Chapter 58: Dalton Pactio and the Mysterious Boy
“Huff... Huff... I even used a teleport scroll to catch up, and yet... you’re all unbelievably fast.”
Dalton, who had rushed after Aajen without pause, looked as if he might collapse at any moment. Elwin glanced over at Sercia.
“Sercia.”
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Already knowing what Elwin was about to ask, she immediately cast a healing spell.
Dalton’s labored, wheezing breaths soon calmed into a steady rhythm.
“Th-Thank you...”
Staggering to his feet, Dalton looked at Aajen, tears glimmering in his eyes.
Then he threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. A stark contrast to the stern demeanor he had shown back in the conference hall.
“Aajen, thank goodness you’re safe. Truly, thank the heavens!”
“Uncle…”
Dalton Pactio was not just the notary and legal proxy for the Clover Trade Company.
He was also a long-standing friend of the Clover family.
Dalton had been Nonohen’s closest friend for years and cared for Aajen like his own child.
When news of Aajen’s death had arrived—false, as it turned out—and when Nonohen’s letters suddenly stopped and rumors of his hospitalization spread—
“Why can’t I see him?! I’m his oldest friend...!”
Dalton had fallen ill from the anguish and anxiety over the Clover family.
Amidst the worsening crisis, he had been tortured by his inability to do anything.
That helplessness had been all the more painful because of his lineage—from the Pactio family.
He couldn’t move recklessly, lest he become entangled in political troubles due to his family's status.
“Ah… I didn’t think that far ahead.”
As if he understood that burden, Aajen bit his lip, looking guilty.
“Uncle Dalton… I’m sorry. You must’ve been so worried.”
“No need for that. Just the fact that you’re alive and safe is enough.”
For a while, the two shared a heartfelt reunion. There were no hard feelings between them.
They knew that despite the circumstances, they had both done their best from where they stood.
“Still... is it really okay?” Dalton asked suddenly.
“This whole affair is incredibly complicated… I just wonder if it’s right to send you all off like this.”
Dalton’s expression darkened with concern.
“There might still be danger ahead—for you, Aajen. For Nonohen. For you all as well.”
He looked to Elwin and his companions and gave them a respectful bow.
Despite being a noble of high standing, he didn’t hesitate to bow his head to strangers.
“My apologies for the late greeting. Please forgive this old man’s rudeness. I heard you saved Aajen from an ambush. Thank you—truly.”
“There’s no need to thank us. It was just the right thing to do. Anyone would’ve done the same.”
Elwin replied on behalf of the group, the others silently standing behind him in agreement.
“My word! Such humility! I’m ashamed of myself.”
Dalton was impressed. They didn’t seem to be boasting or exaggerating in the slightest.
“So young… and yet they don’t even think of taking credit for their actions.”
It was hard to believe.
These were the people who had played a critical role in averting a turning point in the Clover Trade Company—and possibly the entire Northern Continent.
What if Aajen had truly died? What if Enaka had taken over the company and consolidated all northern commerce?
The future would have been drastically different.
“These ones will accomplish great things one day.”
As a jurist who had met all sorts of people, Dalton trusted his instincts.
And he was certain now—these people would shape the future.
But Dalton didn’t realize—
That one of them already had. That standing before him was the youngest Special-Class Hunter in history.
“Would you… perhaps consider staying at my family’s estate, the Pactio manor?”
Unaware of who he was truly speaking to, Dalton extended the offer.
Helping promising young people was always fulfilling.
Even more so when those people had saved someone dear to him.
“I know you’re strong. Strong enough to save Aajen from a Geoma swarm. You surely have the strength to protect yourselves.”
He also felt deep gratitude and affection toward Elwin and his companions—not only for saving Aajen, but for preventing the declaration stripping him of his succession.
“But... things don’t seem stable at the moment.”
So, bringing them under the protection of his family was the best course of action Dalton could take now.
“The Magpie Merchant Group isn’t the only concern.”
Fitzmetz’s erratic and excessive behavior during the conference had tipped Dalton off.
He suspected the greedy old man had something to do with the massacre of the merchant caravan.
But even that alone didn’t explain his rising unease.
“Could… the royal family be involved?”
Dalton, unaware of the connection between the Magpie Group and Depicio, could only assume that the royal family of Batevil was behind it.
“The ones who blocked me from seeing Nonohen at Skya Royal Hospital… weren’t from the Trade Company. They were royal guards.”
To be clear—his deduction wasn’t wrong.
