“What the hell are those crazy bastards! Why did they have to show up at the auction I was managing!”
“Ugh, my head hurts, so stop yelling….”
“How can I not yell? They dared attack the Veloa Trading Company! If the family finds out about this… I’m done for, done for!”
Seilan paced back and forth like someone who’d lost their mind, continuously yelling.
“Ugh….”
Rowy, who had already wrung out what little magical power he had left, was sprawled out, unable to focus due to a terrible headache. With the noisy racket added on top of that, even his stomach started churning.
“Urk….”
“Master!”
Van, who had been fidgeting anxiously beside Rowy, let out a yelp and frantically shoved stones into Rowy’s mouth. They were magic stones.
“Mmph! No, you can’t just shove them in randomly!”
“I’m sorry….”
Tears sparkled in Van’s eyes as he bowed his head. Ugh, seriously. Rowy raised his arm to cover his eyes. He didn’t even have the strength to comfort him.
“I should have protected you….”
“Ugh, seriously. Just rub my head. It hurts.”
“Yes….”
Van became thoroughly dejected and stayed by Rowy’s side. Currently, they were still in the auction house, gathered in a reception room. Seilan, who had belatedly heard that Rowy had been caught up in the incident, appeared with the knights, his face pale as a sheet.
“Rowy! How many people did you kill!”
Of course, he wasn’t worried about Rowy—he was worried about the other side. Truly befitting of Rowy’s academy classmate. However, unfortunately, Rowy was suffering from severe magical power deficiency, and his magic hadn’t manifested properly as he’d intended. In other words, he’d struggled quite a bit.
‘That weird goat… I let it get away.’
Rowy groaned, mixed with irritation and pain. Van fidgeted helplessly, continuously massaging Rowy’s arms and legs. The sight of him sitting close and taking care of Rowy was quite touching, but Seilan, who had experienced the disgraceful incident of an auction house attack, didn’t care what the two were doing and kept yelling.
“The family will definitely raise hell when they find out! That I couldn’t even handle one small auction….”
What if I get fired from the trading company? …Fired? Seilan’s face turned deathly pale.
Veloa, where Seilan worked, was a trading company that dealt in luxury goods throughout the entire continent, and was large enough to be counted among the continent’s three great trading companies. The reason Veloa was more trusted than any other trading company was because behind the company stood an imperial noble family—House Levien.
Seilan had been born as a bastard of House Levien. Though he had inherited the family name, Seilan, who had no backing, left the family early to avoid succession disputes and joined the Veloa Trading Company. After his coming-of-age ceremony at twenty, he never returned to the Empire and had been wandering the continent ever since.
‘Because I don’t want to die.’
The farther he got from the family, the longer his lifeline would stretch—it was an unavoidable choice. Fortunately, Seilan was suited for trading company work. Since Seilan joined the company, it had been breaking sales records day after day. Thanks to that, the family didn’t care what Seilan did.
‘But that doesn’t mean they’ll let me off if I cause problems.’
For instance, an incident like an auction house attack targeting high-ranking nobles. Seilan hurriedly shook his head.
“No, no. We didn’t actually suffer that much damage, right?”
If another noble had been affected, things would have gotten serious, but… the only victim was Rowy anyway.
“I’m actually relieved it was you who got caught up in it.”
“Is that really what you say to someone who was attacked and collapsed?”
Van flared up in anger at Seilan’s inconsiderate words.
“But he caught all those assailants.”
Well, that’s true! Van glared at Seilan, having nothing to say. Seilan looked at Van and let out a hollow laugh. Wasn’t it exactly as he said? The Holy Sword, which had been their target, was protected by Rowy, and those gang members were also arrested in a rather sorry state thanks to Rowy’s magic. One person had escaped, but… he wasn’t particularly worried. There was no way Rowy would have let someone escape unscathed.
‘I let one get away… But they’ll probably die soon. I crushed all their organs….’
Judging by how the strange sorcery that guy had cast was broken and people woke up, Van had also testified that there was definitely something wrong with that person’s body.
‘If I just keep Rowy’s mouth shut, couldn’t we just sweep this under the rug?’
After all, it happened after the auction ended… and no customers remained in the auction house except Rowy. Hmm. Seilan looked at Rowy, who was lying on the sofa groaning. He looked quite painful. But even that didn’t really worry him. Because…
‘Of all people, those guys had to run into Rowy.’
The Empire’s Nightmare. It was a modifier that always stuck to Rowy.
* * *
‘When I first saw him, he was such a cute little kid.’
Seilan recalled his first meeting with Rowy. They first met at the academy. Having entered early and with his growth spurt arriving late, Rowy was a child who was one or two heads shorter than the other students. His face, which hadn’t yet lost its baby fat, was so adorable.
‘Of course, with that doll-like face, he did immediately ask me to get him a demon’s claw.’
