Chapter 19

Chapter 19

He would satisfy his curiosity about Zeke while using him as a test subject.

Gregor had only been smiling at that thought for a moment.

When the communication orb flashed with light, the smile vanished from his face.

It was a call from a major figure who could make even him, the Tower Master, tense.

“...What brings you to contact me, Lord Baluduk?”

-Khehehe. What brings me, you ask? I contacted you because I was curious whether the preparations for the operation were going well.

“Do not worry. The preparations are almost complete. There is one problem, but that, too, will soon be...”

-What is this problem?

“It is nothing significant. I tried to capture the youngest young master of the McLaughlin family as a test subject, but I was obstructed. I intend to resolve it soon.”

-Do not dawdle. Execute the plan as soon as the preparations are complete. This old man has no patience, you see. Or do you want me to step in myself?

“No. I will resolve it on my end. I absolutely must.”

-Khehehe, you should. If you want to prove your worth, it would be best to move quickly. Do you understand?

“I understand. I will prove myself without fail.”

The call ended with those words, but Gregor could not take his eyes off the communication orb for a while.

‘For Lord Baluduk to contact me personally... There is no time to wait. I must proceed as quickly as possible.’

Soon, Gregor took out another communication orb.

It was the communication orb connected to his personal assassination squad, commonly called the [Hounds].

-Yes, Lord Tower Master.

“Galf, are the preparations complete?”

-Of course. Everyone is on standby.

“Good. I will contact you again soon, so move according to my orders.”

-Understood. We will be waiting.

After ending the call, Gregor rummaged through the drawer containing his communication orbs.

“It was somewhere around here... Ah, here it is.”

Long ago, he and Gerard had exchanged communication orbs for the purpose of sharing information. Gregor took one out and stroked its smooth surface.

“There is still magical energy left in it, so it should be usable.”

Just as he was about to tap it and contact Gerard...

The communication orb happened to shine.

The other party had contacted him first.

Gregor looked surprised for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curved into an arc.

***

“Now, are you satisfied? Just as you wanted, I persuaded the Tower Master.”

“Well done, Eldest Brother.”

Zeke smiled faintly and treated him respectfully as an elder brother, but there was no way Peter could feel good about it.

He knew his own situation well.

‘Damn it. To think I am in a position where I have no choice but to be swayed by my youngest brother.’

Since he had even sworn an oath with that strange pen, he could not refuse Zeke’s request.

On top of that, Zeke had a recording that could be used against him.

‘It sounds nice to call it a request, but is this not practically blackmail?’

Just moments ago, Zeke had asked Peter for one thing.

To persuade the Tower Master to delay his training in the magical arts.

As someone bound by an oath, Peter had no right to refuse.

Perhaps because of that, Zeke’s smiling face looked unbearably hateful.

“Zeke, how do you use magic without even having a Circle? Did you truly learn some wicked art in secret somewhere...?”

“Brother. Just because I am smiling does not mean you should cross the line with questions like that. It would also be troublesome if you ran your mouth somewhere. Revealing my secret would be a clear act of betrayal.”

“I-I would never reveal it. I know at least that much.”

“Do not forget. Your lifeline is in my hands.”

The smile had completely vanished from Zeke’s face.

Peter was slightly flustered by that change, but that did not matter.

As long as his relationship with the Tower Master was not revealed to his father.

“Th-Then let me ask just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Do you truly have no desire for the position of family head?”

“Yes. So, Brother, stay still and keep as quiet as a dead mouse. Then the position of family head will roll into your hands on its own. Do not even think of trying anything useless from behind the scenes.”

“Do you think I am mad? I know better than anyone that even if I wanted to betray you, I cannot. Scheming? Absolutely not.”

“Then I will trust you and watch. If you receive any contact from the Tower Master, inform me immediately. But if news comes and you hide it, that would be an act of betraying me. Do you understand?”

“Ugh, fine. If I hear any news, I will tell you.”

“Then behave yourself.”

“Y-Yes.”

Peter, who answered reluctantly, frowned as he watched Zeke turn away.

