"That was brutal. Huhuhuhuhuhu, why did Sir Instructor do that?" Neris was lying on his bed, feeling devastated.
Rubbing his forehead, Bram looked at the bruised Neris, who was crying, and he said, "You'd better be thankful that the robber was out Instructor. He didn't mean any harm to you."
Still, Neris was sulking. He felt like the world was against him.
The infirmary door opened. Neris flinched when he saw the person leaning on the doorframe.
Icaris looked at his useless little brother lying there on the bed like he was paralyzed. He sneered, "Oh, you look very energetic. It looks like Grandpa went easy on you."
"You rattlemouthed bastard." Neris glared at him.
Icaris looked at the provocative Neris, not affected by his insult. "Oh, a bastard? As a legitimate son, you're far worse than me, so I guess that makes you worse than a bastard."
Just a he was about to continue taunting Neris, Icaris felt a push behind him. He frowned, and just as he was about to scold the perpetrator, he saw Hal staring at him coldly.
"Move, you're blocking the door." Hal frowned, looking at the dazed Icaris.
Icaris moved. He was a bit scared of Hal, but didn't want to show it. He clicked his tongue. "Nannying your teammate again?" he said while looking at the basket of fruit in Hal's hand.
Hal ignored him. He hated this guy—or should he say, he hated anyone who was malicious towards his teammates.
Neris wasn't injured from the instructor's attack but from his grandfather's beating.
Yes, it was soon discovered that the Chaos Coin was missing. Icaris told the family that Neris stole it, although he didn't really know whether that was true or not. Whenever something bad happened in their house, Neris was the one who will carry the blame.
But this time, Icaris stumbled upon the truth.
What happened was that before Neris could even explain, he was hauled by his family's guards and was almost beaten to death by his grandfather. While he had been screaming, "It was real! It was real!" none of them listened. If not for his mother's begging, Hal's explanation and the academy's interference, he would have suffered worse.
Neris felt smug thinking about his contribution. He glared at Icaris. "What are you doing here?! Standing at the door... Do you think you're a door god?"
Icaris pursed his lips. "Grandfather wants to meet you."
...
An imposing looking old man sat on a black leather chair, looking at the group of appraisers examining the other half of the brooch.
On the long sofa beside him were other family elders. All of them were waiting for the result of the appraisal.
After what felt like forever, the head appraiser put down the magnifying glass and wiped off his hands. It was a suspenseful atmosphere; the head appraiser nudged his glasses and finally announced the long‑awaited news: "It's real. This is the other half of the Arcane Brooch."
It was like a switch was turned on. The moment the appraiser said the result, the entire room suddenly came alive.
An old man with a goatee said, "I think young master Neris still deserves a punishment." He sneered, "Stealing from ones family is a behaviour of a traitor, not a heir."
"A young master as impulsive as that isn't fit to be a family head," another old man agreed. "Although the results were good this time, what if it was a scam? It would have brought irreversible damage to our family. Chaos Coin is not something that could just be traded randomly."
While they were saying righteous words, the greed in their eyes were obvious.
A middle‑aged man slammed his cup on the table. He looked at the elders with piercing eyes. "So who's gonna be the next family head? The child of your daughters?" Then he sneered, "Now that the Arcane Brooch had a chance to become a complete S class artifact, you want to kick young master Neris out?"
The old man with a goatee smiled. "Escar, you're still as protective of your nephew as ever." He didn't deny Escar's words. "Of course. How could such a valuable artifact be in the hands of someone so careless? Beside, our grandchildren are also a member of the Sinda family, right?"
Hearing the varied discussion around him, the patriarch raised his hand.
It was immediate silence.
"Embarrassing." He sighed. "Can't you see that an academy professor is here? You're showing him how much of a hungry jackals the Sinda family is."
The academy professor was sitting on the sofa, feeling suffocated. He wanted to say, Damn sly fox. If you wanted to control your family elders, don't use me.
Seeing that the elders were looking at him, Sir Rosen shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. I don't interfere with my students' personal matters... unless it's necessary."
The man with a goatee didn't like him, or should I say, he doesn't like the academy as a whole. "You academy people—don't you think that meddling in other people's business is a bit rude?"
Sir Rosen shrugged. "I don't make the rules. Talk to the principal about that."
Hearing the mention of the principal, the old man with a goatee went silent. That madman was well known for being fiercely protective of his students. Even if it's about family matters, as long as his students were in danger, he wouldn't hesitate to interfere.
That was also the reason why Sir Rosen was involved in this mess. Seeing that Neris was taken away by the Sinda family guards, his teammates alerted the school, knowing the principal's personality.
"The academy is starting to reach their hands into the aristocratic families. Patriarch, don't you think something is wrong with this?" One of the family elders did not think this was okay at all.
The patriarch leaned down on his chair. His long gray hair draping on his shoulders like a white cloak. Despite already being 261 years old, his body was still well maintained and strong. Looking at the bulging muscles that were threatening to burst out of the suit, one could say that he was a real threat.
Hearing what the other elder said, he suddenly laughed. "Hahahahaha, Arny, are you going senile?"
Arny's face darkened. "Patriarch, what do you mean?"
"Hahahahahaha! Hearing all of you talk about the Sinda family as if it were an old royal lineage. How pathetic." To the patriarch, all this pride is useless. "Look at our family! Open your eyes to the new world! It is now the era of capitalism, not nobility!"
The patriarch panted and wiped the tears from his eyes. "To be honest, the reason why I almost beat Neris to death wasn't because of the Chaos Coin. That shit was useless." He opened his palm and grinned. "The reason why I beat that bastard was because of the millions he stole! That was a whole lot of money."
Just remembering the sweets (money) that he lost, he cried, "For a broken piece of brooch he spent that much money! MY HEART ACHES."
Seeing that their patriarch was going at it again with his greedy personality, the elders looked uncomfortable. Some of them pretended they didn't see anything, while others were looking down at the floor as if they just discovered something new on it.