《A Top Assassin Reincarnates as a Noble》 Chapter 1 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¡°Extreme Night, the target is in the room at the end of the left corridor on the 19th floor. The highest level you can reach with the public elevator you¡¯re is the 18th floor. The signal jamming device in the building is too strong. After you enter, I won¡¯t be able to provide help. There¡¯s still one minute to go before the building¡¯s surveillance system returns to normal. Be careful.¡± A slight vibration came from the earpiece. ¡°Understood.¡± As I responded, I twisted the neck of the last guard in the underground garage. This mission. It was the assassination of the Speaker of the Western Alliance Congress, Domon, and obtaining the documents in his safe. According to the informant, Domon was ostensibly the Speaker of Parliament and the President¡¯s right-hand man. However, in secret, he was a monster. One conducting human experiments and developing bacterial weapons in an attempt to start a war between the East and West. Right in this building, there was a large amount of evidence of him performing those deeds. Of course. As the only Diamond-level killer in the world¡¯s infamous assassination organization, Doomsday Blade, I don¡¯t care who I kill, I only care if the mission is completed. After all. The meaning of my life is to complete the missions of the organization and become a ¡®mortal weapon¡¯ in the eyes of the President. This time. There would be no exception either. Drip! A trace of pain came from the side of my left pinky. A few drops of blood fell silently. This was the third injury in my 15-year career as a killer. I glanced at the ten fallen bodies on the ground and tore off a piece of cloth to bandage the wound on my left hand. I must admit, these people were elites who were the cream of the crop and were very seasoned. Just as I stabbed the golden needle into the neck of the ninth guard, the last guard threw a dagger and cut the pinky of my left hand. Perhaps he was more confident in his throwing skills than using a gun. But it also gave me the opportunity to break his neck so that no one could fire a warning shot. I finished bandaging my wound. My gaze stopped on a body about my size. It would probably be more convenient to enter this building in their attire. A full camouflage uniform with helmet and goggles, a titanium alloy bulletproof vest, the government¡¯s latest MK-25 submachine gun, the National Defense Forces¡¯ standard Clooney-style pistol, and a seven-inch alloy steel dagger. I changed into this set of equipment, took off ear piece (where hundreds of millions were available in total worldwide) in my ear, crushed it, and tossed it into the sewer. I pressed the elevator button for the 18th floor. The elevator doors opened. I stepped into the elevator and turned around. The four corpses reflected in my sunglasses stood against the wall, maintaining posture of holding their guns on alert. The other five sat around a table at the side. The silver needles pierced their acupuncture points and killed them instantly. They died without a trace of pain. Other than the last unlucky fellow, everyone else could be put into the positions I wanted them to be in. Just from the surveillance footage, it was definitely impossible to tell that they were dead. ¡°Ding dong! 18th floor!¡± A pleasant female voice sounded. ¡°Johnny, where are we going for dinner tonight?¡± ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t thought about it yet. We¡¯ll see about it tonight.¡± I heard two lines from an ordinary conversation outside. I held the grip of the submachine gun with my right hand, took out a few silver needles with my left hand and hid them in my hand. I was prepared to strike the enemy first if I was discovered. The elevator doors opened. Two guards in the same uniform as me chatted idly. When they saw me coming out of the elevator, they only glanced at me casually before continuing their chat. The long period of peace had long since allowed them to let down their guard. I successfully turned into the corridor and searched for the stairs to the 19th floor. In the corridor. Men and women in government office attire were everywhere, and guards like me seemed commonplace to them. Without much effort, I was on the stairs to the 19th floor. ¡°Joe, what are you doing there? We¡¯re not allowed on the 19th floor. Have you forgotten? It¡¯s our rest day tomorrow, do you want to go for a drink?¡± The sudden voice behind me made my body tense up abruptly. I turned back. A man in uniform holding a helmet in his hand stood in the corridor and waved at me enthusiastically. Clearly. He had taken me for an acquaintance. But. This was news that could not be worse. As expected, it matched that saying. You never know which will come first, the accident or tomorrow. ¡°Joe?¡± Seeing that I didn¡¯t reply, he called out again tentatively, but his expression clearly changed. His right hand was already on the submachine gun. Without hesitation, I sped up and rushed down the stairs. He had to die here silently to buy me some time. The man instantly raised his gun. ¡°Ah~¡± Then, an urgent cry suddenly sounded. Because a silver needle had already been nailed to his finger that was reaching for the lock of the gun. I took the opportunity to dash forward and grab him by the throat. I pressed down with my index finger and thumb at the same time. Bang! A gunshot rang out at the same time. D*mn it! His other hand was at his waist, his finger on the trigger. His pistol was actually unlocked. Indeed. None of the fellows here were mediocre. Contrary to the ones on the basement floor, he was prepared to pull out his gun and shoot at any time. He was not even worried that his pistol would misfire. For a moment. Alarm bells rang between floors, and the sound of guards running could be heard everywhere. As for me, I rushed to the 19th floor. ¡°Stop there! You guards shouldn¡¯t be here. This place belongs to us!¡± Four men in black suits and pistols charged toward the stairs and shouted at me. What a kind reminder, but it won¡¯t pay off! ¡°Pa, pa, pa, pa¡­¡± After a few shots, four bloody holes appeared between their brows. I was glad that the guys on the 19th floor weren¡¯t equipped with helmets, which made it easier for me to aim. More men in black poured in. But I didn¡¯t stop moving. The end of the corridor on the left was my destination. More and more men in black fell until there was no one left standing in front of me. I saw the door of the room. Except. A large net of infrared lasers began to roll from the office door. The broken chandeliers and bonsais shattered. Everything solid in the corridor was being torn apart. Calculating the speed at which the lasers moved, I searched for the location of its source. Thud! The rolling laser cage less than a meter in front of me stopped abruptly. I dropped the unloaded submachine gun, drew the pistol from my belt, and moved to the office door. It was an alloy bulletproof door that could only be unlocked with a palm print password and iris recognition. I scooped up the bodyguard closest to the door from the ground and pushed his eyelids open. Why him? Because his hand was still on the palm-print lock of the laser transmitter. He was one of the Speaker¡¯s trusted bodyguards who was most likely to unlock the door. If it weren¡¯t for my accurate marksmanship, I would have been pieces of flesh scattered across the ground right now. ¡°Verified!¡± Looks like I¡¯m in luck. The alloy door slowly opened. I raised my hand and fired three shots from top to bottom. If the information was correct, these should be the positions of Domon¡¯s head, chest, and abdomen. Even if he was sitting down, the last shot should have struck his head. I stepped into the room. There were no dead bodies in the room, as I had expected, nor were there any ambush troops. There was only a laptop lying quietly on the table. On the screen, smoke was still rising from the muzzle of the gun in my hand. At this moment. I understood everything. Swoosh! The curtains in the room suddenly closed automatically, and the door behind me slowly closed. In the dark room. The white light that suddenly came on were as bright as day, and a huge projection was projected on the curtains. In the middle of the screen, the target who should have died was sitting on a sofa somewhere, happily and relaxedly smoking a cigar. ¡°Yo, looks like our protagonist lived up to everyone¡¯s expectations and successfully entered my office. Haha, impressive!¡± Clap! Clap! Clap! The person on the screen applauded. ¡°Where is the President?¡± I took a few steps forward and stared at the projection expressionlessly. The scene shifted. A familiar figure appeared. ¡°President, I just want a reason.¡± At this moment, I was unusually calm as I looked at the person with graying hair. Perhaps this was the feeling as people say, despair being the greatest sorrow? I don¡¯t know. Because I¡¯ve never had such feelings. ¡°Extreme Night, you¡¯re too outstanding, so outstanding that I don¡¯t know who will be able to control you after I die. My son obviously doesn¡¯t have that ability, and the Speaker also promised me that after you die, he¡¯ll let me enter politics.¡± Guilt flashed in the President¡¯s eyes, but it was fleeting. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡­¡± I dropped the gun and closed my eyes. ¡°Extreme Night, the building under your feet and everyone in it will be buried with you. Even if you die, you can rest in peace. Come, President, let¡¯s toast to our future!¡± I heard Domon¡¯s voice again. Huh! How generous. cI seemed to turn a deaf ear, but I couldn¡¯t help but sneer inwardly. Now, all the evidence should have vanished into thin air. Rumble~ An earth-shattering bang tore at my eardrums and body. Is this what death feels like? Chapter 2 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Perhaps, because the explosion was too intense, I didn¡¯t feel any pain at all. I only felt my soul floating higher and higher. Everything in the past kept appearing in my mind. For as long as I can remember, I lived in a rundown orphanage. The director would either beat or scold us. The so-called food we received every day was only enough for us to barely survive. Therefore, people would get into a big fight for the sake of a little food. It wasn¡¯t until I picked up a stool without a word and defeated the king of the children, who was half a head taller than me, did everyone stop snatching my food. That year, I was five years old. When I was eight years old, I was adopted. The first time I met the President was with 11 other children of similar age. That was the first time I tasted cake. I felt like I had eaten the most delicious food in the world. Looking at the President who had given us the cake, my eyes were filled with gratitude. Since then, we were taught all kinds of knowledge and given physical training every day. I no longer had to worry about food being snatched or rain leaking into the room. Therefore, I worked extra hard. When I was nine, the instructors brought us something called a pocket pistol. I learned to shoot. When I was 10. I made my first kill. He was a youth from the same batch as me. The reason was that he wanted to escape from the training ground. Perhaps it was because I shot from behind, it felt no different from when I had when I¡¯d first fired a gun. My experience at the orphanage had left me completely calm. The President came through the crowd and told me I was talented. I began to systematically learn how to use various firearms and assassination techniques. I even learned how to drive yachts and fly helicopters. 12 years old. Pretending to be a beggar, I assassinated my first target and successfully escaped, officially starting my career as an killer. From then on, all my missions were personally instructed by the President. I used the best equipment in the organization and enjoyed the best intelligence. And I never let the President down. I successfully completed every mission. For 13 years, I only had missions and killings in my life. From an unknown junior, I became one of the top three regulars on the World Government¡¯s bounty list and one of the only five Diamond-level killer in the assassin world. Countless people died in my hands. The President¡¯s Doomsday Blade also went from an unknown small organization to one of the five big shots in the assassination world in one leap. Everyone in the organization said that the President and I were like father and son. In fact, I thought so too. I¡¯d thought about it before. I accidentally die on a mission, and the President would cry for me after the shock passed. Or. The President asks me to complete a certain mission with tears in his eyes. I think I would gladly go. And all these fantasies were shattered today¡­ Such a death, I really couldn¡¯t accept. If there is an afterlife, perhaps I should live for myself? Hehe~ I laughed at myself. How could a killer have an afterlife? A killer would only go to hell. Come on, hell! Let me see what you look like! I opened my eyes and held out my arms, wanting to embrace death. Yet. The decorations in front of me were magnificent. A golden throne was right in front of me, and outside the windows was the dazzling starry universe. Is this place really what hell is supposed to look like? ¡°Of course not. This is my hall!¡± A beautiful woman with long hair, a white dress, and bare ankles appeared in front of me and sat on the throne. Her sweet words carried a hint of pride and charm. I had never seen such a beautiful woman. Her skin was fair and supple, and her curves were exquisite. All her elements were shaped in the golden ratio. A little more and she would too fat, a little less and she would be too thin. Extraordinary! All the descriptions in my head could be summed up with this word. ¡°Who are you?¡± I instinctively took two steps back before realizing that I was already dead. I didn¡¯t have any legs now, so I naturally couldn¡¯t retreat. ¡°Mm, let me think¡­¡± She rested her chin on her hand and pondered seriously. She blinked twice. ¡°In your words, I should be a goddess. That¡¯s right, a goddess! I summoned your soul.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I look like one? This is what I transformed into this appearance according to humans¡¯ description of the most beautiful women. It¡¯s impossible for me not to look like one!¡± The woman in front of me stood up uncomfortably, turned elegantly in a circle, and looked at me suspiciously. ¡°Then, why are you looking for me?¡± I looked at the person in front of me and asked. Be it her voice, posture, or movements, she was no different from an ordinary person. If there was anything abnormal, it would be her perfect body. However, she had readily admitted that she had transformed according to all the descriptions of most beautiful women in the world. It was impossible for her to not be perfect. I had to admit that divine beings really existed in this world. ¡°Great! I brought you here to help me complete a task with your experience and memories. Of course, you can also choose another path. This way, in your words, it should be called reincarnation.¡± The goddess sat back down. I considered the two options she had given me. Completing her mission with my memories was undoubtedly reincarnating with a mission. It was very similar to the novel I had read by chance when I was alive. And the other path. It was to live ordinary as another person. ¡°You want me to kill for you?¡± After all, this was all I had in my memory and experience. It was impossible for the goddess not to know. ¡°Smart! That is a world of swords and magic. I need you to become a Braveheart, kill the Demon King, and save the world! This is a noble quest. How is it? Are you interested now?¡± At this moment, the goddess clenched her fists and looked at me eyes filled with hope. A world of swords and magic? If I remember correctly, the novel I read when I was alive was of the eastern fantasy genre. I didn¡¯t know much about swords and magic. Just as I was about to ask a question, a stream of memories gushed into my mind. It was information about the country structure and culture of that world, as well as the Demon King and the Bravehearts. ¡°I have a question. Is there more than one Braveheart like me who has been chosen by you?¡± Although I already knew about the other world, as a killer, my instinct for caution would allow me to learn as much as possible, which was unusually important. This was clearly a world of swords and magic, yet she needed to summon a Braveheart from another world to kill the Demon King. This alone was suspicious enough. I refuse to believe that aren¡¯t many gifted people in that big world. Since those people couldn¡¯t deal with the Demon King, no doubt, the Demon King is probably an existence that is so powerful beyond human might. Given my current experience and skills, even if I reincarnated, I would most likely be powerless. So I need to talk terms with the goddess. And knowing if I was the only Braveheart meant that I could get more from the goddess. Chapter 3 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios ¡°Hehe, you guessed it~¡± The goddess turned into a shy young girl in a second and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t you humans have a saying? Don¡¯t put all your eggs in the same basket. This mission is very important. If we can¡¯t kill the Demon King, that world will be destroyed, and I will get into some trouble. Therefore, I chose elites from all walks of life to enter that world and become Bravehearts.¡± ¡°Since not killing the Demon King will bring you trouble, why don¡¯t you do it yourself? As a goddess, you should have such an ability, right? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good choice to let others handle something so important.¡± Just as I thought. I¡¯m not the only Braveheart. However, I could quite understand. If I were the goddess, I wouldn¡¯t choose to complete it alone either. Just as there is more than one way to carry out an assassination mission, options are essential. Since this is the case, I have to be more careful when negotiating with the goddess. ¡°It¡¯s indeed not the best choice, but I have no choice. As a goddess, I can¡¯t easily interfere with the normal operation of other worlds. Otherwise, there will be even more trouble. Therefore, I can only rely on you Bravehearts.¡± The goddess had a helpless and aggrieved expression. Great! I obtained another important piece of information. The goddess could not easily interfere with that world, which meant that I will most likely have more autonomy. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll accept this request. However, since I¡¯m going to fight the Demon King, if I only have the memories and skills from my previous life¡­¡± ¡°I understand. Of course, I won¡¯t let you go empty-handed. I¡¯ll help you in this aspect. You can choose four talents and bring them to the alternate world you want to go to.¡± The goddess waved her hand. Countless gold, purple, blue, and white bars danced around me, so many that it was dizzying. I sized up the words on the box. The names of various talents were engraved on it. Golden talents were the rarest, followed by purple. Blue and white talents were the most abundant. Clearly, this represented the rarity of talents. ¡°Among all the talents here, is there one that can save my life in any extreme situation? Just once.¡± I tried to seek some help from the goddess. This was because there were too many talents in front of me. A rough estimate would be more than 20,000 of them. Moreover, they were jumping up, down, left, and right. It was as difficult as ascending to the heavens to take a closer look at each one. After the President¡¯s betrayal, I now had a second chance. Naturally, I didn¡¯t want to repeat the mistakes of my previous life. Life-saving skills were what I wanted the most. ¡°Keep your life in any extreme situation¡­¡± The goddess thought about it carefully and answered me seriously, ¡°I don¡¯t think I have created such a talent, so I don¡¯t have it.¡± ¡°I want such a talent. It doesn¡¯t matter even if it¡¯s a golden talent.¡± I made a request. From my observations, such a talent shouldn¡¯t be too much. Due to the fact that golden talents were the rarest and most eye-catching, I carefully observed them. Even hack-like talents such as [Full Element Affinity] existed inside, so it didn¡¯t seem too abnormal for one-time death exemption to be included. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Is that difficult?¡± Looking at the hesitant goddess, I didn¡¯t give up and asked one last time. My gaze was already lingering among the golden talents. If such a talent wasn¡¯t available, I would choose one from among them. After all, the opportunity to be reborn with memories was too rare. I wouldn¡¯t give it up so easily. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no difficulty! I was just thinking if I should reward or punish the first human who made a request of me.¡± The goddess¡¯s sweet voice rang out. She rose elegantly from her throne and walked arrogantly to me. She placed her finger under my chin. ¡°Yes, now that I¡¯ve thought about it, I¡¯ll give you a small reward. I¡¯ll give you the chance to see me again. You shall also get to pick your other talents each time I see you. Perhaps I¡¯ll give you another choice of golden talent if I¡¯m in a good mood.¡± The goddess snapped her fingers, and the bars surrounding me disappeared. Only a golden light that slowly appeared flew toward my shadow. ¡°Each time?!¡± I was shocked. Because I couldn¡¯t guess the significance of the goddess¡¯s actions. What good would it do for her to meet a mortal like me? I don¡¯t think there is any good. Maybe it¡¯s just for fun¡­ But to me, it was undoubtedly a huge advantage. I had another chance to choose a golden talent, even though it depended on her mood. ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve treated you well more than once, haven¡¯t I? You don¡¯t have to ask how you can see me. It¡¯ll naturally happen when I¡¯m willing to see you. However, I can give you a little hint. The longer you live in that world and reach a stage that can satisfy me, I¡¯ll summon you!¡± The goddess beamed with joy, as if she had discovered something especially fun. Pretty much what I was thinking. Reaching a stage that satisfied her? I seemed to recall a familiar story. In the novel I read, the protagonist had something called a system. As long as he completed the system¡¯s missions, he would receive all kinds of rewards. If the system was renamed as goddess¡­ The situation would be exactly the same as what was happening now! ¡°If possible, I hope to be born into a wealthy family. I need to train my physique and abilities from a young age.¡± ¡°Of course it won¡¯t be bad. In order to give you the strength of a Braveheart, I specially arranged an assassin family for you so that you can receive systematic training since childhood and no one will be surprised by your skills and abilities.¡± The goddess answered quickly and confidently. ¡°In that case, I have no other requests.¡± I was content. I have the talent to protect my life at a critical moment and a wealthy family that could help me hone my assassination skills. At the right age, I would have the same capabilities as I did in my previous life. ¡°Are you ready? You¡¯re going to reincarnate now. But, I have to remind you. In that world, you have a beautiful and gentle mother and a meticulous maid who will take care of you. You¡¯d better not treat them with your attitude of this life. Such a cold face would easily scare people.¡± The goddess waved her hand with a kind reminder. I watched my soul fly up and drift away from her until she was gone. A gentle and beautiful mother, a meticulous maid. This was something I had never dreamed of in the previous world. Don¡¯t show a cold expression when interacting with them. What kind of expression should I use then? Sigh~ All I can say is that I¡¯ll try my best not to scare them. A world of swords and magic. Here I come! Chapter 4 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 4: Unprecedented Love I was picked up. A woman in white held my head and handed me to another young woman. ¡°Madam, he¡¯s a healthy young master, but he doesn¡¯t cry or make a fuss¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as he¡¯s healthy. He really inherited the bloodline of the Reinhardt family, my adorable Will~¡± The woman held me and called out softly. This is most likely my mother in this life. As the goddess said, she was gentle and beautiful. I could clearly understand their conversation. The goddess must have taught me the language of this country while telling me about the situation of the world. Then, a snow-white and plump chest appeared in front of me. Mother moved my mouth closer. Instinctively, I opened my mouth and dug in. Mm, my name in this life is Will. My full name should be Will Reinhardt. It sounds like a classic Western noble name. Because my neck had yet to fully develop, I couldn¡¯t even try to turn it. I could only seize the time and take in the nutrients I urgently needed. Hurried footsteps sounded. ¡°Lilith! Are you alright? Will is safe too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, dear. The doctor has just checked. Will is perfectly healthy.¡± I lifted my eyelids and saw the face of a man. To be precise, it was my father¡¯s face. He had brown hair and a short, neat brown beard. His eyes were bright. He looked at me with love and gentleness. His face was handsome. ¡°Earl Davis, Madam and Young Master are very healthy. We¡¯ll take our leave first. If you need anything, feel free to instruct us.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Joanie.¡± A few footsteps left. Only my parents and I were left in the room. ¡°Can I hold him?¡± Hearing this, I immediately let go of my mouth and stretched out my arms to ask for a hug. I even let out a whimper. I want to see the room so badly. It will help me judge the family¡¯s situation. All I could see now was my parents¡¯ cheeks and the ceiling. ¡°He seems to understand you, Davis. What a clever boy.¡± ¡°Yes. I am his father after all. Come, my good Will.¡± ¡°Take it easy! Will was just born!¡± With my mother¡¯s reminder, I felt like I was flying. My father raised me to his height for a kiss and spun me around, trying to make me laugh. I also got my wish and saw the scene in the room. The hanging crystal chandeliers, the ancient paintings on the walls that were quite old but had been wiped clean, and all kinds of luxurious decorations. Everything reflected the wealth of this family. In addition, a window also flashed past. The scenery outside the window told me that I was on the second floor or higher. ¡°Davis, will Will also become the Sword of Damocles in the future?¡± Mother¡¯s voice was suddenly low. My father¡¯s arm around me clearly stiffened. After a moment of silence, he placed me back in my mother¡¯s arms. ¡°Lilith, you know that the Reinhardt family has guarded this country for generations. This country needs the Sword of Damocles. Every noble who dares to embezzle and plot a rebellion will have a Damocles hanging over his head!¡± ¡°But Will is our biological child. We still have Chris and Jennifer!¡± ¡°No, Lilith, Chris and Jennifer are our adopted children. If we didn¡¯t have children, I would choose one of them as the heir. But we have our own child now. When they are older, I will tell them the truth and let them become Will¡¯s support. As the eldest son of the Reinhardt family, Will should inherit the Sword of Damocles!¡± ¡°But as Will¡¯s mother, how can I bear to watch him take the risk to assassinate¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll train Will seriously. I¡¯ll make him stronger than me so that no one in this world can threaten him. Besides, Lilith, you can¡¯t give up your love for Chris and Jennifer just because you have Will. They¡¯re our children too. Will needs a brother and sister he can trust.¡± ¡°Alright, Davis, I admit that I was too agitated just now. I promise you that I won¡¯t favor any of them until they grow up.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll raise Will together.¡± Father sat on the bed. He looked at me gently with my mother. I felt unprecedented care and love from their eyes. It was different from the President¡¯s hypocritical concern. This was a warm feeling from the bottom of my heart. Judging from their words, I also had an older brother and sister. Even though they weren¡¯t my mother¡¯s biological children, my father had poured the same love into them. I have people to spend my childhood with. This was great. In addition to honing my assassination skills, I can at least learn how to interact with others, and we can also spar with each other as opponents. However, I didn¡¯t know what kind of training my father would give me. In my previous life, all of my assassination techniques were targeted at humans. Those who possessed and used magic clearly didn¡¯t fall into this category. The Reinhardt Family was an assassin family that had been lasted in this world for generations. They should have their own unique skills and methods. These are probably what I will learn. I will grow up with the care of my parents and the company of my siblings. is this really the life I can enjoy as an organization¡¯s assassination tool? The thought of this had me really looking forward to it. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Davis! Will smiled!! He finally knows how to smile. You know, he didn¡¯t cry or make a fuss when he was born. I was worried that something had happened to him. All is good now, he knows how to smile!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Lilith. Don¡¯t get so worked up. Will is so healthy. Of course he¡¯ll smile. Babies only cry when they¡¯re not feeling well. That can only mean that Will isn¡¯t feeling ill.¡± ¡°How should I know that? It¡¯s my first time giving birth. Everything I knew was told to me by the servants. I don¡¯t care. I¡¯m hungry now. I want to eat!¡± ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll instruct the servants to prepare some food for you.¡± I watched my father kiss my mother¡¯s cheek and walk out with a smile. Mother happily held me and hummed an unknown tune. The sunlight from the window shone on her face, giving off a golden glow. ¡°Mother! Mother! I heard from Father that you gave birth to a younger brother for me. Is that true? I¡¯m finally not a younger sister anymore! I¡¯m going to be an elder sister!¡± The door was pushed open again. A slightly childish voice containing surprise and excitement. entered my eardrums. ¡°That¡¯s right! Jennifer, come here quickly. This is your brother, Will! You two have to get along well from now on.¡± Mother raised me a little higher. I watched a three-year-old girl run to the bed and look at me with her jade-like eyes. She tried to reach out to touch my cheek a few times but didn¡¯t dare to. She seemed to be afraid that I would cry. ¡°Jennifer, Will has a good temper. He won¡¯t cry if you touch him.¡± At my mother¡¯s encouragement, Jennifer¡¯s chubby little hand finally touched my cheek. ¡°Will, I¡¯m Jennifer! From now on, I¡¯m your elder sister!¡± Chapter 5 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 5: My Sister, Jennifer I looked at the little girl who was seriously introducing herself and a different feeling surged in my heart. ¡°Ah ah~¡± I tried to respond, but the ¡°Hello, Jennifer, I¡¯m Will¡± that was on the tip of my tongue turned into aba aba. ¡°From now on, you have to call me sister!¡± ¡°Ah ah~¡± ¡°Will, be good. I¡¯ll protect you well in the future.¡± I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like to be protected. But I think that should be a different kind of happiness. ¡°Ah ah~¡± I smiled again. Because I could only smile in response to my sister¡¯s love. Pfft! Mother laughed as she watched our conversation. ¡°Jennifer, Will is still so young. Even if you tell him now, he won¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Will knows. Look, Mother, he¡¯s smiling.¡± ¡°He was smiling before you got here.¡± ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll come and tell him every day until he can understand me!¡± Jennifer thought for a while and looked at Mother as if out of spite. ¡°Yes, yes. Jennifer is really full of perseverance.