Ch 14

Following Damian's guidance, we headed to the kid’s villa in Peritzbay.

Suddenly, the kid piped up with a twinkle in his eyes. "Mr. Den, you’re from the Crow tribe?! If you are Ambassador Hermes' nephew, then the Crow of Death, ueup!"

Damian covered the kid’s mouth with a pale face when the kid said my father's nickname.

"Young master!"

When my father was young, his main area of activity was the Empire, but he still traveled to other countries. My father ran away from home at the age of seventeen and returned to the village at the age of twenty. A little under four years had been enough time for him to give nightmares to the Republic and other countries around the Empire. Seeing Damian's expression, the kid carefully apologized, realizing he had made a mistake.

"… I am sorry."

I smirked and said, "It's okay. My father doesn't dislike that nickname. I believe he said it was all good memories or something?”

I brushed it off as if it was nothing, but Damian looked afraid.

‘Just what the hell did my father do in the Republic?’

Hillis, who was giggling at my words, asked, "But is it okay to leave your uncle behind? Won’t it be a big problem if he contacts your father?"

I smiled. "It's okay. I'm going to interfere so he won't be able to contact my father."

I sent all the chirps out in different directions, setting them up to let out a frequency that could be heard by the messenger hawks used in my hometown. Even if my uncle wanted to send a telegram, the hawks wouldn’t be able to fly due to confusion. Once I sent away all the chirps, Damian pointed to a fairly luxurious mansion and said, "That is the villa of Representative Zubian."

The mansion he pointed to looked too luxurious to simply call it a villa. I had already figured, but the wealth accumulated by hereditary power from generation to generation seemed to be no joke. It was probably more than most nobles in the Empire.

Cain spoke, as if he had guessed my thoughts. "My father stays here and works at every regular congress, so it feels more like a second house than a villa."

"The Zubian family is a family that has produced many consuls, so this is natural. In addition, Sir Zubian is also considered as a candidate for consul in the House."

Damian bragged proudly, as if it were his job to promote the Zubian family. I had no doubt that they had made a lot of enemies because they had been in power for so long. Seeing as how they were being targeted so directly by their enemies, I figured their power must be a bit underwhelming, though. If you had overwhelming power like my maternal grandfather, Duke Asteria, political opponents would not dare to target you. After confirming the location of the house, I stopped the wagon and got off.

"I'm going to bring Lan from the meeting place. Who wants to go with me?"

Cain decided to stay at the Zubian villa while in the Republic, in order to provide various conveniences, including accommodation, in addition to the promised price for escorting him. Perhaps not Caesar or Arwen, but I thought Hillis and Arietta, who were thirsty for new experiences, would follow. However, they just told me to have a nice trip, maybe because they were tired of camping or because they wanted to take a proper bath. I thought about playing around at the Asteria Market branch in Milion on the way, but now, I had no choice but to go to meet Lan.

‘Then maybe I should just hang out with Lan? It's been a while.’ I thought.

* * *

The North Party and the West Party were the two parties that dominated the Republic. Cheldeg, who was considered one of the leading members of the North Party, sat in his study. He put the evening newspaper down on his desk.

"What did you just say?"

Cheldeg frowned as he looked at the secretary reporting to him. The civil servant secretary, who had been provided by the congress, flinched and replied cautiously, "The magistrate of the security division said that, this afternoon, Cain Leichen Zubian, the only son of Representative Zubian, has arrived in Peritzbay."

Cheldeg jumped up from his seat and shouted, "Does that make sense! Didn't you say that Representative Zubian was in critical condition five days ago due to an accident? Even if his son left right after the accident, does it make sense for him to have arrived here already?!"

The journey to Peritzbay was a dangerous one, outside Olympus Forest, so it should have taken six more days at least. The secretary recoiled and replied, “T-that's, I just heard, so…”

Cheldeg once again roared at the secretary's reply, "Then did you decide to report it without checking the facts?!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry! I will check again!"

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As the secretary squirmed out of the study, Cheldeg took a cigar out of his desk drawer, cut the tip with a cigar cutter, and stuck it between his teeth. Then, he peeled a match out of a matchbox and lit it. He contemplated as he puffed out the pungent smoke. Zubian was one of the leading members of the North Party and was fighting for the position of consul who ruled the country. As a senior member of the same party, Cheldeg and Zubian often worked hand in hand when checking the West Party, but now he was a political opponent fighting for the same position.

Cheldeg sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "I hope this is just the secretary's mistake, but if it's true, what kind of magic did that Zubian guy use?"

Although it had not yet been announced to the general public, the Republic was on the brink of war due to the demon king worshippers in the Demon’s Territory. The troops in front had gathered at the border of the Demon's Territory, and the consul had convened an emergency congress. It had already been four days since the emergency congress was called, but the representatives of the congress were spread all across the country, as they were all lords in their respective territories, so not all of them could make it quickly. In the case of the Zubian family, located in the farthest section of Peritzbay, they could have responded to the call within the next week, and that would have been tight for them, even if they had left as soon as they heard the call.

"Then, there was no point in knowing about the emergency call in advance and concocting tricks!"

The head of the Zubian family getting in an accident, his son being sent in his stead to the emergency congress, the son being forced to take a dangerous route due to time, then planting a magic tool that attracted monsters in his luggage. This had all been devised by Cheldeg. It hadn’t been difficult to plan. The fact that someone in a family held power meant that their competitors had been eliminated.

