Chapter 143

“The time has come, Paleo!”

Titien Antonia said excitedly.

Already short, she even hopped, making her look just like a child.

The young man called Paleo sighed and asked.

“What time, my lady?”

“What do you mean, what time!”

Titien elegantly flicked her side-hair back. Her hair was brown.

“The Del Contis have fallen!”

She wore a meaningful smile.

“Huhu, on the surface, those guys are known as the number one on the Bururade Peninsula, but……”

“That’s actually the case, isn’t it.”

“…Yes, they really were number one.”

Her voice became somewhat smaller.

“But our Antonia family is next after the Del Contis……”

“After the Del Contis comes Guidone, my lady.”

“…Right. I was about to say that after Del Contis is Guidone and after Guidone is us, the Antonias.”

“To be honest, we’re barely holding on to third place.”

Titien tried her best to pretend she didn’t hear Paleo.

Instead, she straightened her shoulders and exclaimed energetically.

“But this is all because we Antonias have been lying low!”

It was an exaggerated tone as if from a play.

She spread her arms and waved them around.

Even with her arms spread wide, she was so small that there was no sense of gravity, but rather, it was quaint.

“Look, Paleo! It’s time to reveal our secret! It’s time for the Antonias to soar!”

“Do we really have to soar?”

“What’s with you since a moment ago!?”

Titien Antonia looked crestfallen.

“You’re being too harsh! You’re always like this, but today it’s really hurtful!”

“In that case, I apologize.”

“If you’re harsh again, I’m going to cry.”

“My lady, please don’t forget that you are twenty-one years old.”

“And you shouldn’t make your twenty-one-year-old master cry, should you?”

Paleo shrugged as if to say he understood.

Titien Antonia glared at her employee, who was much taller than her, and then let out a sigh.

“The Del Contis have fallen. If not now, when, Paleo? Are you telling me to just keep lying low?”

“Isn’t living while lying low not so bad?”

He raised a hand to guide Titien’s gaze.

He gestured to the room they were in, the chairs, the table, the clothes they wore.

There was not a single item of poor quality.

They were enjoying a sufficiently wealthy life.

“We have enough to live on now, so we can just live like this. What are we lacking that we need to soar?”

“…You, aren’t you being too carefree for a spy of Cordis?”

“Is a spy not allowed to be carefree?”

Paleo waved his hand with a look that said everything was a bother.

He was a spy dispatched by the Cordis intelligence agency to the West.

He had received grueling and harsh training that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

But it was strange that his innate carefree nature hadn’t been chipped away in the slightest.

No, perhaps it had been chipped away by the training to this extent.

If so, what kind of carefree nature was Paleo born with?

He sometimes thought that he might be a sloth in a human body.

It would have been better if his body were also a sloth’s.

Then he wouldn’t have had to take on a bothersome job like a spy!

“Being a spy is no ordinary job. It’s tiring, arduous, and dangerous. I’m a person too, so I want to live comfortably.”

He continued without hesitation.

It was a sentiment he always kept inside, so when he opened his mouth, the words came pouring out.

“My lady, third place is pretty good. Let’s be satisfied and live quietly. Let me benefit from it by your side.”

“…Then what do we do with those magi-soldiers?”

Titien glanced behind her.

In the Antonia family’s secret warehouse, there were at least a hundred beast-form magi-soldiers.

“We went through so much trouble to make that many in secret.”

“That’s true. How long did it take to make that number……”

It was at least over six years.

Manufacturing a hundred beast-form magi-soldiers by themselves without the help of technicians was truly an act of madness.

If Paleo hadn’t been a Three-Star Mage certified by the Imperial Academy of Magic, or if Titien Antonia hadn’t studied abroad in the Silver Dragon Magic Kingdom for magi-engineering, they wouldn’t have even been able to attempt it.

“Anyway, we hid the entire production process over and over again. I kept the secret so thoroughly that even my superior doesn’t know about the existence of those magi-soldiers.”

“…You didn’t report it?”

“No. I did.”

Paleo said shamelessly.

