“I heard from the maid this morning that you met my son yesterday.”
Count Furst’s words were calm after taking the first bite of his breakfast. But a small expectation was hidden within them.
“Yes.”
The count briefly glanced up at me, then pulled a distant soup bowl closer and ate from it.
“What… did he say?”
“Not much. He saw the cane and magic book I was carrying and asked if I was a mage.”
“And?”
“So I told him I was.”
“……”
Count Furst moved his lips several times. But in the end, he didn’t speak.
Since I had also spoken with Fabre, I pretended not to know and asked.
“The maid yesterday, and now everyone else. Why are you all acting like this?”
The count nodded slightly.
“My son has never spoken a single word until now. I’ve never heard his voice in my entire life. So isn’t it sufficiently surprising to hear that you had a conversation with my son?”
“……”
“It’s going to be a long day today. Even if you don’t feel like eating, you should eat well.”
The count stood up and reached across the table to grab food, eating as he did so.
This was contrary to his usual strict adherence to etiquette.
Is it because he is at home?
Or is his heart fluttering at the news that his son spoke for the first time?
Anyway, I should fill my stomach too.
Since we’re going to the New Continent Trading Company.
I took a chicken dish in front of me and started cutting it.
“There was an intruder yesterday.”
“……”
“……”
The dining room suddenly fell silent, as if frozen.
I put a piece of meat in my mouth and chewed slowly while looking at Count Furst.
As expected, there wasn’t a flicker of emotion on his face.
“I heard from the maid. But Ran, wasn’t that your imagination?”
He turned his head to look to one side.
There stood a man with a stern expression.
It was Count Furst’s knight commander.
He was wearing full plate armor like other knights, but it seemed to be of the highest quality and strong enough to deflect musket bullets.
These days, you can’t really be a knight without special bulletproof armor.
He answered in a loud voice.
“That’s right. The mage must have imagined it. An intruder? That’s impossible. If someone had intruded, we would have known, Count.”
Count Furst turned his eyes back to me.
“Since the maid was with you, you didn’t see it directly. On what basis do you say there was an intruder?”
“It’s simple. I heard the sound of death and smelled it too, yesterday. Someone died. In the mansion.”
“……”
And I even saw the corpse that had turned to bare bones.
“But I couldn’t find the body. It just disappeared, poof! Anyway, something like that. So I think some protective magic on this mansion might have activated. Do you know anything about that?”
“This mansion was built by my grandfather to stand for hundreds of years without collapsing. There are many secrets hidden that even I don’t know. It could be one of those.”
I thought he would just ignore it, but seeing him think seriously, he seems to know something.
I calmly continued my lie.
“I wanted to investigate more, but it disappeared without a trace. Besides, I don’t know much about that kind of thing. My magic, as you saw then, is about moving natural elements…”
The knight commander cut off my words with a strong tone.
“Count! I guarantee. No one has ever intruded into the castle.”
He must have felt insulted. My ears were about to burst.
The count looked back and forth between me and the knight commander, then said monotonously.
“Alright. So how do you plan to resolve this?”
“Resolve?”
“Ran. Didn’t you cross the sea with me to protect me?”
Oh, so he’s playing it tough now?
I flashed a bright smile.
“You asked me to protect your safety, and my master agreed. That’s not an obligation for me.”
“…..”
“But I’ll do my best as far as I can.”
The count glared at me for a while before turning his gaze back to the food.
“Fine. I’d like you to let me know as soon as you find out anything. Whether it’s an assassin, or protective magic on the mansion, or whatever.”
Once again, I feel that the count is a man who knows his limits well.
“Alright.”
* * *
After breakfast, we prepared separately and then boarded a luxurious carriage.
It took two hours by carriage from Sangria Port to the New Continent Trading Company building.
The distance wasn’t far, but we were considerably delayed passing through the city.
Getting off the carriage, I looked at the New Continent Trading Company building. It was slightly smaller than the one at Marshal Harbor.
“You really put a lot of effort into Marshal Harbor, Count.”
“I did. Originally, I had no intention of returning for nearly 10 years. Let’s go in, Ran.”
I wonder if Legless Monkey ruined that.
Anyone would be angry if a 10-year plan was ruined. Especially someone who lives as meticulously as the count.
Legless Monkey will probably gradually become systematically unhappy.
I followed the count inside.
Inside, countless people were working. They looked no different from what I had seen in Marshal Harbor.
“Ah! You’re here! Count!”
“The shareholders?”
“They’re all gathered.”
He nodded and quickly climbed the stairs.
We soon arrived at a large conference room.
As we approached the door, all kinds of curses could be heard from inside.
Well, given the severe losses, it’s actually fortunate if they’re just cursing.
Bang!
When Count Furst opened the door, all sounds disappeared and silence fell.
About twenty diverse characters were sitting inside. They all seemed tense, but only one among them caught my attention.
That man in his mid-forties, wearing loose-fitting priest’s robes, was glaring at me in return.
A mage.
And he also noticed that I was a mage.
Interesting.
