Lennon was terrified of the change on his father’s face. He never expected his father to make such a face.
As expected it would be a no. Any father with pride wouldn’t allow it.
He was going to have to bang his head on the table and say sorry. He would have to do something before the mood turned sour.
“S-Sorry…”
“Did you ask that child to teach you first?”
But the words from Count Simon weren’t what he was expecting.
“Uh?”
“Did you first bow down to him and ask?”
“… yes. I was the one who asked him to teach.”
“You are saying you don’t have pride?”
The Count had an interesting expression on.
He rubbed his stubble and smiled. Lennon was a proud child and it was something he confirmed with his own eyes while teaching him.
But he bowed and asked someone, that too Jamie Welton who humiliated him in the past.
If it was the old Lennon, this would have been unimaginable.
‘He doesn’t seem angry?’
Lennon, unable to understand his father’s thoughts, was still worried.
Because the Count’s face was still stiff.
Lennon spoke cautiously.
“… if it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t do it.”
“Uncomfortable?”
The Count tilted his head at the sudden words from his son.
“Aren’t you angry that I asked Jamie Welton to teach me?”
“Angry? Me?”
Lennon nodded.
Count Simon didn’t understand. What made him think that?
Then he remembered what Mion said.
-Count’s face gets really scary when it looks surprised. Loosen up your facial muscles.
He was shocked once in the past when he discovered a new form of magic and Mion, who saw it, was afraid.
The Count summoned a mirror.
Lennon flinched at the sudden action, but the Count didn’t care and looked at his face in the mirror.
‘I do look terrifying.’
Not once had anyone said that to him, so he didn’t know.
Count Simon pushed the mirror and said to his son.
“There is nothing I am uncomfortable about. I am just a little surprised by your actions, don’t be afraid.”
“… yes?”
“It is just that I am not used to showing emotions to someone. But there is nothing I am angry about.”
Lennon was genuinely surprised. He never thought that his father would explain it to him like that.
He was also self-centered which created room for misunderstandings. However, not once did his father shout on anyone.
However, he was caring in his own way.
For his sons. To be honest, this was something which never happened in his life. Lennon was in a state of shock because he grew up seeing his father always rush out of home.
And Count Simon said to him.
“I allow it. You can learn from Jamie Welton.”
And Lennon felt amazed by that.
“R-really?”
“Yes. But, make sure not to tarnish the name of the Simon family. Understood?”
“Yes!”
Lennon replied with a broad smile.
Lennon wasn’t acting like his age because of the cold and strict atmosphere in the family, but still a few childish things would pop up.
Like right now.
‘I was feeling a bit bad that the relation with the Welton family degraded because of the past incident, but with this, things might go back to normal.’
Of course, to Count Simon who was a noble to the bone, the status of his family was still more important than his son.
But he didn’t want to say that out loud in front of his happy son.
“Now go. Your father has a lot to do.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you! I will work hard! And not tarnish the family name.”
“Work hard.”
A smile bloomed on Lennon’s face.
And he answered.
“YES!!!”
Somehow, it felt like he was getting closer to his father.
Late in the evening, Lennon went to Jamie’s home.
With a face so full of joy that one wouldn’t have to ask why he came.
“The Count gave you permission.”
“Yes. Now accept me as your disciple.”
Lennon bowed his head.
It wasn’t an easy thing for a guy with self-esteem to bow like that.
Jamie, who realized that the child had changed since the last time, said,
“It won’t be much. After classes, come to my place with Ann.”
“Yes!”
Lennon answered.
It was quite weird to see him respond so brightly, but Jamie believed that children were meant to be like this.
Although noble children were expected to act maturely, they still had innocence in them.
This was because they received all manners and character education from a young age. Occasionally, they would be given freedom, but most parents were the problem.
Well, at least Lennon was acting like a child.
And Jamie, who was thinking that, was one year younger than Lennon.
“My class will be difficult. You get what I mean?”
“To become a son father isn’t ashamed of, I need to grow much stronger than now. So I will do anything.”
“Confidence is good. But if you can’t follow me, I’ll abandon you right away. Ann Myers is no exception either. You need to prove yourselves.”
“I will do that!”
“Okay. Now go. I have something to do.”
Jamie was about to turn away when Lennon called for him.
“Jamie Welton.”
