Knock, knock.
A moment after the light knocking sound rang out, the door opened and a familiar face peeked through.
"What? It's you?"
Fran gestured for him to come in with his usual cheerful expression.
"Come in. Wait, now that I think about it, isn't this the first time you've come to see me first?"
"......"
An open leather travel bag lay on the bed in the tidy room.
Fran smirked as he neatly stacked his carefully folded clothes inside it.
"Ah, this? I'm going back to my family this time."
"I heard. You're the young master of a more impressive family than I expected."
"Haha, you found out. It was easier when you couldn't remember that."
The guy scratched the back of his head awkwardly and nodded.
"Life at the tower was fun, but it's about time I went back where I belong."
"Are you going to learn the merchant business?"
"You know I have a good eye for things. I'll help with the merchant company...... and get married while I'm at it."
"Married?"
Oscar asked again with an intrigued expression.
"Do you have someone?"
"......Apparently I do."
Fran muttered with a bitter smile.
"They say she's a good person. Her family is even influential enough to help us in all sorts of ways."
"That's a damn long way of saying it's an arranged marriage."
Oscar dropped onto the sofa and asked.
"Are you all right with that?"
"She's beautiful, kind, and from a good family. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't mean the marriage. I mean giving up magic."
"......"
The guy's hands stopped abruptly as he busily packed his clothes.
He stared blankly at the bag and only continued after a long time.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I had no regrets. But people can't spend their lives doing only what they want."
"Most people can't, but shouldn't someone from a family as impressive as yours be able to?"
"......That's exactly why I can't."
Fran shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I grew up enjoying all sorts of experiences and comforts that others couldn't even dream of. But I can't keep taking forever. I have to earn my keep."
"Is that because you're from a merchant family? You're awfully strict with accounts even among relatives."
"I prefer it that way. It keeps things clear. I'm uncomfortable always receiving things without giving anything back, too."
Oscar thought he understood what Fran meant.
When someone shows you kindness for no reason, it makes you uncomfortable and uneasy because you feel obligated to repay them someday.
He had thought a family would be somewhat different, but apparently that wasn't always the case.
"But do you have to repay that debt through the merchant company? You could succeed as a mage and repay them that way."
"......That's what I wanted too."
Everyone has a plausible plan.
The problem is that the odds of those plans actually coming true are low.
"Honestly, I thought I was really special, you know? But when I actually came here, I realized I wasn't."
It was a common story.
A child who believed he was exceptional had confronted reality.
Fran turned slightly and looked at Oscar.
"I'm sorry to say this to someone who loves this place so much, but honestly, I came to the White Tower because it seemed easiest. I thought I could at least become the head of the snake here."
Fallen or not, it was still one of the Four Great Magic Towers.
If he could become a mage who represented the White Tower, he would have had plenty to say to his family.
"But even that was beyond me here. Well, I guess that's all my talent amounted to."
"......Fran Sirius."
"What? Go ahead and curse at me if you want."
His tone suggested he no longer cared about anything.
Oscar studied the meticulously organized room that revealed its owner's personality, then turned his head.
"You're talented."
"Thank you. It's nice to receive praise from a genius on my way out."
"I'm serious, so listen carefully."
Oscar looked at him more gravely than ever before and spoke.
"Do you want to try it? Becoming the head of the snake."
"......What did you think I've been saying this whole time? I want to, but I don't have the ability."
"Exactly. I'll help you with that......"
Knock, knock.
At that moment, the sound of knocking cut off their conversation, and both men turned their heads.
The door opened despite the room's owner not granting permission, and someone stepped inside.
The man's hollow cheeks gave him a cold, sharp look.
"What a shabby room."
After surveying the room once with an impassive gaze, the man clasped his hands behind his back and walked up to Fran.
"I'm already busy enough as it is. I don't know why I have to go to all this trouble because of one bastard like you."
"......Brother."
Fran hunched his shoulders and spoke in a barely audible voice.
Anyone could see he found the man difficult to face, but the man was apparently so accustomed to it that he paid no attention.
"Come downstairs once you're done packing. I'll be waiting below."
The man had said everything he wanted and was turning to leave the room.
"How much?"
He stopped.
Fran's brother slowly turned at the voice from behind him.
He stared at Oscar sitting on the sofa and asked.
"......Who are you?"
"Oscar Crucian. I'm this guy's friend."
"Ah, are you the mage who created the treatment?"
The man nodded and formally introduced himself.
"My name is Gran Sirius. I'm the family's eldest son and the vice chairman of the Sirius Merchant Company, as well as the elder brother of that pathetic fool."
Gran's eyes narrowed.
"But what did you just say?"
"I asked how much it would cost for Fran to remain here. The White Tower still needs this guy."
"Impudent. Under imperial law, human trafficking carries the death penalty without exception."
Gran continued after delivering the humorless joke without changing his expression.
"Moreover, I have no intention of selling this bastard. Having been born into the Sirius family, he must follow the family's rules first."
His gaze shifted to Fran.
"More importantly, it would shame me to let a half-wit who can't even voice his own opinion leave the family."