¡± Mother couldn¡¯t stop smiling. I wanted to laugh, too. When I could talk, I¡¯d take the initiative to remind her if she happens to forget. ¡°Will, I¡¯ll show you a magic trick!¡± Jennifer spoke to me mysteriously. I watched as she stretched out her empty hands and muttered a few words. She crossed her hands and gently lifted them. A small flame burned between her thumbs. My eyes widened. This must be magic! So one can use magic at the age of three?! ¡°Oh! Good lord! Jennifer, where did you learn this magic? Put it out quickly. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?¡± Her mother cried out in shock and looked nervously at Jennifer. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling unwell. Mother, why are you so surprised? I found a book in the study and saw the pattern inside. I copied it and I could light up a small flame on my hand. Just like this. It¡¯s very simple!¡± Jennifer, on the other hand, looked at Mother in shock. She stopped pretending to be mysterious and played with the flame in front of us with one hand. I looked at her face. Other than a slight flush, she didn¡¯t look uncomfortable. Based on my mother¡¯s surprised expression and Jennifer¡¯s experience of learning magic just now, I think I understood now. My sister was probably a genius! That claim about protecting me in the future definitely wasn¡¯t just a casual remark. ¡°Oh my god! Davis! Davis! Come and see Jennifer!¡± Mother began to call out to Father. ¡°Lilith! What happened to Jennifer?¡± Father rushed over and looked at the small flame in Jennifer¡¯s hand. After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°Lilith, I think we should get a magic teacher for Jennifer.¡± ¡°Davis, but Jennifer¡¯s not even four!¡± ¡°Then what can we do? Jennifer has already learned magic, and her body has already begun to accumulate magic. If her magic can¡¯t be guided, then we¡¯ll have a big trouble.¡± ¡°All right. Go find Jennifer a good teacher. But make sure you choose well. At least someone who can get past me.¡± ¡°Of course. If it wasn¡¯t for someone¡¯s poor learning attitude when she was young, how could a Grand Mage not be able to teach her daughter basic magic?¡± ¡°Davis! Do you want to fight me?¡± My mother held me with one hand and formed a huge water bubble with the other. Didn¡¯t the goddess say that magic needed to be chanted? When did Mother chant?! Alright. I think I understand again. I¡¯ve been born into a family of gifted freaks. In terms of talent, I was under a lot of pressure. On the bright side, according to genetic theory, I may inherit good parental genes. However, all of this was still speculation. As for my talent, I would only know when I grow up. I began to hope that my father would find a teacher for Jennifer soon. I was also eager to see what magic in this world looked like. After all, I couldn¡¯t speak now. It was impossible to get my mother to show me. ¡°My Lord, My Lady, Miss Jennifer, it¡¯s time for you to eat. Let me take care of Young Master Will.¡± A maidservant came to report. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll go now. Will¡¯s just had his milk, so he probably won¡¯t cry. I¡¯ll leave him to you.¡± My mother got out of bed fully dressed and handed me to the maidservant who had delivered the message. ¡°Yes, My Lady.¡± The maidservant took me in her arms and rocked me gently. Soon, I felt sleepy. Even though I didn¡¯t do anything for half a day, this little body¡¯s drowsiness came at will and was not under my control at all¡­ When I woke up again. My mother put my head on her chest. My sister, Jennifer, was beside me, flipping through a book. Just like that. After eating and sleeping every day for half a month. Father, Jennifer, and Mother went to the front door with me, as if to greet someone, possibly a teacher hired for Jennifer. It was also my first time observing my current home outside the house. The main body of the house was a three-story building built of brick and stone. The courtyard was large. There were flowerbeds, fountains, and pavilions. More than ten servants were busying about in the courtyard. My father¡¯s Earldom most likely held real power, so I was now a true noble. About an hour later, a carriage slowly drove into the courtyard. A woman in her forties got out of the carriage. She was dressed in a sky-blue uniform and held a staff in her hand. There was a dark green crystal the size of an adult¡¯s fist embedded in it. Behind the woman was a young man around 10 years old. He was also wearing a uniform, just like school uniforms I had seen in my previous life. ¡°Great Archmage Anna, it¡¯s been a long journey. Thank you for sending Chris back. He didn¡¯t cause you any trouble, did he?¡± Father led us to her and thanked her profusely. So that young man was my brother, Chris. I quietly sized him up. The young man also looked at me curiously. ¡°Of course not. Chris is doing well in his studies at the academy, and he has the potential to become a Holy Knight. Earl Reinhardt, I heard that Lilith gave birth to a child, and I happened to be coming, so I brought Chris back to visit his mother and brother.¡± After Great Archmage Anna returned the greeting, she turned around with a smile and said to the youth behind her, ¡°Alright, Chris, now that you¡¯re, don¡¯t be so reserved.¡± ¡°Thank you, Teacher Anna.¡± Chris bowed to Great Archmage Anna and came to us. ¡°Lilith, why didn¡¯t you come forward and curtsy to your teacher? Have you become arrogant after becoming a Countess?¡± I watched as Great Archmage Anna suddenly looked at my mother. I was stunned. Father actually got my mother¡¯s teacher to teach my sister? Is this world too small, or is fate too strong? Chapter 6 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 6: A Once-in-Two-Hundred-Years Genius At this moment, I couldn¡¯t see my mother¡¯s expression, but I could guess that it must be extremely interesting. ¡°Teacher Anna, it¡¯s you?!¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t it be me? I¡¯ve been teaching at the Glei Academy. It¡¯s my duty to discover outstanding students for the academy. When I received Earl Davis¡¯ letter, I was very surprised. I couldn¡¯t believe that my most mischievous student, the crazy girl from the Laurence family, is now married with children.¡± ¡°Teacher Anna¡­ That¡¯s all in the past. Don¡¯t mention it again¡­¡± Mother stammered in embarrassment. I inadvertently learned of my mother¡¯s dark history as a student. ¡°Hmm, alright. Let me meet today¡¯s protagonist. This must be little Jennifer.¡± Great Archmage Anna agreed readily. She walked to Jennifer and squatted down. ¡°Little cutie, show me the magic you learned.¡± No sound came. From my current position, I could not see what was happening between Great Archmage Anna and Jennifer. ¡°Jennifer, don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t worry and summon your flames.¡± Mother encouraged her. I guess Jennifer was scared of the stranger. A moment later. ¡°Wow, my god! My god! What a pure flame! How bright! And at such a young age. She¡¯s simply a natural Fire Mage!¡± Great Archmage Anna¡¯s praise entered my eardrums. It confirmed that my sister was indeed a genius. ¡°Teacher Anna, I ask that you test Jennifer¡¯s magic attributes with the Test Crystal. I haven¡¯t tested her yet. There might be other attributes.¡± ¡°What? Lilith! You didn¡¯t even test Jennifer¡¯s magic attributes?¡± ¡°Mm¡­ Teacher Anna¡­ You know, I don¡¯t have any talent for teaching magic. Even if I test, I need to get a teacher to nurture her for me, so I haven¡¯t specially tested her¡­¡± ¡°Oh my gosh! How can there be a lazy Great Mage like you in the world? I really don¡¯t know which fool let you pass the Great Mage Assessment back then!¡± ¡°Teacher Anna, I¡¯m a proper water and wind dual-element Great Mage. If Great Archmage George hears you, he will probably be displeased.¡± ¡°Still I have to say this, old man George is really muddle-headed!¡± Great Archmage Anna stood up indignantly, turned around, returned to the carriage, took out a transparent crystal ball, and walked back. ¡°Jennifer, put your hand on it. Don¡¯t be afraid. Just chant like you did just now.¡± Mother bowed slightly. I tilted my head hard and finally saw Jennifer putting her hand on the crystal ball. As time passed, colors gradually began to appear on the crystal ball. Red flames started burning first. After a while, some green tornadoes appeared on the crystal ball. ¡°Fire and wind, dual-element as well! This amazing talent, my god! Lilith, your daughter is like you, possessing rare dual-elemental magic!¡± ¡°As expected of my daughter! Darling, did you hear that? Jennifer has dual-elemental magic like me.¡± ¡°Yes, I heard you, dear.¡± Great Archmage Anna and my parents were unusually excited. Only my eyes were still focused on the crystal ball, because Jennifer¡¯s hand hadn¡¯t moved away. A third pattern gradually appeared on the crystal ball. That was¡­ lightning? I stared into the crystal ball and watched as the tiny lightning bolts began to grow, turning into purple lightning amidst the red and green. That¡¯s right. There were really three attributes! My sister, Jennifer, is more of a genius than they thought. ¡°Ah ba~¡± I called out, wanting to remind my excited parents and Great Archmage Anna. I didn¡¯t know if it was because my voice was too soft or because the excited people didn¡¯t take my cry seriously, but there was no reaction. After thinking for a moment, I decided to use my ultimate move. ¡°Wa, wa, wa~¡± ¡°Will! Will, what¡¯s wrong? Are you hungry?¡± Amidst my loud cries, Mother lowered her head in panic and hurriedly weighed me up and down. Seeing that Great Archmage Anna and my father¡¯s gaze had also shifted to me, I immediately stopped crying. ¡°Great Archmage Anna, Lilith, look at the Test Crystal!¡± Finally. Father spotted my sister, who was still touching the crystal ball. ¡°Oh my god! Am I seeing things? Jennifer has triple-elemental magic!¡± ¡°Two hundred years! This hasn¡¯t appeared for two hundred years! There are actually three attributes! Earl Reinhardt, Lilith, I have to return to the academy as soon as possible and report this to the Principal. If you agree, I hope to let Jennifer enter the academy as soon as possible. I swear on the reputation of the Blake Family that I will protect Jennifer until she becomes a true Great Mage!¡± After recovering from her shock, Great Archmage Anna solemnly swore an oath in front of my parents. My parents looked at each other and finally looked at Jennifer. ¡°Jennifer, are you willing to follow Teacher Anna to the Glei Academy to learn magic?¡± ¡°Father, Mother, I¡¯m willing to learn from Teacher Anna, I said I would protect Will. But can I wait another two months? I want to celebrate my fourth birthday with Will.¡± Jennifer¡¯s voice was soft, but unusually firm and serious. I really have a great sister! Somehow. A lump grew in my throat, and the softest part of my heart seemed to be touched by something. ¡°Teacher Anna, look¡­¡± Mother looked at Great Archmage Anna. ¡°Okay, I understand. I¡¯ll come back after Jennifer¡¯s birthday.¡± Great Archmage Anna quickly agreed to this request. She took an exquisite gem from around her neck and squatted down. ¡°This amethyst is for you, Jennifer. Remember not to take it off. With it, you can boldly practice your magic without worry. I¡¯ll pick you up in two months.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you, Teacher Anna! I will cherish it.¡± ¡°Good girl!¡± Great Archmage Anna stood up and bade goodbye to my parents. ¡°Earl Reinhardt, Lilith, please don¡¯t share the information that Jennifer has three attributes of magic power with anyone else for the time being. I will only report this to the Principal in the academy. This is also out of consideration of her safety.¡± ¡°We understand, Teacher Anna.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go leave now. There¡¯s no need to send me off.¡± Great Archmage Anna came and left in a hurry. After watching her leave, my parents brought me, my brother, and my sister back to the house. ¡°What a surprise, Jennifer. Congratulations! We¡¯ll be meeting at the academy soon. Did you know that you¡¯ll probably be the youngest student there?¡± ¡°I know that now, Chris, but before this, I want you to take a look at our brother Will. He¡¯s really good. He hardly cries. He¡¯s so cute.¡± ¡°So his name is Will. Mother, hand Will to me!¡± Just like that, I was put into the arms of my elder brother, Chris. Chapter 7 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 7: Parting Chris was very handsome. That was my first impression of him. Short blond hair, pale blue eyes, a high nose bridge. We just stared at each other for a moment. ¡°Chris, why aren¡¯t you saying anything? Isn¡¯t Will cute?¡± It was obvious that Jennifer really liked me. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. Between us boys, we only need one look to understand each other. Don¡¯t you agree, Will?¡± Chris looked at me and smiled. I smiled too. In the past, I was just a tool. I had no brothers or sisters. The people in the organization could only be called colleagues at best. What I know about men being able understand each other with just one look involves some kind of obscene moment most of the time. But now, I felt that some people¡¯s eyes could really speak. He seemed to have finished introducing himself, and I seemed to have understood him. ¡°Will really responded to you!¡± Jennifer came close. It felt good to be doted on by my elder siblings. ¡°Chris, what course are you taking now?¡± Back in the room, Father asked casually. ¡°Father, it¡¯s the application of Holy Light magic.¡± Holy Light magic? I presumbled Chris possessed light-attribute magic. According to the information I received from the goddess, in addition to the five common attributes of water, fire, ice, wind, and lightning, there were also two rare attributes, light and dark. After learning about my mother and sister¡¯s talents, I was already somewhat immune to the heaven-defying attributes of my family members. ¡°I heard from Great Archmage Anna that you have the potential to become a Holy Knight. Are you interested in becoming a Holy Knight?¡± ¡°Father, I heard from my teacher that in the north of our country, there is a monster known as demonic creature that threatens the lives of people and livestock. The Holy Light magic we learned is the main method to fight against them. If possible, I hope to become a Holy Knight in the future and suppress the demonic creatures!¡± Chris squared his shoulders. I could feel the excitement and desire in him. It was important news that demonic creatures had appeared in the north of this country. Demonic creatures often appeared in groups and were divided into physical and dark attribute demonic creatures. Physical demonic creatures looked like a fusion of various animals and could be killed with both swords and magic. Dark-attribute demonic creatures were like souls. You¡¯ll see a shadow, but you can¡¯t touch it. Physical and common magic were useless against them, and there were also relatively few of them. The Holy Light magic that Chris wanted to learn was the nemesis of dark-attribute monsters. ¡°Since you want to become a Holy Knight, work hard towards that direction. Your mother and I will support you.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯ll support Chris too!¡± ¡°Ah wu~¡± With my father and Jennifer¡¯s encouragement, I naturally had to express my support as well. ¡°Thank you, Father! Thank you, Jennifer, and of course you, Will! I will work hard to become a Holy Knight!¡± Chris responded to everyone seriously. ¡°Dear! Chris and Jennifer, put Will in the cradle and come and eat!¡± Mother¡¯s voice followed. ¡°We¡¯ll come now!¡± ¡°Will, be good. Sister is going to eat now. I¡¯ll come and see you later.¡± I was placed in the cradle. Soon, I dozed off. Chris stayed at home for only two days before bidding us farewell and rushing back to the academy. Time flew by. Two months passed in the blink of an eye. The house looked very grand today. The servants and Mother were preparing for Jennifer¡¯s birthday party. Jennifer, on the other hand, was always by my side. She didn¡¯t seem to realize that she was the protagonist of a birthday party. ¡°Will, do you know that I¡¯m not Mother¡¯s biological child? When I was two years old, bad people came to my house. My parents were killed by bad people. It was Father who saved me from a group of bad people. He even brought me home and raised me like his own daughter. ¡°Perhaps they all thought that a two-year-old child wouldn¡¯t have any memories and didn¡¯t dare to tell me about the past, but I actually remember everything. I don¡¯t know why I do. ¡°Phew~ This is a secret that I¡¯ve kept for many years and never told anyone. Now that I finally have someone to talk to, I feel much better. Anyway, you won¡¯t remember anything since you¡¯re just two months old, right? Hehe.¡± Jennifer played with my cheeks as she confided this tragic secret. Still. I might have to disappoint her. Reborn with my memories and a fully developed brain, I could remember everything I saw and heard. ¡°Ah ba~¡± I tried to reach out and offer her some comfort. Perhaps it was because my mother had given me enough nutrition, I could feel myself becoming stronger every day. My neck could begin to turn easily, my limbs could begin to coordinate. I could also raise my arms. ¡°Will, are you trying to hug me? Don¡¯t tell me you really understood me!¡± Jennifer took my hand. There was a hint of panic in her eyes. ¡°Ah~¡± I controlled my expression and smile. I waved my arms wildly to make her believe that that was just a normal reaction of mine. ¡°Oh, you scared me to death. I thought you really understood. After today¡¯s celebration, I won¡¯t be able to accompany you every day. I promised to protect you, so have to learn magic from Teacher Anna first. I heard that I can only come back once every half a year. You have to grow up quickly and accompany me.¡± Jennifer smiled and didn¡¯t let go of my hand. ¡°Miss Jennifer, your birthday party is about to begin. The Earl is on his way back. My Lady has tasked me to inform you. Let me take care of Young Master Will.¡± A maidservant pushed open the door and reported. ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Miss. It¡¯s our job to take care of Young Master Will.¡± Sister went to the banquet. I listened to the blessings coming from the hall in the maidservant¡¯s arms. I hope that my sister will be always be happy in the days to come! This was a blessing from her younger brother. ¡ª¡ª ¡°Earl Reinhardt, Jennifer, are you ready?¡± Great Archmage Anna arrived on time. She came the day after Jennifer¡¯s birthday party. ¡°Teacher Anna, I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s go.¡± Father put the suitcase they packed for Jennifer in the carriage, and Jennifer climbed in after. The carriage slowly drove away. Jennifer leaned on the window and waved goodbye to my mother and me, hard. Mother also waved her hands hard without saying a word. But a drop of water landed on my cheek. There was no rain in the sky. I think it was Mother¡¯s tears. Mother probably couldn¡¯t bear for her daughter to leave her parents at the young age of four. But because Jennifer had learned magic herself, the sooner she received comprehensive guidance, the more beneficial it would be to the use of her talents. At the same time, it would also be safer. Only I knew that the reason why my sister was so willing to go to the academy was because of that promise that she would protect me in the future. Chapter 8 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 8: The Book of Rosiel Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed. I turned four years old, like my sister was. I was slightly taller than her, about 90 centimeters tall. Without needing anyone to carry me, I could go anywhere I want at home. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t go to dangerous places because I knew that this body didn¡¯t have enough strength to keep up with my brain to avoid danger. There were many safe places. Like the study I¡¯m in now. Because of the knowledge imparted by the goddess, I could read the language of this country without much effort. I was looking for a book on magic. Just like my sister used to, I wanted to see if I had any talent for magic. After walking past three rows of bookshelves, I found a thick volume of Julius¡¯s Magic Notes on the bottommost shelf. I used all my strength to pull it out, hoping that it was the book I was looking for. At least it had to accurately record the names of other magic books so that I wouldn¡¯t have to look for a needle in a haystack in the vast library. ¡°Magic is infinite. It should not only be passed down, it should also be created. When the first Holy Archmage, Rosiel, wrote the Book of Rosiel, she definitely did not wish to see the Mages of later generations worshipping her chanting as a holy scripture and being unwilling to change it at all. This is the sorrow of all Mages.¡± This was the text on the first page of the book. The black notes were still clearly visible, but they were slightly yellowed by the ravages of time. Rosiel. The first Holy Archmage. Did she create all the magic in this world? Based on the description in this passage, I could probably imagine that this was a forbidden book. Julius, who had written it, had probably been persecuted to death by the Mages. No matter what era it was, doubting the mainstream and questioning absolute authority would not be allowed. This book might be an out-of-print. At this thought, I became more and more interested in reading on. ¡°May the protection of the winds bless me, and the power of the gales appear here.¡± I closed my eyes and held out my right hand. I read out the first spell recorded in the book. It was an incantation relating to wind-elemental magic, a quote from the Book of Rosiel. The owner of the book tried to make a few changes to the magical incantation to see if the magic would still work, but she failed this time. However, as an orthodox magic incantation from the Book of Rosiel, my chant shouldn¡¯t bring anything bad. Unfortunately. Nothing happened with my first chant. ¡°May the protection of the winds bless me, and the power of swiftness appear here.¡± I repeated myself, but I still didn¡¯t feel anything strange happening to my body. Could it be that I don¡¯t have wind-attribute magic? With this thought in mind, I increased my speed and tried to find another type of incantation. After flipping through a few pages, I found that the book was filled with incantations relating to wind magic. I realized that Miss Julius must be a Wind Mage. So I closed the book, put it back where I¡¯d found it, and started looking for any sign of the Book of Rosiel Since all the magic in the later generations came from this first-generation Holy Archmage, this book should have a record of all the magic incantations. Julius¡¯s unconventional idea of trying to create new magic using the foundation of old magic interested the reincarnated me greatly, but if I couldn¡¯t use magic, I¡¯d have to read it like a magic novel. Soon. I found the Book of Rosiel in the most prominent spot on the shelf. It was equally thick. To take it down, I needed to climb the ladder. This would have taken three-year-old me a lot of effort, but fortunately, it fell successfully and did not hit me. ¡°Oh pure protection of water, answer the call of the sincere. Descend here.¡± ¡­ ¡°Oh scorching truth, answer me with fire, illuminate this endless darkness!¡± ¡­ ¡°Oh the power of ice that lies dormant in your heart, shatter! Pierce our enemies!¡± ¡­ I awakened my magic using the incantations recorded in the book. After chanting the incantations relating to the four attributes of wind, water, fire, and ice, I received no response. At this moment. I felt a little flustered. Do I not have the talent to learn magic? My mother is a Great Mage, and my sister is a once-in-two-hundred-years magic genius. And I, who was born in this family, is actually unable to learn magic? This was too ridiculous. I flipped to the incantation for thunder magic in the book, but hesitated. I did not know if I should continue to try. If I really couldn¡¯t awaken my magic, then the only thing I could rely on were the assassination techniques of the Reinhardt Family and from my previous life. Perhaps there was also the goddess who would appear at any time. But can I still meet her requirements if I can¡¯t use magic? I¡¯m not sure. The only thing I was sure of was that I had to start honing my assassination skills as early as possible to make up for the fact that I might not be able to awaken my magic. ¡°Will, what are you doing here?¡± Father¡¯s voice came from behind. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°The Book of Rosiel? Do you want to become a Mage so early like Jennifer?¡± ¡°Father¡­ I don¡¯t seem to have the potential to become a Mage. I¡¯ve tried four magic chants, but I didn¡¯t get a response¡­¡± I was very disappointed. This was a feeling that I would never have felt in my previous life. Even personally witnessing the President¡¯s betrayal didn¡¯t make me feel so terrible. This feeling was very strange. I had already decided not to be sad and focus on assassination techniques. Father¡¯s question made me feel exceptionally uncomfortable. Perhaps. The love from my parents and siblings had unknowingly changed me too much. ¡°Will, there¡¯s no need to be sad. Magic power varies from person to person. Some people will awaken their talents early on, and some people will need to be older to know. When you¡¯re a little older, you can try again. Even if you really can¡¯t awaken your magic power, it doesn¡¯t matter. The Reinhardt family doesn¡¯t need magic to deal with our enemies.¡± My father stroked my head, his tone calm and natural. He took the book from my hand and put it back on the shelf. Then he said, ¡°When you¡¯re a little older, I¡¯ll tell you the true secret of the Reinhardt family.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Father won¡¯t know that I already knew the family¡¯s biggest secret. What I lacked and wanted to learn was the Reinhardt family¡¯s unique assassination techniques. ¡°Father, you just said that the Reinhardt Family can defeat our enemies without magic. Is there anything I can learn now?¡± I asked. In this world of swords and magic, to be able to assassinate an enemy without magic undoubtedly required more effort. Although I didn¡¯t know the exact methods, I was certain of one thing. Physical techniques that far exceeded those of ordinary people were indispensable. From now on, I should be able to try learning the Reinhardt Family¡¯s physical techniques. ¡°Will, since you¡¯re asking, I¡¯m going to teach you some tricks that you can do, starting tomorrow.¡± Chapter 9 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 9: Initial Training for Assassins The next day. I followed my father to the basement, a place I¡¯d never known existed. There were all kinds of weapons in the room, including sabers, spears, swords, and halberds. There were also tools for training the body, as well as dummies for training assassination techniques. The ground was exceptionally clean, and could be said to be spotless. ¡°Will, I originally wanted to have you start training after you grew up, but since you asked yesterday, I plan to teach you some simple practices from today onwards. However, once you start, you have to practice diligently every day. You can¡¯t slack off for a day unless there are special circumstances. Now, I can give you another chance to go back on your word.¡± ¡°Father, I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s get started. First, we¡¯ll work on the strength of our arms. Watch what I do, then try it out yourself.¡± His father dropped down and propped his forearms on the ground, his body stretching into a straight line. In the words of my previous life, this was planking. Just as I thought, he started with some simple basic movements to train the flexibility of the body. I followed my father¡¯s example and laid down. I put my arms on the ground and did my best to straighten my body. ¡°You¡¯re still young. Hold on as long as you can. Remember not to force yourself. Don¡¯t injure your bones. Just practice diligently. I¡¯ll teach you a few simple moves later. In the future, when I¡¯m not at home, you have to train here yourself.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± I agreed. Then, I learned a few sets of movements from my father, most of which I had already trained in my previous life, such as pull-ups. Two hours passed quickly. Sweat beaded on my head, and my body began to ache. ¡°That¡¯s all for today, Will. You did great!¡± ¡°Thank you, Father.¡± My father and I walked out of the basement into the corridor and saw Jennifer and Great Archmage Anna walking over together. Ever since my sister went to the Glei Academy to study, Great Archmage Anna would personally accompany her every time she returned. Clearly, she really cared about her. ¡°Will!! Sister is back! It¡¯s been six months since we last met. Did you miss me?!¡± My sister, Jennifer, ran toward me, shouting in an exaggerated voice, and put her arms around my head, ignoring the fact that I was sweating all over and dirtying her brand-new uniform. ¡°Sister, I¡¯m covered in sweat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°But Father and Great Archmage Anna are still here.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Father and Teacher Anna won¡¯t mind too.¡± ¡°But Sister, I want to take a shower¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll shower you!¡± ¡°This¡­ definitely not!¡± I declined expressionlessly. Although this body was only three years old, my mind was not. My adult self-esteem wouldn¡¯t allow me to do that, even if she was my dear sister. ¡°Oh my, is Will already at the age where he¡¯s starting to hate his sister?¡± Jennifer let go of my head and stared at me with innocent jade-green eyes, full of grievance. ¡°¡­¡± I had nothing to say. I wore a resigned look. Jennifer was only seven years old, but she was already beautiful. I had no doubt that my sister would be a beauty in the future. But I doubt her mind is as precocious as her memory. ¡°Jennifer, don¡¯t tease Will. Go into the living room with Teacher Anna. I¡¯ll take Will to the shower and be right there.¡± My father came to the rescue. Only then did Jennifer let go of me. ¡°Teacher Anna, apologies.¡± ¡°Not at all. The relationship between these siblings is still as good as ever. Earl Reinhardt, we¡¯ll go to the living room first. Jennifer, you have seven days of leave to stay at home. You have plenty of time for your brother. There¡¯s no need to rush.¡± Great Archmage Anna summoned Jennifer. ¡°Really? Teacher Anna, can I stay at home for seven days this time?¡± Jennifer cried out happily. After seeing Great Archmage Anna¡¯s affirmation, she immediately turned to look at me. ¡°Will, did you hear that? I have seven days off this time. Hurry up and wash up and come over to accompany me.¡± I was speechless and could only nod silently. After washing up in the bathroom with father, I went to the living room. Mother was already talking to Great Archmage Anna. ¡°Will! Come to Sister!¡± Jennifer immediately waved me over. I could only walk over. Because I knew that even if I didn¡¯t, she would still come over. ¡°Will, you¡¯ve grown taller again. When can you come to the Glei Academy to accompany your me?¡± ¡°Sister, I¡¯m only three years old. I don¡¯t have your kind of talent to be admitted by exception by one of the three major magic academies in the country. At least wait until I¡¯m 10 years old.¡± ¡°Ah? Doesn¡¯t that mean you still have to wait seven years? No, that¡¯s too late. Why don¡¯t I get Teacher Anna to help you test your magic talent when you¡¯re five years old? If you have inherited Mother¡¯s talent, you can immediately come and accompany me.¡± ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t want to enter the academy that early. Besides, talent is something one can chance upon but not seek for. Maybe I don¡¯t have the talent to learn magic. Do you know what Chris is doing now? He¡¯s coming back less often.