Chapter 18

Birds join the race the moment they break out of their eggs. To receive the food from their mother’s crop, they push their beaks in and cry out loudly. There’s no sharing. The brutal truth of survival of the fittest pushes any thought of defying this instinct to the back.

If there are two siblings, they cry louder. If there are three, they push each other. If there are four, they peck each other. If there are five, they drop one to the ground. The competition among siblings continues until their feathers fully grow. Though it eventually comes to an end…

Humans, however, never graduate from the competition of the nestling birds even after becoming adults. Because people leave behind wealth even after death. Both Hersel and Aria were like that. The difference being, Aria had nine more half-siblings, and her father was someone who would bequeath his assets based on their value.

I looked at Aria, the greediest among the nestlings and the most loved among the siblings. She waved her hand and got on the carriage. I responded with a simple nod and ended the meeting. The deal was safely concluded for now.

“Really… You will tell me where the ancestors’ ledger is buried?”

“If you don’t want it, never mind.”

“Oh… No, who said I didn’t want it?”

Even though she tried to hide it with a fake cough until the end, Aria couldn’t manage her expression. The reaction would be the same if I gave the ‘ancestors’ ledger,’ an heirloom lost to one of the Orbella’s children, to someone else. It was rare to find an item that could grab the mother’s attention so strongly. Recommending Hersel’s name on the recommendation letter was a risk worth taking. Anyway, securing a membership was a foregone conclusion.

And Edel Klais. Honestly, I didn’t really want to join. The place was filled with the upper crust of society, with an older age group, making it feel like a young person visiting an old dance hall. The reluctance to step into the elegant interactions of nobles, seen only in movies by a modern person like me, was just an added bonus.

Nonetheless, the reason I aimed for membership was due to benefits incomparable to card or telecom discounts. Among them, the one I coveted the most was the entrance privilege to the VIP auction house owned by the Orbella family. A place where relics that couldn’t be compared to market goods were put up for auction. To supplement my lacking specs, I needed to snatch up something useful before someone else did.

And as promised, I gave Dellerger a clue about the traitor. I worked hard to deduce clues that would have minimal impact, avoiding information related to the main storyline quests.

“Shires is in Edelie’s eastern region, Haeyok Village.”

“Nonsense. That guy is already dead by my hand.”

“Well, you’re free to be mistaken.”

“Mistaken?”

Shires, the insignificant traitor. Although he was one of the people who drove Grey Knights to despair, he was merely an errand boy. The main figures were elsewhere. He was just a prop to show what kind of narrative Dellerger had and his desire to punish the traitor.

“By now, it should be completed. If you trace the recently opened orphanage, you can find him easily.”

Shires had been running an orphanage for quite some time after his betrayal, so its location would be accurate now. Of course, it was a fake orphanage for human trafficking or money laundering, a worthless scum. When encountered during Dellerger’s playthrough, there were options to either kill him or just cut off his limbs. Whatever the choice, it only triggered a few cut scenes, having little impact, so it didn’t matter if he died early. Ȑ

Dellerger seemed to guess, easily accepting. The Shires he recalled always blabbed about how orphanages were the best for money laundering, adding credibility. He probably didn’t realize the guy’s true nature then.

And Dellerger took care of the assassin’s body well. I don’t know how, though. I didn’t watch because it seemed too revolting.

Next was the explanation about the disturbance in the mine. The explosion heard at night was explained as a precautionary measure to remove falling rocks.

“The young master personally did it for your safety. Please keep this in mind and avoid accidents in the future, considering his kind heart.”

Still, the murmurs didn’t subside easily. It was natural they couldn’t believe Hersel did it. But the manager’s next words shut them up.

“If you want a more accurate explanation, please write a request and deliver it to the young master. He has agreed to review it himself, so please, don’t hesitate to put it in the suggestion box. Mekdoel, you, your voice was the loudest, why not try suggesting right now?”

