A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

Chapter 114

114 – Gray Winter (4)

Mid-January, Baron Rift Mansion.

“Are you not planning on building a new Baron’s Castle?”

“If it’s a mansion, I don’t think there’s a need to build a castle.”

Lord Mente Rift welcomed the two imperialists at a four-story wooden building called the Baron’s Mansion.

“If you want to start a construction business, please bring a business plan. Although the Rift Territory is a place I manage, it is basically the Gibraltar Territory.”

“Isn’t this a place ceded to the Baron?”

“He entrusted me with managing it, but he didn’t tell me to do as I please. Duke.”

“Ah, ah…”

The bald man scratched his head and scalp in embarrassment.

“I understand. I will prepare a plan that will satisfy Lord Rift.”

“You will have to satisfy the Margrave of Gibraltar, not me.”

“Uhm…”

“But rest assured. Surprisingly, the Margrave will not be upset if imperial-style buildings are built.”

“Then… ?”

“He hates hassle. He hates having to spend time with his wife and his daughters because of something he has to do.”

“!!”

The faces of the bald man and the short man with glasses turned bright colors.

“Thanks for the advice, Baron!”

“Okay. Then… Ash. Is Ash there?”

“Did you call me, Baron?”

A butler with glasses and a gray suit waiting outside the door bowed 90 degrees and said hello.

“Please take Lord Ejis and Lord Erchiei outside. I will also give you some gifts on the way.”

“Oh, it’s okay! In fact, we’re just thankful that we gave you a gift!”

“I’ll see you later. Then!”

The two men quickly left the room.

“…Oh my.”

Ash, the gray-suited butler, looked at the two people leaving with a troubled expression.

“What did you think, Baron?”

“How do you sleep?”

Baron Mente poured a large amount of tea steeped with somnus into a teacup and sipped lightly.

“The Imperial Architecture Company said they would build a building with their own money and sell it.”

“Looking at the architectural blueprints they brought, it looks like they will build lodgings or a prison-style hotel for the imperials to stay in this Rift territory.”

“Don’t you know too much about the empire for just a butler? Hehe.”

“This is the minimum culture a butler must have, Baron.”

Butler Ash picked up the documents the two imperials had left on the desk.

“It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build one building, so I don’t think there is any need to stop them from asking for land to build a few buildings with their own money. Please allow it.”

“Baron Bonn didn’t ask you for advice.”

“Aren’t you going to hand it over to the Earl of Gibraltar anyway? It would be easier to look at it carefully and get it stamped.”

“Who owns this Rift territory? Tsk tsk.”

Baron Mente mumbled and took out a seal.

“But you seem to be more cautious than I thought. Is there a reason?”

“He praised Gray Gibraltar.”

“…Isn’t it dangerous?”

“They are not dangerous in that sense. Should I say they have good instincts? They are amazing at smelling money. We just need to do a win-win deal with each other. Look at this.”

Butler Ash held up a box brought as a gift by officials from the empire’s architectural company.

“Mango box?”

“It’s not a mango.”

When Ash, the butler, opened the box with a mango picture on the outside, inside was a bunch of paper instead of mangoes.

“This is…”

“It’s a bribe.”

“Are you trying to turn Mente Rift into a trash noble who takes bribes as soon as he gets the Baronet?”

“This is not a bribe, but a ‘gift’ in hopes of a good deal in the future.”

At Butler Ash’s words, Baron Mente leaned back in his chair with a sour face.

“If you give a gift wrong, you’ll get in trouble.”

“If you think there will be a problem later, you can submit this as is. If you keep it and a trial is held in the future, you can use this as evidence in the trial and accuse them of ‘this is the basis for their improper solicitation.'”

“Let’s just let that much money rot away?”

“There is no interest, but it is enough as a safety measure. Looking at the condition, it seems like it is all laundered money.”

“Laundering money?”

At Baron Mente’s words, Butler Ash chuckled as if telling him not to joke around, but Baron Mente’s expression was serious.

