Chapter 329
Chapter 329
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 329
>Chapter Title: Bears Don't Tear People. And
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Aster immediately began investigating the Gale Wings mercenary group.
By the time he had gathered some meaningful information, midterms were already over. From what he'd learned, the Gale Wings were a rather peculiar bunch.
'First off, their leader's pretty unusual.'
Bark von Calabrume.
He was the third son of the Calabrume Count family, a border noble house responsible for guarding the Monster Mountains' frontier.
It wasn't uncommon for second or third sons of noble houses to strike out on their own, but forming a mercenary group? That was rare.
'Or practically unheard of.'
And that wasn't all.
"Their area of operations overlaps with the Calabrume territory, but..."
From what Parun had dug up, the Gale Wings' employer wasn't the Calabrume family.
That was unusual too.
'From the Gale Wings' perspective, it'd be easiest to contract with the Calabrumes.'
Instead, they signed with a neighboring house and operated in Calabrume lands.
And the contracting family had no particular ties to the Calabrumes either.
"Some complicated reason behind it?"
He'd asked Evelyn about it, but even she didn't know the details.
However.
"It's definitely not connected to the Calabrumes. Or rather... it's more like the Gale Wings are avoiding them? I've heard that even while active on the monster frontlines these past few years, they steered clear of any Calabrume-related jobs before that."
Anyway.
'Setting aside the odd bits, they fit the criteria perfectly.'
For starters, the Gale Wings were an elite mercenary group with no shady backers.
No skeletons in their closet either.
The issue was...
"This expensive? Almost twice the Kalia Mercenaries' rate?"
"And just in case you're thinking it, don't even try haggling."
"What? Hey, you think I'd haggle over this?"
Amateurs might try bargaining with mercenaries, but you didn't haggle with pros who lived by the blade.
Either hire them or don't.
Anyway.
'This is about all I can dig up...'
The rest he'd have to learn face-to-face with the leader.
"Oh, right. How do we even meet them?"
"What do you mean? We make an appointment."
"No, I mean, you're planning to go through Hickster, right?"
"Yeah?"
Otherwise, there'd be no point investigating through the Academy.
It was smoother to have even a thin connection like this than just showing up saying, "Let's contract."
This was the power of alumni ties—one of blood, region, or school.
But that was exactly what Evelyn was curious about.
"So, are you meeting them as 'Aster'? Or as the 'Tower Lord'?"
"Huh?"
"To leverage the connection, you'd have to go as 'Aster,' right? But then developing Arafurgin land later might get messy. And not many groups would seriously contract with a student. What about the Kalia Mercenaries, then?"
"The Kalia..."
He'd planned to meet them as Tower Lord.
Because.
Their bond was forged in the fires of war, tighter than any school ties.
But for Gale Wings...
'What to do?'
Meet as Aster, and they probably wouldn't take a student seriously, like Evelyn said.
'...Unless it was some famous noble's heir.'
Meet as Tower Lord, and the Academy connection fell apart from the start.
"Got anything in mind?"
"Huh?"
"No ideas at all?"
Aster's eyes twitched at Evelyn's question.
'How could I be this stupid.'
Tower Lord meant no alumni leverage; Aster meant the Tower's name wouldn't carry weight.
Better to have searched outside the Academy from the get-go.
As he fell silent, Evelyn eyed his predicament with pity.
"Hey, Aster, are you an idiot by any chance?"
"......"
Aster didn't answer.
Right now, even he thought he was an idiot.
But that passed quickly.
"W-wait, I have a way."
"Oh? What's that?"
"It's..."
Aster trailed off, then shot to his feet.
"Anyway, I have one."
Evelyn looked up at him and snorted.
"Ah, sure... Of course you do. Wouldn't expect anything less."
Aster thought to himself.
*Justice. This calls for justice.*
He clenched his fist tight—just as Evelyn spoke up.
"No helping it. I'll step in."
"......Huh? You?"
"Yes, me."
"You stepping in... changes anything?"
Evelyn burst out laughing at Aster's question, as if it was ridiculous.
And honestly, that's exactly how she felt.
"The former star of the continent's Big Three trading companies, Goldrin, and the Black-White Slums..."
"Stop, right there. Say one more word, and my justice might not forgive you."
"Ahem, anyway. Better me stepping in than you, who's on Hickster's bad side."
She had a point.
Her Goldrin background was long gone, but a slum rat requesting services looked worse than a big-league (former) merchant.
