Episode 101. Adrias’ Negotiation
Blessing of the Sea, a restaurant on board floating in the middle of the sea near the port city of Muriel.
The location selection was special, but the taste and quality of the food was excellent, making it one of the places that only rich nobles and merchants visit.
However, for some reason, there were no customers today, but only one table had people sitting.
It was Adrias, who had a dinner date with Minus Morhaime.
The entire restaurant had been rented out for a day, so in a quiet atmosphere, only the waiter would occasionally come up to Adrias and refill his water.
‘Minus Morhaime. It’s an unusual family name.’
It was unknown whether the setting in the game came as it was or whether it actually went through such a history, but it was an exceptionally unique family.
Other aristocratic families were generally not much different from medieval aristocratic families, but the Morheim family managed by Minus was the only one that had a mafia-like atmosphere.
In fact, it was a family that did a lot of undercover business, especially the mercenary business.
If it was another family, they would never give out knights directly under the lord as mercenaries, but the Morheim family had no such thing. As long as the money was rightly matched, any conflict of interest would be dogfighted and always ran with the goal of gold.
Thanks to the fact that they cared for practicality rather than honor, their wealth was comparable to that of the Alvn family.
“You came first.”
Minus, dressed in a trademark white suit, entered with his sister, Greta.
Adrias got up from his seat and said hello.
“Are you here, Your Highness? Long time no see Miss Greta.”
“hi!”
At Greta’s beaming greeting, Minus forced her to bow by grabbing her hair.
“It’s ‘Count’ Adrias Cromwell. You should say hello.”
“Okay, let’s talk about this! So, are you going to get out of hand first?”
Adrias struggled to manage his expression at the sight of the siblings being so realistic.
When Minus let go of her hand, Greta bowed her head, still grumbling.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Cromwell. My name is Greta Morhaime, the girl.”
“Greta.”
When Minus opened his ax eye and called Greta by name, she looked up and smiled.
“I hope you will forgive me if I offend you because I am a young girl.”
“I’m sorry, Lord Cromwell. As you can see, my brother is not insane.”
For a conversation in front of a duke, the atmosphere was informal, so it was rather okay. Adrias smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
“No, it’s fine.”
“I’m glad you’re okay. First, let’s eat.”
Just in time for the arrival of Minus, the food began to be served.
For Adrias, who doesn’t usually spend a lot of money, it was a luxury for the first time in a while.
While eating for a while, Minus finally spoke first.
“So, our first conqueror of Modras Tower, how is life in the academy these days?”
“It is the same. Just a day or two of interest.”
To be precise, interest faded due to consistent disregard, but for the first two days, it was so severe that going out to attend lectures was an ordeal.
In the end, the principal stepped forward to stop it and Adrias continued to ignore it, and it slowly faded away.
“Still, the capital city is still talking about you. I know?”
“Yes, I heard that.”
Heaven and earth, Maximin Cronell.
Even though he was called a one-man army, he was rather an underestimated man.
Having a better record than that meant a lot.
“So, by the way, I wonder if you have a career plan in mind. Well, I wish you would come, but I know that human affairs are not so easily decided.”
When I saw Minus subtly getting to the point, I realized that no matter how outgoing he may seem, he has a side like a serpent.
Adrias chose his words for a moment, then put down the tableware and said.
“I have work to do. I’m sorry I can’t give you more details.”
“Anything related to the emperor?”
Adrias looked into Minus’ eyes for a moment at the fastball that came in.
The two stared at each other for a while, but Adrias smiled and said.
“I don’t know what you mean. Why is His Majesty the Emperor suddenly appearing?”
“I don’t know what happened, but I do know that your father was stabbed in the back by the emperor. I bet you wouldn’t say you don’t know.”
Adrias looked at Minus, who was talking too openly.
However, as if the opponent didn’t care at all, he just sat with his back leaning against him with a languid expression, observing Adrias’ reaction.
