I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 83

“In the end, it was just a young punk's bluff.”

The young punk who boasted that he would show whether it was a bluff or not, ended up quietly welcoming the weekend without showing anything until almost the end.

He might have looked down on an old man living quietly in retirement, but that young punk must have felt something was wrong when he saw the administrative sanctions imposed on the newspaper.

A little brat with only a knight's title can be sufficiently tormented even within the limits tolerated by the Emperor.

“Heh heh~ Stupid bastard.”

Thanks to the puppy who wasn't even a titled noble but held his head high and barked, I felt good that I could give the Emperor a taste of his own medicine.

I wouldn't care much about that crazy prostitute, but it would have been a sufficient warning to the young punks trying to mooch off her.

Just slowing down the Emperor's growing power can be a great help to my son.

“Hmm~”

I held a teacup, leaned back in my chair, and looked out the window.

The sky was as high as my elated mood.

The clear sky befitting the weekend makes me feel doubly good.

- Knock knock

As I was immersed in contemplation while admiring the blue sky, a cheerful knock broke the silence and filled the room.

- Tring tring~!

“Your Excellency, excuse me.”

I picked up a small bell on the desk and lightly shook it twice, and the head butler opened the door and bowed deeply.

I quietly watched the head butler until he lifted his head, came inside, and closed the door, and only after the door was completely closed, I put down the teacup and opened my mouth.

“What is it?”

“The heir of Count Hume has finally shown his move.”

“... The first one?”

“No, the second one.”

My brow furrowed.

I wondered if the first son or Count Hume's couple were showing their actions in protest, but the quiet young punk until now?

I thought, what would he do even if that guy moved now.

Whatever action he takes after hesitating, it will only be a timid resistance.

“Ha.”

I should have just laid low, but this ambiguous action that is neither one thing nor another, only brings out a hollow laugh.

Even if he is the son of Count Hume, he was just an inexperienced young man in the end.

I was ashamed of myself for worrying even a little that his son might be different.

“So, what did that young punk do?”

“He posted this in the western square of the Imperial Capital.”

When I asked what kind of disgraceful act the young punk had committed, the head butler placed a small piece of paper he was holding on the desk and slid it in front of me.

A picture of what seemed to be the bulletin board in the west of the Imperial Capital.

Could it be that he posted a bulletin related to what happened with me?

He made all sorts of bluffs, and all he does is snitch?

It was pathetic and unfortunate.

A thought that an illiterate person might have.

“Tsk!”

I clicked my tongue strongly and picked up the picture.

“......”

And, looking at a picture in the photo, I couldn't help but open my eyes wide.

A sculpture-like nude woman wearing thin, small clothes that could be described as rags.

He posted such an obscene picture in the square of the Imperial Capital?

“These bastards...!”

The government office that allowed this is a problem, and William, that young punk who posted this, is also a problem.

This is not advertising or promotion, but simply a provocation to tell me to go to hell.

“Tell them to get rid of this damn picture right away.”

“That... because it was an illegal posting, the Knights have now recovered it and disposed of it.”

“What...?”

Illegal?

Are you saying that young punk put this up in the Imperial Capital's square without permission?

“Crazy bastard...”

I sincerely couldn't understand.

He commits such a crazy act just to take me down?

If nothing else, I had to admit that he had guts.

But that was all.

“But it seems like his head doesn't work well.”

He is proudly committing such an illegal act, he is just a fool who hands the other party the hilt of the sword and exposes his nape.

“Butler, what appointments did I have on Monday?”

“Except for a meeting with Duke Devonshire in the afternoon, there are none.”

“Good.”

I smiled and lifted the teacup.

It was really an insipid ending.

_

The sun rose on Monday, and as soon as I finished my meal, I headed to the young punk's atelier, and two imperial knights were still guarding the entrance.

“Y-Your Excellency, the former Duke Devonshire, have you come again?”

As I got out of the carriage and stood in front of the knights, the lower-ranking knight, who seemed to be the one I saw last time, bowed slightly with a nervous expression and blocked my path.

“Is William in there?”

“Yes, but the meeting is...”

Since the young punk is inside, the lower-ranking knight's opinion was not important.

I'm just going in because I want to go in.

“P-Please wait a moment...”

I gently pushed the lower-ranking knight aside and opened the door of the atelier, and the flustered lower-ranking knight dared to put his hand on my shoulder.

Just because he is the Emperor's knight, did he think he became the Emperor?

It was funny.

“Perhaps, does a retired old man look ridiculous to you too?”

I grabbed the knight's hand, took it off my shoulder, and glared at the knight, putting mana into my voice.

“N-No... Please come in.”

Then the knight bowed deeply and stepped back.

How bland.

“Be careful next time, there is only one time to let it slide.”

“Yes...”

I left a warning to the knight and passed by and entered the atelier.

Several rooms lined up along the narrow corridor.

Among them, I looked for the door that said 'workshop'.

The young punk definitely came out from here last time, so there was a high possibility that he would be here.

“......”

I opened the door without knocking and slowly scanned the inside.

A dirty room where people who look like nobles, people who look like commoners, and demi-humans are mixed together and playing house.

But William was not seen among the ten or so people inside.

“Where is William?”

“You're a rude guest, shouldn't you introduce yourself before looking for someone?”

When I was looking for the young punk, I heard a voice from one side giving me a scolding.

I frowned and looked for the owner of the voice.

“Just standing there, what are you doing blankly?”

“......”

Then, a familiar blonde girl came into view.

But it was a girl I had never seen before.

A noble?

If she was a noble, there was no way I wouldn't know her...

