Chapter 407 Value
Little Bartman spent the entire night in utter uneasiness. In his proud and unbridled student days, as the pride of St. Bart's School of Warlocks, the son of a marquis, he had never imagined that he would be so restless because of an ordinary man, a man at that—especially the biological brother of Percy Brody, whom he had always opposed.
So the next morning, when the servant politely "invited" him out of the room where he was imprisoned and had breakfast with the owner of the mansion, little Batman had two huge dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were sunken due to his escape, making him look quite listless.
Strangely, Percy Brody also seemed to have not slept well that night. His energy level was terribly low, and his face looked extremely sour. When he looked at people - especially those around the ghost - his eyes were as poisonous as if he wanted to pounce on them and bite them to death.
...Why is that? Little Batman wondered suspiciously, hadn't this guy seen his "beloved brother"?
The savior, glaring fiercely at everyone, sipped his tea with graceful composure, even slowly leaning over and softly asking if anyone nearby wanted some honey on their biscuits. The ghost, a bit tired from waking up early, lazily sat at the table, seemingly unfazed by the strange atmosphere. He was completely focused on wrestling with a rolling tomato with his fork, completely oblivious to the strange, invisible flashes of swords and sabers on the table.
The professor finally succeeded in subduing the cherry tomato with a fork and stuffed it into his mouth. He looked up contentedly, only to see that almost everyone was staring at him.
"...Aren't you hungry?"
Staring at him won't fill your stomach.
Percy was the first to change the subject, acting as if the argument last night had never happened: "Brother, did you sleep well last night?"
"Not bad." Nova paused and replied concisely. He glanced at the dark circles under the young man's eyes and decided to return the favor: "Why, didn't you sleep well?"
Percy sneered and was about to complain to someone when he heard the annoying guy next to him chuckle softly. His fingers were elegantly placed on the side of his face, and his golden hair flowed freely between his fingers, showing a brilliant golden color.
"Perhaps it was a nightmare. Worrying too much inevitably affects sleep." The Savior smiled, looking very understanding, but there was no smile in his blue eyes. "But I'm glad that you seem much calmer this morning than last night."
——The little kid who can only cry and look for his brother, he looked down at him and sneered silently.
Percy's fingers clenched so tightly that the handle of his fork was irreversibly bent. Little Bartman shrank his neck and dared not say a word, wishing that no one would remember his existence.
Little Bartman couldn't understand how Percy dared to challenge such a terrifying being. The look in his eyes last night had tortured him countless times in his hazy hallucinations - could it be that he really relied on his brother?
Elsewhere, the professor quickly finished his breakfast. He was never good at understanding subtext, so the Savior's words came across as nothing more than a normal expression of concern. Azuka glanced at him, noticing that his nemesis had obediently finished his plate. Satisfied, he modestly pushed the small cup of coffee beside him towards him.
The black-haired young man seemed to come back to life after getting the coffee. After drinking most of it in one breath, he couldn't help but sigh with satisfaction, and also had the mind to look at the other people at the table.
"Mr. Baartman, Jr."
Tran Batman felt the back of his neck tighten, and he kept wailing in his heart that what was coming had finally come, but he had to try his best to remain calm on the surface.
"I will not save your father, nor will I save your family." Ghost's voice was calm, but his words were like thunder. "The former deserves his punishment, while the latter is something the Limin Party wants to destroy."
Little Bartman choked, his voice raging inwardly. How could someone so easily abandon their boundaries and leave no room for maneuver? Having lived for over twenty years, he was all too familiar with the twists and turns of the nobility. Even if he hadn't witnessed as many negotiations and deals as his father and brother, he at least knew the importance of testing the waters, feigning compromise, and then engaging in lengthy bargaining.
But that was Ghost's negotiating style, and he damn well had it in him, forcing others to follow his lead. Being vague and mystifying was of no use to him; being honest was more likely to earn him some tolerance.
Little Batman's shoulders slowly slumped, as if his spine had been instantly torn out. He didn't dare look into those emotionless gray eyes. He simply lowered his head and replied in an unusually dry voice, "...Yes, I understand."
At this moment, he was betraying his father who was in prison, his brother who died unfortunately, and the glory of the Batman family - just for a chance to survive.
...But he didn't want to disappear quietly with his family like Kennett Shrike. Little Batman gritted his teeth and thought that joining the ghost might be his only chance to survive.
