“What, what? What happened?”
After listening to the story, Cain had apparently checked that the promised time had passed and tried to use a shortcut that would get him back to the family estate fastest, rather than going through the cave.
But before crossing the ridge using the shortcut, he had spotted Ed, Fon, and Bolio heading down the path he had taken, so he turned around and came to find them.
Cain spoke with cold eyes.
“What would have happened if I hadn’t seen you? If you had encountered the remaining snow bears, your lives would have been in danger instead.”
In truth, once the Ice Crystal Flower had disappeared, the snow bears would have regained their senses and returned to their original habitat deep in the snowy mountains.
As a warning, Cain sternly scolded them.
“Sorry…”
“W-we just wanted to save you…”
For some reason, Ed and Fon had tears forming in their eyes.
“You took so long that we thought you were dead or in danger, so we went looking for you! You should have come back earlier!”
Bolio was actually angry instead.
However, even while angry, his voice was somewhat softened.
“But really, what happened? Did you catch the snow bear?”
Ed, seemingly deeply relieved that Cain was alive, quickly wiped his eyes and asked with sparkling eyes.
“I did catch the snow bear as well.”
“Th-the snow bear too?”
At his words that seemed to suggest there was more, Fon tilted his head.
Cain pulled out the ice troll’s head from his bag.
“Aaaahhh!”
“That’s terrifying!”
“S-scary!”
When the menacing ice troll’s head emerged from the bag where they had expected to see bear paws, all three screamed.
“Wh-what is that?”
“It’s an ice troll’s head. Contrary to expectations, the snow bears weren’t acting in groups, which meant there was a stronger monster. This was it. Now that I’ve caught this guy, the snow rabbits will slowly return to their original territory.”
Bolio, who had been standing with his mouth agape in shock, spoke as if he couldn’t believe it.
“No way, ice trolls are monsters that require at least a 4th Circle mage to catch… Even you, Cain, with just a 2nd Circle, it would be impossible…”
As he was saying this, Bolio suddenly seemed to remember something.
“Don’t tell me… did you reach the 3rd Circle?”
At those words, Cain nodded.
“That’s right. I gained some enlightenment.”
Since he was originally at the proficient stage of the 2nd Circle, it wouldn’t be strange for him to reach the 3rd Circle after gaining enlightenment.
‘Unlike what I’m doing—building up lower circles to perfection before advancing—it’s not uncommon for people to gain enlightenment even on the battlefield and immediately advance to a higher circle.’
Before leaving the cave.
Due to extreme mana exhaustion and the overload on his mana circuits from receiving the Ice Crystal Flower’s mana, Cain had collapsed into sleep on the spot. Upon waking, he immediately used the pure mana stored in his dantian to achieve the 3rd Circle of the flame system.
‘To make it believable that I caught an ice troll, I needed to at least achieve the 3rd Circle of flame magic.’
This was another reason why Cain had been late leaving the cave.
“Wow, crazy… Already 3rd Circle. Isn’t that building circles at a historically fast pace?”
“R-right.”
“Come to think of it, didn’t it take Hayden about 3 years to go from 1st to 3rd Circle? And that was after receiving all those expensive elixirs from his father. But when Hayden was 1st Circle, you didn’t even have a circle, Cain.”
Cain decided not to mention that he had only recently achieved the 2nd Circle.
Right now, most people including Bolio, Ed, and Fon believed that during the three years Cain had been holed up in his room, he had actually been ‘secretly training hard and emerged after achieving the 2nd Circle.’
“Wow… Even if Cain started forming circles when he began staying in his room, achieving 3rd Circle without elixirs is really incredible.”
“I-I’m honestly so amazed that he caught an ice troll that the 3rd Circle doesn’t even seem surprising anymore…”
“See, look. Wasn’t I right? Someone like Cain could definitely catch one!”
“You were acting tough just a while ago, but now you’re saying you knew all along.”
“Wh-when did I!”
Before long, Ed and Fon were completely excited, and Bolio, though pretending otherwise, looked happy too.
