âThe captured man isnât telling the truth or revealing anything. He is repeatedly saying that he was only trying to steal money by threatening lightly with a knife. Bishop Setyron has really worked thoroughly. It is almost impossible to dig up his past as well as the connection between him and the temple. His tactic was good.â
âIs that so? And what about the rest?â
âAll the Paladins claim that it was a single crime committed with resentment due to the decrease in the donations to the temple. The attacker also consistently states that he didnât know that it was Master Evan with the staff that day.â
âSo thatâs itâŠâ
The Marquis of Sherden nodded hard at the butlerâs report. Suddenly, the arm of the chair he was holding broke out. The next moment, the appearance of the woodâs scattering left the butler with little to less doubt that Evan might have inherited his grip skills from his father, after all.
âSomehow, they donât care about my family! We are belittled!â The voice of Marquis rumbled. It broke through the critical point of perseverance, mixed with yelling and groaning.
âThis was carried out in Bishop Setyronâs authority. Clearly, he has gone insane. But Master, if you make a formal protest against the temple to take him down from Bishopâs post of Bishop, the temple will have to take action against him to prevent something like this happening again in the future.â The butler continued. âI donât know what wouldâve happened if he had been successful, but we know that Bishopâs operation ended in tremendous failure. Moreover, the victim was the Marquisâs son himself!â
They knew roughly what the temple had been thinking all along, but the people of Brotherhood Pharmacy were preparing for their movements in advance.
Thanks to this, they had a large amount of evidence with them. Now it wasnât a situation where the Bishop could just step back, pretending to know nothing about this.
If the Marquis proceeded with the whole situation calmly, the Earth Church would have to give the Marquis a large concession soon. This amount would greatly help the development of the Brotherhood Pharmacy as well as the Marquis himself. To put it plainly, the Marquis had a lot of leverage over the temple.
âNo, no butler. We wonât let them get away with this so easily.â The Marquis shook his head at the words of the butler.
Of course, the Marquis was a person who was well versed in the noble bargaining method of gaining more from the other side by taking a step back from his side occasionally. But this time above all else, his own son was almost injured due to which the profit and loss had driven out of his mind.
âMy dear son was almost hurt!⊠I mean, he was about to get hurt! That also, in my city!â The Marquis roared. âIf the temple hadnât been looking down us, then no amount of Bishops would have dared to perform such an act. At this point, I think it is time to show the true power of Sherden to everyone! So that it wouldnât be forgotten again! All those involved in this matter will taste my wrath intensely and painfully! They will regret this!â
After hearing these words, the butler smiled bitterly as he realized that the Marquis was furious. The Marquis was usually sensible and thought about anything, twice or even three times, in contrast to other Marquis. But now he seemed to be acting like a chimpanzee, throwing his arms and kicking everywhere.
âWhenever itâs something related to the family, your Excellency always loses his cool and temper like this⊠Of course, thatâs not a bad thing.â
Whenever the Marquis was so angry, the butler would leave his presence. But this time he didnât go away.
âMaster, can I say just one thing?â
âYes, speak. But I hope those words arenât directed to calm me down. No words can break my determination.â
The butler coughed and then said,â It is being said that Evan has acquired a weapon to attack the Earth Church.â
âDoes he now?â
The temper of the Marquis sank instantly. He knew that while Dain was dealing with the first assailant, the captured person had been repelled by Evan.
The Commander of the knights had updated the Marquis about Evan. He had told him that Evan was working so hard that he had already achieved remarkable achievements. The Marquis was especially joyful about this.
âYes. Luckily, Evan succeeded in attracting one of the capable from the temple.â
âNo, wait, how did he do thatâŠ?â
âEvan said that if you only gave him three days, he can organize the templeâs data. How would Evan even do it? Some people say that even the Bishop does not get his reports that quickly than Evan.â
When the Marquis heard that, he thought about it. The reason that there had been no critical damage in this situation to anyone was that Evan had prepared the knights in advance. This meant that Evan had a âspyâ inside the temple. If that was the caseâŠ
âI have to meet Evan.â
âYes, Master.â
At that very moment, Evan was lying in bed with the doors open.
