Chapter 184 - Artificial Nest
Laust had no idea about what his brother had gone through for him and still hated him for what he had shown the whole time.
Still, with his brother returning to the home a few days ago, he still couldn't wrap the hatred for quite a while.
Even though the others already pointed at him to stop what he was thinking and focused on the practice, his mind often wandered about his brother.
The same applied to today. Theo had asked them to meet up in a restaurant to discuss their next plan. With a troubled thought, he entered the restaurant and headed straight to their meeting place.
He opened the door and all of them had been waiting for him with food already on the table.
"Oh, Laust. We've been waiting for you. Come in and grab some bite." Phyrill waved his hand, asking Laust to come in.
"…" Laust didn't do anything for a few seconds before entering the room. Before thinking about food, Laust stared at Theo and said, "What do you want to talk about?"
Theo glanced at his expression and contemplated. He hadn't said anything since the start, but now that Laust had arrived, he thought it was fine to drop a hint while finishing the food. He swallowed the piece of chicken in his mouth and answered with a calm tone. "Artificial Nest."
When they all heard about it, their hands stopped and their jaws dropped to the ground. Taken aback by the answer, everyone simply couldn't understand why Theo mentioned Artificial Nest.
As someone who was familiar with Artificial Nests, Alea asked, "Theo. Do you know about the Artificial Nest? If it's something you discover, I think it's better not to go there because it's someone's property."
Phyrill agreed with her and added, "Although there's no rule that states that you can't trespass anyone's property on that side other than inside the fort, they may attack you if you enter."
They were worried that Theo thought it was fine to enter someone's property, especially big families, since only those who had enough budget could create one.
However, Theo only shrugged and said, "That's what I want to say today. I have rented an Artificial Nest for a week and we're free to kill all the monsters and grab the loot."
"What?!" Alea put down her fork and stared at Theo in bewilderment. "Are you sure you don't have any background? Renting an Artificial Nest is nearly impossible. Maybe you are someone from a big family? Young Master Theo, how about we become friends?"
"Enough with the joke." Theo let out a long sigh and continued, "The Artificial Nest is your Eilric Family possession."
"…" Alea drew a gasp while Ellen became so interested in this talk as she remembered the scene where Nart and Theo left the school.
She tilted her head while smiling. "Theo, I saw you leaving the school with Alea's grandfather… Was it to discuss this nest?"
"Yes." Theo confirmed it with a nod.
"It's close to impossible for even Alea's grandfather to rent you this kind of nest, especially with those conditions. You must have hidden something… Maybe, that talk was actually a discussion of your marriage with Alea?"
"Enough with such a comment. Marrying her is one of the last things I want to do." Theo pointed his finger at Alea while replying with a calm tone.
Alea's eyebrows twitched. Although she didn't see Theo as a love interest yet, she was still somewhat confident with her look. No, if someone outside their group were to hear his response, they would think Theo was blind.
Alea had almost everything to be called beautiful: alluring lips, cool and beautiful eyes, a small and cute nose, a well-developed body along with enchanting curves.
Yet, Theo's statement completely disregarded everything. She couldn't help but pout and argue, "Wait, why is it the last thing you want to do? Am I not beautiful?"
Theo didn't answer her since she wasn't the problem, it was just him trying to stay away from love. Even if he managed to see his brother again, he doubted he would acknowledge him as his brother because people might try to hunt him down in the future. But… They didn't need to know about this thought.
He only made a simple reply. "Lady. Don't confuse love and lust, thanks."
"…" Alea fell silent when he heard this remark.
Theo then showed them the contract and said, "Anyway, this is the contract. Let's not stray from the topic anymore. I want all of you to sign this contract, so we can hunt in that nest. After seeing the layout, I believe Laust and I can reach Level 150 inside there, while Alea and Ellen will be close to Level 200 within one week. And there seem to be two Rare Hero Rank Monsters as a bonus… You can say we will complete the second assignment in this nest.
"The remaining three weeks will be used to focus on Alea and Ellen to make sure they both become Hero Rank Experts. For now, we will focus on increasing our strength."
Alea skimmed the contract and nodded as it was their standard contract with only a few adjustments since they were still students.
Since Theo also gave one to her, it seemed she needed to sign it as well, even though she didn't even need permission to go to a nest that her family owned.
Seeing Alea signing the contract, the rest decided to stop eating and took a look at the contract.
It wasn't that hard and complicated to understand, so they decided to sign it after a few minutes.
"Anyway, I will be giving you the layout later. Don't forget to give me your plans and suggestions, so I can make a few adjustments to my own plan. The time limit is a week, so do your best in your planning," said Theo while picking up a fork and a knife.
The group then ate while discussing some topics, especially about Theo and Nart's relationship. Alea even made a joke that Theo was an illegitimate grandson or her own brother but stopped by Theo.
