How to Survive as a Member of the Meteor Sword Family Chapter 96

How to survive as a loser in the Yoo Seong-geom family

Episode 96

The Iron Lion is unhappy (1)

“So, does that mean we have to arrive at Whisen Castle within two days at the earliest?”

Faust, who was sitting across from Jin with the map spread out, frowned and asked.

Then Jin nodded with an urgent look on his face.

“Oh. You absolutely have to go within two days. A wizard like you can do it, right? You can use mass teleportation, right?”

One of the worst futures he had ever known came half a year earlier than he had expected. He had to get back home within two days, no matter what.

“No, it’s impossible. Even if I use all my magic, the distance I can move you all at once is roughly the border of the Magical Nation. Anything further than that is impossible.”

“It only takes two days, so why don’t we split it up and use it?”

“That’s also impossible. Even if it were a country, it would take at least four days to fill the empty mana heart. Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”

There was no hint of falsehood in Faust’s voice as he spoke earnestly.

“There is something like that. Something I can’t say… … Isn’t there some way? Using flying magic? Since you’re a quintuple caster, maybe five people… … .”

“If you’re talking about levitation, it would be possible to lift five people, but the speed would be significantly slower. Of course, it would be faster than a carriage, but it would still be impossible to reach Whisen Castle in two days.”

“Then there’s no way? This bastard… … .”

Jin, who was becoming more and more anxious, asked Mephisto who was licking his candy, Isabelle who was sharpening her spear, and the mouse who was just sitting there blankly.

“Don’t you guys have any thoughts? We have to go as fast as possible.”

“I can’t really… think of anything.”

“I don’t even know what’s going on.”

“Excuse me, bro… … I just had an idea. Can I tell you about it… … .”

The mouse that had been sitting still opened its mouth hesitantly. Jin, who approached him like the wind, touched the mouse’s shoulder and spoke.

“What is that? Whatever it is, just tell me what you think.”

“Isn’t there a tower of iron lions not far from the border? If you visit there… .”

“Tower of the Iron Lion?… … Aha!!!”

Jin opened his eyes wide as he realized something from the mouse’s words. Then he hugged the mouse tightly.

“You wonderful child! You have a good head on your shoulders at times like this. That’s a very good idea! Faust! Wouldn’t it be easy to send us to the Tower of the Iron Lion instead of the Whisen Castle?”

“Well, that seems okay… … What are your intentions? Even though the Southern Iron Lion Tower is close to the border, it’s still quite far from Whisen Castle.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take care of the rest, so just send us to the Tower of the Iron Lion quickly! Think of it as the price for taking care of him! Hurry up!”

Jin approached Faust and pointed to Mephisto, who was sitting on the sofa, crunching and munching on candy.

“Oh, I see.”

Faust nodded his head in confusion, embarrassed by Jin’s attitude. Then, Jin grabbed Faust’s shoulder and shook his hand roughly.

“Hurry up! Every second counts!”

“… … Don’t rush me so much. I’ll send them right away. Everyone, gather together.”

Isabelle, Mephistopheles, and the mouse, who did not know English, looked at each other for a moment and then walked towards the center of the drawing room that Faust had pointed to.

Immediately afterwards, a magic circle emitting dazzling light began to appear beneath their feet.

* * *

Late at night.

Thorsten the Iron Lion was deeply troubled. More accurately, he was worried than troubled.

“Jean Aster, this f*cking kid… … .”

It was because of the loan contract I had signed without hesitation a while ago.

After confirming the deposit, the story he heard when he took the documents to his disciple in charge of the tower’s finances still lingered in his mind.

“5% compound interest per month! And a 50% early repayment fee? Master!!! Are you crazy? This is a ridiculous contract!”

After hearing the disciple’s explanation.

The moment he realized that he had fallen into the trap of welfare, Torsten’s mind went blank and his legs gave out, and he sank to the spot in an awkward manner.

His disciple spoke to Torsten in an urgent voice.

“I have to pay it back immediately, even if it means selling more than half of the golems in the tower… … .”

That couldn’t be possible. The golems he had painstakingly created were like symbols of the tower.

The moment he sells all of this, his position among the tower owners will become indescribably narrow.

