendra knew he had to talk to Sasha, had to find some way to convince him, some wedge he could drive that would get the boy to see what was going on, to understand how terrifying and serious the lapses in his morals were. Landis's reply simply added fore to the blaze.

He watched the man carefully, though, as Landis came round to his answer. His careful gaze lost much of its seriousness when the Librarian met his eyes again - and Tapendra blinked. The man seemed almost earnest, more open than before. It was odd, but not terribly, and he hoped that meant the man was being honest. His steely eyes were..they weren't softer, he was sure. He was merely reading that in because of the tone, the openness. Still...

"Ah, I um - I see," he said, nodding and quickly looking away, in this case down to his feet. An alliance was the best way to serve those two goals, he knew, but it would be a tense one. He let his breath out and when he spoke, it was level, careful.

"And what would you do, to accomplish that?" He asked. Landis sounded as if he had perhaps taken some steps already - or perhaps he was simply assuming the man had done so, since lay down and take it didn't seem the Librarian's style.

So he wanted a step-by-step explanation of how Landis would kill the man? That was treading awfully close to the edge of plausible deniability. Landis blinked at him, considering. Of course it was possible that Trishna had never taken a life before. Still, it wasn't as though Kronos was easy to get the jump on.

Or did he just want the step-by-step process to escaping his employ...

"It's what I want," Landis said. "Not what's realistic."

No, too harsh. He did not trust Tappy, but he needed Tappy to trust him. A little truth, delivered in small, soft-spoken allotments, flavored everything with believability. And wasn't it sad, the situation? It held an element of tragedy to it that was sure to appeal. He tried to keep his words low, not defeated, but bitterly aware of his limits - and straining despite them. It was quiet in Landis' rooms besides the rustle of the fire. Tappy could have heard him even if he'd fallen to a whisper. "My well-being is also used to keep another in check. I doubt we'll both escape."

He would not brag of his plan so that it could wing from this room to be thwarted later. Instead he kept to obvious things - the obvious end games. "If I were to become useless to him, perhaps he would let me go. When Sasha graduates I may no longer be necessary, if he's not the type to get rid of his employees in a more permanent manner. All that needs is to wait. If he thinks there are more important things... if he can be convinced I am less trouble out of his employ than in..." Landis shook his head. "It would be better to hold something over him, but that would only prolong his interest. I cannot be a visible threat. Neither of us can. How would you propose to kill him?"

Tapendra froze for a moment at the Librarian's hushed but careful words, the words hinting rather than saying outright - it was a duel situation. The man couldn't just walk away and take his chances, and the other person knew...so they couldn't just hide them, or something. That made it more difficult, didn't it?

He stroked his beard again, nodding to the man and - perhaps unwisely - showing the slight amount of pity that situation roused in him. He hid it quickly, sure the man didn't want pity. He didn't seem the type. And - well, what sort of help was a pat pat there there when you had a crime lord yanking your chain?

Landis's explanation, although broad, satisfied Tapendra enough - though he had to wonder where this mysterious other factored in. He'd been pondering asking when Landis spoke, and he looked up in surprise at Landis's question, blinking once before he thought aloud, tilting his head.

"The simplest and most effective way to kill him would be to use Schlagenweit," he said. "Lure him to some wizarding location - the streets of Diagon, Knockturn. Hogsmeade. He likely has wards against magic, so..." He gestured towards Landis, index and thumb extended and the other three fingers folded against his palm. "You don't use magic. Get him somewhere open, and snipe him. Wizards don't know enough about ballistics to really figure out what happened quickly, and even if they did, there's almost no way to track you. They certainly couldn't trace you - you could simply hide the weapon and depart on foot."

He paused, and shook his head. "But I would rather not use Schlagenweit, and would rather not... kill him quite that gorily."

He regarded Tappy with open approval. He had not thought the other man capable of such callousness towards his young charge. It would be effective, however, the beginning of this ruse - far easier to draw Kronos from his castle and take him out then than try to infiltrate his guard. The switch from the boy's forename to surname was obvious - a distancing technique, perhaps - though if it worked, it worked.

