[Eon's POV: ]
"What's up with him? A sudden bow after he pointed his spells at you out of nowhere like that? I don't want to say it but is the actually crazy?"
Rein didn't like it if someone tried harming me in unexpected situations like this. Especially with the intent to seriously harm me.
And the spells that he had summoned, different from the two of them, were spells of (tier-4) and he was a elder magician himself so those simple (tier-4) spells were nothing less than Lowe end (tier-6) spells.
He could have definitely harmed me if not for this thing I had in my hand and Reihn was never going to let that happen on her watch even if she's had to break our promise and go all out.
She was even more serious than this old uncle before us.
The reason she summoned those spell weapons and even prepared her skills just showed the braveness of the situation however… she was just overreacting as always.
"It is nothing. He made a mistake and he is apologizing. He isn't crazy so don't say something like that.
Everyone makes mistakes so just give him a chance. It was partially my fault anyway so I should be the one apologizing right now."
First of all, I used the secret meeting code that few knows to meet with him, then I showed off my knowledge about the private and confidential things of the association, then I just decided to not reveal anything much about the two of us.
We were friends with his famous good friend's only remaining family, his successor, and someone who was special herself and knew the language that probably only a few people including him knew, we were strange enough for his high-level skill to not work on us, were strong enough to respond to his magic in that mere fraction of moment, and even had such calmness that not even some of the strong people possessed while standing before his strong magical spells.
Yes, we were strange and things would have been different and probably better if I had just revealed this <Mark of wisdom> as soon as we sat down.
Well, that time had already possessed and there was nothing either of us could do to change it so Sir Joy could only apologize and try something to make up for her.
"I really apologize to young lady Uriel. Please tell me how I can gain your forgiveness."
He was sincere as he said that and my previous word had already calmed her down quite a bit so she looked at him with an angry gaze for a moment, calmed down, and sat down while still looking at him with an angry gaze.
"I'm not going to forgive you that easily for this mistake, mister." She said in an angry voice and the bowing old elf looked up at her with a unique confident gaze from before.
Qui also sat down at that moment and looked at me, then at the unique box-like badge that I put down on the table before us, and then at Rein who was angrily looking at her uncle.
She didn't know why he acted that way a while ago and also why he was so different as soon as he saw this strange insignia that I had but, she sure knew that the anger Rein had right now was far deeper than it should be, and her uncle didn't do anything to her so it was even more surprising for her just what she was this much angry.
She didn't know right now… but she will know the reason for her strange behavior as she learns new things about the world, about the other mortal kind, about humans, and about the strangeness of this nature and life.
Anyway, that was her but, the branch manager of this association was still looking at her with a sincere look.
"Please tell me.
It was my mistake to take that hasty action which turned out to be a crime I should be punishable for…
I do not know if Lady Uriel knows this but pointing their weapons or spells at an honorary person like your fiance is considered a great crime.
I made a mistake and he generously forgave me but I will do anything within my power to repent for this crime."
Well, yeah. The holders of marks of wisdom are important people who have cleared one of the toughest question papers in the world.
They are people who hold great knowledge and wisdom unparalleled to most other intelligent beings on all the planets that the adventurers association is active in.
They are honorary and special people and each of the branch managers of the association is obliged to lend them help in plausible situations.
So me being a wisdom mark holder meant much more to him than me being his friend's granddaughter's friend. And the same was true in the case of Rein.
'She is the dearest person to me and not only could he see that in our eyes but her actions from earlier were also proof enough of our relationship.'
We loved each other and his actions were disrespectful to her too so he had to gain her forgiveness too.
And it wasn't just because he had obligations to do so as the branch manager of the association. It was just how the character of Vestdryad, the (Sorcerer of burning steel) was.
"Alright then." Uriel looked at him with a serious expression and he readied himself for whatever she was going to ask for.
"I will forgive you if you give me your ID."
She had a serious look on her face and the branch manager looked at her with a confused look covering his face.
"…just that?"
What she had asked for was more valuable to us than he can think and though it was something we didn't need for at least a week, her thinking of using this moment to get it in this way was certainly admirable.
[[ "Nice work." ]]
And I had to admire her actions.
She had a chance to get probably anything she wanted from this person and she chose something that thought would be helpful to us, it was only something important and something that could have been difficult to get.
My plan to get it was filled with a few uncertainties and would have taken a while but now that she had done this, we could easily go see our land and the place where we will build our base.
"Yup. That is the minimum. You can't even do that much?" She looked at him with a disappointed and questioning gaze however, the old elf politely shook his head.
"Not at all. I just don't think it is enough for my mistake-"
"No mister. That is more than enough.
We will have access to all the restricted places on this island with that so it is more than enough."
He looked at her for a while, then looked at me with doubtful eyes that were clearly asking: 'Are you going to go to the outskirts?'. And I nodded at him with a small smile in a response to his genuine curiosity.
"Will you be… no. You would obviously be fine since you are the academy's students. And you are strong enough too so it should be fine.
Alright, Take this. And please take this too as a token of my apology."
He took out a star-shaped necklace as well as a strange blue-red metallic spike from his dimensional space and handed them to her.
