CHAPTER 168. Scum Among Scum, the Worst Kind of Scum
It wasn’t long before Rana, who had been staring at Aster with dazed eyes, opened her mouth.
“I think I misunderstood—could you say that again?”
It was a soft tone, as if apologizing, but it was a way of speaking that subtly pointed out the other party’s rudeness while still clearly delivering her own intent.
Seeing that, Aster couldn’t help thinking, “Ah.”
Not because he’d realized he was rude, of course.
“It’s not that I filtered too little… I didn’t filter at all.”
He’d spoken casually from the first meeting, and not only that—“You’re ready?” “Go on, try what you were going to do.”
With this level of boldness, instead of showing what she’d prepared, she could have tucked her tail and run away!
So what should he do?
“What else? It’s already spilled.”
At times like this, confidence is best.
Well, in this case it wasn’t so much confidence as shamelessness—no, brazen insolence—but the effect was excellent.
Because—
“Huh? Me? I didn’t say anything, though?”
“What do you mea—”
“Oh, right. You said your name is Lady Rana? My greeting is terribly late. I’m Aster. Nice to meet you.”
“……”
Rana was left speechless at the shamelessness that simply confiscated her face.
Shamelessness should have limits—if it goes too far, it becomes so absurd you can’t even speak.
Anyway, having smoothed things over like that, Aster fixed Rana in his eyes with an eager look.
“All right. So what are you going to do now?”
In his hand was a luscious red drink. And by coincidence, the shirt under his tailcoat was white.
And even though he hadn’t meant to, he’d also gotten under her skin with mindless casual speech, so fury must be boiling inside her.
He was confident no matter what method she chose.
If she tripped him, he’d roll three times and cough up blood, and if she brushed his collar, he’d fall as loudly as possible to draw attention—then cough up blood.
In fact, no matter what method, every countermeasure ended at “cough up blood,” but…
“Well, I can’t help looking forward to it.”
While calming his swelling excitement—
Rana spoke at that moment.
“Yes. Nice to meet you, too.”
Rana recovered the smile that had nearly collapsed in her fluster, then glanced at the drink in Aster’s hand.
“By the way, that drink…”
“Yes.”
Aster answered immediately, his heart fluttering.
“Are you going to drink it now?”
“No. I was going to drink it if I got thirsty, but…”
“Then could you give it to me for a moment?”
“…?”
Aster, though puzzled, handed over the glass without complaint.
At the same time, he thought this.
“Is she going to throw it on me?”
You know. That kind of thing.
The classic development—“How dare you come into Brando and muddy the waters?!” It’s old-fashioned, but it’s a scene you’d miss if it wasn’t there.
But when that crossed his mind, a heavy sense of dismay washed over him.
Falling down and such can be passed off with “I was startled and my mana backflowed, causing internal injury,” and it’ll more or less slide.
“But getting a drink splashed on me and coughing up blood feels a bit weird, doesn’t it?”
However, in the end, nothing Aster expected happened.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t the glass far too precarious? Empty it a bit and bring a new one.”
Rana handed the brimming glass to a servant, received a glass filled about two-thirds, and offered it back.
“It looked too risky. Was I being too meddlesome?”
“Too meddlesome…”
At Aster’s trailing words, Rana smiled gently.
“I’m glad. I thought I might be meddling too much.”
No, you are meddling too much.
“What is she trying to do right now?”
A glass has to be full for the spiller and the fallen to feel rewarded. That’s why he’d specially asked for it. And she dumped it?
But for some reason, Rana’s incomprehensible behavior didn’t stop there.
“May I ask how you came to meet the Young Lord? I’ve heard rumors, but I’m curious.”
“It’s not much different from the rumors. Thinking back, it really was fortunate. Thanks to that, someone from the Black and White Zone like me can enjoy a life this excessive.”
He tossed her some bait, thinking she was finally starting the engine.
But—
“Excessive? Lady Gamo is kind, yes, but she is strict about these things. Please don’t think that way.”
