Chapter 8. Very, nice to meet you (3)
I don’t know why he’s so busy these days, but Randel sometimes doesn’t even show up for breakfast. Randel was not here, as he seemed to have arrived late.
At the round table prepared for the princes, an unwelcome man was sitting back in his chair, curling up one corner of his mouth as he looked at Calian.
Calian, who unconsciously suppressed his frown, lowered his head towards Plants and opened his mouth.
“long time no see.”
When Calian and Planz sat down together, the surroundings became quiet, as if they had made a promise. There was no need to wonder why. Isn’t it Plantz who drove Silike, who gave Calian a ‘very bad cold’, with a single word?
Moreover, it was the first time the two sat together after that incident. So, it goes without saying that we are very curious about the relationship between the two, who are neither enemies nor allies.
Calian kept his mouth shut without saying a word. Since we and Plants had different paths to take anyway, I didn’t think there was any need to force ourselves to act friendly. As we remained silent for a while, the gazes of the nobles gradually drifted away.
“hey.”
But then the guy started talking.
Planz, who turned his gaze to all the nobles who were still looking at him one by one, leaned his upper body on the table and looked at Calian.
Calian did not answer. Thanks to this, a situation similar to what happened a long time ago occurred once again.
“Hey. Bloody eyes.”
“Calian.”
Calian, who responded immediately to a name he never wanted to hear again, stared into Plantz’s eyes. And he added in a somewhat harsh tone.
“I’ll stop listening to this, brother.”
Planz’s green eyes glowed for a moment.
Planz, who had been staring at Calian for a long time, twisted the corner of his lips.
Soon a small voice came out of his mouth.
“No.”
Nope.
Calian’s eyes narrowed little by little.
Planz’s eyes grew sharp.
“Use a sword, use a sword, and ride a horse.”
After saying that, Plantz leaned back against the backrest. A voice like a drowsy sigh disturbed Calian’s mind.
“Who are you?”
Calian looked into those eyes without saying a word.
okay. Planz is enough to notice. If you don’t know, you wouldn’t know it because my younger brother, whom I had been teasing so much for holding my hand, changed overnight.
Calian thought for a moment.
Does not matter. So I decided.
By neither affirming nor denying.
Before long, a relaxed smile appeared on Calian’s lips.
“You’re talking strange things.”
There was no need to tell him the truth because he was not someone whose heart I had to win over like Alan. No matter how confident Plants is about Kalian, isn’t this a secret that will likely be revealed?
So just grab it and take it off.
Kalian’s face was calm after coming to that conclusion. It was noisy on the inside, but it was that way on the outside anyway.
Plantz, who was glaring at Calian as if he were going to kill him, stood up. And without another word, he left the banquet hall and did not return.
Suddenly, Plantz remembered what the old Calian had passed on to him when he left. After that, I remembered Plantz, who led Secretia to ruin.
Calian’s gaze did not leave Planz’s empty seat.
When Allen saw Calian like that from afar, worry appeared on his face. Although I hadn’t overheard their conversation, I had noticed that Calian’s expression had hardened since Plants left.
Soon Calian raised his head. Then I made eye contact with Alan for a moment. Calian gave a small smile.
‘it’s okay.’
Instead of approaching Calian, Alan simply nodded to express his concern.
* * *
The next day.
Allen came to Kalian in the morning, who couldn’t sleep because he was disturbed by what happened at the banquet hall. As soon as Allen saw Calian, he smiled softly and said.
“Have you shaken everything off your mind?”
Calian looked at Alan with eyes that were truly brilliant. This wise wizard knows everything about Calian without even saying a word.
Alan added, laughing quietly.
“If you haven’t shaken it off yet, just say so.”
Calian only smiled after hearing what was said without knowing anything. Sometimes, people say things that don’t help anything, and it’s so nice.
However, it was true that it wasn’t really helpful, so Calian soon stopped laughing and talked about what happened with Plants the day before. Alan nodded and said when Plantz said he was almost certain that Calian had changed.
“Planz would have noticed. Even though he’s acting like a fool, he’s not a short-thinking kid.”
Calian frowned slightly at Alan’s generous evaluation. Since he couldn’t confirm or deny that, Kalian just said the following.
“At first I pretended not to know, but of course you wouldn’t believe me.”
“What should I make you believe?”
Calian tried to answer but closed his mouth again. Alan, who saw that, spoke on Calian’s behalf.
“Don’t you have all of Calian’s memories from before? As the prince said, even if you know, it won’t be revealed. So don’t worry about it.”
After saying that, Alan made a hmm sound for a moment. And instead of trying to say something, I closed my mouth.
Aside from the fact that his identity was discovered, even though he said he would not live in Bern, he also found a picture of his past in Plantz and was trying to say that because he was sinking. However, I thought it was not something Alan would do anything about, so I closed my mouth again.
Instead, Alan looked at Calian blankly and took something out of his arms and handed it to him.
“Take it.”
It was a small box made of tin, and when I opened it, it contained a silver ring. Calian asked, taking out a thick ring with no pattern whatsoever.
“What is?”
“Try it on. I think you’ll really like it.”
Since it was a rather large ring, Calian thought for a moment about where to wear it, then put it on his second finger. So, miraculously, the ring shrunk on its own and fit perfectly on my hand.
Knowing that there was no need to worry, Calian unconsciously let out an exclamation and looked at Alan.
“Sometimes, if you want to know what an old man thinks, call me and I will think about it with you.”
“Is this a ring with a communication magic?”
“Yes, it is.”
Calian was really surprised. In fact, it was the most necessary item for Calian right now. Because I couldn’t have an open conversation with anyone other than Alan, who knew Calian’s situation best.
