Chapter 29. Things you can afford (1)
Three beers.
I remember up to that point. And I don’t remember anything from the moment I took my fourth sip of alcohol.
“Uh, I’ve been freezing the French fries since then.”
The wizard, whose job it was to put down his timid face for a moment, asked, trying to understand the situation.
“I’m sorry. Did I make a mistake?”
“I froze the French fries.”
I froze my french fries and talked a little too much.
I roughly knew what brought Arsene here. Since I said I was coming here at Kalian’s request, I just thought I’d do it. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized what the wizard had in mind, who was good at difficult things but couldn’t do anything he didn’t want to do.
Euria asked with a slight frown.
“You really don’t remember?”
“Yes, I really don’t. I only drink three drinks every time, but I don’t know why it happened yesterday.”
Euria eventually chuckled at Arsene’s answer that he always drinks three beers before returning home in front of others.
It’s something Arsene doesn’t want to do himself, but he wants to do it because it’s Calian’s request. So I didn’t refuse and came here to talk with Gray, but the truth was I really hated it. Nevertheless, it was something I wanted to help with.
I ended up drinking because I was caught in the middle of conflicting feelings about wanting to do something even though I didn’t want to, so what would be a mistake if I came out drunk. Freezing French fries was an unforgivable mistake, but whining was not a mistake.
So Euria shook her head lightly and said.
“I didn’t make another mistake. I didn’t freeze the chicken.”
“Have you eaten chicken? By yourself?”
“Why don’t you eat alone? You slept.”
To be exact, it’s because they were marinated, but it’s not a significant difference.
A juice filled with coconut meat was placed in front of Arsene, who was massaging his temples as if he had a headache from drinking too much. It was ordered by Euria to relieve a hangover.
Arsene said, as he was already very thirsty and ate it in one mouthful.
“Do you smell that alcohol?”
“I don’t. If you smell like alcohol after drinking four beers, is that a human?”
The sober wizard, who had emptied two bottles of Himolica right in front of him and still had not a trace of alcohol in him, answered like that. Arsene, who had already used clean magic twice, wasted his magic power once again, as if he was still distrustful after hearing those words.
I’m going to see Gray again.
Euria, who was looking at it, asked vaguely.
“What time did you say you were leaving?”
The sun was already high in the sky. Arsene answered, thinking he would just leave now because he felt sick to his stomach and couldn’t eat anything else.
“I just said I would go today.”
“Then eat something.”
Euria sat Arsene down as he tried to get up and continued speaking in a light tone.
“You can go slowly. That’s better.”
There was no need to rush since Arsene was clearly holding the sword. The more time passed, the more upset Gray would become.
“Little one, I know you have nothing to lose, so hurry up and go. The later you go, the lower his requirements will be, so just play some more and then go.”
If we go quickly, it will only prove that Arsene is also looking forward to joining hands with Gray. So, I just had to go slowly and show him, ‘I’ll stop holding your hand even if I don’t hold your hand,’ so he wouldn’t be needlessly greedy.
“Ah. That would be better. Thank you, Chairman of the Association.”
“I think you don’t have to call me the president of the association for the time being. I’m getting a bit of a scab on my ear.”
Euria replied while spreading butter on a baked potato and scooped up a spoonful of the soft potato filling. Inexplicably, Arsene’s eyes followed the spoon towards Euria.
“Okay. Potatoes have to be hot. I can’t eat frozen ones.”
Euria, who chewed and swallowed a potato while talking about something else for a moment, added a leisurely answer to Arsene’s question, which was still not answered.
“It’s just something like that.”
As soon as those words were finished, the clerk looked for the two again. Then, a spicy stew made with cabbage and beef was placed in front of Arsene. Even though the clerk did not specifically say that it was ordered for Arsene, he quickly found the owner of the dish.
It was clear that it was more necessary food for a man who had fallen asleep after drinking four beers and was taken away the next day, and who was sitting in a state of arrogance, rather than a woman who was eating buttered potatoes the day after eating two bottles of Himolica by herself.
