(Ren's POV)
After I changed into more casual clothes, I started heading downstairs when I felt something buzzing in my pocket. Taking out my phone, I see it was a call from someone I have texted with since yesterday.
*Beep*
"Hello, is there something you need Kyousou-san?" I leaned on the wall while speaking with the person who will be the one handling the sales of my products.
[Hello, and yes, it is about the thing we have texted about yesterday. The package you had agreed to send to me just arrived and I just open it to check the product, but I just have one question, if you do not mind me asking] Kyousou Shido, the man on the other side of the phone had a hint of nervousness in his tone.
"Well, ask away. We are in a cooperative business relationship after all so communication is key to a prosperous future for the both of us" I spoke in a laid-back lazy tone while a smirk rose on my face, I knew exactly why he was a bit nervous.
[Then, did you send all 10 of these boxes?] Kyousou's voice was a little shaky.
"You did say I could send however much I want, so I figured I'd save myself the hassle of sending another batch after you've checked the products' quality by sending about half of my saved-up goods" I casually remarked.
[THIS IS ONLY HALF!?] He screamed in surprise before I hear a thud sound, probably of him falling to the floor from dizziness.
"You okay, there? Kyousou-san~?"
[Y-yeah, I'm fine, just a little lightheaded there. On a side note, don't you think sending your goods to someone you have only known for a day is kind of a bad idea] Kyousou said with slight concern in his voice.
"Well, I'm not too worried of you just keeping the goods to yourself and cutting contact with me since I know you're not that kind of person, I picked you specifically to work with because you seem like an honest man to me" I lifted my hand and a glowing magic circle appeared, I started to play with it while waiting for his response.
[And, what if I wasn't like how you thought I was?] He spoke in a serious tone.
"Let's just say I have confidence in my ability to read people, and on the off chance that you were able to pull a fast one on me…Who do you think the police will believe, me or you?" I poured a precise amount of mana into the magic circle and it projected an image of a black-haired man with dark eyes sitting on the floor of an apartment room with big boxes sprawled around him.
[What do you mean by that?] Kyousou looked genuinely confused in the projection.
"I know exactly where you live, Kyousou Shido. And I believe it would be quite hard to move all 10 boxes worth of my handmade products down all those stairs to the ground floor with the elevator broken before the local police made it there" I put on a cold playful voice while watching Kyousou's expression changed at the realization.
[How did you-] Kyousou got up on his feet and looked around.
"I have my ways; now, don't you have some goods to inspect? We'll talk about the contract and the signing of it tomorrow after you finish up inspecting them, it's a good thing I organized it so it shouldn't take you too long. Talk to you later" I hung up and also canceled the [Mage's Eyes] I stuck on those boxes I sent to him.
I put my phone back in my pocket and headed downstairs to join everyone.
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(Third person POV)
Kyousou Shido is a man who has just finished his Bachelor's Degree in Business and had just been freshly integrated into adult society.
He got a business partnership offer a few days ago, and the business looked promising enough so he initiated a chat with his new business partner. The other person went by the name of Kusho Sora on Red-Bird, which he had thought nothing of at the time until now.
After the call had ended, Shido went and checked the Kusho Sora account that had followed him but it was deleted just moments ago. He had been careless as to not do more research on his 'business partner' and now he was at a point of no return so he must commit to the job lest he occurs the ire of this mysterious Kusho Sora.
Though the main reason why he decided to commit to it was that the products he had seen were the real deal and were high-quality goods unlike any he has seen, so selling them for a high price was only a matter of time and a bit of effort on his part.
He was getting a small but decent cut of the profit anyway, so it's a win-win scenario in his book.
"Yosh! Let's just finish up this little business partnership and move on" Shido convinced himself that after he had helped sold enough and gained some money, he would be moving to bigger and better things.
This thought will remain one of the biggest jokes of the year.
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(Ren's POV)
After getting to the kitchen, I saw that dinner wasn't quite ready yet so I sat down on the sofa with Mitsuo, Alex, and Dad who was talking with Alex about his life over in the US.
Alex had reverted back to his arrogant/haughty way again, but a bit more toned down than what he is usually like.
Hearing him complain about how suffocating it was to live in the main mansion of the family triggered a memory of one of my predecessors who was a bastard son and the only son of a noble.
He had the right to become the heir as he was the only male child of that noble while the children of the noble's wife were all female, thus having less priority to the seat of the next head of the noble house.
He was discriminated against by his half-siblings and the noble's wife while living there, he was talented in magic and that fueled the jealousy of his half-siblings even more.
He had always had to be vigilant each and every day, always looking out for when they ever decided to send an assassin after him to take the role of the family head for themselves.
One day an assassin did come after his life, he killed the assassin and decided to just fake his death before running away from the mansion. He later on obtained the Sage Legacy, hence why he is a predecessor of mine.
