âThe seance was ruined, and I havenât gotten any money, but it doesnât affect me. Heâll forget my face tomorrow.â
âDo you need more pay?â
âIf you give it to me, I wonât decline it.â
âHer Grace must have given you enough.â
Even with a puzzled face, Freil took out a pocket of silver coins from his arms and gave it to Rye.
Rye took it, put it in his inner pocket, and looked satisfied.
âItâs important to get extra income.â
The second time Artizea visited Rye was about fifteen days before the wedding.
[What brings you to such a place when a precious marriage will be taking place soon?]
Rye asked, complaining.
[You have done very well the last time.]
[If you were dissatisfied with that, my throat would have fallen already.]
[Are you afraid to live?]
Rye shook his head.
But she wasnât that offended.
Artizea has clearly indicated that she was his superior, but never cared about his disrespect. She was comfortable with that attitude.
And not so long ago, his sister contacted him again. It was said that an old doctor who had come from the capital to heal the youngest settled in the village.
The doctor said he hired her to be a nurse. His other siblings and village children were also taught letters and numbers for free.
As the youngestâs treatment expenses were reduced, there was room in his house. His mother also said that she started getting treatment for her wrist thatâs always been sore.
He was honestly grateful. Instead of just throwing a large sum of money to take care of his own life, she was constantly taking care of his family so that they would not notice it.
Even if she gave 10,000 gold at a time, his family will not be able to keep it well.
He was worried about what kind of work she made him do.
Artizea said as if she had read that thought.
[If you die, you donât have to worry because your family will be taken care of forever.]
[Oh my. Have you already pawned someone elseâs life?]
[I have no intention of asking for your life yet.]
Artizea smiled faintly.
[I need a young man who has a good manner of speaking, can respond on his toes, has impeccable memory, shameless, and has an inconspicuous appearance. Of course, a heavy mouth is a necessary condition.]
[With exception to my appearance, I meet those conditions. Iâm a little handsome⌠]
Rye replied, searching the connections in his head for a moment.
Artizea snorted at the retort about his appearance.
[I chose you, including your appearance.]
And what she asked him to do was to become a necromancer.
[Itâs about getting into the center of the social world. Iâm sure youâll get a pretty good extra income. But you shouldnât be shaken or excited. Donât forget that approaching your goal is the number one priority.]
Rye told Keyshore that he gathered rumors of social affairs and told them in a plausible package.
But, in fact, all of the information he spoke of came from Artizeaâs hands.
Artizea collected useful information from the information she remembered in advance and compiled them into a small booklet. And she left it to Freil.
It wasnât important information. It was just simple information that would be interesting and forgotten in the social world.
Most of them were things such as Viscount Moe having an affair, or where the jeweled fan that Viscountess Moe lost would be found.
Then he will be esteemed as a remarkable fortune teller at the time.
On the other hand, when it comes to important topics, there will be more attention from people as insignificant as Keyshore.
To raise interest and credibility, Artizea created a magic circle.
The magic circle with the word âLightâ written on it was elegant to look at because of the ancient characters.
However, the structure was very simple. When activated by a spell, a dazzling light is emitted for about 15 seconds and turns off automatically.
Because it was such small magic, there was no need for human sacrifice. The life force from freshly shed blood was enough.
Of course, Rye complained while memorizing difficult ancient scripts.
[If I get caught in the temple by mistake, Iâll be the one in trouble.]
[So you have to pretend to be a scammer.]
Necromancy and ancient magic are all prohibited in temples. If caught, they will be burned.
However, there was always someone interested in divination, calling ghosts, or predicting through constellations. There have always been scammers.
The temple couldnât be interested in these little things. Wouldnât it be more demeaning to be tricked by a scammer that acted like a real wizard?
[If you are caught as a scammer, I will get you out with money, so donât worry.]
[Really, Iâm uneasy.]
[If youâre uneasy, canât you just use it when itâs absolutely necessary?]
Artizea said that, but Rye couldnât.
At first he didnât do it because he hated bleeding.
However, it changed as the atmosphere rose and invitations from noble families began to come.
Without realizing, his mouth fluttered magic really well and he used it to heighten mystery.
Thanks to that, his fingers, arms, and other parts were full of wounds.
Rye finally understood why Artizea was looking for someone who could approach the goal without getting too excited.
He became so popular that he was invited to decent homes such as the Keyshore Mansion. As a result, even he got excited over the prospect of money despite his firm goal.
If he were a normal man, he were more likely to forget his original goal and focus on the interests of the social world, and run wild.