He pushed away Maybell from himself, who was trying to bandage him and give him medicine, although he wasnât injured. Evan told her that he could eat it alone or wanted to eat something better than that.
It was a situation that Evan couldnât escape easily.
âI wasnât there. If I was present at that moment, Master, I wouldâve had personally punished the man who dared to flaw your precious body⊠!â
âWell, Iâm not hurt, Maybell! I havenât hurt anywhere, so get rid of the bandages!â
âMaster, please let me do it.â
âBelois, please take her away so I can eat everything aloneâŠâ
âMaster, eat it right now.â
Maybell thought that Belois would listen to him and take her away, but she didnât.
As soon as Maybell had heard that Evan had been attacked, she was shocked beyond belief and wanted to cry. After that, she was running around everywhere, always by Evanâs side. She even wanted to follow him up to the bathroom.
âNow, Master! Put your arms out!â
âHaha⊠⊠Now, Master. You should listen to her and just do it.â
âShine, please save meâŠâ
âIâm sorry, but these are your own problems.â
To make matters worse, even Shine wasnât listening to him!
âI donât think all of this happened because I was walking around unprotected, knowing that I was in danger. I wonât ever be in danger until Dain is protecting me.â
âHeyâŠ!â
âI know we are weak, but we want to get stronger for you security, Master. We could go to the dungeon to level up, but we arenât allowed to go there for now.â
âBecause you are still going through your individual training processâŠAnd Iâm fine too!â
âIt could have been fatal if you would have been even a little slow. No matter how much a person is prepared, unexpected things can happen. Like this one.â
There was no room for refutation. Evan had anticipated the shadowy thief, but the one who had struck him at the last moment was someone he never had unexpected.
If Evan was being completely honest with himself, even the preparations for the enemy and the Shadow Rogue Pento always had one flaw or another.
âBut didnât you know?â. Evanâs voice shuddered while replying to Shine.
âThe attackers, they were really weakâŠâ
âAccording to the butlerâs words, the one who tried to stab you was also as strong as the shadow thief. It was really dangerous. Moreover, what if there had been someone stronger than him? It was a misjudgment of the Master to go in the field with the rest of the staff in the first place. Can you deny this, Master?â
âNo, thatâŠâ
No one knew that the Bishop was going to try to attack Evan, the second Master, without hesitation!
Evan had also been reflecting on it. This world was full of unexpected variables, and because Evan had to survive in it, he had to find a way to live with diligence.
However, in the meantime, Evan thought about how he wouldnât always be able to calculate everything. Looking back now, it was heartbreaking for him.
âNo, wait!âŠIâm sorry. Iâm sorry, but my body is really okayâŠ!â
âNo, you donât realize Master, how scared we all were to hear that you were attacked!â
âI think it would be better to refrain from going out, for the time being, Master.â
The two maids laid back, Evan, who was trying to get out of bed, constantly solidifying his fierce defense.
They werenât even letting Evan change his clothes or wash up by himself. Evan thought that they were being a little bit more forceful than they needed to be.
âI seem to be interfering.â Evan was scared of Maybell, whose breath was a little harsh.
âShâŠShine.â
âI already know. The only thing you have to do outside the mansion is alchemy training, right Master? Iâll pass it on to Bernard. In the future, he will visit you at the mansion and teach you.â
âHey!â
âI hope you will take care of him and not let him out of bed, at least for today. Then Iâll leave you alone for a while MasterâŠHello, Master Marquis.â
As he left the room to go to Bernard, Shine found the Marquis and the butler walking straight towards him. In the corridor, he greeted them politely by taking his usual stance in no time.
Because Shine greeted them loudly in advance, Maybell and Belois were also able to move away from the Evan for a while beforehand and settled their postures. The Marquis couldnât imagine what had been going on inside a while ago.
âIs Evan inside?â
âYes, Master Evan is resting, Your Majesty. Master Evan, the Marquis, has come to visit you.â
âCome in, father.â
âExcuse me.â
The Marquis comforted Evan, sitting halfway across his bed. He was looking up at Evan with anxious eyes.
