Newman (3)
The moment the real Kuz Newman stepped through the door, the Newman family's "dog" beat a hasty retreat. One glance at the face of a man who, mere seconds ago, had been snarling with the veins standing out on his neck—as if that person had never existed—drew a sigh of admiration out of me before I could help it.
So this is what people from the underworld are like.
If it weren't for the Mesugaki skill, my awe would have shown plain on my face.
But the Mesugaki skill permitted me no such lapse. I had to remain haughty at all times—aloof, insolent, dripping with arrogance.
Crossing his legs, Kuz Newman approached me as I sat there with my brow furrowed, and bowed his head with perfect courtesy.
"Lady Aln. To think you saw through this old man's modest little jest. Truly worthy of the blood of House Aln."
'It was nothing, really. How flattering of you to say.'
"Did you think I couldn't see through even this much? A loser like you can only have loser thoughts, after all~?"
The moment the word "flattering" left my mouth, the distortion kicked into high gear. At this point I didn't even register it anymore. I'd been through it so many times that my only reaction was a weary ah, this brat's acting up again.
Besides, Grandpa had said that if his provocations stirred up trouble, all the better—so there was no problem here at all.
Mesugaki skill! Show me what you can really do today! Don't you want to watch that smug man over there turn red and start trembling with rage?
...No, wait, that's probably not a good idea. Let's not overdo it. Not if he decides to dig up every dirty trick in the book to bring me down.
"Ah, my apologies. This old man has something of a playful streak."
Undeterred by my tirade, Kuz Newman chuckled good-naturedly, strolled forward, and settled into the seat where the Newman family's "dog" had been sitting before. Then he produced a small jewelry box from inside his coat and flipped the lid open.
Inside lay, without question, the Burrow Family's Necklace.
The problem was that I had no way of telling whether the thing was genuine or not. Kuz Newman was exactly the kind of formidable man who might well have prepared a replica in advance and opened with a psychological game.
Alright. Work your magic, Appraisal! You've never once pulled your weight, so the least you can do is deliver now!
[Unidentified Necklace]
[A mysterious necklace studded with numerous gems.]
I'm sorry. I really haven't leveled you up enough, have I?
I should have been appraising every random thing I came across to grind your proficiency, but I got so wrapped up in building my combat skills that I forgot all about you. From now on, I'll take better care of you. Still—good work this time.
On the surface, it looked as though the Appraisal skill had accomplished absolutely nothing. In truth, it had done its job perfectly.
Under normal circumstances, such a seemingly precious necklace would earn some flattering descriptor from the skill—an expensive-looking necklace, or the like. But look closely. The skill had appended no qualifier about the necklace being expensive or rare. Instead, it had declared it unidentifiable.
Which was tantamount to proof that some hidden story clung to that necklace. A story Kuz Newman didn't know—so even if he had replicated it, he could never have reproduced what lay concealed within.
That thing was, without question, the genuine article.
"Before we begin negotiations, allow me to show you the goods. This is the item Lady Aln requested."
'So it is.'
"I see you don't stoop to fraud in matters like this. I confess I had my doubts—you seemed like such a scheming sort."
When I gave a small nod, Kuz Newman arched one eyebrow ever so slightly. It was a change so subtle it would escape most people's notice, but on a man who maintained perfect composure at all times, that flicker of unease stood out like a beacon.
"I'm grateful for your trust. If it isn't too forward of me—might I be permitted to see the item I desire as well?"
In answer to Kuz Newman's question, I removed the cross pendant hanging at my neck and handed it over.
The necklace proving that Agra's Curse had been lifted. To any casual observer it looked like an ordinary cross, but sealed within it were Armadi's divinity and blessing. Since it was an item issued only after verification by the Church, there could be no forgery. Its plain design meant ordinary people paid it no mind—but Kuz Newman was a different story. A man who had wandered the land searching for someone capable of lifting Agra's Curse could hardly fail to recognize it.
My expectation turned to certainty within moments.
"Confirmed. This is unmistakably a genuine article issued by the Church."
Now, in that man's head, a dozen questions are surely blooming.
How in the world did she lift Agra's Curse? Does she still possess the means? And even if she does—could she do it again?
Your task from here is simple, child. Dangle it before him. Tease. Draw out what you want, and nothing more. That is all.
Grandpa~ you're such a comfort!
So all that's left is to walk away with what I want, right?
I'd considered plenty of options. Kuz Newman wielded considerable power in the underworld—if I made demands of a man like him, I could extract nearly anything.
Back when Grandpa told me to think long and hard about what to squeeze out of this deal, I mulled it over for ages. Honestly, I don't think I'd agonized that deeply over anything since the day I first transmigrated into Lucy.
But the more I thought, the hazier the options became. There was nothing worth replacing in my gear. Grandpa was something I'd carry with me to the grave. I'd only just switched to a new shield, so there was no reason to change it. My armor was a gift from Forsell—I had no desire to part with it.
What else was there?
Squeezing out secret family techniques from the Newman house? Possible, maybe, but they were all thief-class skills utterly useless to me. What point was there in the girl eating hits at the front of the party learning rogue tricks? I turned over one option after another, and every reward was either decent or decidedly mediocre. There were things worth taking, sure, but they all felt underwhelming for the crime of extorting the entire Newman family.
