episode_0066

Episode 66 Vacation (2)

1 a.m.

A time when everyone in the territory, including those inside the family, would be asleep.

Decal Arden’s office was still lit. Despite the late hour, he was sitting at his desk, handling work.

Rustle, rustle.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a sound. The quiet office was filled with that sound.

A short while later. Decal Arden, having finished all his work, put down his pen. With this, the tasks that needed quick processing were done.

Decal leaned back comfortably in his chair. Then, he gently pressed his temples to stimulate them.

After handling a week’s worth of work at once, a headache came. Even for someone progressing to the stage of transcendence in body and mind, the stress from office work was unavoidable.

Slurp.

As his condition didn’t improve, he drank the cold coffee. The recently invented non-melting ice kept the temperature cold and didn’t spoil the taste of the coffee.

After about a 10-minute break, Decal moved to handle the remaining work. He looked at the pile of papers stacked in a corner of his desk.

“At least this side is less of a nuisance.”

As the head of the Arden family, second only to the Emperor in power, he received hundreds of letters a day. This pile consisted of letters deemed not urgent or unimportant.

And among them was a letter from his son.

[Kyle Arden]

Decal stared silently at the letter from his son. The sent date was 5 days ago. Not too long.

“Hmm….”

His expression didn’t change. The complete opposite of his reaction to his second son, Bale.

The reason being, Kyle’s letters always contained some kind of request. After the last warning, things seemed quiet recently… contrary to Elraim’s report, something seemed to have happened.

He broke the seal and unfolded the letter. And slowly read the contents.

────

Father.

A lot of time has passed since that incident. During that time, I had time to reflect on myself, and I understood how terrible my actions were at the academy, and I have done a lot of reflecting.

As you said, I’ve actually been keeping quiet. I believe you know about this from Elraim.

Also, I concentrated on my studies and got decent grades. I have enclosed a report card to prove it.

────

Decal took out another piece of paper from behind the letter. The design had changed a lot from the past, but it was definitely Tianis’s report card.

According to what was written there, Kyle had taken second place this semester.

Tianis Academy, where even mediocre talent has difficulty getting into the top 100. Anyone who saw it would have been happy.

But Decal Arden wasn’t. He simply turned his head and read the letter again.

────

However, while focusing on my studies over the past few days, there are some inconveniences.

Because of this, I can’t spend personal time, and I feel like I’m trapped in prison, so I can’t concentrate on lectures. So, I would like you to withdraw Elraim.

I would be grateful if you would think deeply about this and make a decision, considering your son’s desire for a smooth academy life. I think I’ve shown you the results.

────

After reading the last sentence, Decal put down the letter. And he expressed his impression of the letter.

“He’s used his head a bit.”

He used his head. That was Decal Arden’s impression.

There were no fancy words, nor was it filled with unnecessary words. It was as if he knew that he hated unnecessary words, and only wrote what was necessary.

If he had written and sent the letter as usual, Decal would have only read the last sentence and crumpled it up and thrown it in the trash. That alone showed how much he had racked his brains.

“Hmm….”

Decal Arden stared at the letter and the report card for a long time. He just stared at them blankly. Because Decal’s emotions were not easily revealed on his face, there was no way to know what he was thinking.

Just as he finished thinking and was about to put down the letter.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door. At the same time, a voice was heard.

“Lord.”

“Come in.”

Knowing who it was, Decal immediately granted permission to enter.

Then a knight entered, his head and armor covered in blood. He looked like he had just finished a battle.

Thus, a strong scent of blood and the dark energy unique to those killed spread throughout the room. However, Decal didn’t care at all and asked the person.

“Did you handle everything?”

“We have taken care of them all without leaving a single one alive. We are currently in the process of cleaning up.”

“Did you find the base?”

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it because the demons were too thorough. It seems it will take more time.”

Starting two months ago, residents had been disappearing from the outskirts of Arden territory. The cause was none other than black magicians and demons who had made contracts with them.

To solve this, Decal dispatched two knight orders. However, the black magician was cunning, and the demons were treacherous. It was expected, but it was not easy to eradicate them at once.

Of course, even if the immediate threat disappeared, he had no intention of withdrawing the knight orders. Those guys were stubbornly persistent. They would be crouching now, but they would cause trouble again.

“First, call back the personnel currently dispatched, and have them replaced by the knight order on standby.”

“Understood.”

“It may be difficult, but please put in a little more effort.”

“Not at all.”

Decal Arden nodded at the knight commander’s brief salute.

After that, Decal listened to the knight commander’s report.

Condolence money to be given to the deceased residents, the cost of repairing damage caused in the process of killing them, etc. There were quite a few problems to be dealt with in this incident.

