MBSE Chapter 23

“Central government officials lack persistence, I tell you.”

Derga climbed the stairs to his office with a deep frown. The tutor’s lengthy and diligent service seemed to have been erased from his memory. The butler also chuckled as if he was in a difficult position.

“Indeed. Quitting so suddenly like this…”

“Is there a scholar from Bariel University in Bratz?”

“I’ll look into it. If not, we’ll have to bring someone from elsewhere.”

This had become troublesome for no reason. Where else could he find another Bariel graduate willing to work as a tutor for such a cheap price?

He wondered if he had unnecessarily frozen the salary for a few years. If he had known this would happen, he should have moderately raised it while enticing him. Well, since the tutor was leaving the country for research, it wasn’t a money issue.

“It’ll be expensive, won’t it?”

“Most likely. You’ll have to pay at least ten times the tuition fee so far. But the problem is whether they’ll even agree to do it…”

Damn it! Derga stomped his foot, filled with irritation. As he nearly reached the office, he suddenly thought of the assistant who hadn’t shown his face at all.

“Is the assistant still sleeping?”

“He must be exhausted after falling asleep at dawn yesterday.”

“His luck has run out. Wake him up and send him home.”

Creak.

The moment he opened the door, Derga flinched. The butler’s puzzled gaze was unimportant. The office, which had always looked the same as a picture, had changed in a strange way.

“…What the?”

It wasn’t his imagination. The assistant lying face down on the floor and the slightly disheveled stack of documents. The butler, who had followed behind Derga, was so shocked that he covered his mouth.

“Oh my! What happened! Are you alright?”

Unlike the butler, who immediately checked the assistant’s condition, Derga went straight to the drawer. He opened the inner secret safe and confirmed that the seal and various treasures were still intact.

“Master! Shall I call a doctor?”

“…Is he dead?”

Derga’s voice was extremely sharp. If he had collapsed in front of the desk, only one assumption came to mind. He had been caught in a mousetrap, just like the previous butler.

“He’s still breathing.”

“Call a doctor. And report to me as soon as he opens his eyes. Have someone watch him so he can’t run away.”

“Yes. Understood. Outside! Is anyone there?”

“What’s the matter?”

A commotion ensued. While the servants rushed in and moved the assistant, Derga thoroughly inspected every item in the office. Fortunately, nothing had disappeared or been replaced.

Perhaps because there was no damage, when his mind became clear, a surge of betrayal welled up.

“…This wretched!”

“Oh no, master. You mustn’t do that!”

“After how I treated you! In this way!”

Thwack!

Derga vented his irritation-filled anger by striking the unconscious assistant’s face.

Meanwhile, Beric, who had returned to the annex, took a bite of an apple and asked.

“It’s noisy. Were we caught?”

All the servants who had been leisurely resting were summoned and rushed into the main building. A carriage crossing the garden. The doctor must be riding in it. Ian leaned against the window and watched it with interest.

“We were caught. There was an assistant inside.”

“We’re screwed. My head will roll now.”

“Are you scared?”

“If I die like this, it means I was the only one drained dry.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong. Ian burst into laughter at Beric’s words.

Ian broke the wooden keys and handed a small pouch to Beric. Inside, the sealed letter was neatly folded.

“Burn the keys somewhere no one knows. And deliver this to Duke Mollin. It must be delivered directly. I told you the address, right?”

It was the final touch. Beric tucked it into his bosom and nodded.

“Deliver it to Duke Mollin, receive gold coins, and stop by the house on the way back to relay a message to Philea.”

“Excellent.”

He would convey a message to Philea, Ian’s birth mother.

It was about time. If she was ready to hide, she should disappear without anyone knowing. Only Ian would know her whereabouts through Beric. Now, even if they crossed the border, there was nothing to hold them back.

“Let’s have a proper duel starting tomorrow.”

“If I successfully complete the mission.”

“Really? Great. Don’t change your words later.”

He had an expression that he would complete it by any means necessary if there were any obstacles. Ian threw him an apple and smiled.

“See you tomorrow.”

Creak.

The horse had left.

The only thing left was to observe how the other side would respond. Come to think of it, getting caught by the assistant wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

‘Although I tried to wrap it up, I might have missed some parts in the rush. Derga will definitely notice that. He can shift his attention to the assistant.’

If the assistant woke up and testified, it would enter a different phase, but the question was whether Derga would believe his words. While the assistant retained his position, the Marquis would draw his own conclusions, and that wouldn’t change even if the sky split in two.

Knock knock.

Ian turned his head at the sound of knocking.

“Young Master Ian. I’m coming in.”

“Oh. Teacher.”

The tutor entered through the door, sweating profusely. It seemed like his energy had been drained while talking to Derga. The conversation between an employer who didn’t want to let go and an employee who wanted to quit was evident.

“Did you have a good talk with Father?”

“Yes…”

“It’s a pity to hear that today is the last lesson. Thank you so much for your excellent teachings. As a token of appreciation, I prepared a small gift.”

