TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/week mon-fri
Illustrations: none
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"Co, eat to your heart's content!"
Duke Roxlan didn't ask Ian anything at all.
He simply offered him the best seat and piled up mountains of food.
"..."
Ian slowly sampled the food the Duke had provided.
The taste itself wasn't particularly remarkable. Just typical dieval fare found in any noble's residence—oily and rich in flavor.
Ian checked for any traces of poison or drugs, but couldn't find anything suspicious.
Genuinely, the Duke simply wanted to feed Ian well.
"Thank you for your invitation, Your Grace."
"Priests of Heaven's Faith are always welco."
The Duke extended equally warm greetings to the priest and Takarion.
Except for one person.
Maria.
"..."
The Duke examined Maria with an icy gaze that rivaled a vampire's, then pretended to lose interest and turned away, disappearing sowhere.
Ian felt the stares of nobles pouring over them.
Most nobles remaining in Duke Roxlan's banquet hall were, naturally, the Duke's people.
The Duke had invited Ian's group to a place where many people would see them.
'...He wants rumors to spread.'
This was a trap set by Duke Roxlan.
The Duke had only heard that Ian was traveling with a Silverwind survivor, but hadn't yet confird whether it was true.
The news could be real or fake.
But regardless of its authenticity, rumors about Ian and Maria would begin spreading the mont they appeared here.
The Duke would keep truly important information to himself while letting vague rumors circulate among others.
With his information advantage, the Duke could easily "determine" the truth behind the rumors.
This was likely Duke Roxlan's thod of handling information and gossip.
'They said he was cunning.'
Playing gas right from the start.
No wonder the Emperor disliked eting Duke Roxlan.
"Maria. Don't mind the others. Let's just focus on eating."
"Yes."
"Eat what you like, but don't overindulge."
Ian quickly surveyed the banquet hall as he thought.
Outside, they talk of war, yet here the nobles feast extravagantly?
That impression wasn't entirely wrong.
The Duke's purpose in hosting this banquet was likely to strengthen the bonds within his faction.
Regardless of what happened outside, hosting a large banquet like this was an excellent way to demonstrate their stability.
While also raising the loyalty of nobles in his faction.
"I haven't seen your face before! Who are you and where are you from?"
A noble approached Ian, swirling a glass of wine.
Nothing unusual for a banquet setting.
Ian couldn't tell whether this person approached out of simple curiosity or on the Duke's secret orders.
", sir?"
"Yes! You! Is that your lover beside you? Or family?"
"..."
He must have been an influential noble, as all eyes imdiately turned toward them.
Everyone was now looking at Ian.
If Ian had been a naive countryside wizard with no immunity to noble society, he might have felt intimidated in such a setting.
But Ian was an experienced wizard.
Being the center of attention was so familiar to him that it had almost beco tedious.
"She's my apprentice."
"Apprentice?"
"I'm a wandering wizard, and she is my disciple."
"Ohhh...!"
The nobles' eyes lit up imdiately upon hearing the word "wizard."
Wow! A wizard!
The larger the battlefield, the more significant a wizard's presence becos.
A skilled wizard could completely alter the flow of battle.
With combat against Duke Fargar looming, every wizard was a welco addition.
"As expected of Duke Roxlan...!"
"However he managed it, he's brought a wizard to our side!"
Ian didn't spoil the mood by saying, "I'm not actually on your side."
Naturally, Ian had enough social awareness to avoid that.
"Duke Roxlan is indeed an admirable lord."
This banquet hall was crawling with pro-Roxlan nobles.
Without hesitation, Ian chose the most appropriate response.
Naly... praising the Duke!
"It's only natural for people to follow soone so admirable."
"Hahaha! This fellow has quite a silver tongue!"
When Ian made pro-Roxlan comnts, the nobles were predictably pleased.
Duke Roxlan? Great!
A wizard? Great!
A wizard who admires Duke Roxlan? Super-great!
"Co here and share a drink with !"
"Not so fast! Wizard, have a drink with first!"
With practiced skill, Ian shared drinks with the nobles and engaged in trivial conversations.
Working as a wizard had improved his conversational abilities.
His talent for discerning others' intentions and understanding them without misinterpretation had reached an exceptional level.
A wizard communicates with all things.
Humans were no exception.
"Where on earth did you learn to speak like that?"
"I learned everything from Lady Eredith."
"Eredith? Eredith Manskal?"
"The fire wizard!"
Captivated by Ian's eloquence, the nobles lost track of ti as they chatted.
Soone who communicates well receives good treatnt wherever they go.
From a distance, the priest and Takarion watched Ian mingling with people, quietly impressed.
