51 Familiar Face

Raisa tried to sit next to me in the carriage, but Jess forced her out and sat next to me instead. I didn't comment on the situation, since I didn't really care.

I just focused on meditating. Despite the fact there were people nearby, I still felt comfortable enough to focus on learning how to dual cast. Of course, I wasn't actually casting any spells, but rather moving mana into those ways.

Time passed rather quickly.

Before I knew it, the carriage had stopped and everyone set things up. Both Jess and Raisa looked around like lost children. It appeared the slums were not a place that they were familiar with.

It appeared quite new to them.

Raisa furrowed her brows and wrinkled her nose.

"Why does it smell so bad here?"

Although Jess didn't say anything, from her similarly tense expression, it appeared she had a similar opinion. I simply waved my hand dismissively.

"This is just how this place smells. You'll get used to it."

The servants quickly and methodically set up the tables and chairs before I even had a chance to help, so I just sat down. Though, while Raisa and Jess were arguing about the right to sit next to me, I heard someone else's voice in the distance.

"That is unbecoming of a noble! Back off right now!"

It was a familiar voice, though I couldn't remember who exactly it was. Curious, I ended up getting out of my seat and walking over to see what the commotion was about. It did not take long for me to realize that there were quite a few nobles and butlers loitering around the place.

"Why are you defending these commoners? You are simply the daughter of a Marquis, what can you do?"

"I am not defending anyone! My only goal is to uphold the honor of nobles by preventing them from doing anything foolish!"

It was hard to make her out, but through the crowd of nobles, I was able to see Charlotte, standing in front of an exasperated Nathan and a depressed-looking Edward. The crowd was so overwhelming, that it appeared ironically enough they weren't able to get any business.

Because even if some had brought animals, they wouldn't have been able to be brought over to them.

Charlotte was desperately trying to defend Nathan, but it didn't seem as though it was working. It appeared that the nobles had figured out who was responsible for creating the specially processed meat because-

"I can offer you a gold coin every day if you choose to work with only me!"

"One gold coin? I can offer ten gold pieces every single day and a manor with all the servants you need for free!"

"Hahaha, I can match whatever these people financially offer and also give you as many women as you want!"

Edward simply had his head down. He was sitting on top of the counter of their stand because there were no other chairs. His legs hung listlessly, while there was only one hand on his knee.

It was fairly clear that he couldn't care less about any of the offers that the nobles were making. Honestly, I was kind of surprised he didn't even seem slightly tempted. There was only a passive frown like it wasn't actually nobles pestering him.

Charlotte was dead set on defending Nathan, though there weren't too many people focused on him in the first place.

This left Edward completely surrounded by nobles and butlers sent by their masters.

With all of the bribes not working, someone that was standing back suddenly moved forth. A noble that was pushed aside frowned and looked back.

"Hey, who do you think..."

But froze up immediately when he saw who it was.

Douglas had made his move. Although the other nobles were clearly reluctant to give up this chance, they ended up moving out of the way, leaving only Douglas. He walked up with a confident smirk.

"Your name is Edward, I presume?"

Edward took in a deep breath before responding unenthusiastically.

"Yeah, I guess."

Douglas took several steps forward and gestured towards him.

"My name is Douglas, the first archduke of the Grace Kingdom. I am here to offer you a choice. You can choose to work with me and immediately gain status on the same level as a duke, or you will die."

He extended a hand, expecting a handshake of sorts.

Edward slowly turned his head to meet his gaze with Douglas. This entire time, his expression had hardly even changed. Out of nowhere, he whipped out a knife. The nobles panicked, but Douglas himself didn't even flinch.

I noticed that Edward was holding onto the blade, and holding out the handle toward Douglas. He lethargically placed it in Douglas' hand before grabbing onto Douglas' wrist, steadily bringing the blade closer and closer to his own neck.

When the tip punctured his throat, he spoke.

"If you want to kill me, then just do it. I'm the only one that can do this special thing you care about, so at least I can die knowing you lose that."

Talking caused the injuries in his neck to further worsen as it pressed against the knife, but his expression did not change.

Douglas continued to stare Edward down, searching for a trace of hesitance or a chance that he was bluffing. However, he couldn't see anything. The nobles watched this scene speechlessly, with many contorting their faces, as though they couldn't physically comprehend how Edward was acting like that.

And eventually, Douglas lowered his hand. He tossed the knife down to the stand before letting out a scoff. With a smile, he turned to me, as though he had always known I was there.

"I suppose you weren't lying when you said he would be a hard person to convince."

I shrugged my shoulders as a small smile formed on my face.

"That's just how it is. I am not one to lie for no reason."

Douglas looked at them for quite a while longer.

"So how am I to purchase this meat then?"

This time, Nathan stepped around Charlotte and spoke up.