¡± I changed the subject. I didn¡¯t tell her that I had already tried to awaken my magic power. I was afraid that if she knew the result, she would drag Teacher Anna to test it for me again. That would be too much of a blow. It was better to wait a few years before doing the test. However, it was also a fact that our elder brother, Chris, was returning home less and less. Now that she was also in the academy, she should more or less know some information. ¡°Chris is already a reliable senior now, and he¡¯s deeply trusted by his mentor. Naturally, he¡¯s getting busier and busier. Recently, I heard that he went to the north with his mentor for investigation. He should have written to Father and Mother. Didn¡¯t you ask them?¡± ¡°I was planning to ask you since you were coming back.¡± ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s great! As expected of my good brother, Will! Sister has learned new Lightning and Wind Magic in the academy. It¡¯s really fun. Many interesting things have happened recently. Let me tell you¡­¡± My sister told me about the interesting things that had happened at the academy. This has become a must-do routine every time she returned. I could listen to her with relish every time. Normal life in the academy was indeed much more interesting than the assassin training class. I would most likely be sent to the academy in the future as well, but not now. For the next seven days. Every day, I would wake up two hours early. After sneaking into the basement to train, I would take a shower and go back to my room to sleep, waiting for my sister to wake me up. After spending seven happy days with her, Jennifer followed Great Archmage Anna back to the academy. As for me. I began my daily training. In my spare time, I flipped through Julius¡¯s Magic Notes in the study. I wanted to know the final outcome of this unconventional Mage. Chapter 10 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 10: Thinking of Humanity Another three years passed. I was now six years old. Now, I could go anywhere in the family territory without having servants follow me. The area within 20 miles of the house was his father¡¯s territory. It was already early autumn, and some crops had already begun to be harvested. Even though the sun had yet to rise, there were already commoners who had been working on both sides of the road for a long time. It had become my habit to jog for an hour outside of the house before my daily training in the basement. Aerobic exercise helps with future training, and the scenery of the surrounding countryside was equally refreshing. ¡°Young Master Will, are you out for a walk so early today?¡± A commoner who was pulling a carriage with one hand and wiping the sweat off his face with the other saw me and greeted me with a smile. ¡°Yes, Uncle Shenier. How¡¯s the harvest this year?¡± ¡°Thanks to My Lord and you, the harvest this year is pretty good. Ah~ Young Master Will, quickly put them down and let me do the work.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no trouble. Uncle Chenier, I¡¯ll go home first. Goodbye.¡± I picked up the few bundles of wheat that had fallen to the ground and put them back onto the carriage as I bade him farewell. ¡°Goodbye, Young Master Will. I have troubled you again. I didn¡¯t expect Young Master Will to remember my name!¡± ¡°Haha, Young Master Will doesn¡¯t only remember your name. I heard from the maidservants of My Lord¡¯s family that Young Master Will remembers all of their names and never puts on airs with them. Every time he troubles them, he¡¯ll thank them. Sometimes, when they encounter problems that they can¡¯t solve, they can always get help from Young Master Will.¡± ¡°Ah, I see! Young Master Will is really a genius. My Lord really has a great successor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We feel comfortable serving such a Lord. Shenier, get in, we¡¯re going!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Listening to the whispers of the two people behind me, I sighed softly and walked towards my home. There were many times when I wanted the maidservants to serve me, but it was a pity that my adult heart never allowed it. When I got home and was about to walk to the basement, I realized that my father had been waiting at the door for a long time. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°Will, come with me.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I followed my father into the basement. ¡°Will, you¡¯re six years old and you¡¯ve had three years of basic training. I think it¡¯s time I tell you about family¡¯s true secret and expose your to the family business.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± ¡°The Reinhardt Family is the sharp blade of the Kingdom of Freld. We are responsible for eliminating all enemies that are unfavorable to the kingdom. They include not only the enemy countries, but also those within the country. From dukes and earls to refugees and soldiers. Most of the time, the Reinhardt blade hangs above the heads of the nobles. Do you understand what this means?¡± Father turned around. ¡°Understood, Father. We were born to protect the kingdom!¡± I already knew this answer when I was born. After learning about the history of this country from the study, I understood the need for the Reinhardt family to exist. Freld was a kingdom, and there was a group of nobles under the King. As for the dukes and marquises, they had their own territories and raised armies. Very often, the law was ineffective against them because they had the ability to break away from the kingdom at any time and go against it. Therefore, even the King could not deal with them at will. This was the time for the Reinhardt Family to show their prowess. These nobles would die an unnatural death without the family getting suspected. ¡°Very good, Will. I know you¡¯re outstanding enough to understand the mission of the family. But do you know what this means? Have you ever thought about having your hands covered in blood? Can you accept yourself like that?¡± Father¡¯s question was deafening. I didn¡¯t answer right away. But I knew that I could live with it. Having reincarnated with my memories, my hands were already drenched in blood. Killing people was no different from eating and drinking to me. My original idea was that my father should start teaching me how to kill. Instead of making me look within as he was doing now. ¡°Father¡­¡± ¡°Will, I don¡¯t need an answer from you right now. I¡¯m telling you that you need to think for yourself and judge for yourself. The biggest difference between humans and animals is that they have the ability to think for themselves. Before you take a person¡¯s life, you at least know why that person deserves to die. In the days to come, I¡¯ll train you in the art of killing, and you¡¯ll have to make your own judgments that will determine the fate of a person.¡± ¡°I understand, Father.¡± In my previous life, as a tool of the organization, the President had never told me why a person deserved to die. He only needed me to kill that person. As for me, I had never thought of the reasons. In this life, the first lesson my father taught me was how to think as a human. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started now, Will. The first step is to learn how to use a weapon. As an assassin, you have to learn to use as many things of the easiest things you can find around you to finish off your enemies. Of course, the most handy weapon is also essential. This is your best guarantee.¡± Father opened a chest in the basement. In addition to conventional assassination weapons such as daggers, darts, and hidden arrows, there were also invisible things that could silently kill like silk yarn and poison. I took out a dagger and a few darts and weighed them in my hand. The two weapons looked abnormally ordinary. There were no patterns or words on the surface to prove their origin. Daggers were my most common cold weapon in my previous life, while darts were substitutes for flying needles. This was because the silver needles in my previous life were alloys made from special metals. The hardness and weight were all made according to my requirements. In this world of swords and magic, I wasn¡¯t sure if I could forge silver needles that met my requirements. Practising darts in this world was also a good choice. ¡°Then let¡¯s start with the dagger. Will, imagine now that I¡¯m your enemy. With the dagger in your hand, use all means to touch me and you win. Don¡¯t hold back.¡± My father glanced at the dagger I chose and took two steps back. ¡°Father, be careful now!¡± I picked a flying dagger that I could hold and stared at my father. This was exactly what I wanted. I clearly remembered all the memories in my previous life about how to use a dagger. If there was anything lacking, it was that this body was not enough to unleash my former strength. Therefore, the small flying dagger was more suitable for this body. The moment I spoke, my body bounced off. Most of the time, assassinations were done by surprise. Three meters¡­ One meter! Father remained where he was, not moving. ¡°Ha!¡± Still, I thrust the dagger hard. I didn¡¯t hold back on this attack. I believed that given my father¡¯s capabilities, he wouldn¡¯t be injured by a child like me. Chapter 11 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 11: Medical Skills I targeted my father¡¯s waist because my goal was to touch him, not to assassinate him. This was where I was most likely to do so. It prevented the possibility of my father crouching down and dodging. However, when my dart dagger was less than 30 centimeters away from my father, he still did not dodge. I didn¡¯t hesitate. I firmly believed that my father had a way to dodge. If he didn¡¯t dodge now, there were only two possibilities. Test me! Or he wanted to teach me a technique to dodge. Swoosh! Just as my dart was less than five centimeters away from my father and I even thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it, my father disappeared. ¡°Will! You¡¯re indeed very talented. Three years of training has been extremely effective. You¡¯re a natural assassin! I can see the determination in your eyes that you won¡¯t stop until you achieve your goal.¡± My father stood 50 centimeters to the left of the dart in my hand and began laughing. ¡°Father, that was because I firmly believed that you could dodge it. However, until the last moment, I was unable to see how you did that.¡± I was a little depressed. This attack made me certain that even if I recovered my strength from my previous life, I would not be a match for my father. In other words, if this was really an assassination mission, I would have died. ¡°Will, don¡¯t be discouraged. I used the abilities of the Reinhardt Family to show you that you don¡¯t need magic power to assassinate a Mage. If you want to learn, you have to wait for a few more days. At least pass the training I¡¯ve arranged for you.¡± ¡°So this is the effect of the Reinhardt family¡¯s ability?!¡± I was instantly excited. Since Father told me so confidently, it meant that he must have had the experience of a successful assassination. If I really couldn¡¯t learn magic, at least I could choose to reach the peak of perfection through this path. ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s continue training¡­¡± ¡­ A few months later. I was training in the basement when I saw my father walk in with a bundle wrapped in cloth. ¡°Will, I don¡¯t need to teach you anything about the use of weapons anymore. From today onwards, I¡¯ll teach you another important skill of an assassin, medical skills.¡± ¡°Medical skills? Father, am I going to pretend to be a doctor and carry out an assassination?¡± This was the first answer that came to my mind. This was because in his previous life, there were countless cases of disguised doctors assassinating their targets, and they were the cases that were easier to succeed in. ¡°I¡¯m very satisfied that you thought of this immediately. However, the application of medical skills is not limited to just that. Other than concocting poisons, we may have to survive in the wilderness for a long time when carrying out assassinations, or might not be able to receive treatment immediately when being pursued. If there are no pharmacy or Healing Mages nearby, we will have to prepare medicine ourselves to mitigate or even treat our illnesses.¡± Father put down the bundle, and many green leaves were revealed. I immediately remembered that in my world, there was a kind of doctors known as traditional chinese physicians. The medicine they used also involved various flowers and plants. I didn¡¯t expect my father in this world to know this. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll teach you to identify herbs and poisonous weeds, including concocting simple healing medicines and anesthetics.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± ¡°Will, remember, this is called Datura. It has the effect of a natural anesthetic.¡± ¡°Father, this is too much. Can I learn them later¡­¡± I begged my father. Spare me. Without boasting, even if I were to be abandoned in the wilderness, I would still be able to survive for 10 days to half a month without any supplies. That was if the animals in this world also had similar habits to those on Earth. Differentiating between these plants of the same color whereby slight differences in leaf patterns determined them to be poisonous and healing medicine really made one¡¯s scalp tingle. ¡°Of course not. I promised your mother that I wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to you. This is an added guarantee of safety. Watch carefully!¡± Father replied without looking up and continued to teach me how to identify herbs. I found it hard to imagine. The image of Father, as a noble assassin who usually did not smile, sitting on the ground like an old farmer fiddling with flowers and plants. But now it had happened. At this moment. He was no longer the king of assassins, no longer an Earl of the Kingdom of Freld. He was simply a husband who made a promise to his wife and a father who did not want anything to happen to his son. Just like that. Under my father¡¯s coercion, other than training my assassination skills, I also had to learn how to distinguish plants and make medicine every day. Once I began. Another two years passed. I grew about half a head taller in two years. I used all kinds of assassination weapons like a breeze, including poison, which I rarely used in my previous life. I also learned at least 15 ways to put poison into the target¡¯s body. The study of medicine not only allowed me to have a clear understanding of the human body, it also allowed me to learn the ability to use plants to create herbs. This was one of the Reinhardt family¡¯s traditional skills. Although I had yet to see its use, as my father had said, it was still a guarantee of safety. ¡°Will, you¡¯ve successfully completed the two-year training. Next, I¡¯ll set up a test. If you pass this, it¡¯ll be time for me to hand over the most important inheritance of the Reinhardt family to you. Are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready, Father!¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you the time and place of the test tomorrow.¡± In the living room. My father and I looked at each other solemnly. This was a deal between men! ¡°Darling, are you setting up training for Will again? Can you give him a few days off?¡± The kitchen door opened. Mother¡¯s voice reached us first, and then a burnt smell wafted out of the kitchen. My father and I looked at each other and were about to escape when we saw my mother holding a plate of freshly baked cookies in front of us. ¡°Darling, Will, come and try my freshly baked cookies. They were baked according to the method you suggested, Will. They¡¯re peanut-like in shape, with milk and sugar added. They¡¯re fresh and crispy.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± I looked at the tray of strange objects in front of me. Half of them were charred black, and the other half were brown. There was no fragrance of milk at all. There should have been patterns of peanut shells on them, but there was no trace of that at all. ¡°Dear, Will, why aren¡¯t you guys eating? Give them taste. I¡¯ve spent a lot of effort.¡± Mother looked at my Father and me. Father looked at me. I think I¡¯ve dug my own grave¡­ I should never have mentioned that cookies were easy to bake in front of Mother. ¡°Father, these are cookies of love that Mother painstakingly baked. Eat them first. I¡¯ll go bake another batch and we¡¯ll see who did it better!¡± Before I finished, I had already slipped into the kitchen. ¡°Will! ¡­Honey, look, Will is still young. I have to go to the kitchen and keep an eye on him.¡± ¡°No! Will is safe in the kitchen alone. What else can you do other than cause trouble for you? The cookies will get cold if you don¡¯t eat them now. Darling, you have to try them. Come, open your mouth, ah~¡± ¡°Ah~ so sweet, too sweet¡­¡± Hearing the commotion in the living room, the smile on my face widened. I hadn¡¯t forgotten the mission the goddess had given me, but I would enjoy this rare joy of family life for the time being. Tomorrow. I would begin the real test. Chapter 12 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 12: Entering the Forest Night. I laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow was the last day of training. According to my father, this was a field survival training. However, he added a little ¡®condiment¡¯ to it as a test for me. As for what he was testing, he didn¡¯t specify. He only said that I needed to use my eyes and heart to identify it. I was abnormally calm. I didn¡¯t feel nervous at all. The countless experiences from my previous life had worked at this moment. I even had a little anticipation. Closing my eyes, I decided to sleep peacefully. In my sleep. I realized that my soul was flying, and I saw the familiar hall again. ¡°Hi! We meet again. In the blink of an eye, you¡¯ve lived in that world for eight years. Are you used to it?¡± The goddess greeted me with her signature sweet smile. She was still as beautiful and flawless as ever. ¡°It feels great. Thank you for sending me to that world. Why did you summon me here today?¡± ¡°Ah~ Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten? I said that when you meet my requirements in that world, I¡¯ll give you the reward you deserve. I thought that this was a good time.¡± ¡°I thought it would be after this survival training.¡± I smiled in response. The goddess hadn¡¯t forgotten her promise. It felt great. My words were also true. In my imagination, completing this survival training was considered a small goal. The goddess had summoned me a little earlier than I had expected. ¡°I could have done this after this training, but I had nothing to do yesterday, so I casually created a talent. I felt that it was quite interesting, so I couldn¡¯t wait to summon you. I wanted you to give it a try.¡± The goddess¡¯s grinning expression matched her words. In human expression, she was asking for a beating! She casually created a talent and wanted to find someone to try it. Wasn¡¯t this the scene of those presentable humans casually ordering the people at the bottom rung? But soon. I saw worry on the goddess¡¯s face. ¡°Ah, where did I put it? This isn¡¯t it, not this one either¡­¡± Looking at the goddess scrolling through a bunch of talent bars in search of of the talent, I felt a sense of satisfaction. It turned out that there were times when divine beings couldn¡¯t find something as well. ¡°Aha! I found it. This is it, the Devil¡¯s Contract! Here, this is your reward this time. You don¡¯t have to thank me!¡± The goddess casually slid the talent bar to me and put on her bright smile again. I reached out and tapped the purple talent bar called [Devil¡¯s Contract]. ¡°On mutually agreed terms, you can sign a contract with other creatures. While the contract is effective, you can unconditionally order the contractor about and share the contractor¡¯s abilities. There cannot be more than five contractors at the same time. In addition, when the contractor¡¯s strength is above yours, it can tear up this contract at any time.¡± Alright. It was a double-edged sword talent. I truly saw how much effort the goddess was putting into eliminating the Demon King. From the clause that any creature strong enough could backfire against the master at any time, meant that not only did I need to carefully choose the targets I wanted to sign the contract with, I also needed to work hard to become stronger and avoid being surpassed. It lived up to its name, [Devil¡¯s Contract]. ¡°What do you think? Isn¡¯t this my talent for creation on a whim outstanding? I think Lord Will will like this talent, right?¡± The goddess stood up elegantly. Her tone was very similar to that of the noble ladies in my current world. I rolled my eyes inwardly. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. After all, she was a goddess. It was better than nothing. ¡°You¡¯re right, my goddess. This is exactly the talent I need. Thank you very much!¡± I obligingly performed an aristocratic bow, took off my hat, held it near my abdomen, and bent at a 30-degree angle. Even though I didn¡¯t have a top hat on my head. ¡°Hahahaha¡­ Alright, looks like you¡¯ve already made your own changes in this world. Mr. Extreme Night, it¡¯s time to send you back now. You have to make good use of this talent. Bye~¡± Accompanied by the girl¡¯s exaggerated laughter, I opened my eyes and returned to reality. It was already bright outside the window. I stretched my body and didn¡¯t feel tired at all. It seemed that meeting the goddess wouldn¡¯t affect my sleep. After getting dressed, I went to the living room. Father and Mother were already seated and waiting for me to eat breakfast together. ¡°Good morning, Father, Mother.¡± ¡°Good morning, Will.¡± ¡°Good morning, Will. The location of your survival training is in the jungle 10 kilometers northeast. Your goal is to survive for three days without any food. The tools you need have been prepared for you. You can leave after breakfast.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± I glanced at a small package at my father¡¯s feet and sat down at the table to finish breakfast with my parents¡­ ¡°Father, Mother, I¡¯m leaving.¡± At the courtyard door, I picked up the package and said goodbye to my parents. ¡°Bon voyage, Will.¡± Mother waved her arms hard. My father smiled and gestured for me to leave without worry. My destination. 10 kilometers northeast. After confirming the direction, I ran straight towards the northeast. This was the first time I was so far away from home. The anticipation of the unknown made me a little excited at this moment. I ran through fields and woods of varying heights, letting the dew wet my trousers. Two hours later. I stopped and observed the position of the sun through the gaps in the ancient trees that were as tall as a hundred feet. I confirmed that this was the place my father had chosen for my survival training. Then the first thing I need to do now is make sure the location is safe, check the package and know the tools I have. I picked the lowest branch at the edge of the forest that was five meters above the ground. I climbed to the middle and opened the package in the direction of the sun. This position could give me maximum avoidance of being discovered by the people on top of the tree. The blinding sunlight could also provide me with some cover. I didn¡¯t know what kind of test my father had added, but I guessed that there would be people involved, and the most likely ones were the death row prisoners my father had captured. An assassin has to kill after all. I had killed countless people in my previous life, but I had never killed in this world. My father did not know about my memories. Using a death row prisoner to let me try my hand was a good choice. One dagger, three flying knives, a roll of extremely strong steel threads, and a small sleeve arrow with five arrows. There was also a small bottle of water. Judging from the size of the iron bottle, even if I were frugal enough, I would need to find my own water by tomorrow morning at most. These are all the tools I have right now. After loading the sleeve arrow, I swung on the branches and headed deeper into the forest. I needed food now to replenish the stamina I lost from running 10 kilometers. I will face the challenge in the forest in my best condition. There were also an unknown number of enemies. Chapter 13 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios 10 minutes later. I stood on a branch, my gaze fixed below There was a hare that stopped eating. It rubbed its nose and pricked up its ears to listen to the surroundings. I raised the arrow sleeve in my hand and quietly waited for the right moment. I waited for it to lower its head and continue eating the mushroom. This hare weighed at least four kilograms. It was enough for my energy needs for a day. A moment later. The hare didn¡¯t sense any danger and lowered its head to eat the mushroom again. The arrow in my hand followed. ¡°Pfft~¡± With a soft thud, the hare fell to the ground. The 15-centimeter arrow pierced through the rabbit¡¯s left eye and nailed it to the ground through its right eye. After confirming that the surroundings were safe, I jumped down from the tree and picked up the hare. I looked up and observed my surroundings for a moment before walking towards a slope in the northwest. The wind now should be a southeastern wind. According to my calculations, I should still be at the edge of the forest. The edge of the downwind was the least noticeable location. After peeling off the rabbit skin, I started digging and building a earthen stove. Such a smokeless earthen stove buried underground was a skill I had learned in my previous life. It was very useful in the wild. Nearly an hour passed. I took the roasted hare from the earthen stove and put it in my mouth to chew. I placed the rabbit skin on top of the stove to dry it. At night, this complete rabbit skin should make a pretty good mat. Although there were no seasonings, the hare meat roasted over an open fire still tasted good. I took out the water bottle and took a few sips. I put the remaining half of the hare meat into my backpack and continued to explore the forest. The trees grew denser. The dappled sunlight had started out as specks, but now I could only catch a glimpse of it when I was lucky. I was probably already in the heart of this dense forest. The forest was frighteningly quiet. Occasionally, the sound of insects added to the terrifying atmosphere. I didn¡¯t let down my guard. I took every step carefully. The road in front of me was getting darker and darker. After I looked up and couldn¡¯t see any sunlight at all, I decided to stop and rest for a while. It might be a good choice to set up camp now. I found a branch of a big tree and covered it with rabbit skin. After sitting on it and experiencing it for a while, I took out the thin steel wire from my backpack and wrapped it around the tree I was resting on as the first line of defense. If one didn¡¯t pass through the route I set up, it would be cut into pieces with a quick walk. After tying the warning rope to my hand, I sat down in peace and chewed the rabbit meat that had long been cold as dry wood. Exhaustion finally assaulted this body that had just turned eight years old. I leaned against the tree trunk and fell asleep¡­ An unknown period of time passed. In my half-asleep state, I thought I heard voices in my ears. I opened my half-closed eyes, and something particularly bright penetrated my retinas. It was the glow of fire! In an instant. I sprung up like a cheetah, no longer sleepy at all. I quietly untied the warning rope in my hand, took out my dagger and held it in my hand. It seemed that it was already nighttime. In such an environment where one¡¯s vision was severely obstructed, flyings knives and sleeve arrows would lose their accuracy considerably. I quietly went down the tree and approached the glow, wanting to confirm the identity of the people who lit the fire. The conversation between the two of them, accompanied by the crackling of the firewood, clearly entered my eardrums. ¡°Bob, it¡¯s my night watch. Aren¡¯t you going to get some sleep?¡± ¡°No, the bugs here are too annoying. How I miss the times when we held the Feudal Lord¡¯s daughter and drank in the tavern.¡± ¡°Huh? Do you mean you miss breaking her neck after drinking?¡± ¡°Hey! If there¡¯s a chance to do it again, it¡¯s not impossible¡­¡± ¡°That depends on when that damned adventurer appears. I also want to lie on the Feudal Lord¡¯s bed and listen to their screams¡­ As long as we can kill the adventurer who entered this forest, we can regain our freedom!¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve been searching for four days, and that d*mned guy still hasn¡¯t appeared. We¡¯ve searched all four directions of this forest, but there are still no adventurers. Can¡¯t we just escape?¡± ¡°Oh! Bob, how can you have such a terrible thought! If we are to escape now, I¡¯d rather die directly. No one can escape from the Sword of Damocles, no one!¡± Between the two of them. One of them stood up agitatedly. The Sword of Damocles. Is Father that scary? These two scumbags didn¡¯t even have the courage to escape? Hmm~ He is indeed quite terrifying. After all, he even wanted to kill his biological son. I hid at one side and began sorting through the information I now had. Father¡¯s orders to them were not to capture me, but to kill me in a physical sense. I was lucky today. I was moving in the direction they weren¡¯t looking in. These three scumbags were indeed people who deserved to die. This was certain. Killing them would not burden me psychologically at all. I stuck my head out and observed the three of them. Among the trio, one was lying down and sleeping while the other two were chatting face to face. The enemy was in the open while I was in the dark. I was confident that I could kill one of them with the sleeve arrow, but that would give the other person enough time to react and wake up the third person. The night could hide my figure, but it would also make it difficult for my flying knives to aim at the enemy¡¯s vital points while moving. Sleeve arrows were designed as hidden weapons, and in order to ensure that they were small enough, each arrow needed to be manually loaded. I couldn¡¯t use long-range weapons, so I only had my dagger. However, without knowing their strength, I might not be their match with just my dagger. It seemed that I needed to use a scheme to resolve this. I looked at the wire in my hand and had an idea. Swoosh! I raised my hand and pressed the spring of the sleeve arrow. The arrow hit the man named Bob between the eyes. ¡°Bob! Halson, get up! We¡¯re under attack!¡± The other man stood up in shock and kicked the firewood in front of him away. He called out to his companion in panic and fled into the darkness. As expected of an outlaw arranged by Father, he was very experienced. ¡°Your reaction is not bad. However, all of you will die today!¡± I loaded the second arrow in the darkness and called out in a mimicked aged voice. ¡°You immature fellow, are you the adventurer that Damocles spoke of? Your chance to sneak an attack is gone. Halson, we will surround him from both sides!¡± A male voice came from the darkness. An eight-year-old¡¯s tender voice with deliberately imitation could not deceive them. The dart in my right hand shot towards the source of the sound. All I heard was the sound of it stabbing into the forest. ¡°Halson!¡± ¡°Leave it to me!¡± Two urgent cries came from in front of me. Feeling the pressure coming at me, I turned around and retreated. The figure behind kept up in hot pursuit. After a dozen steps, I stopped. Thud! The sound of a body falling to the ground came from behind me. Chapter 14 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios I knew that at least one of the three steel wires I had laid down should have been above his neck, so that he didn¡¯t even have a chance to scream. He died silently. There was only one enemy left. ¡°Halson, how are you?¡± In the darkness, the last enemy asked anxiously. His tone was already very flustered. ¡°Can¡¯t you tell? He¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°You¡¯re that adventurer? I didn¡¯t expect the person the Lord tasked us with to be a kid. Heh!¡± ¡°But your two companions died at the hands of a child like me.¡± I stopped disguising my voice and kept changing my position in the darkness. ¡°Of course I know that. But that¡¯s only if you sneak up on me. If we drag this on until dawn, do you think you¡¯ll still have an advantage?