But a moment later he had to pause, Trishna's little gesture meaning next to nothing to him. He looked at Tappy blankly. "I beg your pardon," Landis said at last, politely.

The look of approval gave him pause, but - even during this rather tense situation - the urge to explain a muggle device over rode his better judgement, which had been telling him to shut up.

"Oh, it's, ah -" he lowered his hand, but ended up just using both hands to punctuate his words anyway. "A sniper rifle's a type of gun. Muggle weapon, you see. Projectile based device. The gesture..." he waved a hand, "Implies it. Or it's use, anyway." Was rather like wizards waving their hands to imitate wand flicks, he supposed.

"Anyway, they're fantastically accurate," he said, "Though they take some skill. You could take aim from the roof of a shop and by the time they realized when the shot had originated from, you could be long gone, without any magic for the Aurors to trace. But they're, um - they're hard to get ahold of. Even for a muggle. And -"

He sighed, shook his head. "I don't want to use Sasha. I'd prefer he helped of his own free will. And he wouldn't want Malvivicus dead." Tapendra would also rather not bloody his hands unless he had to. While death was by no means off the list of possibilities...

Shrugging, he looked aside. "So - there's other ways to get in at the man, I suppose. He must have a way of transporting Sasha around - and depending on how well that system is guarded or checked, it might be an opening."

"A gun," Landis repeated, looking wary and thoughtful. "Hmmm." He knew about guns or at least what they looked like, blunt, snub-nosed, matte black hand guns, a silhouette of be wary of when picking muggle prey. They were dangerous weapons, but he'd never seen one used. Weren't they very loud little barkers? And Trishna said they were hard to get.

Though wasn't that a beautiful thought, a weapon wizards couldn't defend against, that one could set off from a distance and make a clean getaway. Marvelous. He wondered how far away they could be used.

"Are you sure you couldn't get one?" he asked, eyes gleaming in the low light. "It would be the easiest way to take him out."

And.... there went that ruthlessness Landis had so admired. How exasperating. One shouldn't talk like that unless they had the bollocks to back it up. "He would be much better off if Malvivicus was dead," Landis sighed, fed up with the squimishness of Sasha interfering with his plans. "As would we all. I assume they've been meeting and then apparating out together. Perhaps if we set up a meeting point as a trap... but that would require Sasha's cooperation, and he is not skilled enough as a liar. If we can find an access point, just send an anonymous tip to the Aurors and let them pour in."

His gaze darted, for a fraction of a second, to his sleeve  - and the familiar weight of his shotgun, hidden within with the aid of charms. "Unfortunately, yes," he said, shaking his head. "A shame, really. They're remarkable machines, their offensive uses aside."

There were things he preferred almost no one knew, and the existence of his gun was one of them. He'd had to sell a bit of himself to get it, and so a secret it would stay, unless its revelation helped him somehow.

Tapendra sighed. "I know. Quite a lot of people would be better off with that man dead. I would just...rather not have Schlagenweit directly involved, if it comes to that. Locked up in the castle somewhere, perhaps, or assisting us of his own free will - without him being the liar, if only for practical reasons." Morgan's comment was spot on - under pressure, Sasha was a terrible liar.

The thought of the Aurors pouring in did make him smirk a bit, though. "I admit," he said, tapping his chin, "That the image of the Aurors burning whatever grandiose home he owns to the ground is rather satisfying. No doubt he has some escape route, though. Any ambush would have to be direct - instant, preferably."

Landis nodded. That was the safest thing to do. He did not trust Sasha's ability to deceive well enough to include the boy in their plans, not to mention Sasha's emotional attachment could hinder any operation undertaken.

