"You know what, teacher Levine? I have suddenly developed an urge to give madam city protector a token of my appreciation. After all, she deserves recognition for her exemplary work.
Please see to it that we send an appropriate gift her way."
Eren bowed to Levine and spoke humbly. It was as if the venom he was spewing with his words was a completely different Eren altogether. Levine was speechless for a while before nodding at him. She also felt impressed by her student's diplomatic quotient.
Sebastian clenched his fist and bit his lips while looking at Eren hatefully. However, he couldn't do anything more than that. As the anger building inside him was unable to be vented, he began coughing hysterically.
Sebastian was angry at Eren and angrier at the source of that voice. Not because he was reprimanded. But because he was reprimanded out in the open.
Sebastian wasn't worried about the crowd gathered in the market. But there were a lot of prominent rankers in the city. Those who knew his name and had met him personally were among them.
As such, Sebastian's hate for Eren grew even more than it already was. However, the butcher wasn't worried about what the old man could do anymore. He had come to realize that the old man was a lion without his teeth and claws.
Alto was instructed by Eren to carry on with his tasks by voice communication. The merchant breathed a sigh of relief before telling everyone that there was nothing to worry about. The crowd started talking normally after that. It was apparent that instances like these were not totally out of the norm in the city of New Beginnings.
Eren became fearless when he inadvertently got the backing of an A-Rank lady in suppressing the old man. He looked at Sebastian with a bright smile before concluding his business with him.
"Master Sebastian, the opposition you are banking on is not as strong as you think it is. It has already been divided. You can say that the market has already been monopolized by me.
Trust me. I wouldn't have come out in the open if I didn't have these things working for me in the background. Flaunting my achievements out in the open is not my style. We do what we have to do, however. The business will not prosper by itself, right?
The marketing campaigns are just a way to make things official at this point. This is not an overnight success. This is something I invested a lot of time and effort into.
You were not wrong about me being a skirt-chaser. But that's not the only thing I do."
Eren said calmly, without sounding arrogant. Sebastian also took a long breath and rebooted his thoughts with it. He looked at Eren intently before asking him a question.
"I only want to ask you one last thing. What did my House ever do to you?"
Eren tapped his fingers over the table when he heard the question. He reclined in his chair and shrugged his shoulders before answering vaguely.
"Ask this question to your beloved Sienna. Maybe she can answer that for you."
Sebastian wanted to ask Eren what he meant by that. But he dropped the idea all of a sudden. His dissatisfaction with Sienna turned into hatred, and he began to blame her for everything.
Sebastian got up from his seat and looked at Levine and Eren for one last time before disappearing into thin air. Only then did Levine breathe a sigh of relief.
"You… Why are you so set on destroying House Slughorn? And don't give me that bullshit about Sienna being the reason behind all this. You hardly interacted with the girl when you were in LA."
Eren started laughing when he saw Levine looking at him with irritation written on her face. He resorted to doing what he was most effective at– speaking bullshittery wrapped in euphemisms.
Levine, Kirin, and Eren soon started talking normally– occasionally laughing. Alto continued talking about White Raven Guild's products, and the crowd below them grew even wider.
***
Remus Estate.
A well-lit grand hall. Three rune-strengthened walls. And the fourth wall was replaced by an open balcony that became the source of light inside the hall. From the looks of things, this grand hall was way above the clouds. This was a flying artifact that was levitating over a mountain's peak.
There was no door to access the grand hall. A small teleportation array had been placed at one corner of the grand hall.
An array made of blood-red ink was inscribed over the ground. This was the blood of the ice wyvern that had been used to construct the array.
There was a handsome man in his late 30s sitting inside an array. He was in a meditative state while practicing his summoner-specific ranking technique.
This man had dark brown hair and a square-shaped face. He had a full beard that was neatly trimmed. His black eyes were closed and moving inside the eyelids. As if he was seeing things with his closed eyes.
The man wore expensive clothes. There was a medallion serving as his pendant. He had his sword and staff beside him. They were getting imbued with his mana at the same time as he was practicing his ranking technique.
"Hush!"
The man took a long breath after finishing his practice. The breath he released created a chilled atmosphere around him all of a sudden. The ice layers started forming over the ground near him and the moisture in the wind started to condense as well.
"You can come in now."
The man said to one of his subordinates. The teleportation array lit up and a man in his 20s came forward. He bowed to the bearded man before producing an array disk in his hand.
"Lord Birmond, these are the details we received regarding the disappearance of Adept Rey and Expert Janos."
The man sent the array disk Birmond's way using his wind-element spell. He then bowed once more at Birmond before making his exit.
"Hmm. This brat is afraid of what's inside the disk. Or he is afraid of my reaction to what's inside the disk. I wonder what happened to those two."
Birmond mumbled to himself as he watched his subordinate disappear. He then imbued his mana and started accessing the data that had been stored inside.
AN: Birmond Remus was first mentioned in chapter 801.
