Chapter 42
Chapter 42
I chimed in too.
"Besides, if they hadn't spread them out, the field would have frozen. Scattering them and burying them was the best option."
"Oh, damn it!"
Gilav jumped.
"There are damn black mages in the east too? They've gotten a foothold in the east as well? Huh?"
The one who answered him was Alpheus.
"There were quite a few, actually. While I was, hmm, making my way through the east to the central region, I took quite a few heads."
The cheerful literary youth said it calmly, in the tone of someone who had harvested rice.
"Killing those things on sight is a contribution to world peace, after all."
This was news to me as well. But it also seemed like a chance to show off Alpheus's skills in front of the other boys.
If the noble aristocrat image was ruined, going with the war-demon image wasn't bad either.
"Really? And what did you do?"
Judging by his tone just now, hadn't he burned them without mercy or drowned them?
If I could show that, despite looking so easygoing, he was actually a ruthless person.......
Alpheus answered brightly.
"I went through their pockets. We were always short on food."
I shouldn't have asked.
"I shook them down to the very last coin."
Those coins had now, in effect, gone to the tomato farmers who had lent us the shovels.
Alpheus looked around and muttered to himself.
"But the monsters in the east don't appear on the plains, so they show up in the sea instead, I take it? There was a monster singing out there, and it startled me."
"Ha......."
At that moment, Gilav cut off Alpheus's words and let out a deep sigh.
"This really is serious. Even the east...... ha....... Father and my older brothers will be deeply worried. Hearing tragic news like this, I mean. Hoo."
"But there's also the news about the mana stones. A single mana stone is worth an enormous amount, and now that so many have appeared......."
"That's true. Thank you, Brisa. For telling me that."
"Right. About that."
There was a reason I had brought it up.
I asked haughtily.
"What split are you going to give us?"
"......Huh?"
"I'm the one who discovered the mana stones. Each one should be worth at least 1,000 gold."
At those words, Alpheus reacted immediately.
"What? 1,000 gold?"
The marquess who treasured even a single coin was horrified.
I made my demand confidently.
"We want at least ten percent. Just pay us in mana stones now."
"......"
Silence fell for a moment.
Alpheus laughed cheerfully.
"As expected of my little sister, too kind! Ten percent! We could have kept our mouths shut and, hmm, dug them all up and taken them ourselves tonight! Ahahahaha!"
This was a change of heart from the marquess who had trembled at the thought of borrowing a single shovel.
Gilav muttered, as if lacking confidence.
"I-I'll speak to my father. I don't have the authority myself, so......."
"Is that so?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I've done this much for you, and now I'm supposed to back off after hearing nothing more than 'I'll speak to my father'?"
Having already failed even to beg from the Second Imperial Prince, we were in a position where every penny mattered. There was absolutely no way we could leave after doing nothing but a good deed for someone else.
Gilav hesitated for a moment, then rolled his eyes and said.
"W-Well then... how about everyone heads to the Duke's Residence for now?"
Once he said it, it apparently sounded plausible, and he lifted his chin again with a confident expression.
"As an expression of gratitude to all of you, I shall formally invite you to dinner. We can meet my father then and speak with him together."
It was the most proper approach.
I absolutely had to secure at least a verbal promise from the head of the house. It was too much money to concede.
"Well then, how about we send the baggage wagons ahead from here to the Nozen Grand Duchy's Warp, and the rest of us move to the Duke's Residence for a while?"
Baron Forman proposed, representing the westerners.
"In truth, we also had things we wanted to ask the Duke about. Regarding the black mages, that is."
The informant was faithful to his calling.
Alpheus likewise answered cheerfully.
"Unexpected turns like this, and the precious connections they bring, are what make travel worthwhile!"
That was as good as an agreement from us. Then the maid behind me quickly pulled something from her clothes along with a pen and held it out to me.
'Ah.......'
I lamented inwardly as I took the pen and scribbled briefly. For now, this arrangement was more satisfying to both sides than actually paying the maids their wages.
