Chapter 38 - A Battle of Words
The Chairman of the Confederation is not in the Dusk Citadel.
He is somewhere in the East, but not in the Citadel.
It was like the legendary state of a sorcerer, a Lich.
Just as a Lich keeps its heart outside its body, the Citadel was the same.
Its function was also like a Lich's heart.
It simply exists.
Within the Citadel, he holds absolute power and shares it with the councilors to restrain his dictatorship.
But there were various types, depending on the Chairman.
The type who, just like when he was a councilor, becomes Chairman and still doesn't stop working at his desk.
The type who, having worked himself to the bone as a councilor, focuses on his achievements after becoming Chairman and lets go of power.
The current Chairman of the Dusk Citadel, Chapman, was the latter type of man.
“Well now. A big catch today.”
The difference was that he had no interest in sorcerous achievements either.
That's how it seemed outwardly.
So he had no interest in the guy behind him who was desperately wishing for something.
“Chairman Chapman. We don't have time. If you no longer have any intention for the position, I would like to succeed you as Chairman.”
Chatter, chatter.
So noisy from behind for a while now.
The fish in the lake were all going to swim away because of that guy.
Chapman cast his fishing line once more.
“Wait. I'm thinking, aren't I.”
For someone who was thinking, his skill in handling the fishing rod did not stop.
The bait might be diligently tempting fish under the surface of the water.
But Hinek's heart, watching it, was burning to a crisp.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
The old man, continuously casting his bait towards the lake.
His body was gaunt and withered like a dead tree, his wrinkles deeply etched.
He had little white hair left, which fluttered faintly in the wind.
His back was defenselessly exposed as he sat on a small fishing chair, moving only his arms.
And yet, Hinek could not aim for the old man's back.
‘Chairman Chapman is someone whose victory I cannot guarantee even if I were to ambush him. Even if I succeed, the aftermath would be the problem.’
The moment he failed, it wasn't just the Chairman's seat that would be gone.
It was obvious that Charon, the ferryman of hell, would cross the lake right before his eyes and beckon to him.
Asking why he did such a foolish thing.
Hinek steeled himself and once again moved to his old superior's side.
“Chairman Chapman.”
“What is it now. I'm not deaf.”
“The Chairman's seat. I desperately need it.”
“Heh heh. Which councilor doesn't need the Chairman's seat.”
“Wouldn't it be most important to me, the next Chairman.”
Chapman's lips curled into a bitter smile.
“Who said that. That you are the next Chairman.”
“……”
“Owning six districts doesn't make you the next Chairman. A next Chairman who whines like a child, even less so.”
“Anyone would whine when their life is in danger.”
“Hahaha. The next Chairman's life is being threatened. That's why the word ‘self-proclaimed’ is attached.”
Hinek, who still had more to say, spoke without backing down.
“It is the Fourth Son. The Fourth Son, no less. My life is being targeted by him right now.”
Even so, Chapman's smile remained on his face, showing no sign of disappearing.
“Heh heh. So he has made up his mind. It seems he intends to cut you down before the First Son returns. I wonder who lit that fire in his heart.”
“That is not important. The First Son, who will become the minor Family Head, will only be satisfied if I ascend to the Chairman's seat quickly.”
“What have you decided on so firmly since a while ago? The next Chairman. The next minor Family Head. You're taking it all, aren't you.”
“…It is fine to insult me, but insulting the First Son is dangerous even for you, Chairman.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
Swoosh─
As they spoke, the fishing rod was pulled out of the water.
It was empty.
Chapman brought over the hook, molded the bait again, and went back to fishing.
“I understand your story. But shouldn't you be finding a way to survive on your own instead of coming here and whining? Until I quit.”
“…If there is anything you want, I will grant you whatever it is.”
“I am a man who has even been the Chairman. What more could I want.”
“Then can't you think of it as opening the path for your long-time junior and subordinate.”
“Is not everyone my junior. I cannot take care of only you.”
“……”
Hinek suppressed the feeling that his insides were about to burst.
In the meantime, the Chairman's mouth opened first.
“I heard the news. Your ledger was stolen. You intend to become the Chairman before that ledger is opened.”
“That is correct.”
Chapman stroked his beard, which was lush compared to his shiny head.
“The Fourth Son has used his head as well. It seems he sent in someone with nimble hands to coincide with the inauguration of the new Stationmaster. It must have been the Butler.”
“…He made it look as if the Physicians' Council took it.”
“But I heard that Physicians' Council was annihilated. To use an opponent, shouldn't the opponent be alive?”
“Th-that is correct.”
“Then think again. Perhaps your enemy isn't even the Fourth Son. It might be someone you never even thought of.”
Hinek quietly shook his head.
“It is definitely the Fourth Son. Even if not, it must be that the Fourth Son has bought someone off to kill me.”
His body, old though not as much as the Chairman's, trembled in the lake breeze.
That cold-tinged wind was like the Grim Reaper extending a finger to touch his shoulder.
Look here. Look at me.
It was a call that might lead to death the moment he looked.
…I don't know when I'll die.
“I will come again tomorrow.”
“Come back with an answer then. I want to just pass it over if I can.”
But a man who is scared witless by an enemy whose identity he doesn't even know cannot become Chairman.
He had come this far, consumed by fear and anxiety.
He needed to trust the curse he had cast and calm down. Though I don't know if he can.
After his junior left.
Chapman clicked his tongue.
“There's nothing like fishing to calm the mind. I was about to recommend it, but he just left like that.”
“I would like to try.”
Kwoooooooosh─
His few remaining white hairs fluttered in the gust from a massive pair of wings.
