"He's coming, he's coming!"
The head of the Noble House of Drake straightened his hair. His wife was still in their room, getting herself ready to meet the young man who had saved them.
For the first time since they had begun working with him, they would finally meet face-to-face.
It was exciting.
It had also been a full year since they last contacted each other. The fact that he was coming in person—even if it was for business—meant something.
His wife quickly ran into the office, holding their young daughter in her arms.
"Is he here yet?"
"He should be, right about—"
As if System Cardinal itself had been listening, a purple gate opened in the middle of the office. A sharp gust of wind followed, scattering the papers across his desk.
Three figures stepped out as the gate closed behind them.
On the right stood a voluptuous maid.
On the left, a beautiful girl in a Selene Academy uniform.
And in the center—
A short figure in a blue blazer, black shirt, white pants, and black boots. He had blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and a black mask with no eyeholes covering his entire face.
The head of House Drake immediately straightened and bowed.
"Lord Noir. Welcome. It is an honor to finally meet you in person."
His wife followed a second later, still holding their daughter.
Noir Drake gave a small nod.
"At ease. I won't be staying long."
His voice was calm and formal—completely different from the tone they had imagined. He was quite short as well, but he carried himself with the elegance of a noble through and through.
The maid and the academy girl remained silent behind him.
The noble swallowed lightly.
Even without seeing his face, the atmosphere in the room had changed the moment he arrived.
This was the benefactor who had pulled their house out of ruin.
"Please, take a seat."
At the side of his office was a blue cushioned seat. He urged their benefactor, Noir Drake, and his acquaintances to take a seat while his wife prepared some tea for him.
Their benefactor sat down and crossed his legs while the two girls stood behind him, their hands behind their backs. The academy girl scanned the room once before settling into stillness. The maid kept her eyes forward, her expression unreadable.
The head could understand why the maid would do that, but why did the academy girl choose to stand as well?
Perhaps he had hired her to protect him, or maybe they were related somehow.
Well, whatever. It wasn't his business to ask questions.
"Hello!"
From behind him, a cute little voice called out.
It was their daughter, Lea Drake. Their pride and joy. She had been born a year after they met Noir Drake.
But that scream just now—
Nooooooooo!
In his mind, the head of the house screamed.
That scream was enough to make their benefactor sever all relations with them. While he loved his daughter very much, she may have just ended their entire relationship with Noir Drake.
Noir Drake got up and walked towards their daughter.
It's over.
He knelt down, extended his hand, and rubbed Lea's head.
"And whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" he asked.
"I'm Lea," Lea replied.
"Well, Lea, it's an honor to meet you. I go by Noir Drake."
Her eyes lit up.
"Drake? Are you my brother?" she asked innocently.
Noir Drake paused for a moment before answering.
"I suppose so."
Behind him, the academy girl glanced over, just briefly. The maid's expression didn't change, though her shoulders eased by a fraction.
After speaking with Lea, Noir stood up and faced the head, who was still in shock over what had just transpired.
"The documents," he said. "Are they prepared?"
"Documents? Ah, yes. The documents."
He quickly ran to his desk and pulled out a few documents.
They were birth documents and a parental certificate for Noir Drake, proving he was part of their household.
He handed them over to Noir, who immediately began reading through them. Once he was done, he snapped his fingers, and the maid walked towards him. He handed her the papers, then faced the head.
At the same time, his wife opened the door to their office with a few maids behind her. One maid carried a table, while another carried a teacup and pot.
"Oh my, is it already over?" she asked.
"Yes," Noir Drake replied. "I shall be taking my leave now."
"Oh? Well, if you ever come visit again, I hope you'll stay for tea."
Noir Drake turned to the head, then to his wife. He gave a sigh, then rubbed his head.
"I suppose I can spend a few minutes."
---
Wow, I did not expect this.
The two heads of the household, Count Noctis and Countess Samera.
They were much younger than I thought. They looked as if they had only just entered their twenties. They were quite good-looking too.
Their daughter was adorable. Her black hair and pigtails were irresistible. I wanted to keep patting her head, but for some reason, I felt a chill down my spine and stopped.
Once I acquired the documents, I planned on leaving for the academy as soon as possible, but then they offered me tea and said something that made me feel guilty. So, in the end, I ended up having tea with them.
As Countess Samera poured tea into my cup, I noticed something flying through the window. It was too big to be a bird.
So, out of curiosity, I used Zero Hour and got up. To me, everyone was at a complete standstill, but I walked around like nobody's business.
I looked outside and saw a human riding on a wyvern's back. Behind him were several other figures, also riding wyverns. To me, they were suspended in the air due to Zero Hour's effect.
Since when did people ride wyverns?
I guess since here.
I sat back down and undid Zero Hour. I had to sit in the exact same position to avoid arousing suspicion.
"Count Noctis, the wyverns in the sky—what purpose do they serve?" I asked as Akari handed me my tea.
"Ah, yes. The wyverns. They serve as our line of defense."
"Defense?"
