Archmage's Restaurant - Chapter 51: Hidden Faces and the Dessert (7)
“That’s none of your business. You just need to follow my orders. Do you understand?”
“But… after giving him the medicine, the symptoms were identical…”
“Hmph, the count’s condition is entirely your fault. If you had done your job right, I would have simply killed him instead of destroying just his brain. But you couldn’t bear my grandson, so here we are. Do you understand? Everything is because of you, Verna. It’s all your fault that both the count and the boy ended up like this.”
Count Dedran sneered and turned his back again. But at that very moment—
**BOOM!**
With a tremendous noise, the wall split apart. Count Dedran, through the crumbling wall, saw the shocked faces of the nobles from House Grayke staring at him.
“Wha-what?”
From the start, El had placed a surveillance spell on the reception room. Not using the dragon’s hearing but a spell for eavesdropping, a spell crafted by a dragon.
Everything had to be manipulated through magic to avoid suspicion. Instead of the dragon directly relaying information, the conversation from the next room was magically channeled into this one.
A dragon’s hearing can pick up sounds even from considerable distances, but the auxiliary eavesdropping spell only works at a close range, like having just one wall in between.
In any case, everything had gone perfectly. At the decisive moment, I used magic to destroy the wall. This made it clear to everyone that it was Count Dedran and Verna having this conversation.
At this moment, there were dozens of witnesses who had heard Count Dedran’s confession of his crimes. Denying it was impossible.
“Count Dedran! How could you do such a thing!”
“This is clearly an abuse of power, no, an act of murder!”
The nobles of House Grayke stood up one by one, their faces filled with rage. Only those who were loyal to Count Dedran remained still.
“Hahaha! You fools! What kind of farce is this?”
Count Dedran laughed and looked at his daughter. A face she had never dared to meet her entire life.
For the first time, Verna stared directly at Count Dedran’s face and spoke.
“I am a member of House Grayke. Father, you made me this way. You sent me to marry into this house. So, I will live my life as a part of House Grayke. I will dedicate everything I have to this house, considering it a punishment for overlooking your actions all this time!”
“What… did you say?”
Count Dedran kicked his daughter in the chest. Verna collapsed to the ground again. Breathing heavily, Count Dedran glared at his fallen daughter and the other nobles.
“Count Dedran! We will formally report this to the Imperial Palace. Not only for the embezzlement but also for the attempted murders of Count Grayke and Baron Grayke!”
It was Rodri, a loyal vassal of Count Grayke, who shouted on behalf of the others. But Count Dedran merely scoffed and replied.
“Go ahead and try. What power do you provincial vassals from Grayke City have to move the Imperial Palace? And embezzlement? Do you have any evidence? Everything was done by that woman, her. And even if you had evidence, in this world, great power can cover anything.”
With a flushed face, Count Dedran gritted his teeth over his failed scheme but did not stop mocking the nobles of Grayke City as he arrogantly walked out. He did not forget to leave a final word to Verna.
“And you, how dare you interfere with me? You’re as good as dead, Verna. I will kill you, Count Grayke, and that boy—every last one of you.”
With that, Count Dedran stormed out of the castle.
As a count, there was nothing the barons and viscounts could do to stop him immediately.
As Rodri shouted, the only option was to report to the capital and await judgment. That was the way of the nobility.
It was the same even for the young Count of Grayke. Even if he inherited the title, a count would still need the Imperial Palace to adjudicate disputes with another count.
For a noble without connections, there would be no power to wield in this situation.
After all, the reason Count Dedran was able to force Verna into marriage after his victory over Count Grayke was due to his connections under the guise of power.
El pulled the knife embedded in the young Grayke’s thigh. Then he instructed Rurin to release the time-stop spell.
Moments later, the young Grayke stood up unscathed. El nodded, and the young count confidently turned to the nobles and declared:
“I, Baron Grayke Dieran, speaking with the authority of the acting Count of Grayke, command you to arrest all those who have allied with Count Dedran!”
With his command, the soldiers rushed in. The nobles had been separated from their private soldiers upon arriving here.
And those soldiers were now being defeated outside. Thinking the young Count Grayke had fallen, the betraying nobles hadn’t brought many guards, and they were easily subdued by the knights loyal to the Grayke family.
Thanks to this, the purge of Count Dedran’s faction, who had embezzled taxes from Grayke City and colluded with him, proceeded smoothly.
“Acting Count!”
