123 – Interview
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the banquet hall was in full swing.
It was said that the sparkling liquor was served to quench thirst, but after drinking more than three or four glasses, I became moderately drunk, and as time went by, the rumbling grew loud enough to drown out the sound of the music.
In such an untidy space, Hugo was dealing with people approaching him to make friends.
“Long time no see, Sir Hugo.”
A man dressed in ivory robes greeted me with an elegant gesture. He prefaced his greeting by saying it had been a while, but unfortunately, his face was not in Hugo’s memory.
“Nice to meet you…”
However, there was a possibility that he might have forgotten his face, so Hugo replied with a trail of silence.
Hugo did not have a superhuman memory, and had an ordinary memory that easily forgot ‘unimportant’ characters.
Normally, Eldrina, who dominated the social world, would have appropriately interacted with her and led the conversation, but for some reason, Eldrina gave up her place to her daughter, Siriel.
Eldrina’s absence.
But that didn’t cause any real difficulties.
‘I’m Viscount Fosse. The second brother-in-law of Duke Ermenst.’
Just before I faced a difficult situation, I heard a tip from my daughter.
It’s more comfortable after that.
“Viscount Fosse. We all meet at a place like this.”
“Did you remember?”
Was it because his name was called? The expression of Viscount Fosse, the man in ivory robes, brightened noticeably.
“I heard that this expedition was completed safely. I am truly grateful.”
“…I should have been glad that it ended at this level.”
Without stopping the conversation, Hugo glanced around. Even though I had dealt with quite a few people, there were still many people looking for an opportunity to chat.
‘Why on earth do I have so many people coming to visit me?’
Hugo felt mildly dizzy.
‘As expected, this position is not suitable for me.’
A thought I’ve had all along. It was becoming clearer by the day.
artificial lighting. Awful perfume smell. A lot of people. Loud conversation.
-……I was thinking about beating up the dog.
‘…what?’
In an instant, my developed hearing caught the swearing sound. But Hugo couldn’t afford to worry about that.
In places where alcohol was present, it was common for people to grab their head due to drunkenness, and Hugo’s mental strength was already at its limit just from dealing with the man in front of him.
“Now that I think about it, there was an interesting rumor…”
Likewise, Viscount Fosse also paid little attention to the commotion he had just noticed. Hugo erased the existence of the distant commotion from his mind.
“I heard that Sir Hugo’s son is also attending the academy. Is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“They say there has been a lot of trouble at the Academy recently. Have you heard about it?”
“…what do you mean by that?”
Hugo, conscious of his daughter sitting behind him, answered with a question.
“There is a rumor that the daughter of the Strasser family and the son of General Voss suffered a broken nose after being beaten by a classmate.”
‘yawnful story.’
I thought so, but Hugo didn’t show it.
“…If the rumors are true, it’s a shame.”
I just want to respond appropriately and end the conversation.
“Yes. But luckily, they called a therapist and healed it without a single scar.”
But perhaps he was oblivious, or perhaps he had the temperament of a pompous man, he began to get excited by the story.
“Here’s another interesting piece of news: Count Schreyer’s second son and Margrave Carr’s grandson broke their limbs in sparring class.”
“…hmm?”
Hugo’s head tilted.
Why is it interesting news that a nobleman’s son’s limbs are broken? At the words that left me with no choice but to harbor doubts, my eyes narrowed as I looked at the man.
‘Does this person have a mental problem?’
Viscount Fosse’s eyes widened as if he understood Hugo’s intentions.
“Did you find the story boring?”
“…That’s not true.”
“then?”
“You know… Isn’t it common to break arms and legs? It was during sparring, so I didn’t feel anything special about it.”
“Ah! I guess I didn’t explain it well enough.”
Viscount Fosse took a step closer to Hugo.
“This is also a story I heard from my brother-in-law. All of the young people I talked to were beaten by one student. Their limbs were broken and their noses were broken. Oh my, it wasn’t all that crazy.”
“…is that really true?”
“Yes. From what I heard, the number of young people that that student knocked down is easily in the double digits.”
“So, you’re saying that others didn’t take any action until that happened? I’m sure someone called for action.”
“Interestingly, no one else has done it.”
Hugo was not interested in the story, but responded by nodding appropriately.
Perhaps because the response was positive, a faint smile began to appear on Viscount Fosse’s face.
“What? Isn’t it common to have broken arms and legs? And since it was a conflict between children, it must have been funny for adults to come forward and criticize it.”
“…Right.”
“Ah! Then, please excuse me. I’ve been hogging too much time.”
