The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

ooks like you’re in for a celebration tonight! You too, Haruhana! Congratulations!”

“Huhuhu, thank you very much.
But shouldn’t you and Miss Betty be the ones celebrated the most?”

“Oh, you always know what to say, Haruhana! But you’re in this as well.
Congrats!”

Betty, in a gesture of thanks, hugged Haruhana and rubbed her cheek against hers.
Haruhana closed her eyes and tried to shake herself off – now she’s looking more fitting for a girl her age.

“Hehe… and that’s not all! We’ve called in some guests – consider this a surprise announcement!”

Bruce happily gave some sort of signal to Blazer.

“Guests? Who?”

“Well, technically not guests anymore, though.”

Blazer gave me some sort of hint, stood up, and went to open the dining room’s door.
Oh, I see.
This calm aura… It’s got to be ‘him’.

I stood up to welcome them.
In anticipation of what Blazer might be saying to me from now on, I briefly cast my eyes down.
Then I looked back up to look at them once again.

“Long time no see, Sir Asley.”

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Leading their way in was Ryan, the Chief – or rather, former Chief of Faltown.
To his side was Reyna, smiling as she bowed to me.

“Sir Ryan, Reyna.
It’s been quite a while, indeed.”

“Asley, my man! I see you’re still lookin’ swole!”

“Brother, spare us the embarrassing stuff, please! Jeez… hey there, Asley.”

“Reid and Mana… you two look like you’ve been doing some good training yourselves.
And you-“

“Good evening, Sir Asley! Congratulations on your promotion! Hello to you, too, Pochi!”

Adolf bowed down quite stiffly.
He seemed quite nervous to be here.

“Oh, thank you.
Now, everyone, please have a seat.”

Once everyone was sat down, Blazer, who sat opposite to me, started to talk

“So, about what I’ve called Ryan and everyone else here for… it concerns The Silver.”

Pochi, hearing him address Ryan without honorifics, had her ears twitch right up.
I also reflexively turned to Ryan, but he signaled me with his eyes to listen to what Blazer has to say.

“From this point on, Ryan – and all of his subordinates here – is officially part of The Silver.”

I see, I see… So he’s addressing everyone equally while speaking from his position as the leader The Silver.

“Additionally, with approval from Bruce, Betty, and Haruhana… I appoint Ryan as The Silver’s second-in-command.”

Wait… so this whole time, Betty has been keeping this stuff away from me?

We just got back moments ago, so there shouldn’t have been enough time for them to discuss it with her today.

Betty, noticing my glare, stuck out her tongue and winked.
Okay, I’ll admit that she pulled that gesture off nicely, but my mood right now dictates that she doesn’t look cute at all.

“Well, that’s that.”

…And now both of the siblings are winking at me.
Okay, guys, now you’re just being creepy.

“Congratulations.”

“Me, too! I’m in, too!”

“Ooh, at long last! Congrats, Natsu!”

Perhaps still mixed on it, Blazer had a wry smile on his face when Natsu’s inclusion to the team was brought up.

And that would be perfectly reasonable – although it’s more or less normal for children to fight in this day and age, she’s going to be with a team that takes on high-level requests.
Natsu’s still got so many things to learn before she’s up to snuff.
She might end up pushing herself too hard… and that’s nothing to be happy about.

Perhaps she’d grown too attached to them.
Now, we ARE supposed to support the kids who’d chosen to fight of their own accord, but this instance does show that things won’t always play out as intended.

“But… what about Bruce and Betty? No offense to Sir Ryan, but those two have been with The Silver for the longest time, haven’t they?”

“”Nah, we wouldn’t be fit for the job.””

“Okay, then.”

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“I did suggest the position to them, of course.
It’s perfectly in line with what they’ve always wanted.”

“You see, Sir Asley, I thought I would be able to better provide you with assistance by working with them.”

“Wait what about the survivors from Faltown, sir?”

“Oh, don’t you worry, Asley.”

Reid interrupted.

“We’ll be able to take care of them better by being in The Silver.
The bigger the team, the more requests we can take – not to mention the work’s going to be safer.
Blazer’s agreed to keep our finances separate, too, so we’ll be making more dough than we were before.
We’ll contribute to strengthening the team, of course.”

“Hahaha, gotta do better than that, Reid.
Haruhana just out-ranked you, remember.”

“S-shut up, Bruce! I’ll get stronger than you in no time!”

“Heh, go on and try it, E-man!”

Seeing how they were practically talking over Mana’s head, I’m feeling quite sorry for her.

Bruce and Betty, Reid and Mana… these two pairs of siblings bear quite a bit of resemblance.
Not only in terms of personality, but also their relationship.

Their abilities are still far apart, however.
I look forward to seeing how strong all of them can get.

“Hahahaha… there you have it, Sir Asley.
Inadequately skilled and equipped we may be, but I ask that you trust us to get things done.”

He’s got quite a fascinating smile going on for him, that’s for sure.
The Silver sure has added a powerful ally into their ranks.

“Now then, this is the first time anyone’s hearing about this, but-“

Did he mean that he’d been keeping some other new members a secret from everyone? Or maybe he’d deliberately chosen this timing to bring it up.
Blazer is especially good at timing things, so I wouldn’t put this past him.

Considering that this decision was probably made by him alone, the latter sounds like the more likely explanation.

“Idéa and Midors will be joining us next year – when they graduate from the Magic University.”

“Ooh, nice!”

“Huh, so they’ve made up their minds already?”

“Those two… I see, I see…”

Huh, those three didn’t seem all that surprised… It was like they’d long expected the addition.

Still, Idéa and Midors, huh…… hmm?

“Wait… WHAT?!”

I mean, those two are still under the Black and White Chain Contract, aren’t they?!

Index