Chapter 330 106 - Another step towards the bright future (part 1)

Chapter 330 106 - Another step towards the bright future (part 1)　　A week passed and neither the queen nor lord Lazaram suffered any consequences of their actions despite all the accusations they faced after the missing modern artifact was found intact amongst the cluttered bag of lord Lazaram himself.

And to further signify the lack of progress, the approval of Zoemi inheriting both the title and the territory of Banemor was just as far away as it was seven days prior.

There were things that did change, however – for example, Zoemi's relationship with Benevirau, the water sage who kept on guarding the territory against ever being taken by someone outside the Banemor line.

"Grandpa... what am I supposed to do with father? I want to help him out, but he is really stubborn and doesn't want anyone to get involved... it kind of sucks because I am his son, right? I know that I was adopted, but still..."

The black-haired boy complained in a sulky voice.

He and Benevirau were in the small office that the dark-blue-haired butler was using since the mansion was built – or even prior to that as apparently that room was a part of another building that the water sage has lived in since his youth.

...Benevirau really was attached to the land that has become the Banemore territory in more ways than one could expect...

Still, at the moment Benevirau was sitting in the chair at the desk with a stack of papers that never seemed to get any smaller in front of him.

Zoemi was leaning on Benevirau's back from behind with his forearms on the butler's shoulders while suling with his chin rested on top of the sage's head.

"Young master, I don't think that sir Mizoe is acting like that because he doesn't think that you two are close – it's most likely the opposite, really. He knows that you would help him out without hesitation, but he still wants to do things on his own. I would say that he wants to prove to himself that he is worthy of whatever it is that he is trying to achieve..."

The dark-blue-haired young-looking butler explained while furrowing his brows trying to remember what exactly the whole case was about after not paying attention to it before.

"His family is making things troublesome – I don't know the full story but it looks like they are threatening to make things difficult for the family of the woman that proposed to him."

Zoemi got on his tiptoes and ended up moving over Benevirau's head and leaning down looking him in his misty-gray eyes from upside down.

"Is it okay to get rid of all of them – from what I know my father was the only decent person there anyway?"

The black-haired boy asked with a serious expression, making the dark-blue-haired man furrow his brows, deep in thoughts.

"I mean... we could – it would not be the greatest decision as it would basically make most other noble houses band together against us because of the fear of being next, but I don't really think that they can do anything to you or me directly anymore."

Benevirau answered in a hesitant voice after a moment of hesitation.

"What if we made it look like the Ghosts of Bellcephora were behind it? I doubt that anyone knows that one of them is dead, and I can use her ability convincingly enough."

Zoemi frowned and asked, raising his brows as a pair of murky-black devil wings sprouted from his lower back and flapped causing dark feathers to appear all around the office.

"I don't think there are many people who actually remember what ability each of the Ghosts had to begin with, so I wouldn't say that is the best idea."

Benevirau shook his head and declared in a stern voice.

"Besides, after discovering you trying to frame them, they might seek revenge on you – you already know how sensitive they are about someone using spells that are similar to the ones that they use. My guess is that they would absolutely freak out if they learned that you can copy them almost perfectly."

He added sounding worried.

"Well... maybe I want to make them angry so they would finally show up? It's been like two weeks and still, the only trace of them I have is Elsby showing up on her own! Are they seriously just holed up in the shadow somewhere doing nothing at all? I mean, I know that my sentinels can't be everywhere but seriously! I have found six other sages besides you in that time and three of them were literally hiding away from me thinking that I was either a ghost or hostile sage!"

Zoemi scoffed angrily while moving back and this time he rested his chin on Benevirau's shoulder while wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Now I know why Aspy was so worried about them. Not having even the slightest idea about their plans or movement is extremely unnerving."

He grumbled while looking at the documents that the dark-blue-haired sage was working on.

"Gramps, this one is wrong."

Zoemi moved his hand, pointing at a certain space on the page, and declared.

"Huh...?! Really?! But I double-check the calculations and all...!"

Benevirau gasped and leaned down, tracing his hand over the writing.

Benevirau was blind, but he was using his water magic to dampen the paper just enough to be able to recognize the difference between the dried ink and paper, allowing himself to read it without any trouble, later taking the moisture back out leaving both the paper and writing in the perfect condition.

"No – not your calculations, I mean this."

Zoemi shook his head rubbing against Benevirau's shoulder and tapped the spot that he was already pointing at before.

"Unless this guy is selling the magic stones for one-fifth of the market price, there is no way that he would earn so little for it. Not with the amount, he spends on the workers and miners, and he isn't even paying them especially well. It is either the most inefficient mana crystal shop in the territory, or this guy is hiding something."

The black-haired boy explained moving his finger across the paper, pointing out the numbers that were suspicious in his opinion.

"Well, this is a shop that is trading mana stones directly with the royal magician... the owner might be cutting prices, but at least he is sure that he will get paid on time every time."

Benevirau titled his head and reached for the pile of papers stacked below the desk and picked out a single one to show to Zoemi.

"Nonsense. I understand giving a discount to returning customers, but selling stuff at a quarter of its worth? People would be trampling over each other if someone started selling mana stones for three-quarters of the market value, not to mention that low."

But that argument certainly wasn't convincing enough to make Zoemi change his opinion.

"I'll send my puppets to investigate. This might be anything from the owner getting threatened by the Lazaram family all the way to plain old embezzlement. Anyway. I will check this out."

The black-haired boy declared, already sending instructions to four of his undead puppets.

"If you think that is necessary then please do. I am sorry for being negligent about this – I am ashamed to admit that I never compared the costs and gains of the businesses of the taxpayers."

The dark-blue-haired butler sighed and apologized with a guilty expression.