Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 59: Conspiracy

A few hours after the battle.

The girls were back inside their room. Alaric could not join them since he had to meet with Velmo to discuss the terms and conditions for their trading.

According to the words Velmo laid out himself, he spared Erica’s life and promised to let her return to the barony.

Throughout the battle, Velmo made sure to keep Erica inside the mansion and nowhere near the stadium. He didn’t want her viewing the match and having any hope of her release. He didn’t even let her meet her brother.

One could say Velmo was the type to do anything as long as it entertained him.

"Ava..." Hina spoke, her eyes fixed on her chest as she used her hand to jiggle it a bit.

Ava, who was standing in front of her, saw this and immediately carried a deadpan expression on her face. "Yes? What is it?"

"Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but... Are my boobs bigger than yours now?" Hina asked, her entire focus still on her chest.

"You don’t say..."

"Feels like just yesterday you and I were the same size. Oh, how fast things change..." Hina looked up at Ava with bubble eyes.

Ava couldn’t help but sigh. "If you’d leave your boobs alone for a second, do you know why you had a sudden change?"

"Change? Isn’t it just hormones? And a bit of reawakening? You know, some people go through that and have a boost in their ranks... you know..." Hina spoke, her expression blank with a raise of her finger.

"You can’t even believe the words you’re saying yourself." Ava sighed before she bent low. "The same thing happened to me."

She continued,

"I was only at Silver rank. I’ve been for as long as I can remember. I’ve been desperately trying to increase my rank, practicing, but as they say, your rank can only go as far as your body wants it to. I gave up."

"You stopped trying to rank up? Then how did you get to be a Diamond rank? Did you also go through hormone changes like me?" asked Hina.

"Stop saying that. Anyway, I had given up on ever attaining another rank. This was until Lord Alaric did something."

"Something...?"

"Trust me, if I knew, I wouldn’t be this confused. I don’t know exactly what he did, but I boosted all the way from Silver to Diamond in a matter of seconds. The same went for the soldiers." Ava looked to the side, almost disturbed.

"So you’re saying Lord Alaric is behind my sudden rank boost?"

"Yes. That’s why I wanted to be sure you knew what happened. Maybe you had a different encounter, but since you didn’t, I’m certain Lord Alaric is behind it." Ava explained.

"The power to boost a person’s rank? That’s ridiculous and unheard of. There’s no way anyone could have that type of power." Hina raised a brow.

"Do you have any better explanation as to why your rank increased overnight?" Ava questioned.

"Uhmm..." Hina had the same blank expression again. "As I told you, it’s my hormo—"

Pa!

Ava gave a slap to the cheeks.

"Focus! If Lord Alaric is the one that did this too, do you have any idea what that means? The Lord Alaric I grew up with is a beast tamer, and last I checked, beast tamers can’t increase others’ rank... Don’t you see? What if... this isn’t our Lord Alaric?"

Hina instantly carried a serious look on her face.

"I also don’t want to believe it, but from what I’ve noticed, it’s the only explanation. His entire behavior changed. He became hardworking, caring, and actually responsible. He knew exactly how to build a weird machine thingy he called magical technology. Tell me I’m not the only one that noticed this..."

Looking to the side, Hina spoke, her voice shaking a bit. "You’re probably j-just overthinking. People change... Lord Alaric just happened to be a tad bit unexpected."

It was then Ava realized it was pointless trying to convince Hina. You can’t force a person to believe something if they themselves aren’t ready to believe it.

Standing to her feet, Ava uttered, "Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably just overthinking."

"Ava?"

"Speaking of which, I know Lord Alaric went to meet up with the Count, but didn’t he say he wouldn’t stay long?"

"That’s true... Wait, where are the rest also? It’s just us in here."

Ava and Hina looked around, and to their surprise, their observation was right—they were the only ones in the room at the time.

The reason being, the rest were all with Alaric.

...

"Little brother! I missed you!"

Erica smiled as she hugged Alaric, pushing his back against the wall.

"Hah yah yah, you’ve made that very obvious. You can let go now." Alaric tried to push his sister away, but every time he did, she would hold on even tighter.

Velmo, who had been watching the scene for almost thirty minutes, finally spoke.

"You seem to have a strong relationship with your sister, dear Alaric."

"She’s just... a bit emotional right now. Can you blame her?" Alaric responded, still trying to free himself.

The office was very spacious, hence why Erica didn’t feel uncomfortable hugging her brother the way she did.

Since only Velmo, his assistant, and Alaric’s summons were present, she didn’t feel the need to hide how much she missed her brother.

"If you need help, do tell. I’ll handle it for you," Sami offered from behind Velmo.

"No—no, I’ll be fine." Alaric didn’t waste a single second to reply.

He then pulled his mouth closer to Erica’s ear. "Sis, I understand you’re feeling relieved right now, but I need to handle this meeting as quickly as possible. Do you think you can give me some space?"

"Uhm uhmm..." Erica nodded her head.

"The fuck you mean uhmm uhmm. The faster we get out of here, the better." Alaric tried to convince her, occasionally throwing a fake smile Velmo’s way.

Although Velmo himself had his own issues to worry about as he was almost drowning from the sheer force of the death intent both Laura and Aurora were letting out.

"I’m being serious, little brother. Velmo isn’t the type you want to have a discussion with. I know because I’ve been here. Please don’t fall for his tricks, I beg of you."

Erica’s concern sounded desperate, and Alaric could understand from the little knowledge he had.

He looked at Velmo for a while before sighing.

’I don’t know how to comfort a girl when she’s like this. Clearly, I know the risk. This is the same dude that tried to kill my sister. That said, if I am able to make him come to my side, even if as an enemy, it will benefit the barony by far, in terms of trading.

Having the Viscount on my side helped in maintaining a successful trade route, of course. But why settle there when I can have more? Building a warehouse in the County itself is like putting a prey right in the middle of multiple predators—it’s total genius.’

Finally coming to a conclusion, Alaric whispered again into Erica’s ear and said the one thing he had always uttered to people that doubted him.

"Do you trust me?"

Erica was quiet, words couldn’t escape her mouth, so she nodded.

"Good, now trust that I’ll handle this situation well. If anything, I need your negotiating skills right now. So what do you say? Will you help me?"

Erica pulled away to get a good look at Alaric’s face. "You promise?"

"Cross my heart. And if I’m successful, I’ll get you a mini fridge for your room."

"Do I look like the type of woman to accept bribes from her own brother?"

"Yes."

"How mean of you." Erica smiled and then turned around. "I trust you."

"Very good. Let’s do this."

A few minutes later, Alaric and Erica were seated on the chairs opposite Velmo.

The fear on Erica’s face was still obvious. Her holding her brother’s hand was a way for her to keep calm and not panic.

If there was one thing she learned about Count Ernesto Velmo, it was to never speak to him while under pressure or panicking. He would always turn the tides to favor him.

Hence why she was always calm when speaking to him, her way of making sure she was not being turned over.

Smiling, Velmo uttered, "Are you done with your family reunion?"

"Sorry if we wasted your time. I promise what I’m about to propose to you will be worth it," Alaric hinted.

"Hmm. Firstly, what is your reply to being my general? With someone like you, the Ernesto forces will grow in strength, keeping the kingdom safer and stronger."

"Yeah, about that. I am simply the son of a Baron. I want nothing more than that. I don’t do well with responsibilities," replied Alaric.

"Is that so?"

"My apologies."

"I haven’t gotten rejected before. This is a new experience. I don’t hate that. So tell me, what is this offer you wanted to propose?"

Alaric smiled.

...