Bullied but Popular

48 – Rai and Rachel

“Are you okay here?”

“It’s delicious, but if you’re going to eat steak, why don’t you go with the one I recommended? It’s really good there.”

“He says everything he needs to say while eating, don’t you just eat quietly?”

Aren, Tia, and Lirina were slicing steaks at a high-end restaurant in the downtown area.

As Tia kept grumbling about what she was so dissatisfied with, Aren lightly scolded her and told Lirina.

“How about Lirina? Does it suit your taste?”

“Yes! It’s been a long time since I ate such high-quality food!”

“Can I order more, or would you like dessert?”

“ice cream!”

“…Didn’t I ask you?”

I lightly tackled Tia, who was shouting ice cream, and turned to Lirina.

“Oh, then ice cream…”

“Look! It’s ice cream!”

At Tia’s complaint, Aren called the waiter without saying anything.

“Give me three ice creams.”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

When the waiter left, Tia smiled contentedly and leaned back in her chair.

“Whoa, I’m full.”

“Shall we cancel the ice cream?”

“There are still pears to eat.”

“I see.”

Tia resolutely responded to Aren’s words and then stretched out.

“Euuu~ But this house is also delicious, I should have brought my sister.”

“Sister Cecilia?”

“Yeah, I came with you.”

At Tia’s words, Aren tilted his head and said.

“Where are you now?”

“To the Duke of Nerestia.”

“… what!?”

Aren was frightened by Tia’s calm words and said,

“Why are you going there?”

“To see a friend.”

“Who’s your friend?”

“… Seriously, is my sister your girlfriend? Why are you asking this?”

As Tia frowned at the persistent question, Aren also frowned.

“You’re asking because you’re worried.”

“What are you so worried about?”

“… you’re fine there, right?”

When Tia’s reaction was so calm, Aren felt strange and asked the opposite question.

At that question, she sighed and said.

“hahahaha, I don’t know where you heard about it, but it’s dangerous there, no. Especially since my older sister came and went like it was my house since I was little, don’t worry unnecessarily.”

“……”

Aren’s expression wrinkled as if he did not understand Tia’s words.

At that time, Lirina, who had been listening quietly, spoke.

“But Tia, I’ve heard rumors about the duke’s family, and they say the duke’s atmosphere isn’t good these days?”

“It’s okay, Lilina, most of those rumors are nonsense.”

Most of the bad rumors about the duchy were about Duke Hamel.

I don’t know what Duke Hamel was looking for, but he sent his knights to other countries as well as Iggent to search for them.

However, the process is brutal.

In the process of destroying secret organizations or groups all over the country, or capturing rare monsters or precious herbs that live quietly in the forest, there were not one or two animals whose seeds were dried.

I don’t know what the heck they were looking for, but when the number of people dying from their actions reached hundreds, of course, nobles from other countries couldn’t stand still.

When all sorts of dissatisfaction came into Nerestia or the royal family of Iggent, King Langrit banned Duke Hamel from advancing to other countries and ordered compensation for the victims.

Duke Hamel seemed to be obediently following the order by paying compensation to the victims and returning the knights dispatched to other countries, but…

“From what I’ve heard, there are still rumors that Nerestia’s knights roam in other countries.”

“……”

At Lirina’s words, Tia closed her mouth for a while and then fell into thought.

This was something that should not be said carelessly.

Looking at her like that, Aren said as if tossing it.

“Are you looking for an elixir?”

“… no.”

Tia sighed and said.

“Well, since it’s an open secret, it probably doesn’t matter.”

“Then tell me.”

At Aren’s urging, Tia nodded and said:

“All I can tell you is what happened five years ago.”

“Five years ago?”

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. The case of the dark priest who attacked Nerestia.”

“Dark Priest…”

The case of the dark priest who attacked the Duke of Nerestia five years ago.

To say it was a raid was a bit of an understatement. He entered the duke’s house alone, in broad daylight, and fought to the death with the knights.

Even more surprising was that it was impossible to kill the Dark Priest even though hundreds of knights rushed at him, and he left after fighting all night and saying he was tired.

The incident remains a disgrace even in the duke’s family and was famous enough to be heard by Aren in the countryside.

After recalling the information he knew for a moment, Aren said.

“That title was real, it’s a nickname full of confidence.”

“I’ve thought about whether that’s important now, but your naming sense is weird.”

Tia continued talking with a straight face at Aren’s sudden nonsense.

“Anyway, Duke Hamel at that time was still an Aura Knight, but he broke the wall in the battle with the Dark Priest.”

“If it’s about that, I know roughly, right after that, the Dark Priest runs away.”

ran away

Rumor has it

It is said that Duke Hamel’s awakening caused the Dark Priest to flee, but…

‘Maybe he spread false rumors to save face in the country.’

The Dark Priest did not run away, but withdrew.

The story that he fought all night and finally ran away after Duke Hamel came and became a master was a story that I couldn’t understand in many ways.

At Aren’s words, Tia nodded and said.

“Yeah, but the problem doesn’t end there.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Luna Nerestia, the problem is that the only daughter of the ducal family was cursed by the Dark Priest.”

Nerestia succeeded in expelling the Dark Priest, but was unable to block his curse attack.

