Galaxy's First Ruler

"Haha… Aren't you only 15-year-old?"

There was a slight smile on Aldrich's face. The sound reached Meuric's ears, and his face became pale again. Aldrich had yet to shake this overgrown boy's hand, but as he used Rumok to pass those words, Meuric's hand dropped, as if lifeless.

Meuric staggered back, and his lips quivered, seeing Aldrich's innocent smile, which looked like an evil grin. The young boy couldn't possibly find any reason for Aldrich to know about his actual age. Even if he had let out his genuine emotions, this wasn't a fact one could derive from his tears and blabbering.

"What… Mr. Tudor, Haha! Haha… ha…"

A wry laugh escaped out of Meuric's mouth, but words couldn't seem to come out. This laugh did nothing but die a slow death, making Meuric go silent at its end. Aldrich felt quite amused at it. The more he would let this teen feel his mysteriousness, little by little, the better he could control him. And this mysteriousness did not need to be groundbreaking, either.

As said, not too much, but just enough.

"Calm yourself, young man. I have a Skill that can tell the rough age of Dreamers…"

Aldrich wasn't old physically. But the way he was leaning over his cane, and the sight of his pale white skin, portrayed him as a middle-aged man with some cardiac ailment.

Meuric's mouth gaped as he heard those words. The 15-year-old must have seen too much for him to turn out like that, but even he had been baffled by Aldrich's small actions. As the scarred-face boy saw no way out, and finally not finding no reason to hide behind a false mask, a sheepish smile came over his face.

Meuric scratched the back of his head and let out a hearty laugh.

"HAHA! Mr. Tudor, you sure have some weird Skills. How can you have no family name? It's so bewildering? Ahem! I am not trying to pry into your past, Mr. Tudor. I am just trying to say…"

Aldrich noticed that as Meuric lost his ruthlessness, returning to his original self, he regained his astute reasoning. And along with it came back his habit of chattering non-stop.

Aldrich didn't stop Meuric, as it was beneficial for him to let the boy talk as much as he wanted. Alas, Aldrich seemed to have underestimated Meuric's thick skin. The boy said nothing substantial but kept mentioning useless details related to his daily activities.

The sky had gone completely dark, and there was no moon in the sky. Even though the ground had been cleared by the beast's rampaging movement, Aldrich could hardly see beyond the clearing with naked eyes.

As Meuric gave rest to his mouth, to take a breath of fresh air, Aldrich spoke out, using Rumok.

"How did you come here? Weren't you among the first half of the candidates to jump out?"

Baron Siwan had made candidates jump out alphabetically. That's why, though both Aldrich and Meuric were sitting side by side, Aldrich was among the last remaining candidates. The windows of the spaceship had been covered before the jump. From the map Aldrich had formed in his mind, he could tell that Meuric should have landed over 200 km away from him.

And even if Meuric could somehow run non-stop, there was no way for him to survive magical beasts above the boar-like beast which had almost killed him.

Meuric's relieved face became ugly hearing Aldrich's question. The emotion of shame bubbled in his heart. But Aldrich could feel a hint of pride and elation mixed within this shame.

Meuric looked here and there, but after finding only darkness, his eyes couldn't help but halt at Aldrich's tiny figure.

"That… Cough! Mr. Tudor, I was trying out a potion that could grow artificial wings like that cube. But the thing is, I have made it in such a way that I could flap those wings. And you won't believe it worked, Mr. Tudor. Haha!"

"So what happened?"

Meuric seemed to have forgotten what he was talking about as he let out a prideful laugh. But Aldrich's interjection must have made him remember something painful for him to grow a deep frown on his forehead.

Meuric took a finger-length vial, shimmering because of a few drops of green liquid, out of his Inventory and brought it down to Aldrich's eye level.

"This was the Twin Sonic Wings Potion I had made. It had taken so many materials and time to make it. And, hehe, I had so much fun. Mother said it was one of the best potions in my arsenal.."

Sigh!

Aldrich let out a sigh inwardly and called out.

"Come to the point."

"Huh?! Ah, yes… the Mana wings materialized on my back as intended, but…"

The corners of Meuric's eyes became wet, and as he massaged the vial, he muttered out.

"… But I couldn't control them at all. I had no way to cancel the effects, too. The wings just kept flapping by themselves and took me in random directions. When they disappeared, I fell… on the top of those beasts…"

'This…'

Aldrich was gobsmacked, hearing this outrageous story. Not because of the events involved, but from the utter nonsense decisions. At a glance, Aldrich could tell that Meuric hadn't tested out that potion before. To dare to use it here, on a planet where every deviation of 1 km could decide life and death, was beyond comprehension.

But Aldrich wasn't some random kid, listening to the tales of Sindbad the Sailor. Aldrich had already trained his mind to go beyond facts hidden behind the facts. Aldrich stared at the deeply troubled look on Meuric's face and spoke out, nailing his mysteriousness into Meuric's heart even deeper.

"So… your family doesn't know about your Class…"

Meuric's face was like a lightning bolt had struck him just then. The vial in his hand slipped out and fell on the leafy ground. Meuric gazed at Aldrich as if he was reading some incomprehensible text which he couldn't make any sense of.

Enshrouded by the surrounding heaviness, Meuric finally mumbled out.

"Mr. Tudor… you… Are you a spy?!!"