Editor 104

North of the Mountain Range (1)

Kleio just smiled.

As long as there was no proven way to discern souls, until then, he was Gideon Asser’s second son.

“It’s surprising to have my very existence as your younger brother denied just because of some memory issues. As you say, I am Father’s child and your brother.”

“Younger brother, you say. Do you even consider me family by blood? You don’t remember anything about me. Yet you brazenly swept through the Capital Merchants’ Guild’s New Year’s gathering.”

Kleio thought he was starting to understand what was making Vlad so angry.

‘He’s worried that his once-withdrawn brother suddenly standing out might change Father’s affections, so he’s trying to push me down now.’

He was completely off the mark.

Being the head of a general trading company—such a hellish job—was something Kleio didn’t want at all.

Kleio lightly pushed away Vlad’s hand from his shoulder.

“I’m just a mage, doing my best in my own field. Once my small talents became known, I couldn’t refuse every invitation, so I simply behaved with courtesy. If you don’t like it, I’ll restrain myself from now on.”

“You lie rather calmly. For someone supposedly devoted only to academia, haven’t you started too many enterprises?”

“That’s…”

Gideon probably had a general grasp of Kleio’s businesses, but Kleio didn’t know how much Vlad knew, so he held back.

“Dealing in real estate or magical tools was predictable, but even venturing into publishing seems to have genuinely surprised Father. The head of the company’s research division even praised ‘the young master’ for reading the trends of the world so well.”

All his careful maneuvering was pointless; they knew everything. It seemed the investigation details from Asser Trading’s research department were shared directly with the heir as well.

“…Predicting positive sales before the book is even out seems premature. And the manuscript is a magic book. Since there are so many misconceptions about magic, it’s being published to improve public understanding.”

Kleio consistently maintained his position, but that very consistent composure touched Vlad’s nerve.

“You’ve really become eloquent, Kleio. Right, since you’ve produced such amazing results, Father considers putting you in the Capital Guard School a very successful investment. But remember, he’s not the type to make such gambles.”

“Brother…”

“You resemble Father a lot. If our late mother could have seen you grown like this, she would have been delighted too.”

Vlad’s voice wavered at the end. He seemed to be trying not to show emotion in front of the object of his resentment and jealousy.

To Kleio, Vlad’s behavior felt somewhat strange.

Thelma had died eighteen years ago. Too much time had passed for Kleio to be blamed for the loss of their mother.

‘Could it be, it’s not just about inheritance… but he’s actually competing with his much younger brother for Father’s affection?’

For “Jeongjin,” who’d never even had a father in his life, such feelings were unimaginable.

‘A guy who’ll be thirty next year throwing a fit because Dad favors his little brother. Good grief.’

Kleio even begrudged using ether, so he turned off “Perception.” His posture slumped again. He suddenly found everything tedious. He was even glad his brother didn’t know that to him, the mansion was more important than Father’s attention.

‘Even if, by some chance, I get struck from the family register and am no longer the Asser second son, I can just create a new surname when I get a title. Then I’ll make it Kim or Lee.’

Kim was his original surname, and Lee was Jeongjin’s mother’s maiden name.

The lowest title that could enter the House of Lords was baron, and a noble’s full title followed a format including both surname and estate name.

All the fertile land in central Albion already had established rulers. Unless one was descended from the Knights of the Round Table, the old nobles’ estates were mostly in the center.

Those who became nobles in the era of Absalom II only gained lands of extinct old noble families if they were lucky; usually, they received territory taken from the Principality of Brunnen.

Since then, the rare new hereditary titles were granted with “estates” that were actually valueless royal lands.

Such nominal estates generally had no residents, so the new noble could name them as they pleased.

‘Then maybe I’ll rename the estate Jongno or Sadang.’

Thinking of titles like Baron Kim of Sadang or Baron Lee of Jongno, Kleio let out a silly smile without realizing.

Maybe thinking he was being laughed at, Vlad gave Kleio a push, stepped back, and crossed his arms.

Soon, a smile returned to Vlad’s face, and his voice lost all anger.

“Anyway, whatever happened, I don’t dislike the current you. Kleio—no, Ray. Your friends call you Ray, don’t they?”

Kleio frowned slightly.

Before Arthur and Chel entered his life, it seemed there hadn’t even been a family nickname for this child.

‘No wonder he couldn’t stand it. Even without memories, it’s clear this guy bullied his brother insidiously.’

Vlad Asser seemed to have contributed greatly to “Kleio Asser’s” short lifespan. There was nothing about him to like.

“Just call me whatever you always did.”

“No, how could I? It feels too awkward to call you Kleio. This nickname is catchy and nice. I’ll call you that from now on. Haha, let’s get along from now on, Ray.”

“You must be tired. Get some rest. I have to leave early for fieldwork tomorrow, so I’ll excuse myself first.”

“Hey, make sure to keep the magic stones. How would it look if I took them back?”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept your kindness. I’ll give Father your regards as well.”

He was already disliked, and after that rough exchange, whether he took the magic stones or not, Vlad’s suspicion wouldn’t disappear. Kleio just took what he could.

Lifting the heavy box filled only with magic stone rubies, Kleio called Mrs. Canton.

“Ma’am, please prepare the central guest room on the second floor for my brother. Have a good night.”

Kleio felt he’d fulfilled his “brotherly” duty by giving Vlad Asser the best guest room in the mansion, and ended the encounter.

---

The next day.

Thanks to the aftermath of Vlad’s pointless prodding, Kleio overslept. Because of that, he missed his reserved train.

