Chapter 30 - Three-Way Battle
The badge conferment ceremony and Stationmaster inauguration.
The protagonist of this hall was Edwin Hacid.
However, the said protagonist was at a loss, faced with the fierce gazes of numerous main and supporting characters.
Though his presence was almost negligible, without the Youngest Son who had been his support, his body shrunk even more.
The 25 Stationmasters filled the left and right sides, excluding the central path.
In front of them, before the giant portrait of the chairman, stood the 5 council members awaiting the protagonist.
‘…This is really driving me crazy.’
The inside of his shirt became soaked with sweat.
Even the stationmasters surrounding him on both sides were his distant superiors.
But the Confederation's council members?
Edwin suspected this might be a dream.
If it was a dream, it was a nightmare, and he wished he would just wake up.
He wanted to wake up without any trouble, put on his Branch Manager name tag, and go to work.
But.
The Stationmaster badge held by the council members over there was so shiny.
That too was a dream.
A dream cherished by all Branch Managers.
That dream had now come so close.
Although, to call it a dream so proudly, it was something that had been spoon-fed to him by someone else.
‘A man who can't even swallow what's spoon-fed to him is the one who truly deserves contempt.’
He could endure the contempt pouring from the eyes of the Stationmasters and council members.
But it was he who had granted the Youngest Son’s request, banking on a slim possibility.
That possibility had shone brightly, leading to today’s Stationmaster appointment ceremony.
The Youngest Son had said.
That he could do it.
He didn’t know if it was sincere or not.
But in his eyes, those words seemed sincere.
‘Yes, Edwin Hacid… You can disappoint everyone else, but don’t disappoint the one person who believed in you. Never.’
His pupils came alive.
His shoulders straightened, and his bent back stood tall.
With slow steps, the sound of his brand-name shoes echoed pleasantly through the central hall.
‘Right. I am being reborn. I’ll discard everything from my time as a Branch Manager. As my old self, I couldn’t even breathe in front of them.’
So his heart became rather calm.
His head, which would normally have been bowed low, looked straight at the council members.
And then he greeted them politely.
“Edwin D. Hacid. I greet the honorable council members.”
He placed his fisted hand on his chest and bowed at the waist.
In his gesture and hand movement, there was no trace of fear or trembling.
It was a strange thing.
When he entered the central hall and walked this far, he had been trembling like a rain-soaked puppy.
But after standing before the portrait, he was as confident and noble as the person in the portrait, and his eyes were firm.
One of the council members narrowed his eyes.
“…Edwin D. Hacid. With what audacity does a commoner use a middle name, a mark of nobility.”
Edwin turned his body towards him and replied softly.
“For a commoner to attain the position of Stationmaster is a stain on the Citadel’s honor. Thus, to restore even a little of the Citadel’s honor, I tried to eliminate this shortcoming.”
“……”
Sophistry.
Wasn’t he just saying he attached it because he was ashamed of his own origin?
He had skillfully dodged the point by connecting it to the Citadel’s honor.
Edwin, who had unwittingly used the Youngest Son’s way of speaking, was surprised himself.
‘…Was I a person who could say such things?’
To use such snake-like language in front of his superiors.
Normally, he would have hastily bowed his head and corrected himself, but this was more necessary now.
Edwin showed a relaxed smile.
“I thought the council members were also concerned about that, so I took care of the problem before the appointment ceremony. The rumor is already widespread in D-District.”
“…What rumor?”
a council member asked naturally.
Edwin, on the contrary, widened his eyes and blinked innocently.
“If you were not aware, it is an even greater honor. It seems I will be the first to deliver this news.”
“Just get on with what the news is.”
“The citizens of D-District have found much hope in seeing that I, a commoner, have risen to the noble position of Stationmaster.”
In other words, the ‘I can do it too’ mentality.
For now, if one could just get a position like Branch Manager or something similar and get noticed, a super-fast promotion was possible.
To think this was possible.
Wasn’t the living example of it breathing right here?
