Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 84: The sick leader.

((Count Velmo’s waiting room.)

Alaric was seated on the chair with Ava standing behind him.

Opposite him was Velmo, with Sima behind him.

While the two men stared at each other intensely, Ava and Sima did the same.

Ava didn’t like the Count, not after what he did to her. And Sima didn’t like the fact that Ava had all of Alaric’s attention.

In conclusion, the atmosphere was tense.

Finally, Velmo spoke...

"I heard you built something impressive in the barony. A magic artifact that can light up the environment when the light is down..."

Alaric smirked. "You heard right. And soon, you’ll be getting the stamp of approval from the four merchants."

As Alaric spoke, Sima couldn’t help but feel proud of his accomplishments, a small smile forming on her face as she stared at him.

Ava spotted this, her face frozen with surprise.

"You managed to convince the merchants?" Velmo asked, his face now holding a serious expression.

"Did you think I wouldn’t be able to? Are you surprised, Count Velmo?" Alaric smiled.

"Indeed, I am," Velmo replied.

Yet, in his mind, he couldn’t help but recall the words his commander told him.

"Can Alaric really be a threat to the kingdom?"

The feats he accomplished were far too grand.

How could one generate so much power from a huge box and a water wheel?

This thought resonated inside Velmo’s head.

Smiling, he spoke again...

"Is it fine if we speak in private, with no one else around?"

He stylishly looked at Ava, who, in turn, glared at him.

She still didn’t like him.

"You want to speak in private?" Alaric inquired.

"Yes. Is that something you can’t do?"

"I mean—sure..."

Alaric turned his attention to Ava.

"I don’t think it’s safe to leave you alone with this man," Ava whispered in Alaric’s ear. "And you shouldn’t trust every word he says either."

Alaric shifted his gaze back to the Count.

"I should be fine. Don’t worry. Wait outside the office," he replied.

Ava was not comfortable with it. This was the same man who had tried to kiss her for no reason.

She looked at him, and just like always, she could clearly see the devious smirk on his face.

Ava sighed.

"Don’t hesitate to call out to me if you need me."

And with that, she walked out of the room, Sima following right behind her.

Once they had exited the room, Velmo laughed for a while.

"I’m surprised you’re still on good terms with your knight," Velmo uttered.

"Are you now?"

"You also don’t seem bothered about what happened."

"I don’t care about silly things. Right now, all I want is to finalize the deal with you."

Alaric lied again.

He knew indulging in Velmo’s mind games would not yield anything. Thus, he tried not to add gasoline to the burning fire.

"A man of ambition. If that’s the case, you don’t mind if I take her for myself? If I’m being honest, I find her quite attractive."

Alaric struggled to maintain a calm face when, deep down, he wanted nothing more than to punch him right in the face.

"I believe that’s hers to decide. If she chooses to go with you, then I won’t stop her," he responded.

Velmo glared, then he spoke...

"You’re just going to let your knight walk away to another master?"

Alaric tilted his head to the side. "Sure. Would you not do the same? Or do you want to keep someone who doesn’t want to stay?"

For some reason, those words hit Velmo in a strange way.

For the past few days, he had noticed Sima changing towards Alaric.

Since he had tried to steal Ava, Velmo couldn’t help but think Alaric wanted to do the same to Sima.

And even worse, he had no doubt Alaric would succeed.

With a sigh, the Count raised both his hands. "Alright, I agree. You’ve won."

"Won what?"

Velmo stood up from his chair. "Here, I have something to give you."

As he said this, Alaric also stood up to pay attention.

---

Meanwhile, outside the room, the atmosphere was even more tense.

Ava and Sima stood side by side, yet not a single word was said between them.

Sima found herself jealous of Ava.

And Ava did not want to associate with anything relating to the Count.

It was a strange situation.

"What does your master plan to do with Lord Alaric?" Ava asked out of nowhere.

This caught Sima off guard, but she quickly played it off.

"What?"

"He seems to enjoy watching my master struggle. So pardon me if I’m curious as to why that is."

Sima frowned. "Lord Velmo wouldn’t do such a thing. And even if he did, maybe if you took better care of Sir Montclair, you wouldn’t have such suspicions."

Ava was a bit annoyed by her words, but she did not react.

"Is that to say your master does not have any plans for my master?" she asked.

This made Sima grin.

"I can’t say. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see."

Ava sighed. "Whatever it is, as long as I’m by his side, he’s forever safe."

Sima bit her lower lip in anger, almost like she wanted nothing more than to slam Ava’s head against the wall, over and over again.

But just like Ava, she played it cool.

"You better," Sima muttered.

Something about the way Sima said it made Ava think for a bit.

Those words didn’t sound like she hated Alaric. In fact, it was exactly what she would say if she were in her shoes.

The realization set in.

Just then, the door to the office opened, and out came Alaric.

The moment Alaric stepped out of the room, both Sima and Ava’s expressions lit up as they moved closer.

"What happened?" they both asked in unison.

This added to the observations Ava had already been picking up on.

"If you’re looking for a gist, I have none. I wanna go to sleep—I’m tired."

Alaric walked away.

Sima went the other way; the thought of Ava breathing the same air as her was irritating.

---

It took a few days for people to finally get used to the new power plant they had in their county.

The light seemed to always be on, both day and night.

Hina had gotten the merchants to sign the contract, which gave them 15% of the money earned from the light management.

Another 5% was for the Count himself.

Alaric took it upon himself to teach a few workers how to add poles and wires to extend from street to street.

Since the County had no means of producing wires, they had to buy from Alaric. They also came to the conclusion that everyone would be paying 500 eres per month.

In less than a few weeks, Alaric and his team had constructed a huge warehouse in the County. Thanks to this, it was easier for Alaric to manage his trading.

Wires, natural resources, and even his wooden fridge would all be kept in the warehouse for trading.

Once he was done with everything he needed to do in the County, he made his way back to the Barony.

By the time he got back, he met the newly built barony that Aurora and Laura had been managing while he was gone.

A bridge that led to the former Nuek Barony was made.

Houses made from bricks to house the residents and other sources of living spread throughout the land.

In short, the Montclair Barony looked similar to the County.

Alaric’s plan to retire was getting closer by the day.

---

The next morning...

Alaric was sleeping on his bed.

Bang! Bang!

Someone knocked on the door, but Alaric was still fast asleep.

"Lord Alaric, the Baron would like to see you," Ava announced from behind the door. Still no response.

"I’m coming in."

She opened the door and walked in.

Once inside, she noticed Alaric was still fast asleep on the bed.

"He’s sleeping? That’s strange—he usually wakes up so easily."

Ava thought to herself as she moved closer.

She was about to tap his shoulder when, from nowhere, Laura appeared and grabbed her hand.

"Don’t disturb the young master," she said.

Ava looked at her before pulling her hand away. "He has a meeting to attend."

"It can wait."

Ava was confused, at the same time, she wasn’t the type to take nonsense.

Luckily, Aurora was more reasonable.

"The young master is sick." Aurora said as she sat on the table, a sad look on her face.

Even Auzure was present.

"What?" Ava took another glance at Alaric, and this time, she could see it clearly.

His skin was pale and he was sweating profusely.

"He’s sick!’ Ava moved closer, taking a closer look at him.

"He has been like this since yesterday. We are only summons, we are not knowledgeable about the human body. Please...help him." Aurora said to Ava.

...

[A/N: Happy new month people, wishing you the best. I hope we can get to 5k unlocks this month. Please don’t forget to support me with golden tickets.]