¡± The enemy¡¯s voice kept coming from the other side. Judging from the distance of his voice, the other party was probably doing the same thing as me. Moving and adjusting his position to avoid being locked onto by me. ¡°Then we¡¯ll wait and see. Don¡¯t run away,¡± I said. There was still half a roll of thread in my hand, enough for me to set up a few traps. Now, I needed to constantly lure him into talking to determine the approximate range so that I could surround him in the trap. ¡°Hmph! If we continue like this until dawn, we won¡¯t know who will be the one to escape.¡± ¡°Then you can rest assured. I won¡¯t leave this forest until I¡¯ve completed the test. Of course, I won¡¯t let a scumbag like you off either.¡± ¡°Kid, don¡¯t be too confident. I have five lives on my hands!¡± ¡­ Good. It seemed that he hadn¡¯t realized what kind of trap had killed his accomplice. He even treated my conversation with him like an ordinary cat playing with a mouse. I used every minute and second to set up all the steel wires in the area within a 10-meter radius of him. In any case, I could retrieve them after tomorrow. There was no need to feel heartache. The sky gradually brightened. My opponent and I, who had dragged this on half the night, finally found each other behind our respective bunkers. A man in his thirties in thin clothes. He held an iron sword in his hand and there was a conspicuous scar on the left side of his face. ¡°You¡¯re indeed a kid. I¡¯ll teach you a lesson now!¡± After seeing my appearance, the man shouted and rushed towards me with a his sword in one hand. I shook my head slightly. The person in front of me was just a murderer, far from being a killer. The bonfire that had finished burning was not far from his left hand. His companion¡¯s head was separated from his body, but he did not notice such a clean wound. He rushed over just like that and wanted to kill me with his sword? ¡°You should be glad. If it weren¡¯t for the cover of night, you¡¯d long be dead.¡± I stepped out from behind a tree trunk. ¡°What a joke! If it wasn¡¯t a sneak attack, you¡­¡± The voice stopped abruptly. What followed was a heart-wrenching scream. ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª¡± ¡°My leg! My leg¡­¡± ¡°If you had rushed over from the side, it wouldn¡¯t be your legs that were cut off. You will truly experience the feeling of sliced in half.¡± I walked in front of the man and flicked the slightly higher steel wire on the tree beside me. I raised the sleeve arrow in my left hand, aimed it at his head and pressed down. Swoosh! The forest returned to its calm. I retrieved the steel wire that was used as a trap and gathered the three corpses together. After covering them with dead branches and leaves, I headed out in another direction. When I leave, my father will arrange for someone to take care of these corpses. If I fail to leave, then this shouldn¡¯t be something for me to be thinking about¡­ Returning to where the sunlight could shine down, I bathed in the sunlight and drank two mouthfuls of water, thinking about my plans for the next two days. Perhaps I could take this opportunity to practice the [Devil¡¯s Contract] given by the goddess. The range of this talent was ridiculously wide. All other creatures and animals would do as it had a certain level of intelligence. I made up my mind. I got up and began moving again. My water was finishing. It was about time for me to find a water source. A water source in the forest will naturally have many animals living nearby. I might be able to pick my first target for the contract. I walked as downhill as much as I could. Right now, I was halfway up the slope, and water tends to be at the foot of the hill. When the sun was right above my head, the ground under my feet gradually became soft and the air was much moister. After a few hundred meters, a stream appeared in front of me. The stream was not big, and the water flowed silently. Arriving at the stream, I washed my face, filled the bottle, and looked around. An animal of interest appeared in my line of vision. It was a bear. From its size and color, it was probably be a semi-adult brown bear that had just left its mother and started to hunt alone. After staring at each other for a moment, the semi-adult brown bear began to walk toward me. It must have taken me for a predatory target. Yep. I probably weigh enough to make a good meal. But I have the same intentions too. A bear¡¯s sense of smell was more than 300 times stronger than that of a human. If I can defeat this fellow, it would be a good choice as my contract¡¯s experimental subject. I straightened up and stood up. The brown bear that was walking in the water also stood up. It was a head taller than me. ¡°Roar!¡± The brown bear lunged at me with a snarl. I dodged, grabbed the fur on the bear¡¯s neck with both hands, and rode on its back. I clenched my fists and smashed them on its head. The brown bear began to writhe its body crazily, wanting to throw the guy on its back off. However, as the human with the highest intelligence among primates and after many years of training, I could easily dodge its sharp claws and hang steadily on its body. My fists kept landing on the brown bear¡¯s head. The brown bear¡¯s movements gradually became sluggish. It no longer stood but lay with all fours spread on the ground. The angry roar in its mouth also became a faint whimper. I got off the bear¡¯s back and stood in front of it. It didn¡¯t get up. Instead, it looked up at me with teary eyes that begged for mercy. ¡°Are you going to be aggressive?¡± ¡°Wu~¡± I reached out and touched its forehead. With my current response, even if it was putting on a pretense just now, I was confident that I could dodge its attack. Still. It still lay meekly on the ground, allowing me to pet it. ¡°In that case, how about we sign a contract?¡± I pressed my palm against the brown bear¡¯s forehead and activated [Devil¡¯s Contract]. The process was abnormally smooth. I didn¡¯t encounter any resistance. I could clearly feel the brown bear¡¯s submission to me. The brown bear on the ground seemed to sense something strange. It raised its head and looked at me before lying back down. ¡°Share the sense of smell.¡± I closed my eyes and chanted in my heart. In an instant. Various odors began to rush into my nostrils from around me, funneling information into my mind. After distinguishing the different smells of decay, stench, flowers, and grass, I smelled something unusual. It was less than a kilometer in front of me. There. There was a woman in hiding. Chapter 15 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 15: Let Her Live A woman, and she appeared in this wilderness. Could this be some kind of test arranged by my father? ¡°Little Bear, come with me.¡± I summoned Little Bear, who was lying on the ground, and walked towards the opposite bank of the stream. Whether she is Father¡¯s test or a pure passerby, the truth would be revealed after we meet each other. ¡°Aah ooh~¡± Little Bear stood up excitedly and ran in front of me. The opposite bank of the stream was different from the dense forest here. Not far out, there was a cliff. I looked at the cliff in front of me. The woman¡¯s aura came from a cave on the cliff. ¡°Aah ooh~¡± Little Bear cried out and looked at me. He nudged his nose upward, obviously also catching the aura above. I patted his head to show that I knew. My gaze returned to the cliff. Having set my course, I began to climb the cliff. ¡°Ooh ooh~¡± The anxious cry of Little Bear came from below. I turned around and looked at him, who was spinning in circles. I gestured for him to rest assured. He immediately lay down quietly and stopped crying. I seemed to have discovered another use of the contract. The ability to connect with the other party¡¯s mind was greatly enhanced. A few minutes later, I stood in front of the cave on the cliff face. Fresh charcoal ashes and human excrement wrapped in them at the entrance. Clearly, there were traces of human activity. ¡°Is anyone in there?¡± I called into the cave. ¡°Yes, is it Sir Will?¡± A weak female voice came from the cave. The moment I heard my name, I was certain that this was also a test arranged by my father. However, I still didn¡¯t understand why my father would tell her my name. ¡°It¡¯s me. May I come in?¡± ¡°Please come in.¡± With permission, I stepped inside. The cave was not too small. After turning a corner, I saw a pale woman sitting in a corner with an unextinguished bonfire in front of her. The woman looked to be in her twenties. Her entire body was wrapped in gray gauze. Her lips were colourless, and her eyes were bloodshot. She seemed to be having a fever and looked like she would collapse at any moment. ¡°Hello, ma¡¯am. It looks like you could use some help.¡± ¡°Haha, Sir Will, did you notice? I got injured climbing up here, but now, it doesn¡¯t matter anymore. I¡¯m a person who deserves to die. It¡¯s better to die here than to die after suffering humiliation in prison.¡± The woman smiled weakly and lifted the veil covering her legs. Her calves were slender and white, but there was a serious injury on one of her knees. The surrounding area was already inflamed. This should be the reason why the woman was so weak. ¡°Madam, wait a moment. I¡¯ll go find some herbs for you.¡± I turned around and walked out of the cave. I returned to the bottom of the cliff and summoned Little Bear to go into the forest with me to find a few herbs that could reduce inflammation. I didn¡¯t expect the medical knowledge my father taught me to come in handy so quickly. There seemed to be a lot more to the woman¡¯s words. This should be the test my father had given me. My top priority was to keep her alive. An hour later. I returned to the cave and crushed the herbs I had found together before applying them to the woman¡¯s wound. Then, I brewed a pot of medicine with an iron pot and made her drink it. ¡°Thank you, Sir Will. This dying person has troubled you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Can you tell me what crime you committed?¡± I sat down across her and asked. Since they were the test subjects arranged by his father, they should all be people who had committed crimes. ¡°I killed someone. Baron Dominic.¡± The woman was very calm. There was even a hint of relief in her eyes. I didn¡¯t know who Baron Dominic was, but I knew the laws of the Kingdom of Freld. Civilians had to pay with their lives for killing nobles. This meant that she must die. Then, what was Father trying to test by arranging such a person for me? I fell into thought. ¡°Sir Will, did you know? Five months ago, I also had a child your age. He wasn¡¯t as capable as you, but he was as cute as you.¡± The woman in front of me looked at me and smiled. Her eyes were filled with love. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± This child was probably dead. I didn¡¯t know how to comfort her. This seemed to be all I could say. ¡°Sir Will, I can tell that you¡¯re also the son of a noble, but why is there such a huge difference between nobles? You¡¯re so humble and polite, but Baron Dominic from my hometown is a scumbag who won¡¯t even spare a seven-year-old child.¡± The woman shed tears as she recounted the past. It was probably because she saw me that she remembered the sad past of her deceased child. I was silent. The woman continued. ¡°My husband passed away a long time ago. I gathered camellia for a living. All I had was my mother and my seven-year-old son. That day, because I was busy with the collection, I asked my son to send fresh tea leaves to Baron Dominic¡¯s house as a form of tax. At night, I received news of my son¡¯s death. ¡°They told me that my son was in a car accident and was trampled by the horses pulling a cart. When I saw my son¡¯s corpse, I saw obvious traces of abuse. Boohoo¡­¡± At this point, the woman was already sobbing uncontrollably. I didn¡¯t need to hear any more. I could already guess what happened next. As Baron Dominic¡¯s subject, the woman in front of me, having failed to obtain fairness through legal means, had taken the most extreme method to avenge her son. Moreover, she had survived. But because of the laws of the Kingdom of Freld, she had to pay for her feudal lord¡¯s life. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sir Will, for letting you hear such unhappy things.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, ma¡¯am. You don¡¯t have to apologize.¡± ¡°No! Sir Will, I took advantage of your kindness. In fact, I was ordered to come here to tell you about this. The lord who asked me to come said that if I told you about this, he would give my mother a large sum of money as my last act of filial piety to her.¡± The woman wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and struggled to get up, wanting to apologize to me. ¡°Madam, I¡¯ve said it before. You don¡¯t have to apologize to me. I think if you want to be filial, you should be filial to your mother personally.¡± ¡°Sir¡­ Sir Will, w-what do you mean?¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Madam, can you tell me your name?¡± ¡°C-Cerens.¡± ¡°Mrs. Cerens, personally, if you only killed Baron Dominic, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve done anything wrong. I even admire your bravery. Your mother still needs care You¡¯re still young. Time will fade this pain. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Father to bring your mother to our territory and give you land so that you can build a new home. But for now, you need to recuperate.¡± I understood my father¡¯s intentions. He wanted me to decide the fate of this woman. And my choice was. Let her live. Chapter 16 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios I gathered a day¡¯s supply of herbs for Mrs. Cerens and rested with her in the cave for the night. The next day. Mrs. Cerens fever subsided and she looked much better. I tied the straw rope I had woven from thatch to the top of the hill and tied the other end around her waist so she could climb down slowly while I headed down first keep an eye on her. ¡°Aah ooh~¡± Little Bear, who had been waiting at the foot of the mountain, immediately stood up and cried out excitedly when he saw me coming down. But he startled Mrs. Cerens, who was coming down with the rope, and she stopped in midair. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Mrs. Cerens. This is my newly adopted pet and my friend. Don¡¯t you agree, Little Bear?¡± ¡°Aah ooh~¡± I had to pat Little Bear on the head to prove our relationship. ¡°Sir Will, do you know that I had no choice but to climb into the cave on the cliff to avoid it? I didn¡¯t expect it to have become your pet.¡± Mrs. Cerens came down dubiously and her gaze hovered between Little Bear and me with incredulous eyes. ¡°Perhaps this is fate, Mrs. Cerens. We¡¯re leaving for home today. It¡¯s 10 kilometers away. If you¡¯re tired, I can get Little Bear to give you a ride.¡± ¡°No¡­ Sir Will, don¡¯t worry about me. I used to gather tea for a living and have climbed cliffs that were steeper than this. This accidental abrasion is because of this¡­ because of Mr. Bear. I couldn¡¯t gather herbs to treat my wounds as result. Now that my fever has subsided, it¡¯s not a problem for me to walk the mountain path.¡± Mrs. Cerens hurriedly waved her hand. There was still some fear in her eyes as she looked at Little Bear. This was the innate fear of normal people when they saw ferocious animals. ¡°That¡¯s good. Let¡¯s go. This is for you.¡± I respected her choice and pared a branch into the shape of a walking stick and handed it to her. ¡°Thank you, Sir Will.¡± Just like that, the two humans and one bear set off home. Little Bear led the way for us and ran exceptionally happily. I didn¡¯t break off the contract with it. Having lived two lives, I had never had a pet since I was young. This unexpected harvest of a bear allowed me to finally experience the joy of raising a pet. When I walked up the main road leading to the door, Little Bear that had appeared out of nowhere with a half-grown wild boar in his mouth approached me and showed it off. Worried that it would scare passers-by, I ordered it to stay by my side from now on. It was still a long way from the door. I could already see my father and mother waiting outside the door. ¡°Will, get away from that dangerous animal!¡± Mother raised a huge water bubble and shouted at me. I hurriedly raised my arms and waved them. I was afraid that my mother would kill my new pet before it could even enter the house. That would be too tragic. Fortunately¡­ Mother understood what I meant and put away her magic. ¡°Will, my lovely Will, you¡¯re not hurt, are you? Oh dear! Where did this bear come from, and this missus is¡­¡± In front of the house. Mother came forward to greet me. She looked around me before her gaze landed on my pet bear and Mrs. Cerens. ¡°Lilith, Mrs. Cerens is a servant I hired. I¡¯ll got Will to bring her over while he was out this time. She¡¯ll work at home from now on.¡± Father walked over and explained to Mother. ¡°Yes, Lady Lilith. I¡¯m a servant hired by the Lord. My usual job is to take care of this bear. Winnie, come with me!¡± Mrs. Cerens immediately bowed to Mother and began to call to Little Bear. Hastily, I ordered Little Bear bear to obey Mrs. Cerens¡¯ instructions, and sent him to sit at her feet. Mother did not find any loopholes, so she complained to Father, ¡°Darling, did you actually prepare a bear as a pet for Will?¡± ¡°I knew Will would like a surprise like that. Will, do you like the gift from Father?¡± ¡°Thank you, Father. Winnie is the best gift I¡¯ve ever received,¡± I spoke excitedly. The three humans and the bear cooperated perfectly. The bear¡¯s name was also determined by Mrs. Cerens quick wits. From then on, his name was Winnie. ¡°Lilith, bring Mrs. Cerens around to familiarize her with the home. I¡¯ll check Will¡¯s training results this time.¡± ¡°Mother, don¡¯t throw away the wild boar that Winnie is holding. I¡¯ll deal with it myself later.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, alright. I won¡¯t throw it away. Mrs. Cerens, please bring this bear with you and follow me. Remember to discipline it well. Don¡¯t let it scare the servants in the residence.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lady.¡± Mrs. Cerens took Little Bear and followed Mother into the house. My father and I smiled at each other once our eyes met. ¡°Will, is this your choice?¡± ¡°Yes, Father, I don¡¯t think Mrs Cerens should die like this.¡± ¡°Very well. Since you¡¯ve made your choice, stick to the path you¡¯ve chosen. Father will support you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Father. Can I ask you a question?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Father, we, the Reinhardts exist to protect the kingdom. What will you do if the King makes the wrong decision one day?¡± I looked at my father and asked seriously. It was what I had seen in Mrs. Cerens, about the injustice of the law of the kingdom itself. In order to maintain his rule, the King upheld the nobles and despised the common people. This was naturally not a problem when the country was stable. However, once an enemy invaded and the other country¡¯s strength was similar to the kingdom, the common people who had had enough of the oppression of the nobles would become the tomb diggers of the kingdom. ¡°Well, I shouldn¡¯t be the one to answer that question, because the current King of Freld is still considered to be a wise man, and the strength of the country is also at the forefront among the countries. Father only needs to guarantee that nothing like this will happen before the Sword of Damocles reaches your hands. ¡°Looking at the current King¡¯s age, there will still be at least 20 years of prosperity. 20 years later, the power of the Reinhardt family should be in your hands. Will, this is a question you should consider.¡± Father patted my shoulder and spoke earnestly, but I could always hear a hint of schadenfreude in his words. ¡°Um¡­ Father, you can¡¯t do this. At least, you shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Will, when I took over the mission from your grandfather, he told me the same thing. This is the legacy of the Reinhardt family. Accept your fate!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Will, I¡¯ll share with you another lesson. If you don¡¯t want this to happen, you have to have the ability to change the King¡¯s mind. For example, become the friend of the next King or the son-in-law of the current King.¡± ¡°¡­Father, are you serious?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯m serious! How do you think your mother got here? Your father, I, snatched her from the current king!¡± When I heard this, the way I looked at my father had already changed. I felt a sense of admiration. How close was his relationship with the King to have seized his wife from him? It turned out that Father was not just making the comment. He was really putting it into practice. ¡°Father, you¡¯re amazing!¡± ¡°Hahaha, of course.¡± After my father laughed, he leaned close to my ear and asked softly, ¡°But Will, how did you find a bear as a pet and make it so obedient?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a secret!¡± ¡°Is that a secret? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, Will. How about I trade you the last of the Reinhardt family secrets for this bear?¡± ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you want to teach the secret or not.¡± After saying this, I quickly walked home. ¡°Wait for me, Will! It¡¯s really cool to have a bear as a pet¡ª¡ª¡± Chapter 17 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 17: Magic Eye In the basement. Father walked to a wall and touched his fingers on a few tiles in a random manner. A secret door appeared in front of me. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Will. This is the last secret of the Reinhardt family. Today, I will impart it to you.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± I followed my father into the secret door and down the stairs. It was a white operating room with dazzling lights. ¡°Will, lie down.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The Reinhardt¡¯s final secret requires a small operation. Will, are you afraid?¡± ¡°No, I trust Father.¡± ¡°Okay, close your eyes.¡± I closed my eyes. The last scene I saw was that my father putting on the sterile gloves. There was a slight pain behind my ears. There seemed to be blades that were cutting into my nerves. After feeling my mind go blank, I completely passed out. When I woke up again, my father was already standing by the bed, smiling at me. ¡°The surgery was a success, Will. I¡¯ll remove your stitches in five days. No strenuous exercise for the next few days.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± I got off the bed and followed my father out of the secret room. Back in the living room. My mother was tasting something with the head chef at home. When she saw me enter, her eyes lit up and she rushed over. ¡°Will, how did you make the wild boar soup last night? Can you make it again and teach the chef while you¡¯re at it? It was too delicious!¡± ¡°No problem, Mother.¡± ¡°Young master Will, I really don¡¯t know how you turned the fishy boar meat into such a delicacy. In my 30 years as a chef, I¡¯ve never seen the nobles of the Kingdom of Freld eat pork. Your culinary skills really make me blush with shame. Please allow me to be so bold to ask you how to make this wild boar soup.¡± The head chef walked up to me apologetically. ¡°No problem, head chef. Please follow me.¡± I led the head chef into the kitchen and deftly dealt with the leftover pork from yesterday. This was a skill that I had learned in my previous life. This was because many of my assassination targets didn¡¯t live in the bustling city, but in villas in the mountains and forests. It often took a perfect opportunity to assassinate them, so I frequently needed to spend many days in the forest. From then on, I had the habit of reading recipes in usual times. The ingredients I casually picked up became delicious after many trial-and-error processes. ¡°Head chef, you said that Freld¡¯s nobles never eat pork. Would ordinary people eat this then?¡± I asked casually. It seemed that I had never eaten anything made by anyone other than the chefs at home. The nobles¡¯ habit of not eating pork made me curious. ¡°Of course, Young Master Will. The price of pork is much lower than that of beef and mutton. Pork is the main source of meat for the poor people. In the commoners¡¯ taverns in the market, there are also cuisines made of pork. I¡¯ve tried such cuisine before. Forgive me for being blunt, but they¡¯re really difficult to swallow. When my Lady asked me to taste the soup just now, oh my god! I really couldn¡¯t believe that it¡¯s actually a delicacy made of pork.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you for clearing my doubts, head chef. Please hand me the white sugar.¡± ¡°Alright, Young Master Will, please don¡¯t say that. I¡¯m already very grateful that you¡¯re willing to teach me how to cook pork. To be frank, even if I¡¯m no longer able to serve the Reinhardt Family in the future, with this skill in hand, I can still take in disciples when I return to my hometown.¡± ¡°Head chef, please don¡¯t say such things. I¡¯ll have to leave home one day. Father and Mother are already used to the food you cook. You have to pick a time to nurture a reliable disciple so that you can spend your later years in Reinhardt in peace.¡± ¡°Haha, thank you, Young Master Will¡­¡± After I personally demonstrated twice, the head chef finally tried to make a rare oriental delicacy from my previous life. It was a dish called Red Braised Pork. Even though he had yet to achieve the essence of the meat being fatty but not greasy, it was already edible. He should be able to meet the requirements after practicing a few more times. Five days later. My father and I went to the operating theater in the secret passage again. My father removed the sutured yarn behind my ear. ¡°Will, look at this. Make sure you concentrate.¡± Father casually threw the surgical forceps in his hand into the air. I followed my father¡¯s instructions and focused on the surgical forceps. Suddenly, the free fall trajectory of the surgical forceps in front of me began to show silhouettes. Time seemed to slow down in an instant. I could see every instance the surgical forceps rolled over clearly. No wonder I couldn¡¯t stab my father at such a close distance. In his eyes, my speed was probably about the same as a turtle¡¯s. He could dodge at any time. ¡°Father, this¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I believe you¡¯ve already seen it. This is the greatest secret passed down from generation to generation in the Reinhardt family. The family calls it the Magic Eye. As long as we focus, the flow of time in front of us will become very slow, including the trajectory of Mage¡¯s magic.¡± ¡°I see!¡± ¡°However, Will, in front of people with different strengths, the duration of the Magic Eye will also differ. The stronger they are, the shorter the duration. You have to be especially careful when using it. Come, I¡¯ll demonstrate it to you once. Watch my movements.¡± Father held out his hand. A small fireball began to condense in his hand, bouncing. I activated my Magic Eye to observe the trajectory of the fireball. As expected, the slow speed of the scalpel only lasted for the blink of an eye before it began to grow faster and faster. ¡°Will, how long did the Magic Eye last?¡± ¡°About two seconds.¡± ¡°Two seconds? Given your current strength, it¡¯s not bad. Continue to work hard!¡± ¡°Yes, Father!¡± I nodded hard. This was the trump card of the Reinhardt family, an inherent skill comparable to a golden talent! As long as you¡¯re slow enough in my eyes, I can strike first before you attack. As for the inadequacy that my father mentioned, I could completely accept it. After all, if everyone was equal in front of the Magic Eye, this skill would be too abnormal. ¡°Well, Will, after the greatest secret of the Reinhardt Family, there¡¯s nothing more I can teach you. From now on, you¡¯ll have to work hard on your own. What are your plans?¡± ¡°Father, I want to test my magic again.¡± I had to make up my mind to face this thing that was bothering me. Whether or not I could awaken my magic, I ought to choose a path to continue on. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s a good idea. You¡¯re almost nine years old. It¡¯s the golden age to test your magic attributes.¡± My father nodded in agreement and looked at me. ¡°Shall we ask Great Archmage Anna for help when she brings Jennifer back?¡± ¡°Father, can I get another teacher to test me?¡± I looked up and asked. Chapter 18 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 18: Mother¡¯s Background Father¡¯s gaze began to grow interested. ¡°Will, why would you think that? Great Archmage Anna is one of the best magic teachers. She probably will be interested in your talent.¡± ¡°Father, do you remember five years ago?¡± ¡°Are you talking about your attempt to awaken your magic when you were three years old? Is that accurate?¡± ¡°Yes, if I ask Great Archmage Anna to test me, Jennifer will definitely know about it. If I really can¡¯t awaken my magic¡­¡± ¡°Jennifer will beg Great Archmage Anna to make an exception and admit you to the academy?¡± Father¡¯s words hit the nail on the head. ¡°She will owe the academy a favor as a result.¡± I could only nod. My relationship with Jennifer was still very good. Every time we met, she would still pull me into her arms. Nothing had changed as I grew older. If I was really eight years old and didn¡¯t know anything about the affairs between men and women, it wouldn¡¯t matter.. But I wasn¡¯t. I had an adult soul. The precocious Jennifer had already grown into a beautiful young girl. Her body had also begun to develop. Every time I was held in her arms, others would think that we are close siblings, but to me, it was too charming. As a rare genius mage who only appeared once every two hundred years, a treasured student of the Glei Academy, as long as she was willing to speak, the academy would definitely accept me, even if I didn¡¯t have the qualifications to enter. In my previous life, I didn¡¯t know much about the ways of the world. However, I knew that favors were the most difficult debts to repay in the world. After all, I had also killed people for his friend because of the favor that the President owed. ¡°Yes, Will, it¡¯s good that you can think of this. However, our family is the closest to the Glei Academy. If we go to the other two academies to invite teachers¡­¡± My father thought for a moment and smiled at me. ¡°Perhaps you can ask your mother for help.¡± ¡°Mother? Is someone in Mother¡¯s family also a teacher of an academy?¡± I was surprised. I originally thought that my mother was just a genius mage, but from my father¡¯s expression, that was not the case at all. My mother¡¯s family also seemed to have considerable influence. And in all these years, I had never heard my mother mention it. Not once. ¡°Haha, you can ask her yourself. This might be a good opportunity!¡± His father laughed heartily and walked out of the room. I followed my father out and decided to seek my mother¡¯s help. ¡­ ¡°Will, don¡¯t you want to go to Glei Academy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I repeated what I had just said to my father to my mother. ¡°I think you may be worrying too much, Will, but Mother appreciates your thoughtfulness.¡± Mother nodded slightly and glared at Father. ¡°Davis, given your relationship with the King, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to have the capital¡¯s magic academy to send a teacher over, right?¡± ¡°Hehe, my dear, after so many years, the people sent by my father-in-law to apologize have all been chased away by you. You never returned to your maternal family and you didn¡¯t even let them know that you have given birth to Will. Do you want Will to never know who his maternal grandfather is? That¡¯s impossible. Will will eventually become the head of the Reinhardt Family and inherit the Sword of Damocles. The Laurence family will definitely know of his existence.¡± Father¡¯s words rendered Mother speechless. ¡°Okay, I can contact the Laurence family, but this is all for Will!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s all for Will, darling.¡± ¡°Will, I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t told you about your grandfather all these years.