Though I pretended otherwise, in that moment I was comforted.
I’m not a good person.
On the contrary, I’m a bad person.
I freely use wrong methods for my own goals.
But even if I’m a bad person, I know that when someone shows me kindness, I must repay it.
I placed both hands on my hips and huffed.
“Noarizen is a bastard!”
Blizen, I’ll repay the comfort you gave me then with three extra zeros added.
Aisa Jurisdiction.
A letter arrived for Noarizen.
The letter bore the mark of the Daymond jurisdiction.
Daymond?
Noarizen looked puzzled as he carefully opened the envelope.
[Blizen’s Gaho is outstanding.
If you use Blizen’s Gaho in the distribution of Baecksoojeong, it would be of great help.
We will take a distribution margin, so assign Blizen here.
Blizen has agreed; with your permission as his guardian, the work will begin.
For now, we plan to keep him and improve the Gaho to help with Baecksoojeong distribution.
I think you will like this proposal, but even if not, granting permission will be beneficial to your reputation.
— Daymond Astra]
It was an extremely rude letter.
Noarizen’s eyes narrowed as he pondered the letter.
They say they’ll take a distribution margin? He seems quite fond of that Blizen fellow.
No wonder.
When Blizen manifested his Gaho, Noarizen was very surprised too.
The Gaho is very special.
There are a few who have the Gaho that can move items under 30 kilograms.
But the Gaho that can move items under 90 kilograms, and even people, appears once a century, if at all.
On top of that, Blizen’s magical power, the energy source of Gaho, is high, and he has supporting offensive Gaho.
Truly a talent that’s like a gold mine.
Also...
He takes after his mother, weak-hearted. Pretending not to care, but inside he’s a mess.
Begging desperately,
“Blizen, my son, without you, I would have truly suffered.”
“......”
“After your mother’s passing, we didn’t even get decent treatment in Astra. And now you’re in the ranking. As your father, I’m really proud of you.”
“......”
“Blizen, if you don’t help me, I have no place to stand...”
“......”
“Just once, just this one last time... could you please help me?”
At those words, Blizen always willingly gave up his arm.
The mother was weak with affection, and the son was so convenient to use.
Noarizen chuckled and folded the letter back into the envelope.
Wait a minute... Blizen is to be assigned to Baecksoojeong distribution? It was very good news for Noarizen.
He succeeded in extracting Gaho from Blizen and making Gaho stones.
Now the problem is Baecksoojeong. Baecksoojeong was so expensive it made one stick out their tongue.
How much funding had it taken to use that expensive Baecksoojeong for experiments?
They barely managed to finish the experiments using all of Aisa jurisdiction’s funds, successfully creating four prototypes.
To make more Gaho stones, we need Baecksoojeong. Luckily, Blizen entered Daymond jurisdiction...
We can siphon some. That guy was useful in many ways.
Noarizen grinned crookedly and picked up a pen.
[We are grateful Blizen’s abilities are of help.
Growth in the Daymond jurisdiction will lead to the revival of Astra.
Above all, we are pleased Blizen will work alongside the respected Daymond brother.
Please guide him to learn and become a proud member of the Astra lineage.
— From Noarizen]
After writing the letter, he ordered the steward to deliver it to Daymond jurisdiction.
Then Noarizen glanced at the letter from Daymond.
Daymond. What an arrogant bastard. He carefully put the letter in the drawer and smiled crookedly.
A few days later.
Noarizen traveled to the capital.
Arriving at the meeting place, he sat with his arms crossed, waiting for the other party.
When on earth will they arrive? Though quite some time had passed, there was no sign of the other’s arrival.
They never keep promises. Just as his anger was about to explode, the awaited person finally appeared.
A muscular man whose clothes fit tightly.
If not for the bowler hat on his head, he wouldn’t even look like a noble.
Noarizen slammed the cup he was holding onto the table.
Then shouted irritably,
“You’re 30 minutes late! Count Talos!”
Count Talos smiled awkwardly and took off his hat.
“There was a problem on the way...”
“If you can teleport just by holding a Gaho stone, why are you telling me that?”
Noarizen yelled, and Count Talos broke into a cold sweat.
“Listen to me, you’ll like this.”
“What is it?”
“Just as I was about to leave, a man contacted me.”
“Contact?”
