The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 36 (Part 2):

“I came up with one clever move.”

“What is it?”

“I requested help from Franche.”

“Pardon?”

“The princess of Franche herself has agreed to come. She should arrive within three days.”

I knew he was a smart person.

But I didn’t know he was this bold.

To the point of being dumbfounding.

“You mean you’re trying to receive support from a foreign country? Is that even possible?”

“Of course not. The entire family would be exterminated for treason.”

“Then?”

“If it’s the princess’s private army rather than support from the Franche state, there’s no legal issue. It’s just a transaction between companies after all.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Moreover, since I alone hold all the shares, it’s not even a public company. I’ve converted it to a privately held company.”

The Count spoke as if it were no big deal.

But he’s walking a very thin tightrope.

“Come to think of it, Count, didn’t you use pirates to sink Franche’s regular troops? Is that okay?”

The Count explained in a low voice.

“Franche is a very large country. There are various interests within it. The Second Princess who has agreed to join hands with me is a heavyweight that even the King or Crown Prince can’t handle easily, and she’s even eyeing the throne. The Franche regular troops I sank were the Crown Prince’s forces.”

“So the enemy of my enemy is my friend, is that it?”

“That’s right.”

It may sound like a clever move at first, but it’s clearly a decision made after being pushed to the edge of a cliff.

One wrong move and he could be abandoned by both sides.

“Are you sure about this? At this point, wouldn’t it be better to just submit to Duke Balkan rather than go this far?”

Count Furst gave a faint smile.

“I heard that Mage Merlin fell off his horse in front of the nobles that day. He hasn’t shown himself in public since then. Rumors are rampant that he died.”

There’s no way a mage like Merlin would just fall off his horse.

The moment I killed his familiar, he must have received a considerable shock and at least lost consciousness.

Judging by Count Furst’s satisfied expression, he seems to think I killed him directly.

It’s similar, but not quite.

“So?”

“So Duke Balkan is in a situation where he can’t exert much power either. He usually overestimates the power of his mage and has made too many enemies.”

“I suppose. Come to think of it, he treated the other nobles like servants at the Dragon Ranch.”

“Dragon Ranch? What’s that?”

The Count seemed completely unaware.

Ah, I forgot that they lost their memory after leaving it.

But since he remembers meeting the Duke, it seems he only lost the memory of that specific place.

There’s no point in explaining since he wouldn’t understand anyway, so I just continued.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, so you’re saying you won’t submit to Duke Balkan?”

“If I marry the Duke’s daughter, all of his numerous enemies could become my enemies too, and…”

He trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say.

“Don’t worry. I was planning to go out tomorrow anyway. I’ll definitely find out who was responsible for the unfortunate incident with your wife, Count. Even if I can’t find out exactly, I’ll at least be able to confirm whether it was Duke Balkan or not.”

“Alright, I trust you. I’ll leave that matter entirely to you. Not only do I have company affairs, but there are also many internal matters in the domain. There are important issues that Butler Clark can’t decide on his own.”

“Since you’ve been away for so long, it must be even more so. The approval documents must have piled up.”

Count Furst nodded slightly and said:

“Butler Clark is truly an indispensable person.”

After saying that, he just sits there quietly.

Normally, he would have jumped up to get back to work, but now he’s feeling apologetic.

It was inevitable.

The Franche royal family is my sworn enemy.

They are the ones who killed my innocent mother.

The Count must have reached out to them as a last resort, thinking I was dead.

“I want to rest for now. Let’s talk about the rest later.”

The Count, unable to meet my eyes, mumbled:

“I understand. I’ll come again.”

There was still a hint of apology in his back as he opened the door and left.

Once his footsteps had completely faded away, I whispered softly:

“It’s okay. You can come in.”

No sooner had those words fallen than the sound of rapid footsteps was heard from outside.

Soon the door opened slightly, and Fabre poked his head in.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Fabre smiled brightly and quickly came inside.

“Mage! Hehe. I knew you’d be alive!”

He’s always so pure, no matter when I see him.

I raised myself slightly to sit up against the headboard.

“Did you?”

“Yes! Jangsir told me!”

He stretched out both hands upwards, and on them was the two-horned fire-winged unicorn beetle I had seen before.

A strange magical power could be felt from the two horns of that beetle.

It felt more intense and refined than what I had felt before.

Fabre’s words can’t be dismissed as mere child’s talk.

He is a mage too, after all.

“How did Jangsir tell you?”

Fabre smiled broadly again, climbed onto the bed, crossed his legs to sit, and brought Jangsir close to my nose.

“This little one can see far away. That’s how I knew. It showed me you unconscious on that strange horse.”

Since he says he saw me unconscious on the strange horse, it’s not an illusion.

Then the magical power of the beetle Jangsir must be clairvoyance.

I wonder if he unconsciously used this little beetle’s power to discover the assassins who infiltrated the mansion in the past.

I need to confirm.

“Can I see too?”

“Hmm. It should be possible. After all, it was you, Mage Ran, who taught me how to put psychic power into beetles.”

“I told you to call me senior.”

“Hehe.”

Fabre just laughed cheerfully without responding.

I’ve told him several times, but since he doesn’t follow, he must have his own reasons.

I don’t intend to force him.

I asked:

“Then may I try?”

“Yes. Jangsir likes you too, Mage Ran, so it should be fine.”

I took out my staff from inside my robe. It’s very difficult to put psychic power into a beetle without a staff.

The fact that Fabre does this easily is probably due to innate reasons.

“Wow.”

Fabre’s eyes sparkled as he looked at my staff.

I brought the staff close to the beetle’s two horns. The moment the tip of the staff touched those horns, an amazing sight entered my vision.

A huge nest full of feathers.

Inside, Merlin was curled up, clutching a dark red jewel.

Snow-white hair and beard, and a gray robe barely covered that frail body.

No.

It’s not hair or beard or robe.

They were all feathers that had grown from his body.

His hands had become wings, and his lips had become a beak.

Just then, Merlin suddenly raised his head.

Eyes filled with deep murderous intent pierced through me.

“Kuhup.”

At that moment, a sharp pain shot through me, and a bitter lump rose up my throat.

In an instant, everything before my eyes was dyed completely red.

Dangun

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