Chapter 344
Chapter 344
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 344
>Chapter Title: Do I Have to Tell You That to Know?
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Sometimes, there are days like this.
Days when the past strangely bubbles up, leaving you lost in sentiment.
Amid the resounding thuds echoing deeply, Evelyn took in the scene with quiet eyes.
Thud.
One strike.
Ripples.
Undulating flesh.
There had been a time like this once.
‘Yeah, that day.’
The day she first visited the Second Black-White Slums with Aster.
That day, Evelyn and Aster had been clumsily pretending to be in a lord-vassal relationship.
The reason was none other than to bluff some dignity that could cow the cartel bosses of the Second Black-White Slums.
Their goal was...
‘...Right, the black market.’
Evelyn took a sip of the tea on the table and continued her reverie.
They had to visit the black market to sell an ancient relic, but neither of them knew its location.
That day’s Aster had been exactly like this.
‘Just beat it out of them.’
Jingle jangle, the sound of money clinking.
Thugs appearing from somewhere.
Beat them.
Beat them again.
At first, he didn’t even ask why.
No, couldn’t he ask?
‘Right. At first, they all passed out with one hit.’
Like that, after beating down a few, they went to a nearby cartel.
Ah, that day she realized.
- Evelyn, this guy’s the real deal.
That Chenbi’s words weren’t empty talk.
There’s a saying: ‘A person who can live without the law.’
It refers to someone whose life is exemplary and moral, and Aster was a similar type.
The difference being ‘a person who can only live without the law.’
Thinking back to that day...
‘...Good times.’
There was no pressure from the Decullans or whatever like there is now.
Well, Aster was probably under that pressure back then too, but it was a time when she knew nothing.
So, she thought such days would never come again.
But today, somehow.
It was exactly a day that reminded her of that one.
First, beat, beat, beat some more.
No questions asked.
No arguments made.
Look at it now.
“Wh-what the hell... guk!”
He just kept beating without even stating a reason.
No, calling it ‘diligent’ beating had a bit of inaccuracy.
Even as he pummeled away, Aster’s breathing never faltered.
Anyway, Aster just beat Viscount Dremusi.
Without asking anything.
And Viscount Dremusi was a noble with considerable influence in the area, yet Aster beat him like a goblin.
Someone might ask.
What’s the point of just beating him?
...If she hadn’t had those memories from the Black-White Slums that day, Evelyn wouldn’t have understood the meaning either.
But now she knew.
That sometimes, it had more effect than any words could.
Thud! Bang! Smack!
After about five minutes of the beating.
“Why, why... what the hell is this about...”
Viscount Dremusi started using honorifics.
Unprompted.
And after another five minutes of beating.
“Pl-please... I’ll tell you anything, just spare...”
Viscount Dremusi opened his heart.
But Aster didn’t stop there.
He just kept beating.
Beat on.
Another five minutes.
“Mo-money... if it’s money you want, I’ll give you as much as you need. Just spare my life...”
Viscount Dremusi turned nice.
Another five minutes.
“No, not money... su-surely the ledgers! Is it because of the ledgers?!”
Viscount Dremusi shared secrets he hadn’t even been asked about.
After that, Viscount Dremusi’s mouth poured out secrets like a broken dam spewing water, nonstop.
When and where he’d done what, who he’d colluded with to sabotage which merchant guild, what misdeeds he’d committed.
Sometimes he spilled intimate secrets about a noble he was close to, other times he mentioned a merchant guild master’s complex he knew about.
And through all of it, Aster didn’t utter a single word.
Watching the scene, Evelyn gently closed her eyes.
‘I... have to remember it all.’
This info would come in handy someday.
Anyway.
Aster stopped the beating only after he’d gotten sufficiently close to Viscount Dremusi.
Meaning, ‘sufficiently close’ as in close enough to share all his money and secrets.
“Huff, heuk...”
Looking down at the moaning Viscount Dremusi, Aster’s eyes gleamed sadly.
“Why’d you torment me?”
It was a question that would normally make someone froth at the mouth in grievance.
Because so far, it was Aster tormenting Viscount Dremusi, not the other way around.
But Viscount Dremusi had been through physical therapy and his heart had broadened endlessly, so with that vast magnanimity, he could empathize with Aster’s feelings.
“Di-did I do that? I don’t know what happened, but you must’ve been really upset. I-I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“Y-yes. That’s right. Sorry...”
“Sorry?”
“Ah! I-I’m sorry. Not sorry, I mean, my apologies.”
Viscount Dremusi hastily corrected himself.
Aster nodded at the sight.
“Now we can talk.”
“I-is that so? Ha, haha...”
1 hour and 27 minutes.
The time it took for Aster to get close to Viscount Dremusi.
“So, shall we start talking now?”
“Y-yes!”
Viscount Dremusi nodded eagerly.
At last, the conversation began.
* * *
Viscount Dremusi eagerly yielded the head seat on the parlor sofa.
“Pl-please, have a seat here.”
“Thanks.”
So, where did Viscount Dremusi sit?
His eyes scanned the sofa, but there were no seats.
Evelyn sat on the sofa to Aster’s left, Railey to his right.
Quick-witted people would’ve stood and given up their seats, but neither did.
Thus, Viscount Dremusi had to stand respectfully to Aster’s right like his own attendants, and that’s when Aster spoke.
