Chapter 10
There was such a thing as a person’s impression.
Otherwise called an ‘aura,’ or perhaps an ‘atmosphere.’
Though it had no concrete form, no one ever doubted its existence.
This was because people knew how an impression was formed.
For instance, the wrinkles of a person with a wicked heart are carved as wickedly as the years they spent scowling.
A person who has laughed their whole life leaves traces of that laughter in their wrinkles, creating a favorable atmosphere.
Atmosphere, in the end, was a sculpture carved using one’s life as the chisel.
From that perspective, Elric’s sudden change in impression was extraordinary.
The moment he revealed his emotions, the aspect he showed was vastly different from just a moment ago.
To the Wibin couple, Elric’s atmosphere felt sharp. It wasn’t just a matter of being prickly; he resembled a keen blade being swung right before their eyes.
An atmosphere that felt as if he could kill someone—or as if he already had.
It was the truth.
Elric had killed a great many people.
Furthermore, he had spent more than half of his life, specifically the years he could remember, in places where such slaughter was of little consequence.
During the period when his sense of self was forming, he learned how to survive by taking the flesh and blood of the living.
He learned how to weigh human lives against gold.
He learned that such things were not a particularly big deal.
Strictly speaking, he was a murderer.
In fact, he was a man who swung his sword so diabolically that he had earned the moniker of ‘Sword Demon.’
It was not strange for the Wibin couple, who had never been involved in such things in their lives, to feel tense at Elric’s changed atmosphere.
Wasn’t an atmosphere, after all, an extension of the thought, ‘That person seems kind,’ or ‘That person looks dangerous’?
The ability to discern such temperaments only becomes firmer as one experiences society and meets various people.
For those who had spent their lives as nobles, scrutinizing the expressions of others, Elric’s changed temperament was felt more intensely, not less.
“I asked what you would do. Care to answer?”
His face was still smiling, but they instinctively shrank back.
And in such situations, the characteristics of certain types of people diverged sharply.
It came from the difference in the environments they had lived in.
The soldiers on the battlefields where Elric had been active feared him.
Because they knew they would die if pierced by a sword, because they knew violence was far from mercy, and because they knew how sharp Elric’s blade was, they were busy fleeing in a panic whenever he appeared.
But the Wibin couple was different.
They were people who had lived their entire lives in the place furthest from violence.
They lived in a society where one could criticize an informal tone but not be physically harmed, where violence was considered vulgar, and where even conflicts were resolved by wagging one’s tongue.
They did not know how terrifying violence was.
They did not know how easily a person could die, they did not know how simply the act of killing could be handled, and they did not know that there were people in the world who did such things as easily as eating a meal.
A newborn puppy knows no fear of a tiger.
Why would such a saying exist? Why would a mere puppy bark at a tiger several times its size?
It is because the concept of bloodlust is foreign to them.
Instead of fear, they feel an injury to their pride from the sharp atmosphere that makes the body stiffen.
A puppy that has lived its whole life inside a peaceful fence assumes the tiger will not harm it, just like any other large human.
The Wibin couple was exactly like that.
“You’ve gone too far now!”
The shouted words were the loudest they had been so far.
The sight of glaring eyes and a deeply furrowed brow was undoubtedly an expression of threat.
It was an action taken instinctively because they felt ashamed of the fact that they had shrunk back.
It was the struggle of a puppy showing off how scary it could be.
It was an act of masturbation, licking a wounded ego.
That was the biggest difference between Elric and them.
“And if I have, what will you do?”
Elric was calm.
His voice was soft, his expression was not fierce, and his backside was still buried in the sofa.
Elric did not grant meaning to the act of raising one’s voice like Joseph.
It was because he knew a much more concise and certain method.
One simply had to draw a weapon and harm the opponent. Therefore, he did not show useless anger.
To put that dynamic into the words of Elvis Graham:
‘A predator does not flaunt its authority. Because it knows that what must be flaunted to be revealed is not authority.’
It was something Elric had heard while guarding him at a hunting festival once.
Now, unlike when he was a boy, Elric knew that composure could be the greatest threat.
“Let me ask you. Do you have any grounds to claim ownership of the inheritance? I am talking about legal grounds, not emotional ones.”
In reality, Elric had the advantage.
Elric was aware that the right of succession for this inheritance belonged to him.
How could they interfere with the will of the deceased?
Their ulterior motives were already plain to see.
The clothing that had become more lavish compared to ten years ago, the way their eyes grew bloodshot as they aimed for the inheritance, and the slight impatience they showed.
They were desperate for money.
“Nothing?”
And even without the inheritance, Elric held the upper hand over them.
“I see you have nothing.”
Portman was the source of funds that supported the Wibins.
