(Arin's POV)
The light of the crystal lamp in Kars Benzzi's private office glowed dimly, creating long shadows dancing on the dark oak-paneled walls. This room was hidden at the back of the Underground Casino managed by Kars. A place smelling of expensive cigars, cheap perfume, and the cold sweat of losing gamblers' despair.
However, tonight, the air in the room felt much heavier than usual. As if gravity had multiplied its weight, pressing down on all our shoulders.
On the large mahogany desk cluttered with stacks of messy paperwork, lay a large map of the capital's trade routes. Thick red ink lines crossed out almost all the main routes leading to the Alphine family's territory.
"The main route is totally dead," I said flatly. My index finger traced the red line cutting through the King's Road highway. "Elian is using his authority and his father's connections in the Royal Bureaucracy to hold all the Alphine family's logistical shipments. The excuse is a classic one, Routine Inspection of Illegal Goods. But we all know, that inspection will never be finished until the Alphine family kneels begging for mercy."
Kars sat across the table, his face buried in his two trembling hands. He looked like a total mess. Celia's rejection this afternoon in the garden did not merely shatter his fragile heart, but also destroyed the remnants of his self-confidence that had just grown post-betrayal of his brother.
"She is right, Arin," mumbled Kars, his voice hoarse and cracking. "I was too naive. Karl has strong military connections. Elian has a deadly bureaucratic grip. Me? I only have gambling tables, dice, and dirty money from addicted students."
Elena, sitting gracefully on the maroon velvet sofa while holding her folding fan, closed the object with a sharp clack sound. Her golden eyes flashed coldly under the dimness, radiating a noble aura that tolerated not the slightest weakness.
"Dirty money is still money, Kars," said Elena sharply. "And in this world, dirty money can often buy paths that cannot be penetrated by clean money and official letters."
I nodded in agreement, stepping closer to the table and looking at Kars straight on.
"Listen closely. Celia's family has thousands of tons of steel piling up in the warehouse, rotting and incurring maintenance costs, while buyers cancel contracts due to delivery delays. She needs a reliable courier."
"Courier?" Kars lifted his face, his brow furrowed in confusion. His red eyes stared at me blankly. "Who would dare breach the Royal Customs blockade heavily guarded by the Delphine faction? That is a criminal act. If caught, Alphine's trading license will be permanently revoked."
I smiled thinly. A smile I copied from the black market traders in my hometown, the smile of someone who knows the rat paths.
"Criminal for law-abiding nobles, but daily business for those living in the shadows," I answered calmly. I turned to Elena. "The Rhyms family has connections with them, right?"
Elena nodded slowly, a meaningful smile curling on her lips. "My grandmother has a special contract with the Shadow Guild for necessities that cannot be handled by official knights. Smuggling, secret escorts, underground rat paths. If we pay the right price, they can move mountains without a single gatekeeper seeing."
"Shadow Guild..." whispered Kars, his face paling instantly. "They are top-tier assassins and smugglers. They ask for triple the market price for high-risk deliveries."
I picked up a heavy leather pouch lying in the open safe in the corner of the room. This was the result of the casino's net profit this week. I threw it to the middle of the table, right in front of Kars's nose.
THUD.
The heavy and dense sound of gold coins clashing with solid wood broke the doubt in the room. That sound was the purest music of power.
"You have the money, Kars. Use it," I said firmly, staring deep into his eyes. "Steel cannot be eaten, but gold can smooth even the rockiest road. Buy all that stalled Alphine steel stock at above-market prices. Pay cash upfront. Then use the Shadow Guild to distribute it through rat paths."
Kars stared at the pouch, then looked at me, and finally looked at Elena who nodded reassuringly. His previously dim eyes began to light up again. Not with the fire of naive teenage romance, but with the cold calculation of a businessman seeing a profit gap amidst a crisis.
He slowly straightened his back. His hand reached for the gold pouch, squeezing it tightly.
"I will not ask her to love me," whispered Kars, as if speaking to himself, his voice starting to sound firm. "I will buy her trust."
"Exactly," responded Elena satisfied. "Love is a luxury, Kars. In politics, trust is a much more stable and expensive currency. Now, clean your face. You have to return to the lion's den, and this time, do not look like a lost sheep."
That night, the winter wind blew harder than usual, howling between the dormitory towers, carrying the scent of snow and cold iron.
The girls' dormitory back garden was dead silent, illuminated only by pale moonlight piercing the gaps in the cloudy sky. In the middle of that garden, sharp whirring sounds sliced through the air rhythmically, creating a terrifying song of war.
SWISH! SWISH!
Celia Alphine was training hard.
She did not wear a beautiful evening gown like other noble girls. She wore a tight hard leather training tunic, showing off her trained arm muscles. Her hands gripped the Halberd with deadly expertise.
Every swing of her weapon was not merely physical training; it was a venting of the frustration burning her soul. She slashed the air as if she were slashing the necks of the bureaucrats holding her steel. Sweat soaked her forehead, her breath was ragged, her eyes burning with restrained anger.