“Don’t worry too much. This store is mine too. No matter what I say, nothing leaks out. This is because the restaurant was built in the middle of the sea for that purpose in the first place.”
“I never thought that His Highness Morhaime would know about our family.”
“I am not the only one who knows. You must know all the dukes except old Sinclair, right? Well, in the first place, old Kazaf is from the Emperor’s side, so there’s no way he wouldn’t know.”
Seeing Minus speak confidently, Adrias fell into trouble.
It probably wouldn’t matter if I showed my inner feelings here.
Even if Minus told the emperor, there was a high probability that the emperor would think that a child without power was playing tricks. In the first place, if the emperor cared a lot about himself, even if something happened, it would have happened right away.
That’s why Adrias’ actions recently were unconventional.
‘Still, there is only one thing, so I came here because I wanted to be prepared… ….’
Minus, who was examining the complexion of Adrias, said.
“You’re pretty cautious.”
“I was taught that promises and contracts should be made carefully.”
“Emperor bastard.”
Adrias’ poker face collapsed at the sudden curse.
And Greta, who was next to her, burst into laughter.
“Ahaha! What is this all of a sudden!”
“No, you don’t seem to trust me, so I verified it.”
Minus smiled and looked at Adrias.
“What else can I curse at? Just talk.”
“No, I believe.”
It was a car that I thought it wouldn’t matter if I said it anyway.
Adrias said quietly.
“I didn’t have grandiose dreams of taking revenge on the emperor. But I thought it would be nice to have at least enough power to protect me and my family.”
“yes. No matter how strong an individual is, it cannot stand against one force.”
Minus nodded in agreement.
Then he put one arm on the table and leaned forward a little.
“We already know that you had a feud with the emperor. But the rest of the guys who proposed to you don’t know this. If the other factions find out that you’ve been pretending to be the Emperor, will they welcome you as before? Perhaps only we can accept you.”
“Before that, I have something to tell you.”
“say it.”
“When I say I have work to do, as I said, it is not to get revenge on the emperor. That’s a separate issue.”
“You mean I got it wrong?”
“It is true that I wished there was a force that could protect me and my family. But the first thing you have to do comes first. Until then, I think it will be difficult to belong somewhere.”
“Haven’t you already made an appointment with someone else?”
“I swear to heaven no.”
Well, it wouldn’t be like that unless he was a guy who was openly trying to scorn himself as a duke.
Minus stroked his beard, lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly turned his head and asked Greta.
“Have you decided?”
“I admit my ability…It doesn’t look funny.”
“Then let’s pretend this never happened.”
Minus, who spoke coolly, took up the tableware and finished the meal casually.
Adrias paused for a moment at the natural flow and took up the tableware himself as the two siblings started to eat the leftovers.
Greta laughed as she ate the food.
“Is that the end?”
Adrias raised his head for a moment at Greta’s question and wiped his lips.
“We are the Duke of Morhaime. Wouldn’t that be an opportunity that comes easily?”
“Before that, can I ask you two questions?”
Minus nodded at Adrias’ question.
“Tell me.”
“Do you know why our family was stabbed in the back?”
“That’s kind of curious. Why did that happen?”
“The emperor has a goal now. They threw out our family to hide that goal.”
“target?”
Was it because it was completely unexpected?
Minus and Greta’s eyes were filled with curiosity.
“What is the emperor’s goal? How else did you know that?”
“Your Highness, do you know about things called sins?”
“I haven’t heard of it.”
“I don’t know how many there are in total, but they say that if you collect them, you can open the era of the gods. The emperor is collecting them right now.”
Adrias deliberately hid the details as if he did not know them.
But the explanation was enough.
“Opening the Age of Gods? Are you talking about the Age of Myth?”
A world where magic already exists and auras exist.
In fact, as traces of the gods are also coming out from the ancient ruins, it was not just a joke to the people of this world.
“Did Kane Cromwell have anything to do with that thing called sin?”
“Yes that’s right. In order to hide the fact, the emperor held our family’s breath and ended up making it like this.”
