Chapter 66: Three Hands (3)
Because there had been too much luggage, we arrived about an hour later than expected.
“Where should we move these to?”
“Ah, those? Just leave them with the Karbenna servants….”
Before I could even finish speaking, the coachn had already lifted all the sacks of artifacts into the air.
‘No matter how many tis I see it, I can’t get used to it.’
Was that the norm at the Magic Tower?
Anyway, after moving all the artifacts we’d brought to the front of the Karbenna Church Vault, I sent the coachn back.
“We can finally take a breather.”
Eric’s forehead was already beaded with sweat.
“Yeah.”
First, I needed to finish the handover.
“What are all those?”
As we were about to move, a burly figure strode toward us.
“Dean.”
It was Frederick Lake.
The two imdiately saluted him, and I belatedly raised my hand as well.
“That’s enough. Just explain what all this is.”
“They’re artifacts.”
“…All of this?”
“Yes.”
Frederick peeked into the sacks filled to the brim with items and let out a dry chuckle.
“Shaless bastards. When they begged for artifact support, they whined about not having any themselves.”
“Well, we always complain about lacking budget too, don’t we?”
“That’s only because that cheapskate Dale never loosens his purse strings.”
As I stood there with my arms crossed and a bored look on my face, Frederick’s brow slowly furrowed.
“Don’t tell you’ve been ‘inspired’ after a few days at the Magic Tower?”
“Of course not. I simply made a mutually beneficial proposal.”
“Proposal, huh… Hearing that word from your mouth always makes uneasy.”
“You don’t need to worry this ti.”
I smiled brightly.
Frederick narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but I only responded with a pleasant grin.
While the two of us continued our little war of nerves, Rubia, clearly fed up, tugged Eric’s sleeve.
“We’ll be on our way then, Sir Eugene.”
“…Ah, yes. I’ll see you soon. Eric!”
“……?”
“I’m counting on you.”
It sounded like a request, but in truth, it was closer to a threat.
Eric knew that well, so he just gave a wry smile and nodded.
His resigned gaze was almost pitiful.
After sending the two off, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Once they had completely disappeared from sight, Frederick went straight to the point.
“How about being honest for a change, Carter?”
“…I’m not sure what you an.”
Most of the cadets were in class, and the professors were either in lectures or attending the Faculty eting. There wasn’t a single soul near the church vault.
With a sharp glare, Frederick asked,
“The accident that happened during the operation area transfer… it wasn’t caused by beasts, was it?”
Hearing Frederick strike right at the heart of it, my first thought was—
‘Walter’s surprisingly tight-lipped.’
I thought everything would’ve been exposed by now.
Even if Frederick already knew the full story, I didn’t intend to bla him.
He and Walter must have bonded naturally in the process of saving Michel, who’d nearly died.
A lot had happened lately. It was only natural for emotions to be running high.
Walter, being in that state, could’ve easily let sothing slip by mistake.
‘Or… is he asking this to test ?’
To see whose side I’m on?
‘If that’s the case, there’s no reason not to play along.’
Placing a hand on my hip, I asked calmly,
“What makes you think that?”
Frederick snorted.
“Do you take for a fool? This region sees less than one hostile beast appearance per month. And even then, they’re all below B-rank.”
“……”
“And yet, you’re telling sothing strong enough to inflict that much damage just happened to appear there? Do you really expect to buy that?”
He’d gotten a lot sharper than before.
Was it the Karbenna experience rubbing off on him?
Still, I feigned ignorance and replied smoothly,
“You must’ve checked the old reports about the spawn rate. We encountered five A-rank beasts. Running away was the best option.”
“Nonsense. Then why was the training carried out as normal? And why were there no beast sightings afterward?”
“That’s…”
“Why fabricate beasts and then contact the Magic Tower? Who’s the one pulling your strings?”
“…Hmm?”
I had been ready to retort, ‘Even after seeing Rubia injured, you still say that?’—but his words caught off guard.
‘…So that’s where his mind went, huh?’
Well, from Frederick’s point of view, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.
Eugene Carter, who had secluded himself for so long, suddenly returned and began taking bold actions one after another.
It wasn’t strange to assu there was soone giving orders behind the scenes.
‘Maybe I should let him keep that misconception for now.’
Frederick Lake—a devout believer in system and order.
In other words, a man of principle.
Even if he personally disliked , given that Michel had been driven into this situation, he couldn’t openly antagonize soone who had helped save her.
Then, the ‘backer’ I ought to hint at right now was…
‘There’s a perfect candidate for that.’
With a resolute expression, I said vaguely,
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe .”
Frederick’s suspicion only deepened.
“For now, let’s leave it as a sealed matter. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“…Soon enough?”
“The summit begins tomorrow, doesn’t it? Everything will be clear then.”
“Don’t tell —Edel Ribe—!”
Shh.
I placed my index finger against my lips and gave a faint smile.
Frederick rubbed his forehead, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“Those two archrivals cooperating… is that even possible?”
“You’re free to believe whatever you want, Dean.”
