* * *
‘Hmm… The Marquis made a surprisingly bold move.’
I had not expected Walter to be expelled from the castle entirely.
I thought the Marquis would stop at relieving him of his command because he would find it troublesome to clash with the Marchioness.
I knew that the Marquis cared for me deeply, but….
‘Does he really have a reason to go this far for me?’
To most nobles, an illegitimate child was nothing more than an inconvenient burden.
Many of them died behind closed doors without anyone ever learning what had happened.
Yet the Marquis was protecting me even if it meant fighting with his lawful wife. Though their marriage did not appear particularly harmonious….
In any case, it felt as though he genuinely cherished me.
‘Did he love this child’s mother that much…?’
Hmmmm.
To be honest, I could not understand it very well.
I had experienced far too much to readily accept such a pure, romantic explanation.
‘Ah, forget it.’
I would simply have to continue observing him.
More importantly, there was another matter that required my attention first.
The representatives from the ‘Imperial Palace’ and the ‘Magic Tower,’ who were scheduled to arrive in three days.
The reason they had been dispatched so urgently was undoubtedly to confirm whether the method of purifying monster corpses with Clove truly worked.
‘I hope they do not make things too difficult….’
There was no need to complicate a good thing. The method was unquestionably genuine, so it would be wonderful if the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower simply acknowledged it without causing trouble.
However, there was no possibility that those people would help us without demanding anything in return.
That was simply how politics worked.
‘What will they demand?’
Based on my previous memories, I could make a reasonable guess.
However, back then, the information had been revealed by a small merchant company from a neighboring territory.
The Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower had cited every imaginable justification to seize an enormous share of the profits.
There had been a special-industry tax, a safety appraisal fee, and some kind of security deposit as well.
As far as I remembered, they had taken sixty percent of the total revenue.
‘…Those thieving bastards.’
What could anyone do without power?
They had no choice but to obey whatever they were told.
Fortunately, we were a ‘marquis’s house.’
Although the territory was not especially prosperous, a marquisate could not even be compared to a small private merchant company.
‘Hehehe. No matter who our opponents are, I have no intention of meekly letting them fleece us.’
We would yield what needed to be yielded, but we would also take everything we were owed.
After organizing my thoughts, I immediately headed for the Marquis’s office.
* * *
“Have the accommodations and security arrangements been settled?”
“Hahaha! I have already selected capable men for the task!”
“We have also confirmed the list of those who will be arriving.”
“Oh, have you? Let me see it.”
Pervan was overwhelmingly busy preparing for the distinguished guests who would arrive in several days.
Even now, he was reviewing documents related to their itinerary alongside Sebas, the butler, and Haver, the Knight Commander.
Just then—
KNOCK, KNOCK.
“Father, it is Evan.”
An unexpected visitor had arrived.
Why had Evan come to see him today?
The timing was fortunate, since Pervan had something to give him as well.
“…Come in.”
“Yes.”
Pervan was about to suggest that Haver and Sebas take a short break.
However, as Evan entered the office, his eyes sparkled with innocent curiosity.
“Wow! I heard that people are coming from the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower. Is it true?!”
“Ahem. Yes, it is.”
At the sight of his innocent son, the corners of Pervan’s lips began creeping upward without his realizing it.
He awkwardly cleared his throat and struggled to maintain a dignified expression.
“Why are they coming all the way here?”
“You made it possible to purify monster corpses with the plant you told us about, did you not? They are coming to verify the method.”
“Hmm~ Is that so?”
Evan tilted his head as though he did not understand.
“If they only want to verify it, could we not simply tell the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower how it works and let them test it themselves?”
“…Hmm?”
Pervan found himself uncertain how to explain the matter.
Sebas, who stood beside him, stepped forward with a gentle smile.
“Young Master Evan, the people from the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower might have difficulty understanding the method through words alone….”
He attempted to offer a suitably vague explanation for a young child.
However―
“Do they not have some other objective?”
“……Pardon?”
Evan abruptly interrupted Sebas with a question that was far from ordinary.
Sebas was so bewildered that his mouth merely opened and closed, while Pervan’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Then what do you believe their objective might be?”
