I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 87

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 87
The Inspector pointed to one side of the Protective Stone, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Here, this section. Do you see the hairline crack in the lower left? According to our investigation, a Power Outflow occurred at this location. Fortunately, we’ve managed to contain it for now with the aid of the Magic Tower.”
“A Power Outflow?”
“The Practice Grounds haven’t been fully purged of Magical Energy. The outflow sought its source and moved toward it, which is what we believe triggered the mutations in the monsters.”
He was right. The evidence was plain to see—thin but unmistakable cracks ran through the stone. Gravity settled over every face in the room.
“Accordingly, His Imperial Majesty has ordered that compensation and responsibility be clarified in this matter, and that the Seal on the Protective Stone be reexamined.”
“Responsibility, you say……”
“I shall now read His Imperial Majesty’s edict.”
The moment the words left his mouth, everyone seated rose to their feet and prostrated themselves. Aiden bent low with them.
The Inspector’s grave voice echoed from above.
“To the Headmaster of Veritas Academy: devise measures to protect the Protective Stone and submit your report within one month. Bear the costs of the Magic Tower’s temporary intervention.”
“I… shall obey the command.”
“Hear now, Guardian Families. You are granted one month. Within that time, examine and inspect the state of the Protective Stone, and report your findings to the Imperial Inspector dispatched to your territories.”
At last, the Imperial Family was moving. A spark ignited in Aiden’s eyes. The Inspector continued.
“The Imperial Household shall bear thirty percent of the compensation to the students. The remaining seventy percent shall be determined by the Academy and the Guardian Families in discussion, and the compensation plan must be reported immediately after this meeting concludes.”
“Yes… I understand.”
When the Inspector finished, those who had prostrated themselves rose from their seats.
The faces of the Academy and Marquis Renters House representatives were darkest, but the other Guardian Family members hardly looked pleased either. They began whispering urgently.
“So they’re using this as a pretext to interfere in the Guardian Families’ affairs—”
“Shh. The Inspector’s still here. Be quiet!”
The Guardian Families held independent authority in the realm of wielding and protecting Power, and Imperial intervention in these matters was somewhat restricted.
This had been possible because that era was, in a sense, wartime. But it remained an acknowledged authority even now, precisely because during the Demon Extermination War, unnecessary Imperial intervention had nearly caused grave problems with the Oblivion Duchy’s Protective Stone.
The protection of Power must be sustained, and therefore Imperial interference cannot be tolerated. That was their position.
But this incident had shifted the balance slightly.
Paige spoke to the Inspector with a hardened expression.
“Might we hold a discussion among ourselves?”
“Of course.”
The Inspectors readily agreed and headed out. The massive doors swung shut with a heavy clang.
And from that moment on—
“Marquis Renters. How exactly do you intend to resolve this!”
The quarreling began.
* * *
It took roughly another hour before the situation settled somewhat.
As time wore on, all pretense of “civility” fell away, and everyone argued shamelessly over their own interests. It was not an edifying sight.
Of course, not all of them were the same. Even as the Guardian Families and their vassal houses, along with Academy officials, bickered and fought over their gains, there were those who observed the situation in silence.
“Marquis Kishear, Duke Oblivion. Do either of you have an opinion?”
“Are you asking for my opinion now?”
Kishear responded sharply to Paige’s remark, he who had kept his mouth firmly shut until now.
“To speak plainly—I don’t even know why I’m here.”
“M-Marquis Kishear.”
“Have all of you here completely forgotten that my daughter nearly died because of this?”
Only then did comprehension dawn on every face in the room.
Though a Guardian Family in their own right, Kishear was the one person here who could rightfully escape responsibility.
Clear fury was etched across Kishear’s face. He had not been observing passively all this while. He had been watching, anger suppressed, to see how far these fools would go.
“What—were you about to say it’s fine since she came back alive?”
“No, that’s not what I meant at all.”
“It seems I have no place here. I shall take my leave.”
