– It won’t take long. It has to be that way.
Leaving only those words behind, Kyle Byron and his maid left the Arkhe Magic Tower without delay.
“……………”
What remained were the tower’s mages who were busily constructing the giant Abracadabra, and Adela who had lost her board game partner.
It was an ending that left nothing but an uneasy feeling behind.
What on earth could it be about?
The question arose in Adela’s mind, but she quickly shook her head to dispel it.
“…It doesn’t matter anyway.”
Though she had grown closer to him after becoming aware of her jealousy, he was still the man who had made her feel such jealousy in the first place.
Now that he was gone, she felt a sense of relief. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Adela, who had been staring intently at the small Abracadabra on the other side of the room, where her opponent had disappeared, muttered to herself, I’ll finish it later.
She covered the board, left in the middle of the game with a cloth for safekeeping. After all, the game had been part of her petty “revenge” and with Kyle gone, she no longer had the desire to play it with anyone else.
…Though it did leave her wondering why Kyle had said the board game had felt like a “turning point” to him too.
“I should… help the Tower Master.”
Murmuring this to herself, Adela managed to coax herself into standing up.
Even as she rose, her gaze lingered on the board game that was now covered with the cloth, as if she was unwilling to part with it.
For a fleeting moment, she questioned her own thoughts.
Why… does this bother me?
Why couldn’t she leave the room as if nothing had happened? She should have been helping Tower Master Olphin and the other mages she considered like family. Kyle who had been such a nuisance was already gone.
Her trembling eyes reflected her hesitation as she made up her mind and turned her head away.
Yes, this was…
It’s just because the game isn’t finished yet.
That’s all it was. He had left in the middle of the game, and the timing had been inconvenient, to say the least.
It was just that. Adela clung to that explanation, trying her best to convince herself.
She clicked her tongue in frustration and started to leave the room.
“…Still.”
Would it really be enough to just cover it with a cloth?
What if the wind blew in, or some unknown presence entered and messed up the half-finished Abracadabra?
What if Kyle came back, saw the mess, and teased her, saying something like, “Wasn’t this board game supposed to be your turning point in life? Now even the turning point is ruined?”
Absolutely not.
In the end, Adela didn’t leave the room until she had taken two or three layers of magical precautions around the board game.
Even as she headed to the first-floor hall to help with the illusion construction, she found herself glancing absentmindedly out the window.
In the direction of the Byron family territory, where Kyle Byron was likely headed.
“…………?”
And so, as Adela was staring out the window, something came flying toward her.
[Chirp!]
“A spirit…?”
A sparrow spirit let out a mournful cry.
Adela, who wasn’t particularly close to spirits and couldn’t understand their language, didn’t realize it.
But the spirit’s cry was the desperate wail of an employee needing to report to their superior that they had lost sight of their surveillance target…
***
“………….”
“Y-Young Master…? W-What exactly was written in that letter…?”
“You’re better off not knowing, Sally. I mean it.”
“Huh…?”
Yes, Sally didn’t need to know. In fact, it was better not to involve her at all.
If things went wrong, even Sally might get caught up in this.
Gambling, gambling, of all things.
The side effect I never could have imagined back when I first created Yacht several years ago.
The gambling, which started with a single knight who had learned the game from me, eventually grew into a huge incident where 20% of the knights participated, and even my second eldest brother got involved.
As a result, dice and card games were entirely banned within the family. I was restricted to playing board games only with Sally and Old Man Charles, and for years afterward, I couldn’t even muster the courage to create a new board game.
It was such a serious matter that it took years, and my second brother being sent away for forced study in another city, before I could finally talk to my father about board games again.
When he agreed to allow board games, it was under the condition that there would be no recurrence of gambling. That’s why, when heading to the Everts Duchy, I had asked Old Man Charles to keep an eye out for any signs of gambling, just in case.
Of all people, that guy had to come back.
If it had been ordinary knights, Old Man Charles who was a former knight commander could have suppressed them with his authority. But second eldest brother… No, that guy was a different matter.
