Reincarnated as the Lady Prodigy

Twenty-Two

The Aftermath and Hidden Plots

THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW

"HUMILIATING!! HOW CAN I, IBIN STOHARAD OF KONSEHO BE HUMILIATED LIKE THAT AS IF I'M A NOBODY?!! HOW?!!!!"

The mages outside guarding the room flinched while listening to the sounds of glass breaking inside the Head of Griselda KONSEHO Branch.

Ibin felt the patch covering his eyes when he covered his face, his anger grew upon the feeling it. It reminds him of that faceless son of a b***h.

Ibin gritted his teeth at the same the door on his office sounded followed by the voice of his Assistant Head. "Sir, may I come in?"

Ibin heaved a deep sigh before instructing his Assistant to enter. Tebras Axon, the man is two years younger than him and also a little inches below him. "I have the report about the ogres and portal along with the reported casualties from civilians and hunters."

Ibin frowned, "hunters huh. How about on our side, how many mages are injured?" He doesn't care about whether there were dead hunters or not, that also includes their numbers. The wounded civilians are all commoners and peasants, that too, Ibin doesn't care. He's born a noble, it's unfitting for a noble like him to care about those with low birth.

"Yes, three of our mages were injured from fighting the biggest ogre which was marching towards the Marquis' mansion."

How pathetic of those mages to suffer injuries from a single ogre.

"Tsk, once those wounded mages recovers, take them to the underground dungeon and whip them fifty times each." He ordered.

"Yes." Tebras slightly bowed before leaving his office.

Once left alone, Ibin's mind wandered back to the masked man who dared to cause his wounded eyes. Because of that bastard, he now has to rely on a magic item that uses magic energy to perceive his surroundings. Although his condition is not permanent, the pain he felt back then is not something he can ignore.

'That bastard used something to counter my [Vision of the 13th Scholar]. He must have a powerful artifact! I have to get that artifact no matter what!'

Just thinking about possessing such a powerful artifact that can counter the exclusive spell skill [Vision of the Scholar] which has 13 levels, 13 being the lowest.

"Kukuku..." Ibin snickers maliciously. Once he possesses that artifact, he can counter those arrogant fools that have [Vision of the Scholar] like him, those who look down on him for having the weakest level.

For that, he needs to know who that bastard behind the mask is while also keeping his guard. That bastard knows the Duke, if that's the case, he should first gather information from the Duke or those information broker who sells information in exchange for money.

'To think I'll have to engage in a negotiation with those low-lives. How disgusting.'

Now, Ibin is more compelled to ruin that masked-bastard's life. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have to do a lot of things. Still, if he will have that artifact, a little effort is nothing.

Ibin grinned wickedly.

ZAIRE LEVI'S POINT OF VIEW

"MY LADY..!" Elise came running in my direction with relief written all over her face. "Thank goodness you're safe my lady!" She gasps while looking at me as if she wanted to hug me.

I ruffled her hair while smiling. "I'm glad you're safe too,"

I asked Elise what happened to her when we parted. According to her, she and the woman with her went to the underground tunnel that leads to the bunker where mages set a protective barrier. These safe locations are protective above and under the ground and can be accessed through the tunnels which were created in case of portals appearing and other emergency situations. There are five bunkers located in Griselda which is governed by the Marquis' joint by other organizations like Hunters Association and KONSEHO.

She parted ways with the woman she was with when the mages lifted the warning, I'm glad that before she did, she joined the woman, whose name is Amanda with the other servants.

"You did an amazing job, Elise. Thank you,"

Elise just nodded her head while we made our way towards Blake's room. We are currently at the land I bought from the Marquis, with Aya and Kiera's help, we built a temporary house for Blake and the man Soka he brought along with him. Eufema on the other hand is in spying mission Clarence and Lothario according to my instructions. I gave her a real-time communication scroll that's why she can send me a message whenever she can.

"Master, Miss Elise," Blake greeted us. Across this room is the room where that man named Soka is. He's still unconscious because his wounds are deep.

I sat in the chair in front of him before I heaved a deep sigh. "You may start explaining, Blake,"

He bows his head,"Yes. I'm sorry for acting without permission, Master. Soka is one of the servants I brought to you. When I settled the other servants, I had to settle him lastly. We went to the Haven of Healing where his mother was admitted. After he paid for her hospital fee, we were on our way back when the portal appeared. I'm sorry, Master. I know I—"

"—I've heard enough." I cut him off before I sigh.

Blake not once raised his head to look at me while explaining. Honestly, he looked like a defeated puppy right now. Of course, I wouldn't tell him that. Poor dude is already guilty enough.

"I know how diligent you are, Blake, but, why do you go to such extent as accompanying him when you can just give him the money and left him be?"

Blake fell silent. Ah, I see. This must have something to do with his past, his identity.