Realizing the young Count Grayke was unharmed, the nobles were shocked but soon began cheering.
***
Count Dedran returned to his castle, fuming with anger.
In the Empire, only counts and higher-ranked nobles could own a castle. Barons and viscounts could only have manors.
As a count, Count Dedran returned to his castle, but he was still fuming with frustration. He never imagined that the tool that had never dared to meet his gaze could ruin decades of planning.
‘Ridiculous. It’s absurd! What, a report? This time, I will use the connections I’ve bought with all the money I’ve poured out to turn Verna into the main culprit and implicate all the Grayke nobles as accomplices!’
Anyway, I’ve taken enough money to satisfy myself. If I send everyone who failed this task to the execution grounds, I’ll feel a little less dirty.
With that thought, Count Dedran sent a messenger to the capital.
He had been bribing powerful figures there with more than half the taxes embezzled from Grayke City over the past decade to utilize that power now.
A few days later, a messenger arrived from the capital.
Count Dedran welcomed them with a grand reception, feeding and entertaining the soldiers they brought. He looked pleased as he escorted the messenger’s representative to his study.
“What did His Grace the Duke say about this matter? This is a serious issue. A grave matter. My daughter’s poor upbringing has led this vicious girl to completely ruin Grayke City.”
“That is unfortunate.”
The messenger from the capital nodded slowly.
“So, I believe there should be a severe punishment. Not only my daughter but all those in Grayke City should be punished.”
“That is true. Considering your loyalty to His Grace, the Duke, this is a request that should naturally be granted.”
“Is that so? I am grateful to His Grace for this!”
Count Dedran had been donating to the Duke, the power behind the throne in the capital, to use him as his tool.
Count Dedran was eager to kill Verna immediately.
The messenger from the capital also nodded and began to smile.
“But, you see…”
“Yes?”
“His Grace is currently displeased.”
Suddenly, the messenger’s expression changed. Count Dedran tilted his head in confusion, wondering what they meant.
“Even though there are dozens of witnesses in Grayke City who submitted complaints, that’s easily dismissed with the Duke’s power. Declaring Grayke City a problem area and wiping it clean is a simple task.”
“Yes, exactly. Please do just that. I am a loyal servant of His Grace. If you help with this matter, I will contribute even more.”
“Yes, well. Given what you’ve done so far, His Grace has certainly looked after you.”
*’Looked after’?*
Count Dedran wondered why that was in the past tense. He had no idea what they were getting at.
“But unfortunately, this time, it’s different. Count Dedran, I’ve come to escort you to the capital.”
“What? What do you mean by that!”
Count Dedran jumped up from his seat, his face a mask of bewilderment. The woman who had been seated also rose and glared at him.
“How rude, Count Dedran. Do you know who I am? I am Medrinne Serial, not someone for a lowly creature like you to look down on. And Count Dedran! You have displeased His Grace. His Grace wants nothing to do with Grayke City. As fate would have it, because of this connection with Grayke City, I, the head of the Court Magic Division, am here personally. Do you understand?”
“What is…! What are you saying!”
“Kneel.”
Medrinne spoke with contempt, casting a binding spell. Instantly, Count Dedran collapsed to the floor.
“I cannot tolerate a lowly border noble being insolent to me. Let me tell you one thing—you have meddled with a place you should never have touched. Grayke City is untouchable, even by the Emperor of the Empire. Though I can’t say why, some things in this world must never be touched. That’s all. What are you all waiting for? Knights? Take him away! Escort him to the capital for punishment under imperial law as commanded by His Grace!”
The messenger from the capital.
Medrinne, the Empire’s only 7th-class mage, even avoids sleeping facing Grayke City.
“You fools! Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this to me? Worthless things. Tools are only to be used by me!”
Count Dedran shouted as he was dragged away. Medrinne watched quietly, shaking her head.
She didn’t care for scum like him, but to remain in the good graces of *that one,* Medrinne knew she must impose the harshest punishment on him.
That was the only way to live peacefully as a mage in this world.
Under Medrinne’s orders, Count Dedran was thrown into a prison wagon. It was like a moving jail pulled by horses.
Seeing Count Dedran dragged away by the knights from the capital, the citizens of Dedran City cheered in unison. It was a backlash against the oppression they had endured for so long.
“Woooooo!”
“Get out! Get out! Get out!”
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
Stones were hurled into the prison wagon carrying Count Dedran. Not just stones, but anything they could get their hands on.