Chapter 342

Chapter 342. ???? Years (1)

After that.

Since the office was too cramped, everyone moved first to the tea room, where they could sit comfortably. Alon, after serving them simple tea, scratched his head awkwardly at the still silent atmosphere.

Just then—

—”My lord Marquess.”

—”What is it, Evan?”

—”It is about the auction house matter, the one you stamped your seal on last time…”

—”Has a problem arisen?”

—”It seems so. The file came back up and I think you need to review it right now.”

—”In that case…”

Evan brought the report.

Alon stood up immediately and said:

—”Excuse me for a moment, I have to attend to a quick matter. You have already introduced yourselves to each other, so speak freely.”

The people present nodded at once.

Alon left the room.

And again, silence fell over the tea room.

It wasn’t that anyone intended to cause harm, but the atmosphere was thick with tension.

Even Seolrang, who would normally be joking with Rine —whom she hadn’t seen in a long time— laughing “ehehe,” found herself—

Clack—

—holding her cup with both hands, her face rigid.

And the one who spoke first was…

—”Was it you… Deus Makalian?”

It was Nangwon.

—”Yes.”

Deus nodded calmly.

And shortly after—

—”Fufufu, that you noticed it… you have a good eye.”

—”Oh, really? It was just so well made that I couldn’t help but admire it.”

The atmosphere, which just a moment ago was thick with tension,

softened as Deus and Nangwon spoke with smiles on their lips.

And the reason was—

—”I never would have imagined you would carve such a pattern into a statue.”

—”If you want, next time I’ll show you how I carve it into stone.”

—”Oh, I definitely want to see that.”

…Alon’s statue.

Deus and Nangwon connected instantly, completely disarming the serious atmosphere.

When theirs were practically the only voices being heard—

—”Ahem, let me introduce myself again. I am Yutia Bloodia.”

—”Me too, I am Magrina, the queen of Fildirgreen.”

—”Ryanga.”

—”I am Seolrang!”

—”I am Rine.”

—”Historia.”

Those who hadn’t spoken before started introducing themselves one by one, and conversation blossomed naturally.

The atmosphere became incomparably softer than at the start.

Even so—

except for Nangwon and Deus, a certain distance remained between the others.

For example:

—”As an elven queen, you must have a lot of work. Do not worry about the master, we assist him very well.”

—”I cannot do that. After all, Seolrang and Rine are in another country; it is natural that I contribute more strength here.”

—”There is no need. We have already cleared all the problems that could cause him difficulties.”

—”But my brother needs information constantly. We must cover whatever he needs as much as possible.”

They were smiling as they spoke, yes.

But the conversation clearly divided them into groups.

It was inevitable.

Yutia, Seolrang, Rine, and Deus were people Alon had saved about 10 years ago.

Magrina, Nangwon, Historia, and Ryanga were people he had saved when he traveled to the past.

—”We can assist the master perfectly.”

—”So can we.”

What they were saying, with a smile but hostile undertone, was basically:

“We can support him without you, don’t interfere.”

“Aha. Well, no.”

And just when the atmosphere, which had finally calmed down, tensed up again—

—”What a coincidence. That all the people with ties to the Marquess are gathered for such an important matter.”

The meeting took a turn when—

—”But that matter… is already over.”

—Crack.

Yutia’s words froze the room in a second.

—”Oh, what did you mean by that?”

Magrina smiled lifting her cup, but upon hearing Yutia, she placed it back on the saucer, slowly asking for an explanation.

But Yutia, without erasing her smile, replied:

—”Just what you heard. The matter is already decided, so I thought perhaps you all would feel a little disappointed.”

—”…it gives the impression that you know what that matter is about.”

Yutia did not answer.

She only smiled with those cold white fox eyes and took a sip of tea.

—”W-What? It’s already over? It hadn’t even started yet???”

Ryanga, scratching her head uncomfortably, was startled for a moment, but it didn’t last long.

Magrina, who stared fixedly at Yutia, spoke:

—”It is my understanding that it has not finished yet.”

—”Oh, really?”

—”Yes. We were supposed to discuss it today.”

—”It won’t be a very important discussion.”

—”And why is that?”

—”Because it is already decided.”

—”From what I know, he will only choose a candidate and the one who really decides is the brother.”

Magrina’s precise answer.

Yutia simply tilted her cup without changing her expression.

Sip.

Too calm.

And after placing the cup down elegantly, Yutia added:

—”Yes. That is why I am telling you.”

And she smiled.

All eyes turned toward her.

Her confidence was so great that the others were left open-mouthed.

—”That is just your opinion, don’t you think?”

Rine intervened suddenly.

—”Y-Yes! Yutia! Only you think that. We don’t know what the master will decide.”

Seolrang followed her immediately.

In an instant, the tacit alliance dividing both groups collapsed.

Allies seconds ago, they now became rivals.

—”That is what they say.”

—”True, in the end, the one who decides is the boss. It hasn’t ended yet.”

Magrina added smiling.

Ryanga, silently cheered up, even struck a combat pose to encourage herself.

But even in the face of those responses, Yutia remained the same:

—”Do you really believe that?”

From the beginning, she acted as if it were a game she had already won.

A victor’s smile.

Everyone fell silent.

Even Magrina, who hadn’t lost her smile until now, showed a slightly tense expression.

If she had that confidence, it was because she must have something up her sleeve.

In that crushing atmosphere, Seolrang gritted her teeth —ggrr— and hesitated a moment.

Use it? But if she did… perhaps there would be consequences. She debated with herself.

