87 – Cats are unfair (2)
Nyan… As expected, the uneasy premonition hit.
I was sitting in front of Herilda on her knees. That too, alongside Professor Luktae. She knew this person from when she said she was going with her.
I was in the middle of helping Herilda’s older sister prepare for her junior’s appointment as marquis.
It wasn’t long after I went to practice, so it wasn’t until I arrived at the imperial castle that I learned what had happened to His Majesty.
From nob le mt l. co m
Most people put their hands on their hands, saying that the ceremony would not take place, but I persevered and prepared for the appointment ceremony of my junior, no matter what anyone said.
‘Your junior’s father couldn’t be like that! He’s famous for being loyal to the Empire!’
While I was moving so frantically, the prince called me and it ended up like this.
“Come on, Tinyashif. Could you please explain what happened?”
“Nya, nya.”
I wish you wouldn’t ask while laughing with your knife drawn…
“My, I didn’t do it!”
“Then someone else did it? Who is this?”
“Nyan…”
She paused for a moment, then Herilda put her knife on my shoulder and smiled.
“You don’t want to kill your cute little brother, do you?”
“No, I will tell you!!”
Sister… I’m scared.
“My brother did that!”
“Anyit? Why? She can’t sell it because she’s a replica of the imperial family’s treasure.”
“They made a deal with Professor Luctae on the condition that he ask for a replica to be made on his behalf in exchange for his information.”
As for Shamilton, she deals with anything as long as it’s money. Of course, information is the same.
Giving information just by substituting a request? Of course you should ask
“Sister! Sister! Scoop, scoop!”
I was really surprised when I heard it from Annie. It’s a fact that she didn’t know even though she had learned it for 4 years at the academy.
To be honest, she had no idea that Professor Luktae would be able to produce replicas of artifacts.
There are only a handful of artifact creators on the continent. It takes a year to make just one artifact, and it can’t be mass-produced like printing with a type.
This is the information of a person who can make such a valuable item in a short period of time just by touching it once. It’s the same Shamilton, so you can know it well.
I, too, would have asked for the suggestion while salivating like a cat who saw fish.
Even if the trade partner is Garatroso.
“Nyan… The reason I went to the ‘Allied Powers’ this time was to break through a new commercial route.”
“Discard it immediately. If you don’t want to incur His Majesty’s wrath.”
She quickly nodded her head at her tight-lipped sister. Of course. Did she really think it was an imperial family secret that the duchess hadn’t even told about?
From nob le mt l. co m
My sister sighed and put her knife back, and she let out a sigh of relief as well.
“You… How the hell are you going to look at Count So?”
As soon as my junior’s story came out, I pricked up her ears. Junior? I heard this was a deal between Shamilton and Garatroso? Why is your junior?
As I looked at her sister with her doubts, her sister shook her head slightly.
“They say that the replica of the invisibility cloak played a huge role in what happened today.”
At those words, the hair all over her body stood on end. Even the professor who was quietly crouching next to him inadvertently straightened his back.
I never imagined that the request would take a detour in this way and choke me. I wasn’t even involved at all!
“Ah, that’s how it happened.”
“Nyan!?”
When I saw the junior who entered the room we were in and nodded as if he had understood, tears welled up involuntarily.
It felt like that simple act was an ultimatum to me.
No, junior. I’m not like that…
—–
Rather relieved.
If the culprit wasn’t Karatroso, the incident could have been twisted for no reason, but it was just used as a carrier book.
As I was nodding his head in agreement, Tinya Siff put his hands on the floor, ready to crawl up on all fours, and said loudly:
“Oh, Oh, you must, junior! Me, Nya!”
Her eyes are wet and her ears are drooping down. Apparently, he’s worried that I might think he’s the culprit.
But how could I misunderstand the culprit after hearing that conversation just now? Even if I got it wrong, I got it wrong for a long time.
Of course, I can’t say that Shamilton is completely unrelated to this case, but that doesn’t really push my seizure button. Why would you throw stones when you have no sin?
I smiled at her single and reassured her.
“It’s okay, senior. Don’t worry too much about things you’re not directly involved in. I do not misunderstand anything.”
“Hoo… Mr. Bae…”
At my words, the cat’s ears went up on the road. Whether I go up or down, the cat ears always tickle my heart.