¡± My mother hugged me and continued, ¡°My name is Lilith Lawrence, I am the eldest daughter of Marquis Laurence of the Northern Territory. Your grandfather is the Principal of Olgus Academy, one of the three major magic academies in the kingdom¡­¡± Only after listening to Mother¡¯s account, did I realize that I had such an illustrious background. Father really wasn¡¯t lying. Mother was dissatisfied with the Laurence family¡¯s decision to marry her into the royal family. She ran away from the marriage and went to the Glei Academy where she met Father. Moreover, she successfully passed the Great Mage Assessment and became a dual-attribute Great Mage. When Mother became an adult, Father took her as his wife and that was how I was born. All these years, Mother had always held resentment against my grandfather¡¯s decision and had never mentioned her family to me. My grandfather had sent people to invite my mother back every year, but my mother had chased them away. This plot from the novels of my previous life had truly appeared before my eyes. Mother¡¯s letter was quickly sent out. However, it took the Laurence family nearly a month to send someone over. ¡°Miss, Earl Reinhardt.¡± A middle-aged Mage stood in front of Mother and Father and bowed. Then, his gaze shifted to me. ¡°Is this Young Master Will?¡± ¡°Yes, Viscount Bateman. I hope you can test Will¡¯s talent seriously. If anything goes wrong, I won¡¯t spare you.¡± Mother pulled a cold and stony face, and her words were not polite. This person in front of me is probably a servant who has served the Laurence family for many years. ¡°Hehe, Miss, you haven¡¯t changed after so many years. Even without your orders, I won¡¯t be careless. This is the shared bloodline of the Laurence and Reinhardt Families. Young Master Will, please extend your hand and recite these magic incantations.¡± The Mage named Bateman squatted in front of me and took out a Test Crystal. A few incantations appeared in front of me. Like the magic incantations I¡¯d read when I was three, they were the simplest spells to awaken magic. The first was a water-type incantation. ¡°Oh pure protection of water, answer the call of the sincere. Descend here.¡± I read out after him. The magic crystal did not show any reaction. I saw Archmage Bateman¡¯s eyes flicker. Maybe he thought I should have inherited my mother¡¯s water talent, but I didn¡¯t. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master Will. Read the next line.¡± ¡°May the protection of the winds¡­¡± ¡°Keep going.¡± ¡°Fire¡­¡± Just like when I was three years old, the crystal still didn¡¯t react when I finished chanting the three incantations of water, wind, and fire. I could even hear my mother¡¯s rapid breathing. Archmage Bateman frowned and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. ¡°Please wait a moment, Young Master Will. Let me examine the crystal.¡± Bateman extended his hand, and the transparent crystal immediately turned into a small world of purple and lightning. ¡°Young¡­ Young Master Will, continue!¡± ¡°Oh thunder from the sky~¡± ¡­ The incantations of Water, Wind, Fire, Thunder, and Ice were all chanted by me. Looking at the transparent crystal, the anticipation in Mage Bateman¡¯s eyes was completely shattered. ¡°Miss, Earl Reinhardt¡­ Young Master Will¡­¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t there still two attributes that haven¡¯t been tested? Bateman, go on. I don¡¯t believe that my Will can¡¯t awaken any kind of magic.¡± Mother¡¯s voice was calm but firm. ¡°Yes¡­ Miss¡­¡± Chapter 19 Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Chapter 19: Heading To Olgus College Bateman¡¯s eyes were filled with disappointment and helplessness. His hand began to scribble in the air. A moment later. He stopped drawing. ¡°Young Master Will, this is an incantation to awaken light attribute magic power. According to the Book of Rosiel, when you awaken the light, darkness will no longer exist. Dark attribute magic is common among monsters. Whether humans can awaken dark attribute magic power is only inferred by Holy Archmage Rosiel. So far, no one has awakened it, so this is the last incantation.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll remember that. Thank you, Teacher Bateman.¡± ¡°Read it.¡± ¡°I will use dawn to disperse the night; I will use light to break the darkness!¡± I closed my eyes and recited this last spell. Although I had long planned to continue moving forward even if I couldn¡¯t awaken my magic, I still couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed when I really received the outcome. Most importantly, I would feel sorry for my mother and her heavy expectations. Oh goddess. ¡°If you really do know everything in heaven, please bless me to awaken a kind of magic. Any kind will do.¡± I prayed inwardly. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?! This has never happened before, and the Book of Rosiel doesn¡¯t have such records. Impossible, impossible¡­¡± I heard Teacher Bateman¡¯s confused exclamations. I opened my eyes. Archmage Bateman was frantically flipping through the Book of Rosiel. I wondered if the goddess had really heard my thoughts. The crystal ball in front of him emitted a scorching glow, but only half of it. And in this half of the light, there was a spot of darkness. The other half of the crystal was as black as ink. In the endless darkness, that trace of light was especially eye-catching. I knew the pattern in the crystal very well. In my previous life, this pattern was called Taichi. ¡°Wow! My Will actually possesses both light and darkness attributes! I didn¡¯t even dare to look just now!¡± ¡°Lilith, what will happen if the two magic attributes are mixed together?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I use both spells, it¡¯s always after the summoning that I fuse them together.¡± Father and Mother chatted anxiously behind me, probably seeing this for the first time. ¡°Miss, Earl Reinhardt, I can¡¯t explain Young Master Will¡¯s magic attributes, but such magic attributes must be the only one of its kind to exist to date. I need to go back and report to my Lord. He is also a light-attribute mage. Perhaps he can explain this situation. Can the two of you temporarily keep Young Master Will¡¯s situation a secret?¡± Teacher Bateman closed the book, looking particularly excited. ¡°Viscount Bateman, I¡¯ve already heard such a tone when Teacher Anna brought my daughter Jennifer to the Glei Academy. Now you¡¯ve learned that my Will is a magic genius? He has never seen such attributes before, what explanation can he have?¡± ¡°Miss, although that¡¯s the case, Olgus Academy is indeed the most suitable place for Young Master Will. There are a large number of dark attribute monsters in the north that he can use to study dark attribute magic, isn¡¯t that the case?¡± ¡°Hmm, after saying so much, only this sentence still sounds like a something from a human. But it will all still depend on where my cute Will wants to go.¡± Mother nodded in satisfaction and hugged me tightly in her arms before letting go. ¡°Will, which academy do you want to go to now? You can choose any of the three academies in the kingdom, but I don¡¯t think you can go overseas, the King won¡¯t agree.¡± ¡°Mother, I choose to go to Olgus Academy. Teacher Bateman is right. Where can I go to learn dark magic?¡± I ultimately chose the north. Not only was there someone I could learn magic from, there was also news about my final enemy, the Demon King. In the letter sent back by Chris, he said that there were more and more monsters at the border of the kingdom. The most likely possibility was that the Demon King was about to be awakened. If the goddess had chosen another Braveheart to reincarnate with their memories, they might have received this news too. If I go to the north now, I might get to see my future teammates or enemies. Anyway. If I had to choose an academy to study in, Olgus Academy was the best choice. ¡°Thank you, Young Master Will. I¡¯ll go back and report to my Lord now.¡± Teacher Bateman came and left in a hurry. This scene was familiar to me. ¡°Will! My lovely Will, are you leaving Mother too?¡± Mother picked me up and kissed me on the cheek, again and again, her eyes filled with reluctance. My father said nothing, but gave me an encouraging look. I smiled back. This was the tacit understanding between men. There was no need for words. Sometimes, a look was enough. This time, only half a month later, the house welcomed a new guest. In addition to Teacher Bateman, who had come the last time, there was an old man with a gray beard who looked to be in his fifties. His eyes were exactly the same color as my mother¡¯s. There was no need to guess who it was. However, my mother was still angry, so only Father and I came out to welcome them. ¡°Davis, is Lilith okay?¡± There was concern and self-blame in the old man¡¯s voice. ¡°Father-in-law, Lilith is fine, but¡­¡± ¡°Sigh, I know. She¡¯s still blaming me. I don¡¯t blame her for not coming out to see me.¡± The old man sighed. Suddenly he saw me and smiled. ¡°You must be Will.¡± ¡°Hello, Grandfather. I¡¯m Will.¡± I obediently walked up to the old man and greeted him. ¡°Oh, Will, my grandson is such a good boy.¡± The old man, who was originally a little disappointed, happily picked me up. ¡°Father-in-law, please come in~¡± Father hurriedly gestured. ¡°Davis, I won¡¯t be going in. Actually, this time, it was the King who summoned me. The monsters in the north are becoming more and more rampant, and the neighboring countries are also getting restless. The three academies and the Knights of the Holy Light have decided to gather manpower to eliminate the monsters. I¡¯m about to rush to the capital. On the way, I heard from Bateman that Will is going to attend Olgus Academy, so I wanted to come see all of you.¡± The old man waved his hand and took out a small sword from his waist and handed it to me. ¡°Will, Grandfather came in a hurry and didn¡¯t prepare any decent gifts. Take this small sword and play with it first. Grandfather will compensate you when you come to the north.¡± ¡°No! Since this was personally given by Grandfather, it is the best gift!¡± I clutched the sword to my chest. ¡°Hahahaha! Will, you really have a temper like mine! But I must leave now. I¡¯ll wait for you in Olgus in five months.¡± Grandfather laughed out loud as he set me down and left with Teacher Bateman away. My father and I turned back to return to the house and found my mother leaning against the door, staring blankly out. ¡°Mother, Grandfather hasn¡¯t gone far.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to see him at all. He¡¯s been busy since I was young. We barely saw each other a month. When we finally met, he wanted to marry me to the King as a tool? And he expects me to send him off?¡± Mother turned around angrily and went back into the house. My father and I looked at each other. There was still a long way to go before my mother and grandfather could reconcile. ¡­ In the blink of an eye, another three or four months passed. I celebrated my ninth birthday at home, and it was finally time for me to go to school at Olgus Academy. With tears in her eyes, my mother helped me pack my luggage and send me to the carriage. ¡°Will, is it really wise for you to go quietly like this and not tell Jennifer? Jennifer will be crying when she comes back.¡± ¡°If we really tell her, she¡¯ll definitely take leave to come back and send me off. And she¡¯ll still cry. Sigh, she might even drag me cry along with her. I¡¯ll write to her to apologize when I reach the academy.¡± ¡°Alright, when you reach the academy, remember to write back and tell us that you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother. I¡¯ll write every month.¡± When the carriage started. I glanced back again. The father who told me last night that he had no time to see me off was now standing behind the curtains, waving gently. Chapter 20 - Cliché and Unexpected Development Chapter 20 Clich¨¦ and Unexpected Development After a long journey of 20 days, the carriage finally stopped amidst the noise. ¡°Young Master Will, we¡¯ve reached Heikem.¡± I stepped out of the carriage. In front of us was a magnificent city gate. The wall was more than 10 meters tall, and the lion flag of the Kingdom of Freld fluttered against the wind. There was an endless stream of pedestrians coming and going. The vendors in front of the city gate were also in an orderly manner, as if proving that the city was safe. This was Heikem, the largest city on the northern border of the kingdom. Olgus Academy which was located here, together with the Royal Capital Magic Academy and the Glei Academy, were known the three major academies of the kingdom. And I¡¯m going to be living in this city for most of the next six years. ¡°Uncle Shenier, thank you for sending me here.¡± ¡°Haha, Young Master Will, you don¡¯t have to be so polite. After sending you here safely, I can finally be accountable to Master and Madam. I¡¯ll go back first.¡± ¡°Bon voyage, Uncle Chenier.¡± I bid farewell to Uncle Chenier and went into the city with my suitcase. The suitcase was not big. Inside were a few sets of clothes that my mother had prepared for me. The only thing I had prepared myself was the book, Julius¡¯ Magic Notes and 50 gold coins, adding some some weight to this case. Although I was only nine years old, I had inherited the good genes of the family and had trained since I was young. My height was close to 150 centimeters, which was almost the height of some stunted adults. Other than my slightly immature face, I didn¡¯t look out of place walking on the road with my suitcase from behind. When I walked into the city, I saw a wide road. The houses on both sides of the road were lined up. Unlike outside the city, there were no street stalls everywhere. They were all neat and orderly shops. In terms of first impressions, I had a very good impression of the city. I pulled out the envelope my father had handed me last night from my pocket and opened it to read. The letter contained an address and a letter of introduction. 19 Browning Street, Riston Inn. That¡¯s where I¡¯m going. This was the first time I learned that the Reinhardt Family actually had their own business as well. ¡°Neigh-¡° ¡°Get out of the way! Get out of the way! The horses have gone crazy!¡± The sudden neighs and the man¡¯s shout made the people on the street panic. Everyone hurriedly dodged to the sides of the road. A luxurious four-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses appeared in my field of vision. The coachman pulled the reins hard to control the direction of the carriage so that it would not lose control and rush into the crowd while shouting loudly to warn the people on the road. I followed the crowd and dodged towards the two sides of the road. This place was not far from the city gate. When the carriage drove out of the city and got tired of running on the main road, it would naturally stop. ¡°Mommy, Mommy!¡± There was a hint of joy in her childish voice. I looked back. At some point, a girl with pigtails had appeared in the middle of the road. She held a stick of candied hawthorn in her hand and crossed the road when everyone was dodging to the sides. She was running towards a woman on the other side of the road. ¡°Get out of the way! Whoa-¡° ¡°My child! My child! Go back! Go back!¡± The coachman and the woman on the side of the road shouted in horror, asking the girl who wanted to cross the road to turn around and go back. Unfortunately, the sound of the exquisite horseshoes on the limestone slab was far louder than their shouts. The child who was so focused on crossing the road and running towards her mother¡¯s arms did not realize that danger was coming. Sigh, what a common and clich¨¦ development. I sighed softly and moved my wrist slightly. A flying knife slipped out of my hand. ¡°Neighhh!¡± One of the two big horses suddenly fell to the ground. The other horse was caught off guard and tripped, letting out a sad cry. The carriage came to an abrupt stop. At the same time, a wail sounded. ¡°Ah-¡° The coachman was also caught off guard and was sent flying by the carriage that suddenly stopped. Unexpectedly, my attempt to save the girl has harmed another. I activated my Magic Eye and threw out the suitcase in my hand according to the trajectory of the driver¡¯s fall. I placed it on the spot where he would fall to prevent him from hitting the ground with his head. This is all I can do. I hope he doesn¡¯t fall too hard. ¡°Oh, my daughter, are you alright? That was too dangerous.¡± The woman hugged her daughter tightly as she ran across the street. She squatted on the ground and covered her face as she cried. The coachman also got up from the ground unscathed. He looked at the suitcase on the ground and glanced around, at a loss. This surprised me. I only had a few pieces of clothes in my luggage. They shouldn¡¯t have such good anti-fall effects. However, I didn¡¯t think too much about it and walked forward to retrieve my suitcase. ¡°Thank you, Young Master.¡± The coachman thanked me profusely. I smiled and waved my hand. I picked up my suitcase. Right now, I just wanted to head to the inn and have a good rest. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re the one who killed my horse, huh?!¡± The high and mighty voice really displeased me. I turned back. A fat little aristocrat with a swollen forehead stood on the carriage. He looked to be two or three years older than me. He looked down at me with a furious expression, as if he was about to explode. ¡°Your horse went berserk in the middle of a busy market. That was the quickest solution.¡± I glanced at him. ¡°It¡¯s really you! Even if my horse goes crazy, it¡¯s not your turn to deal with it. It¡¯s merely the life of a commoner. At most, I¡¯ll compensate for it. Now that my horse is dead, you¡¯re in trouble!¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°What I want?! You killed my horse and you¡¯re asking me what I want? Naturally, it¡¯s for you to kneel down and kowtow to me in apology! Looking at your clothes, you¡¯re probably the descendant of a small noble in the remote countryside. Do you know who my father is?¡± The little fatty had an evil smile on his lips as he sized me up. He seemed to enjoy the feeling of being a bully. I stared back at him, my expression unchanged, expecting him to say the name. As the saying goes, like father, like son. This saying might be true if it were reversed. If I report it to my father, he should be happy to investigate. ¡°Carle! Wasn¡¯t it enough to disgrace yourself in the capital? Do you still want to disgrace your family after coming to Heikem?¡± A pleasant female voice sounded from the crowd. The little fatty¡¯s expression instantly changed when he heard the voice. I looked in the direction of the voice. A young girl walked out from the crowd. Her straight blond hair reached her waist and she wore a coffee-colored beret. She held her small bag in front of her with both hands. Her legs were straight and long. Her sky-blue eyes were glaring at the little fatty. ¡°Sephone, why are you here¡­¡± The little fatty jumped down from the carriage and looked at me. ¡°You¡¯re lucky to have Sephone backing you today. But remember, don¡¯t appear in front of me again! Let¡¯s go!¡± The little fatty led the coachman away quickly. I carried my suitcase and went back to the crowd. No matter which world it was, there would always be profligate sons who relied on their fathers. I was already prepared to meet such people in the academy. Since it didn¡¯t cause an accident this time, I couldn¡¯t be bothered to pursue the matter. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for scaring you. My name is Sephone, and I¡¯m a student about to join the Olgus Academy. You are probably one too, right? May I ask your name?¡±. The golden girl walked toward me. Chapter 21 - Sephone Chapter 21: Sephone ¡°¡®Will.¡± I looked at the girl walking over and said my name. ¡°Hello, Will. Nice to meet you!¡± The girl held out her hand. ¡°Hello, Miss Sephone.¡± I reached out my hand and shook hers lightly. I glanced around. ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place before we talk. Let the guards take care of things here.¡± ¡°Mm mm, okay!¡± Sephone immediately understood. We left the middle of the road and returned to the crowd. The guards at the entrance of the city had already rushed over, but no one dared to go forward. The lower-ranking officers guarding the city gate did not have the right to mediate the dispute between nobles like us. When faced with such a situation, the only thing they could do was to maintain order and report this matter to their superiors as soon as possible. They would send a noble officer with sufficient status to mediate. ¡°Will, that was really dangerous!¡± ¡°Yes, it was a close call. Thank you for getting me out of this, Miss Sephone.¡± ¡°Ah, so I was of help to you just now?¡± Sephone was stunned. She covered her mouth and looked at me in shock. ¡°Yes, if it hadn¡¯t been for Miss Sephone, I might have had to get to my knees and apologize.¡± ¡°Pfft- You¡¯re really humorous. However, since you think that I helped you out just now, don¡¯t call me Miss Sephone anymore. Just call me Sephone. Anyway, we¡¯ll meet soon at the Olgus Academy.¡± ¡°¡­Mm, alright, Sephone.¡± I hesitated, then agreed. Judging from the reaction of the little fatty called Carle just now, Miss Sephone¡¯s family should have some influence in the capital as well. Although I wasn¡¯t sure why she took the initiative to express her goodwill, I had no reason to refuse. Who would refuse to be friends with such a cute and beautiful girl! Of course. That doesn¡¯t apply to me. Because of Jennifer, I was already immune to beautiful girls with outstanding looks. After enrolling at the Glei Academy, I asked my father if I would attend the academy in the future. After all, as a family of assassins, it was not good to be too famous. As for learning magic, hiring a reliable home tutor would take care of it. However, my father denied my opinion. There were three reasons. Firstly, although being famous would attract attention, it would also be a form of perfect protection. After all, who would believe that an outstanding student of the Olgus Academy, one of the three major academies in the kingdom, was an assassin? Secondly, as the Sword of Damocles of the kingdom, it was unrealistic for me to eliminate all the corrupt nobles in the kingdom by myself. I also needed outstanding teammates. Although the students of the kingdom¡¯s three major academies were mainly nobles, some talented commoner students could also enter. They were the naturally outstanding teammates. As for how to make them work for me, that would depend on my ability. Thirdly, the etiquette of interacting with other nobles was something that I could not see at home. And after entering the academy, I could bond with more noble descendants, get along with them peacefully, and even become friends with them. This was very necessary for assassinations in special venues in the future. So. Learning how to interact with other nobles was also one of my missions for entering the academy. ¡°Hehe~ Let¡¯s put it this way, Will!¡± Sephone¡¯s eyes curved into crescents. Mm. They looked very cute. ¡°Mm.¡± I nodded. ¡°Will, actually, you weren¡¯t prepared to beg for mercy from Carle just now, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that was the case.¡± ¡°Then, what would you have done if I hadn¡¯t stopped Carle just now?¡± ¡°I probably would¡¯ve beat him and send him. I¡¯m sure you saw, I¡¯m quite skilled.¡± I spread my hands and gave a known answer. ¡°Yes, yes. Your dart hit the eye of the Appaloo warhorse very accurately, especially the position where you threw the suitcase to. You even predicted the trajectory of the coachman¡¯s fall perfectly. It was really amazing. That¡¯s why I could help a little.¡± Sephone nodded seriously. The case was solved. Sure enough, that coachman could stand up unscathed because someone had acted. In just a few sentences, I had gained a whole new level of respect for this Sephone. Not only had she observe the scene in detail, she also knew the breed of the two horses. ¡°So you¡¯re a Wind Mage?¡± I asked. Only the Wind and Water elements could allow a person to land safely under such circumstances. There was no sign of the Water element at the scene, so it could only be a small wind field that formed under the coachman. ¡°Well, I learned a little Wind Magic at home, but I¡¯m not familiar with it yet. Fortunately, the magic did take effect this time.¡± Slightly embarrassed, Sephone shared. ¡°You haven¡¯t even entered the academy yet, but you can already use Wind Magic and become a true Mage. Moreover, you saved someone else¡¯s life this time. You¡¯re already so outstanding that it makes one envious.¡± ¡°Haha, you¡¯re exaggerating too much. I¡¯m still far from being a true Mage. By the way, what attribute is your magic?¡± ¡°It should be light attribute, if the crystal ball didn¡¯t make a mistake during the test.¡± I told a small lie. After all, if I were to say that I had dual-attribute magic of light and darkness, this student would probably immediately change her attitude and find an excuse to leave. After all, no one would be willing to chat with a liar. ¡°Sigh- You actually have the rare light attribute! No wonder you¡¯re so skilled. I heard that the knights of the Kingdom¡¯s Knights of the Holy Light are also very skilled. Will you join them in the future?¡± Sephone¡¯s eyes lit up for a moment. ¡°Probably not. I have my own plans.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°Yes. Sephone, we¡¯re almost at the inn where I¡¯m staying. Where are you staying? Do you need me to send you back?¡± I pointed ahead to a street with a corner ahead and asked Sephone. ¡°So you¡¯re staying on Browning Street. I live on this street. It¡¯s already very close. I can walk there by myself. Thank you, Will.¡± Bethany looked up at the street sign and pointed to the street directly ahead, smiling. ¡°Alright, Sephone, let¡¯s say goodbye here. Goodbye.¡± e. ¡°Goodbye, Will.¡± I said good-bye to Sephone, walked into Browning Street, and started looking for the Riston Inn. It did not take long before I found its location. As a three-story luxury hotel that combined food and accommodation, it was quite conspicuous on the street. After taking a few steps forward with my luggage, I glanced at the sky and frowned slightly. The sun had already set, and the street lamps had already begun to light up. It should be time for the people to dine and rest after a busy day. However, Riston Inn¡¯s entrance was a deserted scene. Chapter 22 - Riston Inn Chapter 22 Riston Inn When I arrived at the entrance of the inn, there was no reception outside. I pushed open the door and entered. There were only a few people dining in the spacious and bright hall. There was only a middle-aged waiter with a big beard in the reception area used for receiving guests and ordering food. ¡°Hello, please pass this letter to your manager. Thank you.¡± I went to the front desk of the hotel and handed the letter my father gave me to the attendant in front of me. The attendant looked up at me and took the letter. So he was the Uncle Herbert my father had asked me to find. The head of my father¡¯s Damocles squad at Heikem. ¡°Hey! So it¡¯s Young Master Will! I¡¯m your Uncle Herbert. I didn¡¯t expect you to choose to study at Olgus Academy so far from home. Welcome, welcome!¡± Uncle Herbert, the bearded man, stepped out of the reception area and shook my hand warmly. ¡°Uncle Herbert, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to take care of me in the future.¡± ¡°Haha, we¡¯re all family, no need to be so polite. Young Master Will, you must be hungry after such a long journey. Today, I¡¯ll let you try the delicacies of Heikem.¡± Uncle Herbert chuckled and turned around to shout in the direction of the kitchen. ¡°Lola, make your specialty. We have a esteemed guest to host today.¡± ¡°Esteemed guest?! Forget it, Herbert. I haven¡¯t seen a noble step into our inn for many years. It¡¯s not a prostitute you found outside, is it? D*mn it!¡± A curse came from the kitchen, and the closed curtain was suddenly pulled open. A woman wearing a headscarf with a toothpick in her mouth stuck her head out angrily. After looking around, her gaze stopped on me. ¡°Laura, this is his Lords heir, Will Reinhardt.¡± Uncle Herbert pointed at me and introduced me with a smile. ¡°Hello, Aunt Lola. My name is Will. Nice to meet you.¡± I greeted the woman. ¡°Oh, oh! Oh my god! I¡¯m Lola, the chef here. Young Master Will, I¡¯ll prepare a charcoal pizza for you right away!¡± The woman was stunned for a moment. She quickly introduced herself and went back to the kitchen to get busy. ¡°Haha, Master Will, please don¡¯t take it personally. Lola is like that. Although she looks hot-tempered and unreliable, she¡¯s the best chef we have here. She¡¯s also a good assistant to me. And her charcoal-roasted venison pizza is superb in Heikem. I swear I¡¯ve never eaten a pizza better than hers in Heikem.¡± Uncle Herbert was keen to explain to me. Before he could finish his sentence, another curse came from the kitchen. ¡°D*mn Herbert, who are you calling hot-tempered?! And when have I been unreliable?!¡± ¡°See, that¡¯s it.¡± Uncle Herbert shrugged helplessly and said, ¡°Young Master Will, it will take some time to make pizza. I¡¯ll take you to put down your luggage first. You¡¯ll stay here tonight.¡± ¡°Okay. Thank you, Uncle Herbert.¡± I followed Uncle Herbert up the stairs and took in the layout of the second and third floors. The decoration on the second floor was not much different from the first floor. There were only a few more individual rooms, and the third floor was simply filled with hotel rooms. Just like the dining situation, the rooms on the third floor were basically empty. ¡°Young Master Will, this is your temporary room. It¡¯s specially prepared for esteemed guests. Even the adults will stay here if they come. It¡¯s suitable for you to stay here now.¡± Uncle Herbert pushed open the door to the room at the end of the corridor. A luxurious suite appeared in front of me. The room was twice the size of my room at home. ¡°Uncle Herbert, is this appropriate? If a real esteemed guest comes¡­¡± I hesitated. ¡°Ahahaha, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. No esteemed guest will come.¡± Uncle Herbert scratched his head in embarrassment and said to me, ¡°Young Master Will, as you can see, the inn¡¯s business is not good. It¡¯s my fault for being better at assassination than running a business.¡± I could understand that. After all, the inn was just a cover, a stronghold to provide rest and supplies for Father¡¯s Damocles squad. As the person-in-charge here and Father¡¯s direct subordinate, Uncle Herbert must have been an assassin since he was young. It was completely understandable that he lacked experience in business. ¡°Uncle Herbert, if I¡¯m not wrong, Riston Inn is an inn that specializes in receiving nobles, right?¡± I asked Uncle Herbert. ¡°That¡¯s right, Young Master Will. You should also know the mission of Damocles. Before we assassinate someone, we also need to gather information. Even the slightest bit of information from the nobles is a clue for us.¡± After getting an affirmative answer from Uncle Herbert, I think I found the crux of the problem. From the moment I stepped in, I noticed a problem. The interior decoration and scale of the hotel could be said to be completely disproportionate. Compared to the grand appearance, calling the interior design mediocre was already a praise. It didn¡¯t matter if it was a civilian inn. As long as the food tasted good and the price was cheap, most people wouldn¡¯t care. However, if it was positioned to be a noble inn, this flaw could be said to be fatal. For nobles who had been influenced by elegance and aesthetics since they were young, having a gorgeous appearance without a suitable interior scene would only make them feel uncomfortable. The moment they entered, they would already have the thought of dashing out of the door. ¡°Uncle Herbert, if you want to make the inn business better and gather more information, I might be able to give you some good advice for reference.¡± ¡°Really, Young Master Will?! It would be great if the inn¡¯s business could really improve.