After all, he was the second son of the Byron Viscounty. Unlike me, the third son, he could directly involve himself in the family’s affairs. Though his influence had diminished significantly after the gambling incident, it didn’t change the fact that he had authority.
If he had insisted on forcing his way, even Old Man Charles wouldn’t have been able to stop him. In the end, Charles would have had no choice but to report it to my father.
I thought about it again and again in the carriage on the way back to the mansion.
But there was only one conclusion I could come to.
I have to see the situation myself first.
The only thing written in my father’s letter was that my brother had returned and had started gambling again in Kyle Galli.
So, for now, I tried to stay calm and waited patiently until I arrived at the family estate.
How much time had passed?
When the scenery outside the carriage window had changed into the familiar grounds of the mansion…
“Y-Young Master? We’ve arrived.”
“…Sally, you go back to the servants’ annex.”
“Huh?”
“It’s going to get a little noisy around here for a while.”
It would have been reassuring to have an apprentice mage like Sally by my side, but the second son was infamous for holding grudges, even within the family.
After all, a former knight commander and now the head butler Charles might have been able to handle him, but for someone like Sally, a mere personal maid of the third son, it was certain he would use his faction to relentlessly torment her.
Even if I tried my best to protect her, there was no way I could shield her from the bullying that would happen in the servants’ annex or the subtle, insidious harassment.
It was better to keep her away than to let her suffer like that.
“But, b-but, Young Master…!!”
“Don’t worry, Sally. It won’t take long.”
Whether I resolved the issue or board games were banned again as promised, the conclusion would come quickly.
When I smiled at Sally who was still worried, she looked at me with tearful eyes before finally nodding.
Thank you for understanding.
“P-Please take care of yourself, Young Master.”
“Thank you.”
Sally, looking dejected, immediately headed toward the servants’ annex.
I smiled as I watched her leave, but as soon as she disappeared from view, my expression hardened.
After stepping out of the carriage, I approached a gardener who was standing respectfully nearby and struck up a conversation.
“Ah, Young Master Kyle! Have you returned from the Duke’s territory? There’s a rumor going around that you’ve gained the Duke’s favor—”
“Frederick.”
“Huh?”
“Frederick Byron. Where is my brother?”
“I-If you’re asking about the second Young Master, he’s not in the mansion at the moment. From what I’ve heard, he went out on patrol with some friends who came along with him…”
“Friends? Patrol?”
The “friends” were probably people he’d brought back from where he’d been studying abroad.
Patrol? As if. A man who went gambling in Kyle Galli as soon as he returned to the family wouldn’t be going on a real patrol. It was obvious; he must have gone to an illegal gambling den somewhere in the territory.
If only I could raid the place and catch him red-handed, that would be ideal.
But I couldn’t just go looking for him without any information. Ever since the Yacht gambling incident, all legal gambling establishments in the territory had been eradicated, leaving only the underground ones. Finding such a place in a single day without any help was nearly impossible.
If he wasn’t at the mansion, though, that was actually better for me.
“Thank you. You’ve done well.”
“Ah, y-yes…”
I thanked the bewildered gardener and made my way toward the mansion entrance.
A familiar middle-aged head maid greeted me, as if she had been waiting, but then tilted her head curiously.
“Welcome back, Young Master Kyle. But where is Sally…?”
“I sent her to the servants’ annex on my own. By the way, I heard that Brother Frederick returned four days ago.”
“Yes, that’s correct. For now, the master is waiting for you—”
“Tell him I’ll be a bit late.”
“…Understood. I’ll pass the message along.”
The head maid was someone I appreciated because she didn’t waste words. Perhaps it was because she had been in charge of my education when I was younger.
I walked through the front doors, not toward my father’s office, but to another destination.
Frederick Byron’s room.
That was the first place I needed to check.
“Uh, Young Master? That’s Frederick’s room!”
“I have his permission.”
“Huh? If that’s the case…”
I would get his permission later anyway, so it was fine.
I stepped into Frederick’s room, and as expected, it was still in disarray, as though he hadn’t been back for long.
