Chapter 214: Appointment

"Alright, when will you be coming?" the woman asked, an odd glint appearing in her eyes.

"Perhaps in the afternoon. I'll be off on my way after delivering the thing, so you really don't have to make a fuss about it all," Evin said.

"Hmm, I'm afraid the Earl will be busy around that time… How about you come during lunch? Maybe you can spend some time with the family as well." the woman replied, clearly expecting something else to happen… Something spicy.

Evin wasn't going to try and clear up this little misunderstanding, as he knew that the woman would most likely ignore his protests, or take them as bashfulness. Besides, the mage seemed bored enough with the job of guarding the Earl's mansion, so Evin didn't mind letting her amuse herself with something for the time being.

He then thanked the three mages and started flying back to town. On the air, he glanced towards the mansion's grounds and noticed that there were a lot of guards loitering around the place. As far as he could tell, there was a handful of mages as well. 

'I guess it's natural for an Earl to have such defenses, but why was his mansion in town so empty compared to here?' Evin wondered, thinking of the last time he visited the Earl.

Last time, there were some guards and maybe a few mages, but they didn't seem at all threatening to Evin. 

'Perhaps I was simply too weak at the time to notice?' 

'No, those three mages were definitely much more threatening than any half-assed mage I ever fought, especially the white-haired one…' Evin thought.

He knew that the mages he fought were all pretty weak. So maybe those three were mages who were actually properly trained like he and Arza was? After all, the man was keen enough to recognize Evin's illusions, so he should've taken a glance at the Western Compendium of Illusions or its equivalent.

After thinking about the matter a bit, Evin realized that he really didn't know how mage hierarchy worked. According to Nasst, he was supposed to wipe the floor with most of them, but Evin wasn't completely convinced with that statement. Perhaps he would have a better understanding if he fought more mages. 

Mulling over the problem, he eventually arrived home. 

As per usual, he didn't bother to greet his family and landed directly in his room through the window. After getting rid of his clothes and boots, he plopped onto the bed with a soft moan.

"Alright… Now I only need to worry about paper money and Sasha," he sighed and decided to take a small nap.

…

The next three days he spent practicing his magic, thinking about the problem of paper money and how to best sell it to the Cosmics, observing what the World Sprites were doing, and watching how Sasha was acting. 

Thankfully, the girl was starting to get used to Evin's existence, and would occasionally loiter around Evin's room, perhaps wanting to talk. But Evin didn't wish to hurry on the girl and decided to talk to her before leaving. 

As for the World Sprites, Evin was very excited about their development. Most of the time they seemed to be the same old World Sprites, but occasionally they would show incredible likeness to human babies. 

Evin was sure that they became smarter compared to the past and that it was just a matter of time before the started to show their increased intelligence. He instructed Runa and Enri to talk with the World Sprites consistently, so they could develop faster as well.

Another thing that Evin finished was the matter of paper money. It took some time since Evin was having trouble finding methods to make profit from it himself. After all, he knew that the Countries would eventually barge in and take matters into their own hand. The same thing happened with commercial banknotes slowly being replaced by national banknotes back on Earth.

Evin was a bit skeptical of this fact, because the Cosmics were much more powerful than any bank back on Earth, so maybe another series of events would occur here… but Evin didn't wish to take the risk. And besides, he eventually found a way to make guaranteed money, so he wasn't very worried. And now, he just had to speak to Rith about it. 

But considering the Cosmic's state today and the fact that he had to go and meet the Earl, Evin decided to postpone the talk for later.

He was currently preparing for his departure, alongside Lora and Theor, who were making sure that he was properly dressed for the occasion.

"What time were you supposed to go over there?" Theor asked from the side.

"Just before lunch, actually, so I should probably be going now," Evin said.

"Alright, thankfully, the clothes I bought fit you well. Oh Empress above, don't worry your mother like this," Lora said from the side, scrutinizing the dark blue clothing that Evin was currently wearing.

"Mother, I am technically older than you. I'm pretty sure I don't need you telling me what to wear when visiting the Earl," Evin retorted.

A couple days prior, when Evin told the two about his visit to the Earl's mansion, he was thoroughly chewed up for his casualness in the whole ordeal. Theor and Lora were very passionate about maintaining a proper image when conversing with the people of nobility. So obviously, Evin flying over there with his travel boots and a rugged cloak was dreadfully inadequate.

And for the record, Evin was still baffled by how the two still talked to Evin like he was actually seven. He also guessed that they were just bullying him for shits and giggles, but since they could be serious about it, he didn't want to ruin whatever that was going on.

"See, this is the problem with you. Just because you think these things are pointless, me and your father don't feel the same. What would you do if the Earl gets secretly mad for your casualness and takes out that anger on us?"

"Then I shall paint the Earl's mansion with his blood," Evin replied after thinking a bit. Lora and Theor looked back at him with some wariness, probably wondering if he was actually capable of doing that. 

"Let's solve these problems peacefully, alright?" Lora said smilingly.

"Sure, sure. Anyhow, I'll be leaving then. Please don't worry about me," Evin said and walked towards the door.

"Aren't you going to bring Rith with you?" Theor asked.

"Why? I'm just going to be delivering a letter for the Earl and maybe meet his daughters if they're there," Evin replied.

"I don't know, it just felt like having a Cosmic with you would be more striking," the man explained with an awkward smile.

"I'm not really trying to go and impress the Earl, so no. And besides, bringing Rith along in that state would probably achieve the opposite effect," Evin smiled and started floating.

"I can hear that!" Rith's groaning voice came from the other room.

"Go back to sleep. And don't drink so much alcohol if you can't take it!" Evin shouted back and flew away.

Apparently the Cosmic went drinking with her colleagues the previous night, celebrating the end of her observation on Evin. Though she couldn't handle the thing very well, so she was suffering the next day.

Evin told her to just fix herself with the World of Life, but the Cosmic was weirdly happy to suffer on her little bed, with pain and agony ravaging her body, all while mocking Evin for even offering such a cowardly solution. Evin didn't wish to judge the Cosmic so he let her suffer in peace. Thought he couldn't help himself from throwing a jab or two occasionally.