“The people of D-District are using that as motivation to provide even more labor. I, in turn, have claimed to be a noble to draw that out even more.”
“……”
“It is not for my own greed, but a loyalty towards the Citadel and you, the honorable council members.”
The council members were gradually at a loss for words.
As their opponent fired off lies without even batting an eye, they didn't know where to find fault.
Moreover, the core of the fired lies was loyalty to the Citadel and the council members.
It was a difficult topic to criticize, so the council members could not question him further and had to proceed with the conferment ceremony.
“…Edwin D. Hacid. Stand here before me.”
Councilor Hinek came before him, holding the badge.
It wasn't because he was the owner of six districts that he held the badge.
It was because D-District, the one he had pushed out and sat in, was Hinek’s district.
Hinek held the badge and glared at Edwin, who stood before him.
The man standing before him, however, smiled comfortably.
His anger boiled even more.
“Continue to strive for the prosperity and well-being of the Citadel as you have until now. Stationmaster Edwin.”
“I shall certainly do so.”
The raven badge, signifying his status as Stationmaster, replaced the Branch Manager name tag.
Though he couldn't show it on the outside, Edwin felt a lump in his throat.
‘Mother. Father. Are you watching? I’ve become the Stationmaster of our district.’
Unlike him, Hinek gestured with his chin towards the podium with a displeased expression.
“Give your inaugural address to your seniors. Ahem. They are all busy people.”
An undertone that clearly meant ‘keep it short’.
However, Edwin had no intention of disappointing the person who had believed in him.
Grabbing the podium, the new Stationmaster stood before his seniors.
“Greetings. I am Edwin D. Hacid.”
No applause was heard.
In the awkward atmosphere, Edwin continued to speak.
“I was three years old.”
The beginning was at age three.
Right. Was he going to talk about the time he first harbored the dream of becoming a Stationmaster?
But he overturned their expectations and talked about his childhood with his mother and father at the age of three.
…It was quite long.
“And when I was four years old.”
“?”
Question marks floated above the heads of the council members and Stationmasters.
Edwin D. Hacid. 37 years old.
The stories he wanted to tell were also 37.
***
…Someone was coming to this room.
It wasn't that Edwin had failed.
Stationmasters would walk slowly and wouldn't bother to hide their footsteps.
But this was of a kind where the footsteps were intentionally hidden.
Even if the person had no intention of doing so, a habit ingrained in the body would muffle the sound.
Something hard to do unless one came from a rather shady place.
“Dante. I found the ledger. The contents also seem to be what we want. But this, it stings a little when I touch it.”
“It’s cursed.”
Then it was too late to just extract the information related to the Physicians' Council.
Since it has come to this.
“We’re taking it out.”
“I’ll open the window.”
The sharp nails of the Werewolf tore off the window latch.
With a rattling sound, the window was thrown open, and the sound grew closer.
However, for some reason, the Youngest Son did not take his eyes off the door.
“Cailin. Take that and go to the carriage. I need to see who is coming here.”
“Alright.”
Cailin followed his words without any further questions.
In her short reply, there was an infinite amount of trust.
The past of having her body taken over by an evil spirit and almost killing her own father.
The sensation of piercing her father’s chest was still so terrible on her hands, so horrible.
He was the person who had saved her from that abyss of despair, so she couldn’t help but believe him.
Cailin threw herself out of the open window and escaped.
The Youngest Son leaped onto the bookshelf and smoothly climbed onto the chandelier.
Deolkeong─
As if on cue, the door opened.
No caution was shown.
But he didn't enter either.
To enter rashly, this place was no different from a crime scene.
The pushed-aside bookshelf. The empty safe. The open window.
Even the arm of the knight sticking out from beside the desk.
The one who opened the office door walked slowly inside.
‘That person is…’
A familiar face.
But like the Youngest Son, he was a person whose presence here was very awkward.
‘The Fourth Son’s Butler.’
For that man to come in person meant the Fourth Son had ordered it.
