A young man with bloodied clothes could be seen drinking a whitish liquid from a diamond-shaped vial. He sat in a furnished home that screamed wealth, and three men who looked to be the same age as him surrounded him with angry and confused looks on their faces.
"Boss, who did this to you?! , I swear I’m going to—"
"Shut it," Matthew ordered coldly. "None of you could do anything if you were given the chance, so just shut up and call the patriarch."
The others who wanted to say something closed their mouths and quietly stood behind Matthew’s chair.
’Good thing he didn’t come after me; I’m not sure I would’ve survived.’
Matthew’s expression turned grim, and his body unnoticeably shuddered as he recalled the disfigured face that continually punched him with emotionless eyes.
’He has to go...there’s no other way.’
A tall, muscular man with blonde hair hurriedly rushed over with a smooth, palm-sized crystal with faint glowing veins in his hands and handed it over to him.
"Boss, I’ve got him on the mana resonance channel."
Accepting the crystal, he cleared his throat, and spoke, "Hello?"
A calm voice responded after a moment of delay, "What is it, Matthew?"
Waving his guards away, irritation plain on his face, Matthew said flatly, "We have a problem."
There was no response from the resonance stone, and Matthew tapped lightly on its surface with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you there?"
A voice tinged with impatience responded immediately, "Get on with it then."
"Oh, I apologize. I’m sure Rimezna told you about the boy she met during the cultural enlightenment program the academy arranged."
"She was being too panicky, so I sent her away." The voice replied flatly.
Matthew was at a loss for words for a moment before he eventually asked, "May I be permitted to recount the events?"
A small hum came from the other side.
Taking a deep breath, Matthew recounted everything from the beginning—how Clark endured the twins’ and his sister’s counterattacks, how Matthew attacked and nearly beat him but ultimately lost, how Clark then fell into soul dissonance and was isolated by Kurt, and everything that followed up to the latest fight.
A long period of silence followed, and if not for the faint glow of the resonance stone, Matthew would’ve thought the call had ended.
"So, what do you propose we do?" The patriarch finally asked.
An evil smile crept on Matthew’s face and he answered, "He needs to be treated as an upper A ranked threat"
Another bout of silence followed before the patriarch spoke with undisguised dissapointment in his voice.
"So you’re telling me an F ranked warrior managed to withstand the combined attacks of three D ranks, fought and beat you almost the same time, fought against Kurt Valyn— one of the most skilled blacksmiths in the empire and beat you once more to the extent that you had to run away and you dared to call me to order his death?"
Matthew wanted to answer and probably defend himself in some parts, but the eerie calm that came from the other side of the resonance stone made him think twice.
"I expected that, as the second in line for the patriarch position, you’d be more level-headed and less childish. But it seems I was wrong, if the first thought that came to your mind after meeting an anomaly of that level was to kill him just because he beat you, then you’re no different than the other childish nobles"
Matthew felt a sharp pain in his chest as he listened to his father’s scolding, but he knew this was the last time he’d ever be given the opportunity to talk about this subject so he had no choice but to convince his father.
"This isn’t because he beat me, I’ve always liked a good challenge— Greg and Oliver can attest to that, but that boy carries a darkness so heavy it radiates from his very being. His battle style is reminiscent of what battle mage would use, but his attacks are crude and refined at the same time....and each attack is aimed to kill"
The patriarch didn’t respond, showing that he was listening.
"Doesn’t it strike you as strange that an F rank manged to fight numerous higher ranked warriors?, even if he was suppressing his rank, his mana reserves should have been depleted after fighting with Rimezna and the others. Something isn’t adding up and I suggest we don’t try to find out what that boy is hiding because I don’t think we’d be able to bear the consequences" He concluded grimly.
There was no response from the patriarch once more.
"Patriarch—"
"You dissapoint me" He interrupted
"What—?"
Confusion was written all over Matthew’s face as he thought, ’Doesn’t he believe me?, leaving that man alive is dangerous!’
"So you’re saying that the Virsch family cannot handle an F rank and the power we have amassed all these years are all for naught. Is that it?"
