Chapter 60. Adenmir’s Recollections
~ Translation by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at rainofsnow.com ~
But Isis’s reaction was lukewarm.
“You? What can you do? What can you do with something that’s already ruined…….”
It was the cry of a defeated man, drowning in his misery. Normally, I would have let it go, but there was a reason I couldn’t.
‘My money is on the line!’
I was more desperate than the person concerned. I grabbed Isis’s hand and cried out earnestly, “Believe in yourself and trust my word!”
“It’s done. I didn’t want to get myself signed as an untalented magic tool maker. I’ll just stick to developing battlefield magic circles like I always do…….”
“It’s not over until it’s over!”
“It is over.”
Isis tried to shake my hand away in frustration, but I gripped it tighter.
“Let go, there’s nothing to be done.”
Isis’s pride had been crushed by the mockery of the mages in the tower. He seemed intent on burying his head in the sand.
I knew how to deal with people like this.
‘There is no better way to deal with stubborn, childish humans than this way.’
And there was one in Perdia who was just as childish and just as spoiled. Carlot Perdia.
I turned to Isis and asked provokingly, “What are you going to do if I succeed with this magic tool?”
“What could you possibly do?”
“You have to start somewhere. Give it a chance. Or do you want to make a bet with me?”
“Bet?”
Isis shook her head, unimpressed.
“Why bother with a bet…….”
As Isis was throwing my hands away again in annoyance, I dared to question him.
“What? Are you not confident? Scared?”
Isis’s eyes widened at my clear provocation.
“Are you now…… disrespecting me, the great Master of the West Tower?”
“If you’re referring to the Isis who cowers in fear at the smallest of bets, then yes.”
“Uh-huh, you silly little rascal!” Isis spat, but I didn’t bat an eye.
I didn’t bat an eyelid, because no matter how much I admired him, no matter how much older he was than me, I wasn’t afraid of him when he was scolding me in the form of a cute little kid.
I blurted out, “So, you want to bet?”
“Let’s do it, yeah. Do it! You’re so stubborn, you take after your father!”
Isis, who had muttered a small curse word referring to the Duke of Perdia as casually as he breathed, pulled himself up and sat up straight.
“Alright, let’s discuss the details of that dastardly wager. How many can this kid sell of these tools, newly released by me?”
“Hmm,” I pondered, “How many do you have in stock?”
“Five hundred.”
“Five hundred? Then, all of them.”
Isis flinched, as if he hadn’t expected me to utter the word to sell all.
“From whom did you learn to bluff…….”
“It’s not bluffing, it’s confidence.”
“Well, have it your way. If you don’t sell them all, it’s you who loses the bet, not this fella.” Isis shook his head in disbelief.
“The deadline is until one week after the public presentation.”
“Fine.”
“In return, I need you to cooperate, and do as I say.”
“Okay,” Isis nodded roughly at my words, as if the whole thing had become a nuisance.
With the details of the wager agreed upon, the terms, and the conditions, there was only one question left.
“What are you going to bet on this?”
Wagering your own money is a cutthroat business!
In truth, the wager itself was just a way to get an unwilling Isis to cooperate, but it would be more fun to have something to start with.
After a moment’s hesitation, Isis asked nervously.
“What…… Do you want me to grant you a wish?”
“A wish?”
My eyes widened. It was the wish power of the master and no one else. Opportunities like this didn’t come around often.
I racked my brain and came to a conclusion.
‘Should I ask for money?’
“No such things as wagering money.”
“Tsk.”
Isis narrowed both eyes as my wish was cut short by a single word.
That wasn’t all.
[Brrrr–]
Greed burped out of his mouth in a ghostly timing.
‘Hey.’
[Belly full].
“…….”
In a moment of doubt, I wondered if I, as a human, was too greedy.
I scratched my cheeks, and Isis, arms crossed, opened his mouth in a stern manner.
“Very well. Let’s do this.”
“Do what?”
“I will use magic for you just once.”
“Mhhh……”
Magic, for a wish? And only once?
I was openly disappointed, and Isis went on a rant.
~ Translation by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at rainofsnow.com ~
“You have no idea how great this is, the magic of this fella! It’s priceless, beyond all comparison!”
It was narcissism incarnate. How could he possibly say such a thing?
Yes, yes, you are right, and I nodded my head in agreement.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“What the heck is wrong with Sylvester Perdia’s home education?”
Isis insulted my father again today, this time with a furious clap. I’ve heard it so often that I’ve grown accustomed to his Duke-of-Perdia-themed insults.
In any case, Master Isis’s wager was ‘one spell’.
“So, what do I bet? Well…….”
Money?
‘Poor.’
Manpower?
‘He’s already a master, and there are plenty of people working there.’
Honor?
‘My honor is already tarnished.’
No matter how I thought about it, there was nothing to bet on. I stopped thinking in shock.