She comforted him instead, bolstering his confidence.
And that wasn’t all.
He explained the origin story of Blood, Sweat, and Tears No. 1, and she lit up her eyes at something that wasn’t even that interesting and said this.
“Unlike what the Young Lord said, it wasn’t something Aster personally planned alone, was it? A token of friendship. That’s wonderful.”
From around then, I started feeling absurd.
Even if you tear the origin story apart and search it with your eyes wide open, there isn’t even room for the ‘f’ in ‘friendship’ to fit, and she wraps it up like that?
No—wait. Demian goes around saying I made it alone? Fine. I’ll remember that.
Anyway.
The conversation repeated in this pattern.
Every time Aster tossed bait to give her something to criticize, she didn’t even bite it—she piled on praise and handed it back.
“What on earth… is this?”
He couldn’t understand.
Is this some new kind of bullying?
In the end, worn down by himself, Aster had no choice but to speak.
“Um…”
“Yes, Aster.”
“There’s something I’m curious about—may I ask?”
“As much as you like.”
With a tired face, Aster brushed back the hair that had fallen and downed his drink in one gulp.
“So what is it, then? Feels like you have business.”
At least pounding liquid into himself made his mouth—dried out from talking—feel fresher.
And as he looked at Rana—
“Business? Do you need business to get acquainted? Ah! Then my business would be… talking with you, Aster?”
Rana still didn’t remove her mask.
Aster curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled brightly.
His patience had reached its limit.
Rana’s gaze changed the very next moment.
“Hm.”
She let out a faint hum, erased her smile completely, and at the same time—shrrak—unfolded a folding fan, hiding her cold face.
Aster, inwardly, lit up.
“Finally.”
Cold eyes. If until now they’d been those of a bright noble young lady, now they were those of a mage.
In other words, Rana had revealed her true self.
That was also the moment Aster’s simulator switched on in his head.
“Good. Then how do I collapse so it’ll spread as ‘he collapsed well’?”
Now he was confident he could cough up blood even if he got splashed with a drink. While talking, he’d been working out methods bit by bit.
So he waited, desperate.
Then he heard the very first line.
The instant he heard that first line, Aster slid down as if collapsing against a pillar. No—“crouched down” would be more accurate.
Why?
Because message magic rang in his ears.
[It seems you heard from Uncle Henji. I’m sorry—it feels like I tried to deceive you, even though I didn’t mean to.]
Henji… yes. Henji.
He thought it would take more time—what method did they use? Convincing the Head of House of Zillox wouldn’t have been easy…
Rana’s words didn’t end there.
[Aster, even though it ended as an attempt, I’m truly sorry about the Paizin young master incident. Also, though it never came to pass, I apologize for dragging you into this matter.]
It was a cold tone, but a greeting with clear politeness.
Then what was needed at this moment?
“Material sincerity… is what I need.”
“Hoo… damn it.”
Aster let out a deep sigh and lowered his head.
He didn’t even have the energy to talk now.
The nobles who were supposed to be giving him a hard time were stepping away like they’d seen something they shouldn’t, and even Zillox—his only hope—was coming at him like this.
But it’s not like he could make an innocent person into a criminal, either.
[Aster…?]
At Rana’s message magic in his ears, Aster waved his hand.
“Just go.”
[Zillox truly—toward you, Aster—]
“Everyone’s just trying to live. I understand. So just go. For now.”
[…….]
Rana studied Aster for a moment, then bowed her head. And when she turned away, her face returned to that of any other noble young lady.
As she walked, she suddenly—
glanced back at the crumpled Aster.
“…Why?”
Judging by his expression, he looked like the sky had fallen.
A mood swing she couldn’t understand at all.
To resolve her confusion, Rana replayed the conversation—when Carmel, who had been talking with other nobles, approached.
“What do you think he’s like?”
“In my eyes…”
Rana organized her thoughts.
She could turn her eyes and look at Aster at any moment, but she stubbornly made her judgment based on the image in her mind.