"You again?"
Celia's voice was cold and sharp, stopping the swing of her axe in the air. She did not turn her head, but her combat senses knew who was coming.
Kars stood at the edge of the training field, at the boundary of the large oak tree's shadow. This time, he did not bring a coffee thermos. He did not bring Elena or me to support him from behind. He stood alone, wearing a thick cloak hiding something behind his back. His face was no longer pitiful, but hard and serious.
I watched from afar, perfectly hidden behind the lush bushes outside the garden fence. This was Kars's stage. Any intervention now would only ruin his moment of transformation.
"I said, go home," said Celia, turning her body slowly to face Kars. The tip of her Halberd touched the ground with a threatening clang sound. "I need a solution, not sympathy from the younger brother of the person who destroyed my family. You are wasting my time, Benzzi."
"I bring no sympathy," answered Kars firmly. His voice did not tremble in the slightest. His practice in front of the mirror and the brutal push from reality had given him quite convincing false courage. "I bring a real solution."
Celia snorted dismissively, her eyes narrowing in disgust. "What solution? A love poem? Or an empty promise that you will talk to your father who never listens to you?"
Kars stepped forward, entering the range of Celia's weapon. A brave or perhaps foolish act. He pulled his right hand from under his cloak and threw a heavy leather pouch onto the stone table near Celia.
THUD!
The heavy and dense sound of precious metal could not be faked. Celia, who was used to managing family finances since childhood, recognized that sound. Her eyes widened slightly.
"What is this?"
"Five thousand gold coins. Cash," answered Kars flatly, staring straight into Celia's eyes. "Down payment for fifty tons of grade-A black steel stuck in Sector 4 Warehouse. I am buying it twenty percent above the market price."
Celia was speechless. She stared at the pouch, then looked at Kars with a gaze of disbelief. "You want to buy it? That warehouse is sealed by Customs on Elian's orders. You cannot take it out. Your money is useless if the goods cannot move."
Kars took out a black parchment scroll from under his cloak and placed it beside the money pouch with a soft tap. The wax seal on the scroll depicted a dagger entwined with a black rose.
"That is a shipping contract with the Shadow Guild," said Kars, his voice calm yet carrying a pressing weight. "I have paid their services in full. Tonight, they will break the warehouse seal from the sewer route and transport your steel through smuggler routes untouched by Elian's dogs. Tomorrow morning, your steel will arrive at the forging factory in the next city, ready to be sold."
Celia was transfixed in her place. Her hand holding the spear loosened slightly. She released one hand to take the scroll. Her eyes moved fast reading the contents of the contract. Blood signatures, secret routes, full compensation guarantees.
It was real. And of course, illegal.
This was not the empty promise of a spoiled noble. This was a black logistical operation that was expensive, dirty, and high-risk. Kars Benzzi, the boy always considered a coward, had just committed a high-level crime to save her family's business.
"Why?" asked Celia, her voice softening slightly, though her vigilance had not completely disappeared. She looked at Kars with a new perspective, searching for lies. "Why are you doing this? This is a criminal act. If your father or Elian finds out, you will be hanged for smuggling and embezzlement."
"Elian is choking your neck," answered Kars, taking another step closer. "I am not politically strong enough to pry his hands off right now, but I can give you artificial respiration through the back door."
Kars stopped two steps from Celia.
"I am not asking you to be loyal to me out of love, Celia. I know I do not deserve that right now, and love cannot pay your miners' salaries. I am buying the Alphine family's support to secure my position before the Vassal Council, and you need this money to save your family. We need each other. Just consider this business."
The night wind blew, fluttering Celia's sweat-dampened hair. She stared at Kars with a different intensity.
In her eyes, Kars was no longer Karl's weak and whiny little brother. Before her stood a man who dared to play dirty, dared to take criminal risks, and dared to use his resources to solve real problems. That was a language Celia understood, the language of pragmatism and power.
However, Celia was a true warrior. Money could buy goods, but to buy the loyalty of an Alphine, it took more than just gold.
Suddenly, without warning, Celia's eyes flashed sharply.
"Your money is good, Benzzi. Your plan is smart."
SWISH!
The giant Halberd blade swung horizontally with lightning speed, slicing through the night air.
I almost jumped out of hiding as my combat reflexes detected a deadly threat. But I held myself back at the last second. I saw Kars not moving.
That cold and sharp axe blade stopped abruptly. Only one centimeter from Kars's neck. The wind from the slash cut several strands of Kars's hair which fell slowly to his shoulder.
The blade edge touched the skin of Kars's neck, pressing slightly until a drop of blood appeared.
Kars did not blink. He did not retreat. His breath was held in his throat, but his feet were planted on the ground as if they had become tree roots. His eyes continued to stare straight into Celia's eyes, piercing that death threat with forced yet real calmness.