¡± Uncle Herbert¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Uncle Herbert, my suggestion may require substantial funds at short notice¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. The inn is maintained by monthly funds from kingdom. If we can confirm that we¡¯ll be able to gather more information, we can also apply for special funds from the kingdom.¡± Just as I thought. Father¡¯s business in name was actually a stronghold for the kingdom to eliminate its poisons. Everything was funded by the kingdom. Knowing this, I could combine my previous life¡¯s experiences to make changes. After all, in my previous life, the targets I wanted to assassinate were often at luxurious banquets. How to disguise myself as a successful person and enter the banquets was one of my compulsory lessons. Although I didn¡¯t know much about business strategies, I knew everything about decorating ¡°In that case, Uncle Herbert, I have two suggestions. One is that the interior of the inn needs redecorating. The other is for the services, especially for service personnel.¡± ¡°Service personnel?¡± While Uncle Herbert was puzzled, a strong fragrance of roasted meat floated over from the side. ¡°Herbert, what are you and Young Master Will talking about at the door!¡± Aunt Lola came over with a large plate of pizza. Chapter 23 - Inn Renovation Plan Chapter 23 Inn Renovation Plan ¡°Lola, you came at the perfect time. Young Master Will said that there¡¯s a way to improve our inn¡¯s business. Come over and we¡¯ll discuss it together.¡± Uncle Herbert immediately called Aunt Lola over. ¡°This is great, Young Master Will. I¡¯m getting sick from staying in this empty inn every day. Quickly share with us. Come, let¡¯s talk while eating.¡± Aunt Lola carried the pizza into the room and put it down. She and Uncle Herbert looked at me with bright eyes. ¡°Uncle Herbert, Aunt Lola, since Riston Inn serves the nobles, my idea is that everything we do has to be on par with the homes of the nobles. For example¡­¡± I spoke of my ideas based on the experience of later life. As for the renovation of the inn, we could get designers who renovate courtyards for nobles to personally plan it. And in terms admittance of guests, the entry requirement was set at five gold coins. Here, the first and second floors of the hotel would be designed differently. Those with five gold coins could enter dine on the first floor, while those of noble status and five gold coins could dine on the second floor. In terms of service, they had to use maidservants with good looks. At the very least, they had to be literate. They could note down the information heard from the nobles in the time they are in the kitchen. At the same time, in order to prevent the waiter from being insulted by the customers, the security staff in the hotel also needed elite martial artists or mages. ¡°Young Master Will, I can understand everything else. I just want to ask why the threshold for entry to the inn is not noble status, but five gold coins.¡± ¡°Brilliant! Young Master Will has a genius-like business brain.¡± Uncle Herbert slapped the table and stood up in admiration. Then he looked at Aunt Lola. ¡°Lola, think about it. What kind of place is Heikem?¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°Lola, Heikem is the largest city in the north of the kingdom. Further north is the territory of the demons. In other words, there are also has many adventurers in Heikem. Some of them are willing to do anything for money. The information worth digging from them is no less than that of ordinary nobles.¡± Uncle Herbert explained crisply. ¡°Not only that, Aunt Lola. The nobles are called nobles because their status is naturally superior to others. Some aristocrats prefer to prove their nobility. The nouveau riche sitting on the first floor are the best candidates to set off their status. At this time, the conversations they have might be the best information.¡± I added. No matter when, no matter which world, people¡¯s curiosity and competitiveness would never be lacking. In order to compete, some people would even do some unimaginable things. And nobles who loved to compare, they were the ones we were most likely to obtain information from because of a slip of the tongue. ¡°So there¡¯s such a significance as well¡­¡± Uncle Herbert was even more surprised. ¡°Young Master Will, I understand what you mean. However, if we still have to host adventurers, it¡¯s inevitable that the guests in the inn will be a mix of good and bad people. Protecting the maidservants is easy, we can use our own men as guards. ¡°However, if there is a conflict between nobles and adventurers, given the Reinhardt¡¯s external identity, we will not be able to make the nobles wary. How do you plan to resolve this problem? This is what I¡¯m most worried about.¡± Aunt Lola frowned and voiced her concern. ¡°Aunt Lola, you don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ve already considered this problem. If Riston Hotel becomes popular because of this, I¡¯ll ask my grandfather to put the hotel under the name of the Laurence Family.¡± I said confidently. Before coming to Heikem, my father had told me that I could go straight to the Laurence family to visit Grandpa. But I refused. I came to Heikem for my studies. If I visited my maternal family as soon as I arrived, I would inevitably be suspected of living under someone else¡¯s roof. If possible, I would prefer to visit the Laurence house in a few days¡¯ time with some gifts, using my identity as the heir of the Reinhardt Family. ¡°Laurence Family! If that¡¯s the case, given Marquis Dalip Laurence¡¯s identity as the Dean of Olgus Academy, it would be enough to intimidate all the nobles in Heikem. Moreover, with our men personally serving the guards, we won¡¯t be suspected at all.¡± Aunt Lola nodded and said excitedly. ¡°Uncle Herbert, Aunt Lola, actually, I have one last question. Do we have enough maidservants to do the job?¡± I looked at the two of them who were immersed in surprise. Good looks. Literate. And staunchly loyal. We needed more than ten maidservants like this. This was the most difficult problem to solve in my opinion, but they didn¡¯t ask about it at all. Father¡¯s Damocles squad probably would not be able to form such a maidservant team. Even if they were trained, they would carry out more important missions with good looks and work as waitresses. Uncle Herbert and Aunt Lola looked up in surprise and then at each other. Then they looked at me. ¡°Lola, you should tell Master Will.¡± ¡°Alright, it seems that Master share too much about the darkness of this world with Young Master Will. Young Master Will, have you heard of slaves?¡± ¡°Slaves?¡± I froze. Neither the introduction the goddess had given me nor my parents had ever mentioned slavery to me. Even at home, I had not read any books about slaves. Perhaps there were too many books in the study at home, so I didn¡¯t see such an introduction. ¡°Yes, slaves.¡± ¡°Slaves will never betray?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s it. Because of the setting of the slave mark, anyone who disobeys their master will die immediately. This was originally something that the Demon King used to control demonic creatures. Let me tell you its history¡­¡± After listening to Aunt Lola¡¯s introduction, I realized that there were really slaves in this world. The thing that controlled slaves was called the slave brand. It was something that a human had researched from a dead Demon King Although he had died long ago, the slave brand had been passed down from generation to generation. Moreover, it was extremely popular in the black market and became the treasure of many slave traders to rake in money. Compared to the Devil¡¯s Contract given to me by the goddess, the slave brand was clearly more direct and domineering. ¡°Young Master Will, leave the renovation of the inn to Lola. I¡¯ll gather the guards of the inn and leave the selection of maidservants from the black market to you.¡± Uncle Herbert quickly assigned tasks to the three of us. ¡°Huh, am I going to the black market to pick maidservants?¡± I looked at the two of them in shock. The two of them nodded in unison. ¡°Young Master Will, as the future Sword of Damocles, you must try your best to understand all the darkness in this world. Your experience in the black market will definitely broaden your horizons.¡± Uncle Herbert spoke righteously as he walked out of the room with Aunt Lola. ¡°By the way, Young Master Will, there¡¯s a shower and washroom in the room. You can wash up and rest after eating. Good night, Young Master Will.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± I waved goodbye to the two of them and closed the door. After eating the pizza and washing up, I lay on the bed. Going to the black market of this world¡­ It¡¯s my first time. Honestly, I was looking forward to it.¡¯ Chapter 24 - Slave Circus Chapter 24: Slave Circus The black market. It was no stranger to me.¡¯ In my previous life, in order to complete the assassination missions, I had gone to the black market countless times to buy what I needed. In the black market, as long as you had money, you could get anything you wanted. There would be no footprints or records left behind. Of course, it was best to disguise yourself. This time, I didn¡¯t put on any disguise when I went to Heikem¡¯s black market. The only disguise I wore was a hat that could cover my tender cheeks when I lowered my head. According to the address Uncle Herbert had given me, I came to a street where nothing unusual could be seen from the outside. Even though I had a feeling that Uncle Herbert¡¯s goal was definitely not as simple as to let me broaden my horizons, there was one thing I was sure of. There would definitely be no danger on this trip. Otherwise, my father would not have asked me to look for him as soon as I arrived in Heikem. The shops on the two sides of the street were still normal shops, but as long as you went in to ask for the price and said the so-called ¡°secret code¡± that was popular in the black market, the shopkeeper would provide you with what you needed according to your needs. My destination this time is a circus. To be precise, it was a slave trade base disguised as a circus. It was located in the middle of the square in the street and was very easy to recognize. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Circus, where you¡¯ll get to see the best shows in the whole of Heikem.¡± I was still a long way away when I heard the cheers from inside the circus. What could amplify a person¡¯s voice and spread it further was the Sound Amplification Stone made of Wind Magic. It has the same effect as the loudspeaker in my previous life. The circus was covered by a huge curtain, and there were two tall guards at the entrance. W nie When they saw me coming over, they only surveyed the ticket I handed out before letting me in. In the middle, the beast tamer was instructing a lion to pass through fire rings one after another. Many children were standing outside the railing and cheering. Even the adults were watching with relish. I glanced around the circus. On the high platform on the right, a man holding a wine glass was casually looking at everything below. Beside him stood a beautiful woman holding a wine bottle with both hands. Behind them stood four bodyguards in the same clothes as the guards at the door. I was certain that they were the people I was looking for. I took two steps towards the platform and a bodyguard immediately walked down and reached out to stop me. ¡°Tell your boss that I need a batch of high-end ¡®horse shows¡¯.¡± I lifted the brim of my hat and took the initiative to raise my hands. I used the code word Uncle Herbert had told me. The bodyguard turned around and walked to the high platform. He whispered a few words to the man and immediately walked back to invite me over. ¡°Oh! We have a guest. Welcome! Elena, pour a glass for our guest¡­¡± The man laughed heartily and turned around. After looking at me carefully, he smiled meaningfully: ¡°Young master, are you sure you need a batch of high-end ¡®horse shows? This kind of thing should be left to your father or butler¡­¡± Without saying anything, I took out a small bag and threw it on the table holding a fruit platter and wine glasses in front of the man. The man immediately shut his mouth. His eyes moved slightly, and the beautiful woman standing beside him put down the bottle and opened the bag. A total of 20 kingdom gold coins shone on the table. The man immediately sat down and invited me to take a seat. He smiled and said, ¡°Okay, sir, I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t prepare black tea. Please tell me your request. How many people do you need for these 20 gold coins?¡± ¡°10 female slaves who can write the kingdom¡¯s language and have good looks. This sum can only be a down payment.¡± I kept my face expressionless. The eyes of the man in front of me lit up when he heard this, and his smile became even wider. The maidservant named Elena standing beside him also looked at me in shock. A kingdom gold coin was equivalent to 100 silver coins, and it was worth 10,000 copper coins. In this country where one copper coin was enough for lunch, a deposit of 20 gold coins was enough to make people happy. ¡°Hahaha, looks like this is really a big deal. Sir, please follow me.¡± The man stood up and led me down the platform to the backstage of the circus. After opening a few curtains, he revealed neatly arranged wooden cages. There were males and females in the wooden cage that only allowed one person to curl up. There were even half-orcs with tails. However, without exception, they all had a bright red chain mark on their necks. ¡°Customer, these are not the goods you need. The high-end goods you need are over here, but if there¡¯s anything you like, you can let me know.¡± The man led the way and introduced with a smile. ¡°There¡¯s no need. Just take me to see¡­ the goods.¡± I turned back. To me, the scene in front of me was shocking enough because in my previous life, such a scene was almost impossible. No matter what, I wasn¡¯t used to selling people as commodities. ¡°As you wish, my guest.¡± The man pulled opened the last curtain. ¡°Ah!¡± A panicked voice came from inside. There was a small room in front of me. Dozens of pretty young girls in skimpy clothes hurriedly curled up in a corner. Just like the people outside, there were bright red chains on their necks. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, my high-end ¡®horse shows¡¯. Today, ten of you will be chosen by this young master to begin your new life.¡± The man clapped his hands and said to the girls in front of him. The slightly shy gazes of the female slaves instantly shifted to me. ¡°Sir, you can pick any of the horse shows here. I can guarantee that all of them are still virgins, and their starting price is exactly two gold coins. As for the exact price, Elena, you can personally share them with this customer.¡± The man then instructed the maidservant who had followed him. ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± Elena stepped forward obediently. ¡°I¡¯ll go out first. Sir, please take your time to choose.¡± The man closed the curtain and left. Suddenly, he stuck his head out and gave me a strange smile. ¡°Sir, if you like Elena, that¡¯s fine too. Elena¡¯s price is 15 gold coins. As the fruit of my hard work, I can guarantee that Elena can satisfy any of your needs. By the way, she¡¯s also a virgin.¡± The man walked away. Elena, who was in front of me, blushed slightly and immediately returned to her usual posture. ¡°Sir, if you have your on anyone, you can tell me at any time. I can tell you her original identity and background truthfully.¡± ¡°Elena, may I know the meaning of that ¡®any of my needs¡¯?¡± I stared at Elena. Her face and perfect figure could indeed satisfy any fantasy of an adult man, but the meaning of the circus owner¡¯s words clearly did not mean that alone. ¡°Young master, I¡¯ve learned cooking, business, driving, and that¡­ skill from Sir Zach. To be precise, other than not being able to protect you, I¡¯m qualified to do anything you arrange for me.¡± Elena¡¯s voice gradually went from shy to confident and firm. ¡°Very good. Then I¡¯ll have to trouble you to help me pick the remaining nine reliable maidservants.¡± Chapter 25 - Emergency, Early School Chapter 25: Emergency, Early School ¡°Eh?! Are you really going to buy me?¡± Elena¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to be bought by me, I won¡¯t force you.¡± ¡°No, no, no, that¡¯s not what I meant! Sir, what I wanted to say was that the price of buying me is enough for you to choose eight maids with a certain special competency. Why would you¡­¡± Elena hurriedly waved her hand and explained. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it an investment. I believe you are worth 15 gold coins, and far more.¡± ¡°Thank you for your trust, Sir.¡± ¡°Picking nine literate, hardworking, reliable maidservants is the first task to prove your worth, Elena.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± I turned and walked out of the curtain. I left the selection of maidservants to Elena. I doubted that the circus owner¡¯s act of telling me that Elena was also available before leaving was done on purpose. However, Riston Inn was indeed lacking a person who was skilled in management and proficient in all aspects currently. I could accept such a talent even if she¡¯s more expensive. 10 minutes later. Elena walked out from behind the curtain, followed by nine beautiful young girls. One of them stood out with her fox ears and fluffy tail. ¡°Sir, I am done. Everyone here is literate, and worth exactly two gold coins each.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go out.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± Elena took the initiative to walk to the front. I was quite satisfied with the price of two gold coins per person. I only needed one manager like Elena. Whether she had done so out of personal reasons or to save money for me, it didn¡¯t matter to me. ¡°Yo! The customer is out. One, two¡­ nine. All with the cheapest price. Elena, you¡¯re really making my heart ache. The customer hasn¡¯t paid yet, but you¡¯re already starting to save money for your new owner.¡± The circus owner looked at the candidates who followed Elena and me out. Although he said that his heart ached, the smile on his face was from the bottom of his heart. ¡°Where do I settle the paperwork?¡± I stepped forward and asked. ¡°Haha, Sir, sign your name here and let each of them write their own name and the change of slave owner will be completed. You only need to pay another 13 gold coins.¡± The circus owner took out the contracts that he had already prepared and handed them over, telling me where to sign. I picked up the contracts and signed my name one by one. I handed them to Elena and the others, took out thirteen gold coins, and handed them to the boss. ¡°Great! Sir, the carriage outside has been prepared for you. There¡¯s no need to pay for this. If you need anything else in the future, you¡¯re welcome to come again.¡± The boss warmly led us out of the other exit of the circus. Sure enough, there were two horse-drawn carriages waiting outside. I had to admit that the circus owner¡¯s foresight and perseverance were admirable. He kept a stunner like Elena by his side yet was still able to keep her chaste for a higher price. The transaction process was also refreshing. What a pleasant deal. Elena and I drove the carriages back to the Riston Inn, where Uncle Herbert and Aunt Lola were already waiting for us. ¡°Young Master Will, you¡¯re back. The workers who are renovating the inn won¡¯t arrive until tomorrow. Have you bought the maidservants¡± Uncle Herbert came forward and greeted me, his gaze constantly darting into the carriage, a slightly sleazy smile on his lips. ¡°Aunt Lola, take Elena and the others to the third floor to freshen up before telling them what to do from now on.¡± ¡°Yes, Young Master Will.¡± Aunt Lola led Elena and the others into the inn. Uncle Herbert immediately moved closer and sat in the carriage. He gave me a thumbs-up. ¡°As expected of Young Master Will, you bought high-end goods right from the start. You even bought Boss Zucker¡¯s personal maidservant.¡± ¡°Uncle Herbert, since you know everything, what¡¯s the point of asking me to go to the black market? I haven¡¯t seen anything except slaves in the circus.¡± I felt helpless. Initially, I thought that there was a special purpose for me to go to the black market. Now, it seemed that it was really just getting to me buy the maidservants. Of the 50 kingdom gold coins that my mother had prepared for me, there were 17 left. ¡°Young master Will, since you picked 10 slaves, you should know the background of these 10 slaves, right?¡± Uncle Herbert stopped smiling and looked at me with some seriousness. The background of these slaves?! Could it be that they still had many secrets? I froze. These were meant to be introduced to me by Elena, but I omitted them because I was determined to buy her. ¡°It seems that Young Master Will has yet to listen to Elena introduce their backgrounds. But it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ve bought her anyway. There will be plenty of time later.¡± Uncle Herbert saw through my thoughts and comforted me. He suddenly thought of something and continued, ¡°Young Master Will, I have something to tell you. Olgus Academy has started school early.¡± ¡°The academy started school early?! When did this happen?¡± I looked at Uncle Herbert in surprise. ¡°Just now, I heard that the three major academies in the kingdom have all started school early. I reckon the news will be announced to the entire country soon. Olgus Academy has already issued a notice. Students who are unable to arrive early but have obtained the academy¡¯s test qualifications can take the test in any of the three major academies. ¡°The reason announced to the public is climate change. This year¡¯s winter will come earlier than usual, so school will start early. As for the specific reason, I¡¯m afraid only you will know when you go to the academy to ask your grandfather.¡± ¡°Okay, how many days before school starts?¡± ¡°Three days. School will start 25 days earlier than usual. Young Master Will, you have to get ready and head to the academy for the test. You don¡¯t have to worry about the inn for the time being. We¡¯ll just follow the set schedule.¡± Uncle Herbert smiled and jumped out of the carriage. ¡°Got it.¡± I moved the carriage to the backyard, went upstairs, and knocked on Elena¡¯s door. ¡°Master?!¡± Elena, who was combing her hair, was in pajamas. She opened the door while holding a wooden comb. The clothes at her chest was open, revealing a patch of fair skin. It was obvious that she had just washed up. ¡°Elena, don¡¯t call me Master in the future. Tell the others as well, just call me Young Master.¡± ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡± ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll be going to Olgus Academy to study. I might not be able to come back within the short period. I¡¯ve already informed Uncle Herbert about the inn¡¯s plans. You can discuss them with him at any time. You can also change any aspect where you think is inappropriate. Here are 10 gold coins, spare money at your disposal. In short, when I return, I want to see a different Riston Inn.¡± I took out ten gold coins and handed them to Elena. It was time to test her true abilities. ¡°Thank you for your trust, Young Master. Elena will definitely do her best. Young Master, won¡¯t you come in and sit for a while?¡± ¡°No, have a good rest.¡± I closed Elena¡¯s door and left quickly. This body was currently lacking in strength. Even if it had enough strength, I was not in the mood to consider this matter. The three major magic academies in the kingdom started school early at the same time. Something big must have happened. I had to make preparations as soon as possible and go to the academy to find out the truth. Chapter 26 - Carles Provocation Chapter 26: Carle¡¯s Provocation I changed into the uniform of the Olgus Academy that I had prepared at home and walked out of the inn. On the streets of Heikem, there were already many people dressed the same as me rushing in the same direction. Clearly, there were quite a number of new students who had arrived in this city early. Olgus Academy was on the east side of the city. When I arrived at the academy, many freshmen were already waiting at the entrance to confirm their identities and enter the campus. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on? Why did school suddenly start early? I rushed for two days before I finally made it. I¡¯m not even prepared.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same for me. I rushed over from the border. I don¡¯t know why the academy made this decision.¡± ¡°According to my father, the three academies decided to start school early at the same time because according to the forecasts, winter will come early this year. Heikem might be covered in snow before December.¡± ¡°Does the snow have anything to do with starting school early?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Maybe it¡¯s so that students from the south can go home¡­¡± Among the freshmen, many waiting students had already begun to discuss the reason for the early start of school. A loud voice came from the crowd, attracting the attention of many people. ¡°What weather reasons? My father is a businessman. A few days ago, he came back from the capital and told me that the envoy of the Kandir Empire entered the capital half a month ago. I¡¯m guessing the academies¡¯ reasons for starting school early this time is most likely related to the envoy of the Kandir Empire.¡± ¡°Kandir Empire? Is that the largest empire beside us?¡± ¡°Other than it, is there a second Kandir Empire on this continent? If what he said is true, there might be a political reason behind the early start of school this time.¡± ¡°Politics, is this something we can consider now¡­¡± ¡°We better forget it. It¡¯s still too early for us to talk about politics. Let¡¯s enroll in peace.¡± The discussions in the crowd gradually stopped. However, the information that the freshman shared made me firm up my original immature thoughts. The academy suddenly changed its system that had been in place so many years. It¡¯s most likely related to the neighboring countries. Could it be¡­¡± ¡°Freshman, please show your admission certificate.¡± The instructions at the school gate interrupted my thoughts. I took out the admission certificate that my grandfather had personally sent over and handed it over. The two teachers at the door swept their rings across the certificate. ¡°Will Reinhardt, welcome to Olgus Academy.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± After successfully entering the campus, under the guidance of the teachers, we were arranged to take a seat in a vast venue. Looking at the school building in the distance and the students coming and going in a hurry, I couldn¡¯t help but feel emotional. After all, this was a place I had never set foot in in my previous life or this life. I could finally live a life that only ordinary people could have. Two hours later, a magnetic female voice sounded from the Sound Amplification Stones around the venue. ¡°Freshmen, the Dean of Olgus Academy will now read out the opening speech.¡± now The noisy venue immediately fell silent. All the students¡¯ gazes were focused on the podium at the front. An old man with gray hair walked up with a determined step. It was my maternal grandfather, Dalip Laurence. ¡°Freshmen, welcome to Olgus Academy. As your Dean, I am very honored. ¡°Most of you will spend the next six years in this academy. I will guarantee that, regardless of whether our freshmen here come from rich or poor families, are of ordinary or noble birth, myself and the teachers of the academy treat everyone equally in these six years. You will receive the same education. ¡°At the same time, I wish everyone success in passing the magic assessment and a happy and blissful student life. Thank you, everyone.¡± The audience applauded enthusiastically. I followed the crowd and applauded as well. I had to say that my grandfather¡¯s voice was very infectious. Even though it came out through the loudspeaker, no one felt anything unusual. As Grandfather walked down the podium, another voice message came from the Sound Amplification Stone. ¡°Next, all students, please collect the assessment topic according to your magic attributes. In the next 15 days, you need to learn the magic in your room. The official assessment will begin on the 16th day.¡± As soon as he finished speaking. Six teachers of the academy each carried a stack of books and walked to the podium. Then, six elemental words of the corresponding colors of ice, fire, water, wind, lightning, and light lit up above the heads of the six teachers. They were conspicuous enough for everyone to see at a glance. This was the unified assessment system of the three academies. It was a standardized test that took into account the different family backgrounds and living conditions of the new students who came to the academy. For noble children, they could test their magic attributes at home and hire corresponding teachers to educate their children in advance. For commoners, some could only go to the nearest church to test their magic attributes, but they could not afford to hire teachers to learn magic. At this time, one could apply to the church for a certificate of qualification to enroll in the kingdom¡¯s academies. The church would determine the strength of the child¡¯s magic based on the brightness and color of the test crystal and send a message to the nearest academy in the kingdom. The academy would then arrange for teachers to go there and personally distribute the admission certificates and travel expenses to the academy. All freshmen with the same attributes would learn the same magic under the same conditions. After half a month, the results of their studies would be tested. Once they passed, they could officially enroll in the academy to study. This was already a fair enough method for everyone. I followed the crowd to the line in front of the teacher with a glowing white fluorescent. With the other teams lined up in a long line, there were only a dozen people in front of me. After glancing behind me, there also seemed to be less than ten people. It seemed that light-attribute magic was indeed rare. Just as I was looking around, I accidentally spotted a familiar face. Carle. He actually also had light-attribute magic. Similarly, he, who was thinking of looking back at the number of people, also saw me. After a moment of surprise, he gave me a provocative look and raised his fist and thumb to gesture downwards. In the kingdom. This was a gesture to initiate a spar. If one responds with a thumbs up, you would be admitting defeat, and the opposite would be accepting the challenge. As expected, I smiled and held out my fist, thumb down. It seemed that he was very confident in his own strength. However, when it came to sparring, I would not be afraid of anyone. I also wanted to test the strength of my peers in the kingdom. Soon, it was my turn. I took a stack of books from the teacher. Basic Holy Light Magic-Divine Light. It seemed that this is the magic we¡¯re going to learn this time. I casually flipped through and saw that it was filled with detailed learning guides for this magic trick. At that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder. ¡°We meet again, Will.¡± A familiar voice sounded in my ears. Chapter 27 - Creating Magic I turned back. Chapter 27: Creating Magic I turned back. As expected, it was Sephone. She looked even more youthful and beautiful in the uniform of the academy. ¡°Sephone, how are you?¡± ¡°Pretty good. I saw that you accepted Carle¡¯s challenge just now, so I came to remind you not to underestimate him. He should be considered a true descendant of a military family.¡± ¡°Understood. Thank you, Sephone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. We¡¯re friends after all.¡± Sephone laughed and clasped her hands behind her back. Only then did I notice that she did not collect any assessment questions. ¡°Sephone, don¡¯t you have to take the academy¡¯s assessment?¡± ¡°Hehe, how should I put it? I¡¯m considered to have taken the initiative to come to Olgus Academy. I should be considered a specially admitted student, so I don¡¯t have to take such an examination.