It didn’t take long for the report to reach the family head from the financial administrator, and for final approval to come down.
“What! They’re doubling the commission fee? We clearly agreed that Cain hitting Hayden would be treated as if it never happened!”
“I never trusted those bastards from the beginning. You know this too, don’t you, Family Head?”
“Sigh… Even so, I never thought they’d come at us so petty and immediately like this.”
“Since we’ve been paying without complaint all this time, they seem determined to openly fleece us now. If we endure this any longer, they’ll eventually strip us down to our scalps.”
“We can’t let that happen. Alright. Then we’ll send it through the marshlands.”
“Good.”
Todd nodded with a deliberately resolute expression.
“For additional guards, I’ll send the four I just mentioned – Cain, Edward, Fon, and Bolio. After all, they’re the ones who proposed this and said they wanted to go.”
“Right. You said it was Cain who made the proposal?”
“Yes. He explained everything so systematically that he convinced me in one go.”
“Oh ho. That’s surprising.”
Blake raised his eyebrows, knowing well how particular Todd could be.
“I didn’t know Cain had knowledge about commerce too.”
“Ah, but apparently the information and evidence he used in his explanation were actually provided by Fon.”
“Fon?”
“Yes. He’s been studying it on his own out of interest. That’s why I’m bringing this up – how about having Fon work in the financial administration? If you and Elder Wayne give permission, I’ll have him join after an interview, depending on his own wishes.”
“Joining the financial administration…”
Blake observed Todd’s expression.
Though he was speaking quite respectably, his eyes were already gleaming like a predator who had spotted prey.
‘He must be quite interested. For Todd to come forward this actively…’
Blake nodded.
“Alright. I’ll speak to Wayne about it separately.”
“Thank you.”
The corner of Todd’s mouth curved up slightly.
“Cain probably brought Fon along hoping I would do exactly this. He was quite obvious about it.”
In fact, if Cain had wanted to, he could have extracted various information from Fon and then come alone to make the same proposal.
‘From what I heard him say, he clearly has a solid basic understanding of commerce himself.’
Simply acquiring information and then perfectly presenting it without a single stumble before the financial administrator would be nearly impossible.
‘Yet he deliberately brought Fon directly to show him to me, and as soon as I asked where he learned it, he pointed to Fon as if he’d been waiting for that question.’
To Todd’s eyes, this looked like saying, “Here’s a talented person. Do you see?”
“Heh heh. That might be so. Especially considering he was the first to propose going on additional guard duty with the kids he was with.”
Having directly witnessed Cain overwhelming Hayden and the near-perfect magic Cain had cast, Blake actually thought Cain alone would be sufficient for this additional guard duty.
Since there were already escort mercenaries attached to the merchant caravan itself, literally ‘additional guard’ duty would be sufficient with just Cain alone.
Even if they wanted more people to account for unexpected variables, it would be better in many ways to recruit other disciples from the third floor rather than second circle disciples.
Cain wouldn’t be unaware of this either.
“Yes. He’s probably taking Fon along to give him field experience.”
Both to give guard experience to the members he’d grown close with after going to the snowy mountains together, and to let Fon experience the field of commerce.
It was likely he’d decided to accompany Ed, Fon, and Bolio.
‘Ed and Fon are one thing, but to look after Bolio like this too…’
Though they were supposed to be equal under the rules, Blake knew it was realistically difficult for direct disciples and initiate disciples to mix completely.
It was especially uncommon for direct disciples to step forward first to look after initiate disciples.
Moreover, there had even been friction with Bolio on his first day of admission.
Yet he was embracing Bolio despite this.
‘Indeed, he takes after his father with such a broad heart.’
When a pleased smile appeared on Blake’s lips, Todd asked.
“Family Head? What are you thinking about? Your expression suddenly became a bit…”
“Ahem. It’s nothing. Anyway, let’s let Cain do as he intends. If Cain stepped forward so confidently, we probably don’t need to worry too much.”
In fact, if judged purely by danger level and relative difficulty, this guard mission was quite tame among the various exploits Cain had been involved in since the snow leopard incident.