Ian put on an act and took out a folded paper in front of him. It was a travel permit stamped with the Bratz seal. The tutor let out a sigh of relief and repeatedly made a dry wash of his face.

“Ah. My goodness.”

“Do you not like it?”

“No, I wish you had smiled a little when our eyes met earlier! I was so anxious, thinking there was a problem.”

The tutor held the travel permit to his chest as if it were his lifeline.

“Cross over to Blaster and continue your great research. Although not everyone pays attention, it’s people like you who ultimately change the world.”

Ian sincerely encouraged him. Scholarship cultivated through a lifetime of dedication becomes the foundation of Bariel. And someday, it will become the driving force for Ian.

The tutor pondered how to respond and rummaged through his bag.

“Here, this is the information you mentioned before.”

It was a map of the Great Desert and the expected climate. It was meticulously marked with oases and even the altitude of sand mountains.

“I calculated the dates you mentioned, and there’s a high probability of a sandstorm forming around the northeast, here. I’m not sure about the Cheonrye Tribe’s movements, but if you’re lucky, you’ll probably be able to avoid them.”

In addition, the daily temperature range was so extreme that it was called the inferno and the freezing hell. Ian sighed at the arduous journey he could gauge with numbers.

“You don’t look well.”

“I feel like giving up everything.”

“Still, it’s a place where people live.”

Is that a response to the earlier consolation? Ian neatly folded the paper and put it in the drawer.

“Are you leaving today?”

“Yes. I can’t wait a moment longer.”

As if to mark their final meeting, Ian held out his hand, and the tutor hesitated before grasping it. A smile wishing each other luck hung on their lips.

“Oops. Before you go.”

“Yes?”

He had an expression of what else was left.

Ian took out the Cheonrye Tribe’s letter he had copied from Derga’s office yesterday. It was a transcription of scattered words rather than sentences.

“Could you translate this for me?”

The tutor quietly looked at the paper and tilted his head.

“Who will come next after the female tribe leader?”

He read it because he was asked to, but the tutor smiled, clearly not understanding the meaning. Ian felt the same way.

However, the fact that it was in the secret safe meant that this letter was extremely important.

***

“Did you hear?”

“About the assistant? Oh my. The world is truly frightening.”

“Indeed. I heard there was a similar incident before.”

“People’s hearts are unpredictable, but this is really surprising.”

The atmosphere in the manor was chaotic. Although the butler worked hard to control it, how could it be easy? Whenever two or more servants gathered, they brought up the assistant incident.

“…So, he hasn’t woken up yet?”

“No, young master.”

Ian asked Hannah, leaving behind the gossip of the servants walking away. The child followed closely beside him, holding his outer garment. Behind them, Beric followed, carrying a large amount of sand bags.

“The Marquis hasn’t sent him home and has locked the inner office with a padlock. He also stationed two guards in the corridor and one in front of the door. Servants are strictly forbidden from approaching.”

Hannah whispered the information she had overheard. Since Ian had struck with all his mana, it was natural that the assistant wouldn’t wake up easily. Hannah asked, genuinely curious.

“How did you do it?”

She was asking how he had knocked out the assistant like that. Since Hannah didn’t know that Ian was a mana user, she was dying of curiosity.

“Here. Take this.”

“Gasp! Gold coins!”

Instead of answering, Ian handed her gold coins from his pocket. Beric had brought them, a token that the sealed letter Ian had sent had been successfully delivered to Mollin.

“It’s your reward and the carpenter’s share, so deliver it well.”

“It’s too much. Wow.”

“Really? Then give me the change.”

“No, no. Hehe. What a silly thing to say.”

Saying it’s too much is a polite gesture, not an outright refusal. Hannah smiled brightly and bit the gold coins with her front teeth. Then she quickly put them in her inner pocket and stepped back, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“Beric. Come quickly.”

“But you said we’d have proper training…”

“What if that’s not proper? Should I increase the weight?”

“…I’ll shut up.”

“You have a hasty personality, so this method is perfect for you. We’ll gradually increase your limit. Let’s do two more laps and then hold a sword.”

“I’ve found a great master!”

“Thanks for the compliment. I’ve also found a useful subordinate.”

Beric glared at Ian with fiery eyes, then struggled to take a step forward. Now that there were no more tutoring lessons, he could focus on exercising with Beric all day. Derga also didn’t leave his office due to yesterday’s incident.

But then…

Clop clop-!

The sound of hooves was heard from the main gate. It seemed like the doctor had returned, but strangely, it was noisy. Ian stood still under a tree and fixed his gaze.

“Ah.”

He thought it was a black horse, but no.

It was a kusille, an essential means of transportation for crossing the desert. The kusille, an animal somewhere between a horse and a camel, was the representative pet of the Cheonrye Tribe. In other words-

“Who are they?”

Ian paused at Hannah’s question.

The gallant warriors riding on the saddles. With red paint on their faces and golden accessories announcing their presence, they were none other than…

“The Cheonrye Tribe.”