It made him smile, the thought of Kronos' castle burning to the ground. "It would burn beautifully," he said, almost wistfully. But Trishna was right. Odds were good Kronos would escape a frontal assault, and then they would have no idea at all where he'd laid lair. At least Landis could identify the castle were he in some closeness to it, perhaps even the type of geography around it that he'd seen from his window. That was an advantage, however slight. "Once he's gone it would still be wise to raze it if possible. To avoid anyone moving in... or seizing his assets." Big dreams for two small men. Landis recognized the futility of talking about the future before it had happened, but wasn't it his nature to plan? More likely Vedir would be interested in those assets, and Landis might be in a position to procure them for him.
 
There was one thing yet for him to ensure. This was where Landis had to ignore the little whisper, the internal warning that this was the beginning of the end. It was part of taking any risk, this feeling, and it was unavoidable now. This was already out of his hands, and thus out of his control. He had to be optimistic that this would not all come crashing down, though that was a vastly unfamiliar approach for Landis Morgan.
 
"What is this to be, then?" he asked. Once more he gave Tappy a long, steady look. Though their entire discussion was serious, there were some things that needed to be especially impressed upon his unintentional coconspirator. "There is a limit to how much help I can and will provide. The circumstances of my employment do not allow for Malvivicus learning that I have spoken to anyone, and I likewise must report what I teach to Schlagenweit. Trishna, though I cannot control what you do with the information you learned today, I would ask that you are careful with it. The walls have ears, and Malvivicus owns them. Going to the authorities would not be wise. You will not be the only one to suffer the consequences should he discover this."

Tapendra smirked, ruefully, at the idea. Mansion did tend to go up like very expensive Yule Logs. But.."I don't know," he said. "Seems a shame to burn it all - his assets would be worth quite a lot." He said it half-jokingly, though he had little doubt the man had enough stored in his lair to make someone a very, very rich man.

Still, the man's question brought him back to the reality of the situation. He met Landis's steady gaze and nodded, glumly, gaze turning to the stone floor as he considered. Given the circumstances of all of this, one could hardly call it a partnership. A mutual understanding of sorts, perhaps.

"I have no intention of involving the Aurors," he said. "They're useful enough, but in this case they would just get everyone killed. No - you can trust me to keep quiet, Mister Morgan. Even if the circumstances require Schlagenweit's side to be mentioned, I will avoid mentioning you." He had little to gain from it, certainly. Sasha was hard to separate from the situation; Morgan was easy enough to write out as a hired tutor.

He looked up at Landis again. "I will do what I can to help you," he said finally.

Landis arched a brow at Tappy, the lingering "naturally" unspoken. It was not a statement he would have expected from Trishna, but then, he had received several of those already tonight.

Trishna's promise was both satisfying and disquieting, the man's trust something Landis had needed to win but now that he had it quite distasteful. It was his pride, and it writhed in him like worms all cloying and shiversome. A necessary deception, or so he told himself, that he would ever need help from anyone. He gave Tappy a stiff, shallow nod, gaze falling to lie on the carpet again that was the only thing separating their feet from the cold stone floor. Unfortunately, whatever his pride, Landis also had enough self-awareness that this lie did not quite take.

It had been strangely refreshing to discuss Malvivicus' demise with another person. Now, as well as the difficult logistics of  obliviating Trishna or incapacitating him otherwise while within the bounds of the castle, he rather didn't want to either.

The nod was good enough for Tapendra, the Astronomy professor taking the Librarian's stiffness and downward look as the actions a man who was unused to accepting assistance but otherwise somewhat grateful for it. He smiled, briefly and politely. Somehow - despite feeling rather better than he had all night - he didn't think a full on beaming smile was the sort of thing the Librarian wanted directed at him, even at the best of times.

He stood up from the wall. "Thank you, Mister Morgan," he said, nodding his head. "If Schlagenweit tells me anything that will assist you, I will endeavor to let you know. Have a good evening."

It seemed at odd statement, to say that after their conversation. He turned and slipped out the door, closing it behind him. He let him breath out. He wasn't in the clear by a long shot, of course. He'd have to start varying his schedule...and probably sleeping during the day again.

He turned on his heel and all but ran towards the Ravenclaw tower. He had one more stop to make and then - and only then - could he have a private sort of meltdown.