It was the second guest who had requested a meeting.
He was flabbergasted when he received the request.
The Fifth Son? That Fifth Son?
He was curious if he could even make it here and had accepted out of boredom.
But he didn't expect him to arrive so quickly.
It felt like only a few hours had passed since he accepted, not even half a day.
He dismounted from the griffin that had landed on the ground and stood next to the old man who was still fishing.
“Is there a spare seat.”
“…Of course.”
Chapman, meeting the Fifth Son for the first time, looked him up and down before offering him a seat.
The Youngest Son, who squatted down next to him, picked up a spare fishing rod and molded the bait.
And then cast it.
“……”
“……”
The two were silent for a while.
The old man fishing. The boy fishing.
The sounds made by people gradually faded, and the sounds of nature filled their ears.
Eventually, even the faint noise of the fishing float moving could be heard.
The old man, feeling a bite for the first time in a while, forgot who was next to him and broke into a wide smile.
“I'll catch it this time!”
“Ooh. Let's see your skills.”
“Leave it to me. Hahat.”
Belying his age and frail body, the old man pulled up the fishing rod in one go.
It was a big fish.
A fish large enough to feed him for several days if he cooked it right away.
The Youngest Son smiled and gave a light applause.
“Amazing.”
“Hahaha. It's nothing.”
Chapman removed the hook and threw it back into the water.
“This is already my third encounter with that fellow. I don't know if I'll see him again, but I never get tired of this feeling, even on the third time.”
“It seems the fellow liked the taste of what he was eating. Seeing as he skillfully took your hook.”
“Hahahahat!”
The old man's pleasant laughter rang out loudly.
But he wasn't just laughing.
He thought he knew, and soon he was certain.
“It was you, Young Master. The mysterious enemy that fellow Hinek thinks is the Fourth Son, and the one who lit a fire under the Fourth Son’s plans.”
He neither denied nor affirmed it.
Instead, he asked a question.
“Are you planning to step down now. Chairman.”
“Hmm. Well…. My junior is begging so earnestly, it doesn't seem so bad to just pass it on.”
No matter who becomes Chairman, the Citadel would be maintained one way or another.
It might be hard to prosper, but the Dusk Citadel was a place that did not decline.
Prosperity would be handled by a lucky Chairman born in a good era.
Such things were outside Chapman's interest.
His interest, in fact, lay elsewhere.
“But I am curious about something else. The great flow of power. Who will sit on the throne of Millesdusk, and where should I stand then.”
“For a man who is interested in such things, the place you are standing is too leisurely.”
“You must stand in a place with no arrows to see whose arrow flies to whom. Watching such things, the state of the war comes into view.”
Just like the secret struggle between Hinek and the Youngest Son.
Of course, this secret struggle was the Youngest Son's.
Since Hinek firmly believed that the one behind this was the Fourth Son.
He might not have failed to consider the Youngest Son, but he would have quickly dismissed the thought.
Because he was the Fifth Son.
But the Fifth Son he met in person was completely different from the rumors.
Originally, it wasn't a rumor but practically the truth.
“I suppose rumors are not to be trusted after all.”
“Looking at you now, I feel the same.”
“Hahahat!”
The Chairman laughed once more.
He never thought he would feel a sense of kinship with a boy who was only ten years old.
The boy, too, for his own something.
In his own way, had taken a step back from the battlefield.
He laughs many times today.
“They say laughter helps you live longer. Then I have earned a few more seconds of life today.”
“That's a bit of a stretch, but I'll hear you out.”
The Chairman smiled and continued.
“As payment for those few seconds, I will refuse Hinek's request.”
“Is that the result of your judgment based on your insight into the state of the war.”
“Yes. It seems I should stand on the Youngest Son's side. At least for this time.”
Chapman, molding bait on the hook again, gave the Youngest Son a look.
“So if you really eliminate Hinek without the Fourth Son's major help, I will grant you one more of your requests.”
“An effort to step further into my domain. May I interpret it this way.”
“I will not correct you.”
The Youngest Son smiled under his sunglasses.
“That request. I'll make it in advance now.”
***
The Obscure Intelligence Department.
The Grade 1 Agent stepped in to file a backlog of reports.
The times when the Youngest Son was away from the mansion or asleep were the reporting times for the agent in charge of the kinsman.
Mirea knelt on one knee before the General Manager of Intelligence and continued her report.
The things that had happened so far.
The Youngest Son's business with Jubel.
The incidents that occurred along the way and the person named Edwin.
From the Fourth Son's Black Citadel to dealing with the Citadel's councilor from the shadows.
The Gatekeeper was sparing with his words, but his recent way of looking at the Youngest Son had clearly changed.
From that, it was observed that his martial power had also grown considerably.
To summarize.
“The Fifth Son is showing a growth rate unprecedented in the entire history of Millesdusk.”
The word 'history' had come out from the Intelligence Department, which was in charge of the family's information.
And from the mouth of a Grade 1 Agent, the blade of the Intelligence Department at that.
The General Manager of Intelligence did not deny or rebuke her, but nodded his head.
Because it was a fact he also agreed with.
But there was something he wanted to address during the report.
“…Agent Mirea.”
“Yes.”
“This is not an order, but a personal request of mine. Feel free to decide according to your will.”
“I am listening.”
The General Manager of Intelligence put down the documents he was reading and spoke.
Another great family that kept appearing in the report.
Wisdom of pure magic.
“That illegitimate daughter. Try to bring her in as the Fifth Son's concubine. She will give good blood to the family.”
“……”
Her expression crumbled for the first time.