"......He's right."
Fran lowered his head and closed the leather bag.
"Oscar, thanks for standing up for me, but you can stop now."
"Sorry for giving you the wrong idea, but I only act for the White Tower and myself."
With that, he walked past Fran and approached Gran.
"If you're a merchant, I'd like to propose a deal tempting enough to catch your interest."
"A deal?"
Gran arrogantly raised his chin.
"Speak."
"I'll make this guy one of the White Tower's leading mages within 2 years. In the long run, that will benefit the Sirius family more than teaching him the family business."
"One of the Four Great Magic Towers' leading mages within 2 years?"
He asked again, looking fairly interested.
"Then what will you pay if you fail?"
"I'll give you what merchants love most."
Oscar formed the shape of a coin with his fingers.
"If I fail to keep my promise, I'll hand all profits from Cadenna influenza treatment and vaccine sales over the next 50 years to the Sirius Merchant Company."
"H-Hey! Are you insane?"
Fran jumped in alarm.
Although Oscar had restored the treatment, this decision was beyond his authority.
Gran pointed that out as well.
"Do you have the authority to proceed with something of that scale?"
"If necessary, I'll have the Vice Tower Master serve as the notary."
"......"
Gran rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Hmm. The reward is so high compared to the investment risk that I almost suspect fraud. But first, let me ask one thing."
"Go ahead."
"Are you going this far for that bastard because he's worth it, or are you merely playing at friendship?"
That much value.
Oscar answered with utmost gravity.
"......You may find it ridiculous, but I intend to restore the White Tower's stature to what it was in its prime within 5 years at the latest. The Cadenna influenza medicines were merely the starting gun."
"Hmm."
After confirming Gran's interested expression, Oscar looked at Fran.
"You asked whether this guy has that much value?"
There was no need to say it twice.
Oscar had glimpsed infinite potential in this naive, inexperienced young mage.
"He does. Fran Sirius is one of the talents essential to the new White Tower I envision."
"......"
Fran caught his breath.
Due to his privileged background, he had met an enormous variety of people from a young age.
Most were false and selfish bastards who had approached him hoping to gain something.
This was the first time.
That anyone had said they needed Fran Sirius the mage, not the youngest son of the Sirius Merchant Company.
"......You're young."
Gran continued with a faint smile.
"But as a merchant, I have no reason to overlook my counterpart's mistake. I'll impose one condition."
"A condition?"
Oscar had already revealed every card at his disposal.
He had believed that any merchant would be forced to accept.
"......I believe my offer is already more than favorable."
"I agree, but you've overlooked one thing."
Gran extended his index finger.
"The finest merchants value their customers' trust more than money. Money can always be earned, but the same isn't true of trust."
"Trust......"
"I don't trade with just anyone. That directly concerns the dignity of the customers already doing business with me. So prove that you possess the ability to deal with the vice chairman of the Sirius Merchant Company."
"How do you want me to prove it?"
"A Level 5 knight accompanied me as my guard. Fight him tomorrow at noon and prove your ability, and I'll accept the deal."
"......Are you saying that knowing I'm a Level 2 mage?"
"Ah, were you? Then I'll add the condition that he won't use sword aura."
"......"
Oscar bit his lip firmly.
Even he had absolutely no chance against a Level 5 knight at his current level.
That remained true even if his opponent did not use sword aura.
'This guy is dressing it up, but in the end he's saying he won't give Fran up.'
There was probably only one reason he wanted to take Fran back badly enough to reject the astronomical sum Oscar had offered.
The family of Fran's arranged-marriage partner must be extraordinary.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow."
Gran left the room, and Fran spoke as though he had been waiting.
"Oscar. Let's go after him right now and ask him to forget the whole thing. I'll come with you."
"......"
"Why aren't you saying anything? My brother's only doing this because he finds you insolent and wants to beat you up."
"Be quiet for a moment. I'm thinking."
After dismissing him, Oscar suddenly circled Fran several times and examined him closely from head to toe.
After a while, he reached his own conclusion and nodded.
"Hmm. It looks doable, doesn't it?"
"What? Are you insane? No matter how much of a genius you are, some things are impossible! You're only Level 2. How do you have the nerve to take on a Level 5 knight? And you haven't even fully recovered from your injuries in the herb field."
"Of course I'd lose if I fought him. If we fought 100 times, I'd be lucky to win once."
Oscar had vast combat experience, but even that became meaningless before overwhelming power.
"But a Level 4 mage would have a chance, wouldn't he?"
"......You're not about to say something insane like you'll become a Level 4 mage in one day, are you?"
"Absolutely not. Even I can't do something that absurd. Instead......"
Oscar's mysterious gaze fixed on Fran.
"I can make a mage stuck at the very end of Level 3 reach Level 4."
"......Wait. You can't mean?"
"Fran Sirius."
Gran had not told Oscar that he had to fight the knight personally and win.
He had only said to prove his ability in the duel, so wasn't it enough to show it?
Grab! Oscar seized both of Fran's shoulders and grinned.
"You'll have to become a Level 4 mage today."
And fight in my place.