Capítulo 5: 30,000 Gold
Augustus' reason for his visit today was to fetch Claude. Obviously, Claude couldn't cross the border by himself considering that he was from Black Dragon Empire, so Gus, by using his identity as a retired knight, could disguise Claude as some sort of criminal so that they could cross the border.
However, never had he imagined that, instead of seeing Claude, he saw this handsome looking noble. In his list of 'things that will ruin my day', nobles are ranked third in the list. He doesn't really hate nobles, per se, he just had plenty of bad experiences with them back when he was still a knight.
Although nobles are ranked third in his 'things that will ruin my day' list, that didn't mean that he considered all nobles as bad. Take his friend's son, Jack, as an example. Even though Jack was a noble, he wasn't a spoiled, entitled brat like other nobles.
"Uncle, it's you! What a surprise! Come in, come in," Jack greeted. He knew that Gus was visiting today, so he thought that it would be funny to prank him with his new face. However, he quickly changed his mind after thinking what kind of personality this grumpy old man has.
"Hm?" Gus shifted his gaze towards the handsome looking noble, clearly fazed by the way this noble acted. He acted as though they were close. Nevertheless, he merely shrugged it off before entering Claude's house.
After scanning the room, he quickly caught the sight of Claude's lanky figure. He tapped off the ashes accumulating from the tip of his cigar before he took a drag from it.
"Brat, where's Fatty? I figured that when she got rejected by Mrs. Hopkins granddaughter from the bakery next door, he would go directly to you," Gus said, "Let's take a stop to his house first so that I could also bring him along. It's much less troublesome like that."
Claude could only reveal an awkward smile as he stared at Jack who was near the door.
Meanwhile, Jack couldn't stop giggling to himself.
Seeing Claude's reaction, Gus similarly turned back and took a second look at the handsome looking noble behind him.
Curious, he asked, "Who's this kid?"
"He's the Jack that you've been mentioning..." Claude replied meekly.
"Oh, another nob- What!?" The cigar almost fell from Gus' fingers as he stared at the handsome looking noble, his eyes wide agape.
Gus' face almost turned red from embarrassment. Who would've known that this handsome looking noble who he kept cursing in his heart was Jack. Though, after scrutinizing the handsome looking noble, his body does indeed look similar to Jack's.
"I am indeed Jack, uncle..." Jack said in a low voice.
Even after hearing what Jack said, Gus still wasn't convinced. Crossing his arms, he asked, "If you really are Jack, then you should know the first spell that Alice conjured."
When Alice casted her first magic spell, only he, his wife, and Jack were present at that scene. Therefore he thought that this was the best question to ask.
"It was Hellblaze, a fire type spell. Due to her high affinity in fire magic, you sold all your personal belongings to buy this skill book. When Alice finished chanting the words for Hellblaze, your... your house got caught on fire... As a result, you got chased out by aunt Aurora... " Jack said with much more detail than intended.
Gus froze. Their house did indeed got caught on fire due to Alice. If not for the presence of a couple water mages, it would've caused a domino effect and would burn down every building present there.
Staggering, he asked, "You... How did you get so... good-looking?"
"It's because of my good genes," Jack boasted as he puffed up his chest, "This is the result of those dozens of purification beads that grew on my face."
"Purification beads alone wouldn't have this effect!" Gus said in an unconvinced manner, "If that's the result of those dozens of purification beads that grew on your face, then Alice would become a goddess if the purification beads on her face goes away!"
"What? They're still on her face?" A look of surprise became apparent on Jack's face as he said that, "Mine only lasted for roughly two years before disappearing, but hers..."
"Alright, stop going off-topic and answer my question already."
"It's Claude!" Jack spat out, "Claude made my face more handsome than it was before..."
Since Claude was going to start a business from being a Face Manipulator, then it wouldn't hurt to tell Gus about it.
Hearing those words, Gus furrowed his brows. With a serious expression, he shifted his gaze towards Claude and asked, "Is what he said true?"
The moment Gus' gaze landed on Claude, the temperature in the room dropped.
In response to Gus' question, Claude nodded weakly.
Gus pulled the wooden chair closer to him and sat on it with a loud sigh. He didn't reply to Claude, instead, he took a few puffs from his cigar.
Turning to Jack, he asked, "Fatty, do you think I could get a refund if I already paid a Face Manipulator?"
Jack's body shuddered, his fats wiggling like jelly, the moment he heard Gus' voice. Though he regained his composure not long after that, he was still perplexed by Gus' question.
"Uncle, did you... hire a Face Manipulator?" Jack asked with a quivering voice.
"Indeed," Gus answered truthfully, "If I knew that Claude was a Face Manipulator himself, then I should've hired him instead."
"How... much did you pay? To hire one, I mean."
"Thirty thousand gold."
Claude: "..."
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