But in the end, she made a decision.

—”Even so, Yutia doesn’t fit as a partner.”

She blurted it out.

Yutia looked at her calmly, and Seolrang, feeling stung, averted her gaze for a second.

—”Yutia… is hundreds of times older than the master, isn’t she…?”

She dropped it like a strategic bomb.

Yutia’s body froze.

The projectile landed directly on her without mercy.

And then—

—”Oh… really?”

In a matter of seconds,

Magrina formed a new alliance with Seolrang.

—”Hmm…”

—”That is indeed true.”

Ryanga and Rine followed up without hesitation.

Historia observed Yutia with an expressionless but incisive gaze.

A perfect counterattack.

But—

After a few seconds frozen, Yutia—

—”Fufu—”

laughed softly and looked around.

A small cracking sound was heard… barely audible.

—”I am sorry, Seolrang, but that is not the case.”

—”Eh? What—?”

—”I turn twenty-two this year.”

—”….”

—”?”

—”….”

—”Eh? That can’t be. I am sure that—”

—”I am twenty-two.”

—”…aren’t you insisting too much?”

—”And what can I do if it’s true, Rine? You cannot slander like that.”

Yutia tilted her head innocently, as if she really didn’t remember her own past.

Everyone made a face of exhaustion.

She continued:

—”Besides, if we’re talking about ages… you guys aren’t at an easy age either, are you?”

—”Eyadiya.”

—”!”

Everyone fell silent again.

…And yes, it was true.

Magrina, Ryanga, and even Historia were over 600 years old.

And Rine had spent practically 600 years sealed, so she couldn’t escape the problem either.

—”Ahem, you know? High elves live for a very long time, so this age is roughly equivalent… to about twenty human years.”

Magrina was the first to react, using a miraculous “elven calculator.”

—”M-Me too! We live for a very long time. If I want, I can live for thousands of years… s-so… wait. What is my human age…?”

Ryanga tried to follow her logic and crashed mid-sentence.

—”Me too, similar.”

Historia confirmed calmly.

But Rine retorted:

—”I am still twenty, Yutia.”

—”Why?”

—”Because I was sealed. I didn’t age.”

—”But you were awake for 600 years.”

—”Still, my body didn’t age. If you want to say I aged alongside him, then your logic fails too.”

Yutia fell silent again.

Rine looked at her expressionlessly, but with a strange victorious aura.

—”Ahem— Then the one who fits the master best is me!”

Seolrang jumped in again, all confident.

Then—

—”Well—”

Nangwon, who was chatting with Deus about the statue while listening to everything, opened his mouth without thinking.

—”You’ve lived 600 years or more… looking at it coldly, you’re all equally old, aren’t you?”

—”I think so too.”

—”Right? If we look at it from a human standard, you are all grandm—”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

The instant he was going to say “grandmothers,”

Magrina and Yutia kicked Nangwon and Deus at the same time.

And then—

KWAaaaaAANG!

[Kyukyuuguut~?!]

—”R-Reverse Heaven–…?”

Alon, who was reviewing the reappeared file, felt a violent explosion of mana.

And he saw the mansion wall shatter as two bodies —Deus and Nangwon— were embedded into the bookshelf.

He was startled and was about to activate Reverse Heaven when—

—”Sorry, master.”

—”Excuse the commotion.”

—”Yutia… Magrina…?”

Alon’s movements stopped upon seeing them emerge from the smoke.

Behind them came Ryanga, Historia, and Rine.

The three grabbed Nangwon and Deus by the ankles and dragged them back to the room without saying a word.

Alon could only…

watch that in silence, completely astounded.

—”Don’t worry, master. We started talking and… a small accident occurred.”

—”We will take our leave now.”

—”Boss, work hard!”

—”Deus, hang in there.”

—”See you in a bit, godfather.”

The girls said goodbye with angelic purity while dragging two giant men.

Alon, his mind blank, fell seated into his chair.

[Kyuuu—]

He petted Blackie, who threw himself at him in surprise.

—”Deus and Nangwon… will they be okay…?”

He looked at the hole in the wall with a vacant expression.

That same night, when such chaos had occurred in the Marquess Palatio’s mansion—

Alexion was starting…

the interviews.

—”Hello.”

—”…Greetings.”

—”I am Rine Groff.”

—”Ah, yes. But… where did you get the letter?”

—”It came to me.”

—”…The letter… arrived?”

—”Yes.”

—”Excuse me, but… we did not send any letter to Miss Rine Groff.”

—”Eh?”

—”I did not send any letter to—”

—”Eh?”

—”To Miss Rine Gro—”

—”Eh?”

—”…Come to think of it… I think I did send one.”

—”Right?”

—”…Yes.”

Thus began…

the thieves’ interviews.

—”Ah, I heard the interview works by points.”

—”Correct.”

—”I hope to get a good score.”

—”The score depends on various criteria, according to—”

—”Yes?”

—”Y-yes…”

Rine accepted his words very easily.

The evaluation Alexion had in mind for her was changing to:

“she has no shame, but at least she has minimal principles.”

But just then—

Pazik!

Alexion saw it.

A golden crown that emerged from behind Rine

and cleanly perforated, in a perfect cylinder,

the desk separating them.

—”Ah, sorry. I’m still not used to this body. It’s a body with which I can’t even use my strength well. Excuse me…”

Said Rine, with a totally hollow voice.

And then—

—”…W-… We will start the interview…”

Alexion squeezed his eyes shut tightly.