Greediness and Jealousy are rooted everywhere, no matter the world, it's an inevitable concept as long as there is such thing as individuality. Differences in people's situations are the main cause for these two emotions to spout.
I've dealt with a fair share of people who were jealous of my power and the wealth I have on me or contained within the Sage's Tower, most kept it to themselves because they were smart while the other minority end up dead for trying to take advantage of me just because I'm young.
I can understand being jealous of others for what you don't have and the feeling of wanting a lot for yourself, but I can never understand people who are blinded by it and do anything to get what they want.
It might be because I was raised in a civilized environment and have anything I want obtainable with a bit of effort, whereas they would have to struggle for it with some giving up and taking the easy way.
Though this is a valid point, I can still not understand the need to directly trample on others to get what you want or gain power and wealth at the expense of others.
It might be kinda hypocritical of me as I am someone who would destroy anyone who would get in my way, but I still try to find a compromise unless the other person is completely unreasonable.
I suddenly felt a tug on my shirt that pulled me from my thoughts so I looked over to see Mitsuo.
"What is it, Mitsuo?"
"Nii-san, can you tell me what it means to 'go out' with someone? The other kids were whispering to each other about me and Achika-chan 'going out' with each other. The girls shrieked and crowded around her when Achika-chan answered 'yes' to a girl who asked about it" Mitsuo looked up to me with curious eyes.
Dad and Alex, who overheard it flinch a bit in the middle of talking and crookedly turned to me and Mitsuo.
"So, did you ask Achika-chan about why she said 'yes'? Did she know what it meant?" I tried to get more info. I could use [World Archive] to find out but where's the fun in that?
"She said that we walk to school together and leave school together, and that's what people who are 'going out' do; at least that's what she heard from her manager" Mitsuo spoke with complete innocence in his everything.
'What kind of misguided knowledge has her manager been teaching her?' Was the first thought that crossed my mind, but then another more reasonable one popped up.
'This is an air-headed girl we talking about, so maybe she wholly misinterpreted what her manager actually told her; yeah let's go with that for now'
"Although what she said is partially true, some people who go out with each other do go to and back from school together, but close friends or relatives also do that too. So, you should probably try to correct Achika-chan tomorrow at school since that's not what it means to go out with someone" I sagely advised with a tender expression.
Mitsuo nodded at my advice before noticing something.
"Then, what does 'going out' with someone mean? You haven't answered me, Nii-san" Mitsuo narrowed his eyes like he caught me with my hand in the cookie jar.
"That's for you to find out, Sport. Go ask Mom or Dad about it" I ruffled his hair and stood up to go set up the table. I can hear Mitsuo asking Dad the same question just mere moments after I escaped.
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(Third person POV)
This is after everyone had finished dinner, Morgan, and Ren were cleaning up the dirty dishes. Morgan insisted he would wash them alone while everyone relax as Senji, Ren's Dad, told everyone about his past, but Ren stubbornly insisted he at least helped out with it.
This made it so the rest had to wait for them to finish since Senji wanted everyone to listen to his story; why he discarded the position as heir and ran all the way to Japan to start anew.
After a few silent minutes, Morgan and Ren finished doing the dishes, and Ren was now sitting on the sofa, Morgan was standing because he was adamant about performing his role as a butler so no one minded it.
"This is the story that no one other than me and George knows about, why I left everything behind" Senji had a solemn expression.
He then started to tell about the side of the story from his perspective, one that dates back to over 20 years ago.
===(Flash Back)===
Senji or Steve, he was just at the height of his youth, his last year of high school. After he finishes graduating, he would start to learn about being the Head of the Brusion Family and would take up the seat of Head of the Family once he was deemed fit by the Elders of the family.
The Elders were the ones who have authority within the family only below the Head of the Family; however, together they have more power than the Head alone.
Steve had already gotten the support of some of the Elders, they would have been on his side when he rose to the Head seat, and his reign as the Head would have been smooth if he were to have taken the position.
However, one incident drove him to abandon everything he had within the family and run, running from the cruelty going on in the masquerade party that is the Brusion House.
It was just an ordinary day, one like any other for Steve. He was just going through his daily routine at home since it was summer vacation at the time.
In the middle of his lunch, one of his personal trusted attendants barged into his room to give him a message, a piece of information he had gotten from his spies.
After hearing about it, he immediately started planning things out to get the outcome he desired. Though, the end results could already be seen as plans never pan out like you'd imagine it when executed.
He rallied up his underlings and went to enact his plan in order to protect his younger brother from the conspiracy of the Elders who were supposed to be on his side.
However, an unexpected variable came into the picture, and thus he had to abandon his initial plans so he came up with one that would both guarantee his and his brother's safety.
Thus the night of that very day, half of the Elders and the heir of the Brusion Family, Steve Brusion, mysteriously went missing with not a single trace of them.