“Why’d you do it?”
“Pardon? Wh-what do you mean...”
“Why’d you persecute me.”
“...”
Viscount Dremusi’s eyes darted around.
‘Age...’
Mid-teens? No, not even that was certain.
His face was unmistakably mid-teen, but his trained body wasn’t much different from an adult’s.
There was still a hint of youthfulness, but regrettably, Viscount Dremusi lacked the insight to see through even that.
So, he pegged him as a slightly baby-faced twenty-something and continued thinking.
So...
‘...Is there anyone around that age I could’ve made an enemy of?’
But no matter how he racked his brain, nothing came up.
Ash-gray hair, early twenties.
If he’d earned enmity, it’d be from the parents, but nothing came to mind.
Of course, a villainous lord might think it was some villager’s kid from his territory, but Viscount Dremusi wasn’t a villainous lord despite appearances.
His funds overflowed just from supplying magic materials from the Arapurugin Mountains.
Thus, Viscount Dremusi had no choice but to ask.
“If you explain the reason... I’ll try to recall...”
“So, you don’t know?”
Viscount Dremusi’s face drained pale.
“No, just asking. Don’t you know? So, you don’t know?”
“Y-yes... regrettably, yes.”
“Hmm.”
Aster tilted his head in dissatisfaction. Fine, if he doesn’t know, then tell him.
“Arapurugin development site.”
“...Pardon?”
“There’s a big construction project around here, right? That’s mine.”
“...”
“Me, yeah? These days, I can’t sleep at night because of that project. It’s tight just doing the construction... and then nobles I’ve never even heard of come harassing me? How’d you feel?”
“Th-that... you must be furious...”
“No.”
Aster shook his head firmly.
“I’m not furious. How could I be? The noble lords up in the sky are tormenting me.”
“Then...”
“I was scared. Sad. See my hand now? It’s trembling, right? That’s all because I’m scared.”
“That’s just you clenching it hard...”
“Clench hard and hit me once?”
“...I’m sorry.”
Having been on the receiving end, Viscount Dremusi knew how much it hurt, how powerful that fist was, so he couldn’t deny Aster’s words.
“Anyway, think about it. What do I have? Huh? Power? Money? I’ve got nothing. But our noble lords are trying to strangle me to death? How do you think I felt?”
“...That.”
Viscount Dremusi wanted to retort that he clearly had power and money, but he tried his best to empathize.
So, really no power or money, and someone persecutes you. Then...
“You must’ve been... scared?”
“Right, and?”
“Grieved... I bet.”
Is this right?
Even as he spoke, Viscount Dremusi wondered if the other was mocking him or if he’d given a proper answer.
But fortunately, it wasn’t mockery, and his answer seemed proper.
“Right. Exactly. Scared and grieved. Now do you get where I’m coming from?”
“...Yes.”
Viscount Dremusi swallowed the words bubbling up to his lips: ‘So what the hell are you getting at, you psycho.’
An excellent choice.
“Yeah, empathy done. Hmm... your eyes look a bit kinder now. Right?”
“Y-yes... yes.”
“So, if you empathize and you’re kinder now, you’ll understand exactly what I say next. Right?”
“...Yes.”
What the hell is he laying groundwork for like this?
Viscount Dremusi shuddered as chills ran down his spine.
In truth, what Aster wanted to say wasn’t much.
“What I want is simple. First, compensation for emotional damages.”
Pay up for the mental anguish.
Of course, Aster hadn’t actually suffered any, but surprisingly, in this moment, he was so immersed in the role of the ‘frail hero standing against evil’ that he truly believed he had.
“I-I’ll give it. Of course. H-how much do you want?”
“Do I have to tell you that to know?”
“...”
“You empathized. You felt how hard it’s been for me, and now you ask how much? Are you saying you lied about empathizing when you didn’t?”
“...”
Viscount Dremusi’s head spun for a moment.
This... was way harsher than ‘figure it out yourself’ or ‘show some sincerity.’
...Meaning, since you empathized, you should know the appropriate amount, and one wrong answer means real trouble.
So, what to do?
Go big? No, too wasteful... Moderate? No, that won’t work either. Could get beaten again.
‘...Fuck.’
Viscount Dremusi swallowed his curse.
What sin did he commit to deserve this?
Tears welled up, the sky seemed to fall.
But they say even if the sky falls, there’s a way out.
“Don’t push too hard. You’re scaring the viscount. Viscount, you’ve already empathized plenty with our pain, right? Right?”
An unexpected savior.
Viscount Dremusi looked at the red-haired girl with hopeful eyes.
“Y-yes! Y-yes!”
“Then, how about chatting with me instead of this guy? Aster, that okay?”
“Hmm.”
As Aster pondered.
Viscount Dremusi pleaded desperately.
“I-I really empathized fully. Just trust me this once...”
In that moment, Viscount Dremusi thought.
Whoever this girl is, at least she’d be more merciful than the psycho in front of him.
Meanwhile, Aster looked at Evelyn too.
[Why? What now?]
Evelyn replied.
[From here... leave it to me.]
In the end, Viscount Dremusi’s hope was in vain.
“Viscount, care to talk with me?”
“Y-yes, I’d be grateful if you would.”
Now it was Evelyn’s turn.