Evelyne stared at her daughter for a moment before letting out a quiet breath.
"It seems it’s time already..."
Adrien frowned slightly. The way his mother said it made it sound like this was something he was supposed to know.
"What do you mean, Mother? Time for what?"
"The Oathday." Evelyne settled back into her seat. "It’s an event held every four years. Every head of every noble family under the Crown is required to attend. Which means this time, you’re the one who has to travel to the capital, Adrien."
She paused before continuing.
"It isn’t optional. Any house that refuses to appear can lose its lands and earn the Crown’s hostility simply for failing to attend. It’s an old tradition of Valleroy."
Adrien worked that through for a second before nodding.
"I understand. Then there’s nothing to discuss. I’ll go."
Ariane sighed, but there wasn’t much she could say either. If she had been the head of House Clairmont, the responsibility would have fallen on her. Alaric had chosen Adrien before his death, though, and that made the matter simple.
Evelyne’s expression tightened.
"Adrien, Valebrand will be full of enemies. We don’t have allies anymore. Ever since your father was branded a traitor, every family that once stood beside us has turned its back. They’ll all be looking for a chance to sink their teeth into you."
"Don’t worry."
Adrien stopped for half a second.
"That’s what I’d like to tell you, anyway, but you’re my mother, so I know you’re going to worry regardless. Everything will be fine."
’It’s not exactly my first time dealing with people like this.’
He had done it constantly in his previous life. Sometimes to negotiate, sometimes to pressure them, and sometimes to blackmail them outright. More often than not, Adrien had been the one who walked away with what he wanted.
People like that weren’t new to him either. Publicly, they showed one face. Privately, they usually had another entirely.
And Adrien had learned one thing very early.
’If someone like that goes out of their way to approach you, they want something.’
Adrien shifted his attention back to Garrick and his mother.
"With what happened at the farms, I’d rather every available soldier stay here and guard Greymoor. I do have one question, though. How am I getting to the capital? Isn’t Valebrand several days away?"
Ariane stared at him.
"You seriously don’t know how this works? Tch. Why am I not surprised?"
Adrien glanced at her.
’What’s with this brat and that tone?’
"You’re invited by the Crown," Ariane continued. "Obviously you’re going through a teleportation port."
Adrien went quiet.
Actually, that made sense.
The memories of the original Adrien surfaced almost immediately. Alaric had used them whenever he travelled to the capital, although teleportation circles were far from common. There were only five major ones across the entire kingdom, and using them normally cost enough that only wealthy nobles and merchants could afford it.
Each connected important points across Valleroy, with Valebrand, the capital, naturally being one of them.
One of those circles was relatively close to Greymoor.
Adrien would only need to take a carriage there.
"Right. Of course." Adrien nodded. "Then I’ll go get ready."
He did try.
Unfortunately, he had a mother.
By the time Adrien went to prepare his things, Evelyne had already done most of it for him. His luggage was packed, and waiting beside it was a formal outfit carrying the green and yellow colours of House Clairmont.
A while later, Greymoor was already far behind him.
Adrien stood at the edge of the teleportation circle with his luggage ready and the guide assigned to him waiting nearby.
The thing was enormous.
A wide stone platform spread out before him, perfectly circular, with layer after layer of runes engraved into its surface and around the outer rim. Mana flowed through the markings in patterns Adrien couldn’t begin to follow with his eyes alone.
Naturally, he tried anyway.
Absolute Comprehension reacted.
And Adrien nearly dropped on the spot.
A violent pressure slammed behind his eyes so suddenly that he had to steady himself, his eyelids squeezing shut for a moment.
"Lord Clairmont?" The guide stepped toward him immediately. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I’m fine."
Adrien rubbed the side of his head as the pressure slowly faded.
’Seems I’m still nowhere near being able to understand something like this.’
Maybe once he became stronger, things would be different.
Still, the fact that Absolute Comprehension had actually tried to unravel the teleportation circle at all told him something important.
’This talent really is broken.’
Once the guide confirmed that Adrien was ready, he gave the signal.
More than fifty people stood across the platform with him, most dressed in expensive noble clothing and surrounded by servants, luggage, or both.
The runes lit up.
Brilliant light swallowed the entire platform.
Adrien barely had time to register it before the world disappeared.
Then, one second later, it came back.
Valebrand.
A journey that would have taken days by carriage had vanished in an instant.
Adrien opened his eyes.
And immediately forgot about the teleportation circle.
A colossal castle towered over everything in front of him. Adrien couldn’t even begin to guess how high some of its structures reached. The teleportation platform itself sat within the outer walls, connected to the rest of the castle grounds by raised paths and wide stone bridges.
Below them, traffic moved constantly through the roads.
Some were ordinary carriages pulled by horses, although calling the animals ordinary felt insulting. They looked like the kind of horses that would have sold for millions at an auction back on Earth.
The other vehicles were what really caught his attention.
They looked almost like modern cars.
Not exactly, but close enough that Adrien stopped walking for a moment to stare.
The world around him still had plenty of medieval traits. Noble clothing, castles, swords, old family houses.
Technologically, though, it clearly wasn’t primitive.
If anything, from what Adrien could see, it might only be somewhat behind the Earth he remembered.
The difference was what powered everything.
There was no electricity. No engines roaring beneath metal hoods.
There was mana.
Mana-powered carriages moved through the castle grounds in smooth lines, their bodies polished and expensive, with several sleek black ones looking suspiciously like the fantasy world’s answer to a Rolls-Royce.
Adrien watched one glide past beneath the bridge.
’Shit. I want one of those too.’
He continued walking behind his guide, still looking around.
’If I’d known things were like this, I would’ve asked about them sooner.’
A grin nearly found its way onto his face.
’I really wasn’t expecting this when I reincarnated.’
Then he caught himself.
’Still, I shouldn’t get too distracted. If Mother’s warning was anything to go by, this is going to be a long event.’
And apparently, she hadn’t exaggerated.
After Adrien had taken in enough of the surroundings, his guide led him toward the room assigned to House Clairmont inside the castle. They crossed one of the raised bridges stretching from the teleportation platform over the roads below, while more nobles and mana-powered carriages continued arriving for the Oathday.
Adrien hadn’t even reached the other side before he started hearing the whispers.
"Isn’t that the traitor’s son?"
"Look. It’s the useless Clairmont."
"Useless? Haven’t you heard? He awakened his core, and the talent he received was SSS."
Another voice dropped lower.
"Do you understand what that means? A talent that appears in maybe one person out of ten million."
Adrien kept walking as though he hadn’t heard a word.
Inside, however, he couldn’t help finding that number interesting.
’One in ten million, huh?’
That wasn’t bad.
But then again...
’What are the odds for someone with three SSS talents and a Unique Path?’
...
AN: Add the novel to collections and send support if like it ;)