It was flustering, but still, Seilan personally procured the demon’s claw. And was immediately called a swindler. Rowy’s attitude had been terrible from then on. Still, Seilan was quite proud to have struck up a conversation with Rowy. At that time, Rowy was already famous as a genius.
Never once relinquishing first place after enrollment, Rowy treated academy classes as if they were child’s play, writing countless magical papers throughout his time there. The Magic Tower and imperial mages visited the academy nearly every day trying to meet Rowy.
Had he graduated without incident, he might have become an academy magic professor. Or perhaps he would have become the Chief Royal Mage at an unprecedented age. However, unfortunately… Rowy at that time was an incredible troublemaker.
‘The biggest incident was when he shattered the academy’s ancient sealing formation.’
Rowy nearly got executed for that. Because the crack in the academy’s seal also severely shook the imperial palace’s sealing formation. Rowy was charged with treason against the state. If it hadn’t been for the Irad Duchy, and if Rowy hadn’t been such an outstanding mage capable of restoring that sealing formation, he would have certainly died.
Of course, even after that major incident, Rowy didn’t stop. Afterward, numerous large and small “accidents during magical research” occurred. Unable to endure it any longer, the headmaster collapsed, and eventually Rowy was forcibly graduated as the youngest ever.
‘How disappointed he looked at the graduation ceremony.’
Rowy, who had enrolled later than Seilan but graduated much earlier, was still a head shorter than Seilan at the graduation ceremony. The sight of that small, doll-like kid pouting as he received his diploma was still vivid in his memory.
‘After that, I heard he was confined to the ducal estate.’
It was the price for causing trouble. And the news about Rowy that Seilan heard after a long time was that famous incident. The very one that occurred at Rowy’s coming-of-age ceremony… the so-called “small and doesn’t stand” incident, the very incident that sent Rowy—who had remained fine despite committing treason—into exile. He’d heard rumors that the Crown Prince still occasionally mentioned Rowy and got angry.
‘Like someone who feels guilty about something….’
Getting so angry made him wonder if it might actually be true. However, if he spoke those words aloud,
‘It would be immediate execution.’
Seilan, horrified, quickly shook his head to chase away the thought. In any case, Seilan actually quite liked Rowy, who committed such eccentric acts. Watching Rowy shatter social conventions and common sense was extremely satisfying. It was a kind of vicarious pleasure. Because Seilan thought Rowy’s circumstances weren’t much different from his own.
‘No, if anything, his life is even more harsh.’
Rowy had also been born as a bastard of the Irad Duchy. But unlike Seilan, who was just a child from a common scandal, Rowy was….
* * *
“When is the healer coming? I think he needs medicine.”
“My, how fussy. Rowy, do you need medicine?”
“…No.”
“He says he doesn’t need it.”
“But he’s in so much pain!”
Van shouted angrily. Then he quickly held his breath at Rowy’s complaint that it was loud. It was a ridiculous sight.
‘He’s a bed slave, but already like that….’
Seilan’s disapproving gaze swept over the two. The desperate appearance was quite an eyesore.
“Sorry, but Rowy. We need to bury this incident between us. Is that okay? I’ll compensate you however you want.”
“Mmm. Okay.”
At those words, Van glared at Seilan again. His murderous eyes were absurd.
‘Tsk, taking after his master with that attitude… Ugh, really.’
Seilan thought to himself. It was too risky to say out loud given Van’s ominous mood. Seilan slowly backed away from Van and waved his hand.
“I said I’d compensate you, didn’t I? That guy’s no fool. He’ll probably extort me for everything.”
“Right.”
Rowy readily answered.
“…Huh? Right?”
Now that he’d affirmed it so readily, Seilan felt rather uncomfortable instead.
“Hey, Rowy. For real? Are you planning to totally extort me?”
“We’ll discuss compensation separately later….”
Rowy’s face as he said this was blank as usual. But this uneasy feeling was…. Hmm, I feel like I’ve gotten myself into something bad… Still, it’s better than the family finding out about this… right? Feeling like he was being scammed with his eyes wide open, Seilan hesitated, unable to leave the room. Seeing such a Seilan, Van cautiously asked something he was curious about.
“Um, but. Where did the Holy Sword come from?”
“Hm? The Holy Sword?”
“Yes. The Holy Sword was definitely in the Empire.”
“Hm? The Empire? That can’t be right. I received the Holy Sword directly from an Elysion priest. To sell it.”
“…A priest?”
Van asked again at the unexpected answer. Seilan nodded and tried to recall.
“Yeah. It was a black-haired priest. Since they said it was a sword bestowed by god, I thought I could sell it for a high price, so I took it.”
“…….”
At Seilan’s words, Van froze, stopping mid-motion.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
A problem? If it was a problem, it was a problem. In the Elysion Temple… there wasn’t a single person with black hair except for himself.
