Chapter 167, What One Can Handle (1)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Three glasses of beer.

 

The Arsene remembered up to that point. And from the moment he took a sip of his fourth drink, he could not remember anything.

 

“Oh. That’s exactly when you froze the french fries.”  Euria added.

 

The Mage who occasionally let his guard down tried to assess the situation and asked.

 

“I’m sorry. Did I perhaps make a mistake?”

 

“You froze the french fries.”

 

He froze the french fries and talked a bit too much.

 

Arsene roughly knew what business had brought him all the way here. Kalian had asked him to come to this place, so he just went along with it. It was only yesterday that he learned what mindset the Mage, who could handle difficult tasks well but could not do things he disliked, had come with.

 

Euria asked with a slight frown.

 

“Do you really not remember?”

 

“No, I really don’t remember. I always drink only three glasses, but I don’t know why I did that yesterday.”

 

At Arsene’s answer, who always drank only three glasses of beer and went home in front of others, Euria finally chuckled.

 

For Arsene himself, it was something he did not want to do, but something he wanted to do because it was Kalian’s request. So, he came to this place without refusing and talked with Gray, but it was actually something he really disliked. Nevertheless, it was something he wanted to help with.

 

Caught between those contradictory feelings of not wanting to do it but wanting to do it, he ended up drinking, so how could the sincere words that came out while drunk be considered a mistake? Freezing the french fries was an unforgivable mistake, but the whining was not a mistake.

 

So Euria lightly shook her head and said.

 

“You didn’t make any other mistakes. You at least didn’t freeze the chicken.”

 

“Did you eat chicken? By yourself?”

 

“I ate alone, of course. You were sleeping.”

 

More precisely, she had put him to sleep, but that was not an important difference to take note of.

 

In front of Arsene, who was rubbing his temples as if his head hurt from excessive drinking, a juice filled with coconut flesh was placed. It was something Euria had ordered for him to cure his hangover.

 

Arsene, who was already very thirsty, drank it all in one gulp and said.

 

“Do I smell like alcohol?”

 

“No. If you smell like alcohol after drinking four glasses of beer, would you be human?”

 

The pristine Mage, who had emptied two bottles of Himolika right in front of him and showed not even a hair’s worth of intoxication, answered like that. Even after hearing that, Arsene, who seemed unconvinced, wasted his Magic Power once more with Clean, having already used it twice.

 

He was planning to go meet Gray again.

 

Euria, who was watching this, casually asked.

 

“What time did you say you’d go?”

 

The sun was already high in the sky. Since his stomach was upset anyway and he did not feel like eating anything else, Arsene, who was thinking of just going now and coming back, answered.

 

“I just said I’d go today.”

 

“Then eat first.”

 

Euria, who sat Arsene back down as he tried to get up, continued in a light tone.

 

“You can go slowly. That would be better too.”

 

Clearly, Arsene held the hilt of the sword, so there was no need to hurry. The longer he dragged it out, the more anxious Gray would become.

 

“Kid, you know you have nothing to lose, so why go so quickly. The later you go, the more that guy’s demands will decrease, so just play around more and then go.”

 

If he went now, it would only prove that Arsene was expecting to shake hands with Gray. So, he should just go slowly and show the attitude of ‘I’m fine whether I shake hands with you or not’ to prevent unnecessary greed.

 

“Ah. That would be better. Thank you, Enclave Head.”

 

“Stop calling me Enclave Head for a while. My ears are getting callused.”

 

Euria, who was spreading butter on a baked potato while replying, scooped up a spoonful of the soft potato inside. Arsene’s puzzled gaze followed the spoon toward Euria.

 

“Right. Potatoes should be hot. I couldn’t eat the frozen ones.”

 

Euria, who briefly talked about something else while chewing and swallowing the potato with her blowing mouth, added a leisurely answer to Arsene’s still unresolved question.

 

“Yes, not frozen ones.”

 

As soon as those words ended, the server came to find the two again. And placed a stew with cabbage and beef cooked spicily in front of Arsene. Even though no one had specifically said it was ordered for Arsene, the server found the owner of the dish on their own.

 

It was obvious that it would be food needed by the man who drank four glasses of beer, fell asleep, was carried away, then came walking unsteadily the next day and sat down making all sorts of faces, rather than the woman who had finished two bottles of Himolika by herself the previous day and was just eating buttered potatoes the next day.