“I reported that I used all the money and materials I was given, but failed in the production of the soldiers.”

“…Are you really allowed to do that?”

“I was prepared to die if I got caught. I’m alive because I wasn’t caught.”

Paleo smiled slyly.

Titien Antonia shook her head as if he was hopeless.

“You’re really something else, Paleo. You confessed you were a Cordis spy on the first day of employment, and then you just act like a loafer, not a spy……”

He was an employee she could never figure out.

Still, she didn’t dislike it. He was now the most trusted confidant in the entire family.

“My lady, more importantly, this is not the time to be happy that the Del Contis are gone.”

Paleo lowered his voice.

Titien was slightly puzzled.

They were alone in the secret warehouse, so was there a reason to speak so quietly? But she let Paleo whisper in her ear.

“That bastard who brought down the Del Contis, he’s a very dangerous guy. It’s certain.”

“Ah, you mean Serena’s husband?”

Titien covered her mouth and laughed.

“I saw him at the wedding, he was handsome.”

Since it hadn’t been long, she vividly remembered Shion’s face.

A face so lovely one could mistake his gender, and hair so brilliant it was dazzling.

Titien usually insisted firmly that a man should have a manly flavor, but after seeing Shion, she began to seriously reconsider her own tastes.

“That sneaky Serena.”

She pouted her lips.

“Getting married before me!”

The girl with raspberry-colored eyes, Serena de Verchello, and Titien were old friends.

The fact that they both had to inherit their family at a young age created a bond that went beyond friendship.

Since both Serena and Titien lived such busy lives, they had little interaction recently, but Titien considered Serena a friend, and she was confident that Serena thought so too.

“She went in early during the reception too, I was so disappointed. I was planning to drink like a fish with Serena for the first time in a while……”

“Lady Titien, you passed out from half a glass of wine, so how were you planning to drink like a fish?”

“I was only going to drink a quarter of a glass, what’s it to you!”

Titien stuck out her tongue and threw a fit.

Paleo felt the need to correct the conversation that was drifting aimlessly.

“Anyway, that man called Shion of Verchello is very dangerous. There’s nothing to be gained by clashing with him while he’s rapidly expanding his family.”

“Still……”

“He’s been going around cleaning up Del Conti’s business partners these days. Why do you think that is?”

“…Right, why is that? Business restructuring…?”

“No. Looking at the list of businesses that were utterly destroyed, that man Shion’s purpose is clear.”

Paleo gulped.

“He’s weeding out Cordis spies.”

“…No way!”

Titien Antonia was so surprised she jumped.

She was so startled that she couldn’t land properly and Paleo had to catch her.

“Then, the takedown of Del Contis was also…?”

“He must have known who was behind them. I knew Tibel Bartole, she was a very, very excellent agent. But after getting involved with that man Shion, not long after… Kkik.”

Paleo made a throat-slitting gesture.

Titien’s face turned white with terror.

Paleo bent his knees to meet his employer’s eye level.

“Let’s just live quietly. You as the young and beautiful head of the Antonia family, and me as the butler-slash-servant-slash-coachman who helps you. It’s not so bad, is it?”

“Is that so…?”

It wasn’t bad.

Her life wasn’t lacking in any major way. If she just gave up her ambition to expand the family further, everything would be smooth.

However, it was a dilemma because doing so would mean ignoring her dead father’s last words.

Paleo sensed that now was the time to push.

Titien Antonia was a weak woman.

As much as her small frame, and as much as she pretended to be strong on the outside, she was easily swayed.

He opened his mouth to drive a decisive wedge into Titien’s heart.

“My lady.”

“What?”

“Do you know how long it took for the Del Contis to fall?”

“Right, how long was it…?”

“Five days, they say, five days!”

“…Five days!?”

Titien’s big eyes shot open, then she blinked blankly.

Then, she burst out laughing, Puhut.

“Paleo! You’re teasing me again, aren’t you! I’m not falling for it!”

“I’m telling you it’s true!”

“How many times have I been fooled? How can you bring down the Del Contis in five days?”

“Do you have this little faith in me?”