Now they just had to return with the ice troll’s head, and the support funds the family could receive would increase dramatically.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that I couldn’t bring back the Ice Crystal Flower…’
Still, he had been able to build up his ice-based circles perfectly and quickly to the 5th Circle, and from now on he could focus on flame circles and build them even faster, so from Cain’s personal perspective, it was still a gain.
‘It was dangerous though.’
Advancing in magical mastery was a path he had walked before, so he could walk it again anytime, but Cain had only one life.
‘It was too big a gamble.’
Even Cain couldn’t have faced a group of ice trolls in that state, so it had been an unavoidable choice.
‘At least the results turned out well.’
Cain shook his head.
In any case, Cain and the children began safely retracing their path back.
“Phew. Can’t we go a little slower, Cain?”
“Are you tired already?”
“A little…?”
At those words, Cain spoke to Ed and Fon as if he had just remembered something.
“Ed, you asked me before to teach you some training methods, right?”
“Oh! Are you going to teach us?”
“Yeah. Come to the east wing courtyard early tomorrow morning.”
“C-Cain. Can I come too?”
“Hey! Me too!”
“Come all three of you. That would be good.”
As Cain readily agreed, the three of them got excited and quickened their pace.
“Yahoo!”
“Nice!”
Not knowing what kind of training awaited them.
When Cain returned with the ice troll’s head, the family was practically turned upside down.
“D-did you really catch the ice troll yourself?”
“You achieved the 3rd Circle…?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Blake Sears fired off questions without taking a breath, and Cain answered calmly.
“Yes, Family Head. I’m fine, and I achieved the 3rd Circle before catching the ice troll.”
“Well done! Really well done. Honestly, I still can’t believe it, but you really did well, Cain!”
And.
“Oh my… Edward! Fon! Y-you’ve returned safely! Really… you don’t know how worried I was about you two!”
Wayne Sears, Ed and Fon’s father, came running and embraced both boys in his arms, shedding tears.
“Oh dear, honey. The children surely handled themselves well. Really, boys. Do you know how little your father ate while you were on the snowy mountain? His cheeks are just sunken…”
In Bolio’s case, since he had no family to congratulate him, he just stood there scratching his head awkwardly. Seeing this, Blake Sears approached Bolio and patted his shoulder.
“You worked hard, Bolio. You courageously stepped forward to accompany Cain at the end there. The results were good too, and I’ll mention your contribution to Rowen. There will be bonus points on your evaluation.”
“Th-thank you, Family Head!”
Bolio, finally receiving the praise from the family head he had so desperately wanted, brightened up completely and bowed deeply in gratitude.
“What? The brat returned?”
Meanwhile, when Richter Bederman heard that Cain and the children had returned, his eyes widened as he came out to the north gate with his retainers.
The moment he saw Cain’s unharmed appearance—when he had expected the boy’s head to be crushed by an ice troll’s club—Richter Bederman’s face contorted.
Hayden too, having expected Cain to die, stood behind the family head with a disgusted expression.
“That bastard…”
While everyone was in a festive mood, when Richter Bederman, Hayden, Ray, and their retainers appeared, the atmosphere cooled somewhat.
“Ahem.”
As Richter appeared on his own, Blake Sears cleared his throat as if this was perfect timing.
“Family Head Bederman.”
Blake Sears stood before Richter Bederman.
“Yes. Please speak.”
Richter Bederman’s voice was slightly trembling.
“As you requested, Cain has identified the cause of the snow rabbits leaving their territory and brought back evidence.”
He had brought not only the ice troll’s head but also sufficient snow rabbit ears to prove he had reduced their numbers.
“The conditions you promised will be honored as agreed, correct?”
Seeing Blake Sears’s expression with its faint smile, Richter Bederman’s eyebrows twitched.
He pressed his lips together slightly. Then, as if he had calmed his mind, he opened his mouth.
“Of course the promise must be kept. As the head of the Bederman family, one of the four great magical houses, how could I not keep my word spoken before all the members of both families?”
He continued, looking at Cain.
“As promised, Cain’s assault on Hayden three years ago will be considered to have never happened.”
Richter ended his words there.
Though sounds of joy flowed from among the family members, Blake Sears’s eyebrows rose slightly. He had expected detailed mention of additional measures, but was puzzled by the abrupt conclusion.
