The scene fell silent for a moment. A slight change finally appeared on Sharon's usually calm face.
She had only taken a curious glance and hadn't expected the pen to write such a sentence. In the end, her gaze turned toward Hastur.
"You're getting more and more in need of discipline."
"Wuwuwu, please forgive my moment of bluntness, Master."
"Are you always this mischievous? Or do you think this kind of disguise will make me lower my guard against you?"
008 spun in a circle on the blank sheet of paper before continuing to write:
"Trust is a very luxurious thing. No matter how hard I try, you will never fully trust me, so why should I waste time on it?"
"Heh. I hope you're not like that idiot Ince Zangwill. Otherwise I'll have to find a new master again. What a hassle."
The upright feather pen suddenly fell over and lay motionless.
Did it get angry?
Hastur couldn't quite figure out what kind of personality 008 had. Surely he didn't have to coax it, right?
"I don't know." Sharon stepped in first and blocked the question Hastur was about to ask.
Snap!
The feather pen lying on the paper suddenly stood upright again and quickly wrote a paragraph in the blank space.
"My new master, you are different from that idiot Ince Zangwill. His trust had no value to me at all, while your trust is a blessing to me."
"…" Had it switched into bootlicker mode again?
Hastur couldn't help asking, "Is that bootlicking mirror a relative of yours?"
"Like this?" 008 added a blooming firework after that sentence.
"…"
"So the new master likes this kind of service where people kneel and flatter you. How disgusting, no, no, what a unique hobby. Fine then, in order to gain the master's trust, I'm willing to silently endure this ruthless whipping. Please show some mercy, Master."
"…" Hastur was already too lazy to complain about 008's ever-changing temperament.
Standing beside him, Sharon saw how speechless Hastur was and, rarely, a faint smile appeared on her face. Unfortunately, it vanished as quickly as a fleeting blossom, and only the little black cat Ariella noticed it.
Ignored by everyone, 008 lay down again, quietly resting on the paper covered with writing. Looking at it like this, it wasn't much different from an ordinary feather pen.
Hmm… I should find a suitable pen case to store it in. It'd be best if it could even be locked, just in case it grows legs and runs away on its own.
That night, unable to find a proper pen case, Hastur held the Fate Charm in one hand and entered a dream.
Through the Fate Charm, he could also contact Will, who was far away in Backlund.
In the dream, Will was sitting at a desk, holding a feather pen and scribbling on a blank sheet of paper.
Before Hastur could ask anything, Will spoke first.
"I didn't expect 008 to fall into your hands."
"You already knew?"
"You put that Fate Charm around 008. I can sense a little of it."
"Is there any good solution?"
As he spoke, Hastur walked closer, preparing to admire Will's drawing. Will quickly crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away.
Even in a dream, he had arranged a trash bin to catch it. Quite a particular person.
"Concealing it from a distance isn't difficult, but if you get too close, Adam will still sense it. Of course, that sensing goes both ways. 008 will notice it too. As long as it doesn't want to be eaten, it'll remind you to leave quickly."
"Is there no way to completely block that sensing?"
"I don't have a way. But you do."
"Be more specific."
"Those yellow-robed monks seem very good at dealing with 008."
Hearing this, Hastur was finally satisfied and immediately promised Will a large pile of ice cream.
"Heh. An empty promise."
Will curled his lips in disdain. Hastur was far away in Southville County now and couldn't possibly manage things in Backlund.
"Then I'll put it on your tab for now."
...
Southville County, southwestern inland region, Sperlin City.
From here, continuing east through two large regions would lead to Desi County.
Transportation here was fairly convenient, but many places within the jurisdiction were private territories of nobles and couldn't be developed in a unified way.
How the economy fared depended entirely on whether the local noble lord was wise and capable.
Today, a carriage rolled along the still dirt-paved street toward the mayor's residence in the city center.
Inside the carriage, Hastur lifted the curtain and observed the nearby streets, things like the buildings, the residents' clothing, and the goods being sold. From these tiny details, he could roughly judge the situation here.
After looking for a while, he felt a little disappointed. Even the urban area looked this shabby, which meant his own territory was probably even poorer.
