Chapter. 11. The Wizard’s Wizard (16)
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Lucilla. Lucilla Aedran.
He’s a noble…
I remember that there was no mention of him being a noble in the recruitment companion window. Usually, noble NPCs always come with a description of what family they belong to, but I don’t remember seeing anything like that.
‘It’s probably because of the GG system, which doesn’t even look like a damn game.’
In fact, I have experienced it several times, but the importance of system messages and status windows in this game is not very high. Just for the quest, [Go to City A.] If you go, [You realized that you misread the request form due to the client’s bad handwriting. Go to city B] and things like quests changing happen all the time.
GG’s system message does not have a function to kindly determine if the other person is lying, nor does it provide all the facts. If there is information that the player knows but has missed, leave it alone and only spit out general information. When Lucilla first appears, she is introduced as ‘Supervisor Lucilla’, so if I recognize it, the system just displays it that way. That’s why tags like [Noble] were not added to Lucilla’s status window, which was popping up in the companion window.
‘If it were normal, a notification sound like [Colleague Lucilla has revealed her identity!] would have come out by now. Even though it lacked reliability, the system was a system, but now that even that is not there, so I guess I’ll have to sort it out myself.’
Let’s see… What was Lucilla doing when we first met?
Costume. The porter at the top. Also, the shabby, worn-out clothes of a member of the upper class, as if his status was low.
The work. As expected, the porter at the top. He was carrying a large baggage on his back that looked quite heavy.
First appearance. When Roman was flying a model airship, he approached me and said he was the gunner.
‘hmm? wait for a sec. shooter? ‘A handyman?’
“Oh my. There’s already been a hint here once. From the beginning, you said that you came from a merchant class. “Even though he is young, why is he working as a porter?”
If you’re someone who goes around teaching newbies, they need to have at least a solid level of experience as a mid-level upper management, but they can’t be doing simple work like porters. From here, there was already a clue that Lucilla was lying to us.
What if I was as intense as I was when I first met Senadis, doubting everything he said and glaring at everything, only to realize that it was a lie? Then, the status window would have been different when you were recruited as a colleague.
[Lucilla Aedran: Upper end member (stomach)]
Perhaps it was not written this way?
‘Hmm…. Looking at the way the low-level porters were treated, it didn’t feel like they were dealing with a nobleman or a direct descendant of the Goldgeiser family who was no different from their boss. If you’re a junior, you may not know, but if you’re a rookie, you probably won’t have much experience in commercial travel, so other executives other than the higher-ups you used to go with may not know. In that case, the only one who knew this guy’s identity was that fat fake merchant.’
When one big piece of information was revealed, the facts hidden behind it began to come out one after another like sweet potato stalks. It feels like if I dig a little more, a big chunk will pop up…
let’s see.
Lucilla Aedran, the direct daughter and attendant of the Aedran family, the owners of the Gold Geyser Merchant Marine, hid her identity and disguised herself as an ordinary porter and set off on her way up the mountain.
It is an incredibly dangerous journey with a 200% risk option of crossing the blue line while being protected by contracted mercenaries who are not knights of the Aedran family.
Even those who embark on such a dangerous journey are not veterans, but are mostly rookies who do not even know the faces of the ladies from the families that own the merchants.
.
.
.
.
Oh my. Is this a picture?
After organizing my thoughts, Lucilla, sitting neatly like a doll, came into view. He looks completely different from the dusty little boy he was just a few days ago, buried in a pile of luggage on a cart and dreaming of saving even a drop of holy oil or a handful of herbs. And the ever-increasing gaze of imperial soldiers falling on her.
‘…You have a lot of ears to listen to for intimate conversations.’
As I was about to call out Lucilla, I turned towards Ottoman. Just quitting because the situation is ambiguous is something that only ordinary people do. Even though I look like this, I am still a wizard.
“…Otman. “Is that message magic or something like that?”
“Message…. You mean the second-ranked ‘Dorman Baldanis’ [Message Drops]’? It’s not that difficult. Sound is something that resonates through the air and enters the other person’s ears. The only difference here is that it can be done with water. First of all, the most basic type of hand sign is the first word of the index finger indicating the direction, and the ‘object’ is indicated with the ring finger and thumb to indicate ‘observance of rules’ and circulation….” Even during his
busy journey, Otman used the ‘Origin Spell’ every time he took a break. ‘It’s good, but you can also gain a lot of enlightenment by learning and using other wizards’ tracing spells.’ -He taught me various useful spells along with the horse, and [Message Drops] was one of those minor spells. Unlike other magics that were difficult to understand, the principle of this one was very similar to bone conduction earphones, so I was able to get my hands on it. However, I was so inexperienced at using other people’s spells that I could only hold it for about ten seconds.
