Chapter 227
The magic engineer Biblios required a timeframe of three months.
Through a crystal ball’s video magic, I was able to communicate with Biblios.
He brightened up as he examined the materials I had laid out, muttering to himself.
Wondering what form to create and where, he held up three fingers.
Considering there weren’t any other reservations, this situation felt a bit excessive in terms of time.
However, it wasn’t particularly something to complain about. I already knew he was quite particular about his weapons and that it would take a long time.
“Roughly around the time the unique spell is complete, I might be able to carry it when joining Gamigin’s expedition force.”
Well… it would be best if it overlapped.
But if it didn’t, it wouldn’t matter much.
“I’ll ensure that once the staff is complete, it will be sent to where Lord Vargan is.”
Ultreman, after receiving the sack of gold coins containing the necessary expenses, said with an exceptionally kind smile.
Having ears open all over the world, Ultreman seemed to have already caught on to what the Central Church was preparing.
Still, seeing him calmly offering to deliver goods made it clear that he had calculated that it wouldn’t affect the Terrarium and Cardinal Beled he served.
“How do you plan to locate my position?”
“Unless it’s something like the interiors of the Academia or Central Church, our Terrarium can pinpoint your location anywhere in the world.”
“That’s quite the confidence you have.”
“Since there’s no competitor in this field, we reign as the unrivaled number one.”
Ultreman smiled brightly.
Knowing that wasn’t just bragging, I didn’t underestimate him.
Having secured the contract and proofs from Terrarium, I left.
Ultreman politely bowed, saying he would await my next visit.
—Brother? Seems like we’re finally getting a connection.
Stepping outside, I caught a frequency on the disposable communication crystal.
It seemed like the interior of the Terrarium was set up to disable communication magic.
—You’ll be returning to the mansion right? Father specifically insisted that you shouldn’t miss the family meal since everyone’s gathering after a long time.
The owner of the youthful voice was Rina, the fourth daughter of the Schugenhartz family.
Despite being twins with the chaotic maid Riel, their personalities were completely different; Rina was calm and sweet, acting the part well.
I assured Rina that I hadn’t forgotten, so she didn’t need to worry.
“Now that I think about it, we’ve never all eaten together since I assumed this identity.”
Considering how busy everyone was, and thinking about Vargan, who played the reckless fool, it indeed felt more awkward to think of us as a harmonious family…
After ending the call, I promptly moved on.
I summoned a wagon to the nearby inn. Taking Erica, who had been waiting for me to finish my business, I headed towards the mansion.
“Are you nervous?”
Inside the wagon, I asked as I saw Erica’s bell-like hands gripping her dress pleats.
I looked at the two hands grasping the hem of the skirt and asked.
Erica shook her head with a faint smile, but the Erica of now struggles to act as well as Alicia does.
She was supposed to be with me due to her anxiety.
Facing the members of the Schugenhartz Family is quite a daunting task, to say the least.
After all, they are a motley crew of complicated opponents.
‘It’s even more complicated considering the words I had already stated in advance.’
It was a dinner where I could easily slip away, but there was a reason I chose to show up this time.
I had already conveyed that to Erica, and she knew what I would say.
Since it was quite an important matter, I acted a bit anxious.
“Schugenhartz… Are you really okay?”
She was worried about me.
It was a bit ironic that Erica, who seemed to be in deeper contemplation than me, would ask out of concern for my well-being.
I tried to show that I was fine by lifting the corners of my mouth and joking around.
“Yeah. It was the planned course of action, after all.”
“…Okay.”
“Are you angry?”
“…Honestly, a little. While I have no room to express anger myself… still.”
Erica chose her words carefully.
I smiled again, assuring her that I was okay.
‘I can fully understand her anger towards the Head of the Schugenhartz Family.’
However, this was something determined long before I was reincarnated.
Moreover, it also presented an opportunity to eliminate a bothersome element in my future.
“There’s no need to feel sorry for me. However… Erica, I feel just sorry for you.”
“…For me? Why?”
“The engagement between Schugenhartz and Portlet will likely be annulled due to this.”
The last thread connecting Erica and me before she fell apart.