“This child is calling a teacher by their name…”
Jamie stopped.
It was because Lennon’s face was much more serious than usual. He was nervous and clenching his trembling fist.
“I bowed down now, but one day I will catch up to you. So right now, enjoy this moment! Bye!”
Lennon ran out the moment he said that.
Jamie, who stared at that, grinned.
“I think serving the peers as a teacher is a good motivator. Right?”
Kik!
Black who was hiding in the shadows, came out and answered.
“… still, for calling a teacher by their name, I am going to give him a taste of hellish training.”
Jamie was a man who held grudges. And he made sure to pay it all back.
“More… I said more.”
A man sat down in the dark alley and reached out his hand desperately to someone.
Bloodshot eyes, pale skin and sunken cheeks, nothing seemed normal.
“G-give me medicine, give me.”
“The side effects seem quite severe.”
A man wearing a large robe stood in front of such a man.
The man in the robe looked at the crawling man with an indifferent expression. A person looking at a drug addict. A person who looked like a zombie.
“Blood vessels have ruptured and the heart seems useless.”
“Medicine… please…”
The man grabbed the ankle of the man in the robe.
The tremors from the hand said that the condition was more horrible than what could be seen.
But the man in the robe shook his ankle and kicked the man to the side.
“Ah.”
The man lacked the strength to scream.
The man in the robe looked at the vial in his hand. A drug which didn’t even have a label.
The man ahead had taken this for an entire month without skipping a day.
“The response in the first week was satisfactory.”
The first week of taking it, the man in front of him had a 1.5 times increase in mana, his muscle mass had increased and he had a rise in concentration too.
However, from the moment he entered the second week, the man’s condition began to deteriorate rapidly.
The mana core in his heart shrank, the flow of mana seemed messed up. The muscles became like a deflated balloon.
And the intelligence dropped more than expected.
Fortunately, with the drug it would work, but the effect only lasted for 2 hours.
“The doctor will be disappointed. He had high expectations for EX.”
The man in the robe smiled bitterly.
The man on the floor crawled and kept repeating his words like a trained parrot asking for medicine.
He squatted and asked the weak man.
“Want to drink this?”
“Please, please give it.”
He rubbed his hands and begged. It seemed like he abandoned his self-esteem. Without it, it felt like he would die, so he kept begging.
The man in the robe smiled and shook his head.
“But I can’t, not to trash like you.”
“Ahh… please. I will do what…”
“What can trash like you even do? Still, you were of use. You did distribute the X directly to the students. Really what is expected from trash.”
Having said that, he laughed and got up.
He kicked the man who was trying to get close.
“Prepare to hear complaints of the disciples from other places, teacher.”
“Ahh…”
Puck!
His head exploded.
The man in the robe smiled at the splattered blood. Killing people was such a thrilling thing. Especially when the head was crushed like tofu, the pleasure of seeing it was several times more.
“Ah. And this.”
He tucked the vial into the robe wiping off the blood from his shoes.
The corpses will be cleared by other people.
The man in the robe leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He didn’t know magic so he used a matchstick.
“But, this city is boring.”
It was hard to believe that this was the most magical city in the world.
‘Maybe that is why the darkness is more deeply rooted.’
The man in the robe liked this place.
From the outside it was a bright city with the innocence and passion of the magicians here.
What was even more interesting was that this was also a place where evil deeds started.
“Living is so fun these days.”
A very big event was going to happen here.
Just the thought of it made the man in the robe feel happy.
The world is most beautiful when it is in darkness. He wanted a world where someone’s screams, tears and pain were mixed.
“You don’t think so?”
The man in a robe asked, looking at the person standing at the entrance of the alley.
A person also hid their face in a similar robe.
Without answering, he walked to the corpse and looked at the other man. He didn’t know what the expression was because of the robe and asked.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“Didn’t I kill him cleanly?”
“This doesn’t fit the requirement. What if a colleague…”
“Enough.”
The man in the robe stopped him.
He knew that a battle with the other one would be a slaughtering one.
‘It isn’t time yet.’
A red blood stream flowed from inside the robe.
The man in robe chuckled as he threw away the cigarette.
“I will go first.”
With that he soared into the air.
The other one frowned when he disappeared. And without a word looked at the corpse.
“No beauty in this at all.”
In a dry voice.