“We just need to pass through the marshlands safely. What big trouble could there be?”
“It would have been perfect if you hadn’t just said that.”
The interview between Fon and Todd proceeded swiftly.
After the interview ended, Fon ran to Cain, who was doing strength training, with a bright expression.
“C-Cain! I talked with the financial administrator!”
“So, did you get to join?”
“Yes! He said if I want to, he’ll definitely let me in!”
“That’s good.”
“B-but first I’ll do the guard mission and come back. Since my mind might change… B-but I’ll definitely join!”
Fon was already clenching his fists excitedly, seeming thrilled.
“The financial administrator asked me various things so I answered, and we talked about related topics too. But he listened really well.”
—…the most important interest rate here is… —Oh, yes. You know it well.
—…and when bills are issued… —Okay, you can stop now, Fon.
“This is the first time I’ve had such a long conversation about commerce-related topics. Th-thank you, Cain. It’s all thanks to you.”
“I’m glad you seem satisfied.”
Fon had many conversations he wanted to have, and Todd had completed his talent verification, so it must have been a completely satisfying interview for both sides.
“Fon! How was it? Did it go well?”
Ed and Bolio, who had been running in the distance, also sped up and ran over when Fon appeared, seeming curious about the results.
When Fon told them the same story he’d just told Cain, Ed was overjoyed.
“That’s really great! Congratulations, Fon!”
“It really suits you.”
“Th-thank you both!”
“But if you join the financial administration, won’t we not be able to take classes together anymore?”
At Ed’s words, Fon shook his head.
“Th-that won’t be the case. The class times are predetermined anyway, so I can just attend them at the right time… A-and the financial administrator said this to me.”
Fon cleared his throat slightly and spoke with intensity in his eyes.
“Listen well, Fon. The guys here have half given up on magic studies, and even when told to do something, they don’t listen! But since you’re still a direct disciple, you absolutely can’t slack off on magic either. Got it?”
A moment of silence passed.
Ed and Bolio exchanged glances without saying anything, then simultaneously burst into laughter.
“Puhaha! Fon, did you just imitate the financial administrator exactly?”
“Puhaha! It’s exactly the same!”
“You certainly learned and reproduced the financial administrator’s intonation, speech patterns, and habits well in a short time.”
Even Cain seemed to be holding back laughter, biting his lips slightly.
Only then did Fon’s face turn bright red as he didn’t know what to do.
“I-is it that funny?”
“No, no. Fon, we’re not trying to tease you, it’s really similar. I’ve never seen anyone imitate so well! Right, Bolio?”
“Yeah, it’s a compliment. A compliment. Puhaha!”
“To think I’ve been with you for 15 years and never noticed this talent of yours… Sorry, Fon. For not recognizing it.”
“…I-is it really a compliment?”
When Fon sent Cain a look asking for help, Cain raised his hand to draw attention.
“Alright, now that you’ve all heard the news, we should get back to training. The merchant caravan will arrive in a few days, so it would be good to train as much as we can in the family estate until then. If you want to achieve third circle quickly, that is.”
He deliberately didn’t mention the reason why the financial administrator emphasized not to neglect magic studies to Fon.
‘For him to say it that strongly, he’s probably already marked him as one of the candidates for the next financial administrator, even though it’s way too early.’
After meeting Todd yesterday, Cain had looked through the administrator appointment records in the archive to learn more about him, and had also asked Alice and Nefti for information.
‘Todd Sears’ current level is fifth circle.’
It couldn’t be called low, but it was insufficient for a family administrator.
‘Considering his age, achieving sixth circle in the future is likely difficult.’
He’d probably been facing the great wall ahead for a long time after achieving fifth circle, which is known as the limit reachable through effort alone.
‘Moreover, though he received the Sears surname, he was originally an initiate disciple.’
The family had a rule allowing surnames to be granted to initiate disciples who made great contributions or rose to administrator-level positions.
