"I guess this wasn't the face you were expecting. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"Pe-, Peran."
Patrick's face had turned white.
Peran Jun.
He was a scion of the Jun Family which was one of the three major noble families in the empire with power just below that of the imperial family as well as a genius of the Westroad Academy.
When he reached the 4 star level below the age of 20, it caused a buzz in the empire for a long while.
Patrick had no memory of ever feeling so intimidated.
The Dercidy family was so powerful that they did not have to bow to anyone. But the Jun family was an exception.
Peran was a noble among nobles and just his followers would easily exceed half of the nobility in the capital.
At least in the social world, making him an enemy was the same as biting your own tongue to commit suicide.
Patrick's face became white.
He had to say something, but his mind was blank and he couldn't think of anything.
Peran continued to speak with his freezing tone.
"But since when did I need to get the permission of the Dercidy family before inviting my friends? Also to a banquet held in my name."
"Th-, that's not…"
"The Westroad Academy has no talent? That's also a weird statement. As far as I know, you didn't pass the entrance examination to the academy."
"I, I…"
His mouth was open but no words came out.
The other nobles also chattered to each other while looking at Frey in surprise.
Peran Jun's friend?
Who?
Frey Blake?
How?
Was there anyone who Peran would call friend?
As Patrick stood there stuttering without saying anything, Peran's cold eyes turned to look at Guspa.
At that moment Guspa unconsciously hiccups before hurriedly closing his mouth again.
"And you?"
"Gu-, Guspa…Peleros."
"Peleros?"
At that moment, Guspa saw the clear confusion in Peran's eyes. It was clear that he had never heard the family name before.
Originally, he would have felt humiliated by that fact, but Peran's eyes were so cold at that moment that he couldn't even think about it.
"What about you?"
"W-, we…"
"Just to the lady here, that…we just wanted to talk…"
The voice faded after. They were just like Dholes after all.
They knew a hundred ways to suppress the weak, but when faced with the strong, they only knew how to bow their heads.
They couldn't say anything in front of Peran who was the owner of the banquet hall.
Peran was going to say something more but instead closed his mouth slowly and looked around.
"…"
He became a bit embarrassed when he noticed the tense and cold atmosphere.
It seemed that he had finally regained some of his composure.
He took a few small breaths before smiling right after.
"…I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for attending the banquet today."
He raised his chin and leisurely walked to the center of the hall.
As Peran continued to speak, the cold atmosphere in the hall began to soften.
No one dared to make any comment on the angry display just a moment ago.
Patrick and his followers as well as Guspa hurried to a corner of the banquet and hoped that they would be forgotten.
Frey turned around and Enzo, who was near to him, approached.
He shot a cold look at the fleeing Patrick's back.
"Hmph. The Dercidy name is wasted on someone like him.
Are you okay?"
"Thank you for your help."
Enzo and the others laughed a bit awkwardly at that.
"I just didn't want to be a coward who didn't know how to repay grace."
"Thanks to you I could take a breather."
As Frey gently bowed his head and Enzo couldn't help but be surprised at the unexpected situation.
Frey looked so cold that he had expected to be rebuked for intervening in a situation that he wasn't needed.
Enzo's expression softened considerably as he saw this.
"We're more grateful. Ah, we still haven't paid off our debts with this. Whenever you visit my family, I will make sure to repay you properly."
"I will remember."
"Right…here comes Peran so we'll get going."
Enzo party stepped away and Peran, who had just finished his speech, walked over.
"I knew you'd get angry."
"Because I'm human."
"Was the atmosphere ruined because of me?"
"What did you do? Hoo…It's been a while since my head was filled with blood like this."
Peran sighed.
He was a bit disappointed because he had not been able to control his anger.
Frey took a sip of wine before mumbling.
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"If you hadn't intervened then the banquet would've become a mess and I would not have been able to face you."
"Haha. Would it have evolved into something that would cause a huge commotion?"
Peran let out a laugh, clearly in a better mood.
Sonia was unable to interject while listening to their conversation.
It was as if there was a space only for men so she couldn't even open her mouth, no matter how much they didn't notice her.
"…the incident on the Cortez. If it had been widely known then those guys' attitudes would have been very different." "What do you mean?"
"There was a movement to cover up the incident. Thanks to that it's not widely known by the public. There were two frigates that were deployed, if news that they were so helpless in the face of a threat was released then it would have an impact on the status of the empire…"
Peran sighed again.
