"House Slughorn. He is talking about my House, young one."
An old man in his 80s could be seen walking toward Eren's table.
He had a head full of white hair and a long white beard. His back was hunched and an inwardly arched posture that made him look much shorter than he was.
This man had a wrinkled face. He also had green eyes but they were darker green than Eren's. He was wearing a long coat and a belt with a spatial bag attached to it. He had worn a cape over his long coat as if he was protecting himself from being exposed to the cold weather like a mortal.
Although this old man seemed to have cleaned up his act, there were signs of unkemptness on him that subtly made their presence known. It was apparent that the man had a lot of other priorities than his looks.
Eren looked at the old man and saw that he was in the late stages of the B-Rank. The man seemed old but his aura was anything but feeble.
Levine was a bit surprised to see the old man here. It looked like she knew him well.
"Oh! Long time no see, Myriad Potioner. Please join us at the table."
Levine managed to smile and greet the old man even though she carried a stressed expression on her face. She had come to realize that Eren had an unstated hatred for the House Slughorn. That put her in a difficult position as she tried to greet the old man normally.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
The old man started coughing when he stopped looking at Eren and glanced at Levine. It was as if turning his neck was also a bothersome task for him.
The old man smiled and nodded at Levine before taking her up on her offer. He didn't mind that Eren or Kirin didn't greet him even though his ranking status hinted at it for them. The rankers' code of conduct didn't mean anything to the man in his old age.
The old man took a deep breath and looked at Levine.
"Long time indeed, little Levine. No need to call me by my title, you know. I stopped fighting for the kingdom's sake a long time ago. It doesn't mean anything to me now."
Cough! Cough! Cough!
A bottle of potion was pulled from the old man's storage. He drank its contents quickly and channeled his mana to digest it right away.
"You didn't take my Sienna under your wing, little Levine. That's the only complaint I have with you."
Sebastian's voice sounded clearer and deeper after he drank his potion. There was no undertone of his age in that voice. Levine quickly took a glance at Eren before replying to the old gentleman.
"It's not like I didn't say no to her. To become my disciple, she could have taken my test and aced it. But she never showed up."
Sebastian sighed and nodded at Levine before responding.
"I know all that, little Levine. But you know that I'm unable to teach her anything because of my condition. You were the only one apart from me I could count on to guide her. If you could have just lowered your requirements a bit…"
Levine frowned when she listened to his words. It looked like the man wanted her to take Sienna under her care regardless of her lackluster talent in potioning. Something she had never done or would ever do. The reason she had ignored Marie was that her standards were too high to meet easily.
She cut off Sebastian's speech and spoke in a cold tone that was devoid of any respect this time.
"Please let me stop you right there, uncle Sebastian. You and I both know Sienna wasn't up for the task. She wasn't interested in potioning at all. She'd rather cheat her way through her academic year than make genuine efforts to learn the basics.
I don't know how you still expect me to make her my disciple under such circumstances. I'd rather take a talented ranker who is thoroughly invested in the field than choose someone else because of the personal connections I share with them."
Eren drank his White Ravel ale from the pitcher as he watched the banter between Levine and Sebastian. He didn't care anymore that one of the House Slughorn's acting heads had come to meet him while the presentation regarding his guild's top-tier products was taking place.
The butcher already knew that the clash with House Slughorn was inevitable because of his move to become exclusive with his products. So he had already prepared to meet someone from House Slughorn like this. He just let the two Master rankers talk while he held hands with Kirin and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
"A talented ranker who is thoroughly invested in the field, you say. And you think this young man satisfied all your requirements? If you ask me, he looks more invested in chasing skirts than potioning."
Sebastian asked Levine while staring at the public display of affection Eren was showing toward Kirin. He looked at the couple holding hands over the table and frowned.
"Eren Idril, is it? I am not asking you to show me some respect, young man. But the least you could do is take your date somewhere else when I'm talking. That is if you can't control your hands."
Eren chuckled and finally looked Sebastian in the eyes before commenting.
"You are asking me to show respect without asking me to show respect, Master Sebastian. And please don't forget that it was you who decided to join us. I don't have to do anything that is being dictated by you."
Eren said and caressed Kirin's hand even more as he drank from his pitcher with the other. He would have spoken to the old man more leniently if he and Kirin were alone with him.
A B-Rank entity wasn't someone he wanted to easily offend. Not unless he had his own strategies to deal with him. But this time, Levine was with them. So he didn't have to worry about the old man suddenly turning hostile.
AN: Sebastian Slughorn was first introduced in chapter 641.
