CH 44

“Count Izas, will you admit to my strength with this?”

He should have no complaints after this.

I fought my opponent face-to-face, made her lose her weapon, and finally caused her to faint.

If after all this he still tried to accuse me of things, then there is nothing I can do.

“….aah, yes indeed. It seems that there are no signs of malfeasance in this Guild. It seems….that you in fact have the ability to defeat a Dream Lord.”

Izas reluctantly spoke.

With how he kept accusing me and the Guild of various things, it must’ve been difficult to take it all back now.

Especially in the case of Izas, who had a lot of pride in himself to begin with.

He had a really bitter expression on his face.

He may have been thinking that if at least Mariss managed to win then he could keep his dignity, but it was clear that she was in no condition to fight anymore.

Anyhow, it seems that things will calm down with this.

I was ready for Izas to not to know when to give up and keep accusing me of other things, but it seems I won’t need to worry about that after all.

Izas did not have a personal enmity with me to begin with.

His sole reason for his interrogation was because he judged that I must’ve ‘used the name of the Edvan Family’.

Contrary to Mariss, he did not come here expecting that mock battle to occur.

He ended up being shamed in front of the Guild officials and the son he threw away, but it seems he did not want to add to his embarrassment by making a fuss after all that.

Izas picked up Mariss’s katana and put the unconscious girl herself on his back.

After that Izas glared at me with a stiff face.

It looked like his lips moved a few times, as if trying to say something, but he finally just clenched his jaw and turned his back at me.

“Father.”

I called out to Izas.

Izas stopped in his steps and turned back towards me.

“…..thank you for raising me for fifteen years. That day I was in a state of confusion, so I did not even say goodbye properly. Please convey my words to Mother too.”

I bowed my head.

Izas looked at me with eyes wide open.

After a few seconds of silence, he once again turned his back to me and started walking away.

He did not answer, but it was fine like this.

I did not expect he would do so to begin with.

I just wanted to settle things within myself.

“A-ah, please wait a moment, Count Izas-sama!”

Luce spoke up.

I was startled by Luce’s voice.

Izas is an overbearing, cold, prideful person, who is far from patient.

It’s not someone who you should stop from leaving quietly.

“I don’t know what exactly happened in the past, but…. apologize to Elma-san please! After one-sidedly accusing him of things and pushing your unfair demands on him…..you want to leave without saying anything once you’ve found out you were wrong all along? Why can’t you say a single word of sorry to him?”

Izas’s expression went grim.

Even if it was someone from the family, Izas never forgave someone for talking back to him.

I remember getting punished for minor things not just once or twice.

Izas isn’t open-minded enough to tolerate getting berated by a commoner either.

He is very mindful of differences in social standing.

“Luce, it’s fine. You should stop….”

“If he was a complete stranger, then it might be different, but….the Lord is Elma-san’s own father, right? That is just too cold of you….and above all, too sad. When he’s looking at you, Elma-san looks so heartbroken….”

Luce dropped her shoulders and trailed off in the end.

Izas stood still for a short while, but then he turned his back to Luce and once again started heading for the exit.

“Hey, little girl.”

Izas said from the door, where he stopped with his back still turned towards us and one hand on the doorway.

Luce blanched and her shoulders twitched in fear.

It seems she realized that she went too far with her words towards a noble.

I also prepared for a worst case scenario and stepped in front of Luce to protect her.

“….take care of Elma.”

As if squeezing out the words, Izas said to Luce.

I did not expect a word of concern towards me to leave Izas’s mouth.

I kept looking at his back, stunned.

Perhaps the reason why he aimed those words at Luce was because his pride and position did not allow him to say it to me directly.

With those parting words, Izas left the Guild.