At the bottom of the hidden stairs of Larkās mansion, on the second basement level, there is a small room with only a desk and a chair, and paintings hanging on the walls.
No one has been in the room for ten years, and the floor and desk are covered in dust.
āIām very sorry, Peter-sama ā¦ā¦ Iām afraid the last time I entered this room was when my predecessor was alive, when we were cleaning ā¦ā¦ I thought this room would never be used again ā¦ā¦ Itās a token rule that no one other than the head of the family is allowed to enter the room, except for guests ā¦ā¦ Iāll clean it up right away.ā
Lark bowed to Peter.
āI donāt mind. Iām not here for that ā¦ā¦ Rather than that, quickly get out, Baron Lark.ā
āAh, Yes, sir ā¦ā¦ā
Lark bowed and walked out of the small room.
Lark says that this is a secret meeting room of the Baron Fage family.
Itās the first generation of Baron Fageās family, and Larkās grandfather had it built in his later years.
The magic formula engraved on the walls makes it resistant to eavesdropping and interception magic.
It seems that Larkās grandfather was a shady character, like the art warehouse.
āLord Peltaire ā¦ā¦, please take your seat.ā
I lifted my elbows from the desk and motioned for Peter to take a seat.
āI donāt want you to call me that because it gives me the creeps, but ā¦ā¦ what can I say, you like to start with form.ā
Peterās mouth curved in disgust as he peered out of his mask.
āGreat! Iām so excited about this place! Mea has read about rooms like this in novels!ā
Mea is making a lot of noise beside me.
We both agreed that we could have up to one attendant.
As usual, Myunhi is also standing beside Peter.
To be honest, Myunhi-san is a pretty ordinary person, so I think she might be too much for Peterās plan to defeat Count Julem.
At the very least, he should have Altamir as his secretary.
Well, I wonāt go into that too much.
If I start talking about it, I canāt deny that Peter himself is not strong enough.
āAre you okay? Isnāt that boy talking too much? Iāve been moving around the country a little too much lately, and it seems that the Dinrat royal family doesnāt like me very much. If I do anything too inappropriate, my position will be in jeopardy ā¦ā¦ā
I thought I was putting a lot of pressure on the royal family, but I guess they really hated me.
Of course. It seems that Peter also is forcing the current King of Dinrat Kingdom to give permission, and doing something shady at will.
Zolomonia, the former demon of wisdom and destruction who now works as a slave analyzing forbidden grimoires in a warehouse Iāve warded, also told me secretly that āPeter used to let criminals out of their cells without permission and take them under his command, and that he used them to rob this mistressās wand before selling it illegally.ā
Compared to what heās doing, the fact that Iāve been given a bit of authority to use magic is nothing compared to what heās doing.
āMea is much more trustworthy than Peter-san not betraying you.ā
I havenāt forgotten that I was almost killed along with Mea after cooperating with Peter with good intentions for a long time.
If Peter hadnāt said at the end of the day, āI can let Mea goā, I wouldnāt be in the same position as I am now.
āBut ā¦ā¦ is your position really that in dangerous?ā
Peter is my sponsor.
I donāt want him to fall into the city without permission and lose his value.
Because I have the power, Iām willing to go along with the ambitions of this black-hearted, lying, disgusting Queer.
āā¦ā¦ I donāt think theyāre saying anything out in the open, but ā¦ā¦ I think thereās a movement in the royal family thatās trying to get me kicked out of the monarchy somehow. The first candidate to become the next King of Dinrat, the fourth child, Princess Charlotte, is a difficult enemy of mine because she hasnāt done anything remarkable so far, sheās not that smart, and people around her didnāt expect much from her, so Iāve been neglecting her. She was a real dark horse ā¦ā¦ She has a strange sense of justice and seems to think Iām the enemy of the kingdomās dark side.
Peter said, holding his head.
āPeter-sama, you ā¦ā¦ should not show too much weakness to Abel ā¦ā¦!ā
Myunhi hurriedly reaches her hand in front of Peterās mouth.
āSo, you see ā¦ā¦ the combination of the failure of God Kudorās rule and the attack on the Count made me feel a bit vulnerable ā¦ā¦ā
Peter lets out a deep sigh.
Iāve heard interesting things about Princess Charlotte ā¦ā¦
I donāt know anything about petty politics, and I donāt think Iāll ever get involved with royalty, but it might be worth keeping in mind ā¦ā¦ Huh, I think Iāve heard that somewhere before.