After thanking the clerk, Euria pointed at the stew with the tip of her spoon and spoke to Arsene.
“Anyway, eat that. After eating and resting, come with me.”
“Are you saying you would like to go with me to the meeting with Margrave Briesen?”
Isn’t Euria the one who hates Brisen guys because they are stupid? So, when we met the day before, Arsene met Gray alone. Then, Euria acted on a whim and asked a question.
“Uh, I’m bored. I’ll talk about it today. There’s nothing more to say anyway.”
It’s not that I don’t want to let the junior wizard do something he doesn’t want to do, it’s just that I’m bored.
Arsene’s expression became complicated at the surprisingly delicate words of the association president.
I must have been drunk yesterday and made a mistake when speaking. Otherwise, there is no way Euria would come out like that. Arsene held his head at this thought.
Euria, who was watching, laughed as she took the biggest piece of meat from Arsene’s stew and ate it.
* * *
Calian burst into laughter.
“I thought everything was back, but it really was back.”
Yan, who was putting down two tea cups at the sound of laughter, looked at Calian’s complexion.
I knew that laughing while talking about a Balkan wizard might not be a real laugh, but fortunately this time it was a real laugh. So Yan bowed slightly with a relieved expression and went out.
– It’s nothing to laugh about. I really received 49 blows.
Calian will never know how surprised Hina was when a proud wizard came to her with a battered face.
“The one who won probably got hit. It’s okay.”
Hina, who was sitting opposite him, eventually shook her head and raised her teacup. Even the kind prince is a wizard after all.
The tea made with cherries and strawberries had a nice scent. It was exactly the kind of tea that Hina would like, with a sweet scent and taste. As she was about to pick it up and take a sip, the cat came running with a crunching sound and tapped Hina’s arm. It seemed like he was trying to embrace me with joy.
‘Tea…!’
Thanks to this, a few drops of red tea fell onto the pure white robe. Kalian, who saw this, hugged the cat and said.
“You get hurt running like that because you like people.”
“Aow!”
He confronts me again.
Calian laughed again because he seemed to be saying back that he had grown up a bit. He then simply opened his mouth, cleaned Hina’s red-stained robe, and then pushed his undone tea towards Hina.
“Hina. I don’t want you to run into Kirie for a while. Can you do that?”
I was about to say thank you for removing the red stain and giving me a new cup to replace the spilled tea, when I heard something unexpected. So Hina opened her eyes and looked at Kalian.
– what happened?
Anyone who looked at Kirie now would be able to see the difference. So it was better to be alone for the time being. Calian himself, and even Hina, knew better than anyone else that it would be better to avoid appearing in front of Kyrie as much as possible.
“sorry.”
There must be a reason, but Calian did not explain it and instead just apologized. Hina looked at Kalian for a moment, nodded and moved her hand.
– I don’t know, but if the kind prince feels sorry. My brother would have made the same mistake.
I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s the case.
– So don’t just think it’s the prince’s fault.
Without even knowing what was going on.
Hina said that and smiled.
Then, in Calian’s arms, ‘I am Prince Calian’s cat who prefers Prince Planz.’ He said while looking at the cat.
– Cat name. Please build it.
He said he didn’t need to worry about Kirie, but he said it because Calian’s face was full of worry. If it’s not a big deal, I’m giving Calian something else to worry about so he doesn’t worry too much.
Calian asked, putting aside his feelings of apology for a moment.
“Won’t you feel uncomfortable?”
Hina smiled brightly at these words.
This is because it was confirmed that Hina had indeed not given a name for the reason she thought. Hina responded with a warm face to this sweet and caring prince.
– Please give it a pretty name.
Hina did not yet know that the name Calian gave to that smart and handsome horse meant barely black or big crow. In that case, he must have felt comfortable asking Calian.
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”
Calian nodded as if to say don’t worry.