"There is no need-"
Uriel was almost going to reject the other thing however, she looked at it with her eyes when it was in her hand and her eyes widened in utter surprise.
"Thank-"
However, as soon as a bright expression lit up on her face, I took the spike from her hands and stored it away in my white crack.
"Why?!! That was mine!"
And she shouted at me as soon as I did that.
"Of course it is yours but there is no way I am going to let you carry something like this around."
There was no way I would let her do that. She was a little too fond of explosions and (boom!)s after all. So there was no way I would let her carry around a (level-10) chargeable artifact that practically blows up and destroyers mostly any creature within a three-meter radius.
It was a good artifact and considering how it was a personal present from him, I knew it was more amazing in practical use than we knew.
But, there was no way I was giving her that thing. I still remember what she did with the spell book I bought at our first auction and that was more of a reason to keep the explosives away from her until and unless it was properly necessary.
"You bastard!!!"
She was ready to be wild now that her pretty toy was stolen from her so… I kissed her.
"Y- Hmmm. Ba- smmm~. Mmmm~!"
Yeah. Old and effective. Doesn't work every time but in this situation, it was good enough and she quieted down, and just looked the other way, avoiding our gazes like the shy girl she definitely wasn't.
"Alright."
I looked before me at the warmly smiling branch manager and then looked beside me on the other side at Quin who though had a surprised expression and a blushing face, she was quite composed in this situation.
It was totally different from how Princess Isabella would react but this was better.
"Let's discuss the matters regarding her inheritance."
The look on my face was pretty serious so Quin cleared her flabbergasted face and the branch manager nodded at me.
"Alright so listen closely Quin," he addressed her with a serious tone and focused on his words carefully.
"Your grandfather, as I told you, was an amazing person who had probably been to every single known place on this planet.
He was a <SSS> rank adventurer, some of the few that has ever existed, a [Rank-6] knight as well as a true explorer who has discovered many places in many of the parts of this world.
Now, by the laws determined by the high council, elder council, and the triangle table, the founder of a hidden territory that has never been claimed by anyone has the first right to have that territory as their own.
And that bastard discovered a little over fifteen territories all over the world and accepted the right to have their territories as his own.
He founded [Bloom foundation], did business with the nearby territories and their original inhabitants, built an economical empire with his great skills and prowess, and then turned it into an organization that helped the ones in need.
He took in the homeless, gave them a place, taught them, and further developed his little shop that, by the time of his retirement, had grown into a world-level association, and in current times, that same organization is ranked fifteenth in all of the worlds.
And you are his rightful successor so it is yours now.
Not only that, he was an explorer who had found countless special places, defeated countless dungeons, and obtained countless treasures that are still talked about in today's time when his name comes up in any conversation.
The three greatest treasures he obtained were the [Sword of sovereignty] a divine artifact of old times which is now in the possession of association; a skill stone of the legendary creature (Golden lion) which that bastard said he "lost on a certain fortunate day"; and lastly the [Grimoire of Mira], an ancient artifact that he always carried with him with the fear that it would be too dangerous for the world if 'they' got their hands on it.
I believe you have that grimoire from how I can feel that strange energy of water around you and it chose you, so I will have faith that you will keep it safe."
He smiled at her and she nodded confidently but with a spark of worry still deep inside her.
But that much was natural considering the weight of the matter so our smart Quin also knew that she shouldn't just carelessly show her grimoire to anyone like she did when she first greeted us with a fountain of water.
She had learned her lesson and we were with her now so it was fine and, the branch manager could see it too so he continued, explained just how much wealth was technically in her name, explained the volume of treasures that were quietly sitting in the banks the world as well as in the special safes of the association.
He briefly explained how his corporation worked and how it was still managed impeccably without his presence.
He also told her how he himself looked over the most crucial issues of the corporation after his retirement and the general functioning from the top of the company to what happened at the very fundamental level.
Quin was smart enough to grasp everything he said and we were talking in a language that she probably knew the best after me, the divine beasts, and the original tribesmen so everything just settled down in her mind.
It was still absurd for her though. She didn't know how to react to such sudden and absurd things and what to do about all the land, things, company, people, and other uncountable worldly things that she mostly still didn't have any freakin idea what they were or how they worked.
She just got even more confused as he continued telling her new things and the thoughts she had become even more intertwined as she thought about all these new waves of information being thrown at her.
Yes, what he was telling was the most basic things in the most basic words but just think about it from her perspective.
She had lived her entire life on a remote island with only a single person.
She had just come out into this world and she had no basic information of how the world worked like me when I came out of the forest.
She was all alone just till a day ago and only now was she introduced to all the worldly information and the things that are considered most common.
And yes she was talented, smart, strong, and quick to grasp things but she had only seen the world from the stories that her grandpa might have told her or the books she had read.
She hadn't seen anything and she was still just starting her journey into this dark, bad, thorny, and pretty world like a child, so this was difficult for her to process but still, there was a pressing question she had to find the answer of in this very moment.
"So Quin"
Which was obviously…
"What will you do?"
