I Heard Something Unpleasant Happened
Clomp— clomp—
Leon stepped out after finishing his spar with Esabel, the conversation with her still turning over in his mind.
Vice Chairman of the Noble Assembly?
Of course Leon was no mindless fool drifting through life. He had already gathered the basic information on those nobles who had come calling that day. He knew full well that they harbored a thick, lingering malice and hostility toward him.
So what?
Count Wendell was the Vice Chairman of the Noble Assembly?
In that case…
“….”
Count Wendell kept fiddling with his hair. The look Viscount Tuilln had worn last time flashed through his mind.
That useless bastard.
Unable even to control his emotions, eyes blinded by rage—no wonder the man had spent his entire life stuck in mediocrity.
Leon Crusif.
Yes, the boy was definitely someone who needed killing, a target for retribution.
But—
Without a sure method, I cannot move.
Wendell himself suspected that parts of Leon’s testimony had been false. Yet what of it?
The atmosphere at the time had already been completely swept up by the boy, and it was also true that Wendell’s own son had laid hands on someone he should never have touched.
Once the matter was settled, raising a protest on flimsy grounds was the act of a fool. Exactly the sort of thing Viscount Tuilln would do.
“Hah.”
Count Wendell pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He glared toward the door and spat another silent curse.
Idiot. Half-wit.
No matter how he turned it over, Viscount Tuilln remained thoroughly distasteful.
If you’re going to pick a fight with someone, shouldn’t you at least do the bare minimum of research first?
The man had lived his whole life acting purely on temper, and it showed—he lacked even basic common sense.
Knowing one’s enemy was the first principle of every attack.
Had Tuilln known even a scrap of information about Leon Crusif, he never would have spewed garbage about crushing the boy on the spot.
First of all—
His personal combat strength. Far beyond the level of a first-year cadet, they said.
The tenth floor of the Tower of Illusions, a demon contractor, the Siruntel Demonic Realm, Pribil, the monster horde…
In a single semester the boy had resolved one major incident after another.
Well, of course Wendell—who poured his entire being into tracking trends—might know every detail of such affairs.
But—
Even looking only at the first-semester evaluations, anyone could tell the boy was exceptional.
The first-semester comprehensive evaluations at Elprime Academy, where the eyes of the entire empire had been fixed. Events of that scale ought to be common knowledge.
Leon Crusif’s near-berserk performance back then had been an enormous topic of conversation.
From the start he was the top student of Elprime Academy, the gathering place of the empire’s finest talents.
Which is why ordinary “blades” will have a hard time harming him.
Therefore the night guests Wendell so enjoyed sending to his political enemies—run-of-the-mill assassins and fixers—would struggle even to touch a single hair on the boy’s head.
Moreover, the place he was staying was the Asonia household. Several monsters of Master-level martial artists were stationed there. The wandering knight Limon Crusif was no different.
In cases like this Wendell usually shifted his attention to the target’s close associates.
The two girls who stuck to the boy’s side could be considered particularly close associates.
The problem was—
Birds of a feather flock together, so none of them are easy.
Of the two, the one named Aria was at least of common birth, but—
Top of the magic department. A once-in-a-generation genius.
Her looks were already hard to believe, and her magical talent was outstanding on top of that. She was even said to have a particular gift for the notoriously difficult field of combat magic.
The two stars of Elprime right now were Leon and Aria. Both were peerless geniuses.
Then what of the remaining girl?
…The young lady of Helbridge.
He had known the moment he saw those violet eyes and hair. She was the treasured jewel of the Helbridge ducal house.
And she and Leon were extremely close. Practically dating, from what he heard.
That created yet another problem—the very reason Wendell was now waiting tensely in the reception room.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of knocking rang out. Wendell reflexively changed his expression, burying his gaze and emotions deep.
“My lord, a guest has arri—”
“Count, I shall enter.”
Bang!
Cutting off the butler’s words, the door opened before any invitation to come in had been given.
A vigorous man strode inside with long steps. For an instant the room felt narrow, so imposing was his frame.
“You have come.”
Wearing his mask, Wendell rose at once from his seat and bowed his head.
“Chairman.”
“Indeed.”
The man offered a refreshing smile.
“I heard something unpleasant happened recently.”
He was the current Chairman of the Noble Assembly, and—
the father of Celia Helbridge, who stuck so closely to Leon.
