Chapter 364: A Minor Business Matter

Making his way quietly through the darkened living room, Ruvian approached the front door and eased it open just slightly, leaving just enough of a gap for him to hear the voices outside.

His father stood several steps away from the house beneath the faint glow of a nearby street lamp, with the stranger facing him in the darkness.

"You were given plenty of time to consider our offer, Dieren. I was hoping you would make the sensible choice before we were forced to visit your home again."

His father’s jaw tightened.

"I already told you that I’m not signing anything, and I’m not paying your guild a single coin for something I never agreed to."

The stranger released a quiet sigh.

"You still misunderstand the situation. This is not some payment you can simply choose to ignore. Every independent craftsman working in this district follows the same arrangement."

"My workshop has nothing to do with your guild." His father kept his voice firm, but Ruvian could still hear the strain in it.

"I buy my own timber, find my own clients, and pay every legal fee the city requires of me."

Ruvian’s eyes narrowed from behind the door.

His father had never mentioned anything about trouble with a guild, and Avina’s reaction earlier also made it clear that she barely knew anything about it.

"You people already drove two workshops out of this district," his father said. "You forced Kellen to buy timber through your supplier until he could barely afford to keep his doors open, and when he refused your new fee, you stripped his contracts away from him."

His voice grew colder as he continued.

The man’s expression remained unchanged. "Mister Kellen made poor business decisions. His workshop collapsed because of them."

"Don’t give me that."

His father’s brows drew together sharply.

"Everyone knows what you did to him."

The stranger’s smile thinned, turning colder. "Knowing something and proving it are two very different things, Mister Dieren."

He took one slow step closer.

His father’s shoulders stiffened, but he refused to step back.

"If you come to my home again and threaten my family over this, I’ll take everything I know to the Municipal Trade Office."

He paused briefly before adding,

"And if that gets buried too, I’ll go straight to the City Watch myself."

Neither of them spoke for several seconds. Then, the stranger lowered his gaze and let out a quiet chuckle.

"You may report us wherever you please, Mister Dieren Castelor. But it will change absolutely nothing."

Ruvian remained behind the half-open door, the longer Ruvian listened, the colder his stare became.

By now, Ruvian understood what was happening. Some guild had been forcing independent craftsmen into their so-called arrangement, and his father had refused to bend to them.

What pissed him off was that they had grown bold enough to come directly to his home and threaten his father over it.

But then another thought bothered him.

Why had he never known about any of this from the original Ruvian’s memories? Something this serious should have left at least some kind of impression behind.

’Was that guy really away from home so often that he never noticed?’

Even during the few regression cycles where the original Ruvian returned home, those visits had usually been brief.

Still, Ruvian could not remember a single instance where Dieren had been dealing with anything like this.

Then Ruvian remembered it.

’Ah, right... this is the first time the Vazrun Island Test ended early.’

Under the original course of events, he should not even have been home yet. The academy scholars would have remained on Vazrun Island for several more days, followed by the usual schedule before their break finally began.

Perhaps whatever happened to his father during that period had normally been settled before the original Ruvian ever returned.

’So this might have always happened without him ever knowing.’

The thought left a bitter taste in Ruvian’s mouth.

Outside, the stranger spoke again, pulling Ruvian out of his thoughts.

"You should think carefully before making this more difficult than it needs to be, Dieren. Especially when you have people inside depending on you."

Dieren’s expression immediately hardened.

"Leave my family out of this. Whatever problem you have is with me."

The stranger gave him a faint smile.

"That would certainly be preferable."

He paused before shifting his gaze toward the front door. "And speaking of your family, it looks like we already have company." (+200PP)

Dieren’s brows furrowed before he followed the man’s gaze.

His eyes widened the moment he saw the door opening wider and Ruvian stepping out into the night.

"Ruvian?"

Ruvian calmly pulled the door shut behind him before walking toward them.

Dieren quickly stepped forward to meet him, lowering his voice as he frowned. "Why are you outside, son, go back inside and stay with your mother."

Ruvian did not smile, nor did his face reveal any obvious anger. He stopped beside his father with the same unreadable look on his face.

"Ah, dinner is ready. I only came out to tell you that."

Then, his gaze shifted toward the stranger.

"But since I’m already here, Father, who is this?" (+200PP)

Dieren opened his mouth to answer, but the stranger spoke before he could.

The man straightened his coat and gave Ruvian a courteous smile.

"Forgive me, young man. I suppose it would be rather impolite of me not to introduce myself properly.

My name is Edric Jabem, and I serve as a district representative of the Natoris Craftsmen Guild. I’m simply here to discuss a minor business matter with your father."

*****

[Edric’s Jabem POV]

The moment Edric laid eyes on the dark-haired young man walking toward them, his body tensed for reasons he could not explain.

Then he heard Dieren call his name.

Ruvian.

’Ah, I remember now.’

He had seen that name in the documents they had gathered on Dieren Castelor and his household.

The man had a son who had recently enrolled in Velthia Academy, one of the most prestigious magic academies in the Averenthia Kingdom, where promising young magus from noble families and affluent households fiercely competed for admission.

That particular detail had caught Edric’s attention when he first read it. However, he had never regarded it as anything particularly significant.

The Castelor family consisted of commoners, after all.

Dieren was nothing more than an independent carpenter who owned a modest workshop, and according to their investigation, his son had never received any proper magical education before entering the academy.

Most likely, the boy had awakened with decent talent and somehow scraped his way through the entrance examination.

Fortunate, perhaps.

Nothing more than that.

Edric had seen people like that before.

Commoners occasionally slipped through the gates of prestigious institutions after being blessed with a little more talent than those around them. Once inside, they suddenly began convincing themselves that they had risen far higher than they truly had.

But talent alone did not erase where someone came from.

And judging from the young man’s appearance, Edric saw nothing particularly remarkable about him, aside from his undeniably handsome face.

Still, Edric gave the boy the same courteous smile he had been giving Dieren all night.

"My name is Edric Jabem, and I serve as a district representative of the Natoris Craftsmen Guild. I’m simply here to discuss a minor business matter with your father."

Ruvian stared at him for several seconds without saying a word.

The boy was strangely calm.

He showed neither nervousness nor confusion.

Even after Dieren told him several times to return inside, the boy refused to move.

’How very stubborn.’

Like father, like son, apparently.

Still, now that one of Dieren’s family members was standing outside with them, Edric figured this was the perfect opportunity to apply a little more pressure.

His polite smile slowly faded.

"I have traveled all the way here personally, Dieren, and I have already spent far more time on this negotiation than I intended." His voice hardened. "And after all that, we have made absolutely no progress."

Edric stared directly at him.

"I have been patient with you. Far more patient than I needed to be. But it seems you really do think my words carry no weight."

Casually, Edric raised one hand and snapped his fingers.

Click.

Several men stepped out of the darkness around them.

Two came from behind the nearby trees, while three more walked out of the narrow alley beside the house.

Dieren’s face went pale the moment he saw them.

Edric enjoyed the reaction.

That was the expression he had been waiting for. Perhaps now the man would finally understand the position he was in.

However, what Edric failed to notice was that someone else had been watching his gloating smile the entire time.

The young man’s expression had not changed. But his eyes had, and now he was staring directly at Edric with a cold, murderous intensity.

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[Chapter 364: A Minor Business Matter]

Plot Points = 310,400

A/N: Sorry, there might only be one Chapter today. I’ve got a pretty bad stomach ache.