Long story short, somehow it was decided the two would meet.
Sure, they threatened to kill each other, but at least they agreed to spare one another for ten minutes.
That’s enough time to try securing their survival through conversation. I had no reason to interfere any further—and no desire to.
Besides, the Grand Duke didn’t even know the Divine Archer was present.
It was best to let them settle it themselves.
“Hah... I’m so tired.”
I pressed my throbbing temples and headed toward the Elder Council.
Though I longed to return to my chambers and rest, I had already made it seem like I reported to the Grand Duke. Better to finish everything first, then rest.
And the first step was to show the Elder Council the Emperor’s seal.
I wonder what they’ll say this time.
Surely they wouldn’t just tell me to get lost after seeing the Emperor’s seal?
I scoffed quietly at the absurd thought.
Unless the High Elder had truly gone senile, that was impossible.
So, I quickened my pace toward the council with no worry.
* * *
“Scram.”
Mhm... This bastard really has gone senile.
I nodded to myself while watching an Elder babble nonsense despite seeing the Emperor’s letter.
“You seem to have developed dementia. That’s quite alright. The North has plenty of fine healers, so perhaps you should seek treatment.”
“Ha! Where do you get off bringing a fake seal and spouting such drivel!”
Fake? Ah, so that’s their angle.
The Elder before me was trying to brand the letter I brought as a forgery.
Couldn’t blame him. If he didn’t at least do that, he’d have to admit my accomplishments—something he couldn’t allow.
But a tactic like that didn’t work on everybody. After all, I hadn’t become a First-Class Scribe in my previous life by playing cards.
Deceiving people with lies was my specialty.
With a poker face, I suggested, “In that case, why don’t we send a letter directly to His Imperial Majesty?”
Ordinary nobles couldn’t write directly to the Emperor. Only dukes, marquises, and a select few granted permission by the Emperor could.
Those privileged few were individuals who enjoyed the Emperor’s favor.
What I said essentially amounted to: I’m on familiar terms with the Emperor. Want me to ask him myself?
To anyone else, it would’ve sounded like a blatant lie—but to the one I was speaking to, it had to be deeply unsettling.
Sure enough…
“…How could the likes of you send a letter directly to His Majesty?” The Elder who had just insulted me started stammering.
Normally, he’d have told me to shut up and cursed me like a rat.
But this was different. Hadn’t the Emperor called me a hero?
Usually, one would simply accept that and move on, but events like this carried special weight.
That was exactly what the elder was feeling now.
“Who knows? Why don’t you ask His Majesty?”
“...”
As I feigned ignorance, the Elder’s eyes darted behind him to an aged man, liver-spotted and grim-faced—the High Elder. He stared down the Elder with a stern gaze.
The Elder’s eyes flickered, as if asking what to do next.
And just as I’d predicted, the High Elder slowly approached.
Did he think the High Elder had come to back him up?
The Elder’s face lit up. “That’s… that’s right! Now that I think about it, it’s absurd! Why don’t we send a letter to His Majesty and—”
But he was wrong.
SMACK—!
The High Elder’s wrinkled hand swept across the Elder’s cheek.
The Elder’s face turned with a stunned, dazed expression that all but said, “What just happened?”
“H-High Elder...?”
The High Elder looked down at him with disdain and clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Useless.”
With that, the High Elder turned to me. His cold expression from moments before was gone.
His brows arched like a bow, and his lips curved into a warm smile. “The Ninth Elder seems to have made an error out of overflowing loyalty to His Majesty. Could you please be understanding?”
In an instant, the mood shifted.
That one little phrase turned disrespect toward the Emperor into excessive loyalty.
Crafty old fox.
With a dry chuckle, I replied, “He seemed awfully confident for that to be the case.”
“Haha… Doesn’t loyalty spring from boldness in the first place?”
Talk about bullshit.
I made an incredulous face at that.
But the High Elder changed the subject, clearly uninterested in debating. “By the way, aren’t you now called the Hero of the North? Congratulations. The second hero after His Grace the Grand Duke… It seems House Praha has been blessed.”
“Well, I was lucky.”
“If luck alone made heroes, everyone would be one. Still, I acknowledge your achievements. It’s hard to ignore what His Majesty has personally recognized.” He chuckled softly.
To an outsider, he might appear a kindly old man—but no fox was ever slyer than him.
“Tsk. May I take my leave then? My business here seems done,” I said.
The High Elder nodded with apparent pleasure. “Oh, indeed. You must be tired from your journey. Go and rest well.”
“...Right.”
“We’ll be issuing a reward soon for your merit of bringing in the Miph Merchant Guild, so don’t worry.”
I don’t know why I feel so unsettled.
I nodded, pushing down the strange irritation rising inside me. There was no point in arguing further, and I had no desire to look at that face any longer.
Besides, my business here was done. Better to just return and rest.