He took the next train immediately, but by the time he arrived at Morolt, the capital of Tristan estate, it was already past the city’s curfew.

That meant he couldn’t travel to the ducal manor.

Though the line to Morolt took a winding route, there were tracks, but the ducal manor was located deep in the mountains, only accessible by carriage or on foot.

Usually, the capital of an estate had the post office, government office, and the lord’s castle or mansion, but Tristan estate was unique in that the ducal manor was isolated in the mountains.

Tristan estate was a rugged region located on the northwestern branch of the Pintos Mountains.

The entire estate was barren mountains, and the Zekabr inland sea, frozen for over five months a year, pressed up against sheer cliffs at the northernmost edge.

Most residents worked in lumbering, magic stone mining, gathering herbs and mushrooms, or hunting. Even before the monsters appeared, dangerous wild animals roamed, so the population was sparse.

For these reasons, Arthur’s group ended up spending the night at the only inn in town.

The weather was cold, and snow had piled up as high as the twins’ heads on both sides of the road all winter, so they also had dinner at the inn’s pub on the first floor.

It wasn’t even 6 p.m. yet, but outside the window, it was already as dark as midnight. The pub was so empty, it felt like the four of them had rented it out.

Given the bitter cold and the monster sightings, it was no wonder few people would venture to a bar. So, the pub felt like it was reserved for the four of them.

Lippi, swinging her legs at the high table, spoke.

“Since the monsters started rampaging, from the day before yesterday you can’t go outside the city walls after 5 p.m. Only the trains run.”

“Anyway, Ray, since you didn’t show up, we wondered if you’d collapsed sick somewhere again.”

“We tried to call, but all the central station’s phone lines were being replaced.”

Kleio, as the latecomer, simply apologized meekly.

“Sorry I was late, guys. I made you worry for nothing and put you through an uncomfortable day.”

“I wasn’t worried, but I got torn apart between these two. Isiel was all nervous, and Arthur looked like he was about to run to your house.”

Chel, who had gone to get drinks at the bar, joined in with a laugh. She skillfully put all five drinks on the table with a borrowed tray.

“Hey, it’s post-pay here, isn’t that unusual? We just pay when we leave.”

“I’ll buy dinner tonight as an apology. Order whatever you want.”

“Waaa!”

“Ray, you’re so generous!”

The two food-loving twins cheered.

“When have I ever been stingy?”

“Come on, Arthur and Chel go out with you, but it’s the first time for us at a pub!”

“Before, you two were too young to come to pubs.”

“Hehe, now both Lippi and I have had our birthdays. We’re fourteen.”

“We can come to pubs now!”

“And we can drink beer!”

In the Kingdom of Albion, fourteen seemed to be the tacit legal drinking age.

Finally free from age restrictions, the twins pulled the ale glasses toward them and drank heartily.

“Wow, this is good!”

“Tastes like caramel!”

“So this is beer!”

“No, not all beer tastes like this, this is strong ale.”

“Thanks for the info, Chel. I’ll have to try more in the future!”

“You don’t get strong ale like this in the capital, so drink up while you can here.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

The twins quickly drained half their glasses and started chatting with cheeks flushed.

Kleio, sipping his own glass, enjoyed the deep amber color, malty aroma, and sweet aftertaste of the beer, similar to a Scotch ale, but then he got worried.

‘Wait, this has to be at least 8 percent, right? Is it okay for kids to drink this?’

“Lippi, Letitia. If it’s your first time drinking, take it slow. You might get drunk.”

The twins, who had set down their empty glasses with a clink, both pouted.

“Ray, who always has a drink in hand, is warning us off….”

“So weird, it doesn’t add up.”

…There was nothing Kleio could say to that comeback. Chel patted him on the back.

“You can’t win against them, so just keep ordering food. Once they start eating, they’ll quiet down.”

“Thanks for the tip, Chel. But what’s good here? There’s no menu, so how do we order?”

“What’s to think about? I asked earlier, and there are only two stews, three roasts, and fries. The whole roast piglet takes a while, and the stew comes after that.”

Chel had already figured out the menu while ordering drinks. There was nothing to decide. Kleio spread his hands in a “give us everything from here to there” pose.

“Then let’s just order it all.”

The twins cheered.

“Great!”

“Great!”

.

.

.

Arthur, who had arranged a carriage to take them to the Tristan manor, came back to the pub with snow still clinging to his coat, laughing loudly.

“Ha ha ha ha ha. So you ordered the whole menu? How much has come out so far?”

On the table were steaming lamb meatball skewers and fries.

The strong aroma of spices and seared fat made everyone hungry. There were a lot of meatballs, piled high on a huge brass platter.

“Only two dishes so far!”

“How many did you order?”

“Six!”

“So three times this will come out? Whew.”

“Why, we can eat it all!”

“Who said you couldn’t? I need to eat too! Smells amazing. Wow, thanks to Ray we’re living it up!”

Arthur, just grabbing his ale, couldn’t stop laughing. When he was really excited and laughed big like this, his sharp canine teeth showed a little, making him look like a young beast.

‘It is a little strange that he gets this happy every time he teases me.’

Kleio, setting down his second emptied glass, gave up on everything.

“Yeah, laugh all you want. There won’t be many times in life you can laugh like that.”

The twins, pulling the lamb meatballs off the skewers with their forks, booed loudly.

“There he goes, Ray sounding like an old man again.”

“What’s he going to do when he really gets old, acting like this already?”