Plus, they could leverage the Academy connection.
Still, Aster narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"No ulterior motives?"
"Huh? Like what?"
"No, just... you've been weirdly cooperative lately. Aren't you busy with exam prep?"
Sharp gaze.
Evelyn flinched, flashbacks to the 'Second Black-White Slums land deed' hitting her.
But.
*'To fool the enemy, fool your allies first.'*
And here, 'allies' meant 'herself.'
Wasn't there a saying like that?
- Third-raters fool the enemy, second-raters fool allies too. Only when you fool even yourself are you a true first-rater.
The legendary con artist who said that died beaten to death, but Evelyn took it to heart.
'The Second Black-White Slums deed got busted because...'
*'...I hadn't fooled myself yet.'*
With that, Evelyn flashed a bright smile.
"It's for the Tower, right? Of course I'll step up."
"Right? Yeah, that's it?"
"Naturally."
"But you know..."
Aster gripped the cafeteria table.
And.
*Creaaaak—*
The table screamed under his grip.
Aster's voice rang out over the sound.
"Bears don't tear people apart."
*Crunch.*
"And."
*Crack!*
As the cafeteria's table finally tore free in Aster's hand.
He finished.
"I can tear bears apart."
"......"
"Bears tear people, I tear bears that tear people... I hope you remember that well."
Evelyn fell silent.
But not for long.
"You know I'm kinda pissed right now?"
"......Huh?"
Aster flinched at Evelyn's unexpectedly bold stance.
"Even if it's Tower business, is that how you respond when someone's offering to help out of pure goodwill?"
"No, that's not..."
"Whatever. We'll talk after exams."
With that, Evelyn stormed out.
Her cold exit left him dumbfounded, and Aster stared at her back, baffled.
"Not... really?"
It had clearly seemed like a justice moment.
......Aster had no clue.
"God, how can people be like that... Ha!"
That Evelyn had perfectly fooled even herself.
* * *
With the 'Gale Wings and Hickster' matter settled for now.
Aster returned to his room and sorted his thoughts.
"Still feels off, though..."
Personal unease aside, if Evelyn handled it, he could rest easy.
She was reliable, skimming money aside.
'Okay, then.'
Aster sat on the bed and stroked the sleeping wyvern's back.
Wyvern looked reptilian but warm to the touch; the scales felt nice.
Anyway.
[Filthy human, how dare you...]
"Yeah, go back to sleep."
Ignoring the wriggling wyvern, Aster organized his thoughts.
'First, armed force: either Kalia or Gale Wings.'
After graduation.
He'd develop Arafurgin land with Parun, Professor Fellina, and Evelyn.
'...Ah, gotta bring Rayleigh too.'
Hamern Great Forest was woods, Arafurgin mountains, but Rayleigh's pathfinder skills would help.
Once established...
'Find Reverse Heaven fragments.'
That was the rough plan.
Of course, it could shift based on Decullan, Salvatium, or the Second Prince's moves.
'...Overthinking that gets too messy.'
So, lock in the certainties.
But.
'The real key is what comes after.'
Until now, he'd just powered through crises as they hit.
Events chained endlessly, leaving him focused on not getting swept away.
But.
Now was decision time.
......Build the Magic Tower he'd vaguely dreamed of for real.
......Or pour everything into smashing Decullan.
He hadn't ignored either before, but now he needed to commit further.
Things had changed.
The Tower was no longer a pipe dream—it was tangible. Decullan was no vague grudge but a solid threat.
Time to pick one and focus.
'If I choose the first...'
He'd dig in at Arafurgin. Go defensive against Decullan.
'Second...'
Arafurgin becomes a setup for Lucifer. Keep the Tower on low simmer, just foundations.
He pondered deeply.
For a while.
"Tch."
Aster clicked his tongue, face twisting slightly.
He'd just wanted to troll Decullan a bit, help his comrades, maybe build a Tower...
'This got way too intense.'
Truth was, neither choice was easy.
Neither goal was a pushover.
But.
......That's exactly why he had to choose.
"Tower or Decullan. That is the question."
Aster's gaze drifted out the window. His lost eyes looked somehow empty.
The wyvern's voice rang in his ear then.
[The question is...]
"Yeah?"
[Friends.]
"......What?"
[The question is friends... Hmnya.]
Aster, staring out the window, shot the wyvern a glare with furrowed brows.
Fist clenched tight.
"You... not sleeping?"
[......]
......Of course, no answer.