—That’s it.
He didn’t even give me a chance to get a word in before hanging up, leaving me completely at a loss.
I sat on my spot, staring speechlessly at the communication device in my hand, unsure of what to do next.
‘What sort of situation is this…?’
“How did it go?”
Leon leaned closer to me as he asked his question. I tilted my head away before replying. Too damn close…
“Terrible.”
The conversation merely lasted a few minutes, and yet, all it took was those ten minutes to make my stomach churn.
‘As expected, I really don’t want to interact with him.’
I felt like puking whenever I did.
With that being said, I didn’t really have a choice. He was the family head and so what choice did I have?
…And in my own twisted way, I also found myself wanting to learn from him.
How was he able to think so far with just bits and pieces of information? How was he always so cool-headed? Was it merely a disguise like the one I put on, or was he truly just naturally cool-headed?
There were a lot of things that I could learn from him.
It was just that…
‘I can’t stand being in a room with him for longer than ten minutes. Any longer than that and I feel like puking.’
I internally sighed to myself before shifting my attention towards Leon who had been patiently waiting for me to continue. Judging from his grim expression, he also felt the same way as me.
“He wants me to refuse the offer.”
“Oh, just refusing the… Eh?”
At first, Leon looked relieved, but as my words began to sink in, his eyes started to widen.
“What did you just say?”
“He wants to refuse.”
“What? Why?”
“Just in name. Considering the current state of the family, a deal like this would shatter the fragile balance we’ve managed to maintain with the other houses watching us like hawks.”
As if piecing it all together, Leon’s eyes widened further. Slowly, he began filling in the words I hadn’t yet said.
“…Accepting the offer would force those houses to immediately take action against our house.”
“Exactly.”
If the deal went through and the Evenus Household was left unchecked, it would undoubtedly grow into a powerhouse that only the Royal Family and the Duchies could rival.
“They’d have no choice but to attack us unless they don’t want to be suppressed in the future.”
Everyone knew what sort of character Aldric Evenus was. At least, they had become clear of it after the most recent war.
He was an extremely greedy person who spared nothing to expand his territory.
Leon’s face suddenly grew serious.
Eventually, with his brows furrowing tightly, he opened his mouth to speak.
“I’m starting to understand why he asked you to refuse, but this doesn’t sound like something the family head would—”
“Like I said, in name.”
I cut Leon off, glancing around to ensure no one was eavesdropping on our conversation. Although we were already speaking in low tones, I took an extra precaution and activated [Lament of Lies] to mask our voices, making our discussion sound like an ordinary one to anyone nearby.
An amazing perk of the new skill.
“There’s no way the family head we both know would actually want us to pass up such a lucrative deal. He just wants us to pretend to refuse the offer and, instead, negotiate for personal rewards.”
Leon’s expression shifted abruptly as he began to grasp the family head’s true intentions.
Judging by the way he suddenly closed his eyes and leaned back, it was clear he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the arrangement.
Couldn’t really blame him, I wasn’t too.
“On the surface, he wants to make us appear like selfish brats who care only about our personal glory, completely indifferent to the struggles of our household—especially with the aftermath of the recent war putting such a heavy financial strain on us.”
Leon’s upper brow twitched as I spoke.
No matter how understanding he was, being told that people would view us as selfish brats never felt good.
“In reality, he wants the deal to remain secret. With the Verlice family, one of the families selected by the Kasha for trade, the family head plans to have them take our share of the tradable goods and handle the transactions for us, secretly paying us the profits from the trade.”
Of course, the only ones who would know of this were our family and the Verlice family.
“On the outside, our family will appear to be struggling because of our choices, while the Verlice family will experience unprecedented growth from the trade deal. With a stronger foundation than ours, they’ll be able to expand without facing much difficulty.”
Their growth would likely attract a lot of attention, drawing focus away from the Evenus Household and allowing it to grow in secret.
“Gradually, as the Verlice family grows and ours starts to decline, a ‘wedge’ will appear between us. Some sort of serious conflict can even occur, attracting the attention of the many houses that were previously trying to keep ours in check.”
Of course, this was merely an act.