âI have already confirmed that there is no wound, but I still couldnât help but worry every time I thought about you and the attack. Are you hurt?â
âNo, father. Iâm completely fine. I didnât even hurt my fingertips.â
âLet me see you again.â
The Marquis had already checked Evanâs condition before, but he looked all over his body again. Of course, Evan was fine. After completing his inspection once again, the Marquis gently patted Evanâs back, then rubbed his cheeks and kissed his forehead.
âIâm really glad you didnât get hurt. ⊠⊠By the way, I heard that you were in contact with a person from the temple.â
âYes, father. Thatâs right. Thanks to the informant, I was able to prepare for this attack. In a few more days, we will also collect some evidence that can get the Bishop to be completely dismissed. The Bishop ordered this because he was taking a large amount of the donation money that had to be sent to the headquarters.â
âHe was taking the money being sent to the headquarters of the Earth Church?â
âYeah.â
Evan told a part of a conversation he had with Serpina the other day.
âIn other words, what would the Earth Church think if there was evidence that the Bishop had incited the Paladins to attack the Brotherhood Pharmacy? And there was even more proof that he had taken away huge amounts of the tuition money?â
âThey would definitely execute the Bishop.â
âYes. We can be successful in this if we promise to cover this case with the Bishopâs fault and not harm the Churchâs image. Instead, we only get rid of the Bishop.â
âWell, do you mean to say that you can start negotiations with them?â
âYes. The temple was initially stunned by the potions we made. We will be able to draw out their help as well as repair our relationship with them. Unless they really want to withdraw from Sherden, they have no choice but to comply with me.â
This way, the Bishop, who was being handed over to the headquarters, would not be able to survive. However, if the Marquis had attacked the Bishop instead of reporting him, then the headquarters of Earth Church would have been forced to fight against the Marquis.
So, this way, they had used the Church to take care of the Bishop. As the Church was also losing a lot of money due to the Bishopâs corruption, so they already had enough reasons to get rid of him.
The Bishop was a nuisance too big to be ignored.
After making the Bishop a public enemy and disposing of him, the only thing that would be left would be the negligence on behalf of the temple. And in return for helping them deal with this, the temple would have to make various âconcessionsâ to the Marquis.
It was really a perfect plan in that it was neat and could solve everything the Marquis wanted.
âAnd son⊠wonât the person who brought you this information would be in danger of being caught?â
âThe abilities of my informant are outstanding, even though her status is low. Most of all, we met by chance, but she is someone you can trust.â
âWell, if you say so.â
Believing in Evanâs sight for recognizing talent was becoming normal for the Marquis. He nodded in satisfaction. He then looked in Evanâs eyes and asked carefully.
âCan you make her yours?â
âI donât know her that well, but I think she can be a good friend.â
âYes. Thatâs enough.â
The Marquis was satisfied with Evanâs answer and patted him on the shoulder again. Then he stood up and said.
âI will wait until the report arrives. And Evan, youâll be resting until tomorrow.â
âNo, Iâm not hurt, Father! Didnât you just check!?â
âMaybell and Belois? Youâve worked hard. In the future, keep looking after Evan.â
âYes, Marquis! â
âYes, sir, Marquis. I will serve him without question.â.â
âFather!?â
Belois politely bowed her head. She was competing with Maybell to stand out before the Marquis. The Marquis laughed and left.
âNo, father, wait!â
âNow, Master. Stay quiet.â
âThere is still a lot left. You have to be quiet until you finish eating your medicine.â
Evan, who had been abandoned even by his trusted father, was shaking all over as the two maids approached him with vicious smiles on their lips.
The smiling Belois was scarier than the smiling Maybell who was in full bloom.
âLet me go! No, Iâm fine! Donât push me down, let me go!â
âThen, I will come back later. Please rest safely.â
âShine, hey, Shine!â
Meanwhile, Shine left the spot with a sagely expression.
âThat guy⊠I wonât give him the Shadow Cloak!â