"That’s not what I meant, I’m just saying we shouldn’t try to recruit or even make contact except we want to kill him". Matthew argued desperately.
"...This matter shan’t be pursued further, come back home and prepare for the tournament. That Decker girl will be there, use that opportunity to get close to her" Official source is novel⸺fire.net
Ruffling his hair in frustration, Matthew begrudgingly agreed and ended the transmission.
"Dammit!!"
Smashing the resonance stone on the wall with heavy breaths, Matthew paced around the room as his mind raced.
’If I could send two A ranks, his death would be sure, but how far would my image in my family be tarnished if I take such action?, will they even listen?. Knowing father, he’s probably anticipated my thought process and given instructions to counter it’
With a low groan of frustration, Matthew muttered something under his breath and entered his room to stabilize his mana.
The three guards came out as soon as they heard the bang of the door and they all had question marks floating above their head.
"I’ve never seen boss so angry before" One of them spoke, "He usually has that weird smile on his face but this incident must’ve shaken him hard"
"Don’t let the boss hear you saying that, I was never here" another spoke
The blonde haired man who brought the resonance stone, opened the door as he ordered, "Let’s go, the Brinehurst investigation is happening in the next few days and I heard one of the Rothschilds will be there"
The two of them followed him out as one of them replied excitedly, "Do you think it’ll be Master Oliver?"
"Keep dreaming, this issue is far too minor for the Rothschilds to even be involved in the first place, I’m sure Henyl is just making it up so we’ll stop talking about boss" The first jabbed.
Henyl pretended not to hear anything and hailed a carriage that was heading to the Virsch estate.
...
In the Rothschild home, two familiar figures sat on the couch with smiles on their faces.
"Hahaha, you never fail to amuse me Greg, that punch you landed on my face last week still stings!"
"I don’t think that’s something you should be finding amusing but yet again you were never normal to begin with"
Laughing louder, Oliver asked, "So, why did you come here today? did you want another spar? because we could go right now"
"I’m not as battle-hungry as you. My father asked me to come over today to meet Miriam"
Oliver’s face turned serious, "That’s dangerous"
With raised eyebrows, Greg asked, "What is?"
"Meeting Miriam right now. It’s dangerous"
Mind you, this was a person who’s life literally revolved around danger and his thirst for it was insatiable.
"She’s been extremely unstable ever since the ball, her mana fluctuates periodically and she’s forced to enter seclusion to avoid hurting anyone"
Greg’s face turned solemn and he asked, "Is her mana stable now?"
Oliver nodded in response.
"She’s been instructed to head to Brinehurst in the next two days so she can release her mana there and hopefully stabilize it"
Oliver’s face was filled with worry as he spoke and Greg’s face showed no visible changes.
But his thoughts said otherwise.
’Brinehurst?, I thought we covered our tracks properly, how come they found out something happened there? Except...’
Greg tapped his foot lightly on the white rug that covered the entirety of the living room.
’The dead bodies....we forgot to dispose of them, they must’ve decayed and the beastkin in the neighbouring town must’ve picked up the scent’.
"Greg? Are you okay?"
His thoughts halted, Greg turned to Oliver with his trademark neutral expression.
"I was just thinking about something, nothing serious. But I do need to see—"
A piercing scream shattered the serene atmosphere. Judging by the wry smile tugging at Oliver’s lips, it wasn’t the first time
"Is that—?"
Oliver interrupted with a sigh, "Yes, Greg, it’s Miriam"
"Is it the mana issue?" Greg asked worriedly
"It’s from my father’s office, so I guess not."
Confusion registered on Greg’s face as he watched Oliver’s nonchalant expression.
As if he knew what he would ask next, Oliver spoke, "She’ll be out soon, we’ll find out by then"
And as if on cue, a loud bang echoed through the hall, followed by Miriam storming out, anger practically radiating from her.
Her anger rose to higher levels as she saw Greg and she asked coldly, "Of all people... why are You here?"
Greg blinked. Poor guy didn’t even know what he did wrong.