Chapter 100: Viscount Girard

Lucius, along with Lauren and Acting Lord Alfred, walked along the main street of the capital.

The crowd was so dense that it seemed like there might have been an event happening.

Born into this world for fourteen years now, Lucius followed his fading memories of his past life, recalling how to navigate crowded streets.

– It’s like Tokyo.

“Have you been to the capital before, Lucius-sama? It usually takes some time for first-time visitors to get used to the crowds.” 

Acting Lord Alfred, said walking alongside.

“I’ve been to the capital of the eastern province.” 

Lucius replied with a smile, trying to deflect. Even someone who grew up in the capital of the eastern province would likely be surprised by the crowds in the capital.

“As expected of Lucius-sama. To know one is to know ten.” 

Alfred praised. It might sound exaggerated to just be walking, but it was indeed a fact that people from elsewhere were often amazed. In this country, most people lived in villages or towns, and there weren’t many cities managed by the four major noble families or by counts.

The shops lining the street all had glass windows, and many seemed to sell luxury items like clothes, perfumes, and tea. Affluent-looking people were browsing through them.

– It’s different from the east.

The capital of the eastern province he visited before had a lot of people too, but it had a more solemn atmosphere.

The capital felt lively, some might say bustling, while others might call it restless.

While observing the city in this manner, they entered a dimly lit area.

It was the shadow of the Tower.

The Tower’s tip was beyond the clouds, completely out of sight. It was not only overwhelming in height but also in width, seeming to take hours to walk around.

Though it looked like stone at first glance, it had a slight metallic hue, resembling both stone and metal. According to books he had read, it was called an indestructible material. Apparently, attempts had been made to destroy it with Class 1 magic, but it hadn’t suffered a single scratch.

However, if it were easily breakable, the giant tower would collapse, so it was better to be sturdy.

The three of them gazed at the Tower and approached the massive gate in front of them.

– The door is huge too.

Though it had been in their line of sight since earlier, it was tall and wide enough for a large sailing ship to pass through. While it was called a gate, the upper half was open, and only the lower part was walled off. Probably, the original entrance to the Tower was too large and impractical, so they made a gate for people at the bottom.

After Alfred exchanged a few words with the gate guards, he returned to Lucius and the others.

“Please, enter.”

It seemed that Alfred had informed them beforehand, as they weren’t even asked for identification by the gate guards.

– If only he didn’t have that misconception…

Passing through the gate with a sense of regret, they found themselves in what looked like a typical courtyard surrounded by stone walls.

However, the view above the walls changed drastically.

“Aaah…”

Unintentionally, Lucius let out a gasp.

Inside the Tower was an old city.

But it wasn’t just any city.

Buildings were not on the ground but lined up on the walls.

It looked as if a city was growing out of the walls.

Stairs were forcibly woven around the buildings that were haphazardly lined up, seemingly connecting them without any coherence.

The buildings themselves were intricately intertwined, forming layers.

And though it was supposed to be indoors without sunlight, there was a strong light pouring down from above.

Even the ceiling was barely visible from the gaps between the buildings.

When Lucius looked up with his hand raised in a gesture of reverence…

– Red light.

A red light passed through the gaps between nearby buildings.

“A red fairy?”

Usually, fairies emitted a bluish-white light.

Fairies were Matilda’s formula, and Lucius had seen them many times since he was a child.

He had never heard of red fairies before.

“Did you see something?”

Lauren asked, looking puzzled.

“Oh, no. Maybe I just mistook something.”

Puzzled by the two’s reactions, Alfred urged them forward.

“…Lucius-sama, we’re heading to the noble who will mediate the contract with the gunman from now on. There’s one thing you need to keep in mind.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t call the gunman a monster. It’s taboo for the nobles in the west to use that term.”

Alfred whispered quietly, mindful of their surroundings.

While it was a fact that gunmen that harm people were called monsters, there seemed to be a particular attachment to the name.

“Understood.”

They passed through the courtyard covered with stone walls and arrived at a large building ahead.

Despite being inside the Tower, it looked like a palace.

Sitting at the round table in the room was a middle-aged man with a rugged face.