Paleo held out a few documents.

They were packed with complex terms and numbers.

Since Titien was the head of the Antonia family, she understood the contents without difficulty and confirmed that the Del Conti family had become the property of Verchello in just five days.

Her face turned completely white.

“…It’s real?”

“So let’s just hide, please!”

Paleo said, as if pressing her.

Tears began to well up in Titien’s eyes.

Paleo could guess the reason for those tears.

Half was fear of the unknown man named Shion, and the other half was resentment toward Paleo for pressing her instead of comforting her in her fear. Paleo sighed and said gently.

“Even if you’re disappointed, endure it, my lady. We’re just aiming for the next opportunity. We’ll hide the magi-soldiers here.”

“…What if a dangerous guy like that discovers this?”

“How would he know? Have we ever taken this outside? Has anyone other than us ever entered here? Why do you think we struggled on our own without borrowing the hands of technicians!”

“…You’re right.”

Paleo knew from long experience that Titien was on the verge of being persuaded.

In that case, he shouldn’t push any harder.

The young lady he served had a habit of being strangely stubborn at crucial moments.

He realized she was almost convinced and also the fact that a softer tone would be more effective than just being forceful.

“I’m not saying we should just throw away all our efforts. Let’s just wait a few more years. It’s not that hard, is it?”

“If it’s just that much……”

Titien Antonia nodded her head.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

“A wise decision.”

The corners of Paleo’s mouth lifted.

‘And in a few years, my lady will have completely lost interest. I can dispose of these then.’

They had worked hard to create the magi-soldiers.

At first, it was an order from his superiors, and after deceiving his superiors, it was to be used as Antonia’s secret military force. However, the situation was unusual.

Del Contis fell, and Verchello was revived.

At the same time, the activities of the Cordis intelligence agency on the Bururade Peninsula had shrunk significantly.

It was because the intelligence agency tried to eliminate Tibel Bartole, but she didn’t let herself be eliminated meekly and instead killed key agents.

Paleo had no way of knowing these detailed circumstances, but he could guess the general situation.

‘There must be a lot of vacancies because of this incident. That means a crack has formed in the meticulous management system of the Cordis intelligence agency.’

He had no intention of missing this golden opportunity.

‘I have to completely sever ties with the Cordis Empire. It has to be now or never!’

In that case, these magi-soldiers were nothing but a burden.

Their very existence proved that he had a close relationship with the Cordis Empire.

He had to get rid of them quickly. Suddenly, a face came to mind.

‘…Tsk, Tibel Bartole, what a pitiful creature.’

Tibel and Paleo had trained together at the intelligence agency.

Tibel Bartole was a very excellent agent, and she rarely expressed her feelings with words.

But he remembers her mumbling that she wanted to go to a warm southern island, a proof that a shred of humanity remained in her.

She must be dead, but I wonder if she ever got to go to a southern island.

‘It’s clear. If I don’t sort out my relationship with the Empire soon, I’ll end up like her.’

Paleo had no loyalty.

He had been brainwashed with mind magic developed at the Imperial Academy of Magic, but strangely, it was less effective on him.

Thanks to that, he was free-spirited for a Cordis spy, rebellious, and because of that, he could yearn for freedom.

“…But Paleo.”

Titien mumbled.

“Will it be hidden that well? What if we get caught by any chance?”

“Sigh, I’m telling you there’s no way for him to know!”

“Right. I guess so, right? He wouldn’t know unless he can see the future, right?”

“Of course. Just forget about that guy Shion of Verchello! He’ll just think of us as his wife’s friend who came to his wedding! We’ll hide the magi-soldiers here, and we can just focus on sound and bright business.”

He deliberately changed the subject.

It was his intention not to provoke Titien Antonia’s anxiety further.

“We have a guest coming this afternoon, don’t we?”

“Yes. They said he’s from Merion.”

“Did you hear the name?”

“Umm… now that I think about it, I didn’t hear the name… I only heard the name of the art gallery he runs.”

Titien tilted her head.

“…Was it the Art Gallery Lamponé?”

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