Baron's Son with -9,999,999 Reputation Point-Chapter 149: Cancelled

Silvara gave a small nod.

"Yes," she said shortly. "More or less."

Karska crossed his arms over his chest. His brow furrowed—not from anger, but because his mind was moving fast. Teleporting directly into Baron Halden’s territory meant bypassing every land route, river crossing, and transit permit that usually caused headaches. The risk of spoilage vanished. The contract problem died before it could grow teeth.

An opportunity.

He looked back at Lucas. His gaze was sharp, but this time it wasn’t testing—more like weighing.

"In that case," Karska said slowly, "I have a proposal."

Thriska turned to him on reflex. "Karska?"

"Teleportation magic paper," Karska continued. "Produced by me. Not large-scale, but sufficient for a single commodity like this."

Lucas tilted his head. "Paper?"

"Sigils embedded into a paper medium. Single-use," Karska explained. "Direction and destination can be fixed." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Silvara held her breath. This was more than she had expected.

"Of course," Karska added, his voice still flat, "it isn’t free."

Thriska let out a small sigh. There it is, she thought.

Lucas nodded casually. "Alright. What’s the compensation?"

The answer came too quickly.

Karska blinked once. Just once—but it was noticeable.

"Healer Mae," he said. "I want her to be granted permission to conduct research for a cure to Dark Root. Data, samples—whatever she needs. Without interference."

Lucas fell silent. Why would I interfere with her, anyway?

He shifted his weight, glanced briefly at the tomato field, then at Silvara, then back to Karska.

"Oh," he said. "If that’s all."

He shrugged.

"Deal."

Silence.

Thriska stared at Lucas as if she had just watched someone sign away a house with a single blink.

"...Deal?" she repeated quietly.

"Yes," Lucas replied. "Deal."

Karska also fell silent. A strange feeling spread through his chest. Not relief—that came later—but confusion.

There was no haggling. No extra conditions. No show of dominance. According to every story he’d heard, Lucian Voss squeezed every loophole dry.

"No questions?" Karska asked, to be sure.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Should there be?"

"Usually," Karska answered honestly.

Lucas gave a short chuckle. "I don’t really care about that dark root thingy. I just want my field to keep making money. So... why not."

The words were simple.

Thriska swallowed. In her head, only one question kept spinning.

Why is this so easy?

Karska finally nodded. He wasn’t about to let this chance slip just because his feelings didn’t line up with reality.

"Very well," he said. "I’ll bring the teleportation papers here tomorrow morning."

Only then did Silvara realize she’d been holding her breath. She let it out slowly.

"Thank you," she said. Her tone was flat, but her eyes softened slightly.

Karska turned to her. "Please remember, this must be done under a proper agreement. I expect you to serve as a witness."

Silvara exhaled again.

"Of course. I’ll act fairly and make sure there’s no cheating."

She felt a little relieved. That kid really has always been serious, she thought.

Lucas laughed when he heard that.

"Oi, don’t be so suspicious... remember, this is for your sister’s life."

Karska simply nodded.

Thriska glanced at Silvara, then Lucas, then Karska. It felt like watching two people agree on something that should have been complicated... in the least complicated way possible.

Karska turned away. "We’ll take our leave."

Thriska flinched slightly, then hurriedly bowed. "We’ll return tomorrow."

Lucas nodded.

Karska walked off without looking back. Thriska followed, though she glanced behind her several times, as if expecting Lucas to suddenly turn back into the version she knew.

They moved away.

The sound of their footsteps slowly faded into the rustle of wind and tomato leaves.

Lucas stood there for a few seconds, then turned to Silvara.

"...What exactly is teleportation paper?"

Silvara looked at him flatly.

"You just agreed without knowing what it was?"

Lucas gave a crooked smile. "More or less."

Silvara walked closer to Anya, then glanced back at Lucas.

"Forget it. You’ll see it with your own eyes later."

At that moment, the system appeared in front of Lucas again.

[DING~]

A transparent panel popped up right in front of his face.

The system appeared—complete with a lazy kaomoji expression.

(￣_￣)

SYSTEM NOTICE:

Teleportation magic paper is a sigil-based magic application medium.

Lucas narrowed his eyes. Translate that into human language.

The panel blinked.

SYSTEM EXPLANATION:

In this world, magic is not always cast directly. Some spells are embedded into a medium. Paper is one of the most common media due to its stability, low cost, and ease of disposal after use.

