#219. City of Stratagems (5)
My second morning in Lublin.
After breakfast, we headed back to the training ground.
This time there was no interference from the rooftop.
“Oh, Mr. Eriol.”
“what’s the matter?”
“yesterday…….”
While I was training, Ingrid came up to me with a stern expression and spoke to me.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“……?”
Ingrid blushed and ran away at a brisk pace.
Helios, who was standing next to him, frowned at the sight.
“Why is he like that?”
“well…….”
“Did anything happen with Ingrid last night?”
“I didn’t even see your face last night.”
“okay?”
After that, Ingrid kept glancing at me and blushing.
But upon closer inspection, he was giving Mart a similar look.
‘What the heck?’
The morning training ended with the questions still unresolved.
At the end, Kane, Senia, Charlotte, and Helios had a mock battle against Kaisel, Ingrid, and Mart.
“Thank you all for your hard work. Now it’s time for lunch.”
“Professor, there is no training in the afternoon?”
“Yes, but I have an event to attend in the evening, so don’t go far.”
Kaisel left, saying he had something else to do, and we went out to lunch alone.
“So where should we eat lunch?”
“Just eat anywhere.”
“Hey, Helios. We came all the way to Lublin, so what if we just eat anywhere? Let’s eat something decent.”
As he said this, Kane raised his hand.
“I think there’s a restaurant over there that sells omelets. Let’s go there.”
“Omelette? You can get that at the Academy cafeteria, too.”
“I took a quick look and it looked a little different. Trust me and give it a go.”
“Why are you boasting so much when you haven’t even tried it?”
Helios grumbled, but they all ended up going to the restaurant together.
“The store is pretty.”
“Yeah, it’s neat.”
“There are a lot of couples… Is this a restaurant where many people come on dates?”
There was no room for all seven of them to sit together, so three men and four women had to sit together.
I opened the menu the waitress brought me and it definitely felt different from the omelets sold at the Academy cafeteria.
“Cream Shrimp Tempura Omelette? An omelette with cream and shrimp tempura?”
“It’s an omelet with fried shrimp. It looks like they poured cream on it.”
“Snow Hamburger Omelette…? What’s Snow?”
I chose the menu while talking to Cain and Helios.
After waiting for a while, the food came out one by one.
“There’s definitely something different.”
The menu I ordered was the ‘Seafood Tomato Omelette’ which was marked as ‘recommended’.
An omelet topped with tomato sauce filled with seafood, like pasta.
“Cain is… a golden hotdog omelet.”
“Haha. You can eat a hot dog and an omelet together. There’s something different about Lublin.”
The Golden Hotdog Omelette was a hotdog and omelette combo covered in yellow sauce.
“Do we really have to eat a hot dog together?”
Helios tilted his head, forking over the snow hamburger omelet he had ordered.
The omelet topped with hamburger steak and topped with cheese powder snow-like, looked quite appetizing.
“The taste is… good.”
“Really? I was right.”
“Hmm, I think I could make this… Did you use any special broth when you beat the eggs?”
The omelette was better than I expected.
The girls at the next table seemed to like it too.
But just then… … .
“Kuhaha. You’re still kids, liking such cheap food.”
A deep voice came from the seat across from me.
“……!”
Kane, Helios, and I stood up at the same time.
There were clearly only three people sitting at our table, but before we knew it, one more person had joined.
‘What’s this guy?’
It was a monster with a bandage wrapped around his face.
He was very tall, but his limbs were so thin that he resembled a withered tree.
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It was strange that no one had noticed him until he sat down here, despite his striking appearance.
“Sir, who are you?”
Kane asked, showing his wariness.
Then he burst out laughing.
“Hahaha. Haven’t you ever heard my name from Kaisel?”
“yes?”
“Nice to meet you, students.”
He said, extending his hand forward like a tree branch.
“My name is Edlamedes, the chairman of Horus Magic Academy.”
“……!”
We all held our breath when we heard that name.
Because he was the instructor of Horus Magic Academy, which we would face off against in tomorrow’s representative match.
“Kuuuuu. You shouldn’t make a fuss in the store. Everyone, stop making a fuss and sit down.”
Edlamedes laughed and pounded the table.
“I didn’t come here specifically to harm you. Trust me.”
“…….”
After saying this, Edelamedes snapped his fingers.
“Waitress, can I have a cold glass of lemonade please?”
“Oh, yes…!”
The waitress, frightened by Edlamedes’ grotesque appearance, ran away.
“What are you doing? I told you to sit down.”
“…….”
Finally we sat down.
Because it could have been more dangerous if you talked back carelessly.
“Chairman Edlamedes……”
“Well, you are Eriol Valencia.”
Edlamedes seemed to know me.
“Why did you suddenly appear in front of us?”
“Hahaha. No special reason. I just wanted to talk to you guys when Kaisel isn’t around.”
When there is no Kaisel.
There was tension in those words.
“Don’t get me wrong. I just wanted to have a candid conversation with you guys without that guy around.”
“…….”
“If it weren’t for this opportunity, you guys… Ah, thank you.”
The conversation was interrupted for a moment by the waitress bringing us lemonade.
