Armaals (11): The Patron's Emblem
When Primor finally stopped crying, I explained how I had realized she was pregnant. Hmm! I see. There appears to have been a misunderstanding. I shall compensate you for this matter at a later date. After I gave him a carefully edited summary—only the parts he needed to know—Cornelius muttered those words and promptly fled.
—Clatter! The old man sprinted for his carriage with his cane somehow sprouting a blade, eyebrows flapping in the wind. Primor seemed stunned by the absurd sight. She paused in the middle of wiping her tears with a handkerchief and turned to me.
“I-I’m so sorry! I should have explained properly so you could apologize…”
“No need. He did say he would compensate me, didn’t he?”
I cut her off with a light laugh. Don’t just say thanks—pay up in tangible goods. I wasn’t some bottom-feeding adventurer begging for scraps. A man of his status had the means. Accepting a formal apology in front of all his subordinates would have been a tactical error.
If I bruise his pride, my compensation might shrink too. Even if a customer throws a tantrum, when the settlement is worth millions, you grin and bear it. Better to accept the physical reward first, then complain later if necessary.
“Allow me to heal your wounds.”
People who looked like holy knights approached and cast healing spells. Their holy symbols marked them as followers of the Janus order, though they probably weren’t true paladins. More likely they were knights from the Armaals family who had earned the qualifications of nuns—or priests—like Lady Henesis. The paladin who had been killed by the warlock last time seemed to be a similar case. Still, for a Janus believer to cast healing magic? That was like a bodybuilder also holding a law degree. If Cornelius used people like this as escorts, his power had to be monstrous.
My chest swelled with anticipation for the payout.
“U-um…”
While I was rotating my newly healed shoulder, Tirsi approached hesitantly.
“I’m sorry too… I should have helped…”
“Hm? Oh, there’s no need to worry about it. It seems I used a tone that invited misunderstanding.”
Even my own wives had been thrown into confusion. There was nothing more to say. Even in a world tolerant of multiple marriages, jumping straight into bed without thinking is a completely different story. There was a world of difference between taking a wife because you had the ability to support her and recklessly sleeping with someone then making her your wife.
Primor is basically the daughter of a prime minister who lost her husband less than a month or two ago. If I had knocked her up right after, I’d deserve to be despised. With all my wives carefully avoiding pregnancy, impregnating a widow and making her carry my first child? Yeah, I’d deserve a beating for that.
Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, there was no reason to dwell on it.
“Hii─ Hiiihiiing! (I don’t wanna work!)”
While we were exchanging apologies and forgiveness, the horses tied to the carriage began lining up. So we really were leaving Renapolis immediately and heading straight for the Armaals family estate. Good thing I’d said my goodbyes to the people I’d gotten to know.
“I’ll send you regular updates on the business progress by letter!”
Selena had come out to see us off and waved cheerfully. I smiled and waved back.
“Take care of your health! Your well-being is my money supply, Lady Selena!”
“I’ll return those exact words to you!!! Ah—Hahaha!!!”
She laughed heartily and kept waving until we were out of sight. Dismuke bowed at nearly a ninety-degree angle, and we climbed into the ridiculously large carriage to resume our journey.
“Teeeeng…”
The moment the carriage passed through Renapolis’s main gate, I boldly threw my head onto Veronica’s lap beside me.
—Squish.
An unnegotiated lap-pillow attack! But Veronica simply lifted the book she was reading a little higher, as if nothing unusual was happening. Franc, sitting across from us, didn’t seem to mind either. She gently lifted my feet and placed them on her own lap. This was luxury even nobles would envy. My pure conscience actually felt a little guilty.
“Wow… Senior is getting bolder and bolder these days…”
Larilura, seated opposite, stared with her mouth open in disbelief. Veronica let out a small laugh at her words.
“It’s because he no longer needs to watch himself around you. He never acted like this when others were watching.”
“Huh? Wait, hold on? So Senior was deliberately holding back in front of me?”
“Indeed. Nord would have sat quietly if Miss Tirsi hadn’t taken a different carriage.”
When Franc chimed in as well, Larilura’s shoulders drooped.
