It Was Not Intended (8)

Evan, who's entire face seemed strained under the struggle of holding back his anger said,

"So. What do you want to say?"

"Wouldn't you say it's about time for Lenon to step away from his position?"

"That is not business for a mere mage to interfere with."

"…Those are not words that should be coming out of a mere swordsman's mouth."

Evan's energy changed almost instantly when he heard that.

Bloodlust so sharp that it felt like he wanted tear Alan limb from limb right there and then shot out.

"Oh my."

Alan, who felt the bloodlust, looked a little flustered.

It was because he didn't think Marquis Brissen was so emotional that he would display his bloodlust at every little word. After all, he was still dealing with Alan Manasil.

"I guess I give off more of an easy impression than I thought."

Alan said with a slight smile.

He could see what Evan was doing right now. There was no merit to either of them if a fight broke out here right now, so he wasn't really thinking of attacking. He was just trying to suppress and intimidate Alan, who was making an annoying amount of noise.

"Will you be able to handle it?"

There had been a day when Alan had said the same thing to Rumein – though the meaning had been different.

At the end of his words, the air that hovered around them with heavy energy stopped. And what began to replace it was fear. A fear of death. Evan's pupils expanded.

Those who wielded knives dealt with the living.

And those who wielded mana were said to peer over the edge of death.

It was the power to elicit fear that was hidden deep in the heart. A childish, chilling fear.

The methods were different, but in the end, what they were doing was no different than seizing each other up. Alan, who had pushed away his bloodlust and forced his breath to a halt, said to Evan.

"First, for today, shall we have a quiet conversation? Unlike my student, I'm not so soft in my approach otherwise."

Alan's easy smile hadn't changed.

The fear that had lit up Evan's eyes hadn't changed either.

Evan, who examined Alan's reaction for a moment, withdrew his bloodlust and Alan too, returned to his usual somewhat easy-looking mage.

After stepping down from a clash of spirts that he had started, Evan heard Alan's voice resume the conversation,

"Though I do believe your son will get his dues well enough on his own, I'd like to suggest a way that might be a little less burdensome,"

Evan frowned a little as he listened to Alan's plan – that he would buy the Brissen Merchantry if Lennon was quietly ousted so that everyone, including Randel, didn't find out why.

"The merchantry?" Evan asked.

It wasn't much to think about on the surface. He had always disliked the merchantry that held the Marquis family name. However, Alan – no Calian, was the one who said he would buy it. That was the main problem.

"Why would I do something that would benefit the third prince?"

Looking at Evan, who had regained his composure and asked such a question, Alan responded with a bemused look, saying,

"Do you think the prince has enough money to buy the Brissen Merchantry? Especially since he is not in Kyrisis right now?"

"Who would you be here for, if not Prince Calian?"

"There is someone who wants to run the top merchantry in Kyrs."

Of course, they had already obtained Melphir's consent to proceed with using his name like this. There had been no reason for him to refuse when just by selling his name, he would be getting his hands on the Brissen Merchantry.

"Come up with a good reason to sell it. If you do, I'll buy it at a reasonable price." Along with those words, Evan was quite surprised to see the among that Alan offered.

Evan considered it for a moment longer, and soon nodded.

The amount was enough to trade for one lacking son and a troublesome merchantry.

–—

When he had first found out that Hale Latran had been caught, he couldn't describe how nervous Lennon Brissen had been.

He had spent every day worried that he might have to sell all of his assets and leave for Tensil right away because he was terrified his connection to Hale would be revealed.

But Hale Latran's imprisonment had not effect on him.

Lennon, who didn't want to go through this again, also declared that he wouldn't step back into Latran's land again. There had been some worthwhile lands that had been trading with him in that area, but they weren't so great that he had to pay much attention to them.

'How many territories can there be? Is food shortage that big of a deal?'

And today, he had finally sent the Divine Items that Hale Latran had gathered for him with Tensil's retainer – of course he didn't forget to ask for a meeting with Prince Randel as well.

So how could he not feel good?

Lennon was humming unconsciously and couldn't stop as he watered the plants he had left by the window. Carefully wiping the leaves himself.

He hadn't been able to pay attention to it for a few days, the leaves of the plants looked a little less plentiful than what he remembered. Seeing that reminded him of Calian, whom he had seen not long ago and as though he had thought of a hilarious joke, laughed loudly.

"Let's see, where's the nutritional supplement?" While muttering under his breath, Lennon turned and froze.

Somehow, two knights were standing directly in front of Lennon. He knew who they were instantly, they the Knights of Pavel who guarded the royal palace.

Because of this, Lennon flinched and took a step back – his back touched the window.

"What? Where do you think you guys are-?"

"Lennon couldn't finish his sentence.

That was because one of the knights pushed a silver bar into Lennon's mouth. They tightly tied Lennon up and pulled out a black cloth with which to cover his head.

Lennon struggled to the end and eventually, the knights, who couldn't deal with his twisting body that resisted to the very end, knocked him out.

As a result of the struggle, the potted plant that Lennon had treasured for a long time fell down off the windowsill.

Would the knights have been a little more disappointed at the loss had they known how much that small potted plant was worth?

That had been Lennon's last thought before he passed out.

And when he opened his eyes again, it was in a dark, deep basement of Marquis Brissen's mansion.

Lennon's scream echoed along the empty walls of the basement and faded and roared again and this continued for a long time.