Edlamedes frowned, sipping his lemonade through a straw.
“Hmm, this tastes really cheap. It’s just concentrated powder mixed with water. This isn’t real lemonade.”
Despite his grumbling, Edlamedes quickly drank the lemonade.
Edelamedes chuckled as he placed the cup, now empty of ice, on the table.
“I know all your names. You’re Eriol Valencia, you’re Kane Trigger, you’re Helios Chanettis… I know the names of the girls over there too. They’re all talented prospects.”
“…….”
“Meeting students with promising futures always makes my heart race. Especially… when they’re the ones Kaisel has his eye on.”
As he said this, Edelamedes looked at my face.
“Especially Eriol, Kaisel seems to care for you very much.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s that much.”
“Kuuuuu. It must be true that Kaisel thinks of you as special, right?”
“…….”
“Kaiser is a capable wizard. And… he has a remarkable eye for people.”
Edlamedes glanced at us.
“I can tell just by looking at your faces. You are truly the people carefully selected by Kaisel… the ones who will lead the future of the Academy.”
“…….”
“That makes it even more desirable.”
At that moment, Edelamedes’ eyes lit up with greed.
“Okay, then let’s get to the point.”
thud!
Suddenly an object appeared on the table.
It was a huge gold ingot that was amazingly shiny.
“It’s a deposit. One per person.”
Kukukukukung!
The number of gold bars increased to seven.
“Three, my goodness……!”
Ingrid jumped up from her seat, her eyes glaring.
“Hey, is this really pure gold?”
“Hahaha. I’m not that cool to put out a fake in a place like this.”
“Wow, wow. A gold bar this size is worth its price…”
“Ingrid, stop drooling.”
Charlotte grabbed Ingrid from behind.
“What the heck is this?”
“Didn’t you say it was a deposit, Charlotte Strasbourg?”
Edlamedes shrugged his shoulders and said,
“If you promise to quit Ars Magna Academy and come to Horus Magic Academy, I’ll give each of you one gift.”
“……!”
During this time, we received offers from various places.
However, Edlamedes was the first person to make such an overt offer of recruitment while displaying his wealth.
‘Come to think of it, I told you he was incredibly rich.’
I’ve seen it in a book before.
Edlamedes was a descendant of medieval alchemists, and is said to have made a fortune by reviving various alchemy techniques that were only known as legends using modern magic.
“Please stop talking nonsense, Chairman Edlamedes.”
“hmm?”
“Are we so cheap that we would fall for this much gold?”
Charlotte’s voice was cold.
The daughter of the Duke of Strasbourg is not swayed by such a small amount of gold.
“I’m sorry, but this much…….”
“Hahaha. There’s a misunderstanding!”
Edlamedes burst out laughing.
“This is just a deposit! It’s a down payment!”
“yes?”
“When you officially become a member of Horus Magic Academy, then I will give you more than this!”
As he said this, Edelamedes picked up a gold bar.
“This is only one-tenth of the total amount… If you enroll in Horus Magic Academy, you will each receive nine more gold bars of the same weight.”
“……!”
Charlotte was also shocked by Edlamedes’ words.
Not to mention other ordinary people.
“Well, if I had ten of those gold bars… Mr. Helios, how much would that be?”
“I don’t know, Ingrid. It’s definitely not an amount of money we’ll ever be able to obtain in our lifetimes….”
I wonder how much wealth this guy has.
“Okay, then let’s count down. I’ll start counting from 10, so answer before we reach 0.”
“yes?”
“I’m a busy person, you know. As time goes by, let’s pretend this recruitment offer never happened. Then, of course, I’ll have to part ways with Geumgoe.”
“Now, wait a minute. So suddenly….”
Ignoring Ingrid’s voice, Edelamedes spread his hands wide.
“10, 9, 8…….”
“You’re too fast!”
“7, 6, 5…….”
“Eww…!”
Ingrid held her head in conflict.
The other kids also looked embarrassed.
“4, 3, 2…….”
“Chairman Edlamedes.”
“huh?”
At the sound of my voice, Edelamedes stopped counting.
“Have you decided to sign the contract?”
“You shouldn’t ask for a contract without presenting proper conditions.”
When he shouted like that, the other kids held their breath.
“You said ‘contract deposit’ with your own mouth, but you didn’t even explain exactly what kind of contract it was. What should I do?”
“Hmm……”
“If you make students like us sign a contract like that… it’s a fraudulent contract.”
Edlamedes’ methods were vicious.
He showed a huge gold bar to students who were still ignorant of the ways of the world and dazzled them, then suddenly started a countdown and threatened that if they did not quickly sign a contract, the gold bar would disappear.
At first glance, he seems like a rich man who would readily offer a large sum of money to a mere student, but in reality, he is a vicious conman.
“You approached Uncle Kaisel from the beginning with this intention when he was not with us.”
“…….”
“I am disappointed, Chairman Edlamedes.”
I glared at Edlamedes, who was squinting his eyes, and snapped at him in a cold voice.
“How on earth do you plan to use us like this? Is this because of this representative match?”
When I asked him that question, Edelamedes chuckled.