“Hmm… I am not certain. Perhaps they are trying to obtain something from us?”
“…W-What did you say?”
As Pervan stared at him in astonishment, Evan smiled with complete innocence.
“Even if they confirm that the method works, there are no monsters where the Imperial Palace and the Magic Tower are located, so it would not be very useful to them.”
However, the Verdin Marquisate had the Behamag Mountains, which were always swarming with monsters.
Therefore, perhaps they intended to ask Verdin to share its monster corpses so that their own people could make use of the method―
That was the reasoning offered by the ten-year-old youngest illegitimate son of a marquis’s house.
“Y-Young Master Evan truly is….”
“…Ahem.”
Sebas could not bring himself to finish his sentence, but everyone knew what the unspoken words would have been.
The Marquis, pleased despite himself, could only clear his throat awkwardly.
…….
Silence briefly descended upon the room.
Even Evan appeared slightly nervous―
Then Haver’s hearty laughter shattered the silence.
“Bwahahaha!! As expected, Young Master Evan is a genius!!”
Only then did Sebas release a long, exhausted sigh.
“Haaah― This is astonishing. To think that you are already so perceptive.”
“Ahem. Yes…….”
A strange sense of anticipation filled Pervan’s eyes.
“Evan, what do you think we should do?”
“Pardon? Hmmmm~~”
All three men focused on Evan’s lips.
The boy pretended to think deeply, but he had already prepared his answer before coming.
“It would be best for us to remain on friendly terms, so I think we should grant their requests as long as they do not place too great a burden on us! In return, why do we not ask them to help us as well?”
Just as the Verdin Marquisate possessed many monsters that could not be found near the Imperial Palace or the Magic Tower, there must be things available only to them that could not be found in Verdin.
“Hehehe… Bwahahahaha!”
Pervan could no longer contain his excitement.
A thrill ran through him as though electricity were coursing across his entire body.
Once again, he had realized that the son into whom he had poured everything was perfect in every respect.
He had sufficiently confirmed Evan’s strength during the recent Monster Subjugation Campaign.
He also knew that Evan’s intelligence existed on an entirely different plane from that of an ordinary human, considering that the boy could learn magic merely by reading books.
However, the ‘political instinct’ revealed by his latest answer was an entirely separate matter from simple intelligence.
‘Hehehe! Then Evan must also have deliberately lured Walter into a trap when he claimed the man had deceived him.’
Though, to begin with, every statement Evan had made at the time had been a lie.
Regardless, what remarkable cunning for someone so young!
“I see… You truly are extraordinary, Evan. Could you explain your idea in greater detail?”
At that moment.
Pervan’s eyes gleamed with joy and exhilaration.
Along with a slight trace of madness.
* * *
FLUMP―
“Haaah! …I’m exhausted.”
After returning to my private bedroom, I collapsed onto the bed.
My head throbbed, and I felt completely drained.
Still lying down, I looked through the window. Stars were already glittering across the pitch-black night sky.
‘Just how long did they keep me there?’
The sun had clearly been high overhead when I entered the office, so I must have remained there for at least six hours.
I had originally intended to offer a few hints and slip away, but at some point, the Marquis’s eyes began burning with a strange intensity.
Then, in his excitement, he bombarded me with a torrent of questions.
What about this? What about that?
Sebas joined in as well, while Haver laughed loudly enough beside us to shake the entire office.
Urgh―
It truly felt as though every trace of energy had been sucked out of my body.
‘Still… I’m glad they seemed to listen seriously.’
At first, I had worried that they might dismiss my opinion because I was only a child, but that concern had been unnecessary.
The events of the Monster Subjugation Campaign had probably helped.
In truth, negotiating over the purification method for monster corpses was an entirely separate matter from discovering the method itself.
However, once the Marquis began expecting things from me, the thought of ‘Perhaps he will surprise me again?’ must have arisen somewhere in his mind.
‘Then the Marquis should handle the preparations for that side of things….’
I had another task of my own.
I was exhausted and wanted to remain in bed, but I needed to finish my work before resting.
“Hup―!”