Cheldeg had only recruited Cain's uncle, the brother of the one eliminated. Everything had been set up to keep Zubian out of the competition by making him disobey the emergency congressional call.

"Damn, I didn't want to do things myself because it would be annoying if there were any traces, but I'll have to do something about it before tomorrow morning, when congress opens.”

If he somehow prevented Zubian from attending the emergency session, Zubian would be dismissed from office. Considering the power of the Zubian family, they would likely quickly regain the position of representative at the next election, but it would be as a first-term party leader, not as a continuing fourth-term party leader. That way, they would automatically be of a lower rank than Cheldeg, and the position of the next party leader would become his.

* * *

As the Asteria Market was operated by Duke Asteria, it was mainly active in the Empire, but that did not mean that it was not active in other countries. It had branches in the Magic Kingdom and the Trade Union, which were quite distant, as well as in the Republic, of course. In addition, it also traded along the Spice Road, which led to the Western continent.

I opened the door to the Asteria Market located between the port and the main street and entered. As soon as I walked in, I saw various items in display cases, and employees sticking to customers trying to market their products. It looked similar to a department store, rather than a specialty store selling one item.

"Welcome, sir. Is there a product you're looking for?" the staff member manning the entrance approached me and asked with a hospitable smile.

I showed them my real imperial ID, not my forgery, and said, "Let's go to a quiet guest room first, if there is one. Or the branch manager's office is also fine."

I didn't know, but I had a high-ranking noble ID card because my mother was the child of a duke. I had only learned this shortly after I had learned that Duke Asteria was my maternal grandfather. The staff member looked at my card with recognition, then surprise in his eyes.

"E-excuse me! I will take you to the VIP room right away!"

The staff headed for the elevator, tensely. Apparently, it was not a magic-driven elevator, but a machine-driven elevator that required a lever to operate. Although there was the disadvantage of frequent maintenance, it was a cheaper method than using magic. It was not as quiet as the magic elevators I knew from my previous life. It made a loud rattling sound as we ascended. When I entered the VIP room, the VIP room staff served me some expensive wine and snacks and gave me a catalog. I noticed some products in the catalog related to magic, perhaps because they were associated with the Republic’s magic towers. Cain would pay anyway, so I thought about what to buy relaxedly.

"If you need anything, please feel free to tell me." said the VIP room staff.

I picked up some snacks and replied, "A few days ago, a man named Lancelot Everden would have brought in a letter of recommendation from Duke Asteria. Tell him Colonel Den has brought vanilla ice cream. If you tell the branch manager, he will deliver the message."

Vanilla ice cream was a kind of a passcode. It was to prevent Hestia noona from noticing my plan and contacting Lan first to coax me. Of course, even though she was my sister, I doubted that she would find out that I had run away from my father, but I had to be careful because she was often unpredictable.

"Yes? Oh, yes. I understand."

"Oh, and I want to sell something. Do you accept sales?"

The VIP room staff looked troubled at my question, "I apologize. We don't accept sales from guests. But if you tell me what you wish to sell, we will try to get the best relevant trader for you.”

"I'm going to sell monster by-products."

The staff member recoiled in shock when I pulled out a gogmagog head from my pocket space.

"Ah, I understand! I will arrange for a related trader right away!"

For some reason, I felt like I had become an obnoxious customer. No, rather than just feeling, I knew I had become one. While waiting for Lancelot, a related trader arrived, so I sold all the by-products I had except for magic materials. They were too big to be taken out of the VIP room, so I had to use the cart at the back door of the market, but I was able to get a price higher than expected thanks to an introduction from the Asteria Market. With my wallet now full, I was browsing the catalog for a long-term trip when Lan entered the VIP room.

"Den~!" As soon as Lan saw me, he ran over in tears. "You didn't abandon me this time! I was nervous!"

"Hey! Hey! Don't get your snot on my clothes!"

I took out a handkerchief, covered Lan's face, and shoved his head off of me.

"At the coming-of-age ceremony, it was too much even on my own, so how could I have taken you and still escaped their pursuit?"

"But…"

"But nothing! I’m taking you this time, so stop crying!"

"Ok! Hehe." Lan nodded, wiping his tears and runny nose on my handkerchief.

"Ugh, you can keep that handkerchief. Oh, by the way, did you do everything I asked you to do?"

"Yea, I did. But I spent almost all the money in the process, is that okay?"

"Don't worry. I found a financier on my way here. We’ll be able to take care of all our food, clothing, and shelter while we're here."

Lan nodded, his eyes sparkling. "As expected, you’re the best!"

I smiled playfully as I marked off the items I wanted to buy in the catalog and handed them to the VIP room staff.

"Please deliver the items to the villa of Representative Zubian before midnight."

I had purchased camping items such as extra ropes, blankets, and sleeping bags, as well as office supplies like paper and ink that I thought were necessary and would be difficult to acquire elsewhere. It was not an issue to take it all thanks to my pocket space, but it was a waste of time to wait for the items to be taken out of the warehouse, so I asked for delivery.

"Yes, understood. We will deliver it in time."

I paid the deposit with the money I had and left the Asteria Market with Lan.

"Shall we hang out at the street market for a bit before we go to where my party is staying?"

"Sounds good!"

We both headed towards the street market that stayed open late into the night.