“Well then.”
I left the Elder Council without a word, ignoring the gaze burning into my back.
* * *
After Louis Berg left, the High Elder slowly relaxed the smirk playing on his lips.
His grim expression returned as he stared at the door through which Louis had exited.
“…So the rumors were true.”
The young man had become a mid-level Aura Expert, at least. Perhaps even high-level.
He was a mere Aura Novice just months ago, yet now nearly an Aura Master… Was that possible through normal means?
The High Elder’s eyes darkened.
“…Was it the Grand Duke’s doing?”
It might be possible for a Grand Master to make a high-level Expert out of a Novice. But to do so in so short a time?
Common sense said no.
Therefore, only one explanation remained.
“So the Berg wastrel has the talent of a Grand Master…”
As the High Elder’s gaze grew darker, the other Elders clustered around him, shouting in alarm.
“What is going on, High Elder?!”
Aside from the Third Elder—the Grand Duke’s sister—the rest were little more than power-hungry swine, clinging to him in their slobbering lust for influence. Talentless. Witless. Always eager to fan the flames of chaos.
Should I kill them?
Murder flared in the High Elder’s chest… but he couldn’t let it loose. Not while the Grand Duke—that insanely powerful monster—still lived.
Until the Duke was dead, even filth like this had its uses.
The Artezia fools alone won’t be enough to bring him down.
His accomplices from Artezia had promised to hand over Praha’s headship if he helped them kill the Grand Duke.
So cleaning up these swine could wait.
The High Elder cooled the fire in his eyes and said, “Everyone, calm down.”
“Did you just tell us to calm down?!”
The Elders screamed back, truly believing themselves to be important.
This is why vermin are hopeless…
The High Elder gathered his Aura, suppressing his irritation.
THRUM—
The footfall of an Aura Master contained enough power to silence the mere likes of Experts.
Stillness fell over the council chamber.
“Hmm. Now it’s finally quiet.” The High Elder nodded, satisfied.
Yet some still whispered.
“This isn’t according to plan, is it?”
“We agreed not to acknowledge that wastrel of Berg. What is this behavior?!”
They were the First Elder and Seventh Elder. Both ambitious, both coveting his position.
They didn’t know their place.
With a smirk, the High Elder looked at them and said, “All of us would have ended up dead, if not for me. You two seem to desire death, however.”
“You’re talking about the Emperor’s letter?! That’s obviously false don’t you—!”
“And if it isn’t?” He cut off the Seventh Elder’s outcry. “What if it isn’t false? Will you regret it only after the Ninth Elder dies and half of you are hanged?”
“…Even so, we shouldn’t have accepted it so easily. We should have at least threatened him.”
“So brave, Seventh Elder, to threaten a foe stronger than yourself.”
“Stronger than me? What are you talking about?” The Seventh Elder frowned, as if hearing nonsense.
The High Elder sneered in contempt. “Hmm? You didn’t know? Well, I suppose you wouldn’t expect a mouse to grasp a lion’s plans. It’s only natural you can’t fathom the minds of those stronger than you. Don’t strain yourself.”
“…Are you suggesting I’m weaker than Louis Berg, that little brat?”
“Indeed I am.”
“HIGH ELDERRR!” the Seventh Elder bellowed, glaring. His face flushed red and blue from the insult. “You may lead this council, but I still won’t tolerate such rudeness!”
Nearby Elders tried to restrain him, furtively eyeing the High Elder’s expression, but the Seventh Elder ignored them, fury blazing.
The High Elder watched with a sardonic smile.
Such a simple man to fall for such a minor provocation.
“Oh my... So sorry. Even if it’s the truth, I should have spared your feelings.” He feigned apology, egging him on.
The Seventh Elder strode forward, eyes blazing—not at the High Elder, but toward the council chamber doors.
At the threshold, he turned back. “I’ll prove you wrong, High Elder. When that time comes, be ready.”
Ready for what?
The High Elder dismissed the defiance as nothing more than a pitiful display, but he couldn’t let it show.
“Hmm... Very well,” he said with a nod.
The Seventh Elder slammed the door behind and left.
Silence fell over the chamber, all eyes on the High Elder.
Only the Third Elder and First Elder took their leave, seeming detached.
Actually, the First Elder appeared intent on making a move.
The High Elder cast a glance at the leaving Elders, then back to the door where the Seventh Elder had disappeared.
Now, the Seventh Elder’s hunt for Louis Berg would begin.
Let him try. The boy’s true strength would be revealed soon enough.
And all of it—every outcome—would fall into his hands.
A sneer tugged at the High Elder’s lips as he clenched his fist.
Soon… this House will be mine.
When that day came, the Ducal House of Praha would rise higher than ever before—because he would make it so.
His gaze dropped to his fist, eyes gleaming with hunger for the future he would claim.