Chapter 164 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 29

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Mathias appeared back inside his grandfather's bedroom and what welcomed him was the old man's glare that told more to the young man, who only said in a calm manner.

"Sorry, I spent more time than I was supposed to. My bad, you can switch back in the capsule and settle down your business inside Grenhaler."

*Tsk* "You sure are quick to take responsibility for your mistakes. Anyway, I've lost connection to your capsule for some weird reason after about one hour of you playing, and to heck I couldn't reconnect to see what you were doing."

"No clue what happened. I simply continued playing the game." remarked Mathias, not knowing what old Augustin experienced when watching him be inside Satisfy, nor did he care.

"Doesn't matter now. Besides, how the heck did you manage to find so many mysterious people to surround yourself? From those Stonemasons, to the Stable guy, then you also struck gold with the Craftsman."

"What do you mean? How? I just acted like myself?"

"Shameless brat." mentioned old Augustin as he was cleaning around the capsule using a towel, giving him a weird look.

"Pardon me? Why do you call me shameless, old man?"

Confusion started to settle in Mathias's mind, but it soon dispersed when he heard old Augustin next line.

"That lady, you have to introduce her to me."

"Wait, what? Do you mean, granny Ann?"

"Yes, her. I want to meet her, I felt a throb in my heart when I watched her face. She reminds me of your late grandmother."

"Sigh, grandpa, you know granny Ann can't be like grandma. Don't try to bother her if you just want a replacement that is closely related to grandma."

Old Augustin frowned and gave Mathias a serious look, later on telling him. "Boy, don't question my sanity. I am healthy as a bull, what's wrong in trying to find a partner for my old age?"

"Fine, when I return to Bucharest, we'll get in touch and see if I can settle a meeting between you two. But, I will warn you from the start, granny Ann suffered a lot, so she might not even be open to what your plans might be."

"Yea sure, you just settle the meeting and let your old man deal with the rest."

Nodding his head, Mathias went toward the kitchen wanting to eat something, but before he departed, old Augustin stopped him as he was settling down on the capsule.

"Little Mathias, what level did you get at right now?"

Smirking at the old man, he told him in a plain way. "I got to level 45."

"... Wait, you jumped from level 32 to level 45 in just 5 hours?" inquired the old man, finding what Mathias accomplished to be blatant lies, but then again, with shocked eyes he understood that his favorite grandchild wouldn't lie so randomly.

"Pretty much, it took me one day. Half a day for reaching Gravelmark Mountain, and the rest being spent hunting down the various monsters standing in my path."

"What type of monsters? Their level?"

"Right, monster's ranging from level 80 - 100."

"Damn, brat when you reach level 100, you better give grandpa a bus ride. You can pick me up from Grenhaler, and take me around various hunting grounds of the Empire, since I will be busy acting as a butler for the Duke's House."

"Mhm, sure grandpa. However, you'll have to do me some favours, if you want to reach a high level and boost to those brats."

With a curious expression, old Augustin waited for Mathias to continue his point.

"My Workshop will soon open inside Titan, I want to build relations with various important people where I can sell my product. Having contact with the Grenhal House would land me more lucrative contracts and with time, if times allow it, I wish to expand my Workshops around the whole Saharan Empire and take over the market."

"I can't promise you anything, Mathias. However if chance allows me, I will mention you to Gareth and place some good words for you. But that, hopefully if you make a name for yourself in Titan, otherwise, I might get in trouble."

"Sure, even the smallest word for my Workshop will help. Thanks, gramps, and have fun."

"Have fun? I got to watch over two brats. One is the little Princess of the Duchy, and another one is a brat that is the servant of the Princess. Gareth told me to have my eyes on them, and report to him if there's anything deeper going on between those two brats."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Haha, easy work. Why are you complaining?"

"Because it's boring me. I'll rather spend time beating Gareth at chess than watch those brats, "Study". But yes, let's see if someone missed this old man."

Saying that, he closed the capsule and initialized the game after having to fill his own account username since Mathias logged out, having his own account linked to the capsule.

Taking a brief moment to fill in his account details, he returned back on the familiar loading screen, showing him various views of the Western Continent, until his sensations returned and he felt the winter's wind blow his shoulder length hair.

Looking around himself, he could see the place he logged out as being a smaller room with detailed decorations, having an office, while around this room pots with plants that were hibernating resided.

Old Augustine, stared at the window that revealed the sun making his way on the sky, bringing light to the region he was staying in, and before he could check some of the system configurations, his door was knocked, bringing along the voice of a maid.

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Sir Augustine, Lady Eirene has been calling for you. Are you awake?"

'That little girl sure is demanding of this old man.'

"Yes, I am awake, Zila. I will visit the Princess after I finish sorting out some of my duties to the House."

"No need, sir Augustine. I've taken care of cleaning the Inner Garden of the Castle as per Lady Eirene's instructions."