“N-no, it wasn’t me? My throat is sore, so I can’t speak loudly. Ahem. Ah, ah, my throat is still…”

The workers turned pale and the situation quickly ended. Later, I privately called the manager to talk about the secret deals. As he was also a co-conspirator, he needed to be gagged and informed about the end of the transactions.

“There will be no more transactions mixed with by-products from now on.”

The manager accepted without difficulty. He was quite an honest and simple man.

“I have mouths to feed too… I need to buy land, look after a horse, and I was looking at a five-story house… If you suddenly say this, what do you want me to do?”

His conscience button was so large it could easily be pressed with a finger.

“You’ve eaten so much that your belly is bulging.”

“Gasp!”

With a humble heart, a single threat was enough to end it.

“If you don’t want to cough up what you swallowed, do as I say.”

Lastly, Jack and Rodel were punished for dereliction of duty, having gotten drunk when they should have been guarding me.

“Get your knees off the ground. Straighten up.”

With their hands behind their backs and heads bowed to the ground, they were being punished. This wasn’t satisfying enough. Thinking something was missing, I looked at Selly, who was snickering beside me.

“You, get on there.”

“Get on? There?”

“Sometimes you need to breathe high air too.”

“Oh…”

Selly jumped up excitedly, placing a foot on each of Jack and Rodel’s backs. Growing about 40 centimeters taller, her smile didn’t fade.

“Hey, lift your backs higher.”

When they didn’t move, Selly started bouncing in place.

“Ugh! Stop! Stop it!”

“Ahh! My back’s breaking, kid!”

Ah, come to think of it, those two. They tried to pocket the money and hit this little kid when I fell off the cliff. Selly, unaware, was now taking partial revenge.

Indeed, those who commit sins must be punished somehow.

“Kuh… Y-young master. W-we weren’t just playing around.”

Jack squeezed out, his voice trembling as he gritted his teeth.

“What are you saying? Kneel and speak properly. Rodel, take a break. You can get down now.”

Selly, with a disappointed look, hopped to the ground. Rodel trembled as if paralyzed, and Jack rubbed his reddened forehead, tears welling up.

“Young master, we weren’t just fooling around…”

A grown man whining was uncomfortable, but any hint of pity quickly vanished. It was probably because his sensitivity heightened due to lingering intoxication.

“The smell of alcohol is overwhelming, yet you say you weren’t playing around… You sure talk nonsense well.”

“We weren’t just fooling around. Huff!”

Jack pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose. Disgusting.

“Fine, go ahead. But if it’s nothing significant, you know you’ll be back to the original position.”

Jack, showing his experience, immediately turned serious.

“We were exchanging drinks with the locals, gathering information. Isn’t that important for someone like you, young master?”

Not wrong. As the family’s successor, understanding the people’s sentiments and international situation was crucial.

I gestured for him to continue.

“We heard some ominous rumors.”

“Rumors?”

“Yes, rumors. Recently, the Grand Duke had some territorial disputes with another family, leading to talks of possible war.”

A territorial dispute among families, but did such an event occur in Tenest? Even though it was in the past, as someone who played all the characters, I had never heard of such an incident, suggesting it might not be significant.

Could the family head go hunting in the Demon Realm amidst such talks?

“In this situation, he left for a hunt in the Demon Realm… Does he have something to rely on?”

“…That I don’t know.”

“Fine, I heard enough.”

I gestured to Jack and Rodel. They stared blankly at me.

“What are you doing? Bow your heads to the ground.”

“Y-young master… Isn’t this useful information?”

“Not at all.”

It had nothing to do with me. As a player, if I didn’t know about it, it meant it was either an inconsequential event or resolved inconspicuously.

Perhaps my existence could change things, but that would be a delusional self-awareness.

If something happened, I could think about it then. For now, it was hard enough managing myself.

Whoosh-

A cool breeze blew. I wanted to close the open window but lacked strength. The view from the highlands of the mine was breathtaking without any glass.

The lush greenery and the lake, bathed in the sunset light, were mesmerizing. It felt like a reward for finishing my work here.