“Why didn’t you erase it without leaving a trace?”
“The predecessor hid the sins he was responsible for. I don’t know its location, but it seems like the emperor doesn’t either, so I’m leaving it there in case I, as a child, gives a clue.”
“It’s a dangerous situation. It’s fun.”
Minus nodded, lost in thought for a moment.
The era of the gods that the emperor is aiming for.
The age of the gods was literally the age of the gods. There is nothing good about humans.
However, the emperor seems to have thought that even such gods could be placed under his feet.
‘He’s really arrogant.’
Putting aside whether Adrias’ words were true or not, it was highly probable considering the recent situation of the emperor.
Unlike before, the emperor suffered from boredom and arrogance at some point.
Recently, the situation with other countries was also endangered because of the emperor’s attitude.
‘I haven’t crossed the line yet, but if the emperor is really setting such a dangerous goal… ….’
Then Adrias spoke slowly.
“The world will change.”
“What are you talking about?”
“With the arrogance of an emperor who only cares about sin, everything will change, starting with the situation on the continent. It is a trend of changing times. There will come a world where you can’t be complacent. I think that Your Highness is also dimly aware that this flow cannot be changed.”
Adrias wasn’t stupid, though he didn’t know how the war with the North would turn out by killing Bloody Dan.
Bloody Dan is only a hired person, but the client is still intact.
Then the client had to hire someone else.
‘Perhaps the requester is a person from the black magic meeting or the emperor.’
It’s probably too late or soon, but a war with the North will inevitably break out.
Then the big flow will inevitably continue.
A world of true weaklings.
Before that, unless the emperor died as a variable or the assembly disappeared from the world, the tide could not be reversed.
“A strong force with solidarity will survive in the flow. So, we need to prepare in advance.”
“You say that you know what will happen, but you are arrogant. Do you know what you are talking about?”
“There will be a great war. anywhere on the continent. And war isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can be a huge opportunity for those who prepare in advance.”
“Looking at this now, I didn’t study at the academy and was doing something else.”
Minus showed his teeth and gave a grim smile.
And Adrias knew what it meant when he smiled like that.
“I like it.”
It meant satisfaction.
However, Adrias’ words did not end.
He looked Minus straight in the eyes and opened his mouth.
“majesty.”
“why?”
“Don’t you want to be king?”
The atmosphere grew chilly.
Minus’ expression stiffened as he had been laughing, and the veins on his forehead stood out.
“You’re not kidding me, Adrias Cromwell, are you?”
“I know that my life is precious.”
Adrias spoke calmly.
“I will explain it now. The way for His Majesty Morhaime to become King.”
* * *
After all the conversation, including the meal, Adrias Cromwell returned to the academy.
Minus and Greta, who remained at the seat, couldn’t even send him off properly due to the shocking words Adrias had just said.
After a long time, Greta spoke first.
“Are those words real, oppa?”
Even when Greta asked, Minus did not answer for a while.
Now, his insides were very complicated.
The remark about becoming king to that extent and Adrias’s argument to support it shook Minus’ heart.
‘Eyes that look at the great nation with one small sign. It’s like a prophet.’
It would be like if there was an excellent copywriter.
Every word of Adrias contained something that could not be easily overheard.
Since it was Adrias who told the plan based on the future he actually knew, it was not strange to mistake Minus for being like a prophet.
Adrias already knew the causes and consequences of events that would happen here and there on the continent, and what derived from them, from his long game experience, so his words had a strong suction power.
“But you left out the most important things.”
“It’s not like that. After all, there is no definitive hint that our family will become the royal family.”
Greta agreed with the words of Minus who finally opened his mouth.
Minus, who finished organizing his thoughts, slowly rose from his seat.
“Let’s wait and see. Whether it really goes as Adrias said.”
Greta nodded at Minus’ words and looked at the empty chair Adrias was sitting on a moment ago.
“I thought she was a boring girl, but she had an unexpected charm.”
