Chapter 52: Looking for support (1/2)
”Tell me, is there maybe some kind of family, that is known for its righteousness?” Asking up as the two of them left the lodging of Sitra, Layn clearly proved that he wasn't going to give up. Even after the unexpected denial from the elder from their hunting group.
”A righteous family? What kind of world did you live before to believe there are still some groups like that?” Shaking her head in disbelief, Irea sent a ridiculing glance to the archmage. ”Everyone will be righteous if you pay them enough.”
Shrugging her shoulders, the girl clearly was intent on cutting the topic and leaving it behind. With a failure already marking the progress of Layn's plans, her enthusiasm towards it only diminished.
”I think I formulated the words in the wrong way.” Hiding the embarrassment under a wide smile, Layn ignored Irea's attempt to change the topic. ”Let me put it in another way. Is there some kind of powerful family or organisation silently helping the academy out?” With this wording, the picture of what Layn saught was much clearer. ”They might be doing it out of own their interest, but they need to be powerful enough to shield us from other local forces…” Going way over the line with his words, Layn only realised that fact once his voice reached the girl's ears.
”So you want some kind of backer? That's doable, but it won't be easy at all.” Seeing how all her attempt at moving this topic out of the agenda continued to fail one after another, Irea appeared to give up. Simply answering Layn's questions without even a hint of further resistance, she proved to be actually a great help.
”That would be perfect. Could you take me to them, then? If this idea will fail, I won't bother you with this topic any longer.” Layn would have to be an idiot not to notice how annoyed the girl already was with the topic of the stones. But he couldn't blame her either.
For someone like her, magic stones were a treasure. Maybe not something she could never touch in her life, but still something she would have to work pretty hard to obtain. On the other hand, Layn couldn't think less about the hardships he would have to overcome to obtain some of those treasures.
Not because he was belittling the means of the ancients. 'Now that I think about it, I'm just arrogantly believing that nothing would be able to stand in my path, aren't I?' Some say that becoming aware of the problem was the first step to overcoming it. But Layn was as far away from such thoughts as one could humanly be.
Because it actually wasn't arrogant to think like that. Given his means and knowledge, it would actually be strange for him to struggle in this ancient world at all!
Refusing to utter even a single word in regards to the stones, Irea pursed her lips before grabbing Layn's hand and pushing him towards the gates of the academy. ”Don't act that surprised. What kind of family sponsoring the academy would live within the academy itself?” Shaking her head in what appeared to be joy caused by Layn's misunderstanding, Irea smiled. ”We are going to visit the third prince.”
Explaining the matter in a way that clarified absolutely nothing, Irea's smile widened even further, proving that she had to be aware of Layn's confusion. But even without knowing the details, the girl told more than enough for the archmage to draw some conclusions.
”I will be in your care, then.” Nodding his head in gratitude, Layn instantly submerged himself in his thoughts. Because even for a genius he was, forming up a plausible plan to fool not only the academy but someone who appeared to be of royal blood, wasn't going to be an easy task.
Unsurprisingly though, by the time the two of them reached the gates of an impressively huge mansion located right outside of the castle district, Layn already had his entire role devised in his mind.