“Yes. He said he wanted to buy Gaho stones!”
Count Talos spoke excitedly, and Noarizen narrowed his eyes.
“...What?”
“He offered twice the amount we expected.”
“Not many can manage that much money... who is he?”
“He’s a foreign grand noble. He said he’d reveal his identity after the deal and told me to prepare Gaho stones.”
“What? You say the identity isn’t confirmed? What the heck...!”
“He offered two billion up front.”
“What?!”
“If we show him just ten Gaho stones first, he’ll pay the two billion right then.”
Indeed, a sum that would turn Count Talos’ eyes wild.
Because neither he nor Noarizen had any other source of money left.
Noarizen muttered anxiously.
“But how did they know we made Gaho stones...?”
Count Talos shrugged.
“If it wasn’t us, someone must have leaked it.”
“The Emperor?”
“A few months ago was the Geumgang Council (meeting of kings). Maybe they got good info there.”
They offered a deal with Gaho stones to get Count Talos into the central tower.
It was quite possible the talk of the Gaho stones leaked from him.
Certainly... The range of movement was limited, and only a few people could move.
Moreover, they couldn’t enter a powerful barrier like the Royal Palace.
From the Emperor’s viewpoint, it’s not dangerous if foreigners have Gaho stones.
The info itself is valuable but not a great loss to the Emperor.
Still, it’s unsettling. Noarizen bit his nails nervously.
“If this leaks so early... it’s only a matter of time before the Duke of Astra finds out.”
“What good would it do if it reaches the ears of an old man?”
“What do you mean? I stole Aisa jurisdiction’s funds, experimented on Blizen to make Gaho stones. If the Duke hears—!”
“That means you just have to fill that money gap. Your son’s mouth will fix it, as always.”
“......”
“If this goes well, we’ll have the money ready before the year-end audit. Then we’ll leave Astra.”
“......”
“Besides, we still have to make thirty Gaho stones promised to the Emperor.”
“......”
“If I enter the central tower and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° get the noble title, who could touch us then?”
Noarizen was born the son of a poor viscount family.
Due to the declining fortunes, he lived in poverty, but his life improved thanks to the duke’s daughter he met by chance.
But after she died, he was left begging in Astra.
Yes. If I sell these Gaho stones well... He would have enough money and power to live comfortably for life.
“When do we have to be ready?”
“Next week.”
“Next week?! That soon?”
“They’re foreigners and can’t stay long in the empire. But the problem is...”
Count Talos glanced at Noarizen.
“You need Baecksoojeong to make Gaho stones.”
How on earth would they get astronomical amounts of Baecksoojeong?
They were already staggering from the costs of experiments and prototype production.
Noarizen said,
“There is a way to get Baecksoojeong.”
“There is?!”
“My son is helping with Baecksoojeong distribution in Daymond jurisdiction.”
“You mean you can siphon it off!”
“But the security will be extremely tight.”
Count Talos said excitedly,
“We have Gaho stones, so security won’t be a problem!”
“......”
“If your son is helping, they probably didn’t put up barriers to allow movement.”
Noarizen leaned deep into his chair with arms crossed.
“But how do we find someone to break in? Mercenaries won’t easily take a job stealing from Daymond jurisdiction.”
“What are you saying? If you give thugs Gaho stones, do you know what’ll happen?”
“......”
“They’d run away immediately. We’ll go ourselves and quickly snatch them.”
Noarizen snorted.
Count Talos was raised as a noble son of a count family.
Unlike me, the third son of a poor viscount family, who suffered from early hardships.
He didn’t know what true danger was.
That simplicity was endearing.
But you can’t gain anything without taking risks. Embezzling Astra’s funds and experimenting on his son to get the precious Gaho stones.
If they take one more step...
Then things will be very different from when I was a pawn of the Astra bastards. Noarizen’s eyes flashed.
“Alright. I’ll schedule and let you know.”
“Always so bold!”
Count Talos laughed heartily.
A few days later, Aisa jurisdiction castle.
Noarizen summoned his son Blizen.
A son who usually listens to his parents without much trouble obeyed this call as well.
Facing Blizen, Noarizen lowered his eyebrows.
“Why do you look so haggard? Are they starving you and working you hard in Daymond jurisdiction?”
“...No.”
𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 Blizen answered flatly.
Noarizen grabbed his son’s hand.
“You never used to be like this. I’d die if anything happened to you.”
“......”
“Think of your body as my life and take good care of it, alright?”
Noarizen spoke kindly and poured tea for Blizen.
Then patted his shoulder with one hand.
Blizen knew well what his father wanted at moments like this.
The kinder he is, the more he wants. Today’s kindness was unusually excessive, so he expected a huge demand.
Sure enough, Noarizen looked at Blizen with subtle eyes.
Then cautiously but warmly said,
“Do you know where the Baecksoojeong is stored?”
Blizen briefly frowned.
“I don’t know.”
Noarizen was an expert at reading his son’s expression.
He knows. Anyway, he was a terrible son to the one who raised him.
Though he was good at hiding his expressions from others, he occasionally faltered before his father.
Noarizen put down his teacup.
“Can’t you at least find out the coordinates?”
“I said I don’t know.”
Noarizen grabbed his son’s hand tightly.
His voice trembling,
“I don’t want to raise you like this anymore.”
“......”
“Other Astra relatives have parents supporting and pushing them, but I have nothing to do for my outstanding son.”
“......”
Noarizen squeezed Blizen’s hand harder.
“You know we succeeded in making Gaho stones. If we sell them, it’ll be big money.”
“Give up.”
“Blizen.”
“I’ve hidden that my father embezzled jurisdiction funds, but I can’t hide it until the year-end audit.”
“So!”
“......”
“That’s why we need to make Gaho stones with Baecksoojeong to fill that gap.”
“Father.”
“If we make money with Baecksoojeong and put things back to normal, that’s all. Can you help?”
“......”
Blizen lowered his eyes and fell silent.
At Daymond jurisdiction—
I recalled Erilot stomping angrily—
“Noarizen is a bastard!”
There, they took great care of him.
Those people acted like they didn’t care but kindness seeped through unconsciously.
Probably because it’s the behavior he showed to his beloved youngest daughter. But his father showed no unconscious kindness anywhere.
Noarizen pleaded earnestly to Blizen.
“A man must have strength. Only then can he keep what’s around him.”
“Father.”
“Yes!”
“Someone said if you get used to small things, you’ll cross the line someday.”
“What?”
“When you realize you’ve gone too far, it’s hard to turn back.”
“What... Blizen, what are you saying?”
Blizen closed his eyes tightly.
Noarizen was taken aback.
His son had never said such things before.
Could it be he’s starting to rebel now? Just then, Blizen sighed.
“I’ll check and send the coordinates.”
“G-good! That’s smart!”
Noarizen patted his son’s shoulder.
.
.
A few days after Blizen left.
Finally, a note arrived for Blizen.
Though I feared he might resist, my son was just his mother’s child.
He was utterly spineless.
Noarizen clenched the note tightly, smiling.
This is the key to my rise. He immediately contacted Count Talos.
The operation was set for two days later at 1 a.m., when Blizen said no one would be around.
Now all that’s left is to live happily and thrive. I’ll watch those Astra bastards scramble under my feet.
All the things I couldn’t do while pretending to be a noble’s pure love boy.
Clothes covered in jewels.
Expensive gems.
A luxurious mansion with the latest trendy interiors, not some old jurisdiction castle.
I’ll enjoy it all. The day of the operation.
Noarizen and Count Talos decided to move separately.
Because one Gaho stone can carry up to 90 kilograms — not enough for two adults at once.
At the appointed time, they poured magical power into the Gaho stone.
Opening his eyes tightly, Noarizen saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.
What are you doing, arriving before me and preparing? Noarizen said,
“Turn on the lantern. You have to see to do anything.”
He squinted and shifted his gaze.
But there was no response.
“Hey.”
No sound came.
What? Haven’t they moved yet? Still slow as ever.
Noarizen frowned and murmured low.
He searched his pockets and found a lighter for his pipe.
Click, click—pressing the button a few times, a small flame appeared.
The view wasn’t clear, but he could see some things.
“Wow...”
A huge pile of Baecksoojeong lay on the shelf.
Noarizen happily took out the pouch he brought.
Now I’m rich. Rich! Humming a tune, he grabbed Baecksoojeong recklessly.
Then—
“Ugh!”
A strange sound came from somewhere.