 

Euria, who thanked the server, pointed at the stew with the tip of her spoon and said to Arsene.

 

“Anyway, eat that. Eat and rest, then come with me.”

 

“Are you saying you’ll come with me to meet the Count?”

 

Wasn’t Euria the one who disliked the Beurisens for being stupid? That was why even when they met the previous day, Arsene had met Gray alone. Since Euria was being capricious, he could not help but ask.

 

“Yeah. I’m bored. I’ll do the talking today. There probably won’t be much more to discuss anyway.”

 

It was not because she disliked making her junior Mage do something he did not want to do again, but just because she was bored.

 

At the Enclave Head’s unexpectedly delicate care, Arsene’s expression became complicated.

 

[Surely, I must have made a verbal mistake while drunk yesterday. Otherwise, there is no way she would act like this.] With this thought, Arsene held his head.

 

Euria, who was watching that sight, stole and ate the largest piece of meat from Arsene’s stew while laughing.

 

* * *

 

Kalian burst into laughter.

 

“I knew everyone was crazy, but they really are all crazy!”

 

At that laughter, Ian, who was setting down two teacups, examined Kalian’s complexion.

 

He knew that laughing while mentioning Valkan’s Mages and Kirie might not be real laughter, but fortunately this time it was real laughter. So Ian showed a relieved expression, bowed his head slightly in greeting, then went outside.

 

‘It’s not something to laugh about. Really, he got hit forty-nine times.’

 

When a proud and confident swordsman came with a face beaten up here and there, Kalian would never know how surprised Hina was.

 

“The one who won had just gotten hit. It’s fine.”

 

Hina, who was sitting across from him, finally shook her head from side to side while lifting her teacup. Because even the Caring Prince was ultimately a swordsman and a Mage.

 

The tea made with cherry and strawberry syrup had a nice fragrance. It was tea with exactly the kind of sweet aroma and taste that Hina would like. As she lifted it to take a sip, with a rushing sound, a cat came running and lightly bumped Hina’s arm. It seemed to want to be hugged out of joy.

 

‘The tea water…!’

 

Thanks to that, a few drops of red tea fell onto the pure white robe. Seeing this, Kalian picked up the cat and said.

 

“You’ll get hurt running like that just because you like people.”

 

“Meow!”

 

It talked back again.

 

It seemed to be talking back now that it had grown a bit, so Kalian laughed again. Then he simply opened his mouth to restore Hina’s red-stained robe to cleanliness with Clean. He pushed his own untouched tea toward Hina, and spoke.

 

“Hina. I’d prefer if you didn’t meet Kyrie for a while. Can you do that?”

 

She was about to thank him for erasing the red stain and giving her a new cup in place of the spilled tea, when she heard unexpected words. So, Hina opened her eyes wide and looked at Kalian.

 

‘Is there something wrong?’

 

The current Kyrie would see Garm along with anyone he looked at. So, for the time being, it was definitely better for him to be alone. He was saying this knowing better than anyone that it was better for not only Kalian himself but even Hina to avoid appearing in front of Kyrie as much as possible.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

There must be a reason, but Kalian did not explain it and instead only apologized like this. Hina, who looked at such a Kalian for a moment, nodded and moved her hands.

 

‘I don’t know much, but if it’s something the caring Prince thinks he should be sorry for. My brother probably did something equally wrong.’

 

Even if she did not know the exact reason, she firmly believed that must be the case.

 

‘So, don’t think it’s only Your Highness’ fault.’

 

Without even knowing what it was about, Hina said this while smiling.

 

Then she looked at the cat held in Kalian’s arms and said.

 

‘Please give the cat a name.’

 

These were words she brought up because Kalian’s face was full of worry even though she said not to worry about Kyrie. If it was not a big deal, she was giving him something else to think about so Kalian would not worry too much either.

 

Kalian, who temporarily set aside his apologetic feelings, asked.

 

“Wouldn’t that make you uncomfortable?”

 

At these words, Hina smiled brightly.

 

It was because she confirmed that the reason she had thought was exactly why he had not given it a name. Toward this kind and caring Prince, Hina answered with a warm face.

 

‘Please give it a pretty name.’

 

Hina did not yet know that the name Kalian had given to that smart and cool horse was merely because he was black and it was another term for a big crow. So, she must have made the request to Kalian with peace of mind.