I stood up and tap his shoulder, Blake did not move nor did he raise his head. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you for doing that. I was just really worried so next time, don't do anything reckless that will put you in danger. I might lock you up if you do." I joke before I moved to leave.

"Soka..." Blake suddenly said, "Soka is... Soka is the grandson of the man who saved my life. I promised to protect him to pay back what I owe to the old man," He started still bowing. He looks struggling to tell us the story so I stopped him.

I knew Blake has his own fight. He has his own struggle that he wants to fight alone. His past that he doesn't want to share, I think at least not yet.

"I understand," I smiled at him when he raised his head to look at me. He looks dejected. "You did well too, Blake. Now rest, we'll visit you again."

I instructed Elise to take a rest while I went to my room. Once alone, I moved to Luxes where my familiars are. I also called Rou, Ymar, and Suzi to join us in Luxes.

"You may play with yourselves," I instructed them. Yeah, I know I sounded like instructing my pets but...

"I thank you, Mistress!" That's Alarkson transformed in his lesser being version while flying in Rou's direction. My summon, Rou and the other two still look nervous being in the presence of the legendary beings but compared to before, they're doing great.

I guess it helps that Alarkson likes having the three of them play, and no, they don't play using their magic. According to Alarkson, a man need not show off his strength, but rather his intelligent that's why my oh-so-amazing familiar offered to play board games.

And he's never won, not even once.

I climbed the second floor where the books are. Once I settled, I laid the floor plan of the auction house on the table.

"So, what do you think, Aya? Is this possible?"

Aya instantly replied through the golden scroll. {Hmm, this will require a lot of materials but it's not impossible. I believe your familiars will love working on this project.}

"You think so?"

{Without an ounce of doubt, Zaire. Your familiars will lay their life for you if you'd ask them to.}

Ah, but that's not the point though. Well anyway, if Aya believes it's possible then I'm down to start the contraction of my auction house.

I planned my auction house to be a huge mansion, with the entrance as reception and the west wing will contain regular and normal products while the east wing will be the teleportation section where customers can move to their desired place in the mansion according to their needs and demands.

For example, if a customer visits the auction house because they want to sell or auction their items, through the teleportation circle they can teleportation to the appraisal room where a hired individual that excels in appraising is, the same is applied with other things.

The room of the workers of the auction house is located at the back of the mansion, which too is accessible only using the magic circle which is given to them. I'm not being too strict on them, if anything it's for their safety.

Once the auction house opens; we will face potential threats that covet what we have, treasures and if that happens, my workers will be in danger no matter if they're strong or not. There is always someone stronger than you so this is one of my precautions.

{Are you certain to give such valuable keys to your workers?}

I hummed, "yeah. Those keys are from the magic crystals of Alarkson, it's strong enough to handle a key teleportation rune imbued on it so it's practical." I'm referring to the keys I will give my employees.

{I understand. No one but your workers will be able to use those keys nonetheless.} Aya commented.

Yes, the rune is identified by blood so there's little to none who can use the keys aside from my workers.

{I'm curious as to why the auction hall is located between the mansion and the employees' quarters?} Aya asked.

I knew she'd ask that. She must find this weird so I explained to her. "I cannot have the auction hall in the same place as the mansion, that's too dangerous and it occupies a big space within the mansion that can be used on something else. With the auction hall in a separate location and also only accessible through the teleportation circle, it ensures the safety of not just the items but also the workers and customers."

I think this matter thoroughly. If the auction hall where the auction is held can be hidden and protected, it's safer. Under the ground of the auction hall is where the treasures are kept, or in Luxes, depends on my mood, anyway, if I were to use the max potential of the principle of this ceremonial magic that mirrors that of an elevator, it will be safer and convenient. Since the auction hall is hidden, outsiders won't be able to know where to steal, heh.

There are twenty teleportation magic circles drawn on the ground separated in cubicles and another five magic circles for VIP. These teleportation magic circles are not limited only to one location, if that was the case then what was the point of this entire plan, right? Just like the concept of elevators, twenty elevators can arrive at a single place at the same time so it's super convenient especially if there are too many customers. These magic circles also have buttons, in this case, symbols, the only difference is that only the workers can access those symbols through the ring imbued with directional and matching rune. Once the demand on the ring matches that of the circle, then viola, they'll go to merry land or wherever.

"The system of the auction is complicated. Is this really okay?" I asked Aya

{Indeed it is but you studied all sorts of ceremonial magic related to his along with rune magic. I believe this will be successful.}

I bit my lower lip and sigh, "I hope so. Well, how long do we need to finish everything?"

{Hmm, according to my calculations, you will need a maximum of three weeks to finish everything from external and internal implementation along with [Magic Signature] for the auction house. One week for the structure, the second week for internal implementation.}

I glance at the plan before I heaved a deep sigh. "The office for information selling will be placed outside the mansion above the rats resting place." Yas b***h, I'm planning to build a place for my pets underground with food supplies. Gotta spoil 'em for their hard work.