¡± Sephone said with a smile. ¡°I see.¡± I immediately understood. From the magic and tone she had used that day, she was probably be like my sister, Jennifer, a genius Mage with many types of magic. ¡°Mm mm, alright. I¡¯m just came to give you a reminder. I¡¯m leaving first. Goodbye.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± After watching Sephone leave, I held the magic books and walked out of the arena to wait. After all the new students who were taking the assessment arrived, the teacher would lead us to our individual dormitories. ¡°Hey! You don¡¯t really know Sephone, do you? That¡¯s impossible. If you do, how come I¡¯ve never seen you before?¡± Carle, who had been waiting outside, came over and looked at me with a puzzled expression. It was obvious that he saw Sephone talking to me just now. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Are you so sure that you know everyone Sephone knows?¡± I stared back at him. ¡°You¡¯re right. After all, there¡¯s still a gap between my family and hers¡­¡± Carle also hesitated. He stretched out a finger to scratch his cheek and carefully recalled. The corners of my mouth curled up slightly. This feeling of teasing another was not bad. This guy really looked like a standard profligate son, and he was not good at using his brain. ¡°Forget it! So what if you really know Sephone? It¡¯s impossible for her to help you in the arena. Since we both have light-attribute magic, don¡¯t even think about escaping on the day of the test!¡± Carle looked at the teacher who was slowly walking over. He returned to the group and glared at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t run away.¡± I gave a little wave. ¡°You all should be freshmen with light-attribute magic this year. Please follow me. After entering your dormitory, don¡¯t run around and visit one another¡¯s rooms. During the assessment period, your three meals will be delivered to you every day. Do you understand?¡± The teacher walked in front and explained the rules in the dormitory. ¡°Understood!¡± Soon, we arrived at a building and were assigned to single rooms according to the order. The room was not small. There was a master bedroom and a separate bathroom. Other than the bed and desk, half of the room was empty space that was enough to practice the simple magic on the books. I put down my luggage and opened a book on the desk. In three short pages,every step of activating Divine Light magic was recorded in detail. They even included answers to any questions that one might have. As a basic amplification spell, the effect of the Divine Light was to prevent the user from being corroded by the power of darkness. At the same time, it would reduce the consumption of physical strength by a small amount. ¡°Eternal and endless light, please grant me strength!¡± I whispered the incantation to activate the spell. At this moment, I could clearly feel that something seemed to have begun to emerge from within my body. It gradually spread to various parts of my body and finally overflowed, forming a white membrane of light on the surface of my body. Looking at my faintly fluorescent arm, it was the first time I experienced the wonders of magic. I successfully activated my magic with my first instance of chanting. I couldn¡¯t help but be pleasantly surprised. After chanting a few times, I gradually lost interest. Judging from the fact that Mother had created a large water bubble with her bare hands, there was also a way to achieve magic without an incantation. Moreover, with my identity as an assassin, it was too strange for me to chant magic during a mission. I reopened the book and began to rummage through the questions at the back, hoping to find some experience in casting magic without chanting Unfortunately, this question was not raised. It seemed that everyone had tacitly agreed that magic needed to be chanted, and casting magic without incantation was the special right of the geniuses. If it was a privilege unique to geniuses¨C I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever asked Jennifer if she could cast magic without chanting. I even forgot to ask the genius, Sephone, who was talking to me just now¡­ This was a huge mistake. I had no choice but to flip open the book of Julius¡¯s Magic Notes I had brought with me. It was probably the only thing that might help me. Magic is infinite. It should not be inherited, but created¡­ Something stirred inside me as I read those words again. That¡¯s right. If a person already possesses magic, the magic incantation would merely be a catalyst to guide and use the magic in the body. The first Holy Archmage, Rosiel, had merely discovered the most convenient incantation to guide her own magic. Since that was the case, would the way everyone guided their magic be different? The Mage who left behind this notebook, Julius, first tried to change Rosiel¡¯s incantation, but she failed. Later, she tried to create a new incantation, but also failed. Could it be that she had been working in the wrong direction from the beginning? Magic could not only be guided by spell incantations, but also with other ways. The best proof was that magic could be activated without chanting. At this thought, I couldn¡¯t help but close my eyes. I recalled the earlier feeling of magic surging and unconsciously clenched my fists. I used his faith to tell my body and let my magic show on my fists. After a long time. I opened my eyes and raised my own fist. The faint white light wrapped around my fist seemed to prove that my method was feasible. Indeed. There was no need to chant. You just had to push your beliefs to the limit. Magic would also appear where you wanted it to appear. There might be different ways to mobilize magic, but the ultimate goal was to make the magic in your body obey your consciousness. ¡°Lightsaber!¡± In my hand, a small dagger formed by magic was outlined. ¡°Dark Attribute Pistol!¡± I reached forward and imagined the most commonly used weapon in my previous life, mobilizing the dark attribute magic in my body. A black shadow that looked like a pistol from my previous life appeared in my hand. ¡°Fire!¡± ¡°Biu¡± A black ball of light shot out from the pistol in my hand. After leaving a shallow mark on the wall of the room, it exploded and disappeared. Perhaps it was because the dark attribute magic in my body wasn¡¯t enough? The magic pistol didn¡¯t have the might I imagined. ¡°Light and Darkness, fuse, create firearms, fire!¡± I raised my arm and aimed at the spot where I had left the mark. Thud! A small piece of the wall fell off, and a hole appeared on the white wall. It was much more powerful than before. By fusing light and dark magic, I could create magic artifacts invisible to the naked eye. I was sure of it this time. Julius was right. Magic could really be created. Chapter 28 - Duel Chapter 28: Duel In the past half a month, after creating magic countless times, I could finally use the magic in my body as I pleased. I didn¡¯t need any hand gestures to make them appear anywhere nearby. According to my estimation, the furthest I could set up a magic pistol was about ten meters away. The day of the assessment soon arrived. Under the unified call of the teachers, we arrived at the assessment venue of the academy. As Divine Light was an amplification spell, students with light attribute magic would pass the assessment as long as they could steadily activate the spell. ¡°Eternal and endless light, please grant me strength¡­¡± Under the supervision of the teacher, the freshmen with light attribute magic began to cast magic in groups of five. During the first round, one of the students was either too nervous or too excited. He continuously chanted many incantations, but the Divine Light could not attach to his body. In the end, he could only regretfully be eliminated. ¡°Hey! Are you ready? We won¡¯t be using such a low-level method. Hmph, if you admit defeat now and kneel down in front of so many people to admit your mistake, I¡¯m willing to give you a chance.¡± Carle leaned in front of me again and looked at me with an extremely annoying expression, as if his victory was certain. ¡°Then I¡¯d better not take this opportunity. We won¡¯t know who will be the one kneeling and admit their mistake later.¡± I naturally rejected Carle. This was a great opportunity for me to test my magic creation. How could I admit defeat now? ¡°Very good! You¡¯re stubborn! You¡¯ll beg for mercy later!¡± Carle¡¯s expression changed and he angrily walked forward. He pointed at me and said to the teacher who was doing the assessment, ¡°Teacher, please let us our assessment be done in a duel!¡± Hearing this, the students waiting for the test looked up at us. Even the teacher put down the pen in his hand and looked over with a smile. He looked at Carle and then at me and said, ¡°Will Reinhardt, are you willing to accept the duel invitation from Carle von Alamein?¡± ¡°I am.¡± I stepped forward and answered. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll officially confirm it in the name of an Archmage of Olgus Academy Academy. This duel will take effect. You must remember that you must use Divine Light magic.¡± The teacher closed the scoreboard and solemnly announced. ¡°Teacher, I think that the indoor testing ground is too narrow. It¡¯s not conducive for me to use my magic. I request to have a duel outdoors!¡± Carle shouted again. The teacher¡¯s smile widened as he looked at me. ¡°Will Reinhardt, do you agree to hold this duel outdoors?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I raised my hand in agreement and looked at Carle. Carle happened to be looking back at me, his grin full of triumph. It was a lie that the venue was too small. His goal was to embarrass me in public. ¡°All freshmen, please follow me outside. This is a duel between noble freshmen. You will have a preliminary understanding of the use of light magic in battle. The freshmen who have yet to be tested will do so later.¡± The Archmage announced loudly and brought all the freshmen to the school field. After choosing an empty space, he called Carle and I forward. ¡°Carle von Alamein.¡± ¡°Will Reinhardt.¡± ¡°Please head to the arena and bow to each other.¡± Carle and I walked into the field and stood still, exchanging aristocratic salutes. Such a formal duel on the field immediately attracted the attention of the other students on the field. In less than a moment, the periphery of the arena were already surrounded by students who had come to watch. Other than the freshmen who were already undergoing the assessment, there were also many senior students with different-colored uniforms. ¡°Freshmen, you are not allowed to hurt each other in this duel. If there is any intentional foul play, I will enter the arena as a referee to end this duel. Those who break the rules will be punished by leaving the arena. At the same time, they will no longer be qualified to enroll in the Olgus Academy. Now, the duel begins.¡± As the teacher explained the rules and issued the order for the duel to begin, Carle immediately clenched his fists and roared. ¡°Eternal and endless light, please grant me strength!¡± Pure and flawless white light appeared on his body. It was dazzling. This was the symbol of pure magic power. The surrounding crowd also let out exclamations. It seemed that what Sephone said was right. If I hadn¡¯t been born in the Reinhardt Family and had memories of my previous life, perhaps he would have been a worthy opponent. With a thought, Divine Light immediately attached itself to my body. Although it wasn¡¯t as dazzling as that on Carle¡¯s body, it was enough in my opinion. ¡°So your name is Will. I¡¯ll show you how powerful I am today!¡± Bathed in Holy Light, Carle came charging at me while swinging his fist. The fist swung at my chest with a strong wind. I took a step to the left and deftly dodged. Carle didn¡¯t give up and continued to punch toward my chest and waist. His fist technique was used with ease and powerful, and there was indeed the shadow of a martial family. However, I had already seen such punches countless times in my previous life when facing the targets¡¯ bodyguards. Even if I didn¡¯t activate the Reinhardt Family¡¯s Magic Eye, it couldn¡¯t hurt me at all. ¡°Do you only know how to dodge? Will, if you want to use this method to exhaust my magic, then you¡¯ll be disappointed. Just the consumption of the Divine Light¡¯s magic alone won¡¯t be able to exhaust my magic.¡± Carle looked at me through gritted teeth as he pumped his fists. The fire of anger burned in his eyes. ¡°Carle, it doesn¡¯t feel good to hit cotton with every punch, does it? I¡¯m not planning to exhaust your magic, but what can you do to me? At this rate, you won¡¯t be able to win against me.¡± I spoke casually, dodging his fist with a defiant smile. ¡°You despicable monkey! You only know how to jump up and down. In that case, don¡¯t blame me.¡± ¡°Holy Light! Please help me destroy the enemy in front of me!¡± Carle roared again and chanted another magic incantation. The Holy Light in his hand almost formed a glove that enveloped his hand. ¡°Dodge!¡± Carle leaped high into the air. This punch was not aimed at my body, but at the ground under my feet. Boom! I leaped five meters away and looked at the cracks on the surface of the ground where I had just stood. If it wasn¡¯t for the rule that one couldn¡¯t hurt others in the arena, his punch would have been even more powerful. This should be the where Sephone told me to be careful about. Carle¡¯s trump card was a spell that nobles learned in advance. ¡°Real¡­ Real combat magic. Are the freshmen this year so strong?¡± ¡°Who is that? He¡¯s a freshman like us. How can he be so powerful?¡± The crowd exclaimed again. Carle stood on the ground where I dodged from and laughed. He beckoned to me and said, ¡°Hahaha, Will, if I land another punch, you will be forced to leave the arena. It¡¯s not too late to admit defeat.¡± ¡°Carle, if this is your last resort, then this duel should be over soon. Come on, Holy Light Gun Formation.¡± My palm streaked across the sky. Chapter 29 - The Wailing Carle Chapter 29: The Wailing Carle In the sky. Light spots began to appear one after another, turning into 30 pistols in the air. ¡°What is this? When did you¡­¡± Carle¡¯s eyes widened instantly and he looked at me in panic. ¡°Senior, do you know what kind of magic this is? And what are the strange things floating in the sky?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I¡¯ve never seen such a strange magic, and it was cast by a freshman. This batch of freshmen is really terrifyingly strong¡­¡± Someone in the crowd asked the same question as Carle. ¡°What? You¡¯re allowed to use other magic, but I¡¯m not allowed to learn other magic? Fire!¡± I looked at Carle and gave an order to the magic pistols in the air. The magic pistols floating in the air fired light bullets at Carle. Carle immediately retreated, trying to get out of range of the pistol formation. Unfortunately, as long as I was on the field, the magic pistols would shoot anywhere I wanted before my magic ran out. Soon. The magic bullets caught up to Carle and left marks on his body, causing him to cover his head and scuttle around. ¡°Teacher, I want to report Will for cheating!¡± Carle wailed as he begged for help from the teacher. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Carle. Will used a very pure light-attribute magic, and these light bullets are not enough to cause substantial damage to you, just like how I didn¡¯t stop you just now.¡± The teacher recovered from his frown and answered Carle regretfully. After half a minute of continuous shooting, Carle¡¯s face was already bigger than before. It was covered in bruises. ¡°I admit defeat! I admit defeat!!¡± Carle finally couldn¡¯t help but shout. I put away my magic pistols. Carle immediately sat on the ground and panted heavily. ¡°I declare the winner of this duel to be Will Reinhardt.¡± The teacher walked onto the field and loudly announced the results of this duel. The crowd immediately cheered and applauded. In this academy, I only knew Sephone, oh, and Carle now. I didn¡¯t expect so many cheers. Perhaps it was because Carle and I had provided a bit of fun for their dull academy life. If that was the case, it was understandable. ¡°Will, Carle, congratulations on passing the admission test and providing us with an exciting duel. ¡°Mm, you two have placed first and second place among light-attribute freshmen this time. I¡¯ll hand your names to the academy committee. You still have a chance to fight for a spot in the academy¡¯s student council. You can rest here. I¡¯ll continue with the assessment of the other freshmen.¡± CO. The teacher opened the scoreboard again and said to us with a smile. ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± ¡°T-Thank you¡­ Teacher.¡± The teacher left with the other freshmen, and the crowd gradually dispersed. However, there were still many freshmen who had finished their assessments who remained nearby. Their gazes would occasionally dart to Culler and me. ¡°Hahaha, Carle, you couldn¡¯t win to Harson in the capital. After coming to Olgus Academy, you confidently initiated a duel and ended defeated by Will. Now you finally know that there will always be someone better.¡± A silvery laugh came from nearby. There was no need to turn around. Carle and I already knew who was coming, Sephone. She still had her hands behind her back as she skipped over gloatingly, mercilessly mocking Carle. Carle rolled his eyes but didn¡¯t get angry. He looked at me and said, ¡°Yes, yes, yes. I was no match for you in the capital too. Don¡¯t talk about me. Do you know what kind of light-attribute this¡­ Will used? When did he hide those Holy Light creations?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That¡¯s true. I didn¡¯t see clearly either¡­¡± Sephone stopped. She tapped her finger on her lips and pondered for a while before answering ¡°Then why are you still laughing at me! Ah! Forget it, I¡¯ll go back to my dormitory to recuperate. The pressure of being with you monsters is too great. It¡¯s fine if I was no match to people in the capital, but I can even encounter freaks at the border. What kind of world is this¡­¡± Carle rolled his eyes self-righteously. He quickly covered the purple spot at the corner of his eye and limped towards the dormitory. These words made me feel a little sorry. Just as I was about to turn around and help him back to the dormitory, a pair of hands grabbed me. ¡°Will, it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t go. This bastard has high self-esteem. I¡¯ve grew up with him. It¡¯s fine to tease him a little. If you really go over, this bastard might even get angry at you.¡± Sephone pulled me aside and explained quietly. ¡°I see. Thank you very much, Sephone.¡± I immediately thanked her. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. We¡¯re friends, aren¡¯t we?¡± Sephone smiled and looked at me. ¡°Will, the Divine Light and the Holy Light Gun Formation you used just now do not have incantations, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that is the case.¡± I nodded and replied truthfully. Sephone has a pair of sharp eyes, which she demonstrated when we first met. Although it was said that one could still activate magic without shouting out loud every time and even soft chanting would work, because of the long-standing magic activation habits, hand gestures were not so easy to remove. Since she asked so confidently, she must have realized that I didn¡¯t make any physical movements when I activated the magic. As a friend, I had no need to hide it from her. I had many years more in the academy. This secret would be exposed sooner or later. ¡°Using magic without chanting is a skill that only genius Mages have!¡± Sephone¡¯s eyes sparkled with starlight as she looked at me with admiration. ¡°Sephone, if I¡¯m not wrong, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for you to activate magic without chanting, right?¡± I stared back at her. That was my guess and my instinct. ¡°Eh? Did you find out? Hehe, that¡¯s true. I¡¯m barely considered a genius too.¡± Sephone was stunned for a moment before she admitted generously. ¡°Sephone, how does it feel when you don¡¯t need to chant to activate magic?¡± I asked. ¡°What kind of feeling is that? Hmm¡­ I really didn¡¯t pay attention to that. It¡¯s probably that when I extend my hand, magic will appear where it needs to appear.¡± Sephone hesitated for a moment. She reached out her hand and looked at me curiously. ¡°Will, why are you asking this?¡± ¡°Sephone, try not to reach out now and see if the magic can still be activated.¡± I was a little excited. I wanted to know the answer. Is every Mage who casts a spell without chanting like me whereby as long as they had enough willpower, the spell would be activated. Or is it that every user of magic who does not chant also needs a medium, and this medium differs? Chapter 30 - Throwing Herself Into His Arms Chapter 30: Throwing Herself Into His Arms Sephone was stunned for a moment, but she still obeyed my instructions and retracted her right arm. ¡°Icicle!¡± A clear and delicate shout came from Sephone. I followed the direction of her gaze, searching for traces of icicles. ¡°Icicle!¡± Sephone suddenly raised her right hand and shouted again. This time. A large cluster of ice crystals appeared not far from us. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do that. I have to raise my right hand to activate magic. Will, did you discover something?¡± Sephone looked at me again. There was now doubt and curiosity in her eyes. ¡°Sephone, did you learn the spell you¡¯re using from a magic book?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Father hired a governess to guide me, but the magic is still what was recorded in the Book of Rosiel. I only need to imagine what the magic will look like after it¡¯s activated and reach out my right hand.¡± ¡°I see. It seems that the right hand is the medium for you to activate your magic without chanting.¡± I think I understand now. Sure enough, everyone has their own medium. Mine is will, and Sephone¡¯s right hand is her medium. ¡°Medium?! What are you talking about, Will?¡± Sephone was completely confused. She looked at me, who was standing there in a daze, and waved her hand in front of my eyes. ¡°Sephone, try to close your eyes and use your will to sense the magic in your body. When you can feel the magic overflowing in your body, don¡¯t raise your hand. Try activating the magic again.¡± ¡°Mm¡­ mm, alright.¡± Sephone closed her eyes and frowned. After a full minute and a half, the frown eased a little. ¡°Icicle!¡± Crack~ In front of my eyes. A cluster of icicles began to gradually grow into the shape of the previous cluster. ¡°Will, what¡­ is going on?¡± For the first time there was horror in Sephone¡¯s pupils. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, Sephone. You¡¯re indeed very talented. I taught you how to activate magic without chanting. Your experience proves that this method can indeed be taught to others.¡± I comforted Sephone and said again, ¡°Sephone, now you can imagine something and try using ice magic to realize it.¡± ¡°Imagine something?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Be bold and go for it, I¡¯ll watch over you.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Sephone closed her eyes again. I looked at her quietly, expecting a miracle. A moment later. A crystal blue sword hilt appeared in Sephone¡¯s hand, and it continued to grow, gradually outlining the gauntlet and sword body. Half a minute passed. A complete longsword appeared in her hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a magic genius like you to have the heart to be a swordsman. This is really shocking.¡± I looked at Sephone, who had opened her eyes in a daze. I couldn¡¯t help but make a joke. ¡°Will, what¡¯s wrong with me? This¡­ this is an ice sword? I just followed your instructions and imagined it. It actually¡­ really appeared?¡± Sephone looked at the ice sword in her hand that reflected her face. For a moment, she was at a loss for words. Her gaze lingered on me and the ice sword, her eyes filled with disbelief. ¡°Congratulations! Sephone, you have learned to create simple magic. From now on, the magic power in your body will be displayed in front of you according to the shape you need.¡± ¡°Create¡­ magic¡­¡± I nodded, giving Serpentine time to take it in. Rosiel, the genius Holy Archmage, had recorded all the magic she had used in her notes. She had left behind incantations that an entire generation could not study thoroughly and named it the Book of Rosiel. After the Mages of later generations had finally studied it thoroughly and realized the magic within, they immediately treated this magic book as a holy book and used it to teach the future generations. However, they had never considered that this Holy Archmage was not an omniscient god. She was only a human who would die of old age and illness. She only used magic power, not created magic power. Thousands of years had passed, and all the magic on this continent came from the Book of Rosiel. The magic recorded in the book was enough to solve all the problems. Everyone believed that the Holy Archmage was the creator of magic. This thought had long been ingrained in their minds. As a child of the nobility, and under the tutelage of a governess, Sephone was influenced by such ideas, unlike the deviant me, who had read Julius¡¯s Magic Notes since childhood. She needed time to accept that she, too, could create magic. ¡°Will! Thank you! I, Sephone Russell, swear on my life that I will not tell anyone about this method without your permission!¡± Accompanied by a burst of tears of joy, I felt a soft body throw itself into my arms. The faint scent of jasmine entered my nose, and my body instantly tensed. A feeling completely different from when Jennifer had taken me into her arms surged through me. ar ¡°Sephone, let go of me first¡­¡± Looking at the gazes of the surrounding students, I spoke carefully. ¡°No! I¡¯m really too happy. Will, do you know? I feel like my dream is about to come true!¡± Sephone replied willfully, still clinging to me. ¡°Yo! A student reported to the Student Council that there was a heaven-defying freshmen on the school field who used strange magic that no one had seen before, so we came over. Hmm~ I didn¡¯t expect to see such a scene. It¡¯s indeed a heaven-defying magic that can make our Sister Sephone throw herself into his arms.¡± A cheerful female voice with a hint of ridicule approached. I distinctly felt Sephone stiffen in my arms. At the speed of lightning, she bounced away from me. ¡°Sister Angelina, Sister Elsa, why are you here¡­¡± Sephone asked the girls with a red face. I also turned to look at them. Two girls were walking over. One had long hair, while the other had short hair. They were dressed in the academy¡¯s red-brown school uniform and had hot figures. They were half a head taller than me and Bethany. The only similarity was that both of them had long swords tied to their waists. ¡°Hey! Looks like Sephone didn¡¯t hear your intention of coming here at all. Angelina, what should we do? Why don¡¯t we leave first and let them continue hugging? We¡¯ll come back when Sephone recovers.¡± The short-haired girl teased mercilessly. ¡°Sister Elsa, you can¡¯t do this!¡± Sephone stamped her foot, lowered her head, and curled herself into an ostrich. ¡°Alright, alright, I won¡¯t tease you anymore. I was just joking. Don¡¯t be so petty.¡± The short-haired Elsa walked over and hugged Sephone. The long-haired girl named Angelina looked me up and down and gradually frowned. ¡°Sephone, he should be younger than you, right?¡± Chapter 31 - Joining the Student Council Chapter 31: Joining the Student Council I felt a little awkward. Because all three girls looked over because of this comment. ¡°Uh¡­ Sister Angelina, what does this have to do with age?¡± Stephanie glared at the long-haired girl angrily. ¡°Oh? Sephone, I didn¡¯t expect you to be so perceptive at such a young age. I¡¯m really impressed.¡± ¡°Aiya! I didn¡¯t mean that. Will and I are just friends. I was too excited just now. I was merely thanking him for teaching me important knowledge¡­¡± Sephone glanced at me, then explained to the two girls. For some reason, I felt a little disappointed to hear Sephone say that. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is? Our little genius, Sephone, actually needs to consult others. Looks like this will is the freshmen who uses strange magic?¡± The short-haired Elsa let go of Sephone neck with curiosity in her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s right. Will is a true genius. Even the teacher has determined that he is the number one light-attribute magic freshmen this year¡­¡± ¡°Senior Sisters, actually, Sephone has overpraised me. I only read two more books than others. In addition, I had some foundation, so I was lucky enough to defeat Carle.¡± IA I quickly interrupted Sephone¡¯s praise. It would be terrible if these two seniors from the Student Council thought that I was arrogant because I appeared to be accepting compliments from others with no qualms when I didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Heh, looks like Will is quite humble. However, since the teacher has already admitted that you¡¯re the first among the freshmen it means that you are capable enough. Do you want to join the Student Council? The teacher should have told you that the first among the freshmen has this right, right?¡± ¡°Mm, mm, that¡¯s right! By the way, Sephone has already been internally selected by the Student Council. If you join us, every time the Student Council meets, you can date openly. Isn¡¯t that wonderful? Although you¡¯re still young, you can still nurture your relationship from a young age!¡± The two seniors spoke one after another. ¡°Sister Angelina, why are you like this¡­¡± The blush that had just faded from her face immediately returned. Her shy gaze kept lingering on Angelina and me. ¡°Senior Sisters, may I ask what the Student Council does?¡± I looked at the two seniors and asked while helping Sephone out. ¡°Oh dear!¡± Use Angelina patted her head, looked at me and Sephone, and smiled again. ¡°It¡¯s all because of the exciting scene just now. I forgot the most basic introduction. The Student Council, in layman¡¯s terms, helps the academy to manage the students. If students violate the school rules, we can correct them. Also, the annual academy celebration is organised by us. That¡¯s about it. You¡¯ll know when you join the Student Councol. Let me reintroduce myself. I¡¯m the Vice President of the Student Council, Angelina, a third-year student.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Elsa, a student council member and a third-year student. Will, are you interested in joining us now? Apart from Sephone¡¯s company, there are other pleasures you¡¯ll never experience in ordinary classes.¡± After Elsa briefly introduced herself, she winked at me and tempted me again. A pleasure that could not be experienced in ordinary classes? Looking at the senior sisters who were pretending to be mysterious, I had indeed become quite interested in the student union. From the way they walked over just now, I could sense that they had really been tested in battle. It was different from a duel between students. It was a true test of life and death. And then there were the swords at their waists. I¡¯d never seen any of the other students on the playground wearing weapons. And the first time Sephone had casted and created magic, she¡¯d actually created a sword. It was hard not to think of them as her role models and idols. And the reason why they wore swords¡­ Show that they were different? That was not necessary. From the conditions to join the Student Council¨Cplacing in the top two of every attribute magic, this was already very different. This sword was most likely used for combat. If I joined the Student Council, I would have more opportunities to hone my combat experience. ¡°Then, seniors, is there any procedure to join the Student Council?¡± I asked. ¡°Does that mean you agree? Of course, there are procedures, but you just have to come with us. When you see the President, she will help you settle everything.¡± Angelina smiled. ¡°Then let¡¯s go now. Will, and Sephone, come along. I¡¯ll take you to meet the President and the other members first.