<Chapter 54>
#6. Waves of Change
Calix sat occupying one side of the round table with an indifferent expression, arms folded, observing the conversations of those coming and going. Although he was the host of this exchange meeting, there was no need for him to lead the meeting as well.
He was the only one who held the position of ‘acting head of family’ in this meeting, which was usually occupied by family heads or heirs apparent. Even so, no one dared to reproach him, as he had been occupying a seat at these meetings for several years now.
“I heard there was a brief incident yesterday.”
The gaze of Kamin Patel, a tiger beastman who casually brought up the topic, fell on Calix. Recognizing that he had deliberately steered the conversation in this direction, Calix twisted his lips into something close to a sneer. Due to his comment, the gazes of everyone gathered at the table were now fixed on Calix.
“What does that have to do with this exchange meeting?”
“The exchange meeting itself is for mutual interaction, so what topic could be off-limits?”
With an irritating laugh of “hehaha,” he stroked his beard with his hand. After scanning him up and down with a coldly composed face, Calix said:
“I understand you’re very interested in the Padrian family, but you should focus more on your own family.”
“What insolent talk…!”
At Calix’s very slight provocation, he clenched his fist and struck the table. With a bang, the gazes of others who had been watching their conversation with interest turned into frowns. No one preferred a fight to break out at a gathering meant for harmony. Moreover, the Padrian family fell into the category of being ‘necessary’ to them.
“This is not a place for fighting. Let’s stop this.”
“Did you hear what that fellow just said?!”
“You started it first!”
No one was pleased with the discord that arose before they had even made proper progress in the meeting. In the end, Kamin Patel suppressed his anger while roughly grinding his teeth. Judging by the veins bulging on his clenched fist, he had merely restrained his expression, but that alone was enough for the conversation to proceed smoothly.
Checking his condition with a sidelong glance, Calix added the name of the tiger beastman ‘Kamin Patel’ to his list of persons of concern. Bain Spangky, who had attacked Melty, was not bold enough to decide and act alone. And without having found his backer yet, Calix naturally suspected those attending this exchange meeting.
Calix, who had thought there wouldn’t be much significant discussion at this exchange meeting, couldn’t help but harden his expression more and more as the meeting progressed. He had heard news that a drought had started in the southern region and was expanding, but it seemed the rate of spread was greater than expected. Those gathered in the meeting room were sharing the damages that had occurred in their respective regions, saying countermeasures were needed.
“Calix-nim.”
Angel, who had taken a seat next to him under the title of aide, cautiously whispered, calling him. Seeing his expression that seemed to have a lot to say, Calix responded by roughly nodding his head. Though he knew what Angel was concerned about, Calix just planned to push through.
“What about Padrian?”
And as if they had been waiting, the arrow of questioning was directed at him. Brushing back his hair, Calix calmly received their gazes.
“I haven’t heard any particular news so far.”
At Calix’s words, the murmuring in the meeting room grew louder. Among those gathered from various regions, Padrian was the only place where no damage had occurred. It was natural for suspicious gazes to be directed at him, but Calix had no particular need to be mindful of them.
“But it’s strange. It’s not like it hasn’t rained, yet each region is evenly experiencing problems.”
“Hmph. Isn’t it more strange that only Padrian has no issues?”
Perhaps because Calix had dismissed the conversation he had tried to initiate cordially, Kamin Patel’s voice was constantly sharp. In response to his blatant accusation of suspicion, Calix gave the brightest smile ever.
“I’m not that stupid, you see.”
“It’s often the clever ones who trip in unexpected places.”
“That’s enough.”
In the end, Durasen Botenta, who cut off the renewed tension, rubbed his forehead with a sigh. Bickering at exchange meetings was a common occurrence, but he, a bear beastman, particularly disliked fighting. He had already met with Calix separately earlier that day to discuss the drought situation, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of taking his side.
“How about this? As Padrian said, it’s strange that each region is experiencing severe drought despite it not being due to lack of rain. Therefore, it might be appropriate for Padrian to find out the cause and solution to this issue.”
Turning his head sideways at the familiar voice, Calix shot a glare at Owen Kun Sarvie, who was nonchalantly passing the burden onto others. If he could, he wanted to jump onto the table right now, grab the sheep beastman’s characteristically curled horns with both hands, and break them off.
“Since it’s a problem occurring in each respective region, shouldn’t each one solve it themselves?”
“If we knew the cause, finding a solution would be easy. The ground is moist, yet only the grass is dying, so it’s not due to the weather. And to solve such a problem, Padrian, which has much interest in plants, is the most suitable.”
Calix’s expression became even more severely wrinkled at his behavior, as if he was deliberately cornering him. Several among those gathered had already started to agree with Sarvie’s opinion.
“This is indeed a place to coordinate each other’s opinions, but since when did Padrian become responsible for handling everything from start to finish? Right? It’s not like this is the first or second time.”
