Chapter 378
Chapter 378
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 378
>Chapter Title: With a Mind Free of Plans
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"Come on, take a look. There are four major powers in the North. First up..."
Aster scribbled letters onto the notebook spread out on the table.
The wyvern, perched on Aster's lap, stared holes into the notebook. It wasn't long before its mouth fell open.
[No. 1...... Lamburg Principality.]
"Right."
[No. 2? Ur......bona?]
"Spot on."
Hitting the answers in a row filled the wyvern's voice with confidence.
[No. 3! Northern Conquest Army! No. 4! Northern Tribes!]
"Not Northern Couple, the North."
[Abdomen!]
"No, not abdomen. North."
[North!]
Its tail swished. Its wings fluttered faintly.
It was thrilled beyond belief—its voice excited, hot breaths puffing out.
[Gimme a problem. I'll get it right.]
Thrilled to have learned to read "North," the wyvern demanded a problem.
Aster didn't refuse, and soon letters appeared on the notebook.
It wasn't long before a shadow fell over the wyvern's excited face.
The Northern couple's job is merchants, and the merchant couple's home is the North. The Northern merchant couple's injury is the abdomen, and all that's left is revenge.
[Nor......thern couple, mer......chants......]
The wyvern stammered.
Its eyes trembled finely.
Fine, it got "North." It got "couple" too. But merchants, injury, abdomen, revenge......
"What's the holdup? Read it."
[Rea......]
"Can't, huh?"
......
The wyvern clamped its mouth shut. Moisture gathered in its eyes.
Aster's voice came right after.
"Come on, say 'I can't read it.'"
......
"'I can't read it. Please teach me how.' Say that, and I'll tell you."
......
"'I can't contain my awe at the great human's intellect. Please bestow a lesson upon this barbaric lizard.' Say it."
......
This was humiliation and degradation. No, perhaps an insult it could never avenge.
In its two-odd years as a dragon, had there ever been such a humiliating moment?
No, absolutely not.
Admitting its own shortcomings with "I can't read" wasn't all that infuriating.
Why, that human professor Felina, who helped master the 19x19 multiplication table, had said as much.
- Not knowing something isn't shameful. The real shame is not knowing that you don't know—and not seeking to learn.
The wyvern knew its own shortcomings and was working to fill them.
Even after mastering the 19x19 table and being able to count moonstones, it never stopped learning.
To fill its own gaps.
So admitting its shortcomings wasn't hard.
But......
"Why can't you read this? Look. 'The Northern couple's job is merchants, and the merchant couple's home is the North. The Northern merchant couple's injury is the abdomen, and all that's left is revenge.'"
Look at this malicious mockery.
Afraid it might actually repeat after him, that snout rattled on like a machine gun without pause.
How petty and narrow-minded!
Admit your shortcomings in front of a guy like that?
[Can't...... do it.]
Aster tossed a question at the wyvern's subdued voice.
"What? You can't read it?"
[Won't...... admit it. I'm smart. You're the barbaric one.]
"Nope. I'm smarter. I use magic better, I have more moonstones, I'm older, taller......"
Smack!
The wyvern finally exploded at the repeated taunts.
It whipped its head back with all its might, smashing Aster's face. Seizing the moment as Aster groaned in pain, it flapped up and hurled itself onto the bed.
Muttering all the while.
[Miss Arafoorge. Miss Eveline.]
Curled up body.
Pitiful.
Anyone with a shred of humanity would approach and apologize, but Aster just smirked at the sight.
Of course, he wasn't devoid of humanity.
'Think I've fallen for this once or twice?'
That was its habit.
At the drop of a hat, it curled up pitifully and muttered. At first, he'd been fooled and offered moonstones.
But lo and behold.
Before long, it sulked at every turn.
And......
- ......Success.
A careless mutter when taking the moonstones. He'd heard it crystal clear. And seen it too—that upturned lip corner. Look at it now.
[Miss Arafoorge......]
"Ten."
[Good, ten of 'em.]
The wyvern flapped over the instant he named the number.
"Nine."
[......?]
"Just counting numbers?"
[......!]
Picking up only the bad habits.
Aster ignored the wyvern, slumped in shock at being duped, and turned back to the notebook.
It had started because the wyvern asked about the North, but reviewing it again wasn't bad.
So......
'......For now, the Northern Conquest Army and Northern Tribes can be ignored.'
The war between the Conquest Army and the Northern Tribes had dragged on even until the time of his death.
A stalemate, neither side gaining the upper hand.
So what mattered now was something else.
'Lamburg Principality and Urbona Family.'
Or more precisely......
"The Urbona Family's the problem."
A full month since arriving in the North.
