Request Refused

In a small office room, Mikael was listening intently to his son's request to break off his engagement.

Raziel was explaining he doesn't feel any love towards Sylfi anymore. He even said that their marriage would not be beneficial to their family, as the Valternorths are in a tight spot right now and, in the future, they will try to put the Harvesteads in the middle of a very problematic political dispute.

When Raziel finished talking, Mikael let out a small sigh. He was already aware of the Valternorth situation, and for him, the two most beneficial aspects of his son's marriage would be to gather contacts from the royal family and secure reduced taxes, while potentially paving the way for their family to become nobles in the empire.

Nobles in Gravantia receive special treatment on many occasions, such as invitations to royal parties, favorable land deals, business priority, and perhaps most beneficially, they enjoy very low tax payments to the imperial house.

Currently, the Harvestead family pays almost thirty percent in taxes, which makes it and other bourgeois families struggle to maintain their businesses without resorting to some form of tax evasion.

But it's too risky, as if any family gets discovered by the Imperial Tax Collection (ITC), they would be labeled as traitors, and all their possessions would be confiscated in the name of the emperor.

Mikael and Jasir are very skilled in money laundering and paying bribes to politicians. Their businesses outside the territory serve as excellent covers to deceive the imperial spies who seek to find evidence of tax evasion. However, any slip-up could destroy everything.

"Raziel, did you eat shit today? Are you really that stupid?" Mikael asked, his expression serious as he tried to understand his son's reasoning.

"What?" Raziel was surprised by the sudden question.

"Look, I don't care if you love that Valternorth girl or not. The only thing I want from them are the contacts and the benefits of having a noble family entangled through matrimony," Mikael said firmly.

"So stop with your bullshit and act like a real man. You should have already made her your bitch."

Raziel's mouth fell open after his father's statement, making him realize that the plan of breaking off the engagement wouldn't be as easy as he had thought.

Actually, up until now, most of his plans weren't working at all. Maybe the only thing still going well is helping with Clarice's situation.

Sometimes he still thought it might be better to just give some money and the rainbow stone to Clarice and let her handle the problem herself, but that girl knew a lot of things related to his family.

To ensure she would keep her mouth shut, after healing Mariet, he was going to propose another deal and part ways with the heroine, who could end up attracting more problems towards him by some sick twist of destiny.

Raziel had everything stacked against him in his new life. Mikael was essentially a sociopath, Jasir a typical villain, and even his two mothers, both Class S adventurers, had controversies involving manslaughter.

He just wanted to live a peaceful life, being a wealthy person, and eventually assuming his family business to correct every wrongdoing they were involved in, to prevent future troubles.

But now, simple problems just didn't seem to want to be solved by him.

Using the system seemed to be an alternative, but he decided not to rely on it much because he always had a bad opinion of systems used in novels he usually read.

With his mind flooded with negative thoughts, he took a long breath to recompose himself before saying, "I understand. I will stop acting like a spoiled brat and do something useful."

His face took on an expressionless turn after saying these words.

"Good to hear that, but I'm still going to keep a close eye on you from now on. If you don't change, I will make you change by force," Mikael threatened, releasing his powerful mana.

Raziel gulped, feeling intimidated by his father's display of power, but he still bowed in respect for his mercy.

With that, Mikael left the room, stating he would return to the main house. After retrieving his flying mage robe from an interdimensional ring, he disappeared into the sky.

The sudden appearance of his father wasn't entirely unwelcome, but it wasn't good news either. Breaking off the marriage was out of the question for now, so Raziel decided to begin training and carefully consider his next moves.

Erick's loss to Nozomi was still bothering him, fearing that drastic plot changes could lead to something bad later. He resolved to simply survive through episode three without dying and let the world follow its new course.

"Ahh, my head hurts... I need to drink some wine, and after that, I will read some books about the three powers of this world," Raziel murmured, determined despite having some bruises on his face.

***

Two days had passed, and Raziel didn't leave home as he was creating his training routine, finding the most effective way to increase mana and aura simultaneously without encountering any issues.

Right now, he was in his office room, sleeping on the ground amidst a lot of books on different categories such as mana theory, aura theory, and essence theory that a servant had bought at his order.

While he was in a deep, comfortable dream, someone entered the room silently, not wanting to wake him up.

But then the person, after getting near him, shouted, "WAKE UP, LITTLE MASTER!"

Raziel quickly got up when he heard the sudden shout, holding a book ready to throw at the person who had startled him.

Before he could do anything, Raziel stared at the person responsible for this, who was giggling at him.

The culprit in question possessed long, flowing orange hair that elegantly covered her left eye. Her flawless and delicate skin resembled freshly fallen snow, radiating a pristine beauty. She wore a well-tailored butler suit that not only exuded professionalism but also subtly accentuated her feminine contours, giving her a captivating and alluring appearance.

"Ah, it's you, Eve," Raziel said, putting on a poker face upon seeing the beautiful girl in a butler outfit.

"In flesh and bones, partner," Eve replied with a big smirk.

The girl in front of him was Eve O'Donnelly, a strong Class B Warrior specialized in ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, and tomahawks. She is relatively famous in her guild because of her stealth ability and deadly precision, earning the title of Whisperwind.

Additionally, she is Raziel's childhood friend and his bodyguard, as her parents have worked for the Harvesteads since she was very young.

But Raziel just remembered her now and somehow already felt very close to her.

In his vision, she is one hundred percent tomboy material, except for the fact that she's an assassin who would commit war crimes with a big smile on her face.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on a mission for at least one month?" Raziel asked, curious about her sudden presence, as he remembered she had died on one of her missions before the original Raziel get killed by Erick.

"I already finished, even though I almost got caught by those ugly insectoid monsters. But you know, I'm built different." Eve struck a pose, showing off her muscles.

"Luckily, Master Cyntia arrived and one-shot every single one of them!" The girl exclaimed excitedly, amazed at her master's strength.

"Mom?" Raziel recognized the name as being his mother, Cyntia Harvestead.

"Yes! She was stunning as ever and made every other adventurer shocked when she cleared that medium-monster Zone almost alone." She jumped happily, and some golden stars could be seen appearing in her eyes.

It was early in the morning, and Raziel was being energized by the girl's positivity, which made him feel hungry and prompted him to invite her to eat something in the kitchen.

When they arrived, Clarice was already finishing cooking something on what looked like an antique oven fueled by fire stones.

She then noticed they were drooling after catching a whiff of the food and told them it was already ready.

Eve picked up two plates, serving one to Raziel and keeping the other for herself. The two enjoyed the food, giving a thumbs-up to Clarice, who watched with a neutral smile.

After finishing his meal, Raziel said that he would be training mana control in the backyard, which prompted Eve to accompany him, humming a strange tune.

When Raziel entered his backyard, he quickly began to recite an earth spell.

"<For the Goddess of Earth I->"

*BOOM

Before he could finish reciting, a one-meter round stone ball appeared and was launched, easily destroying a nearby tree.

"What?" Raziel was stunned, not understanding what had just happened.

Eve, who was watching and eating some cookies that Clarice had given her, was also in shock, wondering how Raziel could launch a spell without properly reciting it. Only very skilled mages could do that, but even they still needed to complete a little recitation.

But what Raziel didn't know was that his body, now capable of supporting two energy types, had created a unique way to use magic. Without any need for recitations, he could now launch spells simply by thinking, thanks to his heart possessing an Low Level Aura core and One Mana Circle spinning around it.