Chapter 71 (1/2)

After reporting to Rivelia regarding the warlock incident, it took less than an hour for Central to intervene and get the situation under control. This feat was perhaps expected from an organisation that prized itself upon their notoriety.

First of all, they revealed to the public that Isaac was almost buried alive when the mine collapsed but that he miraculously survived by finding a secret pa.s.sage which criminals had been using in order to mine illegally. Many were suspicious of the announcement, but they could only remain silent. There weren’t many who were brave enough to argue against Central’s claims.

Isaac’s monologue complaining of Pickaxe was also leaked to the public, and rumours that the incident was a trap set up by the mine’s overseer who betrayed Isaac began to abound. Central didn’t care how the situation went as long as they could conceal the involvement of a warlock and the mana crystal mine, so they worked to turn the rumour into the truth, which led to more tension among everyone who worked closely with Isaac.

Isaac was the man who almost burnt down the entire city just because someone annoyed him. Many grew worried that Isaac would begin to prod around seeking for any of the mine overseer’s accomplices. The last thing they wanted was to be caught up in that situation by accident. However, Isaac showed no signs of activity, which intrigued many people.

Seeing how the situation had turned, all sorts of conspiracies and rumours ran rampant. Some said that all of Isaac’s acts so far had just been a bluff and that after facing a real life-or-death situation, he had gotten cold feet. Others said that Isaac was currently at work making a purge list. However, the real reason Isaac remained idle was quite mundane. He was simply being investigated by Central, although there were some clashes.

It was nice of Central to tie up loose ends so neatly without Isaac’s involvement, but the warlock’s involvement meant that Isaac had to be interrogated in the name of ‘investigation.’

Central mainly focused on how he managed to escape unscathed despite coming face to face with a warlock, and Isaac fearlessly a.s.serted that he shamelessly made a deal with the warlock to escape the mine and betrayed the warlock as soon as they left the mine.

The answer left the investigator baffled, and Isaac simply responded by asking if he should have just died instead. The investigator furiously denied Isaac’s confession, claiming that it would be impossible for things to turn out like that. But those higher up began to pressure the investigator, which led to an early end to the investigation. Only after the investigator left the city with a warning that ‘I’ll be watching you’ could Isaac finally rest.

“I’m finally free.”

“You’ve done well, sir.”

Rizzly comforted Isaac with a bitter smile. Reisha and Kunette were in quite a shock that they weren’t around when Isaac was almost killed, which led to them staying right beside him at all times, never letting Isaac out of their sight.

Rizzly had become their punching bag as the two let out their frustration on him. Leaving the crying Rizzly aside, what bothered Isaac was how the two followed him everywhere he went. Not only did they eat and sleep together, the two even followed Isaac to the toilet. Isaac couldn’t think of moving about in public in fear of how it’d look.

Reisha was from a clan of the Mist Elves, one of the famed elven clans. Although it wasn’t common for an elf to marry a human, that didn’t mean it never happens. Plus, Isaac was told that all elves united to bully an elf who married a different race as tradition. They used the excuse that the bigger the hurdle, the greater their love became. But Isaac was sure that the reason they bullied the couple wasn’t for their sake but out of jealousy. Jealous that another elf was experiencing a life of marriage with another race, a very special and unique experience that not many elves ever got to experience.

This was the reason why strange rumours between Isaac and Reisha could not be allowed to spread. If they did, then the situation could balloon out of control, and it could even lead to the elves, who were one of Isaac’s greatest contributors, turning their backs on him.

Kunette was also in a similar situation. Although the politics of the North Bears were more so guided by merit and not lineage, seeing how the other North Bears crawled on their knees at a single order from Kunette made it obvious that she was going to be the future chief of the North Bears.

If Kunette was constantly at Isaac’s side in public, it may lead to a rumour of romance between Reisha, Kunette, and him; perhaps it would even revive the rumour of romance between him and Rivelia.

One could argue as to how someone could be in a romantic relations.h.i.+p with a teddy bear, but apparently, they can have s.e.x and even have children. Perhaps that was impossible in the teddy bear form, but it was possible once she took a human form.

Isaac casually asked Rizzly how North Bears viewed marriage between humans and them. Rizzly answered that although they were more lenient than the elves and didn’t pursue purity of blood, they also didn’t exactly welcome uniting with a different race.

Although Rizzly ended the explanation with a ludicrous ‘But I approve if it’s you, Sir Isaac,’ there was a chance that Isaac could end up losing another one of his greatest allies if a rumour happened to turn up. With having to watch out for every action and also being prodded left and right by the investigator, Isaac was tired both in body and spirit.

Thankfully, Reisha and Kunette seemed to be unable to handle the boredom after a month and left the guard duty back to Rizzly and began travelling about the city. Isaac finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And when Central’s overzealous investigator finally pulled out of the city, it had already been a long time since everything which annoyed Isaac had disappeared completely.

