Side Story (2)

‘It’s here, huh.’

Henry stood before a gate, which resembled that of a palace. Although it looked grand, the castle didn’t even come close to the imperial palace. Of course, compared to other noble families, this residence was indeed magnificent.

Henry confirmed the location of the castle once again and nodded.

“This is the place.”

He was sure he hadn’t made a mistake, having checked several times already. He had also carefully reviewed the purpose of his visit and the internal circumstances to ensure that his mission would succeed.

Standing in front of the castle gate, Henry snapped his fingers.

Bang-!

With that, the massive castle gates swung open, kicking up a cloud of dust. However, not a single speck reached Henry, as he had preemptively cast wind magic.

“Cough, cough!”

As the dust kicked up, Henry could hear people cough on the other side. Among the coughing, Henry discerned someone shouting, “Who is that?!”

Instead of responding, Henry merely waved his hand to clear the dust in front of him. As he did so, the man who had just shouted quickly recognized him and turned pale.

“A-Archmage?”

“Greetings.”

The man with the pale complexion was Thompson, the guard leader of the Foram family, which ranked second among the Imperial Ten Swords.

Henry walked toward Thompson, who was frozen on the spot. A stifling silence hung in the air, and it wasn’t long before Henry got up to Thompson’s face.

“I came to see Kington,” said Henry. “Where is he?”

“Th-the head of the family is currently out hunting wild boars!”

“Hunting wild boars?”

If that was the case, it seemed that Kington lived as though he had all the time in the world and was completely free of worries or problems. Leisurely hunting wild boars when Henry Morris, a person whose power rivaled the emperor’s, was incredibly foolish.

Henry chuckled as he imagined Kington’s face when he eventually found out that he was here.

“Well, I guess that can wait. By the way, what’s your name?”

“It’s Thompson! I’m the guard leader that protects Foram Castle...!”

“I see. Then you must know about this family better than anyone else from the castle, right?”

“Y-yes...?” Thompson hesitated, his voice nervous and full of uncertainty. Although he was aware of the internal matters of the family, he also knew that some of them involved family secrets. And as a guard responsible for protecting the family, he understood that keeping silent about such matters was also part of his duty.

Of course, Henry couldn’t care less about his duties or his circumstances.

“Alright, Thompson. I’m told that Kington has adopted a bunch of children and keeps them here. Where exactly are they?”

“A-a-adopted children, Archmage?”

“Yes, adopted children. You do know what adopted means, right?”

“O-oh, s-sorry, it’s not that! B-but the thing is...”

“What? You can’t take me to them?”

“Oh, no! Right this way, Archmage!”

As they made their way toward the quarters of the adoptees, Thompson’s expression grew darker. The Kington adoptees were one of those family secrets that he had to protect from outsiders.

However, Thompson was more terrified by the intimidating aura of the strongest Archmage on the continent than by the prospect of being punished by Kington Foram.

And so, he obediently led Henry to the outbuilding where the adopted children were staying. It actually took them a while to get there, and Henry wanted to ask Thompson why he hadn’t prepared a carriage for him. However, he decided to give this guard a break and throw all the blame on Kington.

“The outbuilding will soon come into view, Archmage.”

Thompson hurriedly reassured Henry that they were almost there; perhaps he had noticed Henry’s indignation.

And sure enough, they soon heard the voices of young boys.

“Ha!”

“Louder!”

Without even changing from his hunting attire, Kington promptly sat down in front of Henry, sweating profusely and feeling very uncomfortable. After catching his breath, he looked up at Henry.

‘How on earth did he find out?’

Thompson had already told Kington about Henry’s questions. However, Kington hadn’t the faintest clue as to how the Archmage had found out about his adopted sons, given that this was one of his most well-kept secrets.

Regardless, Kington wasn’t too worried. Although word had gotten out that he had adopted many children, he didn’t think that his reason for doing so had been exposed as well. Thus, even though this exchange made him uncomfortable, Kington wasn’t afraid of punishment.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised, Lord Kington.”

“Yes...?”

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that you adopt starving orphans and teach them swordsmanship... How’d you come up with such an idea?”

“Ah... Oh, yes! I just love children, and it breaks my heart seeing so many of them without a roof over their heads!”

“I see. I wouldn’t expect anything less from an Imperial Ten Sword, Lord Kington.”

Henry’s sudden compliment caused Kington to tense up. He nervously waited for what Henry would say next, but to his surprise, Henry didn’t say much afterward.

Kington started to suspect that there was some kind of misunderstanding on his part.

‘No, I think it’s more than possible that he doesn’t know the real reason behind me taking in all those orphans! How could he possibly find out that I’m trying to send one of those brats to the military instead of Hamilton? I haven’t told anyone about that!’

Everyone at the castle knew that Kington had taken in a lot of orphans, but no one was aware of the reason behind that. Having convinced himself that Henry couldn’t have discovered his real plan, Kington loosened up and decided to be a bit more brazen.

But Henry spoke up before Kington managed to say anything.

“I wonder how smart Hamilton is, growing up with a father like this? Lord Kington, let me ask, is Hamilton doing well?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes, yes. Of course! He’s quite good at swordsmanship, just like his old man. I’m sure he’ll make a great knight and continue the legacy of the Foram family.”

“I see it’s in the blood. I believe that Hamilton will certainly follow the example of his honorable father and inherit the spirit of Noblesse Oblige.”

“Noblesse Oblige...! Yes, of course! The system created for the elite to become examples...” Kington trailed off. That bloody system was the whole reason he had adopted all those boys in the first place...

Of course, Kington could just make a generous donation and be done with it, but to him, that meant losing money for no good reason. Although he was incredibly wealthy, he wasn’t willing to lose that much money because of some idiotic principle.

Thus, Kington had decided to adopt a bunch of children instead. Feeding and raising all of them would cost a fraction of the minimum donation he would otherwise have to make.

Henry smiled at Kington’s dishonest answer.

“That’s such a relief to hear. You know, there’s been a strange rumor circulating these days.”

“A strange rumor?”

“Yes, a rumor that someone is raising an adopted son just to send them to the military instead of his biological son.”

“I-is that so?”

Kington almost hiccuped out of surprise, but he managed to keep a straight face and look at Henry.

“I never imagined that someone would exploit the system that His Majesty and I have created in such a fashion. I’m not sure who that person is, but I’m deeply disappointed.”

Henry spoke in a deeply serious tone, his eyes burning with murderous intent. He then went on to explain that anyone who exploited the system would face severe punishment for tarnishing the honor of both the emperor and himself.

At this, cold sweat ran down Kington’s spine.

Noticing that Kington was forcing himself to smile, Henry said with a bright grin, “Alright then, I better get going. Oh, I almost forgot. Lord Kington, you’re doing something that will serve as an example to everyone, so expect some good news in the near future.”

“Go-good news? Oh, oh! Thank you very much! I just did what I had to do, why would you...!”

“Not at all. Since you’ve become an example for everyone, this should be widely known. Our next meeting will be at the palace, Lord Kington.”

With that, Henry left the castle. Kington wiped the sweat off his face.

“Master, are you okay...?” asked Relson, his butler. But instead of responding, Kington buried his face in his large hands for a while.

“Damn it...!”

His plans had gone to hell. There was no longer any reason to raise all those children, but Henry had already seen them, and he would even give him a reward for having adopted all of them.

In other words, Kington was stuck with those children, forced to raise them even though they no longer served any purpose to him. Even though taking care of them was less costly than making a donation, it was by no means cheap.

Kington closed his eyes in frustration.