Chapter 36 - Friend (5)
Chapter 36 - Friend (5)
Translator: Seven
“Haha. Are you sure?”
“That’s great.”
“It’s no big deal.”
Guspa Peleros laughed cheesily while drinking his wine.
A banquet held for Peran himself.
How hard did he try to get in here?
It wasn’t just about the food and the wine.
Friendship.
It was to build friendships with the prominent nobles in the capital.
Guspa was a provincial nobility.
When he was young he felt that he was among the top of the empire, but when he grew older he realised how far from the truth it was.
In the capital, banquets were held almost every day. They were places for friendship and exchanges, a different battlefield.
The nobles would prove their worth while checking the others and those on the same level would naturally gather together to form a group.
Such relationships might have a profound effect as they might later inherit their respective families.
But Guspa didn’t get the chance to participate in the banquets held in the capital because he was from a province.
That was why this banquet was a great opportunity for him.
For this day, he’d had clothes custom made by a top notch store and he had learned the names of many expensive wines and other local specialties.
This was to keep up with the current trends.
Guspa’s strenuous efforts soon paid off.
By nature, he spoke well so the nobles in the capital could easily ignore his origins.
Of course, the fact that the Peleros Family was a well known provincial aristocratic family also helped him out.
‘It’ll be difficult to talk to Peran.’
Peran Jun.
He was a man who stood at the apex of the capital’s society. Even the most high nosed and snobby nobles would have to lower their heads to him.
Even if he managed to have one conversation with Peran, it would be difficult for them to have a deep relationship.
Guspa had heard that despite his soft looks, he was surprisingly picky when it came to making friends.
After learning this, he wisely chose to change targets. Patrick Dercidy was the one that he was working on.
He was the eldest son of Marquis Dercidy, and the child of one of the five most prestigious families in the capital.
“I heard rumors that Patrick’s sword skills were not inferior to the regular knights in the Luanoble Kingdom.”
“Hahaha! Well if a man focuses on one path, shouldn’t he be at least at that level?”
“Outstanding.”
Patrick was a very easy man.
He was a man who believed himself to be quite exceptional and carried himself in such a way.
It was quite easy to deal with this type of person.
‘I should get invited to Patrick’s banquets in the future.’
Guspa was convinced that this social debut was a complete success.
Therefore he slowly sipped his wine as he looked around.
‘There are so many nice girls.’
They were definitely different from the girls in the province.
They all had killer bodies, beautiful appearances, and cunning personalities that knew how to control a man’s heart.
Guspa inspected them one by one, carrying the wicked thought that maybe one of them would become his wife.
Then a woman caught his eye.
“…”
In that moment, Guspa had been instantly enchanted.
She was still incredibly eye catching even while she was surrounded by other beautiful women.
She had stunning, water colored hair, purple eyes and lips that seemed to draw the eyes of everyone looking.
‘Th-, there is such a beautiful woman…’
Was it Lylia Jun who was said to be the queen of social gatherings in the capital?
No, he’d heard that she was blonde.
It was not just Guspa. Most of the nobles kept stealing glances at this woman while pretending not to.
Nevertheless no one approached her because of her stunning beauty and unfamiliar presence.
It was then.
As if she’d found something she was looking for, her face brightened considerably and she immediately headed in the direction that she was looking.
Guspa hurriedly turned to see who this beautiful woman’s acquaintance could be.
It was a very skinny man.
Guspa didn’t find it hard to spot him. This was because the man’s hair, which had been bleached white, stood out among the crowd.
At the same time, he judged the man to be a nobody.
This was because the man was alone at the banquet.
If he didn’t have any acquaintances then he should be walking around and sweating like himself, what was that attitude?
Surely he must be a novice who was lucky enough to have been invited to the banquet.
That was what he thought.
‘What’s their relationship?’
Guspa watched the conversation between the two of them with a jealous gaze.
It was at that moment.
‘Huh?’
