chapter 06
Midnight.
The tavern was packed with customers.
Maybe it was a universal truth that rain called for alcohol, because everyone was heavily drunk.
Everyone except Mayna.
When will this end.
She blankly stared at the rain-streaked window when Rob propped his chin on his hand and grinned.
“Advisor. Drink with me?”
“Ah, I’m fine……”
Rob’s tongue was so twisted he could barely speak as he grabbed a whiskey bottle.
“I’ll pour for you.”
Despite Mayna’s refusal, he smiled sweetly and poured alcohol onto the table.
“Chug! Drink it down.”
With a satisfied face, Rob’s own glass was emptied in one shot.
“This drink tastes good. Maybe because the hunt was perfect?”
But you haven’t eaten anything.
Mayna answered silently in her mind, smiling weakly as she secretly wiped the table.
In truth, she was used to watching people get drunk while she remained sober.
She sometimes enjoyed drinking as well, but when she was with Kalif, she had to take care of him, so she usually drank no more than half a glass.
“Drink some water.”
Mayna pushed a glass of water toward Kalif.
But Kalif only nodded absentmindedly.
“Sigh.”
A sigh slipped out.
More than anything, what bothered her was the presence she had noticed earlier.
The blond man with golden eyes drinking endlessly on the right side of the table.
Narciatan Shovatum.
He was glaring at Kalif with burning eyes.
And Kalif, as usual, was completely unaware.
Creak!
Narciatan noisily dragged his chair back and stood.
Holding his glass, he staggered forward.
Don’t come. Please don’t come.
But unfortunately, Mayna’s wish was shattered.
“Sir Lennox?”
Narciatan spoke like a cocky teenager as he sat across from Kalif.
“I’ve been curious about something. May I ask?”
Kalif, who had been talking to someone on his right, turned his gaze to Narciatan and nodded.
“What exactly did the great Sir Lennox’s father do in his lifetime?”
Mayna froze like a block of wood.
Narciatan Shovatum.
One of the few S-rank knights from a prestigious ducal family.
He was supposed to become a star upon awakening, but the fame had been stolen by an orphan from the slums, and now he was on the verge of going mad from inferiority.
He could not match Kalif’s talent or charisma.
The only thing he could boast of was the ducal status he was born with.
Tonight, the alcohol gave him courage.
The large table, where twenty-one people including Mayna sat, fell into silence.
“He passed away when I was very young, so I don’t remember well.”
“Oh, how unfortunate!”
Narciatan sighed as if sympathizing.
But he wasn’t unfortunate at all.
He knew all about Kalif’s family background.
That he had grown up as an orphan and that his father had been nothing but a beggar and a thug.
“As for what my father did in his lifetime. Hmm.”
Kalif trailed off lazily, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Gambling?”
Cough, choke!
Someone started coughing violently.
“He especially enjoyed poker at ten Terso a hand or betting on monster snail races.”
Narciatan’s expression twisted slightly.
“Oh.
Snail races are a game where you bet on which of the lowest-ranked monsters will win.
If the stakes get high, you can lose a house in just five rounds.”
Kalif continued with a calm face.
“Besides gambling, he liked drinking, music, women, affairs, wasting family wealth, beating his wife, and after she died, beating his child.”
“……”
“And that child was me.”
Narciatan clenched his glass tightly.
His hand trembled violently.
“So, that’s all I remember. Do you want to keep hearing?”
Kalif asked nonchalantly.
“Pfft.”
Rob laughed like he couldn’t believe it.
“Crazy bastard.”
Humblepoo also chuckled and shook his head.
Everyone else was silent as if gagged.
Narciatan’s face turned beet red.
“Pour me a drink.”
Kalif held out his glass.
Narciatan forced himself to look calm as he poured the whiskey.
“You seem to be under a misunderstanding.”
Suddenly Kalif’s tone turned cold.
“Titles like duke, marquis, lord. Do you know what those mean to me?”
“……”
“I don’t give a damn.”
In short, that’s what he meant.
“……”
Mayna understood painfully well what Kalif’s words meant.
The great Parmane Empire that had unified the vast continent.
Only a hundred years ago, a gate had opened in the western continent during their long dominance.
The empire had entered an era of unprecedented chaos.
All the rules and culture they had built over thousands of years began to crumble.
The rigid class system also became unstable.
That was because both nobles and commoners alike were awakening as ability users who could wield mana.
Of course, the upper classes were still mostly nobles, but their authority was weaker than before.
When faced with a two-headed monster spitting poison, it was far more important to have a knight who could punch it to death than a noble striking a fancy pose.
About twenty years ago.
The number of ability-user academy entrants had for the first time surpassed the number of students in noble schools.
That year, an emergency meeting of nobles across the empire had been convened.
“Oh, this wine’s flavor is exquisite. Which vineyard is it from?”
“How much for these dishes? I like their elegance. Let’s order twenty sets for my estate.”
Basically, they spent ten hours talking about things like this and then went drinking again.
“Shall we get some fresh air?”
Sera suggested to Kalif, trying to lighten the mood.
Kalif, who had seemed about to say something to Mayna, closed his lips.
Sera subtly pushed him to his feet, and he left.
***
While the party was still lively, Hugo Mortensen entered Doner’s Grill with two secretaries.
A man with golden hair so fine it gleamed even in his sideburns.
He lived in the southern empire and was an executive of the Ability-User Association as well as the head of Ocean Agency, which included several guilds, among them Guild 928.
Hugo’s sharp eyes, at odds with his kind face, quickly scanned the interior.