Cain himself had first been able to use the name ‘Sain Sears’ when he achieved merit and was appointed as research administrator in his previous life.
But even Sain Sears had been subtly looked down upon by other family administrators until he rose to the position of family head and overwhelmed everyone with his abilities, gaining fame.
No matter how much the world ran on meritocracy, among those with similar abilities, those with the petty privilege consciousness of being direct family members walked around with their heads held high.
Anyway, it was obvious how much Todd must have been looked down upon and gossiped about behind his back when he stepped forward as an administrator before other families.
‘Especially since the family’s reputation has already hit rock bottom, it must have been even worse.’
So Todd would have hoped that the next financial administrator who would succeed him would ideally be a direct disciple with magic abilities that didn’t fall behind, so they could stand proudly before others without being looked down upon.
‘But usually direct disciples don’t want to join the financial administration that manages the family’s money…’
It was natural. Why would direct disciples talented in magic voluntarily bury themselves in the financial administration to manage money all day?
In such circumstances, Fon’s appearance must have been like sweet rain to Todd.
‘The fact that he’s postponing admission until the guard mission ends and respecting Fon’s opinion to the end should be considered remarkable.’
After all, if one doesn’t join of their own will, talking about being the next financial administrator or whatever would be meaningless.
‘Since telling Fon this story now would only burden him, what I need to do is help Fon grow well as the financial administrator wishes.’
And that was also Cain’s own wish as the future family head.
Cain didn’t want the Sears family’s financial administrator to be looked down upon anywhere.
“Third circle!”
“Right, we absolutely have to achieve third circle before the next exam!”
“I-it would be great if we could pass the exam and go straight to the third floor…”
Anyway, motivated by the mention of third circle, the three obediently turned their steps toward the training ground.
“Alright! Just ten more laps and then straight to Fire Arrow practice!”
“Let’s go!”
“L-let’s go together!”
Cain silently watched the three running toward the training ground for a moment.
And before returning to training, he suddenly turned his head sharply in the opposite direction.
Whoosh.
Then someone quickly hid behind a pillar of a building on the other side.
Of course, they couldn’t escape Cain’s eyes.
A girl with long blonde hair and red eyes.
Her name was definitely… Anyas, wasn’t it?
The one Bolio had said was a girl without any tact.
What business does she have here?
“…”
When Cain remained still, she peeked out her eyes again after a moment.
“…!”
Seeming not to have expected he’d still be watching, she was startled and quickly hid again.
“Why are you doing that over there? If you have something to say, come out and say it.”
But there was still no answer.
At the sound of footsteps moving away, Cain tilted his head.
“Seems like she has nothing to say.”
And he continued his training.
A few days later.
“The merchant caravan has arrived!”
As announced, the merchant caravan arrived, and servants busily moved from morning, carrying trade goods to load onto the carriages.
“Young master! I’ve packed clothes and the sweet snacks you like!”
Since this mission would take somewhat longer, a few maids would accompany them.
One from Ed’s side, and Alice from this side would accompany them to attend to their needs.
—I’ll go! I want to go, young master! Please! —Alright. I was going to ask you to come with me anyway. —Really? As expected, young master…! You understand my heart! I’ll serve you devotedly, so don’t worry! —You don’t need to go that far. Just do as usual. —You mean serve devotedly! —…
There was another reason he was going to ask her to come along, but he didn’t bother to say it.
Alice had been running around like a squirrel since morning, repeatedly checking if anything was missing and packing the bag full, excited about something.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
“Yes!”
“Please be careful, young master. Have a safe trip, sister.”
Receiving Nefti’s polite farewell, Cain opened the door to leave their quarters with Alice.
“…”
Cain met red eyes looking up at him.
A girl about half a head shorter than Cain, with blonde hair reaching her shoulders.
It was Anyas.
“So, have you thought of something to say?”
“…”
“If you still haven’t thought of anything, move aside. I’m busy right now because I have to go on a mission.”
Just as Cain was about to pass by Anyas.
Anyas finally opened her mouth.
And said something completely unexpected.
“I want to go too. On that mission.”
