CH 175.1

Chapter 175.1. Masatoshi’s First 3 Days Of The New Year

-Masatoshi’s POV-

“Oh… So there was such a commotion at the Takano County’s mansion.”

Aguni Masatoshi, a young man who firmly believes he’s becoming more dignified and wild-looking, was attending the New Year’s gathering at the Imperial Palace.

With his hair slicked back and dressed in a suit, the red-haired boy received applause from the servants, likening him to a child participating in the Coming of Age Party, and attended the event with a proud expression.

Having stopped the violence, Masatoshi had become exceptionally friendly with the servants, and they had recently grown close. There was no doubt that he looked cool.

Everyone paid attention to him. Being kind, strong, wealthy, and the next Duke with power, Masaru was quite popular.

Because he was popular, he was by Shin’s side. The reason was that he struggled with keeping the conversation going.

If I responded with “Yes,” “That’s right,” or “I think it’s a little different,” the conversation would continue. However, if I said such things to the pushy girls, I would unknowingly engage them.

I had been taught more than enough that girls mature much faster than boys of the same age. It was a terrifying struggle to correct them.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he had so many fiancées. My father laughed at me, and the men distanced themselves, saying, “Are they all women? You must be playing around with them.”

Being popular, Masaru had few friends.

Shin, on the other hand, effortlessly got along with both boys and girls. I also planned to have many friends, but for now, I needed to get to know acquaintances. I have to get closer to Shin, who looked like he was having fun at the party, like a moth to a flame.

There, I heard a story about Takano Miu, the head of Takano County. It seems she had managed to crush a suspicious branch family and firmly take the reins.

“Is that girl really that smart?”

I asked in a questioning tone as I watched the grey-haired girl surrounded by many children of the same age in a slightly distant place.

She’s highly charismatic and popular among everyone. She approached the lonely girl, included her as a comrade, enjoyed eating together, and engaged in cheerful conversations with a bright smile.

With an innocent smile, she suggested they all stack glasses on the table.

“She’s trying to make a champagne tower, you know?”

She was a girl who did nonsensical things at parties. She had a cute face and seemed quiet, but apparently, she had eccentric thoughts. Who would try to make a champagne tower at a party?

Everyone diligently collected champagne glasses and stacked them up, creating a considerably tall champagne tower. Looking at her, she didn’t seem particularly intelligent.

“Well, that’s true. She’s amazing. But that’s why many people find her scary. If not for that, she wouldn’t need to appear here, in the public eye, like in a drama of condemnation.”

Shin chuckled as he watched the grey-haired girl trying to pour grape juice into the champagne tower. He was a man who even looked cool when he chuckled.

Indeed, that was true. It would be hard to think that the grey-haired girl, who showed such foolishness, was intelligent. However, in reality, she had crushed a branch family.

If you are a highly skilled noble in intrigue and manipulation, there’s no doubt that you would suspect that foolish appearance to be an act. Plenty of individuals in the nobility excel at playing the fool or concealing their true intentions to seize fleeting opportunities.

The Washizu family, it seems, fell victim to being deceived by her. …Is it true? No, thinking that way might be a trap in itself.

I see… that’s troublesome. My father would exercise at least some caution.

Ah, the girl with gray hair seems to be getting scolded. What is she doing? She looks like she’s having fun though.

However, upon witnessing that scene, Shin’s expression turns serious.

“She seems to be an apprentice of a Druid magician. The Druid magician has sent highly skilled disciples to serve as her guards. She’s a kind of elite being raised by that magician.”

“To a Druid magician! Seriously, did the apprentice event go over there?”

Damn it, this is why characters who were supposed to be dead in the original story are troublesome. Their potential is too high. The original author must have thought, “They’re going to die anyway.”, and arbitrarily determined their parameters.

Masatoshi grits his teeth. It’s all because of the reincarnators dark magician, Yamiyo. He bears a grudge, thinking, “You went and did something unnecessary.”

I was supposed to be the apprentice of the Druid magician. And I was supposed to become a magician surpassing Shin and make a name for myself.

I get reincarnated as a mob in a novel, but I was supposed to have the template plot of being stronger than the main characters and making a name for myself.

It’s completely baseless, but Katsurugi gnashes his teeth, lamenting that there was a bright future for him.

“There will surely be people who start to doubt her appearance is deception. Well… I can’t see it as deception, though.”

The Champagne Tower is on the verge of collapse, and the children use their magic to maintain it. Behind them, the gray-haired girl, who is getting tired, starts using recovery magic on the exhausted children. It’s a waste of healing magic.

It’s a scene that makes you sigh, seeing her as just a fool.

Shin shrugs his shoulders at Masatoshi, who is half-closed his eyes in disbelief.

“It’s from yesterday’s conversation. Well, you could say I’m half-believing it.”

“How do you know about yesterday’s conversation…? But I find that scarier.”

“I have many acquaintances in Kanna Dukedom. People who think of ways to make my father happy.”

It seems that Kanna Dukedom has quite an information network. Their reach extends even to Aguni Dukedom.

The troublesome thing about this is that they are not spies. If they were, it would be possible to catch and eliminate them.

However, those who receive information, and spread it without actively investigating my family, are difficult to be wary of just by having received favors.

The contents of the information will eventually spread. So, I can’t say that there are no problems. It’s just that the speed at which the Kamiya family acquires that information is unusually fast.