Viscount Fosse walks away with his hands behind his back. The way he just said what he wanted to say and then disappeared gave the impression that he was a very difficult person to deal with.
The empty space of the person who left was immediately taken by someone else. This time, Al was a man wearing thick glasses, but this was also a face that Hugo did not remember.
“Sir Hugo. I’m talking directly like this…”
“father.”
Just as he was about to greet Hugo with a bright smile. I heard my daughter’s call from behind.
“Wait. Excuse me.”
Hugo, who spoke as if informed, turned his body back. There, Siriel, who had a bad complexion, was holding her forehead.
“…Is there any uncomfortable place?”
“Can I go out for a while to get some fresh air? I’ve been standing for a long time, so I’m getting a little dizzy.”
“So be it.”
Hugo turned his head slightly and met his eyes with his glasses.
“I’m sorry, but can we put it off until next time?”
“Yes, yes. Come on over.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Hugo nodded and left the banquet hall with Siriel at his side.
*
A banquet held in the imperial castle, the night of long swords.
Although quite a few people gathered, it was a place where only selected VIPs could visit, so no part of what happened there was leaked out.
The fact that Prien’s legitimate son insulted the first prince, Austin, to his face was not leaked out.
That would be a good idea, Austin thought.
“It would be better if yesterday’s events did not spread to the public.”
A hotel in Lien, of which anonymously reserved rooms.
Austin, who was sitting on a red leather sofa, spoke to the man facing him as if making a suggestion.
The man said while stroking his shaggy beard, which suits the rhetoric of being messy.
“If you say it was yesterday?”
“I… was insulted by something whose origins are unclear. Surely you didn’t see it? From what I remember, you also attended the banquet.”
“I couldn’t see it in person, but I heard about it from Count Elgar.”
“…Thank goodness.”
Austin deliberately looked relieved. It had to be that way.
“My blood pressure isn’t very good these days. It’s better for as few people as possible to remember this embarrassing incident.”
“You are right.”
The man in front of me was not a man of the Empire before he was a man of Austin, so it was better for him to be perceived as a man who prioritized respect above all else.
‘It’s extremely troublesome.’
Even so, Austin couldn’t just lie to the man in front of him.
It is false to say that the man is happy because he cannot see what happened yesterday, but it is true that his blood pressure is abnormally high these days.
Austin had to mix up the truth and convey it to the man.
Count Volland was a man from the Principality of Adjani who came with news of his younger brother, who had been dethroned from his position as a member of the royal family five years ago.
He introduced himself as a shaman from beyond the desert, but in a separate letter from Henry, he said he was a famous monk from the Principality of Adjani. Yet, the fact that he still holds a title is ridiculous.
however,
Although Count Boland was not trustworthy, he was the most capable of Austin’s cards.
It was no different to say that there was ability.
If you tell this person a wish, it usually comes true.
He said he didn’t want to be abandoned like his brother.
You said you don’t want to die
He said he couldn’t die like this.
Finally, he said he wanted to become emperor.
Somehow, like magic, Austin found a way out, so he had no choice but to appoint Count Borland even though he knew it was suspicious.
However,
I can’t help but feel unknown, suspicious, tired to deal with, and dizzy.
From noble mtl dot com
Austin, who rubbed his heavy eyelids like lead, wanted to finish the story quickly.
‘If I don’t finish the story quickly…’
“Lowering.”
At the moment when I felt like my heart was going to stop, a wrinkled hand squeezed Austin’s hand.
“There is one thing I must ask of you.”
“What do you mean?”
Is it because my hands are held tightly? Austin felt his eyelids becoming lighter.
The feeling that was as heavy as lead has gone somewhere,
I felt like my mind became clearer, and my mind also felt at ease. When Austin held Bolland’s hand, he felt as if he had escaped his damned body and was walking on clouds.
Very naturally, without any discomfort.
Austin’s consciousness focused on him.
“Judging from the condition of the deterioration, the lower deity will die first than the emperor.
“…is that enough?”
Austin narrowed his brows and handed over his wand.
A staff given to him by Count Borland after he wished to become the emperor. I heard that it is a tool that consumes the user’s life force as a sacrifice and consumes the lives of others.
Kagak-
Borland twisted the wand handle to separate it from the pole.
“Your blood pressure as well as your complexion are not normal, so I will adjust the amount.
Boland tilted his white body and moved his hands as if taking something out.
-Tsk tsk tsk tsk
The sound of something falling on the table.
But Austin couldn’t see it.
‘It’s beyond creepy. I can recognize it as being in front of my eyes, but I can’t see it…’
The shaman’s touch in front of him only seemed to make it easier to fake it by playing his hand in a plausible way in the air.