"This…"
Arsian was silent for a while after that, examining the magic stone.
As his magic entered the mineral, it changed color again. A deep blue.
'As expected!'
A refined magic stone!
That's the color of the magic stone I saw when Duke Jévillon give it to Duke Sorpel.
"This is interesting."
Arsian, who had been fiddling with the mineral for a while, made his assessment.
"Those old men are going to go crazy."
I feel a bit apologetic for comparing it to any of the top tier magic stones that currently exist on the continent.
I've never seen this much power flow from a magic stone smaller than an adult's finger before.
"That's the smallest one."
"What?"
Arsian's mouth dropped open. If this is the smallest size....
"Do you have bigger ones?"
"Yes."
"Ha."
Arsian stared at the magic stone in his hand with a newfound interest.
"What do you want?"
"I own the mine that produces those magic stones."
Camilla clasped her hands on her hips and tipped her chin up high.
"...."
"...I'm just saying."
But she quickly had to correct her posture. She felt somewhat awkward under Arsian's distant gaze.
What are you trying to say? Giving me that look.
"I need the power of Black Mages, and as we just saw, it only responds to Black Mages' magic. Of course, if refined, it can also be used by White Mages."
"Are you asking me to connect you?"
"Yes!"
He understands me better than I thought.
"...I'll give it to him."
"Huh?"
Him?
"My father."
* * *
Wham.
"What is it?"
"She told me to give this to you."
"Who?"
"Some woman."
Duke Sefra looked at the black mineral tossed on his desk.
It wasn't the blue one that Arsian had refined, but the black one Camilla had just gotten.
He didn't want to give him any unnecessary explanations, so he threw the gemstone for him to make his own judgement.
"A low-tier magic stone… hmm?"
The man's expression changed. Duke Sefra clamped his jaw shut and began to scrutinize the mineral.
"What does she want?"
After a moment, the Duke of Sefra's cold gaze turned to Arsian. Arsian met it with a cold gaze of his own.
"A deal."
"Bring her."
"Tomorrow."
And that was it. Arsian turned away without another word.
The Duke of Sefra paid no further attention to his son.
"How long do I have to wait?"
Arsian paused with his hand on the doorknob.
"Am I to assume we're still waiting?"
The Duke of Sefra's expression and tone remained impassive.
"I'm fed up with this, and I wish you would just get it over with."
Without another word, Arsian closed the door behind him and left.
Bam-!
The Duke of Sefra finally looked up and looked over to where Arsian had been.
He let out a short sigh and stared at the magic stone, which had now turned a deep blue color. His expression was momentarily blank.
"...A woman?"
It's the first time he's ever done something at someone's request, and it's the first time he's ever come to him without having to ask.
Duke Sefra stared in disbelief at the spot where Arsian had disappeared.
* * *
'It's more ordinary than I thought, huh.'
I was honestly a little nervous because it's a place that's more closed off than any other; not to mention it's a place where death and darkness are controlled.
But the Duchy of Sefra was actually quite ordinary.
I thought it might be a little creepy and haunted....
"Welcome."
The people who lived in the mansion were very ordinary.
Greeted by the staff, Camilla followed quietly behind Arsian.
A few moments later, they were at Duke Sefra's office.
Bam-!
Arsian opened the door without knocking.
A little surprised by his behavior, Camilla stepped inside without saying a word.
'Hoo.'
There was a middle-aged man seated at the desk in the home office.
Camilla gave a small gasp of admiration at the sight of him. She wondered if Arsian will grow up to be like that.
Dark hair, dark eyes, and a coldly nonchalant stare.
The two men looked so much alike you'd think they were related.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Camilla Sorpel."
"I'm surprised."
"What?"
Surprised about what?
Camilla shook her head at Duke Sefra's muttering as he rose from his seat.
"Let's sit down."
"Yes."
As Duke Sefra took his seat, she got straight to the point.
"I want to make a deal."
Camila immediately pulled out the contract she'd brought with her.
"Please refine and sell the magic stones. I'll give you 10% of the sales."
Camilla's reply was followed by a smile, and Duke Sefra was silent for a moment.
He quickly summed up her situation.
"Without a Black Mage, the mineral is worthless."
Without his help, it's just trash.
It was a rather chilling response, but Camilla was not fazed in the least.