“Come now! Shareholders! Count Furst, who sponsors the New Continent Trading Company, has arrived. He will personally speak about the unfortunate incident that occurred.”
Count Furst stood in the center and slowly began his speech.
It naturally reminded me of the time on Monta Island where the pirates had gathered.
He first declared that Governor Crom had made a mistake in relations with the natives, resulting in the loss of dispatched soldiers, and that they couldn’t return without retrieving the children kidnapped from the natives.
Naturally, the shareholders rebelled.
“Count! Weren’t you there yourself? How can you blame Governor Crom for the company’s ruin?”
“No matter how much it was his fault, as long as you were there, Count, you can’t escape responsibility!”
“Compensate us! Compensate for this incident! It’s shameful to suffer such a crushing defeat to mere natives!”
As the conference room grew noisier, Count Furst slammed both hands on the podium.
Everyone was startled by the loud sound, and the count growled.
“The one who invested the most in this venture is me! If you don’t invest more here, this company that has grown so far will go bankrupt! Then your shares will become worthless! I am putting everything on the line. Everything to resolve this! So trust me and help me with this. I came back because we lost soldiers. And we can always replace soldiers. And if we just find those children, we can restore our relationship with the natives!”
The meeting continued to go back and forth several times after that. It was a bit fun at first, but soon became boring, and I struggled to hold back yawns throughout the meeting.
By the way, why does that priest keep glancing at me like that?
When lunchtime came, everyone agreed to take a break and left the conference room.
They agreed to meet again in an hour, but I wonder how many will actually show up? I hope the count won’t be disappointed.
Yawn.
If I had known it would be like this, I should have just studied magic at the mansion.
At that moment, the priest who had been glancing at me earlier approached.
“Hello, I’m Hansis.”
Hansis’s two eyes, which were smiling brightly, clearly held a faint but definite magical power.
“Ah, yes. I’m Ran.”
I answered halfheartedly.
He smiled again and spoke.
“It seems you’ve studied magic… Haha. Is that right, Mr. Ran?”
“So what?”
“Um, if you have time, would you like to have a meal together?”
I was about to refuse.
But from afar, Count Furst gave me a look.
He wants me to go along.
I guess he can’t afford to lose even one person in this situation.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Oh? Then I’ll guide you to a nearby place.”
The priest bowed slightly and extended his arm.
We came to a restaurant next to the trading company. One specializing in Franche cuisine.
“It’s been a while since I had Franche food.”
“Huh? Is that so? Well, they do make good food here.”
“So? What’s this about?”
Hansis smiled slightly and said.
“It seems you’re helping Count Furst, is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Since you’re studying magic, I’m sure you’re not doing it for money or anything like that, haha. I guess you’ve been promised some kind of treasure?”
I put my hand inside Keren’s robe and slightly showed the staff.
At that moment, the priest’s eyes widened a bit.
Good.
Let’s see where this goes.
“This is just a basic one. Just carved from wood. Now I want to make a proper dedicated staff, so I’m looking for a suitable treasure. Count Furst said he would give it to me.”
It’s a blatant lie, but Hansis seemed to believe my words completely.
“Ah, I see. Well, it seems I’ve met quite an extraordinary person. You have a robe, and a staff. Ho, do you have a magic book too?”
“Well, I do have one.”
“Wow. That’s amazing. Really. I’m so envious. I… ahem, embarrassingly, I don’t have any of the three properly yet.”
There was sincerity in the priest’s words.
As the waiter set down the food, I naturally ate while speaking.
“So. What business did you have in wanting to see me?”
The priest rubbed his hands together and said.
“Well, I was wondering if I could ask what treasure Count Furst promised you.”
“Why?”
“Haha. Well, I was thinking maybe we could offer you something even better.”
Interesting.
Is he trying to persuade me?
I should find out who’s backing him first.
“Who does the priest serve?”
“Duke Balkan.”
I’ve heard that name before.
“Ah, Duke Balkan. The one who smuggled the native children, right?”
“Sm-smuggled?! Haha. That’s a dangerous thing to say.”
“…..”
I smiled slightly and continued eating. He soon spoke again.
“Actually, I felt very uncomfortable in that conference room earlier. To slander the person I serve like that. Count Furst is such a good person, it’s really strange. It seems he hasn’t been able to properly collect himself due to some recent trouble. Seeing him speak like that in front of me, well, I don’t know how to react.”
I put down my fork with a clack.
“Get to the point.”
“Pardon?”
“The point. Just tell me the point.”
At that moment, the priest’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The impression that had been only kind suddenly became quite sharp.
Now this person’s true nature will come out.
“Please tell me what treasure Count Furst promised you. Duke Balkan will prepare something even better. So, if you serve Duke Balkan…”
“Alright.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said alright. The jewel I want is a transparent jewel imbued with magical power. So transparent that even a mage would think it’s invisible.”
“…..”
“Bring that to me. Then I’ll do as Duke Balkan wishes.”
I flashed a bright smile and resumed eating.
Having this meal reminded me of my mother’s cooking.
Glancing over, I saw Hansis’s eyes wavering.
His mind must be quite complicated right now.
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