I got promoted?!?!
From now on, I’ll be an Earl!
Even Sean felt surprised—how had his title suddenly been elevated out of nowhere?
In the Basharan Empire, opportunities for title advancement were rare. In recent years, the nation had been stable, focused on economic development, with little reason for promotions. Moreover, once a noble family had been entrenched in a region for generations, the empire wouldn’t rashly relocate a local lord or replace them unless they committed a serious mistake.
But what Ryan just mentioned was the Tacoma region…
That city recently destroyed in the Immortal Summoning incident? And it was to be rebuilt?
Sean hadn’t received the specifics yet, so he could only listen to Ryan Hamilton’s words and imagine…
At that moment, the other man’s expression was far from pleasant. Suddenly finding himself on equal footing with Sean, and as an Earl of the southeastern region, made everything he’d just said pointless—all empty talk.
His status indicators were all 【Dissatisfied!】 and 【Angry!】, yet he had to keep a smile on his face…
To be honest, Ryan fell far short of his father in this regard. Even Sean, with his special abilities, felt he couldn’t fully see through the previous Earl Hamilton, but this man in front of him was far too easy to read.
“I never expected Viscount Weigel to have such a trick up his sleeve in Riyetis… No, now I should call you Earl Weigel,” Ryan said with a forced smile.
Occasionally, Sean thought that someone as impatient as Ryan had his merits—at least their conversations weren’t full of twists and turns, just straight to the point.
“You flatter me. I only just received this news myself.”
Before Sean could even say it was Ryan who’d told him, the other man’s face had already twisted with anger.
“It’s too early to be smug, Sean. The Tacoma region just went through that so-called ancient god worshiper incident. It’s a complete mess now, with many people fleeing. Even the empire has no good solution for that place at this stage… Sending you there now, huh. Don’t die on the way, or I’ll have to arrange someone to collect your corpse.”
Once angered, Ryan abandoned all pretense of noble etiquette and demeanor, speaking bluntly and crudely.
Sean actually liked that…
“Don’t trouble yourself over an outsider’s affairs. I’ll handle it myself.” Since it had come to this, it was no longer a negotiation—just the two of them trading barbs.
But the exchange was smooth, and always refreshing!
No room for discussion meant no need to talk.
Sean set down his teacup, stood up to leave, but was suddenly called back.
Turning around, it wasn’t Ryan Hamilton but Warren, who had been standing beside him all along…
“Does Wizard Warren have something to say to me too?”
The other man’s face was dark, still wearing an undisguised 【Dissatisfied!】 expression.
“I hope you remember what I said, or else…”
“Or else what?” Sean smiled at him.
“Elintha isn’t someone just anyone can provoke.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll look forward to seeing it.” With that, he left without looking back.
Since the empire intended to promote him to a rank equal to the other’s, there was no need to say more.
Due to geographical location, Taylemian was inevitably constrained by Cogar City. This sudden promotion news had caught even him off guard.
Who had recommended his promotion?
The Grand Duke, or the Prince…
Or Freya.
Sean was more inclined to believe it was Freya’s suggestion. But the Tacoma region had just suffered a disaster—why suddenly send him there to build a city?
He wanted to write a letter directly to Riyetis, but for now, he had no intelligence network of his own. A simple letter might be intercepted by Ryan and his people. As seen with Aria’s letter to him, they even knew its contents, clearly having handled it first.
With no influence of his own, entrusting it to an ordinary messenger could send it anywhere!
Because he carried the Kain Stone Tablet, Sean minimized any open contact with Freya…
Even Earl Hamilton could deploy so many informants, let alone Prince Philip’s faction. The tablet was something they’d deliberately hidden; if suspected, it could bring trouble to the Sky-Covering Wings.
Back at Skov’s shop, Sean kept thinking about his promotion.
Both Claude and Igniya were there, and they anxiously asked when he returned…
“Sean, I heard Earl Hamilton summoned you. Are you okay?!” They stared at the pensive Sean.
“I’m fine. Actually, I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
“I might… become an Earl!”
Huh?!?!
Both wore expressions of 【Astonishment!】.
“That’s the news I got at the Earl’s mansion. The empire has ordered me to become the Earl of the Tacoma region…”
……………………
Having never experienced any promotion before, he never expected this news to gradually become common knowledge.
It felt like when someone in his past life won the top imperial exam—streets and alleys buzzed with talk of Viscount Weigel of Taylemian Town heading to the Tacoma region to become the new Earl.
The Tacoma region originally belonged to the Francis family, but in the last incident, all members of the Francis family had perished, leaving no heir.
For now, the aftermath was still a key topic in the imperial capital. Yet suddenly, an appointment emerged, making an obscure rural viscount the lord of that region!
Aside from those around Cogar City, no one knew who Viscount Weigel was… It was as if he’d appeared out of nowhere, with no prior reputation.
Many cities or merchants neighboring the Tacoma region even had to buy genealogical records of the southern border nobility just to find this unknown noble’s name.
And when they did, they felt that luck sometimes defied all reason.
Every book describing the Weigel family said they’d always lived deep in the mountains, cut off from the outside world, with their last appearance during the Cogar City riot…
They’d only emerged less than a year ago and were already being promoted!
What kind of luck was that?
Many gossips speculated that the southeastern region, bordering Edac, was a contested area among noble factions. This obscure viscount, precisely because he kept a low profile and avoided interaction, balanced all the warring factions, giving the Royal Wizard Corps enough time to investigate the ancient god matter.
Gradually, this discussion grew, in some areas nearly overshadowing the earlier talk about the ancient god worshipers!