When he looked closely at the white haired man’s face, he felt that it was very familiar.
Almost like he had seen it somewhere…
‘Ah…! Isn’t that Frey Blake?’
The Blake Family was one of the five greatest families in the empire, but it has nothing to do with this timid guy.
All of the nobles from Pilat knew that Isaka Blake didn’t treat Frey like a son.
‘How could a loser like that know such a beauty…’
After thinking for a while, Guspa came up with a guess.
It must have been because of the name of the Blake Family.
Otherwise there was no other explanation.
“Huhuhu!”
Guspa came up with a good idea.
He had the thought of giving a blow to Frey and raising his own status at the same time.
After thinking for a moment, he approached Frey.
“Frey, you’re Frey right?”
“You are?”
At that moment, Guspa had a strange feeling.
That was because Frey’s voice was much colder than he remembered.
But he still shook his head.
“Haha! What. Are you trying to look cool? Huh?”
He looked calm on the outside, but he was going crazy on the inside.
When he thought about it, his mouth curled up subconsciously.
“Long time no see, Blake Family’s loser.”
Guspa thought that if he said this, Frey would have some kind of reaction, but it was not so.
Instead, Frey looked away from him as if he was no longer interested.
It was obvious disregard.
Guspa’s face turned red for a moment, but he still managed to hold back his anger.
“I heard you got into the academy? The Blake Family is really powerful. I can’t believe that you, who is less talented than me, could be admitted.”
“Get lost.”
“Huh?”
Guspa had no choice but to open his mouth subconsciously at that moment.
What did he just hear?
‘Get lost? Did this guy just tell me to get lost?’
Frey, who could not even make eye contact with him before had just told him to get lost?
“Y-, you…”
“Frey, do you know him?”
Just as Guspa was about to explode, Sonia intervened.
He thought that her voice was incredibly beautiful and so he tried really hard to suppress his anger.
He could not show an ugly face in front of a beautiful lady.
He gave Sonia his greasy smile.
“I am sorry, my greetings were late. My name is Guspa Peleros. Would you give me the honor of knowing the lady’s name?”
“…”
Sonia forcefully suppressed the twisting in her stomach.
The moment she saw his face and heard his voice, it made her feel sick.
In the first place, the nobles in the Luanoble Kingdom were very informal. To her the attitudes of the nobles here just felt pretentious.
That was why she looked for Frey who spoke to her with a blank face.
“…Sonia Aquarid.”
Still, she couldn’t ignore it so she could only answer reluctantly.
“Ah! Now I see, you are Peran’s fiancee.”
“…The engagement has not been confirmed…yet.”
Guspa smiled.
Right. Now he understood.
‘She’s from another country so she was fooled by him easily.’
In truth, the fact that Frey was the shame of the Blake Family was an open truth that was known to everyone in the aristocratic world.
However if the other person was a noble from another country it was understandable that they wouldn’t know.
“Guspa what’s going on?”
That’s when Patrick’s group came over.
They came seemingly for Guspa but their eyes were obviously on Sonia.
Guspa had an absurd thought as he saw their gazes.
‘They’re like a pack of Dholes.’
It seemed that he had already forgotten that he had approached for the exact same reason.
It occurred to him that a number of obstacles had appeared but he soon thought of a way to take advantage of the situation.
Once again he gave his greasy smile and said.
“My lady, there is fine wine on that table over there. Would you like to go over for a drink?”
“N-, no. I…no, I’m…talking to Frey.”
She didn’t add any honorifics.
She was already close enough to call your name?
Guspa’s lips twitched.
“My lady, you seem to be mistaken about something.”
“Mistaken?”
“My lady, this man here is indeed a member of the Blake Family, but he is a loser who is unable to use magic. He is even called the shame of the Blake Family.”
Guspa spoke quietly, but his voice certainly reached Sonia’s ears.
When she then looked at him with a very confused gaze, Guspa became even more excited.