Knowing all the truths now, it felt somewhat like a mere formality, yet it still formally existed as a contract.
Erica understood this fact and offered a bitter smile.
“…I see. But it’s okay.”
She didn’t elaborate on her feelings.
What was okay? Why the awkward smile?
As we traveled in a somewhat heavy atmosphere, the wagon rolled onward.
We arrived at the mansion of the Schugenhartz Estate.
*
Upon descending into the mansion, we needed to adhere to the dress code for this meal.
I wondered why we needed to be bothered with something so trivial, but the family head was a stickler for formality, so there was no way around it.
After dressing up, I ran into Erica again in the hallway.
She was no longer in the comfortable outfit she had been wearing before, but in a long dress that almost touched the floor with every step.
“Shall we go?”
Nevertheless, she walked with her click-clacking heels as if she was used to it.
For Erica, the second daughter of the Portlet family, this level of hassle seemed to be nothing much.
Erica and I walked down the long hallway of the mansion.
It was easy to tell how well-maintained the hallway was, suggesting the attendants spent all day cleaning it.
‘Alicia also helped polish the hallway back in the day.’
That was from the early days when she was brought over.
I had intentionally pushed her a bit more to clearly establish the master-servant relationship, but looking back now, was that really necessary?
Thanks to that, the current Alicia is who she is.
Indeed, I had not been mistaken in my thoughts back then.
Just as those random thoughts crossed my mind.
I caught sight of a pair of twins dressed in flamboyant attire in the hallway.
They had black eyes like mine and hair that gleamed with oil, giving off an unmistakably noble impression.
“Ugh.”
This was Riel, the female servant, who spoke at the sight of me.
She grimaced as if she had just tasted something awful, almost like a reflex.
I considered whether to give a light smack on the head to someone who didn’t understand the hierarchy, but decided that it would only lead to trouble, so I ignored it.
It seems like I ignored it.
“Welcome, brother. It’s been a while, Erica.”
The younger sibling, Rina, smiled brightly and greeted us.
This girl also moved her facial muscles reflexively. I can’t say there wasn’t any sincerity, but it’s more accurate to say it’s just a habit.
“Hi….”
Erica swallowed and stuck close to my side with a voice that barely escaped her lips.
She managed to greet me, but it seemed difficult to hope for anything more after that.
The one who seemed most interested in Erica’s completely changed appearance compared to how she looked about two years ago was the female servant, Riel.
“I’ve heard about it, but it looks like something really did happen? People can change this much all at once…?”
“Riel. Back off.”
“What are you talking about? I can’t even see you. I’m not interested in you, so just leave me alone.”
They already knew about my eyesight because Rheincarven had informed them.
It was a trial induced by a unique spell and only a temporary phenomenon.
This point was also a burden to explain again, so it worked out well.
But… before that, this girl.
I explicitly told her to back off, yet she wasn’t listening.
I spoke in a slightly annoyed voice.
“Riel. Last warning.”
“Oh, what? What did I even do to deserve this?”
“Back off from Erica. Her state is… worse than you think.”
“Not good, right? I know. I have eyes too. I’m just curious, that’s all. It’s not often I see her like this.”
Riel moved right in front of Erica and reached out to touch her.
What she possessed was pure curiosity.
A harmless action to try to understand the drastically changed Erica.
However, I found Riel’s ‘curiosity’ unpleasant and seized her wrist to forcibly stop her.
With her movements restrained, Riel said,
“It hurts, let go.”
“……”
“Can’t you hear me? It hurts, so let go.”
Even though I was gripping her wrist firmly, Riel didn’t lose her spirit.
Instead, she shot a glare that conveyed her nature perfectly.
“Schugenharz…! It’s fine. I’m not hurt at all…!”
“Brother! You’re holding too tightly! Sister, apologize quickly! Otherwise, brother won’t let you go!”
Erica and Rina were flustered.
Regardless, this brazen girl didn’t know how to extinguish the flame in her eyes.
I tightened my grip even more.
“Ah! It hurts, you jerk—!”
As the pain intensified, Riel’s expression twisted. Ultimately, she irritably swatted my hand away and took a few steps back.
She was huffing and puffing in anger.