* * *
And two days passed.
I couldn’t name my cat.
It was Hina’s request, not anyone else’s. It could never have been built in vain. After being careful, I couldn’t find a single name that I liked.
“I heard that barbarians are appearing again in the area near the Great Desert. Do we need military support?”
Thanks to this, I couldn’t hear a single word of what Lemain was saying in the meeting. Even though on the outside it seemed like he was listening more seriously than anyone else.
Hina’s cat was more important than the ever-repeated issue of barbarian invasions, of which the content and outcome were vaguely known. Even without Calian intervening, Lemain was now able to conduct himself well.
The meeting continued.
“They say there is no one to succeed the deceased Baron Howlpin. Count Garvin, who should have been the first to tell me, is not saying anything.”
At Lemain’s words, a small sound of laughter could be heard from Calian’s side. Landel, who is on probation, did not attend this event, so the sound must have been made by boiled peas.
He must have laughed because he knew that a count named Gavin was trying to take over the unclaimed land for himself. It was fortunate that no one heard that sound except Calian. Calian put aside the thought of letting them know that laughing in front of nobles was also not a good habit, and thought about a name for the cat again.
The Count, whose name was called, immediately opened his mouth to Lemain.
“Your Majesty, that is…”
“We will send a new Baron soon.”
Calian didn’t know about other schedules, but he regularly attended regular meetings where nobles gathered. Since I couldn’t get a chance to meet Marquis Evan Briesen separately, I was waiting for Evan to attend the meeting. I need to meet him to gauge his auror status.
“I hope this doesn’t happen twice.”
LeMaine, who did not know that his third son was attending this meeting with the intention of killing someone and thinking about the cat’s name, continued the extremely ordinary meeting on his own.
After some time had passed, Lemain’s voice rang out in the quiet conference room.
“Then let’s end with this.”
And Lemain did not even look at the nobles, but only glanced at Calian and Plantz, who were showing courtesy, and then went out.
Likewise, Kalian, who was about to leave, paused for a moment. It was because I saw Yan coming into the conference room. To be precise, it was because I saw the note in his hand.
“I arrived while you were attending a meeting, but I thought it would be a good idea to check right away.”
The gazes of the nobles who had not yet gone outside turned toward Calian.
“Oh, thank you.”
Judging by the size of the letter, it is clearly on the Jeon Seo-gu side. And now, Arsene was the only one who could send the whole team to Calian. It was also something I had been waiting for.
Anyway, I didn’t think it was strange to receive a note. So Calian sat down again and opened the note in front of the nobles.
– I am not in contact with Prince 1. I was appeased and there were no requirements. I think I’ll be going back to Chirisis within the week.
As expected, it was a letter from Arsene.
It was said that he had joined hands with Gray under false pretenses and that Gray was not in contact with Randel.
Calian soon became lost in thought.
‘The period is not right.’
The timing of the letter and the period of time he said he would return were a bit strange.
Even excluding the time for the birds to fly, it took a little longer than expected to speak with Gray after arriving at the Marginal Territory from the capital. After finishing work, I saw that he would arrive within this week, so it seemed like he was planning to use the moving magic circle, but the scheduled date was not right now, but within this week.
‘I guess something happened on the way. Even though he had no intention of staying there any longer, he said he would stay a little longer.’
I knew how much Arsene would have hated to do that.
Nevertheless, Arsene was the only person in a situation where he could create a suitable reason to appease Gray to do that. Since it was an unplanned event, it was not possible to prepare a suitable person in advance, even if it was Calian.
So, I asked Arsene for a favor, and Arsene complied with Calian’s request without another word.
Still, since I don’t like what I don’t like, I would have thought about coming back right away after work, but it’s strange that I insisted on coming within this week.
– Knock knock.
As was his habit, Kalian’s fingers slowly tapped the table.
‘Either the magic circle has not been completed yet, or it has been completed but has intervened in Siren’s affairs.’
