Chapter 159. I Believe Without Doubt
matriarch’s reception room.
A quiet silence lingered among the gathered group that occupied the seats.
Sitting at the head of the table, matriarch had her eyes closed, unable to hide her displeased mood.
To her sides sat Aster and Paijin, and beside them were Lancy and the attending knights of the Tulke family.
Bianca, who had kept her eyes closed for a long time, finally spoke when the tea on the table had gone completely cold.
“Lancy, so what’s the situation now…?”
“Yes, after the circumstances I mentioned earlier, Sir Aster had Lord Paijin stand before the people and… deliver a confession speech.”
“A confession, a confession speech… ha!”
Bianca let out a laugh, one of disbelief.
A confession speech? It was nothing but an apology letter.
In other words, Aster had coerced Paijin, the young master of the Tulke family, into standing before the employees of the tailor shop to read aloud a written apology.
And why had it come to that? Because Aster didn’t like the speech Paijin had given, so he handed him a pen and paper and made him rewrite it.
“You simply stood by and watched that happen… No, no, of course not. You must’ve had your reasons.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Lancy bowed her head without offering an excuse. No matter the reason, it was only natural that she deserved death a hundred times over for causing matriarch distress.
At that moment, Aster slightly raised his hand.
“Um… Lady matriarch. May I speak instead?”
“…”
matriarch shot him a sharp look, but Aster spoke undeterred.
“Miss Lancy…? Lady Lancy? Anyway, she did try to stop me, but I was the one who refused to be stopped.”
“…”
“I threatened her using that bastard’s safety as leverage, after all. So Lady Lancy couldn’t do anything about it.”
“…Ha.”
matriarch felt dizzy.
Did he not understand the gravity of the situation?
He had just confessed with his own mouth that he had taken the Tulke family’s young master hostage!
No, leaving aside such trifles, she couldn’t even begin to grasp how to settle this matter.
A vagabond from the Grey Zone, a guest of the Blando family’s young master, had taken the Tulke family’s young master hostage? And what had he done afterward?
He’d struck him under the guise of a mistake, then stood him before everyone to make him apologize for all his discourtesy and wrongdoing at the tailor shop.
In short, it was too severe to brush off lightly, yet too trivial to treat as a major affair.
Then what on earth was she supposed to do with this…?
“Sigh.”
Just as she let out a sigh of frustration, Paijin, seated on the left, cautiously raised his hand.
“Lady matriarch, may I also speak…?”
“Go ahead.”
“My honor has been dragged through the mud. I believe this matter is directly tied to the honor of not only the Tulke family but also that of the Blando family…”
“What?”
The matriarch’s chilling voice sliced through the air.
“Hic!”
Startled by the sudden shift in matriarch’s tone, Paijin hiccupped unconsciously. Though she hadn’t released any tangible aura, his hands and feet trembled violently.
“Is your family’s honor, Blando’s honor, so light to you?”
“Th-That’s not…”
“And one more thing.”
The matriarch sharply tapped the sofa armrest—Tak!—and glared at Paijin.
“I heard you compared one of my people to a dog? Not even your father would dare such insolence, yet you, of all people, did it, overstepping your place! Did you think I would overlook your behavior just because you’re the Tulke family’s young master, just because you’re a noble?”
“L-Lady matriarch, that was just—!”
“If that’s what you meant, then I understand. I won’t make this into a public matter. However, it seems I can’t help but feel displeased.”
“…”
By now, Paijin’s face had turned pale as paper.
And who could blame him?
Even if it wasn’t publicized, to fall out of matriarch’s favor meant doom.
“L-Lady matriarch, please, have mercy…”
“Mercy? What mercy should I grant you? Do you mean I should change my mood for your sake?”
“…”
Paijin tightly shut his mouth.
And rightly so, there was no mercy to be had.
To beg for matriarch’s favor at this point would itself be an act of insolence.
“Leave at once. I’ll discuss your humiliation with your father directly.”
“…”
At the cold words of dismissal, Paijin hung his head.
There were countless things he wanted to say.
Was he really to suffer such disgrace over a mere servant? Was the Tulke family’s young master truly beneath that wretched insect of a girl?
However…
“I-I will take my leave.”
In the end, Paijin said nothing and left the room.
That was when Bianca turned her gaze to Aster.
“Aster.”
“…Yes?”
“I’d like to ask what on earth you were thinking. Did you not consider the aftermath? Don’t tell me you did this believing Demian or I would clean up after you, that would be quite disappointing.”
Her tone was still sharp, but unlike with Paijin, there was a gentleness beneath it, genuine concern for Aster’s recklessness.
At least, that was true until Aster opened his mouth.
“Lady matriarch, I’m fine.”
“What do you mean you’re fine? This could become very serious if mishandled. Haven’t you heard that public opinion within Blando isn’t exactly favorable toward you?”
“After the rain, the ground hardens.”
What?
As Bianca frowned, Aster’s determined voice continued.
“So it is with justice. It becomes stronger through hardship and pain. But I believe, without doubt, that everything will turn out right.”
What the hell…
Bianca was at a loss for words.
Aster clenched his fist with a fiery look in his eyes, as if he were some lone crusader standing against the world.