“Marquis Kishear! At least the compensation plan—”
“Do as you please, I say. Just be sure to tell me how much I owe. Not a single one of you has even mentioned apologizing to the students properly. It seems there’s no reason for me to remain.”
As Kishear rose sharply from his seat, Oblivion fumbled to stand as well, but it was Kishear himself—staring coldly at something—who stopped him.
“It’s all right. There’s someone I need to speak with briefly.”
“Marquis, we still have matters to discuss regarding our affairs—”
“Yes. I was just about to bring those up.”
Kishear’s gaze fixed on someone who was desperately avoiding his eyes across the room. The Marquis addressed him without hesitation.
“Sir Aiden Oblivion. You’re coming with me.”
“… Pardon?”
“You were my daughter’s training instructor, were you not? There’s something I’d like to hear about that.”
Aiden’s face turned ashen in an instant as he sensed the true purpose beneath those words, but Kishear did not retract his statement. Instead, he merely tilted his head expectantly, pressing Aiden forward.
And Yugin, watching all of this unfold right beside him—
“Sir Aiden. Safe travels.”
“Commander. I might actually die out there.”
“That’s your karma. If you somehow manage to survive and return alive, come straight back to the Order. I’ll be waiting.”
He chose, quite firmly, to abandon Aiden to his fate.
Which was only natural.
* * *
Aiden had visited the Oblivion Duchy just days ago for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
And waiting for him there were his brother—Oblivion, glaring at him with narrowed eyes—and a mountain of two hundred and sixty-one Letters of Protest stacked to the ceiling.
That day, Aiden had to unfold each letter one by one and personally compose replies. According to the noble customs of the Laurentia Empire, to ignore a letter was considered a grave discourtesy.
And the contents of those letters were—
“Well. You were careful to keep your neck intact, I hope?”
“Please, spare me. I was wrong.”
“If everything could be solved by saying you were wrong, why would laws and law enforcement exist at all?”
“I’d rather take a beating from law enforcement!”
“How fortunate then. I am both the living law and living law enforcement of the Laurentia Empire.”
Since when!
It appeared that in Marquis Kishear’s legal code—he who was currently proclaiming himself the “living law” of the Laurentia Empire—there existed an article stating: “One who betroths my daughter, then sends a Betrothal Cancellation Notice three days later and flees, only to slink back after three years, shall be put to death.”
‘… Wait. Come to think of it, I probably deserve to die.’
Aiden’s reason worked with crystalline clarity.
He marveled at his own ability to remain levelheaded even when his own life hung in the balance, then nimbly dodged Kishear’s walking staff as it came flying toward him.
“You’re dodging?”
“My instincts are working very hard, Father!”
“Who is your father, you bastard!”
“Then… Marquis, please calm down and put the staff away first. You’ll hurt your back!”
“Gah! This… this cursed wretch! Bring me a real sword! Right now!”
“Father! Using a live blade outside of a duel, formal combat training, or actual duty is illegal!”
“But the law provides an exception under ‘other extenuating circumstances.’ If it’s about the law, I know it far better than you do.”
“That’s… well, that is true, but—”
Kishear’s aide, as if he had been waiting for this moment, promptly handed him a massive greatsword. Aiden noticed that the aide’s gaze also felt somewhat sharp.
He dodged Kishear’s blade once more and complained to the aide.
“Why would you actually hand him a real sword? The Marquis is trying to kill me!”
“I am the Marquis’s loyal servant and stand in perfect accord with his will at all times.”
“But he’s trying to kill me!”
“Considering what you’ve done to Miss Olivia, you should accept death three times over without complaint.”
The aide even proved his thoroughness by producing a pair of dueling gloves in case of further need. Aiden clicked his tongue at such meticulous preparation and desperately grabbed the hem of the Marquis’s trousers, clinging to it for his life.
“Let go. Or don’t?”
“Father, please. Just hear me out first.”
Aiden’s desperate plea for survival continued.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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