Just like the previous Manticore Liberation Incident, this event was tangled in a web of clashing interests among many parties—including the Batevil royal family.
Dalton thought the young ones before him were oblivious to such matters.
But he was completely mistaken.
Elwin already knew. Both what was visible above the surface—and everything beneath.
“Still… I hope it’s just the paranoia of an old man.”
No matter how slim the possibility, he couldn’t ignore it. Their lives could be at risk.
And as long as that shadowy threat loomed, he had to prepare for the worst.
“The Pactio family’s security forces and defense systems are second to none—I assure you!”
A family that had produced generations of bankers and jurists—of course they had countless enemies.
And countless countermeasures.
If these youths came under the Pactio family’s protection, they would surely be safe.
“What do you say?!”
The middle-aged man’s face was filled with nothing but genuine concern and affection.
He truly meant it from the heart.
“…Haha.”
Elwin didn’t dislike people like that.
As always, when he saw someone helping others out of pure goodwill, a fragment of Noel seemed to flicker in his memory.
Still—this was that, and that was this. Elwin smiled kindly as he declined.
“Thank you for your concern. But we’ll be alright.”
Even a moment of sentiment didn’t cloud his judgment. He had always been strict about separating emotion from duty.
His tone was as soft as silk—but underneath, it carried the edge of a freshly forged blade.
“If where we are now isn’t safe, then I doubt anywhere in the world would be.”
With confident conviction, Elwin made his declaration.
There was no need for worry.
“I promise. We’ll protect Mr. Aajen, no matter what.”
He was a Special-Class Hunter. Who could possibly oppose him?
“He’s right, Uncle. I know you’re worried, but… with them, I’ll be fine. Truly.”
Even Aajen chimed in, his clear green eyes shining with faith—still not deep, but undeniably certain.
“…I see. Very well.”
Though doubt remained, Dalton no longer pressed. He quietly nodded.
He knew of Aajen’s unique ability.
“He thinks of it as a heightened sense of smell for discerning wealth or deception…”
But it was more than that. It was a special ability—one that couldn’t be simply defined.
They say you can see ten fathoms into water, but not even one into a man’s heart.
But Aajen’s nose could often sniff out the very character of a person.
“Even as a child, his instincts rivaled those of beastkin. If these are the people he chose…”
Dalton smiled to himself with quiet pride.
“If Nonohen could see Aajen now, he would be proud.”
Aajen Clover, once clever but timid, now stood firm and capable.
“And no doubt that boy had a great influence. Lewin Legisel, was it?”
Truly a mysterious youth.
Something about looking into his eyes inspired an unshakable trust.
As if anything he said might actually come true—hope manifesting into reality.
Like a light found in utter darkness, or the brilliance of dawn that brought tears to one’s eyes.
There was something awe-inspiring, something unexplainable, about the atmosphere surrounding the boy.
Dalton couldn’t say why.
He only knew, with certainty—
“He’s no ordinary boy.”
“Yes… I’ll trust him.”
Aajen would be fine. He was protected by someone extraordinary.
“And I’ve already delivered that insurance for any unforeseen emergencies.”
Most of all—
“The student has surpassed the master.”
To wait patiently for the growth of someone you love as your own—that, too, was a virtue of those who’ve lived long and well.
Meanwhile…
Fitzmetz Magpie, who had been sent to the Clover Trade Company’s infirmary, had shoved aside his concerned son-in-law and stormed back to the Magpie headquarters.
Crack!
“This cannot be happening!”
Bang!
He slammed the desk, sending piles of papers fluttering to the ground.
“After everything we’ve suffered to reach this point…! If Enaka had become head of the Trade Company and united northern commerce under one banner—!”
They would have finally taken one step closer to their great ambition.
For Fitzmetz, that ambition had long been singular—
—to create a country where beastkin were no longer discriminated against.
A safe place, where no one would be scorned for their heritage.
He had endured untold sacrifices and labors in pursuit of that dream.
“And Aajen—he ruined it all! I sent him to die, and he came back alive! If only it had gone a little further… just a little further! …Aaargh!”
Crash!
The old man screamed as he hurled nearby objects, destroying them in a frenzy.
“It’s all because of the humans! Because of them…!”
Sobbing amid the wreckage of his office, Fitzmetz clutched his chest.
That was when the communication orb in his pocket lit up.
Moments later, the Depicio spy from the conference relayed Aajen Clover’s earlier declaration.
“…The Red Clover, is it?”
A wicked light surged in the old man’s eyes.