He had just finished work, but it felt like more work had been added. Decal felt a little tired. He pressed his temples again, but there was no sign of improvement.

Seeing this, Knight Commander Raul Teros said to him with a worried tone.

“Decal, you should rest now. Do you know how many days you’ve stayed up all night?”

“Well… it’s not like I haven’t slept at all. I slept for 2 hours each time.”

At those words, Raul sighed deeply.

“Hoo, even if you’re a master, if you repeat that for a few weeks, your body and mind will be ruined. You have to sleep at least 4 hours.”

If he were a master, he could endure it for a week. If he used mana cultivation, his mind would be clear.

But Decal had been repeating that for a whole month. Even with a superhuman body, he was still human, and mana cultivation had its limits.

Therefore, he needed to sleep at least 4 hours.

“I advise you to go in now.”

It could have been felt as an order, but now it was a private occasion after work, and it was advice as a friend he had known since childhood.

Besides, Decal didn’t pay much attention to Raul’s words. He thoroughly distinguished between public and private matters.

“I was going to go in anyway. I’ve finished all the work.”

But when he was about to leave the office, his feet wouldn’t move. He stared silently at the letter he was still holding.

Raul also saw the letter in his friend’s hand. There was only one case where he kept looking at a letter.

“Is it a letter from Bale?”

“No.”

At Decal’s immediate answer, Raul thought of the next case. There had been a time when his letter arrived 5 days ago and it had been noisy.

Raul said in a low voice.

“Then it’s that guy.”

In the Arden family, there was only one person who meant that guy.

“What kind of trouble did he cause this time?”

“Take a look.”

Decal handed over the letter and the report card. Raul frowned when he saw it.

“What do you think?”

“What do I think? Isn’t it obvious that he’s trying to get the surveillance removed?”

The words were polite and plausible, but the inner meaning was not at all. The more he read, the less sign of repentance he saw.

“No wonder Elraim reported that he was doing well. He was planning this all along.”

There was a reason why he didn’t cause trouble. It was all for this.

“And this report card. Where’s the proof that it wasn’t fabricated?”

Raul put down the report card with a thud.

The fact that he threatened the professor had been known. He couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t done such a thing this time as well.

“I don’t think so. I gave separate instructions to Elraim.”

Decal had told Elraim in advance to watch out for any irregularities in the exam. Also, to watch the grading process.

The academy side accepted it, and Elraim faithfully carried out the instructions. Therefore, she watched all the exams.

And the report on this came right after the exam was over.

“You can certainly trust Elraim.”

Raul nodded.

Elraim was a knight who could be trusted more than anyone else. At least she was not someone who would betray for personal gain.

That doesn’t mean the grades weren’t fabricated. With that guy’s head, he could create gaps as much as he wanted. If nothing else, that guy was good at tricking people.

“Besides, the rumors I’ve been hearing lately are not good.”

He received an academy medal. He won a competition. Absurd rumors kept pouring in. But no one in the family believed the rumors.

Kyle Arden saved someone? He showed an amazing performance in the competition?

It would be more credible to say that the founding emperor had come back to life. It was that unrealistic.

“That’s right.”

Every day, various stories came to his ears, but Decal also didn’t believe them. Kyle didn’t have that kind of ability. To put it a little harshly, Kyle was a person who was worse than the family’s apprentice knights.

To the point where he didn’t suit the Arden family.

So he didn’t even bother to check separately. There was no reason to allocate personnel there, and it would only be a waste of money.

“Tsk, I should have kicked him out back then.”

Raul clicked his tongue.

He was already busy. But he was paying attention to this trivial matter. It was a waste of time.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m thinking of granting it if possible.”

If he rejected the request, he didn’t know what kind of trouble it would develop into. So it was better to maintain the current situation where he was quietly staying.

Besides, he couldn’t keep Elraim, who had become a top-tier expert, there forever. He was slowly thinking of bringing her back to the family.

“I wouldn’t recommend it unless Bale or Elraim asked. But you’re the decision maker, so do as you wish.”

Raul thought.

Whether it was an elder or anyone in the family. If they heard this story, they would have shouted absolute opposition. They might even say that he should be brought back to the family immediately.

Even so, the decision was the sole authority of the head of the family. Anything more would be infringing on the authority of the head of the family.

Decal and Raul’s private meeting was concluded in that way.

“Then I’ll go in now.”

“Get some rest.”

After exchanging greetings, Raul left the office.

As he left, Decal Arden went to the window and stared blankly at the night sky at dawn.

He just looked and looked again. And he murmured quietly.

“I should… contact them soon.”

Decal Arden’s face, saying that, was hidden in the moonlight, so his expression could not be seen.