“…Why does that shock me so much? Have you been keeping your distance from me on purpose all this time?”
“What are you talking about? I was simply reading the room and choosing the right time and place.”
“Really~? Well, fine. I’ll take it as you feeling close enough to me now to treat me without any pretense, Senior♡!”
“Take it however you want. That’s exactly what it is.”
I answered while savoring the sensation of Veronica’s thigh. Truthfully, if we were speaking in those terms, I was still hiding an even more outrageous secret from Larilura.
When we get home, I’ll have to tell her I’m from another world too. The timing and atmosphere before and after rescuing Tirsi had been too chaotic, so I had kept putting it off. But once we returned to our love nest, the situation would be different.
I hope she doesn’t get upset or angry that I kept it secret only from her.
With that thought, I closed my eyes and focused.
—Shuuuuuur.
I searched for the mana flowing inside my body. Finding it itself was ridiculously easy. Understanding its level was the hard part.
How sturdy does the mana catheter need to be to release aura?
My face naturally twisted into a frown. I had grasped the trick to handling aura, but using it recklessly could end in disaster. The mana-catheter was still an organ based on my physical body. Overworking it beyond what my body allowed would only lead to ruin. If I ended up with something like muscle rupture or rhabdomyolysis and became a mana eunuch, that would be no small matter.
Confirming my current level is the top priority.
Even as I racked my brain, sensing the mana-catheter proved insanely difficult. No matter how hard I concentrated, I could only tell whether it existed or not. It was like trying to locate the exact position of blood vessels inside your own body. You could feel your pulse by pressing on your wrist or chest, but you had no idea exactly how or where your blood was flowing.
Fuck. The summit is right there but I can’t climb it? This is bullshit.
I frowned with my eyes still closed, then calmed myself. No need to rush. Someone who can’t even run has no business trying to fly.
Once I confirm that using aura for a full-body siopao won’t fuck me up, the rest will just be a matter of time. It wasn’t like I had an immediate enemy to fight with aura, so what was the point of getting all worked up alone? The enlightenment I gained while treating Primor had already been a lucky coincidence. Wanting more would be pure greed. Whining that five dollars you found on the street wasn’t enough was just pathetic.
A good little citizen of the New Country should know how to be grateful for the luck they’ve been given. Even I had to admit that was a good thought. Strangely, just changing my mindset made me feel much more at ease. I should write that down in my autobiography later.
“Hiihing, heung, pruhing─. (I’m hungry as fuck─.)”
—Clip-clop, clip-clop.
The chaebol carriage had insane suspension, so we could rest comfortably even while racing down unpaved roads.
The Armaals family territory was called Etur Lasna. If one wanted to be precise, this chaebol family had carved a massive chunk of land from the emperor himself. They supposedly owned several granaries and major cities under their jurisdiction. Land rich bastards—I was honestly jealous enough to feel sick.
Etur Lasna was the location of Cornelius’s mansion among those holdings, and it was a large city with a sizable population.
“Is some festival taking place?”
“It is not a festival. It is a funeral.”
I asked the knight commander outside the carriage a pointless question and immediately had to shut my mouth. Right, fuck. They said Primor’s husband’s funeral was still going on. But it still wasn’t over?
The knight commander, clad in full plate mail, must have noticed my confusion.
“The funeral itself has concluded, as have the formal proceedings. The citizens are simply praying for the young master who has departed for Elysium.”
“I see.”
I wondered if they were being forced to mourn. Slightly suspicious, I stole glances at the citizens’ expressions through the carriage window. Was this some unique Romanian custom for sending off the dead? Rather than looking sad, they were smiling as they walked about. Their clothing, however, was uniformly white. At least it didn’t seem like they were being forced to mourn the lord’s son’s death. It was proof that even that domestic-violence-optimized old man governed with more benevolence than I had expected.
More than anything, I felt relieved that someone like him probably wouldn’t skim my compensation.
“It seems the citizens’ sincere hearts are reaching us. I can easily imagine what kind of person the young master was.”
“Thank you. The young master must surely be rejoicing from above.”
I spoke appropriately to smooth over my earlier blunder about a festival. The knight commander, with whom I had become acquainted over the past few days, answered with what seemed like a smile. I say “seemed” because the man had barely removed his helmet even once during those days.