Breakfast ended in an indescribable subtle atmosphere. Little Batman had no taste in the food. He felt like a fish jumping on the chopping board, not knowing when the guillotine would fall.
Under the gaze of those terrifying gray eyes, he poured out almost everything he could. He wanted to keep some exclusive information secret as a trump card, but the other party was so sharp that he was frighteningly perceptive. In just a few words, he was forced to lose his guard and almost cried out loud in the second half.
Let me repeat myself, Percy, you are truly a warrior, little Bartman thought with a sad face. He still didn't understand how the other party dared to snatch things from this person before - was it because he relied on the special privilege of being his cousin?
“Not of much value.”
On the other side, the professor finally let go of the little Batman who was about to cry but had no tears left, and pronounced the verdict with an expressionless face.
"Most of them are just groundless rumors or outdated scraps," he commented bluntly, ignoring the paler face of little Bateman. "As for the core content, either you don't truly understand it, or it was destroyed in the Queen's purge."
Nova paused, then said thoughtfully, "...It seems Marquis Bateman has indeed never let you come into contact with much substantive knowledge. But at this moment, this may be a form of protection for you."
It can be said that fools have good fortune.
Little Batman was stunned for a moment. After finally figuring out what was going on, a strong sense of fear suddenly surged up, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. He was unsure if what he had just said after racking his brains revealed that he was well aware of some shameful secrets, would make him "guilty" by the ghost? He was even more unsure if he could still stand here in one piece.
"Percy," the professor turned to look at the young man beside him, "He is your friend, you can make the arrangements."
Percy: "..."
Damn friends! The corners of his mouth twitched violently, but when he saw the pitiful and pleading look in little Batman's eyes, he hesitated for a moment, and finally swallowed the urge to refute.
Perhaps it was a test of his brother's abilities, Percy thought reluctantly—a test of his ability to watch over and utilize little Bartman, to squeeze out the most value from him, and to prevent him from causing any trouble.
"No problem, brother." Percy stood up, barely raised his chin towards little Bartman, and motioned him over with a forced smile: "I will definitely treat him well."
Little Batman: "..."
Is it too late to regret getting involved with the Brody family?
The two little ones walked away one after the other, pulling each other. Nova rubbed his temples, drank the remaining coffee, and his eyes involuntarily fell on the empty coffee cup in front of him.
Little Bartman's intelligence wasn't entirely useless. Combined with the other intelligence from the Royal City, one point worthy of his attention was the faint signs of an intention to "ally" with Fellowes once again emerging from within the Royal City.
It is called an "alliance", but in fact it is just to divide a part of the land in exchange for the people of Fellos not to harass the south, and even in exchange for military support.
From the Empire's perspective, the Empire now has no saints, the Feroth people have a dragon whose strength is close to that of a saint, while the People's Party has at least one saint and a dragon that has never participated in the battle - for the Empire, the threat of the People's Party has obviously exceeded that of the Feroth people.
The Empire does not believe in the so-called "joint resistance against foreign enemies" at all. The People's Party is obviously absolutely hostile to Fairros, but they are not very friendly to them either. After driving away the Fairros people, they will definitely come back to take your heads.
If that's the case - then why not unite with the people of Feroth to fight against the people's army?
It was a truly genius idea, so genius it was sickening. The professor wasn't sure what Queen Esmery was thinking. She seemed arbitrary and forceful, but in reality, she had no choice. She was in a position, a position to fulfill. She had to protect the interests of the royal family first, then the royal court nobles representing the imperial bureaucracy, and even some of the interests of the Glorious Church. The interests of the vast majority of the common people throughout Silver Iris had long been sidelined.
"What are you thinking about? You're so absorbed in your thoughts."
Someone rubbed the back of his neck, and Nova came back to his senses and saw the savior's gentle and calm blue eyes. Then he suddenly realized that he had been staring at the empty coffee cup for a long time.
"...I was just thinking about the possibility of an alliance between the Empire and the Feroth people." Anticipating being ridiculed, the black-haired young man said defensively with a stern face, "And I'm not sad about running out of coffee."
Azuka was slightly stunned, and a helpless smile appeared in his eyes: "I just want to remind you that your teacher, Mr. Rabelais, will arrive in Ironthorn Territory in about half an hour."
He reached out a hand and gently wiped the brown stain that had appeared on his lover's lips with his thumb. "Besides, if he saw his beloved student with coffee on her face and no idea, he would probably be worried."
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