 

“Alright. I’ll think about it.”

 

Kalian nodded as if telling her not to worry.

 

* * *

 

Yet two days passed.

 

He could not come up with a name for the cat.

 

It was none other than Hina’s request. He absolutely could not name it carelessly. Being so careful and cautious, there was not a single name he liked.

 

“I heard that Warriors are appearing again near the Great Dunes region. Is military support needed?”

 

Thanks to that, he could not absorb a single word of what Rmain, who had entered the meeting, was saying. Even though outwardly he looked like he was listening more seriously than anyone else.

 

Hina’s cat was more important than the Warrior invasion problem, which he roughly knew the content and results of and which had always been repeated. It was also because Rmain was now handling things well on his own without Kalian needing to intervene.

 

The meeting continued.

 

“I heard there’s no one to inherit the position of the deceased Baron Howlpin. Count Gavin, who should have informed me of this first, says nothing.”

 

At these words from Rmain, a small snickering sound was heard from beside Kalian. Since Randel, who was under house arrest, did not attend this meeting, it must have been the sound made by the ‘boiled pea’.

 

He must have laughed knowing that the Count named Gavin would have tried to take the masterless land for himself. It was fortunate that no one except Kalian heard that sound. He temporarily set aside the thought that he should let him know that sneering in front of Nobles was also not a good habit, and Kalian thought about the cat’s name again.

 

The Count whose name was called immediately opened his mouth toward Rmain.

 

“Your Highness, that is…”

 

“I’ll send a new Baron soon.”

 

Kalian attended every regular meeting where Nobles gathered, regardless of his other schedules. Since he could not create an opportunity to meet Marquis Evan Beurisen separately, he was waiting for Evan to attend the meeting. He needed to meet him to gauge his Aura.

 

“I hope this kind of thing won’t happen twice.”

 

Not knowing that the third son was currently attending this meeting with thoughts of eliminating someone’s neck, and was solely worrying about a cat’s name, Rmain continued the extremely ordinary meeting on his own.

 

After time passed like that, Rmain’s voice echoed in the quiet meeting hall.

 

“Let’s end it here.”

 

And Rmain went outside after giving glances only to Kalian and Plants, who were bowing, without even looking at the Nobles.

 

Kalian, who was about to leave his seat likewise, paused for a moment. It was because he saw Ian entering the meeting hall. More precisely, it was because he saw the letter in his hand.

 

“It arrived while you were attending the meeting, but I thought it would be good for you to check it right away.”

 

The gazes of Nobles who had not left yet turned toward Kalian.

 

“Ah, thank you.”

 

Judging by the size of the letter, it definitely came by messenger bird. And right now, the only one who would send a messenger bird to Kalian was Arsene. It was also content he had been waiting for.

 

Receiving a single letter was not something to think strange about anyway. So Kalian sat back down and unfolded the letter in front of the Nobles.

 

I am not in contact with the First Prince. I persuaded him and there were no demands. I will probably return to Cyriesus within this week.

 

[As expected, it is a letter from Arsene.]

 

It meant that he had falsely shaken hands with Gray and that Gray was not in contact with Randel.

 

Kalian soon became lost in thought.

 

[The timing doesn’t match.] The timing of the letter’s arrival and the period he said he would return were a bit strange.

 

Even considering the time for the bird to fly, it took a little longer than expected to arrive at the Count’s Territory from the Capital and have a conversation with Gray. Seeing that he would come within this week after finishing his work, it seemed like he was planning to use a Teleportation Magic Circle, but even that scheduled date was not right now but within this week.

 

[Something must have happened on the way. Even though there’s no reason he would want to stay there longer, he’s saying he’ll stay a little longer before coming.]

 

He knew well how much Arsene would have disliked such work.

 

Nevertheless, Arsene was the only person in the current situation who could create an appropriate reason to persuade Gray. Since it was an unplanned matter, even Kalian could not prepare a suitable person in advance.

 

So, he asked Arsene, and Arsene followed Kalian’s request without saying anything else.

 

Still, since disliking something was disliking something, he would have planned to return immediately after the work was done, but it was strange that he specifically said he would come within this week.

 

*Tap tap tap…*

 

Kalian’s fingers slowly tapped the table out of habit.

 

[Either the Magic Circle isn’t completed yet, or it is completed but he got involved in what Euria’s doing.]

