God of Money: Reincarnated as the Weakest SSS Rank

"Aren't we allowed to do things on our own? I'm pretty sure we Nevilles are independent enough not to need the Priestleys' approval," said Mark.

To be honest, he would prefer that a Castle not find out about this. Although he had no authority to fire her, and she did have the authority to ask him, he was under no obligation to tell her.

This made her even more suspicious.

"You should probably consult with a Castle first, don't you think? Big moves like the ones you're planning shouldn't be made without prior notice. Do you need me to remind you of the Habsburgs?"

"Haha, I don't think you should remind me of that legendary family when there is a member of it at this table," he said and looked at Louis. "Mr. Louis, I was hoping to meet you at the Academy Tournament, so seeing you here is a pleasant surprise. I think I will be able to fulfill what my father asked of me."

"Well, I wasn't expecting a visitor from the Great Houses today either. But your presence here will surely raise my status, so I thank you."

Then Rebecca stepped in between them. "And it will also make the North more frantic. What troublesome people," she complained again.

"Haha, trouble will always come, Miss Rebecca. Especially for people like Mr. Louis. The powerful and talented tend to attract unwanted destinies. There is no powerful person who is forged in tranquility, don't you agree?"

Rebecca wrinkled her nose, feeling dissatisfied with what he said, even though she couldn't really deny it.

Louis, for his part, could only agree.

"I completely agree," he said. "But you still haven't told me the real reasons for your presence here."

"Very well, then. I am Mark Neville, eldest son of the Nevilles, as you know. I am here on behalf of my father to express congratulations to Mr. Carwine on his recent promotion in the South and also to congratulate Miss Jessy on her fine designs. One of our personal designers sent me to tell her that he admires her design and looks forward to seeing the sewing under her hand."

After saying this, he took out several gifts and placed them on the table. Elegant clothing for men and women, completely exclusive, created by the Nevilles' best seamstresses and designers. There were also a few mana treasures.

"These mana treasures come from the tower, so I hope you can enjoy them." He presented them to both of them.

Louis didn't care much about the treasures, although Jessy was quite interested in the designs. He was interested in the mana treasures.

After glancing at one of them, he stored them all in his inventory and nodded to Mark.

"You want an alliance, right? These moves, as Rebecca said, will alert the North. They may already be on the move or spying on us right now. There's no way the Nevilles don't know that, so this time you've put me in a difficult position because you want an alliance."

The Nevilles knew that if one of their most famous members arrived at a party like this accompanied by important family members, their enemies would be alerted and would either try to prevent any alliance by becoming more frantic in their attacks or begin extremist attacks. They might even seek powerful allies from the Upper District to confront them.

Of course, it was difficult to find a Noble House as powerful as the Nevilles... well, perhaps impossible below the Castles. But Louis knew something they didn't.

The Lockwards are constantly watching him. One of the reasons he hasn't moved from the mansion he initially bought for them is because he knows they are watching him, and if he stays in a place they know about, they will think they have him under control.

Thanks to his uncle, he has been able to keep track of their movements inside, allowing him to know how to move around the city to lose them if he ever needs to.

For now, he is sure of one thing: as long as he stays this way and remains within his uncle's territory, the Lockwards will not seek to kill him, unless they discover his insane talent.

Luckily for him, the Academy is part of his uncle's territory, so there is not too much danger. But if he moves, he may find danger coming to his doorstep every so often.

Now, these dangers may also come for another reason: if they believe Louis has become threatening enough.

Having an alliance with the Nevilles is a clear form of threat.

This is what he knows, which the Nevilles do not take into account because they do not know his origins.

And that's the most problematic part.

Mark shrugged.

"Well, if you want to get straight to the point, then fine." He nodded at his question. "That's right, we're looking for an alliance. I was sent here to befriend you, nothing more. But we want to alert Aster Mane to ally with him. We want to ascend to become a Castle, and that's the fastest and most effective way. Does that answer seem correct to you?" He asked, looking at Louis and Rebecca.