“How long has it been since I’ve had peace like this?”

Isaac muttered as he sipped at the tea Rizzly poured. Although Reisha and Kunette were sticking around to help, they instead created more work for Isaac, causing all sorts of accidents as they tried to lend him a helping hand. There wasn’t any time for Isaac to meditate and let his brain rest.

From morning to night and even during his sleep, Reisha and Kunette pestered Isaac. And Isaac couldn’t even kick them away. It wouldn’t have been a problem if it were just those two, but behind them stood the elven race and the North Bears, who were Isaac’s greatest allies and made up most of his power. For Isaac, who could only keep his frustration bottled up in fear of breaking this alliance, this time of peace was like an oasis in the desert.

“Uhya! This is amazing, Sunbaenim, amazing!”

“I can guess what you’re on about, but it would have been nicer if you both took longer to come back if you left in the first place…”

Isaac sighed as he watched Reisha and Kunette barge onto the rooftop, causing a ruckus. The peace only lasted a single day. Seeing how they looked, it was very obvious what the two had been doing.

Isaac didn’t know where she got them, but Reisha covered her body with what seemed like very rough and tough cloth that barely concealed her chest and waist, almost akin to underwear or a bikini. On her head was a safety helmet with a small magic lamp and a very large pickaxe resting on her shoulder. Seeing soot covering her face and body, she looked like a typical model you’d see on a calendar of an oil company.

Kunette was wearing a full-cover suit made of similar material as Reisha’s clothes, and half of her head was covered by the safety helmet. She struggled to approach Isaac, as she was overburdened by the weight of the pickaxe – not to mention that it was as tall as her.

Seeing Reisha showcase a large mana crystal the size of her fist and Kunette simply dump a bunch of mana crystals in front of his feet, Isaac thought to himself that maybe he still had some time. The two would be preoccupied by the mines for some time.

“But the mines are already functioning? Isn’t this too quick?”

It seemed that even Central was in chaos after hearing the news that mana crystals were forming veins. So they sent an investigation team to both investigate the mines and question Isaac. Since Isaac had no relevant knowledge about the mining industries, he merely expected that it’d take much longer to recover the mines. Plus, since the mines were confidential information, they should not have been able to use much manpower. Isaac certainly didn’t expect them to reopen the mines in just a month.

Reisha sat on the empty spot next to Isaac, almost forcing herself into his s.p.a.ce somewhat. She played with the mana crystals, acting like a n.o.blewoman adorning herself with gems. Kunette sat by Isaac’s feet and chomped on the mana crystals as if they were candy. At this moment, Rivelia, who seemed to be utterly exhausted, came up to the rooftop.

“Hey. You look like you’re having a bad time.”

Isaac’s apathetic greeting and the lack of any response from Reisha and Kunette raised Rivelia’s eyebrows, but they quickly sank down, her body too tired to even become angry.

“I see that Sir Isaac truly doesn’t move a single footstep from the rooftop.”

“I thought my part of the job is to do nothing and not cause any trouble?”

Although it was true, it was really irritating to hear it from the man himself.

“I’ll just tell you the results from the investigation that Central sent me. They couldn’t find the warlock. But Central’s agents are following his trail, so we will get an answer soon.”

“You came all the way up here just to tell me that?”

“That is part of it. I’ve come up to tell you about another problem.”

“It’s about the mana crystals.”

“That’s right. Central doesn’t want the presence of the mana crystal mine to be public. Central sent word that they’ll be managing the mine. In return, they’ll hand over a portion of what they mine.”

“Hmm…”

Isaac acted as if he was considering Rivelia’s words. He was well aware that things were going to turn out this way long before. The mana crystal mine was just too big of a pie for him to eat alone.

With Central being involved, no outsiders could even try to establish their influence in it. And Isaac even happened to find an unexpected error in Central’s scheme.

“Well, fine. I have no reason to refuse when Central will do all the work for me.”

“Really?”

Rivelia looked with surprise when she saw Isaac accept without a fuss. Isaac snorted.

“I want to be in good relations with Central. Really.”

Rivelia seemed to doubt Isaac, but there was no reason to speak against it.

“Fine. Then I’ll proceed as agreed upon.”

Isaac called out to Rivelia just when she was about to leave down the stairs.

“Ah, while you’re at it, can you call Krent over…”

“Sir Isaac, do you think I’m your…”

Rivelia was about to scold Isaac out of frustration that he was asking her to run errands. But she held her anger, her body shaking out of rage, and let out a deep sigh.

“Sigh. Why do I even bother…”

Rivelia’s shoulders dropped as if her heavy burdens were tangible and disappeared down the stairs. Once she was gone, Kunette pulled at Isaac’s sleeves to get his attention.

“What?”

“… Don’t be so hard on her. Rivelia’s having it hard.”