So, as I racked my brain for maximum efficiency, I arrived at a simple conclusion: if asking for things one by one was too ambiguous, why not just demand the whole prize?
In the game, there was an item you could only obtain by clearing every single questline connected to the Newman family. So that was what I'd ask for.
The Seal of the Crow. A mark granted only to the truest benefactors of House Newman. An item granting unrestricted access to the entire information and asset network the Newman family commanded. I would tell him to put it in my hand.
I doubted Mr. Kuz would nod along eagerly when I demanded it. But so what? What was he going to do about it, Kuz Newman? The man who had run himself ragged trying to save his own son couldn't possibly bear to watch a countdown ticking down that son's remaining lifespan.
So let's negotiate. And if it truly falls apart, I can always settle for a few reasonably priced trinkets instead.
I fastened the necklace Kuz Newman handed back to me around my neck and smiled. He smiled right along with me.
'Shall we begin the negotiation, then?'
"Come now, head of the scrub family. Let's talk business, shall we?"
Remarkable. Far more remarkable than I'd imagined.
That was the thought Kuz Newman had, upon coming face to face with Lucy Aln for the very first time.
When meeting a new trading partner for the first time, sending in a stand-in before appearing himself was one of Kuz Newman's habits. For a man who did business in the underworld, gauging the sharpness of the other party's eye was a matter of survival.
And Lucy Aln had bulldozed straight through his little test. Despite never having laid eyes on Kuz Newman in her life, she had taken one look at the impostor and known instantly that he was not the man himself.
Even that much, Kuz had allowed as possible. Lucy Aln appeared to command an information network of respectable reach. She might simply have heard word of the games Kuz liked to play.
But what came next was different.
Lucy Aln had declared the necklace Kuz produced from his coat to be genuine—swiftly, confidently, from across the room. As if it went without saying. The sheer audacity of it. Did the girl not grasp, even slightly, that it could have been a replica?
A bluff?
No. It was no bluff. Had she been bluffing, she would at least have pretended to examine it.
Lucy Aln, still years shy of adulthood, possessed an eye that keen. The intellect to take first place in the Soul Academy entrance examination. The martial force to blast Frey Kent apart head-on. Dungeon-clearing prowess that outright overwhelmed seasoned veterans of the trade. And on top of all that, an appraiser's eye sharper than most of the underworld's own?
Impossible. What was this Lucy Aln—had she been beloved by God herself?
...Which, come to think of it, wasn't far from the truth. For a girl who, barely a year ago, had been called the disgrace of House Aln to rise this high, nothing short of divine favor could explain it.
Kuz Newman turned the thought over in his mind, and admiration gave way to something firmer: conviction.
The necklace Lucy Aln had shown him moments ago had been real. She had genuinely lifted Agra's Curse before. She was already a person who counted an evil god among her enemies.
How had this young, insolent, insufferably arrogant child come to possess the means to undo Agra's Curse? Quite simply—because the gods loved her.
What anxieties, what struggles lay beneath that facade, Kuz neither knew nor cared. What mattered to him was only this: the likelihood that she still held the means was very high indeed.
"I know perfectly well what the head of the scrub family wants to offer, so allow me to state what I want instead."
"Please."
What will she ask for, this arrogant, insolent child? A child who should by no rights have earned the gods' love, yet has it all the same. Weapons? Gems? Magic? I confess I'm curious—just how well does she understand her own worth?
"I want the Seal of the Crow."
But what came tumbling out of that mouth soared far beyond anything Kuz had imagined.
The Seal of the Crow.
Ha. How does this girl know of it? That should be a secret known to none outside the Newman family. Is her information network truly that formidable? Or is the god at her back whispering revelations into her ear? I don't know. I don't know—and yet, perversely, my trust in her only deepens. Because it makes me think she truly is extraordinary. Because that arrogance of hers reads less like a child's posturing and more like absolute confidence in what she carries.
Good. Good. I like it. You said we should negotiate, didn't you? Very well. Let us negotiate.
Though it will not be a negotiation to shrink your reward. That is how it would have gone with anyone else. With you, it is different.
Lucy Aln. A monster born with overwhelming talent into a house of towering knights. I have seen the gleam of uncut gemstone in you. Before long, you will be one who commands the continent. You will hang in the heavens as a blinding, dominant star, and your light will reshape the world. A genius as insolent as you could never content herself with a life buried in her family's estates, guarding the kingdom, the way Benedict Aln does.
And if I hold a connection to you when that day comes, the returns will be immense.
So in this negotiation, I will give you the Seal of the Crow. But in exchange, I shall cast the Newman family's entire web of connections into your lap as well.
"Ho. The Seal of the Crow, is it?"
Yes. Let the negotiation begin.
"That's right, Lord Scrub. You seemed young enough, but going deaf already? Judging by that receding hairline, old age must be catching up with you at quite a clip. How pitiful~"
......
The prospect of having to keep absorbing that godforsaken manner of speech was, he had to admit, a little dizzying.