I'd followed the Infinite Chain north to scour the area for the Fragment of Reverse Heaven.
Frankly, pinpointing the fragment's location wasn't hard.
The Infinite Chain pointed right to it.
So why was I holed up in an inn for a month, teaching the wyvern letters?
A minor snag.
"I figured out where the Fragment of Reverse Heaven is—great. But of all places......"
The wyvern flapped over and settled on the table right then.
[Place?]
"Yeah, the place. I told you—it's in Urbona Family territory."
[Remember.]
"That's the problem. This is."
[Why problem? Sneak in like usual.]
"Like usual?"
[Turn invisible. Quiet.]
"......"
Aster fell silent.
And thought.
'......Does it have no sense of morals?'
Sure, sneaking in invisibly was the easiest. But blurting it out so casually was another issue.
And above all......
"If that worked, I'd have done it already."
[Doesn't work? Why?]
"Why do you think?"
Urbona Family.
Even as a half-baked prestigious house without its grimoire, it was still prestigious.
Meaning?
'......Weaker than Lortel or Blandoga, but not a pushover.'
Not a pushover? Hell, it could be fatal.
The "half-baked" label was solely because of the lost grimoire—Urbona held its own against other magic houses.
Word was......
'......Two grand archmages.'
And they expected him to infiltrate Urbona and snatch the Fragment of Reverse Heaven?
Locating it wouldn't be hard, but getting caught would be chaos.
[Friend, scared?]
"Yeah, no."
[......Kek!]
Aster swatted the wyvern and continued thinking.
Anyway, knowing the Fragment's location yet dragging his feet was for that reason......
'Lucky there's a way.'
While lingering in Urbona lands, he'd poked around.
Any infiltration routes? Disguise possible?
......Naturally impossible.
'What kind of defenses are tighter than Lortel's?'
Far from normal.
And wouldn't you know it.
- The Urbona Family hereby declares war on the Lamburg Principality to reclaim its rightful territory.
A sudden declaration of war.
The pretext?
'Found some centuries-old document saying we own land that's now in principality territory. Asked for it back—they refused.'
A dime a dozen.
Noble land wars followed this script.
'Dragging out some dubious ancient scroll of unclear origin, claiming "this was ours."'
Would the other side concede? No.
War erupts.
Anyway.
The method he'd found amid this?
Mercenary recruitment.
A public notice from war-preparing Urbona.
So Aster's thinking went like this.
'They recruit mercenaries? Train 'em too, right?'
Why?
Each house had signature tactics.
They might not drill mercenaries like house troops, but they'd teach the basics.
'Then? Obviously? Call 'em into the inner castle?'
Getting inside was the hurdle—once in, the rest was smoother.
"The tougher the shell on a fruit, the softer the inside......"
[Walnut.]
"......Generally softer......"
[Peanut.]
"......"
Aster went silent. He glared at the wyvern.
The wyvern went silent too. It didn't avoid his gaze.
A breathless staring contest.
"......Fine, the smart one has to endure."
[Then you can't endure...... Kek!]
The wyvern finally earned its swat.
Truth be told, they were both idiots. Walnuts and peanuts weren't fruits—they were nuts.
Anyway.
"Mercenary sign-ups...... start tomorrow."
No further plans.
'With a mind free of plans.'
That was it.
* * *
Urbona Family patriarch's office.
As Patriarch Otto sat approving documents, a shadow rose beside him.
"Patriarch."
"Speak."
"The Grand Duchess has begun to move."
Otto didn't look up from his papers. His impassive eyes scanned the text.
The mage watched his demeanor briefly before cautiously continuing.
"One of the covenant bearers seems to be attempting to infiltrate the main house. Likely planning to slip in during this mercenary recruitment......"
"Know who?"
"Not yet. The Grand Duchess has forbidden contact even among the covenant bearers."
"Hmm."
Otto set down his papers and pondered briefly.
"Infiltration, huh......"
Clever enough.
Even trash mercenaries saw and heard plenty—good for intel.
And sabotage from within could deal heavy blows to the main force, depending on the spy.
Of course, they weren't defenseless.
The Discernment Stone.
It filtered out malicious infiltrators first.
A simple artifact in principle and function—precisely why fooling it was near impossible.
Sending a spy anyway meant they had a way around it.
"What shall we do?"
"Well......"
Otto tapped the desk.
Truth be told, now that he knew of the spy, countermeasures abounded.
The question was how to respond.
"Give me a week, and I'll devise a way to root out the spy."
In other words, delay recruitment a week.
Otto pondered briefly.
Then.
"No, proceed on schedule."
"Then......"
"Let's see how well the little rat hides."
With that, Otto returned to his papers.
His eyes still impassive.
As if it wasn't worth his attention.