‘I mean, things are a little different now than they were back then.’
Unlike [Origin Spell], which uses your own image, [Tracing Spell] creates a spell based on someone else’s image. Of course, it is not easy to think of the mind of a stranger, and that is why the other person memorizes a ‘spell’ that expresses his or her psychological state as sensuously as possible, trying to somehow get closer to the image of the person who created the spell.
This was really bad before. No matter how many times I recited the spell with my mouth and made a hand sign according to the given abbreviation, I couldn’t quite remember what the faceless wizard had in mind to say such embarrassing nonsense.
“….[Message Drops].”
Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (pop)!
Now… that’s really good. I don’t know if it’s the influence of being forced to become an NPC or something else. It certainly seemed like his magical abilities had increased dramatically.
The small water droplets that appeared before her eyes along with the spell flew silently through the air and into Lucilla’s ears.
Snap!
“Hi!”
Lucilla was startled when cold water suddenly entered her ears, and glared at Ottoman and me alternately as if she didn’t need to think. Well, if water suddenly appeared out of thin air, there are no suspects other than the two water mages here.
[iced coffee. Can you hear me? There will be a small drop of water in front of you. If you hear it, swallow it. [Speak quietly.]
Lucilla frowned at the sound of my voice penetrating her ear. She looked around as if aware of her surroundings, then modestly covered her mouth and swallowed the drop of water in front of her.
[Ugh, it’s cold.]
[Oh. It sounds good. This is easy.]
[Ugh, it feels a bit strange.]
[He said he was a noble. Have you never used message magic before?]
[I’ve only used artifacts, but this is the first time I’ve been the target of magic like this.]
Conversing with message magic is… like a person with a severed head speaking through his or her throat. It was a feeling. The analogy is strange, but what should I do when it really feels that way? This means that the words are just conveyed without moving the mouth or tongue.
Lucilla, who felt awkward about the new way of speaking for a moment, must have quickly adapted to it and began to grumble at me with the soft and gentle face of a noble lady on the outside.
[Ugh, anyway, what are wizards? If I had waited just a little longer, I could have sat in the Vigilen family’s soft armchair and talked calmly over fragrant tea!] [
After all the boring and complicated greetings between nobles and the numerous formal events such as welcome parties and social gatherings. [Why are you waiting for that when you can ask me right now?]
It would be obvious if Lucilla went away in this state, escorted by that tall knight. They shared each other’s true feelings with smiling faces, saying, “You must have had a hard time coming from far away,” and a fierce and aristocratic conversation ensued over the other person’s intention to visit and the level of value response. The moment it was revealed that she was an aristocratic woman of marriageable age from a wealthy family from a foreign country, a small conversation broke out. At the welcome party, all kinds of nameless noble men would show up and ask the kid to dance until he was worn out.
This means that if you are unlucky, it will take more than 2 nights and 3 days for a useless visit event. I can’t stand being curious. How can you wait for that?
[Let’s see. First of all, if you are a direct descendant who can officially use your family’s last name, it means that you have quite a bit of influence even within the top of the Aedran family Gold Geyser. Why did you join such a dangerous journey while hiding your identity by pretending to be an ordinary worker?]
[…Let me first apologize. I didn’t really intend to deceive, but there was a reason for that-]
[Is the check in the family that severe? So much so that you have to risk your life and carry whatever extra items you have all the way to the Blue Line?]
[Huh, how?]
Lucilla looked back with a shocked face, as if she had forgotten to pretend to be a young lady at my sudden, poignant words.
[It’s obvious. The neighboring country Rodrik is at war 24 hours a day, and neighboring countries are also preparing for war, so there is no need to go back and forth across the mountain range. Just a triangular trade between Rodrik – Free Trade Alliance – Teldrat would result in a lot of money pouring in. You can get a rough idea just by looking at the fact that instead of being a war merchant who can roll silver coins like a pile of snow, he went into this dangerous and complex commercial business.]
This is really nothing special, and you can understand this just by thinking about it as if the children of a large company are inheriting an affiliate. Why bother doing something like import/export business that crosses the waters around Somalia when there are huge profits at stake right before your eyes? Naturally, the powerful brother who is closer to the next generation gets the best job, eats up all the delicious parts, and then ends up nibbling on the remaining corners.
‘Even Teldrat is a country famous for being a fertile granary. Considering that it is a war situation, there is a high possibility that supplies will be dedicated to Roderick, where most of the country has been burned. Roderick is probably so desperate that he even sells off the king’s scepter and crown, but instead of trading food, he trades luxury goods with the empire.’
[Unless you’re a fool, there’s no reason to take risks and go all the way out here at this time. At least it looks like I’m not an idiot, so there’s only one thing left. After being beaten so hard by powerful brothers, aren’t you trying to scrape together the last of your funds and connections to make a big splash? Right?]