“…No. It means making it clean, like doing laundry. Do you know what the most scary institution in the empire is?”

“The shadow of the imperial family?”

“It’s the Imperial Tax Office. Well, we’ll discuss the details later.”

Butler Ash closed her box.

“The more investors, the better, and the same goes for business partners. It’s a good sign. A lot of the empire’s capital will go into not only the canyon, but also the royal capital.”

“Royal road…”

“Orosol Academy.”

Butler Ash shook her head firmly.

“Even if you get special admission, Baron, you won’t be able to get in.”

“…”

“I wouldn’t know if I lied about my age.”

“Ha. In that case, I’d rather just make a list of people who are trying to bribe me here.”

Baron Mente put his legs up on the desk and snorted.

“Would you lie about my age and try to get into school by saying I’m 17?”

“Baron Mente wouldn’t do that. Yes. It would be great if others followed Sir Mente’s example.”

“…”

A winter day with just a few days left before the entrance exam.

“I never imagined there would be so many 17-year-olds in the kingdom.”

Regardless of the numbers in the kingdom’s statistics, children of nobles and wealthy people around the age of 17 began to gather in the royal capital one by one.

“Well, I guess it’s a natural step.”

“Yes. Not anyone else…”

“Naria Geo Nostrum is scheduled to enroll.”

To enter Orosol Academy.

“It is said that Astasia von Tersian, the most beautiful girl in the empire, is coming as an international student from the empire.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Of course.”

From noble mtl dot come

Butler Ash shrugged his shoulders and lightly swept the dust off the shelves of the Baron’s mansion with his white-gloved hands.

“Shouldn’t we go ahead and clean it up?”

The next day.

No one could see the man named Butler Ash in the Rift territory.

Because it was a butler who did not exist in the first place.

* * *

February, 97th year of the Empire’s unification calendar.

In winter, when white snow covers the continent, what many people think of when they think of the Academy is-

Kingdoms are different, empires are different.

Coincidentally, the semester starts in March in both the kingdom and the empire.

March, the month before school entrance.

When preparing for admission, the kingdom reviews the list of students entering the academy – noble children.

Before entering school, I go out looking for powerful nobles I want to become friends with, and I also look for salons or cafes near the academy.

What about the empire?

For the Empire, the period from January to February is a ‘test’ period.

Exam period for incoming students, not undergraduate students.

Although it is said that anyone can enter the academy, not everyone can be accepted, so only those who have the minimum academic ability to study at the academy can be admitted through tests.

They say anyone can study! Isn’t that a contradiction!

Many nobles in the kingdom stumbled over this issue, but the opposition subsided when they asked whether the academy should accept people who could not even read and write.

Minimum educational level.

Basic and fundamental knowledge that can be learned at the academy.

First of all, since it is a place to study, you must at least know how to read and write, and since it is a place to live with other people, you also need to have social skills.

In order to filter out this, in the empire, the vice minister of the empire’s education department personally led professors from various academies in the empire and administered the entrance exam.

After various discussions, the name ‘Balanced Selection’ was officially given.

Orosol Academy, total number of students enrolled: 300.

Among these, out of respect for the empire’s academy method, the kingdom ‘selected’ up to 100 17-year-old nobles as students.

Already in January, invitations were sent to each noble family recommending admission, and among the nobles, those with 17-year-old children responded to the invitation.

Some.

There are people who claim to be 17 years old even though they are not.

Originally, there wasn’t one, but coincidentally, there was a family that adopted a 17-year-old child.

There were some nobles who used what could be called expedient methods, but since it was not considered a problem in terms of law or admission regulations, there was no serious controversy.

Originally, out of the 300 admission quota, about 200 would have been selected as 17-year-olds.

However, this is the imperial academy method, and naturally, nobles who want to send their children to Orosol Academy without any expedients are bound to be dissatisfied.