“When everything is set in stone, they’ll eventually realize it was all a ruse, but by then, they’ll be caught off guard and attacked by both the Verlice and our Household.”
In short, the family head was planning on swallowing even more territories.
By that point, the growth of the Evenus Household would have reached a terrifying level—so much so that I feared it might even surpass that of the Duchies, inevitably drawing the attention of the Royal Family.
Considering their tyrant rule of the Empire, I was sure the Royal Family wouldn’t leave the Evenus Household alone.
There had to be a limit to someone’s greed.
“Hoo.”
Leon took a deep breath beside me, his expression tense. He seemed completely at a loss for words, unsure of how to process the news.
When he did speak, he directly asked,
“What are you planning on doing? Are you going through with the plan?”
“….I’m not sure.”
There was quite a lot I could gain from this.
If I followed the family head’s instructions, I was certain he’d provide me with the funds needed to bid for the Mirror Crack near Ellnor when the time came.
There was still time until then, and the money was necessary.
My financial capital was closely tied to the household’s. Following his words would certainly bring me a lot of benefits, but at the same time, I was worried.
I was worried about the future consequences that my actions would bring.
I thought Leon was the same, but contrary to my expectations, Leon appeared to be on board with the plan.
“I think we should do it.”
“Ah?”
I blinked my eyes in confusion. Did he just…
“If my guess is correct, this plan could take quite a while to come to fruition—anywhere from three to seven years.”
“Yes, but…”
“In that time, we can probably grow by a lot.”
Leon’s words made me pause and think.
Three to seven years…? By then, I would certainly be much stronger. Especially if the quests remained consistent. Still, I wasn’t sure how much I would grow. The higher one climbed, the steeper the path became.
Each tier had a barrier one had to surpass in order to reach the next tier, with people being stuck in the same tier for a very long time.
An example was the fifth tier.
There were countless cases of individuals getting stuck in the fourth tier, spending years just to develop their domain.
Not everyone was like Delilah who seemed to break through each tier without getting stuck for a very long time.
It wasn’t Delilah’s rate of growth that made her so feared. No, while her growth was impressive, it wasn’t what truly set her apart from the others.
What made her stand out was her lack of setbacks during her path to the top.
‘…If I continue to grow at the rate that I’m growing, perhaps in seven years I won’t be too far off from reaching the Monarch rank.’
Delilah was 27 when she reached the Monarch rank.
I paled in comparison to her when it came to raw talent, but I had the quests. Not only that, but I could probably grow even further if I killed monsters, which was why the Mirror Crack was so important to me.
If push came to shove, it wasn’t entirely impossible for me to reach her level by then.
And once I reached the Monarch rank, there would be very few things that could truly scare me.
‘It’s as Leon said, by the time the situation reaches a boiling point, we might have enough strength to not care about it. In the meantime, we can reap the benefits of the deal to help us become stronger…’
“Hoo.”
I let out a long and exhausted breath, feeling my body sink into the chair.
Lifting my head to look around me, I saw everyone discussing with one another, their expressions somewhat happy. This was a big deal for quite a few.
I could see some talking to the Head Elder, trying to talk terms with her as she smiled and answered all of the questions.
I glanced at Leon beside me, and he nodded in acknowledgment. I returned the gesture with a nod of my own.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
I stood up and walked in the direction of the Head Elder.
As if noticing me, she smiled, and the people talking to her paused, turning to look at me. Suddenly, I felt several pairs of eyes fixate on me as I stood before the Head Elder.
It suddenly grew quiet, or it felt like it did.
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‘…In any case, this does seem to be fitting for the character that I’ve built.’
Inwardly smiling, I parted my lips and spoke, my tone deliberate and loud enough for everyone to hear.
“I’ve thought about the deal that you’ve proposed, and after a little bit of thought, I’ve decided to reject the trade deal.”
All noise ceased, and all eyes turned in my direction.
I continued, “The trade deal would bring no direct benefit to me and mostly to the family head. For that reason, I’d like to change my reward.”
Even the Head Elder looked utterly confused by my words, her eyes widening.
“I’d like a reward fitting for my contributions.”