'I really don't want to give something like this to Gilav.......'
It was more painful than when I had given Baron Forman the dinner invitation.
With a sorrowful heart, I filled in the blanks.
[To the esteemed (Gilav Dibostan),
I thank you for your noble invitation to (dinner),
and I declare my intention to attend with a joyful heart.
Amid refined exchange and elegant hospitality,
at the thought of the (dinner) we shall share together,
my heart is filled to overflowing with excitement.
I shall call upon you with due courtesy at the appointed time.
With deep respect and sincere gratitude,
(Alpheus Sears, Brisa Sears)]
Soon the maid presented my reply accepting the dinner invitation to Gilav.
Gilav lifted his chin and received the reply elegantly.
"Thank you, Brisa."
It was just as I had expected. Sadly, it was exactly to Gilav's taste.
'I didn't want to write this reply because I can't stand that smug look on his face.'
The arrogant boy was more satisfied than my maid.
"I shall do my utmost to match your refinement."
Leopold spoke up from behind.
"Inviting someone to the Duke's Residence without even presenting a formal dinner invitation... You'll have to work tirelessly to meet the refinement of House Sears, Gilav."
"I-I-I did it because I was in a hurry!"
Gilav shrieked.
"I-I'll prepare one soon!"
This time, my maid was satisfied.
Of course, Leopold, who had succeeded in teasing him, and I, who was watching, were satisfied as well.
* * *
Once the mana stones had been cleared away to some extent, the Warp operated normally.
We sent the baggage wagons and the knights ahead to the Nozen Grand Duchy through the Warp. After that, only a minimal number of people remained and waited for carriages nearby.
Soon, the eastern knights arrived after receiving word from Gilav.
Mana stones were worth tremendous money. Therefore, with the single-minded determination not to miss even one, the knights began turning over the entire tomato field.
Brisa was gazing at the tomatoes with an unreadable expression.
"Why, Brisa? Does it pain your heart to see the plump, beautiful, perfectly alive tomatoes being recklessly torn up just for money?"
At Alpheus's words, Brisa answered calmly.
"The farmers planted the tomatoes for money. They'll be glad to receive compensation."
Even so, she let out a sigh.
"......With my head."
Her gaze was fixed on the roots of the fallen tomatoes.
"But not with my heart."
Alpheus quietly stroked Brisa's head.
In a way, Brisa's and Gilav's attitudes and expressions were quite similar.
They rarely smiled, were haughty, aristocratic to a fault, and somewhat arrogant.
But there was something fundamentally different between them. Alpheus wanted to put that difference into words.
"That pure warmth deep within your heart, that beautiful goodwill clearly beating inside you..."
Brisa shuddered and glared at him.
"No wistful expressions."
Brisa said sternly.
"I'm feeling a bit unsettled as it is."
"No, why in the world is our Bribri—no, Brisa—unsettled? Huh? It's because of the tomatoes, isn't it? You're just too embarrassed to say so, right? If your big brother—no, if I—comfort you, hmm, would you feel less unsettled?"
"Probably?"
Brisa answered flatly.
"Because then the unsettled feeling would probably turn into annoyance."
In truth, she was feeling unsettled thinking about the original novel.
One of the founding houses, House Dibostan of the east.
Along with House Nozen of the west, they were a house that still preserved the Special Ability <Nullification>.
Because of that, they were exceedingly proud. They were also unlike House Nozen, which prized ease and leisure. House Dibostan placed far greater importance on history, tradition, Special Ability, and bloodline than the West did.
'They were a house that opposed Alpheus from the start, though.'
In the original novel, after Brisa died, Alpheus came into conflict with his uncle, Baron Hawin, over the question of who was more suited to the name of Sears.
Alpheus was the legally unquestioned direct heir, but half his blood was commoner.
'The east sides with Baron Hawin, saying essence matters more than law.'
Now that Baron Hawin's family had all been dealt with, I had thought there wouldn't be much cause for conflict.......
'But seeing how things are going, that doesn't seem to be the case.'