I picked up the telescope near the window. A swan floated gracefully in the middle of the lake. Thinking about the rough paddling under the water in contrast to the calm appearance made me empathize.

I probably looked like that to others too, amusingly enough. Desperately struggling to survive beneath the surface.

Ah.

The swan caught a big fish.

***

When the mistress stirred her spoon, a storm brewed in the teacup. Seeing a slightly tilted picture frame, the maids adjusted it to be level.

The news was still unclear. Considering the assassin sent to the mine, it could be concluded as a failure.

Thus, the festival days began to decrease one by one. The mistress grasped the letter on the desk. The wax seal bore the eagle emblem of the Schweike family, with whom there had been recent territorial disputes.

As she read the letter, her grip tightened. The maid in charge stood still, not moving until the mistress spoke.

“He’s really cruel, leaving this matter unattended…”

Leaving the task to her. It wasn’t a difficult job, and it was for the family’s safety, so she could gladly handle it. The only regret was giving up the plan to personally kill Hersel.

The mistress was irritated by Aol’s clear intentions. The timing was intentional, no doubt. He must have meddled to prevent direct involvement.

With her eyes blazing with anger, she burned the letter.

“With the festival approaching, I don’t have time for this.”

The maid swallowed hard, remaining expressionless. But that changed when she saw the circle marked on the calendar. The twins sent to her parents’ house would return soon.

“Mircel and Niasel must have departed by now, right?”

The maid replied naturally, swallowing a sigh of relief.

“Yes, Madam. They requested to stay a few more days, but we politely declined.”

“Father is so… He promised to keep the date.”

“Of course, seeing Master Mircel’s talent, how could he want to let him go?”

A mother’s smile spread across her face. The maid thought it fortunate to have Mircel. For the mistress, the youngest son was a tranquilizer, quickly calming her no matter how angry she got.

The mistress slowly shook her head.

“I should love all my children equally, but it’s not easy…”

The maid silently agreed.

“Why do I get so excited just thinking about Mircel? Is this how he feels?”

***

At this time, deep in the northeastern Demon Realm. Poisonous air spread through the valley beneath the sheer cliffs.

Splurt-

In the dense purple mist, a muscular man twisted his sword.

“Not much of a challenge…”

Calm, echoing voice. The knights watching swallowed hard. He was standing on the head of a giant lizard the size of a three-story house. The bizarre beast, which couldn’t be caught even by a group of the strongest hunters, was now dead in silence.

“He took it down alone…”

“Even as a Grand Duke, I doubted it…”

“I’m ashamed of my caution.”

A skinny old man in light armor pushed through the frozen crowd. Jumping in place, he quickly reached the man sheathing his sword in the mist.

Laughing heartily, the old man opened his wrinkled mouth.

“By now, Master Mircel must have returned. How time flies. I wish he would grow up quickly to join us.”

“That’s something you can achieve by living long.”

“I’m about to die soon, envious of you, Grand Duke.”

The old man chuckled, stepping on the lizard, and spoke about the cherished other son.

“You seemed in a hurry, Grand Duke?”

“Just boring, so I finished quickly.”

“Tsk, not honest at all.”

The old man swallowed his words about the bet with the mistress. He couldn’t say such things casually in front of the knights. But the man before him would understand from just these few words. As expected, the man spoke.

“If he fails, his fate ends there. If he can’t prove his worth, he can’t take my place.”

“Haha, it’s just that for you. But for the young master, it isn’t. Is that why you left such a task for the madam?”

“If I delay, the madam might finish her homework and go out to play.”

The man’s eyebrow twitched at the whispered words. The old man skillfully soothed his sharp gaze.

“Oh, my back… Suddenly hurts… Actually, Grand Duke, I’m so sick I want to go back quickly. Can we return now that we’ve caught this nuisance?”

“No choice.”

The old man swallowed his playful remark about returning alone.

“He’d get really mad if I said that, right?”

While the old man lamented inwardly, the man stepped off the lizard and ordered the knights.

“Let’s go back. To the mansion.”