Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Disaster (4)
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A peaceful afternoon.
Lian was stopping by the fabric shop, admiring the colorful bolts of cloth as if they were works of art.
True to the neighborhood teeming with high-class nobles, the selection was dominated by expensive velvets and silks.
"Um, excuse me."
While he was engrossed in browsing, a stranger sidled up and spoke to him.
"Aren't you Mr. Lian from the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House, by any chance?"
"Yes, that's me, but..."
At first, Lian thought he might be a shop clerk.
But the man's shabby attire didn't fit the store at all.
"Hey. Don't come any closer."
Pablo slapped the man's shoulder and shoved him back.
The stranger flinched, hunching his shoulders and bowing his head in fear.
"Ah, sorry! I just saw someone with such striking beauty and thought maybe..."
"See? What did I tell you? Even with that handsome face of yours, people recognize you."
"It's my face that's impressive, so why are you the one looking proud, Pablo?"
But the man's interest seemed fixed on the clothes Lian was wearing.
He couldn't take his eyes off Lian's outfit.
"Oh! Just as I thought! That sheen rivaling silk! It's woolen fabric woven from the hair of mountain goats found only in the eastern highlands of the Dorin Empire! And that lining on your outer coat..."
"Hey, hey. I said don't come closer!"
"Ah! Sorry. Your garments are all so precious, I couldn't help myself..."
Even after getting scolded by Pablo several times, the man kept trying to touch Lian's clothes.
It wasn't some lame excuse.
That gleam in his eyes was the real deal.
Lian recalled a term from his past life for people like this.
Otaku.
There was no better word for someone this obsessed.
"You must really like these kinds of clothes. Not a tailor, though... Do you work with fabrics?"
"How did you know? I work at the weaving workshop down that alley!"
"Well..."
Lian couldn't bring himself to say it was because he looked too slovenly to be a tailor.
No matter how you looked at him, his passion was for the fabric itself, not the style.
"So, what do you want with me? Need a sample of the fabric from my clothes?"
"No, no! Actually, I have a sample I want to show you!"
"To me?"
The man rummaged through his bag, searching eagerly for something.
He said he worked at a weaving workshop, so it was probably some kind of cloth, but Lian wasn't expecting much.
He already knew every fabric circulating on this island.
"Ah, damn! Of all days!"
It seemed he'd forgotten the fabric he wanted to show.
The man sighed, tearing at his hair as he dug through the bag.
"You little shit!"
"Gahk...!"
Just then, the shop owner—who had been tending to another customer inside—came rushing out, face flushed with anger.
"This guy's harassing customers again! Get out and stop ruining my business!"
"Wait, just a moment! I haven't even properly explained the important part yet...!"
"Shut up! Get out before I call the security force!"
After a brief scuffle,
the shop owner wiped cold sweat from his brow, then bowed deeply to Lian, nearly prostrating himself.
"Sorry about that, sir! That annoying fly..."
"It's fine. He didn't cause any harm, just came up and talked to me."
"Oh, thank you for your boundless understanding!"
Before long, the shop owner's forehead was practically touching the floor.
But Lian paid more attention to the man's retreating figure, slinking away dejectedly, than to the shop owner's impressive flexibility.
For someone so unremarkable, he stuck in Lian's mind oddly.
"That guy... He said he works at the weaving workshop. Do you handle their fabrics here?"
"No way! That fool wastes his time dreaming up new weaving methods without knowing his place! As if he'd produce anything decent."
"Hmm. Is that so? New weaving methods..."
"Exactly. We only carry the finest fabrics here, so rest assured!"
Lian found himself growing curious about the man after the fact.
Big breakthroughs usually came from mad geniuses somewhere.
Whether this man's invention was useful or not, he'd have to see the results himself.
"Then excuse me for a moment! I'll just finish with the customer up front and be right back!"
"Ah. Take your time with your business. I'm in no rush."
"No, no! It'll be quick! Really quick!"
Worried Lian might leave, the shop owner glanced back repeatedly as he returned to his other customer.
But soon enough, Lian had other matters to attend to.
An unusual procession had appeared on the street.
"Here you are, Lian."
"Ah, Aide Simon."
Lian calmly greeted Aide Simon, who arrived flanked by a bunch of soldiers.
"Getting a new uniform tailored? That's a lot of entourage for that."
"As if. I was looking for you on business."
"Business with me?"
"Yes. The Lord wishes to make amends for yesterday's quarrel and invites you to dinner."
"A reconciliation dinner? You serious?"