Lucas nodded slowly. Like a disposable tool?

(¬‿¬)

SYSTEM:

In modern terms: similar to electronic devices.

Lucas stopped nodding. "Huh?"

Sigil = circuitry.

Mana = current.

Paper = board.

Lucas frowned. Damn.

The system added another line, clearly enjoying the moment.

(￣▽￣)

In your world, it would be something like... a chip.

Lucas went silent.

"...Seriously?"

Seriously.

He let out a long breath. Magical technology really is ridiculous, he thought.

Host only realizing this now?

Lucas let out a small laugh. Geez.

The panel vanished.

Silvara, who had been silent, looked back at the tomato field. The gentle wind stirred the leaves. Everything was still there. Nothing had physically changed.

But it felt different.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

Strange, she thought.

I should be busy lobbying. I should be stressed. There should have been a long argument.

But just now... everything was resolved.

She turned to Lucas. He was staring up at the sky, his expression empty but calm—like someone who had just set down something heavy without realizing how heavy it had been.

"Luc—" she started, then stopped when she noticed Anya writing with a serious face.

"Young Master."

"Hm?"

"Do you realize you just agreed to something fairly big?"

Lucas turned to her. "Yeah."

"And you don’t feel... anything?"

He thought for a moment.

"I feel like... it makes sense."

Silvara fell silent.

She looked at her own hands. Empty. Clean. She hadn’t really done anything—just talked.

And somehow, that made her chest feel both light and unsettled.

Why did those two men reach an agreement so easily?

The wind blew again, carrying the scent of damp soil and young tomatoes.

Silvara let out a quiet sigh.

"Ah," she murmured. "I really didn’t do anything just now."

Lucas smiled faintly.

---

The Grimhelt wagon rolled slowly away from the field.

Its wooden wheels creaked softly along the dirt road.

Thriska sat across from Karska, her back resting against the side of the wagon. She let out a long sigh before speaking, her tone edged with complaint.

"Why didn’t we just use horses?" she said.

"It would’ve been faster."

Karska didn’t answer right away.

He stared ahead, his hands resting on his knees. After a few moments, he finally exhaled.

"What choice do we have," he said flatly.

"Lady Matruska’s orders."

Thriska clicked her tongue quietly.

"The box has to be delivered safely," Karska continued.

"No shaking. No damage."

Thriska fell silent. She knew that wasn’t something she could argue against.

A stretch of quiet followed, broken only by the sound of wheels and wind.

Karska spoke again.

"Thriska," he said quietly.

"The Lucian Voss we saw just now... doesn’t match the rumors."

Thriska turned toward him.

"I thought the same," she said.

"It doesn’t add up."

She clenched the edge of her glove.

"Silvara used to say," she went on,

"that if it weren’t for the Baroness, she would’ve cut off Lucian Voss’s head long ago."

Karska gave a small nod. He remembered those stories.

"But now," Thriska said softly,

"she’s going that far... for the baron’s son."

Karska fell silent.

The wagon kept moving.

Between the creaking wheels and the passing wind, their confusion found no answer.

----

The room was neat. Too neat for a place belonging to someone who often operated in the gray.

The man who had earlier visited Lucas’s field stood before the desk, his posture straight.

Silas sat behind it, fingers interlaced.

"The field of Young Master Voss," the man reported carefully,

"is larger than what you described."

Silas looked up.

"Larger?"

The man nodded.

"Yes."

Silas fell silent.

How did that boy manage it?

Is producing high-quality seedlings really that easy?

His hand clenched slowly.

If the Central Cathedral learned of this first, their profits would shrink. Not by a small margin. The thought made his chest tighten.

Silas rose to his feet.

"Cancel the obstruction plan," he said sharply.

"Have those bandits clear out from the travel route."

The man stiffened slightly. "Understood."

Silas reached for his coat, jaw set.

"I’ll meet that damn Young Master myself," he said.

"This afternoon."

---

The wind drifted gently across the stone balcony.

The woman with the faded pupil in her left eye stood beside a small table. At her side, a white crane rested calmly, wings folded.

"My Lady," the crane spoke softly,

"are you not curious about the world beyond?"

The woman poured tea without looking up.

"For what purpose?"

The crane fell silent for a moment before continuing, its tone more careful.

"A few days ago... there was news concerning Lucian Voss."

The woman’s hand stopped.

A drop of tea hung in the air, then fell soundlessly into the cup.

Silence spread.