Shades of the New World

Chapter 218: Plagiarizing again

'Right to teach others? Probably something useless in the end. After all, I can't imagine the kingdom allowing me to teach anyone that doesn't have its Oath But I am interested in World Cores and other rare materials' Evin thought of the pros and cons of becoming a Noble.

'I wouldn't mind becoming a baron and just buying refined sorbothium from the kingdom every now and then. But I'm pretty sure the kingdom will put a limit to it at some point. I can't imagine them letting me hoard such a huge quantity of materials for myself. Most likely they'll force me to rise up in ranks and increase my responsibilities, getting me more and more tied up with the kingdom'

The more he thought about it, the more he found that this was detrimental for him. Looking at the plump man sitting in front of him, Evin realized that the man in front of him was probably instructed by someone else to convince Evin to buy a noble title.

'Or maybe he's doing it of his own will. It wouldn't be weird if the nobility system worked like a pyramid scheme of some sorts, with nobles getting referral points and whatnot.'

Evin sighed a bit and thought of how to best refuse the man. 

"Sadly, I feel that I'm really unsuited to become a noble. I've never thought myself a proper leader, but I've also never liked following others around, so it's probably best if I keep to myself and mind my own business," Evin said. He debated mentioning his involvement with the North, but quickly judged it as a bad move. 

Velpin seemed a bit disappointed by the answer, but still put on his trademark smile and laughed softly.

"Well, that's too bad. I always hoped to see a promising young noble family to sprout out from my lands, but I guess it's a doomed dream."

'Aw, come on man.'

"Please don't agonize yourself over this. I'm sure your daughters will be there to properly continue your legacy," Evin said and noticed how Velpin glanced at his daughters with an almost helpless manner.

"Oh these three Even though I begged them to just marry someone and focus on continuing the family, Bella's decided to become a war-mage and Arelyn's hell-bent on becoming an military strategist," Velpin sighed.

'A military strategist? Where did that come from?' Evin was surprised as well. After all, the young woman never looked like someone who would walk anywhere close to a war. After thinking a bit, he supposed that it was a method to overcome her trauma somehow, so he didn't wish to question it out loud. 

"Is that so? Well, I don't really have any opinions on that, so I'm afraid I can't help you much," Evin refused to take any sides here. 

'Neutrality is best.'

"Only Olevyn seems to be willing to stay here with me, but we both agree that she is probably not suited to walk the path of a noble," Velpin sighed again.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find a solution somehow. And even if you don't, I don't think it's that big of a deal to let go of your noble title and live peacefully in some place away from society, you know?" Evin said offhandedly.

Velpin heard the idea and looked at Evin weirdly, no doubt trying find humor in the statement to laugh at.

"That's certainly an idea, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep well at nights, knowing that the 100 year history of the Borna family ended during my time. Naturally I wouldn't want my daughters to harbor such ideas as well," Velpin said with a sigh.

"Have you ever heard of a saying that goes something like: 'Attachment is the root of suffering'?" Evin didn't mind the Earl's view on life, but he was feeling a bit chatty at the moment. Though he did know that whatever he said today was probably going to be ignored by the Earl.

Velpin shook his head after pondering a bit.

"It basically means desperately clinging onto something will most likely result in a tragedy. The reason being the fact that loss is inevitable. You can cling onto your title of an Earl all you want, but you should understand that one day, the family's name will die out. Perhaps it will happen 500 years from now on, or perhaps it will happen in the next decade," Evin shrugged with a slight smile.

Velpin nodded along unenthusiastically.

"Alright, let's think of a hypothetical situation. Let's say five years later, you become unable to rule over your lands due to whatever reason and have to put someone in charge of the family. Naturally, your first choice would be Arelyn, since she's the oldest and was also preparing to receive the title for some time. But Arelyn at that point is still focused on becoming a military strategist. She starts to vehemently hate you for forcing her to replace you and refuses to properly focus on ruling over your county. Again, this is all hypothetical," Evin said, bowing down to the young lady, who was suddenly pulled into the conversation.

"Yes That's exactly what I'm afraid of," Velpin chimed along.

"You, on the other hand, are sitting on the sidelines, watching your daughter ruin everything your family worked to achieve. I'm sure you're going to do your best to fix everything afterwards, but at that point, your family's doomed. The most unfortunate part is, that you don't realize it. You're single-mindedly trying your best to save the doomed situation somehow, not knowing that there's nothing you can do about it," Evin said with a smile.