He immediately spotted the guild members’ table and strode over.
“Oh, Mr. Mortensen!”
Someone spotted him first and sprang up happily.
Hugo extended his hand for a handshake.
“Sorry I’m late.”
He greeted the room politely, and people responded that it was no problem.
His seat was quickly prepared at the head of the table.
“So, what was the problem?”
He called Kalif over, clinking glasses with him.
“Two months ago we sealed the gate, but it seems there were monsters capable of bypassing the barrier.”
A barrier meant the sealing technique for gates, and the method varied depending on ability.
“So that’s why those foul creatures were roaming the streets.”
“Yes. We hunted down all visible monsters and laid a double barrier on the gate.”
“And you didn’t destroy the dungeon since the investigation isn’t complete.”
“That’s correct.”
Hugo nodded knowingly.
With the situation report done, he removed his tailored jacket and prepared to eat and drink in earnest.
He was known as a great gourmand and drinker.
“Congratulations, sir.”
Someone slid into the seat on his left.
It was Narciatan again, tireless as ever.
“Guild 928 ranked second again in the monthly guild rankings!”
The monthly guild ranking was hosted jointly by the Association and the Imperial Family.
At the end of each month, guilds were ranked from first to tenth by performance.
There were more than 350 registered guilds in the empire, so just being in the top ten was extraordinary.
“Ha ha, thanks, but the congratulations should go over there.”
Hugo gestured with his eyes toward Kalif, who was already turning his back.
He had formed Guild 928 in his first year as a holy knight.
Since then, their performance had steadily improved, and by his third year their growth had become remarkable.
After that, they rose at a frightening pace.
Of course, much of it was thanks to the guild master’s outstanding ability, but that alone did not explain it.
There were nearly thirty S-rank knights across the empire.
And yet, Guild 928’s average ability stats weren’t that high.
That was because when Kalif picked members, ability wasn’t his main concern—he chose people however he liked.
“What’s your secret?”
Narciatan deliberately pressed Kalif.
Kalif, who had been chatting with Jaguar guild members, looked back at him.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Kalif responded dryly.
After all, the guild that usually ranked first was Narciatan’s Imperial Guild.
He had gathered only the best ability-users, so they ranked first in at least eight months out of twelve.
“Coming from the man who usually gets first place.”
Narciatan pretended to praise while mocking.
Laughing, Hugo smoothly shifted away, leaving the two to talk.
“Tell me. What’s the secret to always securing second place?”
In fact, Mayna knew the truth.
Not the secret to getting second place, but the reason they never took first.
“Why did you come back early today?”
“I killed eighteen monsters this morning. If I’d killed one more, we’d have tied with Imperial.”
“So what? Last month and the month before we were second behind Imperial.”
“If we take first, that’s trouble. We’d have to accept the reward.”
“What do you mean? Isn’t a reward a good thing?”
The monthly reward for first place came in two forms.
First, a cash prize and supplies for hunting from the Association.
“They give you money and useful items. What’s the problem?”
“There’s no such thing as free. Even if they’re called prizes, it’s still debt. I don’t want to owe anyone.”
The second was an invitation to a banquet with the Emperor.
“Why not go? Did you make an enemy of His Majesty?”
“The palace is too far. And the Emperor talks too much.”
This was a conversation Mayna had had with him not long after becoming his aide.
She had thought they were simply falling short of first place, so she had been shocked.
“There’s no special secret. We just don’t make it to first.”
Kalif spoke nonchalantly.
“Unlike Sir Shovatum, I’m not the type to carry the weight of a crown.”
“Ha ha, you’re too modest. A crown is heavy but not unpleasant.”
“Then keep carrying it yourself.”
Kalif: attack intent 0.
Narciatan: rage gauge 65/100.
(For reference, the gauge starts at 50 just from hearing Kalif’s name.)
Narciatan chewed his turkey angrily.
“Having second place chasing after me every month feels like running from danger.”
“Is that so.”
“When hunting, it’s better to chase monsters than be chased. Being chased makes you sweat bullets, doesn’t it?”
“If I’m not chasing you, why are you running so hard on your own?”
Kalif scratched his head indifferently.
Kalif: still attack intent 0.
Narciatan: rage gauge 88/100.
Narciatan ground his teeth.
It was dangerous.
It couldn’t be allowed to continue.
“Sir Shovatum. Your ice has melted. Let me get you a new one……”
“Advisor.”
Narciatan suddenly turned toward Mayna, narrowing his eyes.
Then he stared at her as if trying to pierce her face.
“You look different today.”
“Huh? Me?”
Mayna asked in confusion.
Narciatan’s eyes swept over her figure.
“Is it because of the dress? This is the first time I’ve seen you in that kind of outfit.”
“This kind of outfit……”
What do you mean?
Mayna was about to ask, but she froze as she felt the killing intent.
Narciatan: attack intent 0.
Kalif: rage gauge 900 million/100.
(Why? No one knew.)
“You. Come outside.”
The nearby guild members all had question marks on their faces.
Mayna squeezed her eyes shut.
A thousand thoughts flashed through her head.
This is bad. Is it going to come to blows?
Even if it’s a fight between high-ranking knights, how will we deal with the aftermath if he beats up a duke’s heir?
“Come out.”
For some reason, Narciatan wasn’t standing up.
Mayna cautiously opened her eyes.
“……?”
Everyone at the table was looking not at Narciatan, but at her.
“M-me?”
She asked stupidly, only to feel her wrist grabbed.
