The Most Arbitrary Wizard

"You couldn’t get the men?" Sean asked.

Sopea first nodded, then shook his head.

Sean: "?"

He was baffled.

"So did you get them or not?"

Sopea could only answer honestly, "I got some, but not many."

Sean: "How many is ’not many’? A hundred people?"

Sopea flushed and said, "Five."

Sean: "?"

’Five?’

Elise couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

But she quickly clamped her mouth shut after a glare from Eleanor.

Sean was half-amused, half-exasperated. "Five people? What are we, a circus?"

’Do they think we’re street performers?’

"I have to say, your Chairman really knows how to hold a grudge," Sean said, half-joking. "Just like me."

As one of Lord Blake’s most capable subordinates, Sopea felt deeply ashamed that he couldn’t even handle such a simple task. Unable to meet Sean’s gaze, he turned to leave. "I’ll go and talk to him again..."

"Hey, forget it," Sean called after him with a laugh. "Five it is, then. It’s not my loss, after all."

There was one thing the Night Watcher wasn’t wrong about.

If they could take out three thousand of the Florist Family’s elites and their Clan Leader, Robert, then conquering Florist Castle would be a simple matter.

This trip to Florist Castle was less about declaring war on the Florist Family and more about "dividing the spoils."

Taking Florist Castle was a sure thing. The only questions were how they would do it and how the spoils would be distributed afterward.

This was a huge cake, and Sean had no intention of keeping it all to himself.

Sopea had been with him for so long; he deserved a reward.

But if some people didn’t want their share, that wasn’t his fault.

Sean actually understood the Night Watcher’s position.

If he were in the Night Watcher’s shoes, having been deceived once, he’d be suspicious the second time around as well.

But it was the same old story—understanding didn’t equate to approval.

’Hopefully, Mr. Night Watcher won’t have any regrets when he finds out what a fortune he missed out on.’

...

「Half a month later.」

The Florist Family’s castle was located in the suburbs of a city named Lankate in northern Siracle State.

As agreed, the meeting point was a park in Lankate City.

Since there weren’t many of them, there was no need for elaborate disguises or to stay hidden; it was enough to just pose as a performance art club holding an event in the park.

The Dawn Council arrived as promised.

Their leader was a beautiful woman known as the Law Enforcer. Like Elvire, she was one of the Dawn Council’s core administrators. Sean had seen her before, during his first time entering the statue to "eavesdrop" on the meeting between Elvire and the others.

"Miss Flame Crow," the beautiful woman greeted Elvire and the others with a smile.

Elvire nodded slightly and asked, "Is everyone here?"

"They are," the woman replied. "They’re all performing on the nearby streets, ready to act at a moment’s notice."

The Long Night Union had arrived, too.

The Night Watcher was certainly a man of his word. He said five, and five it was—not a single person more.

Seeing the amused looks from Sean and Elise, Sopea desperately wished he could use Magic Power to cast an Earth-Splitting Spell, tear open a fissure in the ground, and just disappear into it. ’I can’t even handle something this simple... How humiliating!’

Little did he know, an even greater humiliation was yet to come.

The young man leading the group of five approached Sopea and greeted him. "Mr. Sopea."

Then he continued, "The Chairman has already assigned our duties. You will handle the assault. We will stand watch."

Sopea: "?"

’No, wait.’

’How many fucking people do you think you are? Do you have any idea how big Florist Castle is?’

’Stand watch, my ass!’

For the first time in his life, the man who never swore was so angry he wanted to cuss somebody out.

It finally dawned on Sopea.

It wasn’t that the Night Watcher was weighing whether or not to believe him; he flat-out didn’t believe him.

This whole "standing watch" business was just an excuse. It was obvious the Chairman thought they were marching to their deaths and didn’t want the Long Night Union to lead the charge.

The young man actually felt ashamed. ’We’re not cowards,’ he thought. ’For us, killing one enemy means breaking even; killing two is pure profit. But this was a direct order from the Chairman. We have to obey.’

Sopea was truly furious now. "Just go back!" he roared. "Tell that old bastard that if he’s not going to show any respect, he should just say so! No need for this charade! A day will come when he regrets this!"

The young man: "..."

He didn’t dare move.

The Chairman’s orders must be obeyed, but he couldn’t ignore Mr. Sopea’s words either.

He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Forget it," Sean reassured Sopea. "Having a few more people on lookout is a good thing. Don’t overthink it. I know this isn’t your fault."

’He wasn’t some incompetent tyrant; he could tell Sopea had done his best.’

As it turned out, those were the exact words Sopea had been waiting to hear.

The moment he heard Sean say it wasn’t his fault, Sopea immediately chimed in, full of self-righteousness, "Exactly!"

"It’s all that old bastard’s fault!"

Sean: "?"

Everyone: "..."

’Well, you certainly changed your tune quickly, old man.’

While Elvire and the others were snarking internally, their minds were also at work.

The question they had never been able to figure out now presented itself with renewed clarity—

Why was Sopea so deferential toward Sean, so concerned with what Sean thought of him?

Was their relationship truly just that of a "host" and "guest," one inviting the other to search for the Holy Sanctuary?

Sean didn’t give them time to ponder. With a grand wave of his hand, he announced, "Since everyone’s here, we move out now!"

The Law Enforcer was taken aback. "We’re going now?"

Sean tilted his head. "Otherwise? When were you thinking of going?"

The Law Enforcer said, "What I mean is, shouldn’t we wait until dark?"

Attacking Florist Castle would inevitably be a tough battle. Fighting in broad daylight would attract too much attention.

If nothing else, just getting inside the castle would be a challenge.

But then, Sean pulled a glass vial from his pocket and downed its contents on the spot.

His entire demeanor seemed to age before their very eyes. He shrank in height, his frame growing thinner, his back hunching slightly. His once handsome face blurred, then reformed, etched with the deep wrinkles of old age. When his features settled, he looked exactly like Robert.

"This should make getting in easier, right?"

...

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