{I understand. Shall we use the regular materials or the high-quality ones?}

Err, to think she will ask me that. "Ah, let's use the regular materials." Because the regular materials from Luxes are the highest quality woods in Magia.

{Affirmative. In terms of the regular materials, which should I choose? Low or high quality?}

"Please choose the high quality."

{I understand. I have listed your instructions and will now start the first phase, please call for me for anything.}

I smiled, "thank you so much, Aya."

Without Aya, I don't know where in this world I could be. She's super helpful and OP just like my familiars.

{I am always at your service.}

Now then, I should talk to Kiera and Siren, oh, Alarkson and Vana too. Maybe I should let them out once the construction starts. Poor them always inside Luxes. Alarkson voiced out his jealousy that Kiera is the only one that I always let out so this will be a good idea since during the construction the area will be placed under a cloak.

THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW

The dark alley smells rotten. The stench is too strong that it's overwhelming to the nose.

The sound of shoes clicking followed. A tall man, around 6 feet or so emerged from the darkest part of the alley, his face covered by the shadow of the cloak's hood.

The woman leaning on the wall raised her eyebrows, irritated. "I have been waiting here for ages." She sneered.

The man did not answer. The woman heaved an irritated sigh. "What is it this time?"

The man hummed before answering, "You're taking too long with opening the door. You, I believe you don't take me for a fool."

The woman paled, she then composed herself before she answered. "Of course not! We're using the man but there's something that prevents him from opening the door." She explained.

"Then why not use his daughter?" The man asked.

The mysterious woman looked away. "It's hopeless, his daughter lost her magic."

The man hummed again, "Is that so? Use her life to fuel the door if she can't use magic." Then, the man glared and release a suffocating amount of magic energy targeted on the woman, as a result, the woman fell on her knees gasping for air. "Stop waisting my time. I'm giving you until the Moon Break, if after the Moon Break the door is still close, I will hunt you and your entire family."

Then, the man disappeared into darkness. Left gasping, the woman gripped her dress staring intently at the dirty floor. "Moon Break," she whispered, "I don't have much time. I have to offer Jozine."

ZAIRE LEVI'S POINT OF VIEW

We returned to the Vesaurius Household two days after the incident. Clarence and Felicia are nowhere when I came back, the servants told me they went on a tea party in another noble household. Those two and the other nobles act as if nothing happened. Oh yeah, none of the nobles suffered from that attack so that's why. This seems normal to them, commoners and hunters dying during the attack are normal to them that it's disgusting.

The Marquis and the Duke offered their condolences to all the people who died and promised to compensate the families left, from what I heard from Amba, the Marquis and Duke are using their family's money and some nobles donation to cover the compensation since the Konseho doesn't seem to give a f**k just like the other nobles.

They're utterly disgusting.

"Let's go,"

Today is the burial of all the victims of the attack. Eufema and Elise insisted on coming so I let them, Blake is with Soka to visit his mother, a good thing the hospital she is in was protected so nothing bad happens and Blake is relieved because of that. I have this feeling that if something happened to Soka's mother, my poor cute bodyguard will blame himself.

The burial is held on the sacred grounds in Griselda. It's their cemetery, once the bodies were buried, they emitted a green light. I was curious why so I asked Aya.

{That is the sign of their magic returning to the world. It's a sacred rite for the deceased and it means that the soul will have a peaceful rest.}

I see. So once a person dies, their magic will return to the world. Aya once told me that whenever a person uses magic, their magic energy will also leave a trace and becomes one with the world increasing the magic in this world. The more the people in this world use magic, the more abundant magic is. It's like an unending cycle.

I looked away when the family members of the deceased started crying. Their sobs and sniffle are painful to hear. It's heartbreaking. There was a young child, the little boy is the son of one of the hunters who died. He's smiling. I heard him talking to his mother before the ceremony started. He asked why his father died, his mother couldn't answer him so one of his father's co-hunter answered him. They told him his father died protecting another young child and pregnant woman.

The young boy's cry turned into a smile when he declared, "My Dad's a hero!" His loud voice is heard by the other family members of the hunters and their cries intensified. I don't know if it's due to happiness or they feel more heartbroken that the word 'Hero' is an empty title given to the hunters who died.

I glance at Elise when she sobbed, I just tapped her shoulder to comfort her. She's a real softie.

Once the ceremony is over, I excused myself and bid goodbye to Odalf and Mr. Vicar, the Head of Hunters Association in Griselda.

I took a message scroll from Luxes and addressed it to Blake.

The message scroll disappeared leaving traces of faint brown light. This time, I told Elise to go to her family's home while I take Eufema with me.

Eufema is wearing a mirage ring so her appearance is of a human. I had to give her a mirage ring so she won't have to keep wearing cloaks and cover her snow-white skin.

Duke Franklin hasn't announced if the banquet is canceled or moved so I'm on standby.

I wonder what should I offer the Hunters Association first?

~

To be continued