"He's truly sociable, isn't he?"
"That's wizards for you."
Ian was an INFP.
According to the latest pseudo-science theory of MBTI, Ian's introverted personality ant he shouldn't be capable of proper conversation with others.
Yet here he was, chatting freely with nobles.
Pseudo-science is pseudo-science because it doesn't fit reality.
He might suffer the side effect of being drained later, but when he put his mind to it, Ian's eloquence could captivate multiple people.
This was precisely why one shouldn't carelessly listen to a wizard's words.
As Ian conversed with the nobles, he observed the Duke from the corner of his eye.
...The Duke was clearly examining Ian as well.
'Cunning old man.'
Ian thought while maintaining his smile.
The banquet continued day and night.
Drunken people appeared everywhere regardless of ti or place, keeping the castle atmosphere elevated.
Anyone watching might think it was a New Year's party.
Whether this was a morale-boosting banquet or a last supper remained to be seen...
But with everyone engaged in noisy conversations, paradoxically, private spaces erged.
Ian stealthily made his way to the room the Duke had assigned him.
Duke Roxlan was already waiting for him there.
"Welco."
"Thank you kindly, Your Grace."
Ian found himself responding sarcastically without aning to.
But it couldn't be helped.
He had spent the entire day on edge, dealing with drunken nobles.
Carefully weighing how much information to reveal to whom.
anwhile, Duke Roxlan?
Using age as an excuse, he'd been relaxing comfortably in his room.
Ian could tell.
The reason the Duke had confined Ian to the banquet and left him there all day—
It was a shallow tactic to ntally exhaust Ian and gain the upper hand in negotiations.
Not a strategy befitting soone of ducal rank.
But Duke Roxlan had no qualms about employing underhanded thods.
The Emperor's words were absolutely right.
Though he smiled on the surface, Duke Roxlan was truly a despicable noble.
"Forgive . Given the circumstances, we needed a banquet to boost morale."
"I seem to have intruded at an inconvenient ti."
"Far more inconsiderate is soone acting on their own without sending a single ssage first."
Duke Roxlan smiled, revealing his canine teeth.
"Don't you think?"
"..."
Ian had no desire to engage in verbal sparring with the Duke.
Honestly, he felt like he might collapse from exhaustion.
The Duke's intention had succeeded, one could say.
"Well... I've heard the gist of the story."
The Duke looked back and forth between Ian and Maria.
After a brief silence, the Duke spoke.
"I hear you're marrying that girl?"
"...Yes."
Duke Roxlan snickered.
It was clearly a sneer.
"Did you court her knowing her birth, or were you simply captivated by that pretty face?"
"That's a question not worth answering."
Duke Roxlan paused briefly, glaring at Ian for just a mont.
Few nobles could talk back to the Duke's words.
Even those in the Duke's circle probably couldn't properly voice a single criticism to him.
Given the Duke's personality, he was unlikely to tolerate unpleasant counsel willingly.
But Ian wasn't soone who needed to worry about such things.
The Duke had just been called "impertinent" for the first ti in ages.
But Duke Roxlan quickly composed his expression.
His change in deanor was as swift and natural as changing masks.
"How we t isn't important."
"Haha. Yes... that's right..."
Duke Roxlan tapped his long fingernails together as he spoke.
"What matters is that the girl is the rightful heir to the Silverwind title. Isn't that right?"
"Of course."
"Haha... hahaha...!"
"?"
When the Duke suddenly started laughing, Ian grew concerned about his health.
He already looked emaciated. Was sothing wrong with him?
After laughing for quite so ti, the Duke said:
"You truly know nothing."
"..."
"Well, it's your ignorance that allowed you to bring that girl before ."
Ian frowned.
Sothing wasn't right.
Duke Roxlan knew sothing that Ian didn't.
"I'll teach you sothing special."
The Duke spoke in an eerie voice.
"That girl is not the rightful heir to Silverwind."
...Shit.
What the hell?
"If you're asking whether she's a descendant of Silverwind, then yes. She is Silverwind. I can tell. But she is not the 'rightful' heir."
Ian was slightly dumbfounded.
The Duke wasn't so kind of Silverwind detector. How could he arbitrarily decide who was legitimate and who wasn't?
Still, it was a story worth continuing to hear.
"If she's not the rightful heir..."
"It's simple logic."
Ian inwardly sighed.
Being a dieval person himself, Ian understood what the Duke ant.
Naturally, the rightful heir to a title would be the noble's child.
...But in dieval tis, there existed children who weren't legally recognized.
Commonly known as [bastards].
"That girl is Silverwind's bastard."
Duke Roxlan said with a snicker.
"A bastard-survivor!"
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