By Zephyria 
The black mage, who took Lennox in under the guise of finding a disciple but was actually using him as a test subject or a backup battery to steal his magic, ruthlessly exploited him. But would Lennox, who was destined to be one of the main characters of this world, just stand by and take it?
With the magic he had learned bit by bit over his shoulder, Lennox achieved a higher level than his master, the black mage, and personally sent both his master and the head of the information guild, who had sold him off cheaply, to the afterlife.
In this process, the cliché of a very excellent character was completed: a back-alley ruler and great mage with a hidden dark side, who always smiled with narrowed eyes, pretending to be nice (a big deal if he opened his eyes).
The reason why that dark mage character fell for Allen was very simple.
Allen, whom he had met in childhood and hadn’t seen for years, was still (to the point of frustrating the viewer) innocent and cheerful.
They both started growing up in barren environments where they couldn’t help but become twisted, but unlike himself, who was stained with indelible black darkness (damn, it’s cringeworthy even to think about, but this was actually Lennox’s own expression), Allen, who had grown up like a lotus flower blooming gracefully on a muddy field (also according to Lennox’s expression), felt like the last miracle of this unbelievable world.
Well, of course, there were minor events and other flags after the game’s main story began, but with that basic stance, Allen’s favorability rating soared just by breathing and blinking. So, targeting Lennox seemed almost impossible.
But since I had already decided to make the true ending mine, I couldn’t just give up because it was impossible.
So, I decided to fundamentally destroy that impossibility. Completely and utterly.
I decided to completely erase Lennox’s ‘indelible black darkness’ itself. Since it was before he was sold to the black mage, I just needed to find him before the black mage did and take him to a safe place.
Mr. Seymour’s office, located on the outskirts of the capital’s center, was as busy as usual today. Cargo boxes of all sizes, gathered from all over the continent, were piled up everywhere. It was obviously a successful (and very successful) trading company. So much so that no one would imagine that there was another organization, the information guild, behind it.
They had disguised it so well that I wouldn’t have noticed at all if it weren’t for the hint the system gave me.
I followed Nicole closely, with my head deeply covered by the large hood of my robe. It was Nicole’s last condition for accompanying me to the trading company, unable to resist my insistence: never take off the hood until returning to the mansion.
In a place like this, an overly conspicuous appearance was dangerous, or so he said. I wasn’t so naive as to ignore that worried warning, so I always kept Nicole’s request in mind and followed it closely.
Having arrived at the trading company, Nicole went straight to the top floor without hesitation. The employees, who knew Nicole was the son of the trading company’s owner, all waved their hands with welcoming faces.
Whenever I saw this, I thought to myself, even if his innate status couldn’t be helped, Nicole could live comfortably without having to ask anyone for favors with Mr. Seymour’s earnings. Why did he insist on staying in the Hamilton family? I was grateful, though.
“Hello, Uncle.”
“Oh, Nicole. You’re here again? Mr. Seymour is inside.”
Standing guard in front of Mr. Seymour’s office was a man with a large build and a strong impression, making me wonder what he had done in his prime. Judging by the way he looked around, he seemed to be a member of the information guild, not just a simple trading company employee. I wasn’t just guessing based on his appearance.
Whenever I visited this place with Nicole, the people who treated me fell into two categories: those who thought of me as just a normal companion of Nicole and didn’t pay any attention to me, and those who couldn’t talk to me but subtly treated me with caution.
The former would be ordinary employees who thought this was just a trading company, and the latter would be guild members who knew I was the youngest Young Master Hamilton.
“Is the Young Master behind you well? Go on in.”
This person was clearly the latter. I nodded once without answering and followed Nicole inside. Then, as soon as I confirmed that the door was closed, I pulled down the stuffy hood and opened my mouth.
“Hi, Mr. Seymour!”
“I’m here too, Dad.”
“Oh, Young Master! Nicole!”
Mr. Seymour greeted us with a beaming smile, as if he was happy to see his son’s face so often, even though he was too busy with work to meet him properly when he came to the capital. The pile of documents that were constantly flipping under his smiling face was quite impressive.
“It’s like my son’s height shrinks by an inch every time I see him. You look so tiny and cute today.”
“Dad!”
“That’s right, Mr. Seymour. Even from my perspective, I always find it amazing.”
“Ugh, even the Young Master…”
Nicole gritted his teeth as if he was upset, but he busily moved his hands, seating me on the soft sofa first and arranging my robe.
When I was first introduced to Mr. Seymour through Nicole, I felt a bit sorry for him for making his only child work so hard in front of his parents. But both Nicole and Mr. Seymour took it so naturally, and thinking about it, Nicole had always acted this way in front of the nanny, so I eventually let go of my worries.
“Let’s see. What kind of amazing things should I show you today?”
“I saw that you got a new carpet when I came up. I’d like to see that today.”
“Ah, you have a good eye. It was just delivered from the port this morning, and you found it. But the carpet hasn’t been fully arranged yet, so there’s no sample catalog. It’ll take some time to show it to you, but if you’re busy, I’ll bring a few to the mansion next time.”
For someone who was stamping their attendance card almost every day because they wanted to look around the trading company building, that was unnecessary kindness. I immediately shook my head.
“No. That wouldn’t be fun. I don’t have anywhere else to go, so I come here every day.”
Everyone in the Count’s family, including Andrew and my father, thought that I was relieving the stress I received from the mansion work that I had suddenly taken on by coming to Mr. Seymour’s trading company every day.
No matter how much I bought of those imported goods, it wouldn’t make a dent in my wealth, and the place I was visiting was run by Mr. Seymour, Nicole’s father and the nanny’s husband. My father was even willing to give me his personal fortune, saying that if I could relieve my stress with just that much shopping, I should do it as much as I wanted.
Anyway, it was a good thing for me. I was coming here with the sole intention of finding Lennox, so I didn’t have to rack my already complicated brain to think of additional excuses.
“Okay. Then I’ll go down and take a look myself. Is that okay?”
“Yes, do as you wish…”
“What are you saying, Dad! No! Absolutely not!”
Nicole raised his voice in a hurry, with a fierce look in his eyes. He said that no matter how much I covered myself with a robe and hood, he couldn’t completely relax, and if anyone saw me, they would immediately have malicious thoughts.
“Hmm…”
“Hey, Nicole? Baby?”
Mr. Seymour and I were speechless, looking at the huffing Nicole. Nicole seemed to think that I could seduce everyone in the world with just a shadow… I was pretty, but honestly, it wasn’t to that extent. Even if I told him that Young Master didn’t know anything, he would get sulky.
But I was starting to get impatient, so I couldn’t just play along with Nicole’s tune. I had to find Lennox while Mr. Seymour was staying in the capital, but he was leaving the empire again next month. Even now, he was freely coming and going only under the guarantee that Mr. Seymour was responsible for my safety, so it would be difficult to visit the trading company. It meant that the way to find Lennox before the original story started would become distant.
“Um, Nicole. Are you having some quality time with your father after a long time?”
I grabbed Nicole’s huffing hand, handed it over to Mr. Seymour, and quickly ran outside. I made sure to cover myself with the hood.
“Young Master!”