At my words, Lucilla, who was sitting like a doll, turned her head and started looking me up and down. It’s like ‘What are you doing here?’ With the same feeling.
[….If the warrior had really become a merchant, he would have been successful.]
Lucilla, who was quietly listening to me, admitted that my guess was correct.
[That’s correct. My name is Lucilla Aedran. I am the 10th child out of 7 sons and 4 daughters of the Aedran family, and I am the head of the commercial office in charge of trading alcohol and precious metals.] [
Alcohol and precious metals… Is that appropriate? It’s a shame that Teldrat’s most famous wheat and sugar cane sectors are not part of the pie, but precious metals are always a stable market, and alcohol is also a product derived from grains, so beer and spirits from Teldrat are considered quite high-end products. I don’t think it was as bad as when I first saw it, so I wasn’t enough to go on a dangerous journey like a beggar, right?]
[It’s because my abilities are so outstanding.]
I still put on a bright smile towards the people of the empire outside, but inside, I feel like the whole world Lucilla said, sighing like an old man.
[I did an amazing job of growing the alcoholic beverage market, which was already delicious.]
[What did you do to show off?]
[I signed an agreement with the Empire’s ‘Red Rockjaw Dwarves’ to provide beer.]
[Ah. sorry. You’ve done well enough. hmm. At that level, you can move around with some strength on your shoulders.]
These are not empty words. Dwarves are a race that can live without water and food, but they cannot live without beer. Concluding a contract to supply beer exclusively to the dwarven tribe means that they can produce as much beer as they can without worrying about inventory. A fairly large tribe located in a place where there is an iron ore vein behind the ‘red rock ledge’. It must have been quite a significant transaction even at the top of Gold Geyser, which boasts a huge scale.
[then. I did a good job, but why did I become Nagari?]
[Well… I ended up having interests that were too big compared to the power I had. As the money moving grew, older brothers and sisters began to covet my rights, and I held my own, but war suddenly broke out…]
[They were taken over in the name of the family. In the hands of the guy who obtained the power to become a war merchant between nations. Right?]
[….Yes. The Red Rockjaw tribe are dwarves famous for producing high-quality steel. The Aedran family is a place where everything is driven by the logic of money, so it was impossible to stop the words of the second brother, who had a monopoly on supplies, from gaining weight. My business, which I had worked so hard to raise at such a young age until my fingertips were calloused, fell into the hands of my older brother, and the people I worked with fell for threats or appeasement and all scattered. So I cut off my hands and feet and said, ‘I’ve done enough. I lost.’ And in a situation where I’m giving up…!]
Whoop!
“My father called me to dinner for the first time in several years and told me to get ready to get married! “And that too to an old man in his 60s from a free trade union in a far away country!”
[hey! mouth! You are talking now!]
[….Oops!]
Lucilla opened her mouth without realizing it, probably because she was overflowing with emotion. The driver who was ahead of the sudden commotion turned around and immediately waved his hand gently with an expression that it was no big deal. Lucilla spoke in a dejected voice.
[Anyway…. My father, who thought I was completely out of line to succeed to the next head of the family, tried to sell me into an arranged marriage. Since all his interests have been taken away, he intends to make a profit by selling his body for the last time.]
[Oops. It was a lot more like a noble lady than I thought… right? So you’re saying that you ran away from your family because you didn’t want to get married?]
Tang!
Wow. Why is that guy making such a fuss by throwing that pot?
[Hey! It’s a matter of pride! No matter how much I was robbed by my second brother, I am Lucilla Aedran! I went to that distant dwarven village and made friends with these stone-like people with beards who walked around pouring me so much alcohol that I didn’t even know if I was a beer barrel or a person! I stubbornly protected the contract I made from the imperial nobles who were trying to take it away with a waterfall of saliva, and proudly named it as Gold Geyser! A great merchant who achieved such feats at the age of only fifteen is sold off to become an old man’s concubine! That’s a ‘loss’! No matter how important the right to succession to the head of the family is, even if you are a competitor, they waste it like that! That’s not the Gold Geyser way!]
Grinning, wheezing!
Lucilla pours out her fierce complaints like a waterfall using message magic. The guy calmed down for a moment and then spoke again in a calm tone.
[….So, I gathered all my last remaining belongings and personal assets and set out on my final ascent. I secretly pretended to be a porter to avoid the ever-increasing scrutiny after I brought up the topic of marriage.]
[That’s what happened. Then what was that fat merchant? Was it a Gerudo? Gerudo Fraus? That person….]