The story had been blocked at its source so only a few nobles truly knew what happened.
In particular nobles from the provinces and people like Patrick who didn't pay much attention to the goings on in the empire would have only heard stories.
"It doesn't matter."
He knew that it wouldn't remain hidden forever, but Frey felt like he did not need to stick out too much at this point.
Peran looked at him with a strange gaze.
"You are really weird. If the truth was revealed, your status would jump up by a few dozen times at least."
"It's because I don't want such a situation."
"I thought so."
As he said that, Peran let out a laugh.
"What did you talk about with my father?"
"…he asked if I was a part of the Traumen Rings."
"…"
Peran's hand that was about to lift a wine glass to his lips stopped.
He sent a strange glance at Frey but changed it when he saw Sonia beside him.
"…right. Are you finally interested in joining our club?" "Maybe."
"I'd like to go into more detail, but it's too noisy here."
Frey nodded, then he spoke about his plans for the future.
"I'm not going back to the academy."
"Huh?"
"There is nothing more for me to learn there."
It was a bit unexpected but Peran wasn't surprised.
He stroked his chin for a moment while pondering, before saying.
"Then where are you going?"
"I haven't decided yet. Right…first I'll need to recover my condition."
Frey said while looking at his thin wrists.
"…I think I need to gain some weight."
"That's a good idea. You're too skinny right now."
Peran pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Then what about a magic tower?"
"A magic tower?"
"Right. Although it's a bit expensive there are various training centers and also many valuable books that couldn't be found outside. There are also many great wizards so if you have any questions you would be able to get an answer right away."
"Hmm."
Frey thought that Peran's proposal was quite attractive.
In particular the fact that there were many valuable books there.
Peran's lips curled up a bit as he continued.
"Of course, you have to take a test."
"Test?"
"It's not a big deal. It's really nothing. Especially for you."
"It's a shame that I can't see the faces of the wizards when they see your results."
"…?"
Frey was curious but he didn't ask because he knew that Peran wouldn't tell him even if he did.
"If you use the name of the Jun Family, you will be treated well."
"I don't need to."
"I thought you'd say that."
The two of them bumped their wine glasses.
It was at that moment that Peran flinched before looking at Sonia. "Ah. Such rudeness. We didn't pay any attention to Ms.
Sonia. I'm sorry."
"…no. It's…fine"
Sonia, who had been listening to their conversation could only give a bitter smile and feel very envious of the relationship between men.
After that the three of them had a good time together and shared personal stories and the banquet ended without any more problems.
* * *
The next morning, Daphgon came again.
"The master would like to speak with you."
"Now?"
"He is waiting in the rooftop garden and he said to find him when you are free…"
Those were his words, but it was impolite to make the master of the house wait.
Since he had nothing else to do, he headed to the roof of the mansion right away.
Shepard was sitting on the terrace sipping tea.
"Where are you going to go now?"
"Did you not hear it already from Peran?"
"It's not polite to ask him about you."
Frey told him honestly since he didn't have anything to hide.
"I'm going to enter a magic tower."
"A magic tower? Hmm. At your level it wouldn't be hard to get in."
Shepard made a rough guess about Frey's current power. He probably guessed him to be at the 5 star level.
"I heard that there were many books there that I couldn't find outside. I'm also curious about the training centers."
"Hmm…then I'll recommend the 3rd Magic Tower. It's power isn't as good as the other towers but it is the best out of all the towers when it comes to books." "The 3rd Magic Tower."
There was a big difference in the wizards from each magic tower.
The 3rd Magic Tower was the place which held the most alchemists from what Frey could remember.
This also meant that it had a calmer atmosphere when compared to places like the 1st Magic Tower which had the most battlemages, the 2nd Magic Tower which was devoted to the development of new spells or the 4th Magic Tower which was considered the holy land for wizards.
There was no other tower than he could spend his time quietly.
"I'll do as you say. Thank you for your advice."
"I'm glad to help. And now for my business."
His expression became serious.
"Do you know why I don't suspect you as one of the
Demigod's subordinates?"
"Isn't it because I can use the Typhoon Earrings?"
"That is one reason. I still had some doubts… but I was assured yesterday that they were irrelevant." "…?"
Someone proved his identity?
Who the hell?
Shepard revealed the name of the person.
"It was Heinz Blake. The second son of the Blake Family." He observed Frey's reaction before adding.
"By the way, he is a member of the Strow Necklaces, like me."