The obvious lie drew a hollow laugh from Lian.
Invitation, my ass.
The dinner was just an excuse to grab him somehow.
"Nobles sure live complicated lives. Turning down an invitation without cause is a grave breach of etiquette, right?"
"Yes, so please..."
"Oh dear. But I have prior engagements soon."
"...That's not what we'd call a prior engagement."
"Honestly. I'm no noble—why bother with their customs?"
Lian deliberately provoked, spouting shameless nonsense.
And as expected,
Simon didn't get angry at Lian. He just looked troubled.
"Must you really? If this feud with the Lord becomes fact, it'll harm the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House too."
"Pardon? Anyone hearing that might think we've ever been close to House Monteir."
"Haa..."
Simon sighed deeply, his face shadowed.
He probably hadn't expected Lian to come quietly anyway.
That's why he'd brought the Lord's soldiers for intimidation, but it was falling flat.
So in the end, they'd have to resort to action.
The invitation was just a flimsy pretext from the start.
"Lian. If you insist on disrespecting the Lord, we'll have no choice but to be rude ourselves. Understand that."
At Simon's signal, the soldiers surrounded Lian and Pablo.
But they stopped there.
They didn't come any closer.
No matter that they served the Lord, the kingdom's laws came first.
"Sorry, but you won't take a single step until we get a positive response."
This confirmed it for Lian.
They had no evidence to arrest him forcibly.
If they'd had proper cause, they'd have come with the security force, not just Leon's private guards.
Hence the convoluted excuses about invitations.
"If you want to change my mind that badly, shouldn't something come before a dinner?"
Here, Lian decided to push even harder.
"The Lord needs to quit his secret gardening hobby first. No compromise otherwise."
"Pardon...?"
"Playing dumb? You know all about that old tree too, Aide."
"W-Well, that is..."
As Lian acted like he knew nothing of last night's events, Simon's expression grew complicated.
Come to think of it, the source of conflict between Lian and Leon was gone.
Maybe he could mediate if he played this right... His face betrayed such vain hopes.
"Aide Simon! Emergency!"
Just then, an urgent voice shattered Simon's reverie from afar.
"What is it?"
"The Black Ship...! It's been stolen!"
"What? Who the hell took it?"
"Sorry, we don't know yet..."
"No need. For that ship, the culprit's obvious."
The Black Ship belonged to House Monteir, but the court mage had favored it before.
They'd anticipated it as an escape route and kept watch, yet...
"The navy? Surely pursuit ships were dispatched immediately?"
"Well, suddenly a bunch of crew got stomach issues, so they can't launch..."
"What...?"
No way that was coincidence.
Clear sabotage by the Black Ship thieves to shake pursuit.
"Tch. Just as I thought..."
Simon swallowed a groan, rubbing his face.
It was playing out exactly as predicted!
The court mage was on the move, taking advantage of their focus on Lian.
"Aide Simon? Looks like you don't have time for me. Mind if I go?"
"...Seems so. My apologies."
No need to hesitate now.
How could they justify letting the real culprit escape over Leon's biased suspicions?
Letting the mage slip away would just invite blame.
"Hurry! If it reaches the mainland, pursuit gets harder. Catch it before then!"
With that, Simon rushed off to the docks with his soldiers, not looking back.
While Simon scrambled to pursue the stolen Black Ship,
Madella Castle was in chaos from an unexpected intruder.
"Catch it! It went that way!"
"What are you doing? Corner it!"
Flutter flutter-
The intruder mocked its pursuers, soaring over their heads and slipping the encirclement again.
The servants and soldiers chasing it collided and tumbled in heaps.
"Whoa! Get out of the way!"
"Argh! Don't push!"
"Damn it! That cursed old monster! What did he do to that chicken to make it fly like this?!"
"What are you all doing? It's escaping again!"
The game of tag showed no sign of ending.
Emboldened by repeated victories, the intruder spread its white wings wide and crowed triumphantly.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
But in that instant,
an arrow whistled through the air, piercing the intruder's body.
Cock-awk!!
Thus ended the marathon chase, felled by Leon's arrow.
"You idiots! Do I have to handle everything myself?"
Still fuming, Leon snapped his bow in half.
His head was covered in chicken shit, his body scratched and pecked everywhere.
He looked nothing like the winner of this farce.
"That vile old man dares mock me? A freak like that...!"
Crunch-
His rage toward the old mage surged so fiercely it briefly overwrote thoughts of Lian.
"My Lord! Urgent report!"
And soon, it would burn even hotter.