Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Laying the Preparatory Pieces for the Future (2)
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Surprisingly, the minutes detailed exactly what Abel had said during the meeting, laid out clearly.
The part where he bombarded the lords in the latter half of the meeting was somewhat condensed, but still.
"What is this......"
Having finished reading the minutes, Diego felt like the world had turned upside down.
"Are there two Abel Kindriels that I know? Homonyms?"
The content was so shocking that such thoughts crossed his mind.
He had always thought his son was good at talking—albeit in a bad way—and had a talent for turning people's insides out.
"But to do all this in his first meeting?"
The unresolved questions were cleared up a few hours later when a servant delivered the news.
"Abel is absent?"
Diego, who had been eating his solitary dinner without attendants, looked up.
"What do you mean? Why did only Philip and Yonas come?"
The servant bowed politely.
"I don't know the details either. For now, I've had the two of them shown inside."
"Tell them to come in right away."
After a short wait, Philip and Yonas entered the dining room, having changed into cleaner clothes.
"-!"
Diego's mouth fell open the moment he saw them.
"Philip, what's with that complexion? You look half-dead."
"......My apologies."
Philip bowed his head quietly. Yonas beside him looked even worse.
"What's that on your forehead? Did you bump into something on the way?"
"......I fell off the bed while sleeping."
The answers were suspicious, but Diego decided to let it slide for now. There was something more pressing he wanted to know.
"Where's Abel?"
At Diego's question, Philip and Yonas exchanged glances.
A silent battle of wills ensued, and the loser, Philip, fumbled something out from his pocket.
"Young Master Abel left this letter......"
Diego snatched the letter Philip offered. He roughly tore open the envelope and checked the contents.
"......"
Diego's expression changed by the second as he read.
Snap.
He folded the letter with a loud sound and glared at Philip and Yonas.
"Explain what this means."
Another silent staring contest, and once more the loser, Philip, stammered open his mouth.
"Well, the truth is......"
The summarized story, conveniently omitting the part about being captured by bandits, was conveyed to Diego.
"No, so then......"
After hearing the full tale, Diego doubted his own ears.
"The outcome of this meeting was really Abel's doing?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Huh, well."
To think this good-for-nothing son, who had only ever caused him grief his whole life, had such talent?
It was utterly unbelievable.
Diego shook his head and unfolded the letter again. He confirmed that its contents matched the official documents perfectly.
"......So this is real?"
When Abel had stolen the seal and snuck off to the capital, Diego had been furious to the tips of his hair.
But now that the unexpected results were right before his eyes, he felt his frozen heart thawing just a bit.
"Ahem, ahem. This kid, really."
Moreover, the postscript at the bottom of the letter lifted his mood even more.
[P.S. Teasing Lord Carlo was quite fun.]
The fact that it gave that annoying Carlo a piece of his mind was immensely satisfying.
It seemed he would need to have a detailed talk with Abel once he returned.
"So, when is Abel coming back?"
At Diego's question, Philip wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I don't know the details either. The young master didn't say."
"Then what about the lord's seal?"
Philip's face drained of color, and Yonas straightened up in surprise.
"......You don't mean?"
Diego's face hardened.
"I'm sorry, my lord......"
Philip squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head.
Crack!
The fork in Diego's hand snapped in two.
"Abel, that damned kid......"
A deep, heavy sigh poured out from Diego over the table.
❖ ❖ ❖
And now. In my office on the top floor of the Victoria Merchant Group building.
"Things are going well."
I quickly skimmed through the mountain of documents and approved them.
They were papers for the Victoria Merchant Group's brilliant debut. Lavish with top-grade materials and top-grade gems.
Elice, standing beside me, stuck out her tongue at my inhuman processing speed.
"Watching you work is always so......"
"Amazing, right? I know."
She smiled broadly at my confident reply.
Ever since Crudelle's illness had been cured, her smiles had noticeably increased. And whenever she smiled, people would stare at her in a daze.
"You seem pretty popular."
"......No way. You must be mistaken."
Elice waved her hands frantically, her face flushing pink.
It wasn't unfounded—rumors frequently came of high-ranking nobles she met for business falling for her and confessing.
Thanks to that, Dexter and William had to keep a sharp eye on her surroundings every day.
"Looks like the urgent ones are taken care of."
I stamped the last document with a thud and set it down. Elice picked up the papers and casually remarked.
"Everyone was buzzing about yesterday's events."
"What happened?"
Pretending not to know, I asked back, and Elice chuckled as if she couldn't help it.
"You're the one who spent the entire afternoon with Princess Violet—how could I not know?"
Elice's fingers deftly sorted and organized the documents.
"A good number of the high nobles who participated in yesterday's secret auction have been reported to Princess Violet."
"Hm."
"And Baroness Barnes was among them, they say......"
Elice smiled chillingly.
"My father will be quite busy for a while."
Her voice was ice-cold as she pronounced "my father."
"They're also investigating who hosted that auction, so the imperial army is scurrying all over the place."
"Oh ho."
"The Mare Guild has it rough too. A greater disaster is about to strike soon."
"You're not exactly looking sympathetic."
Even at my pointing it out, Elice's face showed no hint of remorse.
"Even if I cut off all their limbs and lop off their heads, it wouldn't be enough for me."