“Then naturally the support funds that were cut at the time will be restored, correct?”
Fortunately, Richter nodded.
“Of course. Ramon, what measures did I take after the Hayden incident back then?”
“You implemented a measure cutting 30% of the existing support funds.”
Even hearing it again, it was an enormous cut.
“Good. Then from today, that measure will be restored. The Bederman family will implement a new measure increasing support funds to the Sears family by 30%.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Ramon immediately pulled out documents and adjusted the numbers with his pen.
Richter showed Blake Sears a faint smile.
“Since Cain caught the snow rabbits, we’ll be able to return without interference from monsters. Family Head, it’s been a pleasant stay for several days. Well then…”
“Wait.”
Blake called out to Richter as he was turning to leave.
“What is it?”
“There’s a discrepancy in the measures you mentioned.”
“What?”
Blake Sears glared at Richter Bederman with sharp eyes.
“How did restoring the 30% cut from the original support funds become increasing the current support funds by 30%?”
It was a valid point.
Assuming the original support was 100, when 30% was cut, the received support became 70. But when 30% was increased again from 70, the receivable support would only be 91.
If it had been just losing about 10%, Blake might have let it slide, but…
‘The support funds that have been cut since then are no small amount either.’
The support funds that had been cut and cut again since the initial 30% reduction were already so low that restoring 30% from there would be of little use.
But Richter Bederman, having regained his composure, called his butler as if he had been waiting for this.
“Ramon.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“When I made the promise before Cain left, what exactly did I say?”
“You clearly said you would restore ‘the support fund reduction measure taken at that time.'”
“And that measure was a 30% support fund reduction.”
“Correct.”
“Then the opposite restoration would be a 30% increase, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Then Blake Sears’s voice rose for the first time.
“That’s just word play!”
“Now, now. Family Head. Please lower your voice.”
Blake Sears gritted his teeth. He hadn’t expected them to be this petty.
Richter looked at Cain again and spoke.
“When you think about it, we have many doubts too. Even if Cain gained enlightenment, he would only be at the beginning of the 3rd Circle, yet he caught an ice troll by himself…? It’s hard to accept common sense-wise.”
“You won’t believe it even though he brought back the head?”
“The head could have been cut from an ice troll carcass that died from their own fighting, couldn’t it?”
Though he said it ‘could have been,’ his tone carried certainty. In other words, he was saying: we overlooked the fact that you used underhanded methods, so you should accept it when we interpret conditions favorably too.
“Of course that’s not the case, but even if it had been cut from a carcass, identifying the cause of this situation was the original condition, so there would be no problem, would there?”
“According to what you’re saying, the ice troll might not have been the real cause.”
Blake Sears clenched his fists. Richter’s condition had been to identify the ‘exact cause’ of the snow rabbits leaving their territory.
‘Causes are always complex.’
Though it was utterly childish, this fight had been advantageous to the other side from the moment they decided to nitpick over words.
“I didn’t want to bring this up…”
Having no choice, Blake Sears gestured to a waiting servant. The servant pulled out a piece of wood from the bag he was carrying.
“We investigated around the path where you said you encountered snow rabbits on your way here.”
“…!”
At those words, Richter was slightly shaken.
“Since there were traces of footprints that weren’t from snow rabbits, we traced them back and found fragments of an ice troll’s club.”
Richter glared at Ray beside him. On the day Cain departed for the snowy mountain, he had secretly instructed Ray to incinerate the ice troll’s corpse without a trace to eliminate evidence.
“Ah, but these fragments weren’t found at that exact scene, so there’s no need to blame anyone.”
“…”
“If you knew about the ice troll’s existence, you could have guessed that the snow rabbits left their territory to flee from them… Yet when you sent Cain, you made no mention of this.”
He was saying that they had deliberately sent him into danger despite knowing.
Richter closed his mouth. Since he had been caught trying to eliminate evidence, it would be difficult to deny everything from start to finish.
‘So they’re going to drag this into a mud fight.’
Given the situation, it seemed better to admit some parts and renegotiate the terms.
Just as Richter was taking a breath to respond.
“How about we do this, Family Head?”
The one who spoke was Hayden, who had been glaring at Cain from behind.