The head of the Helbridge ducal house, Erbion Helbridge.
A peaceful afternoon, sunlight filtering through feather-soft clouds.
On the second-floor balcony of a café that commanded a full view of the capital’s second district, Erbion climbed the stairs with a deliberately solemn expression.
“Dad, over here.”
Celia, seated at a table off to one side, waved at him while noisily sucking on an apple smoothie.
“How did it go?”
The question flew at him before he had even fully sat down.
“…Daughter, is that how you greet someone?”
“You worked hard, Dad. So how did it go?”
Celia blinked and asked again.
Erbion let out a sigh.
“How do you think it went? I said everything that needed saying, of course.”
“Then there won’t be any trouble for Leon… later, right?”
“….”
Erbion’s facial muscles twitched for a moment. He answered with deliberate peevishness.
“Who knows. When has the world ever gone according to one’s wishes? And Vice Chairman Wendell is hardly an easy man to deal with.”
Celia’s face crumpled into a pout, and Erbion hastily added,
“Well, even so, that fellow will have a hard time pulling any grand scheme, so don’t worry. You’ll only be in the capital until the vacation ends, won’t you?”
“I knew it.”
Color returned to Celia’s face.
At that, sullen voices burst out one after another from the side.
“I ought to have a proper, thorough sparring session with little brother Leon soon.”
“I would like to join as well.”
“Same here, elder brothers.”
Aqua, Lotea, and Prua—the three brothers of the Helbridge family. All of them were chewing their straws with clear dissatisfaction.
Erbion agreed with his sons.
“Ahem, a fine idea. I too should soon pay a visit as a senior and offer some instruction…”
Celia narrowed her eyes, and the men’s mouths snapped shut.
“Don’t go bothering Leon just because you’re bored. You too, brothers.”
“Aigoo, O Merteon.”
Prua sighed and called upon the god of order.
Five heads of purple hair gathered around a single table drew a steady stream of stares from the other patrons.
The reason the Helbridge family had gathered in the capital like this was the upcoming banquet celebrating the Emperor’s birthday.
The Emperor’s Birthday Banquet was regarded as the foremost social event and festival of imperial noble society. Arriving a full week early was nothing unusual.
Since Erbion was coming on account of Leon’s matter, they had all come along together.
At any rate—
While the Helbridge family was conversing,
“So, Celia. When do you plan to hold the engagement ceremony?”
Aqua asked with a serious air. In front of him sat a mangled straw and a coffee whose ice had long since melted.
The others sent curious looks as well.
“Uh… engagement ceremony?”
Celia looked flustered.
“Yes. Or are you going straight to the wedding?”
“Come now, elder brother. That’s far too early. Even if Celia is of age, she should at least be twenty. And both of them are martial artists—they still have long lives ahead.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Well…”
Celia scratched the bridge of her nose and spoke awkwardly.
“You’re already talking about that? We aren’t even dating yet.”
“…?”
The atmosphere at the table turned icy in an instant.
Soon a roar of mana erupted.
“Kyaaah! Everyone calm down, calm down!”
It took five full minutes for the excitement to subside.
“Hooo… Does that even make sense? You’re not even dating yet?”
The brothers kept flexing their hands. Prua called a waiter and ordered another round of cold drinks for everyone.
“…Then who exactly did I come all this way for? No—helping one’s benefactor is still the right thing to do… Haa, even so…”
Erbion began to feel a slight sense of disillusionment.
Of course he had helped not only because of Celia’s request but also because of the direct word Leon had given him just the other day. Still, he could not help feeling as though he had been struck on the back of the head.
“This is not normal. What exactly is lacking about you? Could it be that little brother’s tastes are a bit… unique? It happens often enough.”
Lotea was deadly serious.
“What are you talking about? It’s nothing like that.”
Celia narrowed her brows slightly. She carefully chose her words.
“Mm, just… beyond simply being dense, his way of thinking is a little different.”
“Hmm?”
“Like… how should I put it… as if the very idea that a woman might be interested in him never even occurs to him?”
“….”
Everyone’s expressions turned peculiar.
Whoosh— tat-tat-tat!
“Damn it.”
In the middle of dagger training at the practice grounds, Leon dug a finger into his ear.
“Who’s talking shit about me? Why does my ear keep itching?”