I Only Summon Villainesses

Chapter 274: The Black Snow Company

”Oh! Are those tears? Are you crying? Cade.”

Cressida shouted as she saw me blinking upwards and trying to wipe my eyes.

Levi looked at me and whined, nudging his snout against my hand.

”Oh? Did we make our Ace too emotional?”

I swallowed down whatever that sensation was and giggled hard, rubbing the back of my neck.

”What? Emotional? Me? The only thing that can make me emotional is the thing in between...”

I belatedly caught myself and quickly turned to Po.

”Goodness Po, I was so worried about you! Why did you disappear like that?”

Po dropped the cake on the table between both chairs, grinning like he’d just conquered a dungeon.

”I had some business to take care of... and I knew we’d be doing this. So Mr Derry and I decided to take a little detour!”

He looked at the cake with pride, dusting flour from his sleeves.

”The materials for making cake are very rare you know... we had to cross several islands and then go to the waterlands before we found some of them. Goodness, it was an adventure I’m not sure I want to try again.”

I stared at the cake, then at Po, then at Derry who stood behind him looking tired but satisfied.

”So... this was being planned since all that time ago. Goodness you guys are so awesome what the hell?! You have no business being this awesome!!”

My finger jabbed at each of them in turn as I said it, and I could hear how much I sounded like I was scolding them rather than thanking them.

”No, no, no, we actually should be saying that to you! What you pulled in the C rank gate was insane!! You and your summon singlehandedly dealt with all of the beasts! That was insane!! And you weren’t even at full power. Cade, awesome, awesome!”

For the next few minutes, all of us spent our time glazing each other. Everyone had something to say about everyone else, and every compliment got returned twice as hard. From there we drove into further parts of the conversation and Milo, Cressida, Ophelia and Odelia expressed how difficult it’d been for them to pretend like they were really getting beat.

Apparently Cressida, who hated blades, had intentionally put herself at a disadvantage. Otherwise she didn’t know how she would have fared against the elites of Manhattan. She was convinced she would have killed them when they all should have been waiting for me to see what I was going to do.

Milo had no such difficulty to pretend. The person that fought him was actually stronger than he was. But he’d also put up less fight than he normally would.

Ophelia had the same problem as Cressida, while Odelia just maintained her silence. She sat with her arms folded, watching the rest of us talk without offering a word. Typical.

While I was talking, someone kicked me so hard on the leg that I curled down and grabbed it before seriously considering whether to swipe the person’s head off their neck.

But I halted when I found out it was Gran Gran.

She seemed displeased with me, her lips pressed into a thin line. But she extended a heavy pouch in my direction.

”There. A payment of 5,000 gold crowns for your assistance with this mission.”

She brought out the core I had given away before and returned it.

”Learn to not give out things so quickly! Too!”

She shoved them into my hands and turned away.

”Grandma, how many times did we have to say it. If you have something against anyone, just say it instead of yelling, and not even yelling about what is actually hurting you.”

Nisha spoke with her hands folded, frown already in place like it’d been waiting.

Cressida tried to suppress a laugh and barely succeeded.

”Granny is shy!”

”You. Shut up!!!” She yelled, spinning back around.

I stepped forward and bowed my head towards her.

”I was rude towards you earlier... I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional.”

She looked away. A pink shade painted across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

”It... It’s alright. Not like I am angry or anything like that.”

Nisha gave her a flat, disbelieving look.

”Yes granny, you are angry.”

Gran Gran glared at Nisha and pointed a bony finger at her.

”You mind your business, I’m better now.”

Nisha took a step back, her expression one of exaggerated shock.

”Really? I’m the one you can express anger to. Anyone else and you’re shy around them.”

”Shut up you brat! You were more cuter when you were a teenager, now you’re just an old lady. Soon you’ll become like me!”

Nisha laughed, throwing her head back.

”Oh by the graceless gods, I will not become like you.”

Milo adjusted his glasses.

”Grandma has seven children who are spread across the world, each of them sending home monthly tribute to her. She’s individually as rich as many organizations in Recimiras, but we will never know how rich she is because she will never reveal it to us.”

My mouth fell open. ”For real?”

Milo adjusted his glasses again.

”Of course. This is what makes it possible for her to manage our finances flawlessly. We can do any illegal work and it won’t be traced because she can just bury our transactions in those of her sons. And for whatever reason, their transactions matter enough to make Inspectors wary and not bother her.”

I stared at Gran Gran’s retreating back with new eyes.

”Awesome, but then wouldn’t they know? The Inspectors are not dumb. Or are they?”

Milo nodded, smiling.

”That is precisely what I’m saying. They know, but still never do anything anyways. That is simply how influential her sons are.”

I watched Gran Gran settle into her seat in the distance, her hunched back somehow looking a lot more imposing than it had five minutes ago. I leaned towards Milo, lowering my voice.

”But then... why does she bother doing something like this even though she’s richer than you guys as a company?”

He stared at her for a moment and shrugged.

”Hell if I know... I do know she likes mathematics though.”

I reeled back.

”Mathematics?”

’They have that here? Of course they do.’

But an old lady who kicked people in the shins, blushed when you apologized, and liked mathematics... really?

’Who the hell is she?!’

Then I remembered. I had just been handed five thousand gold crowns.

This meant I was rich! I could finally go shopping for myself, Kassie and Maggie. There were a couple of things I needed money for. I was thinking about the brothel too.

A cold crimson light tore across the distance and pierced my skin. When I turned, Kassie was glaring at me from across the room, her eyes burning through the crowd of people chatting around her like they didn’t exist.

I gulped and shoved the money deep into my pockets. Then I kept smiling and continued with life like I didn’t just get threatened from thirty feet away.

Po found me shortly after and started sharing his adventures gathering ingredients in Crystalis while everyone else shouted and played around us.

***

[A/N]: This marks the ending of the Black Snow Company Volume. It has been a great ride. As a person who is just trying writing seriously for the first time, I am filled with so much gratitude. In such a short time, I have seen myself grow leaps and bounds. I certainly am not how I started this novel.

There have been several accusations: AI, inconsistencies. I take them all upon myself. I am not the best, and I surely did not expect this book to become so famous, so I didn’t put a lot of thought into its creation, being a pantser with a story I wanted to share. But now, I’ve learnt to go to the drawing board and am now properly planning some things and restructuring other things, which you may have seen along the course of the story. It all serves the purpose of entertaining you and making sure you get a more revealing and immersive reading experience.

Don’t stop supporting me. Your support has brought me this far and I look forward to going even further than this.

Thank you guys, see you next volume.