Disciple of Immortal

Act 5: Chapter 23: Mansion of Great Merchant(Side: Philia)

Philia was brought to the parlor of Greed's mansion.

Luxurious chandeliers hung on the ceiling, and huge, expensive-looking paintings hung along the wall.

The huge, long red desk was ornamented lavishly with gold and studded with diamond.

「Awesome, just like a king's room!」

Philia spoke with a springy voice upon seeing the inside of the room.

「Hahaha, I'm glad to see you like this room, little miss.」

Sitting on the chair were Greed and Philia, three of Greed's servants were standing beside the door.

All of them frowned, unable to understand why Greed invited this unknown little girl.

「Uncle, who's the girl in that picture?」

It was the painting of a girl around Philia's age sitting on the swing hanging on a tree branch.

「That painting is drawn by a traveling painter. Fufufu, since I'm really pleased with the result, I pay them ten times the offered price.」

Greed's subordinates made an even more dubious look on their face upon hearing the duo's conversation.

They never really pay attention to Greed's hobby in painting but, they suddenly realize that they might need to pay attention to this matter later after he suddenly invites a stranger like Philia.

「Is she your daughter?」

「No little miss,I'm a bachelor.」

「So who's this girl modeled after?」

「She's my… Well, something like a friend to me. She's nothing more than a memory who lives in me right now. Though I made the painter to paint her after giving him the details of her appearance, I can't provide him with the real model.」

「… Greed-sama, why are you doing this at this critical moment right before the pla—」

One of the subordinates tried to talk to Greed but, the latter shut the former with his glare.

「Uncle, Uncle! Where's the sweets? Philia wants to eat sweets!」

Though Philia was raising her vigilance when they just met, she ended up opening up to Greed and becoming more and more merrier as she guided inside the mansion.

「She might be a kid but… She's really rude to Greed-sama!」

One of the subordinates shouted at Philia.

「Shut up! How dare you to shout at the honored guest that personally invited by!」

Greed stood up, his clenched fist struck the desk as he shouted at his subordinate.

「M-M-My deepest apology, Greed-sama…」

「Humph? Why are you apologizing to me? It seems you still have no idea what you did wrong. How can I employ an incompetent like you? You're fi—」

「Uncle, Philia isn't angry. Right? Right?」

「Well, there's no problem if you feel that way, little miss… Sorry for seeing such an unpleasant spectacle after I specially invited you.」

Greed's expression turned into a whole faced smile as soon as he faced Philia and then, he sent a bone-chilling glare toward his subordinates again.

「So, what are you guys waiting for? Shouldn't you go quickly to prepare sweets and warm milk tea for her?」

「It seems there's some commotion… I'll go to check it out」

One subordinate left quickly.

And then, various confectionaries lined up on the table a while later.

Ornamented cake, pudding topped with fruit sauce, cookie painted with chocolate.

In the blink of an eye, the desk was filled with various kinds of sweets.

「Waa… Awesome!」

「Fufufu, take one bite at a time and choose carefully, it might be a bit too much for you.」

「Philia, will do her best to eat all of this!」

「Ooh, that's the spirit. I'm not that fond of sweets but, I'll make an exception today and take a bite.」

The subordinates lined up and looked coldly at Greed.

Because an extremely important plan for them was about to begin.

Since the timing to start their plan was adjusted in accordance with the situation, now was the most crucial moment for Greed.

This wasn't the time to play around with a kid that he invited as a guest.

「This cookie soldier, is yummy!」

Philia was frolicking while raising the cookie with a soldier picture on it.

「I'm glad you like it. I should give a tip to the person who made it.」

「At first I thought that uncle is a scary person but… It turned out you're a really nice person! Philia is you know, Philia is really happy right now…」

At that moment, the door of the parlor room opened up and another subordinate intruded into the room.

「G-Greed-sama, we have an emergency!」

「Wah!」

The surprised Philia dropped the cookie in her hands on her plate.

The head of the soldier broke, and Philia held the two broken parts with teary eyes.

「Soldier-san is…」

「… Oi, see what you did to my guest. Can you at least knock on the door? Are you trying to embarrass me in front of my guest?」

Greed glared angrily at the person who just barged in.

「B-But, this is not the time for that! Twenty kingdom knights are lining up in front of the mansion! Every single one of them is quite strong! They say that they'll hang Greed-sama in the royal high court on suspicion of plotting a civil war! It seems they're raiding the Dark Ward too!」

「Hou, here I think they only come to see the situation but, they move much faster than I expected. They must have an insider who provides them with information… Or, the royal family has some sort of technique that I'm unaware of.」

But as expected of an old raccoon like Greed, he instantly switching his gear, smiling upon hearing the situation.

「What's happened, uncle?」

「It's just trivial matter, little miss.」

After he replied to Philia, Greed turned around to his subordinate.

「Execute the plan according to our previous arrangement… We will send off those rude people from the royal capital. They should've enough power to do so.」

「Just… Us?」

「No need to be scared of them. I'm busy entertaining my guest… And don't come to this room unless there's an emergency. Don't spoil my mood with uninteresting things.」

「… U-Understood.」

Greed's subordinates left at once.

「Uncle… What plan you're going to execute? Are you going to do something bad?」

Greed was smiling happily upon hearing Philia's question.

「Hahaha, it's just a trivial plan. It just sounds a little dangerous for you, little miss.」

「U-Uhm… Uncle. Philia, is going to leave. Sorry, even though you've prepared so many sweets. Uhm, I want to confirm the safety of Pomera and co…」

Philia was about to leave as she spoke shyly.

「Uhm… As I thought, it seems you really are wise beyond your appearance, little miss.」

A smile vanished from Greed's face as he squinted his eyes, looking at Philia.

「Artificially created homunculus are greatly deviated from natural creatures as they gain intellect, wisdom, and body unnaturally.」

Philia clenched her fists, raising her vigilance against Greed upon hearing the latter's remark.

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