“What? What do you mean?”
Laszlo asked with wide eyes.
There was no doubt. When I had gripped his wrist, I let a thread of qi flow into his body. There was no obstruction in the flow of his qi. He had been born with the aptitude to become an excellent Daoist.
Had Master felt this way when he first found me? To discover that the saddest little child in the world had a talent for Daoist arts.
“Could you perhaps…….”
I stared steadily into his eyes. He tensed and swallowed.
“Come to my house?”
“Young Master.”
Thalia interjected.
“Count Avaro may be uncomfortable with that.”
Following her glance, I looked over. A fat, blue-haired man who appeared to be Laszlo’s father was glaring at me fiercely.
That look said it all. Why were you speaking with someone like that? He was probably a supporter of one of my two brothers.
“Laszlo.”
I released his hand.
“If things become too difficult, contact me anytime. I will help you somehow.”
He was not even looking at me. His mind seemed to contain nothing but fear of his father. It was regrettable, but for now, I had no choice but to let him go.
Well, it could not be helped. Unlike someone, I could not buy another person’s child for a few coins.
What happened from here depended entirely on his will. If fate allowed our connection to continue, it would develop into a master-disciple bond. If not, he would remain only one pitiable child among many in my memory.
“Let’s go.”
I set down the cookie I had been holding.
“I have roughly grasped the atmosphere here.”
The banquet hall was divided into two large groups. Chris stood at the center of one and Mabel at the center of the other, but Mabel’s group was noticeably smaller.
The reason Mabel’s faction was small despite him being the eldest son was entirely because of his ability. Even to someone like me, who knew little about Awakened Abilities, it sounded absurd.
“What was Brother Mabel’s Awakened Ability again?”
“It is called Song of Growth. When he sings, crops grow faster.”
Right. Song of Growth.
If his dream had been to become a gardener, it would have been one thing, but it was a deeply unsuitable ability for the son of a Duke.
The duchy was not stable. I could tell just from the fact that Father went on punitive expeditions every other day. How could anyone inherit the title to a child who sang to grass in such an unstable land?
Chris’s ability, on the other hand…….
‘Veritas.’
It was a top-tier mental-type Awakened Ability that could force commands upon others.
If he ordered someone to live, they lived. If he ordered them to die, they died.
When I first heard about his ability, I let out a dry laugh.
Was he not practically a god?
Born with such an overwhelming ability, anyone who valued their life would naturally have no choice but to bow to him.
Still, I had one question. Why did he not use it on his older brother or me?
I already knew that patience was not one of his virtues.
There had to be something—an activation condition, a specific price, or some other limitation—that explained his unusual restraint.
The hall suddenly grew noisy. Chris was walking toward Brother Mabel with a large group of followers in tow.
Chris had changed greatly in the five years since I last saw him.
He had been famous for his exceptional looks since he was six. Now that he was over ten, he was worthy of being called a beautiful youth. The formal attire embroidered with yellow thread over black cloth suited him well, and his arrogant expression looked like an ornament chosen to match it.
As Chris approached, Mabel’s followers scattered in every direction like a group of squirrels that had encountered a cat. Chris continued forward and stopped directly in front of Mabel.
“Viten.”
I hurriedly turned to Viten.
“A drink. Anything.”
One could not enjoy this kind of entertainment without a beverage.
Viten quickly set out to procure one. It was my first time seeing Mabel in person. He was a sturdy boy with short orange hair. His strong build showed that his knight training was no lie, and his warm smile created a friendly atmosphere.
“Brother Mabel.”
Chris opened fire.
“Why are you still staying in the estate? If you wanted to become a knight, should you not have followed Father?”
“Father says it is not the right time yet.”
Mabel answered mildly.
“If you are not yet skilled enough to fight monsters, then you should at least go sing to them. That way, the weeds will grow tall and tie up the monsters’ feet.”
Laughter erupted throughout the hall.
“Chris. Each Awakened Ability has its own use. Even if my ability cannot bind monsters’ feet, it can still be useful elsewhere.”
“That is right. There are plenty of places where you could be useful. Places where peasants sleep all mixed together, raise pigs and vegetables, and scoop manure from latrines every day.”
Hm. Even if they were political rivals, could he really say something like that openly to his own brother, the eldest son of the family?
“Ha ha ha ha!”
“A latrine, you say? It suits him perfectly.”
“It is not an entirely wrong thing to say, is it? Farming is important work, after all. Heh heh.”
Mockery poured from the nobles on Chris’s side.
Right. So he could say it.
Except for Mabel’s handful of close associates, nearly everyone jeered at him with one voice. Mabel endured it all without wavering, to the point that I began to respect him.
Did this country not provide any education in character?
Even at seven, I had never heard anything resembling the Analects or the Dao De Jing. The education I would soon receive also seemed mostly concerned with fighting techniques. That was probably why everyone wore luxurious clothes while spouting words devoid of any decency.
“Of course, if there is somewhere that needs me, I will run there. For the sake of my family, getting dirt on my clothes is nothing.”
