Chapter 271.
Early in the morning, I apologized as I sipped on tea that Mrs. Arscilla poured for me while we were in the garden. "You probably heard from your son, but I’m sorry for deceiving you."
Mrs. Arscilla smiled casually and drank her tea. "It’s all right. I was caught off guard, but you didn’t have any ill intentions. I heard you left your hometown for a peaceful life?”
"Yes."
"That’s the same reason I run a boarding house. I understand Mr. Den fee- no, Mr. Denburg’s feelings."
In contrast to someone of high nobility, Mrs. Arscilla was not only humble but also kind-hearted. To be honest, I’m indebted to Mrs. Arscilla quite a bit. So, while I was still wearing the hat of a civil servant, I was going to go along with the prime minister’s plans to some degree.
"You can call me Den as usual. I chose my nickname as an alias anyway."
"I see. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Den."
"I look forward to your working with you as well, Mrs. Arscilla."
After saying goodbye, Mrs. Arscilla and I went into the boarding house. Arwen was sitting in our general direction, intimidated and surrounded by the residents of the boarding house. I grinned and sat next to Arwen.
"Now, everyone. There are two pieces of news today,” Mrs. Arscilla said with a gentle smile, and everyone looked at Arwen. Then, they looked at Mrs. Arscilla with curious gazes, wondering what the other piece of news was.
"Starting today, a new resident, Miss Arwen, will be staying at our boarding house. Miss Arwen was introduced by Mr. Den, so she won’t be leaving the boarding house in a month."
Mrs. Arscilla’s boarding house was monitored by the prime minister for a month and then examined for any suspicious motives. But Arwen was introduced by me, so that process was omitted. This signified that he wouldn’t needlessly offend me.
Everyone looked at me when Mrs. Arscilla spoke, and I said, "Arwen is a disciple of mine whom I teach magic. My paternal grandfather raised her, so she is also like my little sister. Hillis, Lisbon, and Alphonso have met her while hanging out with Flam a few times. She and Flam are also step-siblings."
Lisbon and Alphonso didn’t understand this complicated relationship, and their eyes showed that they were lost. On the other hand, Hillis understood roughly, and she smiled lightly as she asked me, "So you’re a distant relative of Mr. Flam?”
"Well, I didn’t know about that until recently, but it seems so."
Hillis taught Arwen about basic divine magic, so she knew Arwen as well as Flam.
"Oh, and Arwen can’t speak, so please be aware of that.”
At my explanation, Lisbon sadly spoke to Arwen in sign language. Arwen magically wrote in the air.
- I can hear you, so you can just speak. Stupid.
"Ahaha, sorry."
Even though he was called a fool, he smiled and apologized like a pushover. I warned Arwen, "Arwen, Lisbon is a fool, but you shouldn’t say that to his face. From now on, call him a pushover."
- Yes, I understand. I look forward to working with you, Pushover.
"What do you mean Pushover! That’s mean!" Lisbon looked teary, and everyone laughed.
"And the second news is... I think it would be better for Mr. Den to say it himself."
Everyone looked at me again, and I nodded lightly. "I purposely never mentioned it before, but actually, I’m from the Crow Tribe.”
“......?”
When everyone heard me, there was no reaction as if they didn’t understand.
“Hello? I said I’m from the Crow Tribe.”
“What?!” It was not until I repeated myself that it registered for everyone, to their astonishment. Hameln, in particular, could not keep his mouth shut as if he had cognitive dissonance.
I kept it a secret, but was it that surprising? Actually, I thought about asking them to keep it a secret. However, there was no need to keep it a secret since Uncle Bloody, William, and the prime minister had already found out.
"Oh, and my name is Denburg, but since my nickname is Den, you can keep calling me Den.”
When I added, Alice stood up and shouted as if she were dumbfounded, “You were even lying about your name?!”
“Ahaha, it seems so.” When I laughed it off casually, Alice plopped down into her seat again, feeling despondent.
"Ah!" At that time, Yuria exclaimed as if she suddenly remembered, "Denburg... I’m sure my uncle said the next chief-in-line for Crow Tribe who ran away was Denburg Blade!"
Everyone looked at me with astoundment.
"Hahaha, did Mr. William even say that? Actually, I don’t really intend to inherit the position. Personally, I want Third Sister to succeed my father, so I ‘ran away’ on purpose."
Of course, the fact that I had no intention of becoming the next chief was the exact reason why I ran away. Although Hestia noona was weak, it was time for our tribe to move away from focusing only on strength. I believe that Hestia noona will play that role.
Then, as Hillis listened carefully, she shouted in surprise, "Wait, Blade? You’re Leisha’s younger brother?!”
"Oh, Fourth Sister? I’ve always been Leisha noona’s younger brother."
When I responded casually, Hillis looked at me, flabbergasted. "Leisha has been painstakingly looking for you. To think that you were hiding in plain sight."
"Ayy, what do you mean Fourth Sister has been searching for me? I heard from Lancelot that she’s already given up and has been having a good time hanging out with you.”
Leisha noona gave up looking for me about a year and a half ago and went around having fun. Well, if it was a year and a half ago, she did search for me for a long time. I would have given up at the start.
At my point, Hillis stuck out her tongue and smiled. "Ahaha, did you already know that?”
Alice looked at me with a suspicious face. "But why are you telling us now?”