"Hmm" Velpin seemed to fall in thought.

"I sometimes have a feeling that some things in life are just meant to happen. Call it destiny or call it fate, nothing you can do will be able to prevent it from happening," Evin said and continued after a brief pause: 

"Now imagine if you had given up your noble title to the kingdom, and let your daughters do whatever they wished. Although a bit dangerous, Bella might become an accomplished mage in the kingdom, Arelyn might become a famous general in the army and Olevyn might get happily married to a man she loves. You're peacefully enjoying retirement, satisfied with the fact that you served your country to the utmost of your capabilities and let your children be who they wanted. A family man and a patriot. As for the history of your family, well, perhaps you can hire a writer of some sorts and have your history be recorded permanently. At least you didn't force something that wasn't meant to be, ending your family's history with a tragedy of some sorts."

'I'm sure running my mouth today, he-he,' Evin thought smilingly, as he observed the Earl. He expected the man to scoff at the ridiculousness of it all, or just dodge the topic entirely. After all, few could let go of the power and authority they possessed. But something completely unexpected came out of the man's mouth. 

"Odd how I've never heard of someone saying such things. If I was a bit younger, perhaps I would snort at its ridiculousness, but I can't help but feel that there's truth to your words" Velpin said, an almost excited tone in his voice.

'Huh? Did I just convince a person of nobility, an Earl at that, to consider letting go of his powers and live out the rest of his life in peace? What?'

"Frankly, I'm quite surprised you're even considering my advice," Evin said blankly.

"Ha-ha. I'm not so mule-headed as you imagine. And truthfully, your words struck me as quite profound and eye-opening. Perhaps it's the wisdom of the Children, eh?" Velpin laughed loudly.

"I suppose it can't be helped. After all, I've literally died once. If I couldn't become at least a little wiser after that, then there's really no hope for me," Evin chuckled ironically.

'Man, I'm changing people's lives left and right. Maybe I should start a self-help cult or something, where I just talk about random ideologies from Earth'

"Ah, I want to keep you here to chat all day, but like you've said, good things have to end at some point. We both have our own matters to worry about. And sorry for not asking this earlier, but I've never learned why you've come to our mansion?" 

Like Velpin said, the food was almost finished, and the people around seemed to be getting bored of the talk between the two old men. And weirdly, Evin ended up enjoying the conversation a lot more than he thought he would.

"I've actually come to deliver you this," Evin said and gave Velpin the enclosed and marked letter. 

"Ah, I almost forgot that I have a responsibility to take care of these. After all, it's been years since someone actually submitted something like this to me," Velpin chuckled and put the letter away after reading what was written on the cover. 

"Also, I've brought some gifts for your daughters as well," Evin remembered and reached for his storage device.

He brought the two hats and the book and presented them each to the girls. But very quickly he noticed a small problem. Compared to Bella, who was reading through the Book of Illusions with avid curiosity, Olevyn and Arelyn just looked at their bonnets in their hands like they didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Lana was looking over with a mocking smile, no doubt preparing a series of nefarious insults. 

'Damn old man,' Evin cursed the hatter in his head and started to think of ways to save the situation.

"Seems like I've brought you something you don't quite like" he admitted honestly, after pausing a bit.

"Oh, no-no. Of course not," Arelyn replied suddenly, realizing how rude she must've looked.

"Please, we don't mind it at all," Olevyn chimed in as well.

"Ehm, don't worry about offending me. I'm not dumb enough to not see when someone doesn't like a gift. Here, take this instead and you can buy whatever you want," Evin gave the two girls a stack of gold coins each, which added up to 10 per person. The Earl's family knew he was loaded, so he didn't mind splurging a bit again. 

'Weird how I can casually throw away such huge amounts of money, but it doesn't feel as much because it's expressed in only a couple dozen circular casts of gold' Evin thought suddenly.

He'd just given a money equivalent to 10k dollars to the two girls, but for some reason, it just didn't feel like a lot. 

"Are you sure about this, Evin? I'm pretty sure the hat cost only a few silvers at most," Velpin said from the side.

"Ah, don't worry about it. After all, I gave Bella such a huge amount the last time, I'd feel bad if I don't treat the other two to something," Evin shrugged.