“There is no connection to the royal palace due to the power of the Sispanians. So, it will be difficult to communicate when I am in the royal palace, but I will respond at any time when I am outside the royal palace.”
“Thank you. I feel reassured.”
I knew that Alan was spending most of his time at the palace now, but it was nice to know that I could lean on him every now and then.
Looking at Calian, who was just happy without knowing that Euria was crying because the society’s treasure trove had been robbed again, Alan nodded with the look of a wise wizard.
Then, remembering another reason for coming here, Alan straightened his posture and opened his mouth again.
“And then I got a call from where my carriage went.”
It was referring to a communication from Melfir Fallun. Calian nodded and said.
“Have you ever met him?”
“Yes. I met him because he came to visit me yesterday. He was looking for a talented person again. He was so bright.”
And Alan took something else out of his pocket and handed it to Calian. Construction costs, including selecting a site for the academy, initial operating costs, teacher hiring costs, etc. were listed. In other words, it was a request for money. Calian examined it carefully and nodded.
Seeing the considerable amount of money, Alan asked as if he was worried.
“I heard the prince said he would cover all the first expenses. Isn’t that going to be a problem?”
“There is no shortage of money. I plan to make it a private academy run by Baron Fallun without having to use the royal family’s finances. That way, I think I will be able to directly intervene. Even if it’s not as much as my teacher, I should have something.”
Alan, who understood what I meant, nodded his head in agreement. Soon Calian got up, took out a stack of checks from the safe, and handed them to Alan.
“Please tell me this for me.”
“It’s a lot of money, so can I give it to you without having to monitor whether it’s used properly?”
Calian nodded gently.
“Yes. You can leave it to me. No matter how big the money is, it won’t be a lot of money to Baron Fallun. Besides, I’m not the kind of person who would throw away trust over that amount of money.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
“Baron Fallun is a merchant, so he doesn’t know anything about magic. He will occasionally seek advice from the Master or the Association President in the future, so please treat him well while I am gone.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Afterwards, instead of giving magic classes, Calian asked Alan various questions about the magic academy. He also asked Melfir to tell him anything that might be helpful.
As we were talking like that, there was a knock on the door outside. It was Jan.
“I’m sorry, Prince, but I have other plans now.”
“Then I’ll be back for afternoon magic class.”
Knowing that it was time to end the conversation, Alan got up and tried to go out.
“No, Master. Siegfried’s knights will greet you briefly and leave. It won’t take long, so unless you have other plans, please talk to me today.”
“Are you saying we should skip class and just chat?”
Calian smiled and nodded.
“Yes. Anyway, I have to go see Sispanian tomorrow, and if that happens, I won’t be able to see my teacher for a while, so it would be a shame to have classes until today.”
The excuse I had for not wanting to go to class was very plausible. So Alan smiled and answered.
* * *
Twenty knights dressed in black armor lined up in front of the main gate of Chermil Palace, waiting for Calian. They were Siegfried’s elite knights sent by Slayman, and they had visited Chermil the day before departure to say hello to Calian.
Kyrie, who had come out before Calian, was looking at them with a very aggressive look in her eyes. Since Kirie was also a sword wielder, she wanted to gauge the differences between them. Of course, Siegfried’s knights were also looking at Kyrie like that.
While the duke’s knights and the prince’s guards were fighting knowingly or unknowingly, Calian, Alan, and Jan came out of the palace.
Calian and Alan were walking side by side, and Jan, the servant, was following quietly a little behind, of course. The knights who saw this tightened their fists. Yan didn’t know any of that and just greeted the knights with a happy face.
At the luncheon the day before, only the knight named Yuran, who led them, was present, so it was Kalian’s first time meeting the other knights. So, I stood in front of them and looked at each of their faces for a moment.
‘Hoo.’
Soon, a strange smile appeared on Calian’s lips.
‘These are Siegfried’s knights that I only heard about. It is truly magnificent.’
It was obvious how carefully Slayman chose to send them. Kirie, who was tall and energetic, stood in front of her and looked like a mere child.
Of course, that wasn’t why Calian made this expression.
‘Anyway, those eyes… they’re strange.’
This is because the eyes of the knights who came to guard Calian were very different from the way they looked at the prince they were supposed to protect. If I were to put it into words
– were you the bastard who served our Confucius as a servant?
This is exactly what it feels like.
Alan, who was standing next to him, looked at this and made a face as if he was seeing something very interesting. I don’t know what will happen during Rosellita’s journey, but I hope that they will get to see Calian’s sword skills at least once. I was really curious about the expression on his face when he saw it.
Kirie, who could see it, showed a very expectant expression, and Yan, who had no way of knowing this situation, tilted his head and asked.
“Is there anything bothering you, Prince?”
Calian smiled a little more openly.
Instead of saying that he was uncomfortable because he felt like he would be buried as soon as he left Kairisis, Calian spoke emphatically while making eye contact with the knights.
“Jan. Bring me something to drink.”
“Yes. Please wait a moment.”
A great deal of excitement erupted among the knights. After Jan re-entered the building of Chermil Palace, Calian looked at the knights and spoke quietly to himself.
“If you welcome me like that, I won’t have to think about anything else on the way.”
With people like that lighting up their eyes, I wonder if they have time to indulge in unnecessary worries like thoughts about Plants.
Alan, who was watching the fight with an interested expression, said.
“Is there ever a time when you feel this sad that we can’t go together?”
Calian, who had declared war by looking at each of the knights for a while, finally opened his mouth and spoke.
“Please take care of where we are going.”
The deep smile that seemed to have become a habit lingered once again.