No way. How completely useless had I become?!
Isis, who had seen all my anguish, snorted.
“Enough. There’s nothing you can do for me.”
I coldly accepted the favor.
“Isis, are you sure you mean to say that you don’t need me? Is that not just a mouthful?”
“Hmph, how do you see this fella? Do you think I want to take your acorns?”
A, acorns…….
This is where I realized just how little Isis thought of me.
Still, I was thrilled that I had nothing to lose in this bet. I’d already given away my pride.
Letting out a small sigh, Isis shrugged.
“Yeah, whatever. You’re going to do it anyway, so do what you want.”
“Okay.”
And just like that, I was officially appointed to the project of selling temperature-keeping magic tools, just as I had hoped.
I thought that was the end of my visit, but it wasn’t.
Isis looked up at me with a look that said a lot.
“It’s been a while, by the way,” he mumbled. His lips pouted out in a sarcastic manner, like that of a child who has had enough. “Why haven’t you been in touch?” He asked petulantly.
To his point, I was surprised to find a dozen letters piled up in front of me after my trip to the temple.
Unable to mention anything related to a sin to Isis, I gave a vague explanation.
“I’m sorry, I had a family emergency.”
Isis’s eyes sparkled in a way that made me wonder how he had interpreted my words.
“Why? Did that damned Sylvester Perdia collapse from high blood pressure?!”
“Ah, no?”
Why high blood pressure?
At my denial, Isis gave an openly dejected snort.
“Tsk, tsk. It’s a failure again.”
What in the world was he trying to do behind my back, this irrepressible little master?
I couldn’t keep up with his unorthodox thinking.
‘This hostility, it seems, the Duke of Perdia is familiar with.’
I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to get caught between the two of them.
“Why did you seek me out?”
“You said you could advise me, which is why I asked you to come.”
“But you launched without my help.”
“Yeah, it was a failure.”
“I said it was not a failure yet.”
“I should have known when you were the only investor.”
With Isis still pessimistic, I began to think about how to sell the tool.
First of all, I couldn’t deny that it was unseasonal marketing.
“Since it’s summer, we should put the fact that you can maintain a cool temperature at all times on the front.”
“What is it supposed to be used for, staying cold?”
Seriously, Isis was seeing the purpose as unnecessary. And rightly so. The interior of the Perdia mansion, let alone the tower, was always comfortable, thanks to a temperature maintenance spell that kept it at the right temperature all year round.
It was a spell that was mandatory for high ranking nobles and merchant groups with a certain amount of money to have installed in their homes.
They didn’t see the need for it because they didn’t experience murderous heat on a daily basis.
I already knew the answer, but I asked just to be sure.
“Isis. Do you know who usually comes to your shop to buy swords?”
“Nobles, I suppose. Or wealthy merchants, or tourists from abroad.”
“I see. That’s where we went wrong in the first place.”
“……?”
Aristocrats and merchants, the primary target market, are unlikely to be attracted to this tool.
Sure, they’d be great for carrying around, or for military supply, but that’s about as far as they’d go. But consider the commoner customer.
‘It’s all about the price.’
I’d have to discuss that with Isis, and I had a lot of work to do before the upcoming presentation.
As I was organizing the plan in my head, Isis asked me a question out of the blue.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Huh? Was something?”
“I’ve been hearing your name a lot lately. You got dumped by the First Prince.”
“Ah.”
He said something out of the blue again.
“Dumped?” I asked, incredulously.
“Yeah. About that.”
“It was a consensual breakup, but I suppose that’s what the rumors are, so whatever.”
I didn’t really care about my socialite reputation, because whether I was dumped or not didn’t change the fact that we got a breakup anyway.
‘They can talk all they want.’
I’ll just sell magic tools.
***
Crossing the sunlit main street, Adenmir stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at a large, decoratively carved pillar.
‘It was here.’
The place where he had first encountered the little girl, so small in size, with tiny feet and hands.
Walking down the street to his swordsmanship lesson after his imperial studies class, Adenmir hid behind the pillar and came face to face with large, pale pink eyes staring back at him.
They were moist, and it probably took a huge amount of effort not to show that she’d been crying.
“Are you lost?”
“……Nope.”
He was impressed that she was so nonchalant about the subject of getting lost.
“Well, then.”
Adenmir pushed past the child and made his way out of the main street. As he passed the last pillar, Adenmir looked back and saw an unexpected sight.
The child was crouched behind a pillar.
She didn’t seem to be waiting for anyone, as if she didn’t want anyone to find her. The image stuck in his mind, and Adenmir did something uncharacteristic of him.
He approached a woman who appeared to be the nanny of the child wandering nearby and told her where she was.
At the time, he didn’t know many things.
That she was Elodie Perdia, the famous illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Perdia. That she was to become his fiancée.
And the fact that as easy as it was to get engaged, it was just as easy to break things off.