'Hah, and I wanted to relax a bit by taking care of the garden. Does that little girl have something against me? She doesn't like that her father likes losing to me at chess?'

Thinking that, old Augustine downed his butler clothes, while arranging his white hair, tying it down, before exiting his room, being welcomed by a young woman in her mid twenties wearing classical maid attire, and when she took notice of the old man who didn't look at all his age, greeted him with a friendly bow.

Walking together with this girl, Augustine asked in a calm way, not showing much emotions in those moments.

"Do you know something about what she plans to study today?"

"No idea, Lord Eudhis Bhamm came as usual to teach the young lady. It's not like I understand magic." responded the young woman in an apologetic tone, but knowing the situation inside the Grenhaler Castle, and how the Princess of the Duchy enjoyed to study, he got the main story immediately.

Especially when he arrived inside the upper level of the Castle, stepping foot inside a room that was like a Study Room. There he saw a man in his late 40s, having an scholarly appearance, talking about something to two youngsters.

A young lady with blonde hair, and blue eyes with a milky white skin, a clean appearance, while wearing a beautiful simple dress ornate with various symbols, a sign of her status in society. Yet, her appearance was of a delicate girl, reminiscent of a fairy.

Besides her, standing on his feet, was a young boy who seemed to be about 10-11 years old with short black hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, and wearing servant clothes. His appearance was pleasing to the eye, and in fact old Augustine learned some interesting information about this boy.

He wasn't a slave to the Grenhal House, instead was a friend of the young Duchess that came from the country side, a village Eirene used to visit and relax when she had time. It was there that the older brother of this boy called Theo approached the young Duchess in introducing the idea of guiding the boy in magical studies and also medicine.

The boy at Eirene's back immediately noticed the old man enter the study room, and bowed respectfully at him, as if he was an important person to the Castle, which always made Augustine smile at him, and wave at him to chase his silly act of showing respect to a butler.

Augustine greets Eirene in a professional manner, while the young girl also returns the greeting to the senior, who showed a lot of talent in gardening and plants, which is why she asked her father to assign him to assist her in her medicinal studies.

She asks him to bring some plants required for today's class, and also other materials, to which Augustine waited, until Eirene told him the reason while pouting a bit, finding this old man hard to deal with compared to the rest of servants.

Yet, she knew that he was an outlander, and viewed her nobility differently compared to the citizens of the Empire.

This is why she showed a lot of respect to Augustine, as if he was one of her teachers, and once she told him why, finishing with a cute smile, the old man chuckled and took off to look for the plants from the garden.

There, at the Inner Garden, he stumbles on Duke Grenhal, a man in his late 40s with golden hair and blue eyes, wearing simple clothes for a high noble, which was a show of a humble personality, which was something the old man liked seeing, in people holding power.

Grenhal sensed Augustine while he was observing some flowers, and greeting the elder in a friendly manner, he asked him about his well being, and if he isn't bothered by acting as Eirene's butler.

To which Augustine just laughs off this problem, beginning to move for certain plants, mentioning how he wouldn't be needed in the future since Theo would take on his jobs of catering to the young miss, and with a smile on his face, he starts picking up some plants without damaging the whole plant.

"You seem to be in a good mood, sir Augustine."

"Mhm? Well, my little girl visited me, bringing along my grandsons, also that troublesome brat I've told you about that went off to face life with his own hands."

"Ohh, do you want an extended leave? I don't mind it, if you want to spend more time with your family." remarked Grenhal turning to look at Augustine with his tranquil blue eyes, only to be met by Augustine, saying in a casual manner.

"No need, I take this as my job. Besides, that brat would make fun of me if I returned back home."

"As you wish, senior. If you want to talk with me later, I will be in my office. I have to deal with some Imperial Reports for the Emperor, and also read the countless reports coming from all the regions of the Duchy."

"Well, if you want to hear this old man's words, you know where to find me. Heh, I might turn into a physician after sticking around with your little girl."

"Haha, don't worry, old Augustine. It will not be for long, afterwards, I will assign Ulmo to give you some instructions with regard to your desire of learning the sword. I have to make up for all the stress of taking care of the kids."

"It seems you didn't forget about this old man after being buried in reports and administrative work. Thanks, and have an easy day." remarked Augustine, who was holding a leather bag, returning back toward the second level of the large Castle of the Grenhal House, which acted like the focal point of the entire Grenhaler Duchy.

Back to Eirene who listened to the teacher assigned by the Duke, and without stopping what the scholar had to say, he stood at the door after closing it, listening along to the information which was related to some effects of the herbs he picked.

[Ding!]

[You've gained 15 INT points]

[Medical Knowledge Library has collected information about plants: Rising Glory, Nightshade, Foxflower, Akunda Bite, Riverbud.]

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