"But do you have the guts to lead?" hissed Celia, her face only a handspan away from Kars's face. Her gaze was sharp, searching for fear in the young man's eyes. "Do you have the courage to stand beside me when your brother comes bringing his army to destroy us both?"
Kars's heart beat fast like a war drum struck by a madman. His legs felt weak as jelly. Every instinct in his body screamed to run and hide. Yet he stood firm. His gaze remained straight looking at Celia, as if Benzzi blood burned all his pride.
"If I were afraid to die..." Kars swallowed hard, feeling the coldness of iron on his moving Adam's apple. "...I would not betray my brother and hire criminals just to save you."
Silence.
Only the sound of both their breathing was heard in that quiet garden. Their gazes were locked in a duel of wills.
Slowly, the corner of Celia's lips lifted. A thin, crooked, and dangerous smile. It was not the romantic smile of a girl falling in love, but the smile of a general who had just found a lieutenant worthy of dying together with on the battlefield.
Celia pulled her weapon back with a fluid twisting motion, then planted its handle into the ground.
"You are crazy," said Celia, but her tone was full of respect. "Paying smugglers and defying death just to prove your point. You are more like your father than you think."
Celia took the gold pouch, weighed it in her hand, then secured it at her belt. She took a quill pen from her tunic pocket and signed the Shadow Guild contract on the stone table with quick and firm movements.
"Very well, Kars Benzzi. Alphine steel is yours," said Celia firmly. She rolled up the contract and threw it at Kars's chest.
Kars caught it clumsily, exhaling a long sigh of relief.
"But remember one thing," continued Celia.
She walked closer to the table, picking up the coffee thermos Kars had brought yesterday, an object she still kept there. She opened the lid, poured the cold leftover coffee from yesterday into a cup, and drank it in one gulp without hesitation.
She placed the empty cup down hard. A rough but clear symbolism of acceptance.
"I will support you before the Vassal Council. I will give my vote to you. BUT..."
Celia stared at Kars with a gaze that hardened again.
"There is one condition. I do not want to see you hiding behind Arin's armpits or Elena Rhyms's skirt."
Celia pointed toward the boys' dormitory with her chin.
"The remnants of Karl's followers in the dormitory, his lackeys who are still loyal and might try to sabotage us, you have to handle them yourself. Without Arin's help. And without Elena's help."
Celia brought her face closer again.
"Prove you have your own fangs, Kars. If you can clean your own house, only then will I acknowledge you are worthy of being a Duke. If not, this contract is void, and my spear will not stop at your neck next time."
Kars swallowed, then nodded firmly. His eyes flashed with a new determination. "I understand. That is fair. I will take care of the trash in my own house."
"Good." Celia picked up a small towel and wiped the sweat from her neck. She turned around, intending to return to training. "Now leave. Handle your business."
Kars turned, hugging the contract tightly.
"Oh, and Kars?"
Kars stopped. "Yes?"
Celia glanced slightly over her shoulder. Moonlight illuminated half her face, making it look softer than before, even if only for a moment.
"The coffee last time... tasted good. Bring it again tomorrow when we discuss delivery details. Hot this time."
Kars's heart felt like it exploded. That was an invitation. A veiled, stiff, and transactional invitation, but for Kars, it was the greatest victory of his life.
"Sure," answered Kars, trying to hold back a foolish smile that wanted to bloom on his face. "Without sugar, right?"
"Without sugar," confirmed Celia, then resumed swinging her spear.
Kars walked out of the garden. Once he passed the stone gate and was out of Celia's sight, his legs, which had been tense all this time, finally gave up. He slumped, leaning against the cold stone wall, panting. Cold sweat soaked his back.
I emerged from behind the tree shadow, leaning casually with arms crossed, my face showing no expression of shock.
"How did it go?" I asked briefly.
Kars lifted the signed contract scroll with a trembling yet victorious hand. His face was pale, but his eyes shone bright as stars.
"We got the steel, Arin," whispered Kars, his voice full of disbelief but proud. "And... she said 'see you tomorrow'."
I patted Kars's shoulder, a hard pat of acknowledgment. "Congratulations, Young Master. You just bought your first army. And maybe... your future."
Kars chuckled, a free laugh of relief. "The currency of trust... turns out to be very expensive. I almost had a heart attack when that spear flew."
"Get used to it," I said while starting to walk back to the boys' dormitory. "Because after this logistics is secure, you have homework, don't you? Cleaning up Karl's remaining trash."
Kars straightened his body, keeping the contract inside his cloak. His smile turned into a cold, thin smirk.
"Yes. Celia is right," said Kars, following my steps. "I cannot keep relying on you. Tonight... I will train to become strong. So strong that I can conquer Karl's lackeys with my own power."
That night, beneath the shadows of the academy towers, the Hexagon alliance did not just get a supply of steel. They gained a leader who had just found his fangs. Kars Benzzi was no longer a spare; he was a main player.
And the game had just begun.