I don’t know the exact reason why Arsene’s arrival in the Margin was delayed, but those were the only two reasons why his arrival in the capital was delayed. And if it was about Euria, it was probably related to what Sispanian had mentioned to Calian.
Investigation of the Black Stone.
Since he left to do that, it probably means that Arsene will help Euria and investigate together from now on.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he had to wait a bit since the magic circle wasn’t completed yet, but it wasn’t pleasant for Arsene to be involved in the Black Stone affair. Didn’t Alan tell Euria not to worry about that anymore? Because it was that dangerous.
‘If you don’t come by the weekend, I’ll have to do something to get out.’
Calian thought about that for now and used his magic a little.
– Howling!
In an instant, a large flame erupted from Calian’s fingertips and the note was completely burned away. The gazes of the nobles who had not yet left gathered.
“Brother. If you are going to Wilhelm’s coffin, can I come with you?”
Calian said this without paying attention to the nobles, and Plantz’s eyes narrowed. Plantz, who quickly erased the expression on his face as if he was seeing something unexpected, answered.
“okay.”
A flame that was intentionally made bigger.
The nobles did not know that Calian was a wizard. The spark from before was just an action to attract attention, and after focusing attention like that, he received permission from Plantz to go to Wilhelm.
This was an action that implicitly confirmed that Calian, who was also a wizard himself, recognized that Balkan had become Plantz’s.
After Calian finished the short performance using an unexpected note, Plantz stood up from his seat.
The two came out while receiving greetings from the nobles and walked towards Wilhelm’s coffin as they said.
“What is the note?”
Plantz knew that Arsene was away due to work related to the moving magic circle. Therefore, there is no way Plantz would not know that what Calian had just checked was Arsene’s note. Because there was no need to contact anyone who was far away enough to send Jeon Seo-gu.
“It looks like the schedule has been delayed a bit due to Siren Siren’s matter. It looks like he wants to investigate the stone.”
Kalian knew that if he tried to hide the truth, people would notice again, so he simply explained it briefly.
It wasn’t a lie.
It was Arsene’s letter, and I couldn’t tell you about it, but it didn’t matter if I told you about other things I guessed from the letter.
“It’ll be okay. The crazy wizard will be there too.”
Plantz responded like this: No matter how Flanz was, he didn’t doubt Calian’s words just now.
“Yes. Since we have dinner today, it will be difficult to go to the training center in the evening, but I will show you today’s swordsmanship at Wilhelm.”
Plantz just nodded without answering. Calian looked at Planz for a moment and asked.
“Aren’t you curious why Kirie did that?”
I didn’t ask.
Planz did not respond, and Calian, who had been concentrating on walking for a while, opened his mouth.
“It’s a kind of hallucination where you realize a better way to kill someone by getting too much blood on them before you realize it. Once you get used to what you see, it won’t come back, so you’ll be fine.”
“okay.”
“Instead of the note, you should be curious about why Kirie attacked you so intently that day.”
Why do you get so angry at being attacked like that when you fight back? Why is he curious about the message Calian received, but not curious about himself?
This time too, Plantz remained silent.
Instead, Calian opened his mouth again.
“Kyrie was like that. Like my brother.”
Just like the current Kirie, the ‘past’ Kirie was like that too.
I wasn’t curious.
If you tell me to do it, I will tell you what to do. If you don’t tell me, you won’t know. I just said I would understand everything. I just accepted everything.
Then I finally saw Garum. Kirie was stronger back then than she is now, but in the end, she saw the same thing as Bern.
Does it only belong to handling a sword?
“Don’t do that. You get curious and ask questions and get angry about your brother’s work. If you have decided to let go of your guilt and live, you should also be a little greedy. If you don’t, you will end up in trouble all the same.”
Plantz looked at Calian.
And Kalian looked at Plantz with calm eyes.
“You can be greedy.”
Anyway, I thought he was a person who needed a lot of work and needed to be taught everything from start to finish.