“……”
Well then, the bait was set.
Now, all that was left was to wait and see how he would move.
Pretending to look around cautiously, I gave a light tap on the sacks of artifacts.
“Please take good care of these. They’re a token of goodwill from the Magic Tower.”
“Wait, Carter! I’m not done talking—!”
I waved a hand without turning back.
A quiet laugh escaped , and after clearing my throat, I looked up toward the sky.
It was a clear, bright morning without a single cloud.
The mont he parted ways with the Magic Tower mbers, Eric Halenber headed straight to his private room.
Once the public hearing concluded, a storm of inspections would sweep through Karbenna.
Especially those related to the Hockma Incident, and anyone even remotely associated with them—there would be much stricter investigations.
He considered warning Billy and Philip, but decided against it.
‘Those guys will find a way to save their own skins.’
Even if they didn’t, they had families. In the worst case, they could always cling to their parents like they always did.
As for , I only needed to focus on my own survival—just as I always had.
Well, that was sothing to worry about after the summit anyway….
“…Hoo.”
Eric sighed as he stared at the Tebrel Orb sitting on the desk.
By this evening, his father would be heading back to the main estate with key figures of the Bernhardt Family.
Since the Imperial Summit would proceed continuously for several days, there would be no ti left to persuade him later.
Just like Instructor Carter had said—if he was going to do it, now was the only chance.
“……”
He had already thought it through.
There was no point in thinking anymore.
‘From now on, it’s Father’s turn to worry, not mine.’
With his resolve firm, Eric infused mana into the Tebrel Orb and waited for a response.
He expected to wait at least thirty minutes, but the reply ca much sooner than anticipated.
The orb instantly flickered into a violet hue.
“State your business briefly.”
A cold, heavy voice resonated from within.
At the sound of his father’s chilling tone, goosebumps rippled down Eric’s body.
His lips trembled with tension, and cold sweat ran down his back.
Flooded by mories, his mind went blank.
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
What should I do?
Should I just exchange greetings?
It’s too late anyway—the downfall of the Halenber Family can’t be stopped.
Whatever happens to that damned father of mine, it’s none of my concern.
Whether Halenber falls or not, it has nothing to do with .
I could just keep my head down and, when things got bad, request protection for myself.
As he repeated these excuses in his mind, Eric’s lips trembled slightly.
Just as he was about to speak, a voice that shouldn’t have been audible reached his ears.
‘Are you running away again?’
It was Francia’s voice.
“……”
He had spent his entire life running, giving up, and compromising to survive.
If he did the sa thing again this ti—then the words he had once said to that guy would an nothing.
As Eric stayed silent, Jeff let out a deep sigh of frustration on the other end.
“What a waste of ti. Your punishnt for this matter will be decided after the summit.”
Just as his father was about to cut the connection—
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
The words he should have said long ago finally rose up from his throat.
“It’s all over, Father.”
“…What?”
“The Hockma Distribution will be exposed at the Imperial Summit. There’s no escape for us.”
After saying it, Eric rubbed his forehead and swallowed a sigh.
‘…I really did it.’
Now there was truly no turning back.
Whatever happens, I’ll see it through to the end.
As the silence from his father dragged on, Eric swallowed hard, eyes widening in anticipation.
About three minutes passed before—
“……Who is it?”
After a long pause, Jeff Halenber finally spoke.
“Don’t tell … it’s Eugene Carter?”
Eric flinched for a mont but quickly steadied himself and asked back calmly.
“Does that matter right now?”
“You may be a fool, but you’re not so stupid as to make such a reckless choice on your own. Soone must have influenced you.”
“……”
“I don’t know what sche you’re mixed up in… but stop it, son. That’s an order.”
An order.
A while ago, just hearing that word would’ve made Eric freeze in fear.
But now, in more ways than one, Eric Halenber had nothing left to lose.
“It’s too late. It’s already out of my hands. No matter what you do to , the exposure can’t be stopped.”
A heavy sigh ca from the other side.
“…Hah. I thought you, at least, had so sense of self-interest. I was mistaken. Let ask one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“What do you gain from this? What profit could possibly co out of doing sothing like this?”
Heh.
So, it’s always about that.
Eric shook his head toward the unseen figure and answered.
“Profit, gain… You’ll never understand if that’s all you can think about.”
“What…?”
“And if you’re going to calculate profit and loss, you should’ve done it properly. Even if there’s no profit, you should at least minimize the loss, don’t you think?”
“You… Are you lecturing your own father right now?”
Think whatever you want.
Having seized the initiative, Eric ignored Jeff’s words and began to conclude the conversation.
“The only way for the Halenber Family to survive now is through whistleblowing. And the only person in the Empire who can do that—is you.”
“……”
“That’s all I have to say. Then…”
Thank you for everything… Father.
He swallowed the final words and cut off the mana flow to the orb.
Soon after, the Tebrel Orb’s glow completely faded away.
Without hesitation, Eric rose from his seat and left his private room.
Outside the window, the sky was clear, without a single cloud.
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