The Cost of a Single Meal
Unlike Kain, who wasn't particularly picky but favored salty, spicy dishes that delivered a strong kick, Arina preferred mild and delicate flavors. To suit her tastes, Pride had selected a high-end shabu-shabu restaurant near the Mendelstone Indoor Gymnasium. Cabbage and mushrooms thoroughly steeped in the bubbling broth, along with various vegetables and beautifully marbled meat, melted on the tongue the instant they entered the mouth.
"Mmm! This is delicious!"
It was a restaurant that satisfied even Marily, who had grown so accustomed to gourmet cuisine that she now craved street food or intensely stimulating flavors. No one could fault the other dishes, but the chef's shabu-shabu skills rivaled those of a royal cook.
"Hey! Togun! Stop stuffing yourself with nothing but meat and eat some vegetables! I'm running out over here!"
After savoring the meal for a while, Marily noticed the meat had dwindled far more than before and glared at the culprit.
"Don't nag me about how I eat."
Jeon placed more meat onto Togun's plate—he had flinched and frozen mid-chopstick at Marily's outburst—then shot her a frosty look.
"How many pieces do you snatch while I'm eating just one?"
"Don't be so stingy, Princess. We can always order more."
With that, Jeon called over a waiter and ordered additional meat to refill the table. Perhaps it was because Marily had brought such a large group; the meat and vegetables were vanishing at an alarming rate.
"A-ahaha."
And at the same time, Professor Karlsen's future was vanishing just as quickly.
It had only been ten minutes since he'd joyfully stepped into one of the restaurants from the list the Death King had personally sent Arina. In that short span, how many servings had they devoured? His sharp mind as a 7-star dark mage automatically calculated the cost, and his consciousness began drifting further and further away.
Oh, Death King.
Yes, he finally understood. The Death King meant to kill him today—not physically, but socially. He planned to drain his bank account dry and bury him under a mountain of debt.
If that is your will...
Then he would gladly embrace that death. A noble sacrifice for his god. Transparent tears streamed down Professor Karlsen's face as he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to look at the table any longer. He despaired at the certainty that his diet would consist solely of plain hot cup ramen for the foreseeable future.
"Hm?"
Jealousy had been inwardly cackling at the grief-stricken professor when a man suddenly slid into the seat beside him. He frowned.
"Oh my~ A knight should stay close to the princess, you know~"
Jealousy flashed a sweet smile at the approaching man—Lucian Filodein—using Clara's distinctive nasal tone. But when the man simply stared without replying, Jealousy spoke again.
"Or~ are you perhaps trying to seduce me~?"
"Drop the act. We already know each other."
"......"
Jealousy's eyes narrowed to slits. He scanned the surroundings. A thin barrier of mana had been erected around them. The precision of the mana control was impressive; even for a 7-star mage, it was top-tier. Arina, with her exceptional mana sensitivity, hadn't noticed a thing. The only ones likely to have picked up on Lucian's movements were probably Professor Karlsen, another 7-star dark mage, or the Master himself.
"What does a fancy royal wizard want with a lowly underworld grunt?"
The corners of his eyes curved gently. His lips moved with soft grace. Yet the words that flowed from Jealousy's mouth were utterly at odds with that expression, creating a bizarre, awkward mismatch like a badly dubbed foreign film. Was he maintaining the performance even now, just in case someone glanced their way?
Seeing Jealousy silently press him with that sweetly smiling face, Lucian finally spoke.
"It's unexpected. Given your personality, I didn't think you'd show up here."
The way he flipped people off whenever no one was looking, or the cynical, lazy drawl of his current words—there was no need to analyze further. His true nature was obvious. He clearly despised bothersome social obligations and only mingled when infiltration required it. That made his presence here even more puzzling. If he wanted, he could have easily used Professor Frankhorn as an excuse to skip this dinner.
"Whether I come or not is none of your business."
The smiling face and the blunt, tossed-out words refused to match. Beyond those narrowed eyes, the pupils radiated thick killing intent and the metallic scent of blood with zero attempt to hide it. Lucian cut straight to the point.
"Do you know anything about what's going to happen here?"
Ah, so that's what he wanted to ask. Jealousy let out a soft chuckle. After seeing that Agni bastard yesterday, it made sense for his tension to be maxed out. If the guy wasn't an idiot, he'd have guessed something was coming.
"I don't."
Unfortunately for Lucian, Jealousy truly knew nothing about the matter. That damn Pride. Just like in the Vivaldi Territory, the bastard had stopped bothering to inform him or loop him in lately.
"He'll call if he needs me later."
Like in the Vivaldi Territory, if his involvement was required, a signal would have come the moment he sensed trouble. But Pride hadn't sent anything. That meant they had no need for his help this time. It was the silent equivalent of an order to focus on attending to the Master and the young lady.
"Stop wasting attention on pointless things and do your job properly. Or did you get some command from above?"
There probably wasn't one. Looking at the situation, Pride's handiwork was obvious. That perfectionist hated it when things slipped even slightly out of his control. Since he was driving the operation himself instead of moving indirectly like before, he'd clearly shut out every faction except the underworld. That Agni guy had probably shown up out of excessive worry and wasn't part of Pride's core plan.
What the hell is he plotting?
A scheme elaborate enough to make an 8-star mage come out of caution. Jealousy had no idea what he was preparing, but at this point he'd completely lost interest in that side of things.