Alice was shocked, but she didn’t lose her cool. Although she was somewhat cynical, I personally placed a high value on this trait.
"Uncle Bloody caught me hiding, so there’s no reason to keep it a secret.”
I didn’t tell Mrs. Arscilla, Yuria, and Hillis I was a Crow because I was afraid my location would be discovered through them, but now there was no need to hide it.
Alice gave me a look of discontent and sighed. "At least you told us in the end.”
Her words were a bit sarcastic. Lisbon was flustered by Alice’s words and tried to say something, but Alice quickly spoke first, "Well, it’s not like anything will change just because you’re from the Crow Tribe."
Alice avoided my gaze, embarrassed by what she said, and Lisbon and Alphonso nodded as well.
"Right, Den is Den, isn’t he? It doesn’t make any difference."
"Yeah! That’s right!"
When everyone agreed with Alice, I burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!"
"Why, why are you laughing?!"
Alice was embarrassed by my laughter, and I shrugged and said, "No, it’s just I thought I have some interesting friends."
They really were interesting friends.
* * *
I went to work at the Adventurer’s Guild and began to check and organize documents that could be processed quickly. I didn’t know how many months it would take, but since I wouldn’t be able to work for the time being, I was going to sort through as much as I could.
"Oh, Den! Why are you working so hard today? I’ve never seen such an enthusiastic Den before,” Demuir commented.
I answered without pause, "Because you’ll have to work without me for a while. No, perhaps you’ll have to do without me in the future frequently?"
Demuir was perplexed by my meaningful smile. "What? Den, are you being appointed elsewhere? Are the rumors that you’re being pulled over to the Treasury true? Don’t go! How can I handle all these accounting books without you!"
When Demuir made a fuss, Dano and Organ next to him looked at me in surprise. I asked bewilderedly, "Was there a rumor that I was being taken by the Treasury?”
Demuir asked with a puzzled face, "Huh? Are you not? The story from the inner palace is that you caught the prime minister’s eye due to the Fairy Tribe delegation task."
"There was definitely a suggestion like that, but I’m not crazy enough to transfer to that overtime hell. Of course, I refused."
Demuir looked at me with relief and concern. "Is it okay to refuse even though it’s the prime minister’s offer?”
"Yes, it’s fine." I handled the bundled documents quickly, answering him offhandedly. With this, they won’t notice my absence for the next ten days. After ten days, they would be busy with more work to be done, but I can’t take care of the work that doesn’t exist now.
Not long after I finished the paperwork, Fiona scrambled into the office. "Den, is it true?”
“What is?”
“A special promotion!”
At Fiona’s words, Demuir looked at me astonished.
"Oh, yes. It should be true.”
I nodded casually, and Fiona was shocked. "Then what about being appointed somewhere else?!"
"What? You said you weren’t going to the Treasury!"
I peeled off Demuir as he clung to me, making a fuss, and said, "It’s not the Treasury, and it’s a temporary appointment. Also, I told you, you have to work without me for a while."
The place where I’m being appointed is likely the staff office of the Third Field Command Headquarters, where Uncle Bloody was located. According to what I heard in advance, the Third Field Command was the place where the elites were left behind when Guild Director Glont was discharged from the military, so I should think about how to interact with them.
"You seem to already know where you’re going to be assigned," said Fiona.
I nodded. Fiona sighed and spoke, "Take care of yourself. The army is the perfect place to get hurt. Go up to see the Guild Director-nim."
"Then I’ll be back."
Fiona patted me on the shoulder, and after I greeted the people at the headquarters, I went up. Even before I knocked on the door, Guild Director Glont felt my presence and told me to come in.
I opened the door and went in. "Did you call for me?"
Guild Director Glont was looking out the window when he gazed back at me with a complicated expression.
"I heard you were... Denburg Blade." Guild Director Glont’s eyes were filled with surprise rather than betrayal.
"Yes, that’s correct. I’m sorry I did not tell you the truth."
Glont’s abilities as a boss were favorable enough that he accepted my apology. "No, it’s okay. Things happen. Everyone has at least one thing they want to hide from everyone...”
I asked carefully when Guild Director Glont trailed off, "Are you... referring to Flam?”
Guild Director Glont looked at me cautiously as I continued, "I heard from Flam. I learned that Guild Director-nim and his teacher, I mean my grandfather, knew each other."
"How much do you know?"
Guild Director Glont’s gaze became sharp in an instant. I said with a smile, "Nothing. It’s not possible to know anything unless you’re directly involved.”
His sharp aura slowly eased up. “I see. Shall I tell you the details?”
I shook my head at the suggestion. "That’s okay. I plan on hearing about it later when I meet Flam."
Glont smiled lightly. "I’m glad he’s got a great friend. It was fortunate that I brought you with Flam.”
Glont approached and gave me a certificate of promotion along with a colonel’s rank before speaking seriously, “As you may already know, the place where you were appointed is the staff office of the Third Field Command. It’s a place full of all my past subordinates, so if they act tough and aren’t welcoming, just crush them with your full might and tell them my name. Then they’ll obey you."
I saluted when I received the certificate of promotion and rank. "I understand."
Glont patted my shoulder and said, "Come back when the war is over. I’ll always be on your side."
I said with a smile, "Thank you."
With those last words, I left the Adventurer’s Guild.
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