***

Click.

After returning to his room, Zeke let out a sigh.

‘Hoo, I canceled the training in the magical arts according to plan.’

If he followed his true feelings, Zeke wanted to punish the Tower Master, who had tried to sell him off as a test subject, and Peter as well.

But in the end, he held himself back.

‘This is not a problem I can solve just by stepping forward.’

The fact that the Tower Master was involved was no ordinary matter.

Even if his Circle was the same as his father’s, he was the representative of the Magic Tower, which served as the kingdom’s symbol.

And the head of such an institution had coaxed the eldest son of a prestigious magical family and made him swear a Mana Oath?

On top of that, he had tried to use the youngest son of that family for human experimentation?

It was an incident that could turn the entire kingdom upside down.

‘It is certain that the Tower Master is targeting our family. I heard him talking right beside me.’

Why he was doing such things, and why he was acting as though he held some deep grudge, Zeke did not know.

What was certain was that this was not a problem he could resolve alone.

‘It is a family matter, so first, I must tell Father as quickly as possible.’

Peter would be horrified if he found out, but Zeke had no intention of keeping his promise.

It was not a problem that could simply be buried.

‘Promises exist to be broken.’

Keeping a promise with Peter, who had tried to sell him off?

Even a passing dog would laugh at that.

Knock, knock.

“Father. May I come in?”

“Is that you, Zeke? Come in.”

When he opened the office door, Gerard happened to be putting on his coat.

“I was just about to meet you.”

“Me?”

“I spoke with the Tower Master just now. He says you do not need to go for training in the magical arts. Is that not good news?”

“I see.”

“Hm?”

At the reaction, which differed from what he had expected, Gerard’s expression hardened.

“Why do you look so serious? Are you not pleased?”

“I am pleased. But I do not think this is the time to smile.”

“Why? Has something happened?”

When Zeke nodded with a serious face, Gerard also grew serious.

“Sit down and tell me. Tell me what happened.”

***

“...That is how it happened.”

“Hoooo.”

With a throbbing head, Gerard pressed both his temples.

It was the most shocking story he had heard recently.

‘That bastard Gregor put a Mana Oath on my child?’

That was not all.

He had supposedly tried to lure in Gerard’s beloved youngest son under the pretext of training in the magical arts and use him as a test subject.

Ordinarily, it would have been an absurd story he could not believe.

But the evidence was too clear for him not to believe it.

After all, he had already listened to all the recordings from Zeke.

“Where did you get that butterfly brooch?”

“I picked it up at the Dragon Ruins.”

“So that was what the knight captain reported before.”

It seemed Raker had already reported everything that happened at the ruins.

“But I remember that what you brought back then was a necklace.”

“I brought this too.”

“Give it to me.”

Gerard took the brooch and fidgeted with it in fascination.

A brooch that could eavesdrop on another person’s communication orb.

“It is fascinating, but because of what the contents are, it is difficult to believe so easily. Even though the voices are clearly those of the Tower Master and Peter.”

“I thought this might happen, so I secured additional evidence.”

Zeke took out another recorder.

It was an ordinary-looking rod-shaped recorder, but its contents were anything but ordinary.

-Why did you do it, Brother? Did you hate seeing me so much that you sold me off to the Magic Tower?

-Haha, I have been completely defeated. Since it has come to this, there is nothing left to hide. What do you want? You could not have come to me without a reason.

-I simply need someone on my side.

-Too bad. What will you do now? I have already made a Mana Oath with the Tower Master.

-What are the terms of the oath?

-It is set so that the moment I betray the Tower Master, my Circle will collapse. In other words, I have no choice but to be his loyal confidant.

“This is...!”

“This is the conversation between Brother Peter and me. Once I threatened him by playing the Tower Master’s recording, he spoke quite freely.”

The contents of the additional evidence were clear.

Zeke did not reveal that he had subdued Peter by making him unable to use magic, nor that he had made an oath with him.

“Haaa...”

Gerard let out a sigh that did not suit him.