Amazing, Brother Mabel.
Perhaps the eldest brother should become Duke after all. We could throw the second brat into prison, and I could simply cultivate the Dao.
“I brought your drink.”
“Thank you.”
Viten brought me pink juice. Red, sweet fruit had been finely ground and mixed with milk. The fact that I could drink this in this life alone made life worth living.
“You always speak so beautifully, but you have never dirtied your clothes even once.”
“You do not know because you have not paid attention. I touch dirt every day. If you are interested, come visit my vegetable garden sometime.”
“No, thank you. I have hired a gardener.”
Laughter erupted once again. Mabel’s retainers flushed with shame. Yet even in this situation, Mabel did not lose his smile. He looked quietly at Chris, then spoke as though something had just occurred to him.
“More importantly, I am worried about you, Chris.”
“Do you have the leisure to worry about me?”
“Father says the youngest has greater talent than you. At this rate, you might have to find another use for yourself as well.”
……What?
“What did you just say?”
Chris asked in a voice filled with killing intent. Mabel wore a gentle smile and replied slowly enough for even a monkey to understand.
“Father says the youngest is better than you.”
The destructive force of Mabel’s single remark was enormous. Smiles vanished from people’s faces, replaced by confusion and anxiety.
“His Grace rated Young Master Iden more highly?”
“That cannot be true. Mabel must be making something up.”
“Come now, Mabel is not someone who would speak nonsense.”
“That is true. His ability may be weak, but he has never lied.”
“Wait. If that is true, what will happen to Chris?”
“We should greet Young Master Iden…….”
The atmosphere stirred beyond control. The political foundation Chris had built over several years was at risk of collapsing from Mabel’s single blow.
“Ha!”
Chris snorted.
“That insignificant bastard is better than me? What kind of nonsense is that…! It seems you have forgotten that he could not control his own power and froze his mother to death.”
“That is not true.”
Thalia approached me and whispered in a small but firm voice.
“Madam did not die of freezing. She was poisoned.”
I turned sharply toward her.
“What? Poisoned?”
I had been completely convinced that I had frozen my mother to death, just as I had in my previous life.
“Young Master Iden’s cold did affect her, but her vitality had already been greatly weakened before that.”
“What kind of bastard did that?”
“I do not know. The circumstances clearly point to poisoning, but no poison was ever detected.”
“A poisoning with no poison detected? How could that…….”
One word flashed through my mind.
“…Could it have been an Awakened Ability?”
She nodded.
“His Grace is still searching for someone with such an Awakened Ability.”
My breathing grew rough. The image of a beast forcibly shoving a cookie into my mouth six years ago rose vividly in my mind.
“Chris, your words seem to prove only that the youngest’s ability is so powerful that it is difficult to control. Father said exactly the same thing.”
“Stop talking bullshit! Father could not have said that!”
“The youngest happens to be here. Why not hear it directly from him?”
Every person—literally every head gathered in this vast banquet hall—turned toward me at once.
It was the moment when the master of the banquet changed, and perhaps the moment when the owner of the title might change as well.
At that moment, two thoughts seized me.
The first was that Brother Mabel, who had seemed so good-natured, had arranged this situation with some intention.
The second was that whatever his intention might be, I had mounted the tiger’s back.
“……You did not receive an invitation.”
Chris ground his teeth.
“The ducal estate is my home as well, Brother.”
“Do not get carried away. You are an inferior thing that cannot even properly control its own power.”
“Why do you think I cannot properly control my own power?”
“Then you are saying that is not true?”
I smiled and shook the glass I held once. The top of the drink froze with a sharp crack, turning into a small, square chunk of ice.
“Did you see that?”
“Ice formed on top of the drink!”
Gasps erupted from the people, especially the young women.
“To freeze only the desired area with such precision. That is remarkable control.”
“But it is only ice, is it not? I do not know whether that is an ability worthy of His Grace’s praise.”
“That is right. Something like that cannot rival Sir Chris.”
Opinions divided sharply.
“This is not even funny.”
Chris chuckled.
“So what does that prove? It is still only a Nature-Type Awakened Ability. Let us see, you need fire to melt that tiny ice. Yes, fetching a candle from that candelabrum over there would be just right…….”
Then it happened. A huge blaze rose from my hand. The flames rapidly grew until they surged to the ceiling. The chandelier vanished without leaving a trace, and the temperature of the banquet hall rose noticeably.
People opened their mouths in shock.
“How can he use fire and ice at the same time…!”
“This makes no sense!”
“S-Solitas!”
An old man cried out the god’s name. Some people fell to their knees on the spot, while others were so shocked that they struggled to breathe.
This was not merely a matter of having a powerful Awakened Ability. By their common sense, it was impossible for two abilities to reside in one person’s body. Just as I had been shocked upon realizing that dragons existed, they were now witnessing an object of awe from another world.
“Let me make one thing clear.”
Chris had utterly failed to manage his expression. I approached him, then whispered softly into his ear.
“If you do not know what you are talking about, it is best to keep your mouth shut.”
Chris’s face turned pale.