I just need to watch over the Master.
There would probably be one restraint aimed at the Master, just like when Tugwi had come personally in the Vivaldi Territory. All Jealousy had to do was block it before it could harm the young lady.
This guy really has nothing better to do.
Unlike Jealousy, who carried such a critical mission, Lucian truly had nothing on his plate. Unlike Arina, Marily had no reason to be targeted by enemies. She might get caught in the crossfire, but that didn't concern Jealousy in the slightest. To him, the deaths of everyone in the Mendelssohn territory except the young lady would be nothing more than background noise.
"You just play around here until the news breaks and you find out what happened. It'll go down either today or the day after tomorrow at the latest."
As if the conversation was over, Jealousy lightly tapped his foot beneath the table. The mana barrier collapsed with perfect naturalness. Lucian's eyes flickered in brief confusion, and Jealousy answered in a gentle, lilting voice.
"I'm sorry~ The knight simply isn't my type~ I'll have to politely decline your confession~"
The maids' murmurs erupted the instant Jealousy finished speaking. The story would no doubt be wildly exaggerated and spread throughout the entire royal castle once they returned to the capital. Having taken his revenge for being bothered, Jealousy gave the stiff-faced Lucian a teasing sweet smile before turning toward the table where the Master and the young lady sat.
"It's delicious here."
"It should be."
There was no way Pride would have done a half-hearted investigation. The food had undoubtedly been chosen to perfectly match the little one's preferences.
"How did you know about this place? Have you been here before?"
"An acquaintance told me."
"You have acquaintances?"
"......"
Was that the part she found suspicious? As Kain stared at her silently, Arina stuck out her tongue with a playful grin, as if to say it was a joke.
"Still, I feel bad for Professor Karlsen. It looks pretty expensive at first glance."
The food was good, but the price made it hard to eat much. At Arina's quiet whisper, Kain popped a mushroom into his mouth as if the concern was beneath him.
"I've already paid."
"Pardon?"
"I paid. In advance."
The place was fully booked, they said this and that on the phone—so he'd thrown a massive sum at them beforehand just to avoid the hassle. The amount was enough to make jaws drop without any bargaining, so she had no reason to hesitate over a single piece of meat.
"Gasp!"
Karlsen, who had overheard the Death King's merciful benevolence by chance, bit down hard on his right fist. Tears of emotion poured down his face for an entirely different reason than before. For the cup ramen in his future... it seemed he could afford to include both noodles and soup packets after all.
"What? You already settled the bill? I was planning to pay everything at once when we left."
Marily, who had also been eavesdropping like Karlsen, spoke while chewing on the extra meat she'd ordered.
She had suggested he treat them as a way to tease Professor Karlsen, but she had never intended for him to actually pay at a place this expensive. Her plan had been to tease him moderately, then secretly slip him a card near the end so he could act generous. Jeon had known her intentions, which was why he'd scolded her earlier about being stingy.
"How much was it? I'll send you the money."
"No need. It's not that big a deal."
Kain answered Marily's offer with an indifferent face.
"Don't be like that. Tell me the amount and your account number. I got a free meal last time, so letting you pay again would prick my conscience."
"Last time? Ah, you mean that occasion?"
She seemed to be referring to when they'd met the little one's biological mother. He'd completely forgotten about it. Seeing Marily's sparkling eyes urging him to speak, Kain glanced at Arina. If she heard the number, she'd definitely nag him about spending so much. Fortunately, she was completely absorbed in her shabu-shabu. In that brief window, Kain whispered the amount to Marily.
"What?!"
Marily's eyes flew wide open.
"Are you insane!? That's enough money to buy a whole house in the Mendelssohn Grand Territory! And you're blowing it on one meal?!"
She was speechless. There was someone here who wasted money even more recklessly than royalty. The absurdity made her burst into hollow laughter. She stared at his face, wondering if it was a joke, but that utterly indifferent expression showed no trace of humor.
"Arina! Your uncle's gone mad!"
"How much did he pay to make you react like that?"
As Marily clung tightly to her, a question mark seemed to hover over Arina's head. At least after hearing the amount, she'd completely dropped any idea of paying herself. If he'd known this would happen, he should have revealed the price upfront to avoid the hassle.
"Everyone, please direct your attention this way!"
At that moment, Professor Karlsen—reinvigorated by the news that Kain had covered everything—sprang up from his seat with the brightest smile imaginable. In his hand was a glass filled to the brim with beverage.
"You've all worked incredibly hard today. The Academy Tournament has only just begun, but let's give it our all and win the main matches starting tomorrow!"
"Lord Filodein! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. It doesn't bother me at all."
"That can't be true. Getting rejected usually hurts the heart terribly."
"What?! Uncle, is that really true?!"
"It is. Even I, a princess, have never spent that much at once. Hmph! Since it's come to this, I won't feel satisfied until I get my money's worth in meat! Togun! I take back what I said earlier! Eat until your stomach bursts! What are you waiting for? Pick up those chopsticks already!"
It was truly astonishing how absolutely no one paid the slightest attention to Professor Karlsen, who stood with his glass raised high. Yet he accepted the fact with familiar resignation and shouted once more.
"Everyone, a toast to tomorrow!"
He performed a solitary toast with no one joining him, then downed the beverage in a single gulp amid the lively atmosphere. Their boisterous dinner continued for nearly an hour.