But what did he order?
He checked the inside of the safe with restrained movements.
Of course, it was empty.
The second place he checked was the window.
Even though it was about a 7-story drop from here to the ground, the window was wide open as if it had been used as an escape route.
Soon, losing interest there as well, the Butler finally checked the knights.
The most noticeable thing was the poison herb essence smeared around their mouths.
“…The Physicians' Council?”
The Butler muttered softly.
With just such a small clue, the smart man's head reconstructed the incident.
“The Physicians' Council was after Councilor Hinek’s ledger. Well, of course. That ledger is the greatest weakness of the Physicians' Council, which needs to approach the people of the East in a friendly manner.”
But the order of events was a bit strange.
“The no-fly order issued to Jubel. That must have been at the request of the Physicians' Council. They backstabbed Hinek this quickly?”
The Butler stroked his chin in the middle of the crime scene.
Then, as if feeling that there was no point in pondering here, he clasped his hands behind his back and slowly backed out.
But the Youngest Son saw it.
The clear smile on the Butler’s lips.
“……”
The Youngest Son also descended from the chandelier.
He could roughly understand the situation.
Councilor Hinek was the First Son’s man.
It wasn't that the Fourth Son didn't have his people among the current five council members, but the most likely candidate for the next chairman was Hinek.
The Fourth Son was displeased with that.
“It seems he intended to bring Hinek down with the ledger and install his own person as the next chairman.”
The power of the Dusk Citadel wasn't essential for the succession competition, but it was absolutely not something that was better to have than not.
Seven out of ten Family Heads had installed their own person as the chairman in the Citadel.
As a city that emulated Millesdusk.
The Dusk Citadel had more influence in the East than a kingdom.
“From the perspective of the Fourth Son, who particularly dislikes his older brothers and sister, there would have been nothing more unsightly than Hinek becoming the chairman.”
For now, I threw myself out the window.
Pressing down on my hat that was about to fly away with the wind, the body of the kin quickly found its balance and landed.
Then, I dusted off my clothes to erase any traces and looked around as if nothing had happened.
To anyone looking, I was a clumsy attendant.
“Hey! Servants are forbidden from roaming the garden!”
“Yes, yes.”
At the guard’s shout, I exited the garden.
When I went to where the carriages were gathered.
Cailin was waiting meekly by the horses.
“You’re here?”
Her smile was bright, as if her awkwardness and shyness had diminished a lot during the time she was coming.
But what was even brighter was the ledger tucked under her arm.
“Let’s get inside for now.”
Cailin and the Youngest Son got into the carriage.
All the curtains to cover the windows were also drawn.
Let's think.
“The original purpose was to use this ledger to get a hold of Hinek’s weakness and drop the Physicians' Council.”
But due to an unexpected intruder, that purpose became ambiguous.
“The Fourth Son’s Butler came to the office.”
“Who’s that?”
“Umm.”
I was at a loss for words at her pure question.
Nevertheless, my thoughts continued to advance.
“In any case, if we proceed with the plan as intended, we’ll just end up doing the Fourth Son’s work for him.”
“I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it.”
“Me neither.”
Then what should I do to make it pleasing?
What would be the best course of action?’
The answer was simple.
“The best thing is to not grant the Fourth Son’s wish while still dropping the Physicians' Council. As a bonus, we need to finish off Hinek, who is at the forefront of hostility towards us.”
It was just that the solution was difficult.
“…Is that possible?”
“We have to make it possible.”
“How?”
The Youngest Son stared at the ledger and was lost in thought for a moment.
The Fourth Son’s Butler was likely aiming for a windfall.
Lying down and eating rice cakes, getting the egg, and even receiving the Fourth Son’s affection.
I couldn't let that happen.
If the opponent was aiming for a windfall, then this side could also aim for a windfall.
To do that, I had to stick my neck into the tiger's mouth once.
Just like I had once entered the mouth of the Werewolf here.
“I’ll have to go meet my second-oldest brother.”