And Elric, as the eldest son of Portman, was the person holding those purse strings.
If Elric set his mind to it, starving them to death was a trivial matter.
Of course, Elric had not yet decided whether he would remain in the Wibin territory, but there was no way they could know that.
The Wibin couple became as silent as mutes who had eaten honey.
Elric smiled brightly.
“Excessive greed—it seems you are the ones being greedy after all.”
“You rotten little…!”
“You should watch your mouth.”
Flinch. Joseph Wibin’s body trembled.
Fear or a sense of crisis sometimes connects directly to one’s reason.
It cools the head and whispers facts that were unknown when one was swayed by emotion.
He had raised his voice, thinking Elric was an opponent he could defeat through clumsy behavior or emotional appeals, but it was a self-evident fact that he was in a position where he had to crawl when Elric acted so rationally.
Only then did Joseph reflect on that fact.
Elric stood up from his seat, leaning on his cane.
“I ran away from home for ten years, but I am still a Portman. It was I whom my father designated as the heir to the estate. And you are living off of Portman’s money. I believe you understand that even if I don’t have to state it one by one.”
Suddenly, Elric felt a hollow laugh escape him.
“But thinking about it, it’s quite funny. To begin with, isn’t my wife the only one qualified to inherit the estate? What was your intention in considering it yours? Why, did you want to be paid back for the cost of raising her?”
A certain phrase came to mind.
It was the decisive remark that had made Elric resolve to leave home ten years ago.
‘Earn your keep for the cost of raising you.’
They might not have actually said such words to Tiria, but he could see the gist of it just by looking at their attitude.
Even if they hadn’t expressed it in words, she must have felt that sentiment from their behavior.
A sense of kinship was good material for empathy.
Soon, what rose within him was a sense of revenge close to self-satisfaction.
“Do your part for the food you’re given. Don’t harbor useless greed.”
The words he knew that made a person feel the most miserable were his father’s words.
Ironically, at this moment, Elric had ended up imitating the father he had hated so much.
“I’ll be going now.”
With a thud, Elric tapped his cane and prepared to leave the drawing room.
It was at that moment.
“D-do you think you’ll be safe after this!? Do you know who I am…!”
To the very end, Joseph, unable to even throw a punch, shouted as if in a struggle.
Elric turned his head and looked at him.
His flushed face looked somewhat pathetic.
Elric spoke with a smile.
“Try it. Anything. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
To the end, Elric responded with composure.
Because even when spoken like that, he still felt no threat.
Even if they tried to struggle to stab him in the back, well…
He didn’t think they would be more tenacious than the battlefields of the West.
“Just know one thing. I don’t like being patient twice.”
With those final words, Elric left the drawing room.
Click. Behind the sound of the door closing,
“Aaaaaaaagh!!!”
A scream as thin as a young girl’s rang out.
The carriage headed back toward the Portman estate.
Elric sat still, reflecting on what had happened at the Wibin estate as the scenery passed by.
What welled up inside him were shame and self-loathing.
His face felt hot.
‘How shameless.’
To be honest, although he had treated them that way, Elric did not think he was a better person than they were.
After all, regarding Tiria, wasn’t he just as much of a sinner as they were?
Even if he had thought she would have already left the mansion, would that be an excuse?
If the truth was otherwise, it was nothing more than a cowardly act of self-consolation.
Then, what must he do to be different from them?
“…Please stop for a moment.”
As Elric spoke, the carriage came to a halt.
It was the wheat fields of the Portman estate.
Tiria was there.
Tiria, who had been busy inspecting the wheat, turned her gaze toward Elric.
She gave a slight bow and turned her body as if to return to her work.
Elric stepped down from the carriage and headed toward her.
The soil of the wheat field was different from the carriage road, making it quite uncomfortable to move.
“Excuse me.”
He called out to her that way, feeling too shameless to dare call her his wife.
Tiria looked at Elric once more.
An answer tinged with wonder came back.
“Yes.”
How could her blunt appearance be so different from the parents he had just seen?
It was a fresh feeling.
Perhaps that was why he felt less nervous than usual.
Elric was able to speak with a smile that was much softer than when he usually dealt with her.
“Would you join me for dinner today? There is a conversation I must have with you.”
“Is it something that cannot be said here?”
“I do not wish to interfere with your work.”
He was a little nervous.
He also had the useless worry of what he would do if he were snubbed.
Thus, Elric waited anxiously for her lips to open, and he felt relieved at the answer that finally came back.
“If you don’t mind it being a bit late… then let us do so.”
Elric’s expression brightened a bit more.
“Thank you. I shall see you at dinner then.”
They say the one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it.
Shouldn’t the one who tied the knot be the one to undo it?
Tonight, Elric intended to apologize for the way he had left ten years ago.