However, even Rye did not yet know what Artizeaâs final goal was.
He was only told that if the goal was approaching, he would naturally know.
The carriage started rolling. Rye received a booklet from Freilâs hand and began memorizing the information he needed for the next seance.
The reason why he didnât give the booklet at all was because there was a lot of information about the nobles and it was dangerous for Rye to keep.
So, Freil had to come in person every time to have Rye memorize the booklet.
âThe Marchioness seems to be running a separate information organization, right?â
âDonât try to dig too far.â
Freil said briefly.
But in fact, Freil was also curious.
Freil classified the information there into three categories.
The first is information that can be found through investigation, and the second is new information that can be inferred from the collected information.
However, the third could only be thought of as a prophecy.
Most of all, it was amazing that this amount of information could be collected and written at once.
Artizea began to form an information network in earnest around the time she met Cedric.
Even considering the scale of the information network that was created now, that was perfect.
Yet, with the size of the information network, it will not be possible to find out so much information at once.
âIâm also interested in things that donât need to be too much digging.â
Freil shook his head.
If you donât want to believe it, you donât need to know, but if you choose to believe it, you donât have to think about anything else.
Rye, who memorized all the necessary information, returned the booklet.
The carriage arrived near Ryeâs accommodation just in time.
Rye jumped out of the carriage.
Then he entered the place, and ran back out of the road before Freil started the carriage.
Freil was surprised and gestured to the coachman to wait. Rye jumped into the carriage.
âHere. This is the Marchionessâ goal.â
Rye handed out an envelope of an invitation.
The envelope was stamped with the Marquisate of Rosan.
It is only Artizea and Miraila that can write from the Marquisate of Rosan.
And since Artizea is not in the capital, this was Miraila.
âItâs terrible, even the Marchioness. With a pretty face. To be taking revenge so thoroughly.â
âDonât be alarmed. Watch your mouth.â
Freil said lowly.
He knew the goal.
However, he did not know the final goal of Artizeaâs play.
[My mother is always anxious.]
As she completed the booklet and gave it to him, Artizea said so.
[But she canât lean on the temple. My motherâs life itself violates the templeâs teachings, but that doesnât mean she canât get out of that situation.]
Artizea laughed in a self-helpful way.
[Isnât the sincere dedication of the emperorâs mistress to the temple itself a ridicule in the social world? She can give a bribe, but she canât pray.]
[Yes.]
[Then the only place to rely on is superstition. If she sees a necromancer who is rumored to be clever, she will surely be interested.]
Artizea also said.
[The reason I chose a young man is because my mother believes the word of a man much better. If he were a young man, he would be a substitute for my brother.]
[Arenât you putting too heavy a burden on Rye Fidget?]
[Rye will do well. Because heâs a man who is quick to act.]
Artizea said so.
[There is a high probability that I will not be in the capital, so you should advise Rye instead.]
[Yes.]
[He must not give the initiative of the relationship to my mother. He doesnât really need to get close. He needs to thoroughly pretend to be a mysterious necromancer and focus on raising money.]
[Yes.]
[By attracting multiple people to the seance, reducing the number of meetings one-to-one, mainly by making predictions or giving information to other people, it is difficult. My mother will be anxious just because the seance is real, so itâs okay.]
[Would His Majesty the Emperor remain still?]
[It is important for His Majesty to think that necromancy is just play. If he thinks sheâs indulged in a rather peculiar play, heâll fall for it. The most important thing is not to reveal Ryeâs identity.]
[Yes.]
[Donât worry too much about her because my mother never shows off her recourse to superstitions in front of His Majesty. I have also advised Countess Eunice.]
[Yes.]
[So I think the possibility is low, but if His Majesty intervenes while you canât contact me, or if there is any other urgent situation, protect Rye. Be prepared so that he can always give up everything and disappear.]
[Okay. By the way, if you have enough trust before you come back, will you not proceed with the work in advance?]
He could only guess what she was going to do.
But if sheâs going to get Miraila into a conspiracy, Freil asked if it wasnât good when neither Artizea nor Cedric were in the capital.
[I think itâs safer for you to control it yourself. Itâs something that can get me involved. Itâs okay if itâs me alone, but itâs difficult to stop the Grand Duke Evron from getting caught in it.]
Artizea said with a cold face.
However, she quickly erased her cold face and sighed with a somber face.
Freil quietly stepped back without disturbing her any further.
This is not revenge. That was the only thing he could know for sure.\n