The belongings he had brought back from studying abroad were scattered around, along with various other items that were messily organized. And in the center of the room…
There it was. Kyle Galli.
“……….”
I picked it up immediately. I had no desire to see this board game being used for gambling ever again.
After thoroughly searching the rest of the room, I didn’t find anything else of note.
Well, if he has any sense, he’d keep things hidden.
Considering he’d been caught gambling before and sent off to study abroad as punishment, he would have taken great care to conceal any evidence this time.
Still, it was amusing that, despite his efforts, my father had already found out.
With Kyle Galli in hand, I left Frederick’s room and finally headed to my father’s office.
I opened the familiar door and went in, where my father was sitting with a troubled expression on his face.
“You’re back, Kyle. The situation has… become rather complicated.”
“…As mentioned in your letter, are you planning to ban board games now?”
“Hmm?”
When I had been summoned to my father regarding the maids’ discovery of Kyle Galli, I had set certain conditions before leaving.
I had clearly stated that if even one of the board games I created ever caused harm to the family like Yacht had, I would give up on making them entirely. Specifically, I said something along the lines of: If someone inside the family were to gamble again using one of my board games…
At the time, I had thought that as long as Charles or I personally oversaw things, we could at least prevent gambling within the family.
But I never imagined that Frederick, of all people, would gamble again. And with Kyle Galli, no less.
And so, I had asked my father just in case, though I hadn’t expected much.
“That would be impossible. I already received letters from His Excellence Duke Nicholas and Archmage Olphin. Your board games have spread far beyond the family and are now popular in a variety of places.”
“………Then.”
“It would be ridiculous to try to ban them now. The letters specifically mentioned the gambling incident with Kyle Galli, as it’s something you needed to know.”
“Ah…….”
“However… something must still be done about Frederick’s gambling. I held off until you returned, but it’s a matter that cannot be ignored.”
My father could have raided the scene the moment Frederick’s gambling was discovered, but he seemed to believe that if it had happened twice already, it could certainly happen a third time.
I couldn’t deny that I was worried as well. Not necessarily about Frederick himself, but about the board games being used for gambling.
As I stood there, lost in thought, my father watched me closely before finally speaking.
“…I want to entrust this matter to you, Kyle.”
“………Huh?”
“Even if the conditions you set are meaningless now, didn’t you claim that you would prevent gambling? I’d like to see what steps you take.”
“………….”
“Frederick started gambling two days ago. Technically speaking, it’s still debatable whether any actual harm has been done to the family. So… what do you think?”
If he was giving me such an opportunity, then…
Kyle Galli that was used for gambling could now be avenged.
I’ll make him regret the Yacht incident.
The rage I had first felt upon learning that the board game had been used for gambling, and the countless petty quarrels he had started with me since we were young….all of it could finally be repaid now.
“Of course. If you give me just one day, I’ll drag my brother into this office.”
“…One day? Isn’t that a bit short?”
“If it takes longer than that, it could be seen as bringing harm to the family. I’d like to stick to the promise I made back then as much as possible.”
“I see. Is that what you mean?”
My father closed his eyes briefly in thought. Then, after a quiet moment, he opened them and asked,
“Do you need help?”
“I’ll try without it.”
“A good choice. Tomorrow… I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes.”
Of course, if I used my father’s help, it wouldn’t even take a few hours, let alone an entire day. But I truly didn’t need it.
I already had a pretty good idea where to find him.
***
A single day. A deadline that was painfully short.
Still, I was confident. Because it was obvious where I needed to go.
The training grounds.
During the Yacht gambling incident, nearly twenty percent of the Byron Knights had been involved. Was it really possible that not a single one of them had taken part in this new gambling incident?
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed unlikely. Especially if Frederick, the second son, had been personally persuading them to join.
That’s why I planned to start by heading to the training grounds to question the knights who had participated in the previous gambling.
But then—
“Well, well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? You useless little brother.”
“…Frederick.”
“You’re glaring at me like you’re about to kill someone. What’s the matter, you incompetent bastard?”
If only I hadn’t run into this bastard in the hallway,
I would have already arrived there by now.
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