“Pardon meee.”
Opening the door to Bear’s prep room, I saw him and someone who looked out of place there. It was the girl who was often with the competent younger brother. If she were here, did that mean the boy had another message for me?
“Ah, you’re here. Take a seat.”
“Good day to you,” the fourth-year girl said with a bright smile.
“It’s been some time since I last saw you,” I replied.
“Oh, I hardly think it’s been that long.”
At this age, not seeing someone for a month feels like a long time. But never mind that.
“What brings you here? I don’t think you’re in general magic.”
“I’ve a message, which I relayed to your instructor. But I must be going.”
And then she got up and left. I didn’t even have a chance to tell her to stay.
Once she was gone, I turned to Bear. “So? Did she have a message from the competent younger brother?”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. It sounds like the dimwit brother is going to try something again, and he plans to play dirty.”
What?
“What does he plan to do?”
“Before that, do you know about the institution’s new magic tool? The one that disrupts mana to prevent casting?”
“No, but I suggested something like that to Nielle once.”
Casting a spell invariably required using mana, and at least part of that came from the body. The line of thinking went that by interfering with that release of someone’s mana, they could be prevented from casting any spells. The idea had been around for a long time, but I had only learned about it last year. When Nielle had asked if I had any spell ideas, mana interference slipped out. I was pretty sure I had suggested it as a magic tool, but I didn’t think she’d crank out something so fast.
“What does the magic tool have to do with this?” I asked.
“Bilbroza apparently made a knockoff.”
“Huh?”
Ozeria had a system similar to patents, in which just about every magic tool had to be registered. It was illegal for anyone but the inventor to make and sell a registered tool. Even if you didn’t sell them, making more than a certain number was treated as engaging in illegal commerce.
Marquess Bilbroza should have been aware of these laws, and even if he wasn’t, he presumably had a legal expert in his service. Either way, he had no excuse not to know.
“Isn’t that a crime?” I said. “Lord Bilbroza realizes that, doesn’t he?”
“Probably. But he can’t be charged if he keeps it hidden.”
What? It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught?
Bear gave me a bitter smile when he saw I was furrowing my brow. “It looks like he plans to install it in the temporary arena we’ll be setting up. Then they’ll have it destroyed when the stage is disassembled.”
“Do you mean...”
“He plans to directly interfere with the performance.”
Whaaat? He’s going that far?
As with last year, general magic would be performing in the same arena used for mock battles. If he was planning to interfere with us, the duels and mysticstock race might also be ruined. I could barely believe the marquess was willing to be so reckless.
“I’m told Zodian learned about this from his father,” Bear added in a whisper.
“Hm?”
That would be Viscount Nogdeid. The secret grandson of Marquess Bilbroza. Even if it were being done indirectly, why was someone like that helping general magic?
“What’re you thinking about?” Bear said, interrupting my train of thought. “You always act before you think, so what good is using your head?”
“Is anyone going to teach you any manners, Bear?!”
“And you quit calling me Bear!”
The general consensus is that that’s what you are. Anywho...
“Why would Lord Nogdeid undermine his grandfather?”
“I’ve just heard bits here and there, so don’t put too much stock in this, but I hear Lord Nogdeid was never very fond of his granddad.”
“Really?”
What’s up with that?
Seeing my surprise, Bear offered an explanation, again prefacing with a warning not to put too much stock into what he said.
“Lord Nogdeid’s mother was Lord Bilbroza’s illegitimate child. Now, who was his mother’s mother? A maid serving House Bilbroza.”
“Reeeally?”
“Now, when Lord Nogdeid’s mother was a child, she was still with her mother—the maid, that is. During this time, she was often bullied by the Marquess’s legitimate children. All the while, the marquess did nothing to stop this, or help the maid or her daughter.”
“Wow.”
What a scumbag. I had never met the man, but between this and his plans to disrupt the festival, I had decided he must be an awful person.
“After that,” Bear went on, “he treated her like a tool, marrying her off to House Nogdeid, but things weren’t much better for her there. She didn’t have a happy life until her son stole the title of viscount from his father.”
“Ooh.”
According to Bear, the current Lord Nogdeid got the title by driving out his father. He did this with the aid of the current Lord Bilbroza’s wife’s son. But hadn’t the wife’s son once bullied the girl Lord Bilbroza had married off? Bear answered that question, explaining that the son in question—the eldest—wasn’t part of the bullying. Though he had turned a blind eye to it.
The man had thought Lord Bilbroza might be furious with him, but instead the marquess supposedly praised his gumption. The one he was angry at was the former viscount for being so impotent that his son usurped his position.
“And that’s why the current Lord Nogdeid despises Lord Bilbroza. Pretty much everyone in high society knows about this.”
“Wouldn’t the marquess be mad about this being public knowledge?”
“Well, that’s what makes the old bastard so interesting. No matter how much you speak against him, he’ll let it go if you do what he says.”
“What an odd man. I don’t know if he’s got a lot of tolerance or just a few screws loose.”