Her beautiful face, restored to its youth, gleamed with cold ruthlessness. Soon, Elice composed herself and said quietly.
"You should check the inner room."
"Hm."
I nodded and left the office. In front of one of the rooms lining the corridor, Jack was pacing around.
"Master!"
Jack made a miserable face upon spotting me.
"What are you doing?"
"I brought food, but they won't open the door."
On the tray Jack held were vegetable soup, soft bread, and such.
"Give it here."
I took the tray and knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
"It's me."
Jack watched the door anxiously. After a brief moment,
"Come in."
Ecarot's small voice came through.
"Whoa......"
Betrayal flashed across Jack's face.
"He wouldn't answer when I called over ten times!"
"You and I are not the same."
I flicked Jack's forehead lightly and gestured.
"Good job. Go on now."
"Yees."
Jack pouted and turned away. Seeing him scamper toward the office, he was probably off to complain to Elice.
Click.
I turned the knob and entered the room.
It was furnished with a fluffy bed, sofa, and such, with a thick rug on the floor.
But Ecarot was nowhere to be seen among them.
Ecarot was crouched on the hard floor. His small, slender back twitched slightly, and the boy's sullen face turned this way.
"......You're here."
His tone couldn't fully hide his sulkiness.
"Are you mad?"
I chuckled and approached Ecarot. He whipped his head away and retorted.
"No."
"You're mad, aren't you?"
"......You've kept me locked in here since last night."
"Locked up? Did I lock the door from outside, starve you, or dress you in rags?"
As I pointed out each detail, Ecarot turned into a mute soaked in syrup.
"If you wanted to leave, you could have. You just didn't try."
"......"
"And it wasn't locking you up—it was letting you rest. Am I wrong?"
"......No, you're right."
Ecarot finally stopped sulking and turned back toward me.
"Eat up. I had them prepare something good for your body."
But even seeing the food I offered, he didn't dive right in. Despite having fasted since yesterday, he must have been starving.
'So suspicious.'
I set the tray down on the floor entirely. I tore off a piece of bread and put it in my mouth, then took a sip of soup.
"There, happy? No poison or anything weird."
"-!"
At my action, Ecarot's eyes widened. Then his cheeks flushed slightly.
"......I'm sorry."
"Nah, being suspicious is a good habit."
It was natural for suspicion of food to take root after being dragged to a slave market.
I chuckled and nudged the tray.
"Now that you've checked, eat up."
Only then did Ecarot pounce on the tray. And he literally inhaled the food.
"......You'll choke."
To the point that even I, watching, felt flustered.
'Did I eat like that too?'
It was a reasonable doubt, wondering if I had been like that back in the days starved because of Requiem.
Nom nom, smack.
In clean clothes fitting his frame, Ecarot looked markedly different from yesterday.
He even exuded a nobility as if raised in a noble house from birth.
Gulp gulp.
If not for that demon-possessed eating frenzy.
I waited silently until Ecarot had filled his belly. People always soften up once they're full.
Clack.
Finally, Ecarot set down the plate he'd licked clean. He glanced at the spotless dish and spoke.
"All done? Then go."
"Where to?"
"Where you'll be staying from now on."
Ecarot stood awkwardly.
"Not here?"
"Nope."
I grinned and snapped my fingers.
"You need to go somewhere to bloom your talent."
To the Mage's Tower, the only residence for mages in the empire.
❖ ❖ ❖
"I'm a mage?"
On the way in the carriage, Ecarot asked over and over.
"Yeah."
I nodded leisurely.
"Didn't you feel it yesterday? The air around you rushing in."
"Oh, that."
Ecarot scrunched up his face and muttered.
"......It's not happening now. I don't feel anything."
"I don't know exactly either. Never experienced it."
"Then how do you know?"
"Heard about it."
Ecarot squirmed with curiosity, but quieted down at a single glance from me.
"You'll find out soon enough if you wait a bit."
"Yes."
After that, Ecarot sat still. His silence suggested he was trying to summon that power again on his own.
'It'll be tough.'
Yesterday's event was just an unconscious reaction spurred by intense emotions—like a stab.
Most people don't even realize they have it.
'He'll learn quick. The original story praised him as a genius.'
With proper training, his talent blooming was only a matter of time.
The issue was whether the Mage's Tower—short for Mage Tower—would let him in easily......
"We've arrived."
The carriage reached its destination. Ecarot got out and tilted his head.
"This isn't...... a tower?"
As he said, the Mage's Tower was an utterly ordinary single-story building.
"Well, calling it the mage's house or mage's dorm would be weird, right?"
I chuckled and beckoned him.
"Come on."
"Yes!"
At the guard post in front of the building sat a man who looked like a guard.
Ecarot's eyes sparkled.
"Is that guy a mage too?"
"Nah, just a regular person."
"A non-mage works here?"
"That's his only job. Not much to do anyway."
Whispering, we approached the guard. He yawned boredly and looked at me.
"Who are you? What's the purpose of your visit?"
Mage groups are inherently closed off, and most have prickly, sensitive personalities. They shunned visitors, noble or not.
The way to pry open their sturdy gates was surprisingly simple.
"Food delivery."
Jingle jangle, I shook the basket I was carrying.
'Mages can't resist food.'
I smirked inwardly.