“Perhaps the Tulke family will even thank me.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“I turned their disgrace, that man ignorant of honor, into a person, without resorting to violence. Therefore, the Tulke family ought to be grateful to me.”
“…”
“I am the Eastern Continent’s greatest reformation technician. Ah, well, I may still be a bit unrefined, but don’t worry, there’s aftercare scheduled.”
So proud, so confident, Bianca was rendered speechless.
Lancy, too, stood there with her mouth agape.
Meanwhile, Aster’s voice pierced into both their ears.
“I do not yield to evil.”
“…”
“…”
Bianca looked at him for a long moment, then turned her eyes to Lancy.
“Get him out of my sight. Now.”
“…Understood.”
The madman. The execution. Successful.
All in all, the results weren’t half bad.
Meanwhile, Bianca pressed her temples, feeling a throbbing headache.
‘Did I… misjudge him?’
Perhaps it wasn’t only Demian who had changed at the academy. Just as Demian had been influenced by Aster, perhaps the reverse had also occurred…
‘No, impossible.’
There are things one can learn, and things one simply cannot.
And that nature of his was clearly the latter.
* * *
After the conversation with matriarch ended, by the time I stepped outside, night had already fallen.
Then again, it had already been dusk when matriarch’s attendants caught me “reforming” that bastard and dragged me here.
Either way, the moon was high in the sky by now.
Lancy showed me to my room and turned away without hesitation.
“I’ll send word to Young Master Demian in the morning.”
I watched her departing figure with a faint awkwardness before heading into the room.
‘Tsk, I’m starving.’
Come to think of it, I hadn’t had dinner, I’d been too busy rehabilitating that bastard.
Reluctantly, I pulled out some jerky I’d stored in my subspace and started chewing. The taste wasn’t half bad.
As I gnawed on the meat, I organized my thoughts.
‘I’ve thrown the bait, at least.’
Though I’d claimed it was in the name of justice, my “reformation” of that bastard had several ulterior motives.
Or rather, points I wanted to confirm.
‘Something felt off about the whole thing.’
There were a few things I needed to verify.
First…
‘Why did someone that important happen to show up there at that exact time?’
Sure, it was a shop chosen by matriarch herself, so it wasn’t some low-end tailor. It was probably the finest establishment in the entire Blando territory. But even then, running into that bastard so coincidentally? Too convenient.
And if he came because of the upcoming banquet, a noble of his rank would hardly lack formal attire.
No, he didn’t even look like he was there for clothes in the first place.
‘Nor did it seem like he came with any specific intent.’
Then why had that bastard stepped into the tailor shop at that very moment?
By my judgment, someone must’ve sent him there.
Which brings me to the second point…
‘Who?’
The obvious suspect was someone from that “unusual vassal house” Lancy mentioned.
Of course, it could also have been the Tulke family head himself.
Either way, that would reveal itself soon enough. But what I found most curious wasn’t those first two questions, it was the third.
“Why?”
Whoever had moved that bastard was no ordinary person.
‘If I didn’t sense any surveillance, that means they didn’t even need to tail me, they already have eyes everywhere.’
So why would someone like that take an interest in me, a mere vagrant from the Grey Zone?
“How strange. Truly strange. There’s no reason for it.”
If, by chance, it really was that “unusual vassal house,” then they were probably hoping to use me as leverage to extract something from Blando.
Even so, to go this far?
This was overkill.
Well, in any case…
‘Whatever it is, they’ll make their choice now.’
I’ve made it clear I’m a lunatic, so if their intentions were shallow, they’d back off on their own.
If not… I’ll have to prepare other measures.
That’s something to deal with later.
Ideally, they’d just flinch and leave me alone.
Sure, I was pissed off, but part of the reason I escalated things with that bastard’s “reformation” was for this very test.
“Tch, still starving though.”
I popped a second piece of jerky into my mouth and grumbled.
That was when I heard a noise tapping against the window.
Thump! Thump!
“…?”
Turning my head toward the sound, I froze for a moment, unable to believe my eyes.
“…Breakfast Number One?”
In the dark night, illuminated by moonlight, was a familiar silhouette, unmistakably that of Breakfast Number One I’d left behind in Hazen.
Could it be? Did it sense my hunger and come to deliver a meal?
“But… it’s dinner time, though?”
But that fleeting illusion vanished quickly.
Upon closer look, I realized it wasn’t Breakfast Number One at all.
It was too sleek, too tall.
You might ask, how can something be sleek and big? Well, sleek meant slender in build, not thin, but long-lined.
When I came closer to check, my suspicion was confirmed.
“…An eagle?”
Yes, it was an eagle.
As I stared at it, the eagle struck the window sharply.
Bang! Bang!
Apparently irritated, my “Dinner Number One” pecked at the glass as if to break it.
I couldn’t ignore that nasty temper, so I had no choice but to open the window.
Tied to its leg was a message tube containing a folded note.
And the note read…
[Let’s meet at the Deputy Magic Faculty Office.
Your friend, Henji von Blando]
“Ah, damn it.”
A friend?
He’s years older than me, what friend?
Beeeep, beeeep, beeeeeeep!
As Dinner Number One shrieked solemnly beside me, I glared up at it, suppressing the urge to curse, and forced down my irritation as I headed out.
Flap!
…With my dinner perched proudly atop my head.
