Chapter 20.1. Apologies Are For Profit

The Marquis of Teijo’s house is a Japanese-style mansion. The Marquis of Teijo is a family of warriors and is said to be a sword that protects people from demons.

True to their image as warriors, the Marquis of Teijo’s house built their house in a Japanese-style mansion. The houses lined up in a row were like a throwback to the Heian period, and it would not be surprising if they were palaces somewhere.

As one might expect in today’s world, there are reinforced concrete buildings and three-story buildings, but the main family still lives in a one-story house in the city center. The way they used the land made people who saw it know the wealth and power of the Marquise of Imperial Castle.

But today’s world requires tight security in science and magic, so they also install secret surveillance cameras, infrared sensors, magic sensing, and other devices.

And although they are known for their frugality, behind the scenes, high-ranking nobles knew the Teijos were skilled in the art of intrigue so they can order to maintain the power of the marquis family.

Although it is necessary to be modest, there is no such thing as a family that is devoted solely to military affairs and does not get involved in politics. Those who say they are devoted to the military got eaten, and not a bone remains.

Reality is a harsh world. It is not a pretty sight to have power, maintain financial strength, and hold military power.

The world of politics is a dark world where evil spirits of the mountains and rivers reside. Behind the simple but solidity, there is also a cunning political power. Such is the case with the Marquis of Teijo.

In the house of the Marquis of Teijo, a lot of people gather in the main residence hall. It is a rarely used room with dozens of tatami mats and is used for large discussions.

At the seat of honor sat cross-legged Teijo Ouga, and next to him was Takano Yoshiyuki. An elite clan member with a sword at his waist sits by the wall with a stern look.

A man in a suit and a small child is sitting facing each other, and behind them are men with swords on their hips.

“You Idiot!”

The man in the suit’s face was red with rage, as was his flaming red hair. He was yelling in rage at the child sitting next to him.

His physique is 190 centimeters, and because he’s so well-trained his muscular armor makes his suit pop. His countenance was rude, violent, and fiery, and he was the kind of man who gave the impression that the mere touch of him would bring him into a fight.

“How dare you put the Marquis of Teijo and the Count of Takano’s daughters in danger, you stupid!”

“Guh!”

With his anger intact, the man punches the little boy hard on the cheek. The boy gets hit so hard that the boy blows away and falls, scraping the tatami mats.

But seeing that the man’s agitated expression does not subside, the boy staggers to his feet and bows his head deeply.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

It was Masatoshi who answered with a mixture of tears. His cheeks get swollen, and his skin was bleeding internally from rubbing against the tatami mats, oozing blood and pain.

The man called “father” was the head of Aguni, Aguni Enra. He may look like a rough and rude man, but he is the head of the Dukes of Aguni and is also a skilled magician who is said to be number one in the world in terms of manipulating flames.

Perhaps the fiery red hair also resides in his personality, his angry expression doesn’t disappear, and he yells even more.

“You ain’t apologizing to me! It’s Teijo-san and Takano-san!”

“Ha, yes. I’m sorry.”

Masatoshi trembled, crawled on the tatami, and got down on his knees. It was the apology of a young child, only 9 years old. And he is on his knees, tears streaming down his face.

It would have been easy for him to accept the apology and say it was okay, but he remained calm and did not change. Yoshiyuki’s face turned somber, but he still kept his mouth tightly knit and did not speak a word of forgiveness.

Seeing this, Enra sat back down and bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry. It was my lack of education. I never thought my stupid son would think of using a summoned beast for fun.”

The duke’s guards sitting behind him are slightly surprised by the duke’s apology. It’s an apology from the head of the family himself, who rarely bows his head. After receiving his apology, Ouga finally opened his mouth.

“This matter. You understand that we can’t just let it slide. How do you plan to settle the matter?”

“If it’s true, I would like to remove this foolish son from the line of heirs, throw him out, and use it as an apology.”

Masatoshi’s face paled, and his body trembled at Enra’s words. But Enra continues to speak.

“But this guy is only 9 years old. Moreover, it was Masatoshi’s subordinates who caused the summoned beasts to run wild. He said he was still young and wanted to see the summoned beasts, so he forced his subordinates to fail. Don’t you think so, Yoshiyuki-san?”

“Yes. It is true. However, we don’t believe we should give him a warning here.”

Three days had passed since the stone golem incident. The stone golem runaway incident was the result of Masatoshi’s coercion to see a summoned beast, and his subordinate summon a summoned beast from a magical jewel. But because he had no experience controlling summoned beasts, he let it run out of control.

It was such a tragic incident. Fortunately, there were some injuries, but no fatalities. Miu healed the injured people. So there were no problems, but one wrong move, and there would have been deaths. The victims were the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Teijo and a recovery magician daughter of the Count of Takano, so Enraku had to cancel all his schedules on short notice and came to apologize.

Yamiyo and Miu were not allowed to be present. That was because the two kind people, especially Miu, might be bonded by Masatoshi’s apology and forgive him. However, this was an incident that could have resulted in death. Because forgiveness was not an easy thing to do, Ouga and Yoshiyuki decided to handle the situation together.

“Thank you! I am relieved to hear you say so. I didn’t want to let my son go, either.”

Enraku once again bowed his head deeply to express his gratitude. Yoshiyuki, who got exiled from the Count Takano family, relaxes his face, thinking that this is not someone else’s problem. After all, Masatoshi is only 9 years old, so he thought it would be good if Masatoshi apologized, and his face became gentle.

Miu was safe, and as a matter of fact, she could have escaped, but his daughter had rushed forward to defeat the stone golem. As always, he was proud of his daughter’s strong sense of justice, but on the other hand, he also wished she would take better care of herself.

But Teijo Ouga was looking at him with ruthless eyes, and he did not open his mouth to say a single word. Seeing this, Enraku removed his hand from his face and signaled his subordinate behind him with his eyes.

Enraku’s subordinate brought a sturdy-looking silver trunk case, placed it between the three of them, and opened it with a crack.