Chapter 160: VVIP Card

When Caelum and Bonjour finally returned to the campsite with Grozni’s ethereal skull perched on Caelum’s shoulder, they were greeted by an unexpectedly lively scene.

"...I’m telling you, there is absolutely no mistake!"

Paul was passionately arguing with an unfamiliar man.

"Uncle! If your hair turned gray and you became a little older, you would definitely be Sir Patty from Sovereign Snacks!"

The man could only smile helplessly.

Seeing the familiar figure, Caelum didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Out of everyone he could have met first...

It just had to be Paul.

Though the school was filled with children, Caelum was certain his dignity among his friends would somehow decline after today.

Sighing inwardly, he walked over.

"Paul, you’re mistaken. He isn’t Sir Patty."

Paul immediately turned around.

"There is no mistake!" he declared confidently.

"Just look at him! If this uncle grows a little older, his hair will definitely become gray, and his face will look exactly like Sir Patty’s!"

Caelum rubbed his forehead.

"Well, he’s my father, so he definitely isn’t Sir Patty."

Paul froze.

His mind rapidly began connecting the dots.

’Caelum is from Annum county and the son of Count Annum then...’

His glasses flashed.

The confident expression on his face completely disappeared.

"S-Sir, Count...?"

His voice trembled.

He suddenly remembered how stubbornly he had insisted that the Empire’s greatest Count resembled the mascot of a snack company.

"I-I’m sorry! I didn’t recognize you!"

Paul bowed so quickly that everyone worried his glasses might fall off.

Seth Annum merely laughed.

"It’s fine Paul, In fact, you weren’t entirely wrong."

He gently patted Paul’s head.

The nervousness that had completely frozen the young boy instantly disappeared.

Something that even a dragon had failed to accomplish, the Immortal Count had achieved with a single pat.

At the same time, Seth became slightly curious.

’Interesting, how did this child make that connection?’

His thoughts drifted back to nearly a thousand years.

At that time, while traveling through another country, he had casually helped a struggling family establish a tiny restaurant.

It had merely been a passing act of kindness.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But their business gradually grew as years passed.

The small restaurant eventually transformed into what was now known throughout the continent as Sovereign Snacks.

Back then, it had been called Humble Snack Shop.

And later when Seth happened to revisit the city.

The original owner was already an old man nearing the end of his life.

After seeing Seth once more, the elderly owner had become so emotional that he insisted on honoring the Count.

As a tribute, he commissioned a statue of Seth to stand before the very first restaurant.

Unfortunately, the sculptor had taken a rather creative approach.

Instead of depicting Seth as he actually looked.

He sculpted him as a cheerful old man with gray hair, stylish beard, and a warm smile.

When Seth first saw it, he had genuinely wondered whether someone was playing a prank on him after a long time.

Yet, the customers adored it.

The statue eventually became the company’s mascot.

Feeling slightly guilty, the owner’s descendants later presented Seth with a special lifetime card.

With it, he could freely eat at any Sovereign Snacks branch across the continent.

That was also the first VVIP card of Sovereign Snacks.

Remembering those old days, Seth couldn’t help chuckling.

His attention returned to his son.

"Hmm... You’ve grown a little taller."

Before Caelum could react, he was effortlessly lifted into the air.

"F-Father! Please put me down! I’m not a child anymore!"

Seth ignored the protest.

Instead, he casually tossed Caelum upward.

"Noooooo–!"

Caelum shot into the sky like a cannonball, soaring hundreds of meters into the air.

The children instinctively looked up.

"..."

"You haven’t even reached double digits in age yet."

Seth smiled while calmly watching his son descend.

"So don’t act like you’ve already grown up."

Caelum’s surprised scream echoed throughout the entire first floor of the dungeon.

Although he was only seven years old, his physique made him look closer to ten or twelve.

Still, no matter how mature he looked, he firmly believed there was one thing his father needed to understand.

Throwing a seven-year-old several hundred meters into the air was definitely not a proper parenting technique.

While plummeting through the air, Caelum silently vowed to remind Seth of that fact later.

Below him, the others watched with complicated expressions.

"...Uh" Ryan unconsciously shivered.

Inside his mind, the Heroic Thief Spirit said such strange things that even the old Sword Spirit’s expression changed.

Elsewhere, Bonjour and Sénior carefully observed Seth Annum.

The two Barbarians weren’t intimidated by titles.

Instead, they instinctively tried to gauge the Count’s strength.

Unfortunately they could perceive nothing.

Skyler had already entered business mode.

’How should I get into the Count’s good books?’

Before he could think any further, the golden slime resting atop his head suddenly bounced away.

Boing!

It leaped through the air before comfortably settling upon Seth’s shoulder.

"...???"

Skyler froze.

His face slowly became hard.

He looked at the slime and an unfamiliar feeling welled up inside him.

’...Betrayal.’

His own summon, had abandoned him within seconds as if feeling the fortune the other party possessed.

The golden slime happily wobbled atop Seth’s shoulder as if it had found a far more comfortable place to rest.

Skyler silently covered his chest, looking at both of them in bitterness.

At that moment, Caelum finally descended.

Just before Seth could catch him, Caelum used [Infinite Ways].

His body twisted gracefully through the air before he landed lightly beside the group in a blue blur.

He straightened his clothes, pretending nothing embarrassing had just happened.

Then, a nearby dungeon door suddenly began glowing.

Moments later, two familiar figures stepped through.

A panda and a dog.

"The expression on that Ethan fellow’s face looked even worse than someone about to cry." Voomie said appearing wise.

"Lady Voomie, when humans can’t express their emotions properly, they either laugh or cry really hard."

Jojo thoughtfully added.