 

He did not know the exact reason why Arsene’s arrival at the Count’s Territory was delayed, but the delay in his return to the Capital could only be for those two reasons. And if it was Euria’s matter, it would probably be related to what Syspanian had mentioned to Kalian.

 

Investigation of the black pebble.

 

He had left to do that investigation, so it would mean that from now on Arsene would help Euria and investigate together.

 

If the Magic Circle was not completed yet and he was waiting a bit before coming, that would not matter much, but having Arsene involved in the black pebble matter was not welcome. [Hadn’t Master told Euria not to worry about that matter anymore? It is dangerous.]

 

[If he doesn’t come by the weekend, I’ll have to find a way to go out somehow…]

 

Kalian, who had thought only that far for now, operated his Mana ever so slightly.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Momentarily, a rather large flame rose from Kalian’s fingertip and the letter was completely burned and disappeared. The gazes of Nobles who had not left yet gathered.

 

“Older brother. If you’re going to Wilhelm Hall, may I come with you?”

 

Not caring about the Nobles, Kalian said this, and Plants’ eyes narrowed. Plants, who soon erased the face that seemed to be looking at something unpleasant, answered.

 

“Fine.”

 

That deliberately larger flame.

 

The Nobles did not know that Kalian was a Mage. The flame just now was merely an action to gather attention, and after gathering attention like that, he was asking Plants for permission to go to Wilhelm.

 

It was an action to subtly confirm that Valkan had become Plants’ and that Kalian, who was also a Mage himself, acknowledged it.

 

When Kalian got up from his seat after finishing the short performance using the sudden letter, Plants rose.

 

The two, who received greetings from the Nobles and came outside, moved their feet toward Wilhelm Hall as they had said.

 

“What was it about?”

 

Plants knew that Arsene had left his position for matters related to the Teleportation Magic Circle. Therefore, Plants knew that what Kalian had just checked was Arsene’s letter. There was no one else far enough away to require sending a messenger bird to contact.

 

“It seems he delayed his schedule a bit due to Lord Seiren’s matter. It appears he intends to investigate that black pebble.”

 

Rather than trying to hide the facts rashly and having him notice again, Kalian just briefly explained.

 

It was not a lie.

 

It was Arsene’s letter, and although he could not talk about it much, there was no problem with sharing about other matters Plants could have easily guessed from the appearance of a letter.

 

“It should be fine. That Crazy Mage will be with her.”

 

Plants replied like this. Even Plants didn’t doubt Kalian’s current words.

 

“Yes. Since there’s a dinner banquet today, it will be difficult to go to the training ground in the evening, so I’ll show you my swordsmanship at Wilhelm today.”

 

Plants only nodded without answering. Kalian, who looked at such a Plants for a moment, asked.

 

“Aren’t you curious about why Kyrie did that?”

 

Plants had not asked.

 

Plants did not answer, and Kalian, who had focused on walking for a while, opened his mouth.

 

“It’s a kind of hallucination, where the weight of the blade becomes too light and blood too easily drawn. In that state, only the most effective means to kill comes to mind. But once a person gets used to what they see, such a situation won’t appear again, so he will be fine soon enough.”

 

“I see.”

 

“You should not be curious about the letter, but why Kyrie attacked as if to kill that day.”

 

Why was he not angry about receiving such an attack when he countered the killing intent? Why was he not curious about himself when he was curious about what letter Kalian had received?

 

This time too, Plants kept his mouth shut without saying anything.

 

Instead, Kalian opened his mouth again.

 

“Kyrie said the same thing. Like you, older brother.”

 

Like the current Kyrie, the ‘past’ Kyrie had also been like that.

 

He said ‘he was not curious’.

 

Whether ordered to do as ordered, whether told to do as told. If not told, remaining ignorant. Just unconditionally saying he understood everything. Just accepting everything.

 

Then he eventually saw Garm. The Kyrie of that time was firmer than now, but he eventually saw the same thing as Bern.

 

“Please be curious about your matters too, ask questions, and get angry. If you’ve decided to live, abandon guilt, be greedy too. If you don’t do that, the problem will ultimately be the same.”

 

Plants looked at Kalian.

 

And Kalian faced Plants with calm eyes.

 

“It’s okay for you to be greedy.”

 

Thinking that anyway, this was someone who needed to be taught everything from one to ten, someone who required a lot of care.