Going back to the Viscount mansion I found that Viscount had suppressed the news about my disappearance.
He did that to prevent the chaos from sprouting that might've been caused after the news of the Duke's son going missing spread. In the meantime, he was using his knights to search for me.
Since I went missing for only 3 hours, the rush died down fairly easily and without much issues.
Viscount later asked me the reason I left the knights, and I answered back saying: I went on a stroll and reached a slave shop. There I decided to buy a slave.
Yes, I know it wasn't the best excuse. In my defense, I had thought of better excuses, and I used them too but… what came out of my mouth was entirely different!
Suddenly, I couldn't lie and spouted those honest words!
Ultimately, Viscount could only nod. It looked like he had much to say, but as I was a Duke's son, he could only swallow them and ask me to at least notify them if I was ever to do the same in the future.
Just recalling that scene was enough to make me cringe. It was almost as if I was a young master using his family name to suppress others' complaints!
….Okay, I was a young master and I was doing just that, but it wasn't my fault! It was my mouth's fault that didn't let me give a proper excuse! If I could speak normally, at least the Viscount wouldn't have felt what he felt after listening to the reason I gave!
The next day, Matthew was stripped of his Knighthood and made to leave the Viscount's mansion. He had chosen to live with the stigma of a failed knight.
Later that day, the convoy decided to leave, too.
We resumed our journey in the afternoon and it had been 2 days since.
Presently, I was sitting inside my carriage and it was almost time for dinner.
I opened my eyes when i felt my consciousness blurring. This was the sign of mana exhaustion.
Taking out a mana stone from the bag, I started absorbing it to refill my mana. These mana stones, along with a few more items, were bought by me after I left Kash's shop.
With my magic power refilled, I went back to my task of creating and storing my summons inside the summoner cards.
At the same time, I shifted the curtains of my carriage and peeked outside.
There I found the soldiers and others talking amongst each other. Quite a few of those topics revolved around me.
After the spar with Matthew, a great number of rumors about me were spreading unceasingly.
Out of those rumors, two were the highlight.
'The third Lion is no longer a cub.'
'A fiend is possessing the third lion.'
It was as I expected and hoped for from that spar. Now, I needed to remove the 2nd rumor and my previous ruined image will improve by leaps and bounds.
Don't misunderstand, I didn't care much about maintaining a good public image, however, I needed to obtain the highest authority possible in the Empire to push my plan of mass mortal awakening forward. And the first step to gain authority was improving my image.
'Mass mortal awakening' was one of the projects I needed to complete in order to prepare for Coalescence. The project was to have as many humans go through mortal awakening as possible.
But it was easier said than done. In this world, the Empire and kingdoms had strict restrictions on who was allowed and who was not allowed to go through mortal awakening. Only nobles, their knights, and rich people who bought the permit with money were allowed to awaken.
A mesmerizing voice soon interrupted my thoughts, "What are you doing, Sol?"
My eyebrows twitched at the mention of my name and I turned to Lumine, the only other person inside my carriage.
Her mask was what I noticed first. It was the same wooden mask with intricate patterns and carvings that suggest a deep connection to nature. At the same time, her ears, which had their top halves cut, seemed to be pulling my gaze to them.
I knew that pointed ears were an elf's pride, yet Lumine was at ease, not trying to hide them underneath her blonde hair that fell in waves around her shoulder.
Although she was only sitting in front of me, it was taking me all of my willpower to keep myself under control.
"Oh?" Lumine put her palm above her mask, where her mouth should've been, and spoke teasingly. "Are you displeased because I called you by your name, Sol? I know that I'm posing as your personal slave, but can't I call you with your name when we are alone?"
eαglesnᴏνel Again, my eyebrows twitched.
"Your expression changed slightly this time. But you need to work harder." Lumine giggled.
This had become a norm after three days. In short, Lumine has been trying to get a reaction from me after I ignored her once three days ago.
'What does she even mean that I ignored her!? She just said 'You're weird', was I supposed to say I'm not!?'
Since I didn't know how I should reply to her comment, back then, I ignored her. I did not do that because it was a bother to answer, definitely not.
Faking a cough, she spoke like a mother teaching her child. "Sol, you should stop having a 'Stay away from me! Or, I'l kill you!' face at every waking moment. Or you'll have wrinkles before old age."
I closed my eyes and chose to ignore her, as I have been doing for the past days. I was now having second thoughts of bringing her along with me.
"Wait, don't ignore me! I'm bored! At least tell me what have you been doing with those black pieces of paper for the day!"
Opening my eyes, I gave her a blank look. "Bored? Didn't you spend most of the time alone in the cellars? You should be accustomed to getting bored."
"But I'm really curious about those pieces of paper! Why is your mana disappearing after you put it inside them? Are they absorbing your mana? But they seem no different from normal paper." She spoke excitedly.
'Sigh, she is enjoying this, isn't she?'
In front of others, Lumine either goes silent or says minimal words with a serious tone. Was it that much fun to bother me?
I answered while keeping the card inside my robe and pulling another empty card out. "I'm preparing for the hunt."
"Hunt? What are you going to hunt?"
"Are you curious?"
She nodded.
I scoffed. "Let's eat first. I'll answer later if I feel like it."
"Wait!"
Before she could stop me, I left the carriage to have dinner.
Murmurs and whispers entered my ears as soon as I stepped outside.
Most of the members of the convoy seemed afraid, or at least intimidated from my appearance. Lumine followed behind me and we sat at a different campfire that soldiers prepared hurriedly.
A member of the convoy sporting a white apron came to me, "Young master, will you be having our dinner out in the open today? Also, is there anything different you'll like to have? Please say a word and we'll prepare the best dishes for you."
"I'll have the usual here only." I turned to Lumine. "Is there anything specific you would like to eat?"
"None, young master." She replied curtly.
My eyebrow twitched, again.
She became minimalist with her words as soon as others were around! Why was I suffering for hours!
'Tsk, I should have brought an open carriage to keep her shut."
The dinner arrived a bit late.
While we were having dinner, a large shadow suddenly appeared above me.
"Stop acting, you fiend! I know that you are not the young master, but an evil spirit who has possessed him!"
Suppressing the smile threatening to break onto my face, I turned to look at the one who interrupted my dinner.
'As I thought, it was a good choice to eat out in the open today.'
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