And that’s not all.

Golems, which take at least two years to learn to control for an average wizard, are worth only a small fortune when sold on the market.

In a word, it is a case of being caught in a trap.

In the future, the Tower of the Iron Lion will be sucked to the bone by the Meteor Sword Master.

“Welfare was such a concept… … Damn. I shouldn’t have turned a blind eye to 5% interest.”

I couldn’t blame anyone else.

Because it happened solely due to his own impatience and ignorance.

The current debt is about 50,000 gold. Considering the early repayment fee, the debt of 75,000 gold must be paid in full.

If it were midwinter when ore mining was possible, even if they bought some ore, they could raise the tax collection rate and pay it back in a couple of months, but now that winter was over, there was no way to raise that much money.

To begin with, the city ruled by the Tower of the Iron Lion was not a large enough place to collect taxes heavily.

What that means is that for at least the next 6-7 months, you’ll just have to suck your thumb and watch the interest snowball.

“Jin Aster… … This bastard is worse than a dog! How dare you fool me?!”

Wow!

It was at that moment that I couldn’t control my anger and threw a bottle of alcohol, which hit the wall and shattered into pieces.

Squeak-

The door to his office opened without even knocking, and a face he could never forget even in his dreams appeared.

“You’re worse than a dog. Are you talking about me?”

The second most promising member of the Yoo Seong Sword Family was Jin Aster.

A group of people followed him inside.

The next head of the Hades family, Isabelle Aster, who destroyed the metal golem with Jin, and the mouse man who ran around buying raw stones.

And, a beautiful woman with blue hair that I had never seen before.

“… … What are you doing here? Without any warning.”

I couldn’t control my boiling anger at seeing these sudden visitors and almost summoned the Iron Lion.

Then, Jin, with his usual sly expression that seemed like it wouldn’t be satisfying even if he chewed it up, approached him, placed his hands on the desk, and opened his mouth.

“I, the second son of the Yoo Seong-geom family, have a favor to ask of you, Lord Tower. Is that okay?”

“Uh… … Th, that… … What are you asking for?”

It was clear that he had heard his own scream just a moment ago.

As Torsten was stammering in embarrassment, an unexpected person entered the office.

“It’s nothing special, it’s a request that you can easily grant with your abilities.”

An elf with gray hair and eyes. Torsten, who immediately recognized his identity, hurriedly lowered his head.

“Iron Lion Tower Lord Torsten Rune greets Faust Rune, the ruler of Tower 1!”

“Why are you bowing your heads when you are both from the same castle? Just be comfortable, be comfortable.”

Faust waved his hand with a gentle smile, but Torsten did not dare raise his head.

On the surface, the Magic Tower owners were on equal footing, but Faust, the number one Magic Tower owner, was an exception.

He is the real power in the Magic Nation, a pioneer of magic who reached the 9th level, an unprecedented realm, and the only one of the three heroes from 500 years ago who appears in the legend to still be alive today.

“But, why is Lord Faust Rune in this shabby place… … .”

“I came here to ask you a favor regarding these friends. Please forgive me for coming to you out of the blue in the middle of the night because I was in a hurry.”

“Forgiveness? Such a ridiculous thing to say… … By the way, what kind of favor are you asking for?”

Jin walked over to the sofa in the office, sat down with a thud, crossed his legs, and spoke to Torsten.

“We have something urgent to do right now, so we need to get to Whisen Castle in two days. But as you know, Lord Tower, it would take a week to get from here to Whisen Castle by regular carriage.”

“… … That’s right. Even if you run fast day and night, it will take more than five days.”

“So, please lend us some wire.”

“Why is there suddenly an iron lion… … ?”

Torsten, not understanding the meaning behind Jin’s words, looked at him quietly.

“Surely, if we use an iron horse instead of a horse, which is dozens of times faster than a normal horse, wouldn’t we be able to reach Whisen Castle in less than a day?”

“… … So… … You’re saying that you’re going to use the iron lion, the symbol of this city, to pull a carriage?”

Torsten, who realized Jin’s true intentions too late, muttered in disbelief.

“Now you understand my feelings. Could you please do me a favor?”

“I refuse.”