In the end, the method was the Empire’s, but externally, the number of people in the free and fair ‘balanced selection’ increased to 200 from the age limit of 17.

A test open to everyone.

However, some nobles are cautiously speculating for whom this balanced selection system is intended.

“Did you say Noir Gibraltar is 14 years old this year?”

“They must have decided that there would be a problem in allowing 17-year-old Gray Gibraltar to enroll. “The Margrave had a hand in it.”

Meaning of Gibraltar.

“Queen Carmen insisted on special admissions… Hmm. The number of balanced applicants should be increased.”

“Queen Carmen? Instead of keeping Gibraltar in check, she actually helps her? If Gray Gibraltar is admitted, she will be compared to Princess Naria and raise the honor of her her palace her her her, right?”

“Rather than gain comparative advantage for the pride of the royal family, I did the favor of the Crimson Margrave of Gibraltar.”

“Wow. As expected, the love from the past still continues…”

There have been rumors going around for several years now that Morgania and Gibraltar have a fairly close relationship, but the current recruitment quota adjustment situation has driven a wedge in that.

Thanks to this, many people cheered.

I know that the purpose was to force Noir Gibraltar to enter Orosol Academy, but thanks to that, the path to her her academy she she was expanded.

“There are so many people at the test site. Are you saying these are all people who came to take the test?”

“Look over there. Marquis Roland is here too.”

“That young man… Isn’t he Viscount Calia’s second son!”

“Oh my god. That woman… !”

Most of the nobles who enter the entrance to the exam center are not 17 years old.

The person who stands out among them is, of course-

“Noir Gibraltar!”

Where everyone’s eyes are focused, a black-haired teenager walks down the street with an excited face.

“And the two people following you are Sir Carlos of the Canyon Knights…” ” !”

“Next to him is nothing to talk about. It’s Baron Mente Rift.”

“Oh my god. I can’t believe I’m attaching two of the knights’ core forces to my son. One of them is even a master.”

“How much do you care about that boy named Noir?”

Even if I allow people who are half-baked to join Orosol Academy, I will enroll my second son, who is 14 years old.

If there are people who want to do something to harm the second son, I will tell them what it means to have a master behind them as a guard.

“Actually, is it a declaration of successor…”

Many people looked at Noir Gibraltar with envy as he walked confidently down the main street.

“So this senior entrance is Noir Gibraltar… ?”

“Oh, about that.”

Squeak.

A carriage stopped in front of the testing center.

The symbol of ‘Nostrum’ was shining on the back of the carriage pulled by the knights of Morgania.

“The princess has announced that she will hand over her share of the garden to someone else and take the exam herself, so I don’t know what will happen.”

“…Why does the princess say that?”

“That’s it.”

A blonde woman who appeared at the examination hall wearing a knight-like uniform of a white tunic and black pants that erased the presence of Noir Gibraltar.

“It seems like he wants to show off his skills to everyone from the moment he enters school.”

Naria Geo Nostrum.

She gave up the advantage of being 17 years old and the princess of the kingdom, and confidently appeared at the examination hall.

* * *

Orosol Academy, a place a bit far from the exam center.

“Hmph, huh, huh~”

A woman dressed in a black robe is walking through her academy with a bun hat pulled down on her head.

She was looking around the academy, wearing black glasses on her face and an imperial-style breathing mask called a ‘mask’ that covered all of her lower body.

“Oh my. Those people are all taking the test… Wow!”

The woman looked at her exam room and raised her voice.

“I, Princess Lia, am overwhelming Master Noir with her spear…!”

The center of the test site.

While many people are sparring in real time, a man and a woman are sparring with everyone’s attention.

Both have intermediate skills.

It was certainly nice to see each other doing their best to defeat the other, but considering their backgrounds, there were many problems.

“Uhm…”

The woman crossed her arms and pondered for a moment.

“The winning side is on my side! Both are on my side!”

I spoke very softly and playfully, and headed inside the building I was walking through.

“This is the accommodation for international students from the Empire… !”