Alfred stepped forward quickly.

“Viscount Girard, thank you very much for granting us an audience today. Our lord—”

The person who seemed to be a noble managing the tower and mediating the contract with the gunman monster stopped Alfred with a gesture.

He stared straight at Lucius.

“So, you’re Lucius. Does Baron Norris in the North have his retainers greet those above him first?”

—Those above him?

Indeed, the title of viscount was higher than that of baron. But it wasn’t common to address other nobles who ruled other territories so informally.

Although he felt a bit uneasy about it, he didn’t intend to cause a scene.

“I apologize. I am Lucius Norris Dragon. I am deeply grateful for your assistance in obtaining the gunman monster.”

Lauren, who followed behind, also bowed her head along with Lucius.

“Hmph, well, it can’t be helped. It’s expected from a lower-class baron from the countryside in the North. But remember, Lucius, that won’t fly here in the capital.”

“Thank you for your advice.”

Lucius suppressed his emotions and bowed his head again.

Acting Lord Alfred also bowed his head in accordance with Lucius, but his eyes were filled with anger.

“To insult Lucius-sama… guilty execution… conspiracy… perhaps beheading or crucifixion… or maybe burning at the stake…”

He muttered threateningly in a voice too low for Lucius to hear, listing off gruesome punishments.

—Please, just don’t do anything.

He couldn’t predict when or where memory manipulation would occur. If left alone, they might actually do it.

And then he would probably say with a smile, “We have executed as ordered by Lucius-sama.”

—Impossible. Please spare me.

He didn’t mind risking his life in battle, but he didn’t want to bear the burden of someone else’s life over a petty dispute.

As he felt a sense of dread, suddenly, the sound of clapping echoed in the room.

“As expected of Viscount Girard. To personally educate the completely mistaken lowest-ranked noble.”

The one clapping was a boy about the same age as Lucius. Upon closer inspection, there were three other people in the room.

The boy who clapped stepped forward.

Though Lucius thought he might be a relative of Viscount Girard, their hair color and facial features were different.

—He looks familiar.

He felt a resemblance to the knight who had been abducted by imperial soldiers and died in the dungeon.

There was no mistaking it.

Lucius himself had respectfully retrieved and mourned the essence of the man after defeating the Imperial General.

He tried to return the ashes to his hometown, but they were refused by his family because he was no longer considered a member, so the knight had a natural burial on Mount Coloumb.

The boy in front of him resembled Joseph Norris Gaeden.

“Nice to meet you. I am the son of Viscount Garden. No, it’s the second time since I met you when I was three years old.”

The boy he had met at the age of three during the appraisal ceremony.

He was a duet with a rider magic core and a gunner magic core.

The boy’s mouth moved slightly, unable to hide his surprise at being caught off guard.

“I’m Sextus Norris Gaeden. I never expected to meet you in the West.”

The Goeten Viscount, who rules the neighboring Kiria territory of Silverheart, seems to have had a longstanding feud with the Lucius family.

Lucius doesn’t seem to care much, but according to his father Robert, the Gaeden Viscount’s family always finds reasons to pick fights.

“Why are you here?”

“No secrets. I, as the successor, also came to acquire the art of artillery.”

His disdainful gaze mirrored his father’s.

I had heard that Sir Joseph was a half-brother, and now I understood why.

“Everyone too?”

The two men and women behind the duet are nearly twenty years old.

I feel like it’s too late, as children usually get the formula around 10 years old.

“We are their tutors. We are teaching Sextus about the nobility of the West.”

—I see.

It was common for noble bastards to become tutors for other nobles’ children.

It was a method often used not only to earn money but also to strengthen ties between families outside of marriage.

In other words, the Gaeden family was ingratiating themselves to the powerful West for social climbing.

“Then, I’ll excuse myself first. Unlike Lucius, I’ve already climbed this tower several times.”

Leaving behind words that seemed to revel in superiority for some reason, Sextus and his two tutors left the room.

As Lucius watched their backs, Alfred muttered quietly.

“—Guilty.”

—Maybe I should send him back to Lord Strauss already.

It was a dry smile on Lucius’s face.

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