Torsten shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.

This is absolutely impossible.

The iron lion that he had painstakingly created was being used for a mere task of pulling a carriage.

If he accepted this, it would clearly remain an indelible shame on his life.

“Tsk, Master Faust. Master Torsten said no? There’s nothing I can do. He said he wouldn’t listen to my request… … I have no choice but to hand him over to Master Faust again.”

Jin clicked his tongue once and looked at Faust, then extended his finger towards Mephisto.

“That is absolutely unacceptable. Don’t you know that under continental law, the deadline for exchanges and refunds is one week? Since the deadline has passed, Mephisto must follow you unconditionally!”

Faust, who was shocked, shouted urgently. He was already acting wild, and he had no confidence in controlling Mephisto, who had also acquired the body of a homunculus.

Besides, leaving Mephisto in Jin’s care is also a request from an old friend.

That’s why Faust cut off Jin’s story in a firm voice.

“Besides, Mephisto follows you well! You are the perfect person for the job!”

“Huh? Master Jin… … Are you really going to leave me behind because of that author? Really? Then I have to live with Faust again?”

Mephisto suddenly became sad as he listened to their conversation.

Witnessing this, Faust’s whole body radiated a heavy aura that weighed down the entire office.

“Thorsten Rune. Are you really not going to grant me a favor? If so, then I have an idea as well.”

The momentum is tremendous.

Faust’s voice contained a threat that he would destroy the entire tower if the iron lion was not handed over immediately.

Torsten, who had been observing his expression, nodded reluctantly.

“Rain, I’ll lend you some.”

“Can I ask you to pilot it too?”

Jin, who was so annoyed that he wanted to beat him up, joined in on their conversation.

Of course, Torsten had no choice but to comply.

The law is far away and magic is near, and the second son of the Yoo Seong-geom family, who sits arrogantly on the sofa, is a huge creditor who holds his lifeline.

“… … Okay, I understand. I will do so.”

Just as I was about to reluctantly go out of the tower to lower the iron lion, a story that sounded like salvation came out of Jin’s mouth.

“Well, I’m not asking you to burn it naked… … If you help us, Lord Top, we’ll forgive 10 percent of the loan principal.”

“Is that true?”

If 10 percent of the principal is forgiven… … it means that a huge amount of cost will be saved due to the nature of compound interest.

Torsten jumped up from his seat and grabbed Jin’s hand tightly.

“You promised!”

“Oh, dear. You must be very worried. Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course! I’ll arrange for a carriage to be installed on the wire immediately! There’s going to be a lot of vibration, so I’ll have to put air cushion enchantments on the wheels!”

Torsten, suddenly filled with enthusiasm, hurriedly left the office.

“A 10 percent reduction in the principal… … Do you owe the Iron Lion something?”

“Well, there is something like that.”

Jin, who had returned to his original speech, smiled slyly at Faust.

“I don’t know how things are going, but… … it seems like my role ends here. Can I go back now?”

“Of course. Thanks for bringing me here.”

“No problem. I don’t know what happened at home, but… … I wish you good luck.”

After finishing his speech, Faust teleported away in an instant.

Could it be because Jin was anxious that Mephisto might be entrusted to him again?

The speed at which he cast his magic was faster than ever.

“Anyway… … Anyway, that guy Torsten is the perfect person to get scammed by. He’s a guy who’s worth a tombstone.”

“Are you up to some kind of scheme again?”

Jin answered Isabelle’s question in a nonchalant tone.

“It’s an undocumented verbal contract, so the principal forgiveness is a promise that doesn’t necessarily have to be kept… … .”

Moreover, although Torsten did not know it yet, his bond had already been transferred to Hong Tao.

What this means is that you don’t have to stick to the part I just mentioned.

Of course, I will tell Hong Tao the story for moral reasons… … .

“If that gentleman doesn’t want to go bankrupt, he has no choice but to ask for the mercy of the financial magnates.”

At that moment, Jin, who was smiling, leaned back on the sofa, supporting his head with both hands.

Torsten rushed into the office and shouted loudly.

“The carriage search is complete! I have already made all the preparations, so let’s go!”

It was a much more lively voice than before.