[Uncle Prause is a person who has taught me and helped me a lot since I first learned the trade. Even when everyone else left my side, he didn’t leave and actively helped me even in this dangerous task. sorry. Since my identity should not be revealed until no one who went on this trip has completely crossed the Blue Line and can return to Teldrat, I had no choice but to deceive the warrior’s group.] [
Hmm… That’s right. ]
This is an understandable reason. The second brother was probably close to being the heir to the family. From his point of view, this snobby little sister, who seemed to be out of the ordinary, was annoying, and he tried to eliminate the variable with his merchant’s unique paranoid personality. They probably even offered a reward to the family members, such as ‘200,000 shillings if you report on the runaway girl.’ So, on the outside, it was disguised as a long-distance trade run by a merchant named Gerudo Praus, and the commercial trip was carried out with only new recruits who had not yet entered the family power struggle and mercenaries who could be purchased with money.
[So does that mean you chose Roman too?]
[I asked Uncle Prows for a favor. It really looked like a gold nugget rolling along the road, so I couldn’t leave it behind even though I was in a hurry. I went in as a gunner and taught him one thing first, trying to make him my own.]
[The reason I went to such lengths to secure goods in the elf village was…]
[…To be honest, the trade goods I quickly gathered were not worth this much of a risk. It’s a situation where you can’t get enough benefit for taking on the burden.]
Hmm. That’s the story that happened.
‘…Is this a hero unit?’
Now that the hidden story has been revealed, something new may have been revealed, but since there is no way to check the status window, it is impossible to know. But I was certain that he was someone who would have a significant impact on my current situation.
As I was shaking my head with a satisfied expression on my face as my doubts were resolved, a thought suddenly occurred to me like lightning. When you think of hero units and Gold Geyser, he comes to mind.
‘Just stay still. At that time, seeing as Roman was talking about loyalty and grace to the master who recognized me, I think it was already confirmed that he had gone under Lucilla. So, roughly speaking, if Gold Geyser settles down, Roman won’t be the only one to do it, but he will have to grow up, right? ‘Isn’t it a joker card that can overthrow the entire game if it’s airborne?’
They say that the rights can be taken by the power of the family. people? Who doesn’t listen?
Roman is a wizard who is stubborn enough to pioneer a new path with his own power. People like that don’t take back what they say, even if it kills them.
Literally ‘even if I die’.
“Hmm…”
As I was stroking my chin and thinking for a moment, I saw Lucilla glancing in my direction with a downcast expression, as if she had just finished confessing. Okay, so you’ve said everything you had to say, so now you’re going to wait for action, right?
[….That guy is scary.]
[What do you mean…?]
[I won’t blame you for lying about your identity, so don’t make that face like a puppy that peed on the blanket.]
Lucilla’s downcast face. It bloomed like a flower bud in full bloom.
[So are you helping me?]
[Hmm? What nonsense. Who can help me?]
“Eh?”
It bloomed… and quickly sank again.
Look at this. Where are you trying to eat raw with your emotions?
[The subject of the contract has changed, so you need to rewrite the contract. Before, it was just a verbal contract that said, ‘Let’s come over the mountains and go with the Gold Geyser people because we will be of help to each other.’ But it’s a different story when the owner of the commercial is right in front of you, right? Why don’t we talk step by step about what we can give and receive from each other?]
[They say you are a warrior of Loharam who worships the light of rain! Where are you selling the meaning of mercy that makes all people equal?]
[You’re selling it right now, right? to you. If you expect merciful help from a warrior, you must pay a fair price.]
In any case, to get to Wuthering Heights, you will have to cross the empire and pass through many territories of nobles whose faces you have never seen.
At first glance, Lucilla seemed to have connections with merchants from various families in the empire, so she was a useful colleague. “
Lady
Lucilla, are you feeling unwell?”
[No]
“No, um, that’s uh…”
“…It looks like you’re very tired from the long trip. “Now, if we go a little further, we will cross the ley line and enter our family’s territory, so please be patient until then.”
In the end, the driver who saw Lucilla’s frowning expression approached us, and our conversation ended at that point.
[
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuw
! He seems angry because things don’t work out the way he wanted, but he never says he doesn’t like it. I’m sorry, but we need your support in order to raise our Roman Gacha Man so ignorantly that he can become an April World Super Carry, kid. Due to his personality, when money is provided, he will spend it to the point of pulling out the roots of Gold Geyser’s pillars, so from now on, he should keep it tightly in the contract so that he doesn’t have to regret it later.
[Chuck. Professor, you… no matter how many times I see you, you seem like a really bad guy…]
[Huh? Otman, did you hear?]
[When you drop water like that, how can you not hear it even if you don’t want to hear it?]
The professor looked back at Otman, who was shaking his head, and grinned.
Even at a glance from a distance, I could see the heavily guarded gate, the strong walls, and the flag of a three-headed lion waving above it.
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