Shiny as hell. I gave his armor a bitter smile. As I said before, iron armor was unpopular in this world because it couldn’t receive mana buffs. That was why I had been so obsessed with giant leather. Yet the knight commander of a senatorial family was wearing metal armor? It had to be solid mithril. It felt like looking at a sports car made of pure gold. Fuck. Meanwhile, all I had was a weapon and a couple of rings made from the stuff.
A warrior who has at minimum surpassed the mithril class, wearing mithril armor. Shit. If my true ability got exposed here, forget compensation—wouldn’t the talk of sponsorship disappear entirely? This was an old man who employed warriors of that caliber. If I were judged purely on personal ability, even reaching platinum was questionable. If it came out that my aura was a bluff, my evaluation would plummet like Bitcoin.
Because of that thought, even when we arrived at the mansion and I was summoned by the old man, I kept my mind sharp.
“Come in.”
Cornelius sat in what looked like an office chair and gestured. Was this his study? I sat on the plush sofa as he indicated. The sofa was so soft it rivaled Veronica’s lap. The pinnacle of human technology, indeed.
“I called you because I wished to speak with you. I hope you are not uncomfortable?”
“How could I be?”
He called me to pay up. There was no reason to refuse. When I smiled politely, Cornelius smiled back. What followed was tedious small talk with him.
—Shall we hold a welcome party? Will everyone be able to attend?
—Our chef’s skills are quite excellent. If you have any dietary preferences, feel free to tell me. I will have them prepared in advance.
—I heard you are a master’s degree holder in archaeology. Which university did you attend?
It felt like a job interview. The details were boring, so I will omit them.
“I understand.”
Perhaps he approved of the scholarly etiquette I had learned at university. The old man finished the preliminary warming-up without once frowning.
“Although it was not intentional, I too have thoughts regarding the unpleasant misunderstanding from a few days ago.”
—Jingle jingle.
When Cornelius shook a handbell, an elderly butler brought over an expensive-looking chest.
“Failing to repay the benefactor of my daughter-in-law and grandchild would be tarnishing the name of a great Romanian noble.”
I held back my laughter at his solemn face. This stiff-necked old man refused to apologize until the very end. That’s aristocratic, I suppose. Beating an innocent person had been neatly packaged as an “unpleasant misunderstanding.” This reward was ultimately only for saving Primor—it did not include the fact that I had avenged his son. Of course he had probably added extra value to make up for his own wrongdoing, but the way he slipped out of admitting fault like a slippery eel was impressive. Fuck. A senatorial old fox seasoned by politics was the same anywhere.
Well, the words of apology aren’t what matter anyway. The corporate-apology tone that treated customers like trash was a bit infuriating, but it was too early to draw conclusions. I hadn’t seen what he was offering as compensation yet. Sincerity reveals itself more in one action than a hundred words.
“I have pondered deeply over a gift suitable for you.”
—Click.
As if waiting for the old man’s words, the butler—who looked at least three times my age—opened the box. Inside lay a badge embossed with a blue laurel wreath that looked like it could summon a storm through time and space. It was about the size of a palm.
“Until the day your demonstrated goodwill is fully repaid, Armaals shall assist you in every single one of your actions as your patron.”
“…Assist me, you say?”
I spoke while maintaining as calm an expression as possible. My legs hidden beneath the table were trembling. Not from fear, but from the same sensation as watching lottery numbers line up perfectly.
Fuck… Is this the family crest? I swallowed hard without showing it. Normally, when nobles sponsored scholars or adventurers, they did not hand over something like this. If I used this crest to do anything, the responsibility would fall on the Armaals family. The fact that they were giving it to me anyway meant… could it be?
“I shall speak plainly.”
Cornelius waved his hand, dismissing all the servants. Once only the knight commander remained in the room, he interlaced his fingers, leaned back in his chair, and spoke.
“If something fucked up happens, use my name. I’ll cover for you as much as I reasonably can.”
Whoa, holy shit!! This hyung-nim is insanely cool!! Everyone in the neighborhood!! I didn’t recognize a real one when I saw him!!