"Yes. Ever since we auctioned the dragon scales, we've had a surplus of money. In order to keep it safe, I hired some mercenaries to hunt down some wyverns for me. I hand-picked some guards and had them train the wyverns to defend the town."
"I see."
"I even managed to earn the attention of a neighboring country. And so, we struck a deal. In exchange for some of my guards, they would give us a monthly supply of mana crystals."
Wow. That's impressive. Mana crystals can sell for a high price on the market. If this neighboring country was giving them a monthly supply of them, they must be filthy rich, or they just didn't see the worth of them.
As impressed as I was, I kept acting unimpressed.
"Good. Besides the wyverns, have you made any other investments with the money?" I asked.
"Yes," Count Noctis continued. "We restored the irrigation channels first. After that, we rebuilt the eastern market district and reopened two trade routes that had been abandoned during the debt years."
He spoke carefully, as if still unsure how much detail was appropriate.
"We also funded a small mage workshop. Nothing large, but enough to produce basic enchantments for tools and weapons. The surplus is sold to traveling merchants."
I gave a slight nod.
"And the results?"
"Stable income. Not extravagant, but consistent. The people are no longer leaving the territory."
That was better than expected. Most houses in their position would have wasted the money on appearances or empty military displays. At the very least, he had his priorities straight. I respected that.
Then he said something that hooked me in.
"We've been using the excess mana crystals to synthesize a fuel source for an upcoming project of ours."
"And that project is?"
"For now, it's an all-terrain vehicle with two wheels. It's still in the testing phase, so it can't be brought into public use yet."
"ATV."
From behind me, I heard Akari mutter something.
I turned to her and asked her to repeat what she said.
"Vehicle. ATV."
She pulled out a small, slim metal box from her pocket. I believed she called it a phone.
She began holding the side until it lit up.
For a while, none of us spoke. We simply waited for Akari to finish whatever she was doing.
When she was finished, she turned her phone towards me and showed me a picture of a... actually, I didn't know what it was.
But Count Noctis sure did.
"That's the vehicle we've been building."
His eyes looked straight at the phone like it was some sort of treasure.
"You… already have an image of it?" he asked carefully. "Has news of the project leaked?"
I glanced at Akari.
She shook her head quickly.
"No leak," she said, searching for the words. "In… my place. Same thing. Old thing. Many people use."
Her grammar was still rough, but the meaning was clear enough.
Count Noctis looked even more shocked.
"Your place…? Do you mean another territory has already completed it?"
Akari frowned, then tried again.
"Not territory. Far. Very far. Different… sky."
She pointed upward, then back at the phone.
"I show picture. Help. Maybe."
Countess Samera leaned in slightly, eyes wide, while Lea climbed onto her chair to peek at the glowing screen.
I spoke before the situation could get out of hand.
"She is from a neighboring kingdom. Consider her knowledge... external, but still useful."
"Ah, I see. Then, Lord Noir, with your permission, may I borrow this young lady's knowledge?"
The vehicle shown on Akari's phone looked simple, but I could imagine a few uses for it. Akari's world didn't have magic, so maybe this was the best they could do. But we had magic, so I was sure they could come up with something amazing. I wanted to see this project completed myself, so I gave the go-ahead.
Akari tapped the screen a few times, then held the phone towards Count Noctis again.
"This… better shape. More stable. Engine… middle. Not back."
She struggled with the words, but she pointed at different parts of the design, then at a rough sketch she made with her finger in the air.
"You change this. Become stronger."
Count Noctis hesitated, then accepted a piece of paper from one of the maids and began noting things down quickly.
For the next ten minutes, the two of them began talking like nobody's business.
It seemed the count had the heart of an inventor rather than that of an investor.
A girl from another world with half-broken speech was casually improving a noble house's secret project over tea.
This world really doesn't stay simple for long.
If I allowed this to go on, I would be late to the entrance exam.
"I think we'll stop here today," I said as I rose from my seat. "We'll be taking our leave."
I stuck out my hand, and a purple gate appeared in the middle of the room.
"Are you going, big brother?" Lea asked.
"Yes."
"Will you come back?"
"Of course."
And I meant every word. Since I'm enrolling as Noir Drake, I'm going to be interacting with them a lot more than before. Besides, it seems the Count and Akari both have an interest in building. Who am I to stop this shared interest from blooming?
Strangely, through this whole thing, Claudia had remained completely quiet. At first, I thought she was just being good, until I saw her staring intently at the cookies on the side of the table.
I quickly used Zero Hour to grab them and took a few for myself.
As we walked towards the gate, I handed them to Claudia, and she seemed pretty satisfied with that.
Claudia and Akari stepped through the gate and completely disappeared out of sight.
Moments before I did, I heard the sound of a cute little girl calling out to me.
"Brother, bye-bye!"
I turned to her, and beneath my mask, I smiled.
"Bye." I waved at her.
Before I stepped through, the last thing I saw was Count Noctis still staring at his notes, already planning how to rebuild the vehicle from the ground up.
The Drake name was becoming more useful than I had expected, and more noticeable.
I walked through the gate with a smile on my face.
Ahead of me was the Selene Academy. Just the next layer of the role I was playing.