Chapter 123

"Welcome, Marquis."

"It's been a long time."

I returned their greetings, then sat proudly in the seat the Babyloan Senate had prepared for me and crossed one leg.

Each elder is rolling his head.

I looked around with a slight smile. They would be wondering if I really knew about the Babyloan family's corruption. They'd also want to find out if my grudge against the family was as strong as my grudge against Sheria.

Let's get straight to the point.

After our empty greetings, the room fell silent. I made a short, direct statement to start the conversation.

"I'm here to reclaim what's mine."

I heard a few murmurs. Unbothered, I gracefully placed a list of the Kinnoa family's assets that I had brought onto the negotiating table.

"I formally request that you return the property of the Kinnoa family."

The atmosphere instantly grew tense. I stared at them. One of the balding elders bit his teeth and asked, "Marquis Kinnoa, don't you think this is too rude? What is this all of a sudden!"

"It's not sudden. Now that the families have been separated, you know that it is legally and morally right to separate the property as well."

I met their indignant stares. They couldn't act out easily because they believed I knew about their corrupt behavior. However, I could hear some elders, unable to control their anger, murmuring in a low voice as they looked at me.

"Such an arrogant…!"

"I don't think we can reason with her."

After a lot of chatter, the oldest elder spoke with a heavy voice.

"Everyone, calm down." The white-haired elder glanced at the list of Kinnoa family assets that I had compiled. "I will ask. If I hand over the property of the Kinnoa family to you, will you completely sever ties with my family?"

The meaning of his words was clear.

In exchange for the property, will I promise not to expose the corruption they've been engaged in?

My feet were already numb from how much corruption they had committed. I stared into the old man's wrinkled face and whispered affectionately, "Maybe."

The first goal—recovering the Kinnoa family's wealth—seemed to have been somewhat accomplished. Now it was time to catch Lennox. I sat at the end of the table and grinned at a restless man.

My second target was sitting right there today.

It was a familiar face, one that often stood next to Lennox when he was engaged. As I expected, one of his cronies was here. The man, who resembled a country mouse, was an elder bribed by Lennox. Now that I had confirmed his existence, it was time to deliver one more message. He would tell Lennox everything I said here.

"As Isaac and I intended."

"I intend to continue to contribute to the development of the empire by cutting off the rotten parts. But..." I felt a chill in the air, but I continued without hesitation. "If it doesn't block my path, I wonder if I need to cut it out."

My words made the atmosphere even colder. They weren't fools; they must have understood the intention. If they gave me the Kinnoa family's property, I wouldn't touch the family's corruption. But I was also implying that I was willing to go head-to-head with rotten individuals like Sheria and Lennox.

The face of the entourage who had been watching him was completely white. With today's events, Lennox would predict that I would tighten his noose. And the elders would begin to wonder whether I had evidence of their evil deeds or not. Both were green lights for me.

"Hmm…" The old man tried his best to look nonchalant and coughed indifferently. I was looking at him with a grin. Of course, I was the only one smiling. You could tell just by looking at their expressions. So far, things were going according to Isaac's plan.

The bomb had already been dropped.

Then...

All I had to do was see how the Babyloan Senate and the Duke of Hesman would react.

I hope you become more nervous and impatient with my words, Duke Lennox Hesman.

What should I do while he was panicking and doing all sorts of things to fight against me? Wouldn't it be okay to plan to have some fun with our cute children?

Now that the fuse was lit, it was time to step back for a while and observe the situation. Lennox needed time to become impatient, angry, and lose his temper.

"Yesterday, when I escaped from the Babyloa family, I planted some suitable devices."

I grinned when I remembered what happened yesterday. Dominic and Isaac had been away for a while to check and protect the device I had planted. I was left alone in the stationery store, with my chin resting on my hand, looking at the dragon egg. The Pope would soon move, so it was time for the dragon's egg to hatch.

"What on earth do you need?"

The dragon's egg snuggled into my hand, as if it didn't want to leave me. As I was spending my time tapping on the dragon egg, the president of the academy came to my stationery store without warning. I carefully hid the egg between the partitions of the counter and greeted him.

Why did you come to the stationery store yourself? Is it because of a supply and demand problem?

However, as far as I knew, there was no major problem with the supply and demand of goods. At first, the president was asking about my well-being and giving a long speech about his happy life as a farmer. Then he noticed and brought up a new topic.

"Because Professor Abel was like that, I hired a temporary professor."

"Congratulations."

Up to this point, I didn't know exactly what he intended to do or why he said that. I just asked if I needed more magical tools. After receiving my congratulations, the president, who pretended to look around the stationery store by rubbing his chin a few times, suddenly revealed his true feelings.

"When I thought about it, I thought this would be a good opportunity for the academy children as well."

"A good opportunity?"

"Yes, an opportunity to give children new stimulation."

I shook my head. I was suspicious of why he was talking so meaningfully about hiring a new professor. As I was pondering, the president grabbed my hand and handed me a small piece of paper that looked like a brochure. It was a document with the words "Letter of Appointment of Temporary Lecturer of the Academy" written on the surface.

"Mel, I would be so happy if you could be our children's new daily professor!"

After listening to the president's words, I looked closely and found that it was not a brochure, but a folded commission. I stiffened with the commission in my hand.

Am I giving a lecture?

Until now, I had only thought about becoming a stationery store owner, but I had never thought of giving a lecture at the academy. The president, seeing my panic, passionately pleaded.

"Soon, an Olympiad at the level of the Continental Academy will be held. We will show that the children of our academy are the talents who will lead the continent!"

"...Yes?"

"This is my chance to give such cute and wonderful children a new stimulus!"

"No..."

"Haven't you already stimulated children's curiosity with your unusual objects?"

The president's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

No, why did the person who was thinking of returning to farming suddenly become so passionate?

The president, who did not notice my trembling expression, continued with satisfaction.

"I hope you will come! Starting with Meldenik, I plan to invite unique celebrities from society to give lectures once a week. Isn't it so cool?"

No matter what, I felt that it was too unconventional for me to become a lecturer. I was just an ordinary stationery store owner. So I turned his words around and said no.

"It's a pity, but I didn't graduate from the academy, so I don't have the qualifications to be a lecturer."

"It doesn't matter. Because he is a special temporary lecturer!"

The president, who answered strongly, immediately threw out a closing remark.

"...If you can't come, it can't be helped, but it's a pity that I haven't heard of anyone who loves children as much as Meldenik."

"..."

"Besides, if Meldenik comes, the children will love it..."

I closed my eyes and opened them. Cute children appeared in front of me. How could I resist lovely children wearing fancy academy uniforms, holding their suspenders tightly, and shouting, "Holy Teacher!"

I could never do it. If that were the case, I would not be Meldenick, but Lennox Hesman!

...I'm worried about leaving the dragon egg alone.

I glanced over the president's shoulder at the dragon egg placed behind the counter partition. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a hot sensation on my fingertips. I stopped feeling a strange current of air rising through my fingertips.

Why don't you leave it to Dominic for research purposes for a while?

Maybe it would be more productive for Dominic to worry about it than for my head to explode. Maybe he'll find out what the dragon wants? However, I couldn't stay away for a long time, so I had to find an appropriate compromise.

After thinking about it for a while, I immediately opened my mouth. "I'll try it, but it's only for one day."

"Okay, great! I'll schedule it right away. Do you need anything?"

The egg on the shelf opposite the president was moving. I tried to look away from him, and I thought for a moment.

I didn't need anything originally, but I just remembered it. I spoke cautiously to the president.