A single gold coin could buy a lot, and today Sean truly witnessed the wealth of a count’s household.
This felt more like the noble life he had in mind—a bathhouse as large as a basketball court, with a view of the sunset directly ahead. From the moment he entered, Sean completely lost his sense of direction; if not for the constant guidance, he would have been utterly lost. No wonder the Hamilton heirs fought tooth and nail for this position—with such luxurious conditions and the inheritance of the entire vast city of Koga, how could one not compete?
Leaning back in the spacious bath, Sean glanced at the clothes set aside nearby... The grimoire was still tucked in his waist pouch. Even if he changed clothes, that was something best kept hidden.
With no one around, Sean’s mind drifted back to the giant rat encounter earlier. He was certain that magical beast was being controlled by someone...
Thinking it over, why would a beast that lived in the sewers willingly stay hidden there? That giant rat must have existed before Igunia first discovered it on Brukan Avenue, and Sean firmly believed someone was secretly raising it. Otherwise, the [In conversation...] status couldn’t be explained.
But who could it be?! Among those present, besides Igunia and himself, there were magic users like Sharik and Warren—it could be any of them. Or perhaps the handler was farther away, communicating with the giant rat, only to abandon it for some reason, leaving it to die at Aria’s hands and her subordinates’...
After a round of speculation, Sean found this theory relatively plausible, though another possibility lingered.
He surveyed the spacious room and lavish decor around him. Living in such a place, it was no surprise that someone might covet it. Wealth and poverty, safety and danger—they were inherently relative...
The Hamilton family owned such a massive city; how could no one have designs on it? If they had the nerve, even street thugs would target them for extortion, which was why they kept so many high-level guards. From this perspective, it was perfectly normal for someone to be pulling strings behind the scenes—nothing to get worked up over.
Simplifying the matter made it easier to grasp. Without any evidence, asking anyone would yield nothing, so Sean had to keep it to himself for now, waiting to see if other clues emerged later.
…………………………
By the time he finished bathing, dinner was nearly upon him. A maid came to ask if he’d like to head to the dining room early. This was the same servant he’d given a gold coin to deliver a letter to Skov’s shop that afternoon, and they’d built a bit of rapport—she even mentioned it when informing him.
“Lord Vigor, I’ve heard that Viscount Isaac, Viscount Bernstein, and Viscount Kukar will all be present tonight. I suggest you go a bit earlier.”
As expected of a count’s servant—her tone carried a certain authority.
“Oh, is that so? Do you think I should go early?” Sean asked with a smile.
To his surprise, a [Seriously thinking!] status appeared above her head...
This maid was interesting.
“I believe Lord Vigor should go early to leave a good impression on the other nobles,” she said.
Indeed, arriving early to wait would create a favorable impression. The Vigor family had never appeared among the southern nobles, and this was Sean’s first time encountering so many nobles together in such a setting. The ones mentioned were all viscounts, higher in rank than him. By protocol, he should be the first to arrive and wait. But if he seemed too deliberate, it wouldn’t fit the image of the “reclusive” Baron Vigor, so Sean stayed put in his room.
The maid outside grew anxious and asked again if there was anything else, but Sean simply said to wait without explaining why. As a servant, even with her confident demeanor, she dared not shout at Sean, so she stood silently by the door, growing increasingly impatient.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the hallway.
“Why are you still here? Come with me!” A familiar voice came from the doorway.
Igunia!
“What are you doing here?”
Earlier, when Sean had asked her to stay, she wasn’t around, but now she appeared, having changed into a gown resembling an evening dress, baring her pale shoulders and accentuating her slender waist and rounded hips. Her hair was braided and pinned at the back of her head.
“Miss Aria invited me. Hurry up—all the nobles have gone, and you’re still here!”
“What, has it already started?”
Sean noticed a [Urgent!] status above her head.
Was it that serious?
He had only planned to wait until the nobles had all arrived before showing up, to project the image of a remote lord unfamiliar with noble etiquette. Surely someone would come to fetch him before dinner—he was a guest, after all.
“Dinner? Count Hamilton has fallen ill.”
Igunia grabbed Sean’s hand and ran down the hallway, explaining as they went.
“Fallen ill?!”
“Yes, just a short while ago... Count Hamilton was about to come, but suddenly felt unwell and collapsed in his room,” Igunia whispered.
The news came so suddenly that many hadn’t reacted. The nobles waiting in the hall were startled when a messenger rushed in.
“Everyone’s heading over now. I asked around when I didn’t see you, and it turns out you hadn’t even come...” Igunia didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
The entire count’s estate was in chaos, yet someone was still holed up in their room.
“I’d heard earlier that the count’s health was failing, which is why he was so eager to choose an heir. I didn’t expect it to be true,” Igunia said.
Sean suddenly recalled Esmeralda mentioning something similar. It seemed the street rumors weren’t entirely baseless.
They followed the direction the servants were running until they reached a courtyard where they were stopped. Most of the nobles were held back at this point.
“Baron Vigor.” Aria, pacing in the yard, turned and greeted him as he approached.
Beside her, several men and women also turned their heads!