“The reason Duke Nerestia is acting recklessly right now is to break the curse on his sister, a curse that cannot be lifted even with the holy power of the priest. .. You must feel very guilty.”

“……’

Lirina, who had been listening to Tia for a while, spoke.

“Then the Duke is looking for the Dark Priest?”

“……”

Tia was unable to answer Lirina’s question.

It is also true that what Duke Hamel is looking for is not the Dark Priest, but the Holy Beast, the phoenix, the phoenix, which is protected by the Holy Kingdom.

It wasn’t something to be taken lightly in a place like this.

When Tia couldn’t answer, Aren pointed to the ice cream that was already out and said,

“Anyway, you say you’re fine? Let’s get some ice cream.”

“… okay.”

“Ah, I’ll eat well, Aren.”

While the two of them were eating ice cream, Aren was quietly thinking.

From noble mtl dot com

‘Dark Priest, Curse, Duke, Elixir… Something is lacking.’

***

Busy street in Kuzen.

“Have a good meal, Aren.”

“I ate well too, Aren.”

“It’s an honor to hear that the beautiful ladies enjoyed their meal.”

The three people who left the restaurant didn’t go back right away and started looking around the downtown area.

“Oh! Aren! I want to eat that!”

Tia, looking around the downtown area, exclaims when she discovers a new snack.

“…Is it true? Did you just eat?”

“Wouldn’t it be a waste to spend money on a beautiful lady?”

When Tia spoke confidently and pointed to the freshly baked bread, Aren was taken aback, but he was already on his way to the bakery.

“Here’s the bread…”

“Oops!”

As Aren was about to order bread, he heard the screams of a child.

“This slave dare to be in the owner!”

“evil!”

“Oh, brother…!”

In the middle of the street, an aristocratic-looking man was kicking a young-looking blond-haired boy.

A younger-looking girl was held in the boy’s arms, but the boy did not move to protect the girl even as he was kicked.

Tia and Lirina, who discovered it, stood in the way of the nobleman and shouted.

“What are you doing!”

“What if you hit a child so badly!”

“What, what are you!?”

The man reflexively shouted as he saw the two girls standing in his way, but in his heart he admired their beauty.

‘Killing… Who is it? Are you noble?’

Tia shouts as the man starts thinking more and more nasty things.

“What kind of family bastard are you! What kind of moral bastard beats kids on the street!”

Tia’s cry must have touched the man’s heart, and when his expression wrinkled, a man who appeared to be a knight standing next to him took his place and said.

“This is the eldest son of Viscount Manos, Tony Manos! Who are you!”

“This is Tia Cloud from the Countess Cloud! You immoral bastards! Can you figure out the situation now!”

‘Count Cloud!?’

Upon hearing Tia’s family name, the knight and Tony Manos began to get nervous.

Count Cloud was one of the pillars of the country, boasting the highest prestige and military power among the counts.

After hearing her family name, Tony Manos calmed down as much as possible and straightened up to greet her.

“I’ve been rude for a while, sorry lady. I…”

“Shut up and get out of here, before I really kill half of you.”

While Tony was as polite as possible, Tia’s reaction was cold.

Tony said, feeling a little rebellious at him.

“But Lady, what have I done wrong?”

“What? You don’t know what you did?”

“Are you referring to beating those kids?”

“Then what else is there besides this?”

“Haaa… Lady? Can you look at their necks for a moment?”

At Tony’s words, Tia glanced at the children’s slave collars.

“As you can see, those slaves are my ‘things’. No matter how I deal with my things, I don’t think it’s the lady’s business?”

“Haaa, stuff? Ah, a slave, so stuff? You’re really showing off your fundamentals.”

Once again, Tony’s face became more and more ferocious at Tia’s sharp reaction.

“Lady, even if you’re a lady of the Cloud family, at least…”

“At least something? Being polite?

“…are you done?”

“No, I haven’t finished yet…”

When Tony and Tia’s argument escalated, Aren’s soft voice suddenly came.

“Wow~ That would be nice~ Rachel will be reassured because she has an older brother like this.”

nod

At some point, Aren, who was treating the boy, was talking to a girl crying next to him.

“I wish my brother had a brother like this, so even if the bad guys attack me, I won’t be scared at all!”

nod

Rather than having a conversation, Aren spoke softly, as if soothing, and the girl just nodded while wiping away tears.

Aren this time spoke to the boy he was treating.

“Your name is Rai?”

“… yes.”

“That’s a cool name? It goes well with you now.”

“……”

As Aren treated Rai, he continued to talk to him in the most friendly way possible.

Tony looked at him and said with a frown.

“Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you getting away from my stuff?”

startled startled

Rai and Rachel’s bodies tremble at Tony’s angry voice.

Aren smiled at the two children as if they were okay and looked at Tony and said.

“How much?”

“what?”

“These kids say I’m buying, tell me the price.”

“Aren!?”

“what!?”

Tia and Lirina panicked at Aren’s sudden words, but Aren ignored them and told Tony.

“I’ll buy you double the price I paid for these kids.”

“Poop! You don’t like it?”

As if Aren’s words were funny, Tony said with a sneer.

“Are you saying you know how expensive slaves are? What you’re worth is worth buying…”

While Tony was about to continue, Aren pulled out a bundle of jewels from his magic backpack and said,

“Do you like this much?”

“……”