Rebecca was the first to frown. Her expression said it all: she didn't agree.

Louis, for his part, reacted no differently than before. He now knew that Aster Mane was a dangerous man.

'Now the question would be, which is more powerful? The local Lockwards or the Nevilles allied with Aster Mane?' he thought.

If he had to answer, he would say the Lockwards. Somehow, even though those bastards didn't have that much money, the power they wielded seemed absurd.

Now, that's an answer based on the fact that they are descended from their parents and from powerful gods. From an SSS-ranked family.

But is his statement correct?

'It's annoying that the Lockwards are so closed off. I don't even know if they're the most powerful here or if they're just another Castle of the 7.' He complained in his mind, but then he remembered that Rebecca had once told him something about the Lockwards.

'Should I ask her?' He glanced at her sideways for a moment.

Those were his first thoughts about this alliance.

But now the most important issue is: they don't have an alliance with Aster Mane yet.

So all those questions were off the table for now. And another thing, even more important: neither the Nevilles nor Aster Mane would choose to antagonize the Lockwards, simply because Louis was an ally.

"The best thing now is to avoid making the Lockwards feel threatened," he thought.

He looked at Rebecca again.

"What do you think?" he asked, curious. However, he was really just looking for her to say something he could use to reject this proposal momentarily. At least until he was a trained magician.

She shrugged.

"It's you who's being offered an alliance. Why are you dragging me into this?" she asked.

He clicked his tongue. "Weren't you complaining a moment ago? I thought you had something to say."

"In the end, I don't think you care about my opinion. You'll do what you want, won't you?"

"You'd be surprised how much your opinion can affect things."

"Tsk."

After that brief, friendly exchange, he looked at Mark.

"Honestly, I'm not against befriending you. I think you're a good guy. But an alliance right now won't benefit me in any way," he replied.

"Hm?" Both Rebecca and Mark looked up, curious.

"Why do you say it wouldn't benefit you? Is it because you think the Nevilles would get the most resources in this alliance? I assure you that we only want to achieve Castle status. We don't care about the Industrial District in that way."

"Haha, it's not about profit sharing, it's about weakness. Believe me, I'm not ready for such a big alliance. We can be friends, and if I think I'm ready along the way, I can help you. But don't expect anything from me. I had already agreed with Rebecca to pause this war, at least for a while. I won't go back on my word," he assured them.

Although surprised, Mark wasn't someone who insisted when rejected. So he simply nodded.

"All right, then. I hope we get along from now on," he said. Anyway, that was the initial idea. He was forced to talk too much because Rebecca was present. It was difficult to escape the influence of castles these days.

"Very well. Then I hope your little subordinates won't attack me again," Louis said, smiling with a hint of mockery in his tone.

"Ah... you already knew." He apologized with his eyes.

"Hahaha, it was just a little altercation, wasn't it? I'll let it go," he said.

"Hahaha, yes, just curiosity. I hope we get along well."

Laura looked at them suspiciously. Why did she feel like this had something to do with academy matters? Despite that, she was afraid to get involved in these meetings, so she didn't say a word.

She and Jessy seemed to be invisible, even though they were there.

Just then, a man spoke through a megaphone from outside.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin the inauguration..." He said many more things, but suddenly, Jessy jumped up.

"Right, the girls!" she shouted and looked at Louis.

He didn't let her speak, immediately nodding to her. "You can go. Don't worry."

She then ran off. Laura took advantage of the moment to get up. "Louis, I have to go prepare the runes..." she whispered softly in his ear.

"All right. I'll see you in a little while."

Then she left too.

Finally, Mark got up. "Since I've already said hello, I'll go eat some snacks. I saw some local things around here," he said, but before leaving, he looked at Louis' hat again. "That hat..."

"It'll be up for auction today. Jessy made it."

He smiled broadly. "All right!" Finally, he left.

Rebecca and Louis were left alone.

"I have a question for you," Louis said.