Calix raised the corners of his mouth to create a smile. The forcibly created smile appeared only grotesque due to his sharply glinting eyes. Deliberately touching on their pride, several family heads sitting around the table showed displeased expressions.
Now, they just needed to say they would take responsibility for their own family matters without entrusting them to other families. And quite naturally, a husky voice from a distance disrupted everything in an instant.
“Then let’s decide by majority vote as always! The opinions of the exchange meeting are originally decided by majority vote!”
Kamin Patel, who seemed to enjoy seeing Calix cornered, encouraged the others while banging on the table. Thanks to this, the weight shifted once again in a direction Calix did not prefer.
Though various opinions were exchanged amid the murmurs, more people wanted the expanding ‘drought’ situation to be resolved quickly and promptly. And naturally, their conversation led to a flow of wanting to pass this annoying situation onto someone else. Calix frowned at the continuously irritating situation.
“Calix-nim. It seems difficult to turn the situation around. What will you do?”
“Well.”
Responding indifferently to Angel’s whispered question, Calix examined the faces of those seated around the table one by one. Seeing Calix being reticent, Angel also followed suit and looked around, but nothing particularly stood out to him. Unlike Angel, Calix utilized his gift.
Even if his gift indicated someone would be helpful to him, he couldn’t predict when that help would occur. However, it was perfect for distinguishing between good and bad people.
“Then, let’s proceed with the majority vote as always. Of course, Calix Kuse Padrian, who is attending as a proxy and not even the heir apparent, has no voting rights.”
Calix silently held his position at Durasen’s words, who calmed the surroundings with his heavy voice. It was merely ridiculous to bring up such talk in a situation where they had already made the decision among themselves.
Until now, he hadn’t paid attention because he disliked becoming bothersome, but clearly, whether one was guaranteed the position of heir apparent or not affected the range of utilization or movement.
“…It seems you might have to take action directly?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Pardon?”
Excluding Calix, each family was already proceeding with raising hands according to their respective opinions. Angel, who had been seriously observing them, turned to Calix with a dumbfounded voice. Still fixing his gaze ahead, Calix raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
“Angel Fryce.”
“Yes.”
Angel promptly responded to Calix’s call. Perhaps due to the quick and swift organization of opinions, it seemed that without any particular variables, all tasks were being passed onto Calix. There were a few opportunities to adjust matters decided at the exchange meeting. Calix planned to shed as much as possible of the annoying work he was forcibly saddled with.
“Then, let’s decide that today’s agenda proceeds as such.”
With a “hoho,” Durasen declared that the first meeting of the exchange meeting had ended. After capturing the image of those rising from their seats without missing anything, Calix opened his mouth with a bright smile only after they had all left the meeting room.
“I guess it’s about time I became the head of this family.”
“What? So suddenly? Has the current head agreed to hand it over?”
The Padrian family had historically been one with few children born. That’s why Calix, the only son of the current head, had a high probability of becoming the family head. In other families, he would have been designated as the successor long ago, but the current head was by no means easy to deal with.
“This is why they say you shouldn’t live too comfortably.”
At Calix’s retort, even clicking his tongue, Angel felt wronged. It might be different for others, but he hadn’t lived comfortably enough to be told such things. As he was about to complain about how hard it was to work under a boss with a bad temper, Angel barely closed his mouth, remembering the gold coins in his pocket. Unaware of this, Calix responded with a deep smile at his lips.
“I have to seize what’s mine by myself.”
After finishing his words, Calix rose to his feet. For someone caught up in an annoying situation, his expression was quite comfortable. Unable to even guess what terrifying things were swirling in that mind of his, Angel got up hesitantly. Then he hurriedly followed behind him, who was walking quickly as if he had no worries at all.
“Are you going to your office?”
“Ah, you go first. I’ll go after stopping by somewhere briefly.”
At Calix’s nonchalant response, Angel stared at the back of his head with his eyes half-open. For some reason, one place came to mind that he thought might not be the case, but seemed likely to be. After contemplating briefly whether to ask or not, Angel asked with a sour expression.
“I’m not particularly curious, but I’m asking because it’s bothering me… Where are you stopping by?”
“It’s a personal matter, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
At his dismissive wave of the hand, Angel nodded quietly with an enlightened expression. It seemed his guess was correct after all.
Calix’s footsteps, which were moving towards the room where Melty would be, halted in place at a familiar voice. Fixing his gaze on the wide garden located at the front of the mansion, Calix immediately hardened his expression.
There, Melty, who was barely 150cm tall, and the tiger beastman Kamin Patel, who was well over 2m tall, were standing face to face. Moreover, Kamin Patel was raising his hand as if he were about to strike Melty down at any moment.
“That damn bastard…!”
Cursing, Calix hurriedly ran to where they were standing.