George Brusion, the younger brother of Steve Brusion, found a letter on his table from his brother. It detailed all the events that happened that night in there, all from the info Steve got from his attendant to the plan he devised to the screw up of said plan to the next move of Steve himself.
Steve had left it there as a warning to his brother to be careful with who he trusted and to say his goodbyes to him one last time, as Steve Brusion was to be considered dead from that moment onward.
Steve had left everything behind, his position, his identity, his resources, his connections, his subordinates; everything he had was left behind as a final gift to his beloved younger brother.
「...
My final gift to you, George, my one and only brother.
From this point in time onward, I, Steve Brusion, am dead
Stay strong, live a long and happy life without me.
Your Big Bro, Steve」
After leaving, Steve used what little authority he had left and managed to stealthily flee to Japan before legally changing his identity, background, and even hair color then getting into a good college majoring in Management.
In his college days, he met his wife, Ishia Mitsuko, at random a restaurant. It was kind of a bad first impression since he tripped and spilled his drink on her then to add fuel to the fire he accidentally groped her too.
With that as the start, their encounters with each other became unexpectedly frequent; at first, Mitsuko hated his guts but eventually, she warmed up to him little by little.
It's a miracle how they eventually ended up married to one another. Life is just very mysterious sometimes.
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(Ren's POV)
"…And that, kids, is how I met your mother" Dad proclaimed, earning a blank deadpan stare from everyone seated.
"So, that's what it means to go out with someone. Only when two people love each other like Mom and Dad can they go out with each other" Mitsuo commented with his mouth shaped like an 'O'.
"That's only the basic, there's still more to it but you'll learn of them eventually" I patted his head.
"Hana, take Mitsuo to read some of your manga, he needs to learn about love eventually"
"And yet you refused to answer my question not even two days ago" Hana muttered while narrowing her eyes.
"It's not something that can be taught or told, you need to see and experience it for yourself to understand" I looked her straight in the eyes.
"Sigh, fine. Mitsuo, come on. Nee-san will show you something interesting" Hana got up and took Mitsuo with her to her room, leaving the rest of us here.
"Alice, Alex, let's go up to my room, I got something to show you guys" I grabbed both by the hand and dragged them up to my room. When we got to the second floor, Hana was sitting in front of her door with Mitsuo holding a Shoujo manga.
"So, why did you need all of us here exactly?" Hana asked, staring at me.
"Let's get into my room first; we don't want to disturb a touching reunion, do we?" I ignored all the confused look I was getting and flung open the door to my room, cool air rushed out of my room along with a fragrant scent that relaxes one's nerves.
"Woah, so cool!" Mitsuo was the first to rush into the cool air-filled room.
"Did you install a new AC unit without us knowing?" Hana glared at me with an accusatory look.
"Of course not, like I have the money to do that kind of thing" I dismissed her.
"Yeah, this bookshelf is a prime example of you doing something without telling Mom or Dad" Hana looked at my bookshelf before walking over and grabbing a light novel.
"Look that was a one-time thing, I wouldn't-"
"OH! Is that a real sword, Nii-san!?" Mitsuo exclaimed, pulling all attention to the Legendary Sword I enshrined on the wall of my room.
"Yes, it's real, so be careful not to touch it or you'll hurt yourself" I ignored the stares burning into the back of my skull as I walked over to pick up the sheathed sword.
"Look, it's sheathed and locked up so it's not a safety hazard at all" I showed them by trying to pull the sword out but it won't budge.
"See? Won't even unsheathe unless I unlock it" I placed the sword that can plunge an entire city into an Ice Age back on the sword mount.
"Anyway, I wanted to show you guys something I've been working on" I kneeled down in front of the Dragon Chest, unlocked it, and took out a small wooden box before closing and locking it.
"Where did you get such a high-quality chest? The carpentry is so masterfully done and this bronze dragon-like design on it too" Alice and Alex crouched down and touched the surface of the chest, feeling the smooth dark wood and the cold bronze dragon design.
"Oh, I made it" I nonchalantly placed the box on the round table in the middle of the room.
""Really!?"" The twins snapped their heads back in surprise.
*Menacing!*
"Hana, I'll tell Mom and Dad about it next time, okay. Come on, sit down and look at what I made" I gestured to everyone and the first to sit next to me with an excited expression was Mitsuo, followed by the twins, and finally a slightly angry Hana.
I slowly opened the box to reveal six pendants made mainly of silver each with its own very intricate designs; though, you could easily tell what each pendant is supposed to represent.
These are all Charms of Protection with their own unique shapes and designs, made to fit one specific person only. All the ones in the box are the ones I made for my family, excluding Alex since I haven't gotten around to making a unique one for him yet.
There is one for Mitsuo, Hana, Mom, Dad, Alice, and finally one for me to match everyone else. I also have the other ring that matches with Hina's with me too, though all of mine don't have the same effects as the other's as they serve a different purpose within the whole system.
I'll talk about that when I bring out the third one.