If she looked at that crumpled state, her impression would end at “pathetic.”
After thinking for a while—
Rana spoke her assessment of Aster aloud.
“His vessel is large.”
“Oh?”
Carmel’s eyes gleamed.
Because it was rare for Rana to say someone’s vessel was large.
“May I ask why?”
“It seems Uncle Henji shared information connected to us.”
“And?”
“Aster… even knowing all of it, he smiled and spoke with me. Without any hostility at all. And decisively… he accepted my apology readily.”
“Hm.”
Carmel was surprised at two points.
First—
“Henji shared matters about our family?”
Which meant Henji trusted that child completely—something anyone who knew Henji’s temperament would find shocking.
And second—
“He knew, and yet spoke with Rana without any hostility? He even accepted her apology?”
This was the most surprising part.
Because there were only two kinds of humans who could smile while facing someone whose hostility they knew—and also forgive.
One was a giant whose vessel was unimaginably vast.
Or a venomous snake who could hide killing intent behind a smile.
Henji belonged to the latter, but either way, it was remarkable.
“At only fourteen…”
Considering that even Henji hadn’t been like that at fourteen, it was astonishing.
“Was there truly a reason Lady Gamo took note of him?”
As Carmel reached that thought, a “what if” crossed his mind.
Could it be that even that flippant-looking speech and behavior all hid some intent? Like heroes from history who conceal themselves until they’re ready.
“Come to think of it, you said he told Lady Gamo this? That he reformed that Paizin.”
“Yes. I heard that as well.”
“I thought it was nothing but an excuse for venting… are you saying it wasn’t? What do you think?”
“It’s probably the same as Father’s view.”
At that answer, Carmel nodded.
“So that’s how it is?”
His daughter thought as he did.
That the vagrant from the Black and White Zone, unlike his outward appearance, was moving with a great purpose rather than petty emotions.
Then what should they do?
Carmel flicked his gaze toward where Paizin was and spoke.
[For the time being, keep a close eye on Paizin. If that child truly shows signs of turning over a new leaf, then we should invest in Aster as well.]
[Invest…?]
[Anything. So that when the child hears the name Zillox, he can feel grateful.]
Hearing that, Rana narrowed her eyes slightly.
[I understand the investment, Father. But why is the condition Paizin…?]
[Why did I make that kind of scum the condition?]
[Yes. That’s right.]
Carmel gave a small snort of laughter.
[Rana. Do you think Paizin is just ordinary scum?]
[…?]
[Scum among scum—the worst kind of scum. People are usually ruled by their environment, but he’s different. Among Tulke’s bloodline, where do you find a child like that?]
[…There isn’t one.]
[Right. He studies superiority complex all on his own, and he seeks out every kind of wickedness and pioneers it himself. So far, Tulke’s family law has been strict enough that he hasn’t crossed an irreversible line, but scum like that is rare.]
Hearing it laid out like that, Rana nodded with an “Mm,” because it was all true.
But suddenly, she thought this.
[Even if you call it reform, wasn’t it ultimately an act of violence?]
Anyone with strength can tame a mad dog with a club. The truly difficult thing is to correct someone through action.
But Carmel shook his head as if he saw it differently.
[Do you think that scum has never been hit by his father even once? Even with that harsh discipline, he still walked the path of scum without wavering. And you’re telling me someone reformed him? Do you know what that means?]
[That would mean…]
[It means that child named Aster has that kind of power. Power enough to reform scum that even his parents couldn’t fix in a lifetime.]
Carmel said that, then glanced toward Aster.
And what followed was heavy and serious.
[And people with this kind of power always accomplish something. Like the first Heads of House who founded their families.]
…!
Rana startled and reflexively turned her gaze toward Aster.
It was the first time she’d seen her father evaluate someone this generously. Even when he spoke of Demian—said to be House Brando’s greatest talent—he hadn’t gone this far…
“That pathetic-looking child?”