The desire to prick her ears again and squat surged up, but she held it back. And she turned her head to Ruktae.
“Professor.”
“Yes, yes!”
“There is something I want to ask you.”
When I snapped my fingers and made a sound, all of the time except me and Luktae were frozen.
Everyone except me and Luktae stopped moving, and the whole world became dotted with achromatic colors in an instant.
It is the effect of ‘I came to make a deal’, a skill that can be activated without a separate drive word like Soul Chain. It was a measure I took because I did not want to openly reveal the fact that the emperor had visited me.
He was flummoxed, but I took out the broken black dagger the emperor had thrown away from my bosom without answering my question.
“This is a replica of the sword of the Reverse Constellation…”
“That is…”
“Did you make it?”
Rukhtae vigorously nodded her head without the slightest hesitation. Then he started spitting out things he hadn’t even asked.
“My, all of the replicas I made have the initials ‘R.N’ written on them, so you can easily tell them apart!”
“I see.”
“And it was made a long time ago with much less advanced skills than now, so the effect is not good! It’s just a tiny bit of mana distraction!”
Professor Luctae took out his words with a rapid-fire cannon, almost as if he was making an excuse for the young me.
Apparently, the moment he heard that the replica of the invisibility cloak he had made was used in an attempt to assassinate the emperor, he seemed terrified when he saw that I had taken out the dagger of the reverse constellation.
I’m kind of cooperative, so the conversation is short and that’s good. Let’s just hit it in moderation.
“I see.”
“And after only one use, it loses all its properties and turns into a brittle mineral. At that time, I only made it to prove my skills to the imperial family!”
This is also what I heard from the emperor. It was said that he handed over the dagger replicas of the reverse constellations he received from the imperial family to each ducal family in exchange for loyalty.
There is a one-time use limit, so he said he gave quite a lot.
Honestly, now that Serien’s brother is the culprit, it’s almost confirmed, so there’s no need to doubt another duke.
As I silently nodded her head with her arms crossed, Luktae rolled her eyes around her and spoke gibberish.
“If there is an artifact that Count So wants, I will make it for you! Then you can get rid of the charges against me!?”
Yes! I was waiting for that!
Professor Luctae has already established himself as my number one colleague in my heart. Is the individual’s powerlessness deplorable? That much doesn’t overshadow his strengths.
What an artifact’s infinite duplication bug! If I miss this, even a passing dog will laugh at me and spit.
The reason why he dared to use his skills to freeze outside time was to secretly accept him as a colleague.
I called out for joy inside, but on the outside, I pretended to be as calm as possible and spoke casually.
“Ah, is that so? What kind of replica can you make?”
When I showed interest, Luktae smiled awkwardly, then folded his fingers one by one and continued.
“First of all… That, two, the invisibility cloak and the dagger of the reverse constellation… Remenek’s spear, the Yukanis storage box… Again…”
I listened to his words one by one and nodded his head as if nothing was wrong.
‘Crazy.’
Secretly shocked.
This human treasure was no ordinary treasure.
At best, I thought I’d mention a few low-level artifacts that are circulating on the market, and there might be useful ones among them.
Totally overturned my expectations. Each of the artifacts he spoke of were worthy of being classified as names. It’s also overwhelmingly better than anything I’ve ever gathered in the north.
From nob le mt l. co m
My surprise showed on my face before I knew it, and Luktae scratched the back of his head with a shy smile.
“It’s all thanks to memorizing the artifacts at home while touching them.”
Home? Are there many artifacts in your house?
“My mother likes to collect artifacts… So there is always not enough money at home. He leaves only the minimum amount of money necessary for living and uses it all to collect artifacts.”
“No…”
Still, isn’t there a degree? There’s no way the imperial family would leave it without managing it.
Then it means that they secretly obtained it on the black market or had some means to avoid being noticed by the imperial family.
There is nothing to say even if you make a mistake and are accused of being a traitor. If they had that amount of artifacts, they would want to retrieve them even if they were forced to frame them.
I became even more curious about the identity of Professor Luctae, who had never appeared in the original work.
That’s why I’m going to accept this person as my colleague and then I’ll look into it step by step.
“Then Professor Luctae.”
“Yes…”
“Would you like to be my exclusive Artifact Creator?”
At my very obvious suggestion.
“…Yes?”
The stupid answer came back.