"It's also a highly coveted mineral by Black Mages."
So what? Don't you need it? Do you want me to keep it in the trash so you can't use it either?
She owned the mine, after all.
"…"
"…"
With that, Duke Sefra and Camilla stared at each other wordlessly for a moment.
He glanced at Camilla, who was smiling broadly, and gave a short nod.
"We'll take the deal if you promise to sell to us first."
"Call!"
"Hmm?"
"I mean, okay."
And that was that.
She was more surprised at how easily he accepted the terms. She was even considering giving him a little more money if he didn't.
Camilla bowed respectfully.
"I'll come back to you with a contract."
"Sure."
What she thought was going to be the hardest part of the process turned out to be easier than she thought.
Camilla sighed inwardly and smiled brightly.
"But...."
At that moment, she heard Duke Sefra's voice again.
"It seems that the Black baby of the House has been pestering the Lady."
"Oh."
Camilla looked at him, a little embarrassed.
'Some people call the Divine Beast that.'
It was interesting to see that because people usually regarded the divine beast as precious beings and deified it, sometimes they feared them.
Coming back to the original topic, he was right.
There was a Black Wolf perched at her feet, its chin resting proudly on her lap.
She knew this wolf was the newest member of House Sefra as soon as she saw it.
By the looks of it, it wasn't summoned, which means it shouldn't be visible to others...?
"Hahaha, yeah, well...."
'He's very quick on the uptake.'
She tried to act as oblivious as possible, but she couldn't help but sneak a glance or two at the Divine Beast. Duke Sefra caught it right away.
"I didn't think anyone outside of my family could see it."
It's not summoned, but he has a good idea of where his Divine Beast is.
Duke Sefra watched Camilla with interest, as did the Divine Beast.
Recently, they've been hearing a lot about the Sorpels.
'They say she has precognitive abilities.'
She had a lot of people talking about her.
'And she also found the Divine Beast's egg.'
It wasn't public knowledge yet, but he knew people who knew.
The Sorpel House is restored, and it was Camilla Sorpel who found the egg.
So it was a bit of a surprise when she came looking for him today. He hadn't expected her to be the one Arsian had said he'd bring.
And it seems as though she can see beings as special as herself.
At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but he was convinced by the way Camilla's eyes were focused exactly where the Divine Beast was.
"I'm surprised, as well."
Camilla looked at Duke Sefra and let out a short sigh.
"I'm not a very forward person, so I was going to just stay quiet today, but...."
I'm not really into sticking my nose into other people's business.
"I can't help but ask now."
"About what?"
"Why?"
Camilla's gaze never left Duke Sefra.
To be more precise, she couldn't take her eyes off the being hanging on to him.
"Why is that child hugging the Duke so affectionately?"
That child. The one with his arms wrapped tightly around Duke Sefra's neck, looking like he could cry at any moment.
Cierr, what's wrong with you?
* * *
"Cierr."
[Yes?]
The child who had been munching on the cookie looked at her questioningly, as if to ask why she was called.
Arsian was away for a while. She was thirsty, so she asked him to get her a drink. Of course, he lied to his younger brother, Cierr, about having to eat, so she kicked him out.
Cierr, distracted by the cookie, didn't follow his brother and stayed close to her side.
"Can I ask you a question?"
He nods.
After a moment of silence as he nodded his head as if to say, "You can ask me anything," Camilla cautiously asked the question she had been wanting to ask.
"The wound on your back."
[…]
The child flinched for a moment and stopped eating the cookie.
For the most part, she's never wondered about the stories of ghosts.
'This is getting on my nerves, I can't do this.'
The child's clothes were tattered and torn, with visible scars through them.
There's a reddish scar that runs across his back. It looked like he'd been beaten with a whip or something.
"Did your brother do that?"
[No!]
Yeah, I know he wouldn't have done it.
Camilla nodded as the child shouted urgently at her words.
He was the type of person to run and get food as soon as the child asks for some.
She didn't think he would have hurt his brother like that.
'He's not a psycho, he can't be.'
It was just to get the reluctant child to talk.
"Then who was it?"
[...fa…]
"Hm?"
[…My father.]
"…"
To some extent, the answer was expected. The perpetrators of child abuse are always the ones who are closest to you.
[My brother…]
But the child's next words were far beyond her assumptions.