If he wanted to develop and expand it, it would take a long time. For now, he might only be able to focus on growing crops.
When the carriage arrived at the gates of the mayor's residence, Hastur stepped down and paid the coachman ten gold pounds.
The driver had worked diligently for several days and deserved that price.
Hastur approached the entrance, but the guard stopped him. After a brief report inside, the actual person in charge of Sperlin City, Mayor Ron, came out.
He looked to be around fifty years old, with a slight beer belly and a classic balding hairstyle. The few remaining strands of hair were already hanging on by a thread.
"You're Count Hastur Campbell from Backlund?" Mayor Ron clearly found it hard to believe that a count from Backlund would come to such a small place.
"This is the king's letter of appointment." Hastur took out a document bearing the royal seal of the King of the Loen Kingdom. He had kept it with him all along and hadn't lost or damaged it.
"So you're the heir of the Campbell family!"
After reading the letter, Mayor Ron no longer had any doubts.
He had also received a message from the Duke of Southville County saying that a young count might arrive here and that he should keep an eye out.
He hadn't expected the man to appear before him just a few days later.
"I almost forgot to invite you inside to sit." Mayor Ron slapped his forehead and quickly ushered Hastur into the mayor's residence.
Judging purely by rank, the other party's title was higher than his. He was only a viscount, and not even a hereditary one.
The streets outside were poor, but this place didn't look poor at all. Even the tea they served was highland tea specially imported from the Southern Continent.
After chatting briefly, Mayor Ron asked, "Count Campbell, have you met the Duke of Southville yet?"
"After I settle down here, I'll go pay him a visit. Is there a problem?"
Mayor Ron poured Hastur another cup of tea, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice.
"Well, it's like this. The duke sent someone to inform me a few days ago to pay attention to your movements. If I encountered you, I was to report it to him immediately."
"A lot of things happened along the way. No wonder the duke is so concerned."
Hastur didn't think much of it. Although he had been missing, the person responsible for watching him was still alive and well and was probably already staying with the Duke of Southville.
"Then I'll report the situation truthfully to the duke?"
Only then did Hastur notice that Mayor Ron didn't seem to be standing firmly on the duke's side. Asking for his opinion suggested he didn't want to offend him over this matter.
"No rush. Let me personally pay the duke a visit and give him a surprise."
"That works too."
Mayor Ron let out a sigh of relief. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. He didn't want to offend this new neighbor from Backlund just because of the Duke of Southville.
Moreover, a large portion of the territory within his jurisdiction belonged to Count Campbell. In the future, many matters would require discussion with him.
"I'd like to see the map of this area. Would that be convenient?"
"Of course." Mayor Ron quickly had someone bring over a detailed map of the surrounding region, which included detailed information about Hastur's territory.
"From here to here, and from here to here, these are currently your lands." Mayor Ron carefully circled Hastur's territory into a single area.
On this map, which only recorded several nearby cities, it stood out very clearly.
Hastur's territory stretched across three districts. The largest portion lay within Sperlin City, occupying many villages and towns in its outskirts.
"And who owns these nearby areas?" Hastur pointed toward the region near the port.
"The land near the port doesn't belong to any noble. It's directly managed by people sent by the duke."
Hastur chuckled lightly.
"It seems the duke cares a lot about the port's security."
"The inland areas are relatively poor. Seventy percent of the finances depend on the coastal port cities. That's the duke's forbidden zone, no one is allowed to touch it."
After saying this, Mayor Ron gave Hastur a look that said you understand.
The port towns were the richest places and the source of immense wealth.
They didn't talk for long. During dinner, Mayor Ron warmly invited Hastur to stay for a meal and even prepared some nighttime entertainment for him, but Hastur declined on the grounds of travel fatigue.
The next day, following the directions on the map, Hastur set out for the central castle of his territory in Southville County.
It had been built more than thirty years ago by the ancestors of the Campbell family and had been preserved ever since.
Previously, Hastur had asked Butler Neil to send some people to take care of the castle's basic daily cleaning.
Last time, the yellow-robed monk who had accepted his commission had also sent back a letter describing many matters concerning Southville County.
"If he's smart enough, he should be waiting for me in the castle by now."