"We will wait for those willing to sell their animals to us. Afterwards, we will sell the prepared animal, as you all put it. Currently, we don't have anything to sell because we've been unable to purchase any."

Douglas narrowed his eyes and looked back at Nathan.

"You don't suppose we could change the regulations just a tiny bit?"

Nathan let out a sigh.

"I'm afraid that this is how we've decided to do it. Apologies for any inconvenience."

With that, Douglas clicked his tongue before leaving.

"Very well then."

The nobles also began to disperse. But from the looks of things, they were going to be back. Though, Charlotte stayed. She had put both her hands on her hips and smiled proudly.

"Hehe, all of them were scared off! Be grateful, commoner, for you were in my presence."

Nathan looked back at her like she was an idiot.

"Why are you still here, huh? There are no nobles you have to prevent from disgracing."

Charlotte got flustered.

"What? I am simply here because I wish to be! Th-The only reason is that I want the special processed meat alright?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"If that's the case go negotiate with a farmer to try to get their pig off them like what all the others are doing. Then you'll be able to purchase one."

Charlotte froze up. She then swayed from side to side, showing some discomfort.

"W-Well... I'll do that later! Besides, you should be thankful to me, commoner! I... I defended you!"

Nathan looked at her before letting out a long sigh. With a wry smile, he patted her head a few times.

"I guess that's fair enough. Thanks for that."

Charlotte turned beet red while her entire body began trembling.

"I-It wasn't for you or anything, idiot!"

Don't you mean baka?

She ended up running away. As for where I'm not too sure. But she would probably be fine. Nathan pointed at me with an angry expression.

"Bitch! Didn't you say you were only going to promote it to a few people? What the hell is this?"

I held out my hands helplessly.

"Oh come on, I'm just overperforming if anything. Besides, that was my intention, but the arrogance of some nobles makes the whole thing blow up far greater than it needs to be."

Edward let out a sigh after he heard what I said.

"Thankfully I wasn't born a noble... my condolences, and thank you for setting it all up."

I furrowed my brows slightly as I looked at him.

"Shouldn't you do something about the blood pouring down from your neck?"

Edward looked back at me blankly for a moment before letting out a small gasp.

"Ah, right."

The blood covering his neck melded into his skin, while the wound itself disappeared.

I rubbed my chin for a few moments.

"By the way, could you save some of the meat for me next time too? I never really got to try it myself honestly."

Nathan waved me away.

"I was going to get you some anyway, just go do your own thing."

I thought so.

With a nod, I responded.

"Alright, good luck to you."

Both Jess and Raisa had already walked up behind me and watched everything go down. Raisa turned to me curiously.

"Are you on good terms with them?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I guess so."

Jess glared at Raisa.

"Don't think you can take advantage of their relationship!"

Raisa's mood was ruined immediately as she puffed up her cheeks.

"I wasn't!"

I walked around them to go back to the table. The servants seemed a little dazed from overhearing what had happened, but they were still able to focus on their respective jobs. Once I sat down, one of the servants immediately put a bowl down in front of me.

At this point, I welcomed the uneventfulness that sitting at this table usually had.

Raisa tried to sit next to me but was pulled up forcefully by Jess before she could. After some arguing, they eventually came to a compromise. Jess ended up sitting next to me, while Raisa sat next to Jess, keeping me further away.

I didn't really get it, but I guess that wasn't something I needed to care about.

My eyes landed on Arianne, who was peeking out from behind a house, and upon noticing I was there came over as well. After a bit of hesitation, she sat next to me. Raisa immediately pointed at her with a bit of indignance.

"Hey! Why are you sitting next to him? You have to be better friends first!"

Arianne let out a gasp.

"A-Ah! Do I?"

Raisa quickly nodded.

"You have to be truthful first! Only then will you be better friends!"

Arianne seemed to be on the verge of tears. She held up her hands while her fingers trembled, almost like she was afraid of touching anything.

"I... I'm really that untrustworthy? But I don't even remember lying!"

She awkwardly shifted out of the seat to move one space away from me. She bit the bottom of her lip and snuck glances at me, as though she would figure out how she had become a liar if she kept looking.

A bitter smile formed on my face.

At this rate, Arianne really was going to break down. After stuffing some soup into my mouth I shot a glance at her.

"People will say many things about you. Sometimes they will be right, but sometimes they will be wrong."

Arianne looked back at me with her eyes wide open. She stared at me for a good while, like she was trying to find the meaning behind my words. Not that there was any greater meaning.

She slowly nodded.

"O-Ok."

Soon after, I heard someone else's voice.

"Ah, is this the place I've heard about before?"

I looked over, without caring too much.

Yet, right after my face froze up.

Because the person smiling across from me was Bernie, the guy that Nathan was supposed to get into contact with.