A few tears glimmered in her dark eyes.
Her wrist, still smarting, was turning red, which showed that I hadn’t held back the pressure too much, even in a short amount of time.
It seemed the noble female servant of the Schugenhartz Family found it too painful to endure.
Riel clenched her teeth and spat out her words.
“You’re sick! Do you know it’s overprotection?!”
“……”
“Are you really doing this to me? Do you think my father would just let this slide? You brat—!”
“Sister, that’s going too far…! Brother…?”
Crack—!
The beloved head of the family’s female servant turned to the side.
Her cheeks reddened more than her wrist.
Riel touched her cheek, which bore the imprint of my hand, completely unaware of what was happening to her.
Her cheek burned as if it had been scalded.
I continued to look down at her with a dispassionate expression.
Seeing this, Riel’s eyes welled up with a few tears.
“You… you… are you sane…?”
“Am I sane? That’s the question I want to ask you, Riel. It seems the new etiquette teacher you just got couldn’t correct your bad habits either.”
“It seems the newly appointed etiquette teacher couldn’t fix your bad temper.”
“…How? How could this happen….”
“If you’re going to keep sniveling like that, you might as well go hide in a corner. I can already smell the stench coming from you, which is quite a feat considering how pathetic you are.”
Isn’t that a nuisance to others?
The moment those words left my mouth.
Riel grabbed the hem of her long dress and ran out.
She was heading towards the garden.
Feeling upset and wanting to cry, she wanted to dash out somewhere, but she didn’t want to go to the room I mentioned, so off to the garden she went.
“Uh, Sister…!”
Rina hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to go to her twin sister.
The appointed time was fast approaching.
It’s better to have one empty seat at the dining table than two.
Judging by that, Rina called over a nearby servant, asking them to comfort Riel and bring her back.
“…Brother. Your sister may have been rude, but you went too far this time.”
“Too far? Rina, it seems you’ve gotten a little confused because I’ve been obedient for a whole year. I’ve always been like this.”
“……”
“If you want to follow, you can go too. I’ll make sure to speak well of you to Father.”
“…I feel like I understand you even less than before.”
“Interpret it however you like. Now, let’s go, Erica.”
I took the frozen hand of Erica and headed towards the dining hall.
Rina, pondering her thoughts, hesitated but eventually walked alongside me. She must have calculated her pros and cons in her head and concluded that she couldn’t leave me to handle it alone.
We arrived at the dining hall.
Every chair was already occupied.
Head of Household Father.
Mother.
First Son Rheincarven.
Second Son Belo.
“Where is Riel?”
Father asked.
Before I could answer, Rina spoke up faster. She naturally spat out a lie, saying that her dress’s seam had ripped during the dressing process, so it was taking a little longer.
“Then I guess we have no choice. Let’s start with the forks.”
“Yes? Ah, yes, Father.”
Rina was somewhat bewildered by the unexpected response and sat down.
Father lifted a glass filled with wine and recited a brief history about Yggdrasil and the Schugenhartz Family.
It was the same old, pompous routine, unchanged and boring no matter how many times you heard it.
Dinner started as soon as Father swirled the wine in his mouth.
The topics on the table were varied. News from the Central Church and the recruitment of soldiers for the capture of Cardinal Gamigin.
Celebrating first son Rheincarven’s graduation from the Academia and future plans, discussions about my unique spell, and so on….
The conversation flowed like a rehearsed script. The food on the table was slowly being dissected.
“……”
I quietly listened to the conversation before raising my glass to taste the wine.
As soon as it touched my tongue, the bitter and sweet flavors mixed perfectly, exuding a quality that screamed luxury.
After all, in this space, among everything on this table, there could hardly be anything cheap.
This is Schugenhartz.
A mansion of the prestigious family among the illustrious Troa Empire.
“I have something to say to everyone present. It may come as a shock, but please understand that there has been a lengthy process leading to this moment.”
As the talk progressed, I found the right moment and opened my mouth.
The aroma of the luxury wine still lingered in my mouth.
I savored the attention of everyone as I enjoyed that lingering scent.
With a smirk, I said, “As of today, I will be renouncing the name Schugenhartz.”
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