13





Lecan seethed in rage for a moment.

'Like hell I'd let you snatch <Guardian Jewel of Zana> away'.

However, Lecan subdued that rage.

First, he must listen to Gaskoel's side of things.

He took a deep breath and slowly breathed it out.

He calmed down a bit.

"By <Guardian Jewel of Overlord>, do you mean this?"

Lecan took a blue jewel from inside his leather armor and put it on the desk.

"Yes right. That's it. That is the <Guardian Jewel of Overlord>"

As Gaskoel reached out toward the jewel, Lecan blocked it with his right hand.

Gaskoel looked irate for an instance.

"You said it's a heirloom."

"It is. A heirloom long passed down in our household."

"Then it should have been kept hidden by the family head. How could it be in Lady Rubianafale's possession? And why would she hand over a heirloom to me?"

"Truthfully speaking, this matter was unknown to me until recently as well. Our mother had a weak constitution, and father let her have it constantly hung around her neck as a charm. After her passing, my sister went and claimed it as her own. Father did not oppose her since he spoils her."

"Didn't anyone tell Lady Rubianafale that it was a heirloom?"

"The fact that it was even a heirloom was kept secret even to Zaidmahl family. It was done in an effort to secure its place. Which goes to show how much historical value this jewel holds."

"Historical value huh. Doesn't this jewel have practical Graces?"

"Graces? No I don't believe I've heard any."

Someone knocked on the door then knight Organo went in. He brought a tray with two cups of tea. Organo's eyes lit up suspiciously when he saw the jewel on the desk.

Organo put down Gaskoel's cup before proceeding to give Lecan's.

Gaskoel's cup had a blue border pattern while Lecan's had a red border pattern.

"That's it, that's the <Guardian Jewel of Overlord>. So this thug took it away yet never sold it. Most excellent."

He reached out toward the jewel as he said that, so Lecan quickly hid it away in his leather armor.

"What are you doing! Give it back!"

"This thing's not yours regardless. Now then, Gaskoel-dono."

"Umu."

"So in short, here is your excuse. This blue jewel is Zaidmahl's heirloom, one that has been passed down to family head for generations, Lady Rubianafale claimed it as her own after the passing of your mother unbeknownst of that fact. Hence, you demand its return as its rightful owner."

"Indeed. Have we come to an understanding then?"

"Fumu."

Lecan closed his eyes and contemplated while soothing his raging heart.

Seemingly unable to wait anymore, knight Organo spoke out loudly.

"The heir to Zaidmahl demands the return of our heirloom! Cease your quibble and return <Guardian Jewel of Overlord> right this instance!"

Lecan slightly opened his right eye toward Organo's face before immediately shutting it down.

However, he was getting very irritated when he heard Organo's incessant prattle.

Organo spoke to his master loudly.

"Gaskoel-sama. You're wasting time talking to this thug. Besides, vagrants like this adventurer have no business holding onto <Guardian Jewel of Overlord> when they can't even tell it apart from pebbles. This thug must have swindled Lady Rubianafale with sweet words and stole the heirloom from her. He's nothing but a thief. We must arrest him right away and took the jewel back. You are a member of Royal Capital Knights soon to be promoted as a knight. You hold the authority to do that!"

He couldn't stand it any longer.

Lecan opened his eye wide.

And just when he was about to shout out loud, 'To hell with that.', he felt like he could hear Zoltan's voice.

<<Yer' about to lose yer' freedom blinded by your rage, ya know.>>

<<What's really important to ya. Don't lose sight of that.>>

Lecan had a sudden realization.

That's exactly right.

What's truly important to him. That's where the issue lies. Getting himself worked up over words from a small fry like Organo, and losing his bearing on that will never get him closer to ever becoming a Strong Sword.

Right now, what's important to him is <Guardian Jewel of Zana>. But that comes after the first. The most important thing is Rubianafale's feeling. The feeling she put behind giving this Guardian Jewel to Lecan. That's the thing he must place most importance on. Lecan took good care of the guardian jewel as his response to that feeling. It doesn't matter at all what Gaskoel has to say.

However, the problem is what Rubianafale thinks when she finds out that the jewel is a family heirloom. Were she ask Lecan to exchange it back with his red jewel, Lecan must answer that back. And even if it somehow comes to that, the feeling Rubianafale put on giving the guardian jewel to Lecan is still clear.

Rage vanished from Lecan's eye.

(I see.)
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
(I finally got it.)

(The Strong Sword that protects what's truly important.)

The words coming out of his mouth were shockingly calm even to himself.

"I received this jewel from Lady Rubianafale. Therefore, you must first explain it to her and make her understand. If then Lady Rubianafale wishes to take this jewel back from me, I shall comply. However, I exchanged my long cherished red jewel for this blue jewel. As such, I must have that red jewel back if Lady Rubianafale wishes to take this guardian jewel back."

"You bastard, what insolence you dare to!"

Just as Organo was about to meddle in, Gaskoel put his right hand up to stop him.

"I knew about the exchange of Lecan-dono's red jewel with <Guardian Jewel of Overlord> from Guria's letter. However, your demand cannot be done."

"What?"

"My sister was married off to Marquis of Yufu. We can't summon nor can we even meet her anytime we want. Currently all contacts with Yufu have been severed and even if it weren't, waiting for a response from Yufu would take too long a time. Besides, now that she is a member of Marquis of Yufu, asking for that red jewel back is an impossible demand."

(What?)

(Rubianafale got married off to Yufu?)

(That's where Dungeon Yufu is at huh.)

(If I'm not wrong, it's an odd dungeon that only has one floor.)

(The same dungeon where Great Flame Dragons spawn too.)

"Lecan-dono. Forgive me, but we cannot get your jewel back. You will have to give up on it. However, <Guardian Jewel of Overlord> is a heirloom our household simply cannot afford to lose. Will you give it back in exchange for this."

Gaskoel presented one gold coin as he said that.

(Fumu.)

(From this young lord's perspective.)

(This must be his highest form of concession.)

(But that ain't gonna cut it.)

Doesn't matter if it takes time or if the other party is a marquis, asking Rubianafale's opinion is not something that can never be done.

They could just make Gaskoel write a letter for Lecan to deliver to Rubianafale. By doing thus, Lecan would be able to check on her feeling on the matter in person. If Gaskoel cannot trust Lecan on it, Manfrey Wazrof could be his guarantor.

Lecan took a sip of his tea.

A familiar sting hit his tongue at once.

(<Flat White Snake (Uraslin)> venom huh.)

(You've done it now.)

When he was learning poison and venom under Shira, this was the first one she made him drink. A type of venom often used to assassinate noblemen possessing a high rate of fatality and promptness. As you can get the venom from many dungeons, the difficulty of tracing it back is another plus point. It's tasteless, odorless and almost colorless but it makes a stinging sensation when drawn closer to skin. And putting it in a tea over a certain temperature gives it a slight peculiar sting. Lecan was made to take this venom in its raw state and mixed in warm tea. He didn't have <Ring of Rozan> on nor was he allowed to drink Green Potions back then. Since he has <Ring of Rozan> on right now, he's probably gonna be fine even if he drinks the entire cup down.

Lecan leaned his back on his chair, and looked to his left at knight Organo.

"Knight Organo."

"What."

"Aren't you thirsty."

"What'd you say?"

Lecan stood up, took the cup along with its saucer using his left hand and thrust it before Knight Organo.

"Here, drink some."

"H-how dare you ask me to drink your second!"

"Are you refusing because it's my second? Or is it because the tea's been laced with Flat White Snake's venom?"

"W-whaaaat."

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