His solemn face had become filled with worry.

“Now that I have heard even the additional evidence, there is no room for doubt.”

“Exactly.”

“This is no ordinary matter. Not only will I have to cast Peter out with my own hands, but it may even require me to risk war against the Tower Master.”

“But you will not really do that, will you? You must not.”

Perhaps because he had heard an unexpected answer, Gerard stared at him and asked, as though testing him.

“Why?”

“If you destroy Brother Peter’s Circle or cast him out, the Tower Master will learn of it immediately. He must have informants. Then he will decide that his scheme has been discovered, and we do not know what vicious thing he may do. A person like that is bound to think in extremes.”

“Then what should be done?”

“When you reveal it, you should do so only after preparing countermeasures against him. The reason I revealed this information is to let you know in advance so you can do that.”

“You mean we should use the advantage of knowing this information to stand against the Tower Master?”

“Yes. We cannot simply keep being attacked.”

At his son’s unhesitating words, Gerard was inwardly surprised.

Because his own thoughts were the same.

‘I asked as a test, but how can his answer be so identical?’

Perhaps because Zeke was his own child, his judgment was first-rate.

Gerard simply could not hide his smile.

“Haha, since you always stayed at home, I thought you were gentle and docile, but you have an unexpected side. Very well. As you said, I will postpone revealing this information for later. We must also confirm whether the Tower Master is truly an enemy.”

“Thank you. Is there anything more I can do to help?”

“No. You have already been more than enough help. You have worked hard. Leave the rest to me now and simply watch.”

“Yes.”

“And this brooch...”

Gerard fidgeted with the butterfly brooch in his hand.

“Can you lend it to me for a while? There is someone I must let hear this.”

***

In Deccan, there were three prestigious magical families.

Vigsland, McLaughlin, and Pantein.

The first two families had a good relationship because they were tied by a master-disciple bond, but Pantein was different.

It was true that Gregor Pantein, the Tower Master, had once been Dalfred Vigsland’s disciple, but that was a story of the past.

Anyone who knew anything knew that their relationship had now soured and they were in opposition.

They also knew that Pantein formed marriage alliances with lower-ranked families in order to expand their family’s influence.

Since this was the situation, McLaughlin could not simply remain still either.

That was why Luna McLaughlin was with her fiancé from House Baldor, the fourth-ranked family.

“Theo. What should we do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Lately, the youngest has been contacting Brother Peter frequently. What do you think that means?”

Theo Baldor thought carefully about his fiancée’s question before opening his mouth.

“He is already trying to attach himself to the right line.”

“That is right. That cunning Zeke knows he cannot win the successor trial, so he is clinging to Brother Peter. At this rate, our position may narrow too.”

“Do not worry. If the First Young Master has any sense, would he seriously accept such a half-witted fellow? He is probably just playing along.”

“Even so, we cannot simply stand by and watch. We should do something too.”

“Shh. Be quiet. There was an unfortunate incident not long ago. What if someone hears and misunderstands?”

The unfortunate incident Theo mentioned referred to the Alex incident.

The rumor that Alex had mobilized an assassination group, only to have his Circle destroyed and be expelled, had already spread even to the remote countryside.

Because of that, the McLaughlin family’s prestige had fallen somewhat, but that did not mean they were free to engage in backroom schemes.

“At times like this, we should remain still. What will we do if we act needlessly and the sparks fly toward us?”

“But he bothers me.”

“You seem to dislike the youngest quite a bit.”

“I do not know.”

As if she would not deny it, Luna crossed her arms and turned her head away.

To her, Zeke was not a welcome existence.

The position of being loved as the youngest had been pushed aside because of Zeke.

‘I only want to push him aside the same way.’

Fortunately, he had been born a half-wit who could not even form a Circle.

If left alone, he would naturally fall behind on his own.

‘There is no need to keep Zeke in check. But what can I do when I cannot stand the sight of him?’

Perhaps Luna’s sullen expression bothered him.

Theo, who had been thinking for a moment, quietly offered an opinion.

“How about this?”