I climbed out of bed and removed the object I had received from the Marquis.
It was a gemstone the size of a pebble, radiating a brilliant blue light.
This was the Mana Core of the rabbit monster I had fought in the Mana Herb field.
Like a monster’s corpse, a Mana Core also had to be purified before it could be used, so I had asked the Marquis to handle it.
A Mana Core could not be purified with something as simple as Clove.
‘As I am now… I’m far too weak.’
I had survived thanks to that mysterious ability whose nature I did not understand—I had decided to call it ‘Hyper-Regeneration’—but the fear I experienced when I believed I was about to die had been utterly dreadful.
After the Orthodox-Demonic War ended and I attained the Demon Transcendence Realm, my longing for greater power had faded considerably.
That battle had given me motivation once again.
HMMMM―
Using small stones infused with Heavenly Demon Qi, I drew a small circle on the floor.
It was a simple Formation utilizing the Yin-Yang and Five Elements together with the Eight Trigrams, designed to prevent energy from leaking outward during Energy Circulation and Regulated Breathing.
‘Tsk. Properly using Formations would have helped considerably with my training.’
For example, there was the All Phenomena Severing Formation, which completely blocked the flow between the interior and exterior of the Formation, creating an entirely isolated space.
If I could use that Formation alone, I would not have to pay nearly as much attention to my surroundings while performing Energy Circulation and Regulated Breathing or training.
‘If only the Heavenly Demon Divine Art had reached the Second Stage…….’
Still, if I absorbed this little thing properly, perhaps I would have a chance of reaching it.
Desperately hoping that would be the case, I sat cross-legged and placed the Mana Core on my overlapping hands beneath my Dantian.
‘Here goes…!’
TZZZZZT―
When I circulated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art in that position, transparent, colorless Aura rose from my body.
The Heavenly Demon Qi that began moving within my Dantian resonated with the Mana Core and drew the mana contained inside it into my Dantian.
WHOOOOOSH―
‘…As expected!’
Ordinarily, a certain degree of Mana Loss should have occurred during this process.
However, just as I had expected, this body lost almost none of the mana.
‘Could I truly reach the Second Stage today…?’
Then the mana flowing alongside the Heavenly Demon Qi suddenly began moving elsewhere.
‘W-What?!’
I was startled.
My Internal Energy was deviating from my will and flowing down an unintended path while I performed Energy Circulation and Regulated Breathing.
There was only one thing that could mean.
‘Qi Deviation.’
‘Hey! No, you bastard! Where are you going?!’
DRIP. DRIP.
The Mana Core’s mana was no longer flowing toward the Dantian, where the Heavenly Demon Qi resided.
It was heading toward my ‘heart.’
I did everything in my power to twist its path back toward the Dantian, but every attempt was useless.
‘Urgh, damn it… Listen to me, you bastard!!!’
In a word, I thought I was f***ed.
Not long ago, my abdomen had been torn open and my entrails had spilled out. Was I now about to suffer Qi Deviation as well?
But then.
Something astonishing happened.
HMMMM― HMMMM―
The Heavenly Demon Qi, which I had expected to crash directly into my heart, instead began helping the remaining mana in the Mana Core flow toward it.
It felt like two close brothers sharing a meal.
‘Phew… Am I safe for now?’
However, I remained anxious, since another unexpected problem could arise at any moment.
With my nerves stretched taut, I silently observed my heart absorbing the mana.
* * *
CRUMBLE…….
How much time had passed?
At last, the Mana Core in my hands exhausted all of its mana and crumbled into powder.
‘Now then… What happened?’
I immediately examined my Dantian.
The absorption efficiency had been so extraordinary that I would have been lying if I said I had not gotten my hopes up.
Unfortunately, however, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art remained at the First Stage.
“Ah…….”
A disappointed sigh escaped my lips before I realized it.
Then something completely unexpected occurred.
HUM… HUM… HUM….
“Huh? What is this now…?”
The mana in my heart, which had previously circulated in only one direction, was now following another path along a separate orbit.
I did not know how it had happened, but….
Instead of reaching the Second Stage, it seemed that I had completed a Second Circle(?).