Then she must be a commoner, but the way she indifferently cuts the cloth, or the dignity that faintly flows from her sitting posture, were at a level that commoners could not easily imitate.

“I am Nicholas Patrick Alexander Edmund Cavendish, the former Duke Devonshire, and now I have passed on the title to my son and only maintain the honorary title of Count, so who are you?”

Rather than taking a high-handed approach unconditionally in the face of an uncertain possibility, I thought I should take a step back, so I politely introduced myself as the girl wanted and stared at her.

Then the girl gently put down the cloth and scissors in her hand, made eye contact with me, and opened her mouth with a soft smile.

“I'm Elizabeth, I don't have a status to tell you yet.”

“......”

She spoke eloquently, but in the end, she was saying she was a commoner.

A commoner dares to insult a noble?

I'm furious.

“You...”

“Sir Cavendish, Sir William is in the next room, didn't you have business with him rather than me?”

As soon as I opened my mouth to say something to the commoner, the girl pointed over the wall and said indifferently.

I wanted to tear that commoner to death right away, but as that commoner said, now was not the time to argue with such a rude person.

Anyway, it was a priority to deal with William first, and once I dealt with him, I could send this commoner away too.

“... Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

I suppressed my anger, expressed my gratitude, and closed the door.

And I strode to the next room that the blonde girl pointed to and opened the door roughly.

“Oh~ I've been waiting for you, former Duke Devonshire.”

As soon as I opened the door, the young punk was waving his hand as if he had been waiting.

I glared fiercely at the young punk and went inside and closed the door, and he smiled and added.

“How was the gift I prepared?”

“Your courage is something to behold, but this time you crossed the line.”

“What are you talking about?”

“How can you illegally post such obscene material?”

I raised one corner of my mouth, approached the chair where he was sitting, and threw the picture of the painting that was hung in the square.

The young punk caught the picture I threw with both hands, glanced at the picture, and threw it on the table in front of him with a smirk.

“I paid all the fines related to this, it was a whopping 12 silvers.”

“Ha, you should know that this is not something that will end with just that? Don't you know that posting obscene material starts with forced labor?”

“Heh heh~ Your Excellency, you know one thing but not two?”

The young punk raised his right index finger and wiggled it from side to side, and with a sneer, he spread out two fingers.

“There are two types of crimes related to posting obscene material.”

“Two types?”

It was the first time I had heard of it.

I narrowed my eyes and expressed my doubts, and the young punk folded one finger and continued to speak.

“One is the case of distributing a picture of a nude in a public place or to an unspecified number of people.”

The young punk folded another finger.

“The other is the case of distributing a picture that ‘evokes’ a nude in a public place or to an unspecified number of people, the former is a serious crime, and the latter is a minor crime.”

“So what if that's the case? The fact that you eventually spread obscene material doesn't change.”

“Did you not look at the picture properly?”

The young punk, with wide eyes, threw the picture he had put on the table at me as if throwing a boomerang.

“That picture is not a person but a mannequin, it's not a nude, but it's an object that evokes a nude.”

“What?”

I hurriedly looked at the picture.

The woman in the picture had no neck, and the body that was visible through her clothes also had parts that were not properly expressed.

“So this is a minor crime, so I only have to pay a fine of 5 silvers each for illegal posting and posting obscene material, plus a 20% surcharge due to the special penalty clause for multiple minor crimes, so with a fine of 12 silvers, I have paid for all my sins.”

“Ha... Hahaha...”

I felt my blood pressure rising and my neck stiffening.

This damn bastard is exploiting the loopholes in the law to humiliate me?

“You eel-like bastard...!”

I know that the one who reaches out first is at a disadvantage, but because I was so angry, I grabbed the young punk's collar as it was.

Due to the intensified emotions, the mana contained in the body leaked out and scattered around.

“Hmm...”

But even in the midst of the fierce atmosphere, the young punk calmly looked up at me and raised one corner of his mouth.

“Your Excellency, if you want a ‘heated conversation,’ you should know that I have no magic power, I am a weak body that is confident that I will die if Your Excellency pokes me.”

The young punk slightly offered one cheek as if to say, go ahead and try it.

And he squinted and added.

“If you still want a heated conversation, feel free to do so.”

“......”

An obnoxious expression and an arrogant attitude.

He inherited Count Hume's rudeness and his wife's calm attitude, creating an even more annoying guy.

I want to hit him right away, but if I do, he might actually die as this young punk said, so the anger that has no way out stirs inside and raises my blood pressure.

How could such an incompetent person come out from under those two outstanding wizards?

“Damn it...”

“Phew~ I thought I was going to die of fear, as expected, a person who once held the title of Sword Master has a different spirit.”

As I suppressed my anger and released the collar I had grabbed, the young punk caressed his cheek as if he was disappointed and leaned back in his chair.

“......”

As I glared coldly at the young punk, this damn guy widened his eyes and did not avoid my gaze until the end.

He's still rude until the end...

It was only a loss for me to talk to this guy any longer.

So it's time to show him with actions, not words.

I pointed at the young punk with my finger and murmured quietly.

“I will never just let the past and this time pass, I will definitely make you regret mocking me.”

I gave him a warning like a declaration of war and turned around and left the room.

“I'll be looking forward to it.”

Just before closing the door, I heard the guy's answer from behind, maintaining his calm attitude until the end.

“Ha...”

The young punk was thinking of making snide remarks and scratching my insides until the end, thanks to the young punk, I felt the sensation of my blood boiling for the first time in a long time.

It was rather good.

Even though I have retired from active duty, it was an opportunity to let the world know that I am not dead yet.

If you want to fight me like that, I will do so.

I, Nicholas, will somehow crush your nose.