“Earl Isaka has already given up hope in him and instead stuck him into the academy.”
“Ah. Is that friend Frey Blake?”
“Kuku. I heard he was disgracing himself in the Westroad Academy.”
As expected, Patrick and his friends played along with Guspa.
In this way, the plan was almost complete.
Patrick gave a smile as he said.
“Frey Blake…I know your older brothers. Mischael and Heinz. They are both wizards in the magic tower. Mischeal recently even became a floor master in the magic tower.”
“So?”
“They are both incredible people who share your blood. No, I might have made a mistake. I don’t think they have the same bloodline as you!”
“Kikikikikik!” (Note: What a weird laugh)
“…”
Frey was annoyed.
It was only because this was a banquet for Peran that he tried to put up with it.
If he hit these guys here then the atmosphere of the banquet would be messed up which would then cause trouble for Peran. (Note: omg…an mc who doesn’t kill or cripple an enemy who insulted them at their friend’s party????)
However the sarcastic remarks from these few were truly going overboard.
It was then.
“I think that’s a bit harsh.”
Someone approached the group while saying those words and everyone’s eyes turned to see who it was.
There were four people there, each of them a familiar face to Frey.
Looking closely, they were the nobles who had expressed their gratitude to him on the Cortez.
Guspa looked over at the man who spoke in surprise.
‘Isn’t this Enzo Teifals?’
He was a child of the Teifals family who Guspa had also been paying attention to.
He wasn’t as influential as Patrick Dercidy, but his family was still one of the best among all of the participants in the banquet.
Why would such a man side with Frey?
“What do you mean by harsh?”
“Frey’s skills are such that he has no competition in the entire academy. Don’t disregard him.”(Note: everytime Enzo speaks about Frey, he does it in a respectful way…it’s just hard to show in english since ‘Mr’ doesn’t fit the statement)
“Haha. Are you talking about people like us?…or are there so few talented people in the Westroad Academy?”
“…”
Compared to Patrick’s smiling expression, Enzo’s face looked fierce.
That wasn’t all.
The expressions of those standing behind him were similarly hostile.
They knew how amazing Frey’s skills were.
Frey was even stronger than Peran who was recognized as the best genius in the academy.
He had the ability to defeat a Lich who was said to be around 5 stars!
However few nobles knew about it.
It was none other than the imperial frigates that had been escorting the Cortez. No matter how powerful was, the fact that two imperial frigates were sunk before they even had the chance to retaliate could damage the prestige of the empire.
Because of that, the matter was buried.
The majority of the noble students also refused to admit that their lives were saved by Frey who they considered inferior.
Some of them even said that it was Peran who saved them.
However Enzo didn’t forget that he owed Frey his life.
When he’d seen him at the banquet, he’d initially wanted to go talk to him, but when he saw that he wanted to stay alone he decided against it.
Enzo and the others were in awe and greatly respected Frey’s power.
But then they saw that Frey was being disregarded in the banquet and they could no longer stand still.
But now, not only Frey, but the entire Westroad Academy was being insulted.
“Don’t talk about the Westroad Academy.”
“It was a joke so why don’t you relax? I don’t want Enzo to get flushed.”
“If you apologize to Frey then I’ll accept it.”
“Apologize? To him?”
Patrick put on a look of bewilderment. He didn’t understand why Enzo was suddenly biting him.
Of course he didn’t intend to apologize.
“I’m sorry but the Dercidy family never bows their head. More than that, the friendship in the Westroad Academy is really touching. Were you the one who invited this pathetic man to the banquet?”
“Kukuku.”
“Now the water’s all muddy.”
“It wasn’t me who…invited him…”
Enzo didn’t finish his statement, instead he was staring behind Patrick with a blank face.
Then Patrick heard a cold voice in his ear.
“I.”
“What?”
Patrick looked back and his heart almost stopped.
He saw a blond haired man walking toward them.
“I…invited him.”
It was the first time that Frey had seen Peran’s angry face.