āAbel ā¦ā¦, isnāt Princess Charlotte the one with Gaston?ā
Mea whispered to me.
āAhhhh.ā
The fourth child, Princess Charlotte ā¦ā¦ is the idiot princess who heard only rumors about Gaston and immediately promoted him to a knight in her entourage, then used her own power to push him to become a legendary adventurer, and then embarrassed herself by showing him off at a tournament in the capital.
Oh, sheās still in the first place after all that?
Oh, is it me? was happy to hear that my defeating Brian, another princeās confidant knight, and forcing him to retire, turned out to be a follow-up to Gaston, but donāt tell me that sheās still pushing that knightās buttons?.
D-Donāt tell me this is my fault?
Peter tilted his head when he saw my face.
āWhatās wrong, Abel?ā
āNo, no! Itās nothing! Nothing! I didnāt do anything!ā
āR-Really, thatās all right, then ā¦ā¦ Now that weāve got the small talk out of the way, can we get down to business, Abel-chan?ā
Peter took his seat. Myunhi thanked Peter and me, then took his seat.
I straightened my posture and crossed my arms.
āPeter-san ā¦ā¦ you will keep your word this time, wonāt you? I also want to get along with you, Peter-san, okay?ā
āYes ā¦ā¦ I know. Iām afraid of what will happen if I lie to you. Iām going to make it clear to you right here and now. If you can defeat Levi and Count Julem ā¦ā¦ I will do whatever it takes to free Penrath Bonge ā¦ā¦ the important criminal imprisoned in the Great Prison of Orknoa. Heās currently in protective custody. ā
Peter said bitterly, but powerfully.
āThatās what I wanted to hear.ā
I gave a small nod.
āAbel!?ā āPeter-sama!?ā
Mea, sitting beside me, and Myunhi, sitting beside Peter, stood up with shocked expressions.
āPlease, please come to your senses, Abel! Why, why is it! I wasnāt listening! I said that itās fine as long as Mea is here! Why does it matter now! Heās such a little old man!ā
Mea grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me in my chair.
āBe-, because! Zolomonia said that Peter was recruiting criminals from the prison to be his men, so I thought I could go there, and when I tried to push, it was so easyā¦ ah! Stop! If you do anything more, itāll dislocate yourself!ā
Mea shakes my shoulder in unison.
The chair is shaking and banging and itās scary.
If it falls over, I might hit my head.
This is a stone floor, so itās not fancy.
āPeter-sama! Are you out of your mind! Youāve been saying that youāve got the hang of this and that youāre going to get the better of Abel! Youāre making so many concessions! Penrath is an extremely dangerous person with the worst ideology and magic, even worse than Pope Sateria!? Didnāt you say so yourself!? Now that youāve miraculously succeeded in capturing him, why would you do something as outrageous as drowning the entire gold mine youāve accidentally found in the ocean!? Why didnāt you consult with me before you declared to that lunatic!?ā
āI donāt have a choice! If I had told you, you would have definitely stopped me! Just like now!ćMyunhi! I donāt like children who donāt listen! Donāt interfere with my decisions! In any case, Iāve already said it! I canāt take it back! Heāll never listen to me! Thatās what he is! Ultimately, as long as Levi and Count Julem are taken care of, everything else is trivial! I have no choice but to do this! Iāve been working so hard for the world, but God Kudor has turned his back on me, the heads of all the countries wonāt listen to me, and it looks like theyāve started preparing for a war against the Dinrat Kingdom at the Countās behest, and to top it off, even the stupid princess is trying to ostracize me. And Abel donāt seem to care! Then Myunhi, you defeat him! I want you to kill Count Julem! Okay, and Iāll take it back right now! Come on, hurry! Hurry it up!ā
āDonāt be a child! Are you going to be responsible for what Penrath will do to the world after his release!?ā
āIt doesnāt matter since Iām the one who caught him! In the first place, since Abel-chan is on the loose, itās like a margin of error! Who cares that 100 million has become 110 million? H-Hey, get your hands off me! Let go!ā
If you look to the side, you will see that Peter is also being strangled by Myunhi.
ā And so, a secret meeting between me, a sorcerer, and the former Pope, Lord Peltaire, took place in the second basement of Baron Fageās house, and a backroom deal was made.
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