¡± Sephone and I exchanged glances and followed the two seniors. Along the way, we chatted and laughed and arrived at a building at the back of the academy. Walking up to the top floor, the room with the ¡°Student Council Room¡± sign appeared in front of me and Sephone. ¡°President, we¡¯ve brought the freshman who caused a sensation.¡± The two seniors pushed the door open and entered. What greeted our eyes was a long table. At the end of the table was a girl. Black hair, red dress, neat bangs hanging just above her eyebrows, hands crossed and supporting her chin, staring at something on the long table. There were also two people on both sides of the long table, a male and a female. When they saw the door open, they looked up. ¡°Oh? Angelina, Elsa, are these two new members your childhood friends?¡± The black-haired girl stood up and looked at me and Sephone. ¡°No, President, Sephone is our good friend and the genius of the Russell Family. Will is the freshmen who caused a sensation. Yes, he might even be the son-in-law of the Russell Family in the future.¡± Angelina smiled at us. Both Sephone and I were stunned. I didn¡¯t expect Angelina to still be in the mood to joke with us on such an occasion. ¡°Oh? There¡¯s actually such a thing? The two of you are childhood sweethearts.¡± The President walked out of her seat and came to us. She said, beaming, ¡°Welcome, Sephone Will. I¡¯m the President of Olgus Academy¡¯s Student Council, Leah. I¡¯m a fourth-year student. I believe in Angeline¡¯s judgment. Therefore, from today onwards, you¡¯re new freshmen members of the Student Council.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ President.¡± Because of Angelina¡¯s nonsense just now, both Sephone and I were a little nervous. ¡°Hehe, you don¡¯t have to be nervous. Dating is not prohibited in the academy, and the Student Council is naturally the same. You can be at ease and boldly announce your relationship. In addition, let me introduce, you already know these two. This is the Vice-President of the Student Council, Matthew, a second-year student. The other is the Student Council¡¯s Registrar, Evelyn, also a second-year student.¡± President Leah smiled and introduced the other two members who had stood up to us. With that, she returned to her seat. ¡°Will, is this the light-attribute magic you used just now?¡± President Leah held up a painting from the long table. To be precise, it was a sketch. Chapter 32 - News of Other Bravehearts Chapter 32: News of Other Bravehearts I looked up and saw that most of the sketch in the president¡¯s hand had been blacked out by charcoal. The blank part were the magic pistols I had created. They looked very lifelike. ¡°It¡¯s the magic I used, President. Is there a problem?¡± I asked with some trepidation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Sephone was also looking at me nervously. ¡°No problem, but I think I¡¯ve seen something similar before.¡± President Leah put down the picture and lowered her eyelids slightly. Her red eyes seemed to remember something. Something similar?! I was shocked. Guns only existed in my previous life. It was impossible for such things to appear in the world of magic. If the President had really seen such an object, it must have been created by another soul chosen by the goddess. I wanted to ask where the President had seen it. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t. Being too eager would arouse suspicion, especially in front of this group of elites. Not only could I not ask, but I had to pretend to be puzzled. ¡°President, you¡¯ve actually seen this object before? Where did you see it?¡± Angelina took the sketch from the President and asked the question I wanted to ask the most. ¡°Two years ago, when I was fighting monsters in the north, a student from the Kingdom of Sivir took out a longer stick and shot a pellet that pierced through the stomach of a magical beast. At that time, I was curious, but I didn¡¯t have the chance to ask, so I let it go. Today, I heard about the shape of Will¡¯s magic creation. The reason why I said they were similar is because this is the only aspect where they are identical.¡± President Leah pressed down on the paper that Angelina had swiped over and raised it to towards me again. I looked at the spot where Leah¡¯s finger was and was no longer suspicious. Because that spot was the trigger. In my previous life, apart from some heavy machine guns with different triggers, almost all light firearms had triggers of the same shape. ¡°Will, since you¡¯ve learned magic about this objection, you should know the principle of shooting bullets after it¡¯s made into a physical object, right?¡±. President Leah asked again. In the Student Council Room, everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on me. Only Sephone¡¯s eyes were filled with some concern. ¡°President, can you explain the object you saw more clearly?¡± I asked. If I asked how the gun worked, the appearance of the gun had changed a lot since its inception, from the matchlock to the flintlock to the semi-automatic and automatic rifles. I didn¡¯t dare to jump to conclusions just from the description of a ¡®longer stick¡¯. ¡°Hmm-¡° President Leah pondered for a moment and took out another piece of paper from the long table to draw. A moment later, the sketch of a single-shot flintlock appeared on the paper. The huge flintlock was too obvious, allowing me to see its structure at a glance. It seemed that this Braveheart chosen by the Goddess only knew a little about guns. It could be said that a flintlock gun could be forged as long as one saw it once and knew the workings of gunpowder. In this world of swords and magic, it was easy to forge a seamless steel pipe using magic. ¡°If it¡¯s in this shape, then I think I do. And I can replicate it. Maybe it¡¯ll be even more advanced than this is.¡± I have enough confidence. From a tethered gun a century ago in my previous life to a semi-automatic and full-automatic firearm, I knew many types of guns and knew them like the back of my hand. I even remembered every part clearly. After all, this was my daily routine for most of my free time. ¡°That¡¯s great! Will, can I ask you to create one?¡± President Leah¡¯s eyes were filled with surprise and curiosity. ¡°No problem, President, but let me say this first. I will only make one, with five bullets, because this object does not work better than magic for us. However, once this object is spread, it can allow a weak child to easily take someone¡¯s life from 10 meters away.¡± My gaze lightly swept past the five people present and finally landed on the President. A long-barreled gun. In addition, everyone could experience the feeling of shooting once. ¡°No problem! I can guarantee that this object will definitely not spread out before that object in the Kingdom of Sivir is popularized.¡± President Leah agreed without hesitation. Clearly, the flintlock of the Kingdom of Sivir had left a deep impression on the President. The reason why she was so bothered was also because she considered the threat posed by this neighboring country. ¡°I need to buy some materials outside the academy to make this object. In a month, I¡¯ll bring the completed rifle to you.¡± ¡°So the official name of this long stick is a rifle. This is your freedom. After all, this is merely my personal request. I¡¯m already very happy that you would accept it. When you bring it over, I¡¯ll pay you enough.¡± ¡°Thank you, President.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Sit down too. From today onwards, our Student Council will have seven people again, Evelyn.¡± President Leah smiled and invited us to sit down, calling to the Registrar at the side. Evelyn, the Registrar, immediately got up and walked over to us. She handed us two forms and a quill pen that she had already prepared. ¡°Just fill it in briefly. Although there isn¡¯t much use for this, we still have to report to the academy committee that the Student Council has increased their manpower.¡± President Leah briefly explained the reason. Sephone and I quickly filled out the form for recording basic identity information and handed it over. ¡°Oh~ 10 years old, 11 years old. You guys are really young. Alright, Sephone and Will, go prepare for the official admission first. I¡¯ll inform you when the Student Council has an event after you officially enroll.¡± President Leah casually glanced at the forms Sephone and I had filled out and spoke in a slightly teasing tone. ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll leave first. Goodbye, everyone.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± After saying goodbye to the members of the Student Council, Sephone I walked out of the room. From the fifth floor to the first floor, neither she nor I spoke first. Sigh. And it was because Angelina had opened her mouth without any regard for the occasion. ¡°Um, Will, are you really 10 years old¡­¡± ¡°Mm, yes.¡± I looked at the suddenly shy Sephone and answered definitely. In the world of my previous life, there was the saying of virtual age. As long as I passed my ninth birthday, it was completely fine to say that I was 10 years old. In this life, I had already passed my ninth birthday. ¡°Phew~ It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. He¡¯s only a year younger than me. This should be fine¡­¡± Sephone heaved a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and muttered to herself. ¡°Sephone, what are you saying should be fine?¡± ¡°Ah?! No! I didn¡¯t! Will is a big baddie!!!¡± Sephone¡¯s face suddenly turned red. She covered her face and ran away. I was left in a daze. Chapter 33 - Dont Ask, If You Must, The Answer Is Talent Chapter 33 Don¡¯t Ask, If You Must, The Answer Is Talent My official academy life began. I was assigned to the same class as the other 23 light-attribute freshmen and began to learn more light-attribute magic. The teacher selectively picked light-attribute magic spells from the textbooks, and taught the students the usage techniques, the introduction of abilities, and the distribution of magic, starting from the easiest. The magic in the human body was not unlimited, and one would not only use one spell in battle. The cooperation of multiple spells was often required. This was very practical in battle. It¡¯s just not as practical for me. After learning to create magic, I could control the magic in my body at will, allowing them to exist in a reasonable state at any time. So I zoned out, my gaze on the window. I hadn¡¯t seen Sephone in the 10 days since I parted with her. Perhaps it was because she was studying magic, but I had a feeling that she was avoiding me. For some reason, this thought disappointed me. After the teacher called my name an unknown number of times, I suddenly realized that I was in class. ¡°Present.¡± I hurriedly stood up. ¡°Will, why don¡¯t you demonstrate the Holy Light Battle Intent Magic for everyone?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± With a thought, a layer of white Holy Light immediately appeared on my body. Unlike the protective magic of the Divine Light, the Holy Light Battle Intent was a combat-enhancing magic. The light attached to my body was not as smooth as the Divine Light, but was a glow as dazzling as the sun. SV All of these were recorded in the Book of Rosiel. In order to answer questions during exams and classes, I had already memorized the Holy Light magic in the Book of Rosiel by heart. ¡°So¡­ so fast?!¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t he need to chant at all?¡± ¡°Why can he directly activate magic? Teacher, what¡¯s going on!¡± OS I heard all sorts of shocked whispers from my classmates, and the stunned teacher in front of me suddenly reminded me. Because I was distracted, I completely forgot to hide myself and directly activated my magic as quickly as possible. ¡°Will, you did very well. Sit down first. Students, be quiet! Be quiet!¡± The teacher was the first to react and forced the noisy classroom to calm down. ¡°Students, let me explain to you why Will doesn¡¯t need to chant an incantation to activate his magic. To put it simply, talent. In other words, Will is a genius. I¡¯m sorry that this will be a blow you, but it¡¯s indeed the case. ¡°For ordinary people, magic requires incantations to be activated. For some talented people, they can use their own methods to activate magic. Will is one of them, and there are many such people in our academy.¡± ¡°However, although talent is important, you don¡¯t have to belittle yourself. If you practice day after day, you can recite the magic incantation faster and more proficiently. When you recite the magic incantation quickly enough, you will be one step closer to being a genius. You still have six years to work hard and practice. Hard work will always pay off. Next, let¡¯s continue with the class.¡± After the teacher finished speaking calmly, he swept his gaze across the classroom and continued to interpret occasions and time to use the Holy Light Battle Intent. However, the students¡¯ attention was no longer on the podium. I could clearly feel all kinds of gazes from the class. There was envy, jealousy, and admiration, and many emotions mixed together. A moment later. Even the teacher noticed it. He quickly stopped his lecture and announced that this class would be for self-studying. nou It wasn¡¯t until the bell rang that the teacher walked over to me. ¡°Will, I usually have to report an outstanding student like you to the academy committee. Please understand. So if you¡¯re summoned by the higher-ups of the academy one day, please don¡¯t worry. Just go with a peace of mind.¡± ¡°Thank you, Teacher. I understand.¡± ¡°Mm mm, you¡¯re welcome.¡± The teacher said a few words and left with a smile. After he left. More than half the students in the class crowded around my seat. Even the only three female students in the class. ¡°Will, how does it feel to use magic without chanting?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. I want to know too. Tell us about it.¡± ¡°And¡­¡± The last time so many people surrounded me was when I was just born, but it was different then, when it was my parents and servants, and I didn¡¯t need to speak. Now that those people had become my classmates of the same age, it was really a headache for me, who had only had an elder sister since I was young. All kinds of chirping sounds surrounded me, hitting my eardrums, and I couldn¡¯t refuse. ¡°Actually¡­ I don¡¯t know what it feels like either. I just suddenly realized that I can use magic without chanting an incantation.¡± I could only use these words to brush them off. I was not magnanimous enough to want to publicize the secret of creating magic. That was something that I could only share with people I trusted the most. ¡°Ah? Isn¡¯t that equivalent to not saying anything¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. Perhaps talent really can¡¯t be explained. Even if he does share, we might not understand. We¡¯d better focus on practicing our incantations.¡± My classmates¡¯ enthusiasm came and went quickly. All the male students left. There were only three female students lingering around my seat, as if they were hesitating about something but didn¡¯t dare to go ahead. I could only pretend not to notice and focus on the book in front of me. ¡°I say, you guys, he¡¯s not even interested in you guys anymore. Why are you still acting coy here? Why don¡¯t you take a look at yourself in the mirror? Are you a worthy match for him?!¡± A series of heartless and cold words made the three girls cry and run away. Carle moved over as he spoke and sat on the seat beside me. ¡°Will, I didn¡¯t expect you to be hiding so much. My defeat was not unfair, but you actually got distracted in class. The teacher called you three times before you stood up. Let me guess what happened to you. Did you get dumped by Sephone?¡± His annoying look made me want to punch him a few times, but seeing that he had just helped me out, I held back. ¡°If you don¡¯t say anything, I¡¯ll take it as an admission. Hahaha, no wonder I haven¡¯t seen Sephone looking for you these past few days. You also went straight back to the dormitory after class. I knew it. With Sephone¡¯s background, why would she fall for you? At most, she found you interesting at first and was interested for a few days. After her enthusiasm passed, she gave up because she felt that there was no point.¡± Although I wanted to retort, based on the facts of the past few days, it seemed to be exactly as he had said. I did not have the confidence to refute at all. ¡°Will, listen to me. Given her family background, she can see countless geniuses. She doesn¡¯t lack you. Think about it. There are so many girls in the academy. You can pick any one of them. You don¡¯t have to hang on to that one person. Hahaha-¡° Carle patted my shoulder, almost doubling over with laughter. ¡°Carle, what are you saying to Will? Repeat what you just said to me.¡± At the door. An extremely cold female voice sounded, and the air in the classroom seemed to have dropped a few degrees. Chapter 34 - The Inn With A New Look Chapter 34: The Inn With A New Look Carle¡¯s expression changed immediately. He slowly turned his head to look at the classroom door. Serpentine leaned against the door, her face as cold as ice, a half-smile on her lips. ¡°Se-Sephone, why¡­ why have you come to our class?¡± ¡°Why? Do I have to report to you which class I¡¯m going to? Repeat what you just said again.¡± ¡°W-what did I say?¡± ¡°Shall I repeat it for you?¡± ¡°¡­I better don¡¯t. I was wrong. Please spare my life!¡± Carle begged for mercy loudly and fled out the back door in a dash. All the students in the class were stunned. Why is Young Master Carle, who tyrannizes the class, now like a mouse seeing a cat when he sees this beautiful girl? ¡°Student, can you let me take your seat for a while?¡± ¡°Uh, okay, okay. Please sit down.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Sephone smiled. My classmate at the next table hurriedly stood up and gave up the seat. Sephone simply sat down beside me. ¡°Will.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± ¡°I just heard that you showed off your talent in casting magic without chanting. Now, word of it has spread outside. Although many girls will confess to you after this, countless troubles will follow. There¡¯s an old saying, It¡¯s the tallest trees in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Have you thought about the consequences of doing this?¡± ¡°I was careless. I was distracted in class just now. The teacher called me three times before I heard him. Without much thought, I activated the magic that the teacher asked for.¡± ¡°Distracted?! What were you thinking about?¡± ¡°You.¡± I turned to Sephone and answered seriously. ¡°Me?!¡± Sephone froze, her mouth slightly agape. Her two fingers drawing circles on the table stopped and she slowly turned around. When she saw my gaze, she dropped her head slightly. Her fair face gradually turned into a ripe apple. ¡°That day, you left so suddenly, and you didn¡¯t look for me for so many days. I¡¯m wondering if you hate me.¡± ¡°No! That day¡­ ah, in short, I don¡¯t hate you.¡± Sephone quickly raised her head and argued, then whispered, ¡°If I didn¡¯t come to you, don¡¯t you know to come to me¡­¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll remember that. I¡¯ll look for you when I miss you in the future.¡± I nodded and agreed. ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound so formal, id*ot! Although there¡¯s nothing wrong with saying that¡­¡± Sephone¡¯s pretty face turned red. She hurriedly raised her head and looked around. When she saw the curious gazes around her, her face was so red that it was about to bleed. She stood up and left in a hurry. As I watched Sephone leave, I seemed to understand a little of what it was like to be in love. It turned out that girls didn¡¯t necessarily mean resentment when calling another an id*ot. It could also be them feeling shy. After thinking this through, I couldn¡¯t help but look out the window again. The corners of my mouth couldn¡¯t help but curl up. ¡°D*mn! If you didn¡¯t break up, you should have said so earlier. You made me happy for so long in vain. In the end, it was all for nothing.¡± Carle¡¯s voice came again from the side. I could hear the bitterness in his voice from several rows away. My smile became even wider. Now that my relationship with Sephone has returned to normal, I was ready to start making a rifle for the President. As a toy for the Student Council, I had no intention of making a pistol. If the rifle was spread as a last resort it is so big that it would be easy to notice even if wrapped up. However, if the pistol was leaked, everyone would have to be careful in the future. A bullet could come out of nowhere and take their lives. An old-fashioned pull-bolt rifle does not have many parts. As long as I draw the blueprints and go to a few weapon shops in the city to get the parts and assemble them separately, I could avoid the possibility of it being leaked. Only the bullets would require me to personally find the materials to synthesize gunpowder. It would take some effort, but fortunately, I only needed five bullets. It wouldn¡¯t take long. After drawing the blueprints in two days, all I needed was a break to leave the academy. Speaking of which, I had been at the academy for more than a month. I wondered how Uncle Herbert¡¯s Riston Inn was doing. Had Elena managed to get the inn running again? I was in the academy, but my heart had already flown outside. Finally. After a full month of classes, we welcomed a long-awaited two-day break. After telling Sephone the purpose of my trip, I returned to Browning Street alone. When I arrived at the familiar inn, Riston Inn had changed drastically. Even the exterior had been repainted with a new color, and the door had been replaced with a transparent sliding glass door. Not only were there waiters in tuxedos at the door, but there was also a new signboard with the dishes of the day written on it. There was an endless stream of customers coming and going. Through the glass door, I even saw customers waiting inside. With some relief, I walked to the entrance of the inn and looked around. ¡°Young Master, do you have an appointment?¡± The waiter at the door walked over and asked politely. ¡°An appointment?¡± ¡°It works like this. You have to reserve a seat in advance to enter the inn. If you¡¯re a guest without an appointment, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to wait a long time after entering.¡± ¡°Please go in and tell Mr. Herbert that Will is back.¡± I said. I was quite satisfied with the attitude of the waiter at the front door. It seemed that Uncle Herbert had taught him well. The Riston Inn already had the shadow of a high-end hotel in later generations. ¡°So you¡¯re Young Master Will Reinhardt! Mr. Herbert has already instructed that if you come back, you¡¯ll go straight in to see him. Please come in.¡± The attendant hurriedly walked to the door and pushed it open for me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I thanked him and entered. The brand new hall was decorated with new candles and crystal chandeliers. Young and beautiful maids carried trays as they busily shuttled between the first and second floors. ¡°Young Master, please go to the side¡­ Ah, Master! You¡¯re back. I¡¯ll report to Manager Elena now.¡± One of the maids looked at me in delight, then darted off to the scullery. After a while, Elena rushed out. ¡°Young Master Will, you¡¯re back. Mr. Herbert is on the third floor. I¡¯ll bring you up now.¡± ¡°No, you go ahead. I¡¯ll go up myself. You¡¯ve done well, Elena.¡± Looking at Elena, who was dressed appropriately and full of energy, I couldn¡¯t help but praise her. ¡°Thank you for your compliment, Young Master.¡± ¡°Go get busy.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I walked up the stairs to the second floor. Just like the first floor, the second floor, which was specially used to receive nobles, was also full. Unlike the chaos on the first floor, the people eating here were clearly quieter and more elegant. Satisfied, I was about to head to the third floor when a female voice cried from a window seat on the second floor. ¡°Young Master, please let go. Our inn doesn¡¯t provide such service. I still have to continue working¡­¡± Chapter 35 - Esteemed Guest of the Kingdom of Sivir Chapter 35 Esteemed Guest of the Kingdom of Sivir Following the source of the voice, I looked over. Many nobles had also also stopped eating and were looking in the same direction. The half-orc maidservant with fox ears that Elena had chosen held the tray tightly in one hand, but her other hand was in the grip of a noble young master and could not break free. She had no choice but to speak loudly in an attempt to attract attention and scare the noble. Clearly. This noble young master must have made some overboard request. Seeing the dispute in the restaurant, the male waiters standing in the corner immediately surrounded them. This was also my request back then, that we had to protect the personal safety of these maidservants. ¡°Young Master, please don¡¯t make things difficult for our inn¡¯s maidservant.¡± ¡°Get lost! She¡¯s just a little maidservant in an inn. I have plenty of money. I want her today. Get your boss here. I want to know how much gold coins can buy me this maidservant!¡± The noble young master threw a large handful of gold coins on the table with an extremely arrogant attitude. ¡°Young Master, please don¡¯t do this. If you continue to affect others¡¯ having their meal, we will forcefully expel you from the inn.¡± ¡°You want to drive me out of the inn just because you have a lot of people? Hehe, I think you don¡¯t wish to continue operating this inn in Heikem huh? As the second son of the Ferrande Family, I think I have the ability to make that happen. I advise you to quickly get your boss here and gift me this maidservant. Then, see what compensation is appropriate.¡± The noble young master gripped the maidservant¡¯s hand and sneered at the waiters. Upon hearing the words ¡°Ferrande Family¡±, the nobles who had been watching the show turned around, not wanting to get into trouble again. The waiters looked at one another. One of them quickly ran to the third floor, most likely to find Uncle Herbert. The northern part of the kingdom had always been under the jurisdiction of two marquises. Of these two families, one was the Ferrande Family, and the other was my grandfather¡¯s Laurence Family. Heikem, the largest city in the north of the kingdom, was established by the two major clans to resist demons in the north. It was located at the border of the two marquises¡¯ territories. It could be said that the two major clans each held half of Heikem¡¯s jurisdiction. In the process of resisting the demons, the two families advanced hand in hand and made great contributions. The relationship between the two families had always been good. I learned about this history when I learned about my grandfather¡¯s family before coming to Heikem. I was also a little helpless. Why do these famous families with a long history always have b*stard descendants? However, since this young master of the Ferrand family had blown this up, Uncle Herbert probably wouldn¡¯t be able to resolve ¡°Young Master Ferrande, can you please let go of my maid¡¯s hand? I set the rules of the inn. I will be responsible for everyone in the inn.¡± I stepped forward. The surrounding waiters made way for me and looked at me in confusion. The fox-eared maidservant cried out in surprise. ¡°Young Master Will!¡± ¡°Mm, don¡¯t worry. Leave this to me.¡± I nodded slightly at her and looked at the young master of the Ferrande Family. ¡°You¡¯re the person in charge of this inn? Just a first-year student at Olgus Academy?¡± The young master of the Ferrande Family looked me up and down and pointed at my conspicuous academy uniform. ¡°It¡¯s me. Now this a problem between the two of us. Can you let go of our maidservant¡¯s hand now?¡± I kept my face expressionless. ¡°Hahaha, what a joke! I¡¯m just a little surprised that the owner of this inn is actually a first-year student from Olgus Academy. I won¡¯t let go of my maid¡¯s hand. You should be thinking about how to compensate me so that your inn can continue operating.¡± The noble young master in front of me laughed exaggeratedly, even more arrogant than before. ¡°Young Master, have you ever thought that your actions today might bring trouble to your family?¡± I was sure that this was a kind reminder, on the account that the Ferrande Family had a good relationship with my grandfather¡¯s family, ¡°Trouble? As the son of a noble, I merely wanted to invite a lowly maid from an inn to drink with me at a different location, but I was threatened with being thrown out. Now I¡¯m reasonably seeking compensation, what¡¯s wrong with that? Tell me, how will I bring trouble to the family?!¡± The young master of the Ferrande Family raised the wine glass on the table and took a sip elegantly as he spoke pompously. I felt a headache coming on. This rotten person was so good with coming up with excuses for himself. Even if I were to go to court, the judge would probably still think that he made sense. My true identity as a Reinhardt could not be exposed. Just as I was hesitating whether to borrow an identity from my maternal grandfather¡¯s family, another sharp voice came from beside us. ¡°If all the nobles were like you, I would only feel insulted.¡± ¡°Who is that?!¡± The young master of the Ferrande Family turned his head sharply. I turned around and saw a young noble walking over with a few attendants. Elegant, capable, and sharp. That was my first impression of this nobleman. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know who I am, but if Marquis Ferrande finds out that his trade in the kingdom this year is gone, and it¡¯s because of you, you can imagine what will happen to you. I¡¯ll take it as his punishment for not teaching his son well.¡± The young noble said casually and confidently. ¡°Who exactly¡­ are you?¡± The expression of the second son of the Ferrande Family changed drastically, and he was unable to speak properly. ¡°10 seconds, I want you out of my sight.¡± The young noble continued to ignore the question of the second son of the Ferrande Family and said coldly. The second son of the Ferrande Family looked at the young noble in front of him. After hesitating for a moment, he let go of the maidservant¡¯s hand and rushed down the stairs in a panic. Between with his pride and the punishment of possibly losing his family¡¯s trade, he chose not to take the gamble. ¡°Thank you for helping me out, Sir. I am sincerely thankful.¡± I bowed to the young noble in front of me. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. It was an act of convenience. Moreover, I¡¯m telling the truth, right?¡± The young noble smiled and glanced at the interior of the inn again. He looked at me and asked, ¡°Were you the one who drafted the rules of this inn?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± I nodded. ¡°Very creative! Very novel!¡± ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Sir. If you¡¯re not in a hurry to leave Heikem you can continue to choose the Riston Inn. The inn will waive all fees to thank you.¡± ¡°Haha, thank you for your kindness, but I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have the time this time.¡± The young noble smiled and led his attendants downstairs. When they reached the stairs, he suddenly turned around and said, ¡°If nothing goes wrong, we should have a chance to meet again in the future.¡± The young noble left without leaving any information of himself. ¡°Customers on the second floor, I¡¯m very sorry that you encountered such an unpleasant incident during your meal. I promise that such a thing will not happen again in the future. Today, the hotel will waive the fees for every guest as compensation.¡± I turned around and apologized to the customers on the second floor. The inn was immediately filled with enthusiastic applause. ¡°Young Master Will, do you know who that esteemed guest was just now?¡± Uncle Herbert appeared out of nowhere with an unusually treacherous smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t you tell me upstairs?¡± ¡°Sure!!¡± Chapter 36 - Registrar Evelyn Uncle Herbert and I went to the private rooms on the third floor. ¡°Young Master Will, that person just now is Brook, the eldest son of Archduke Macaulay of the Kingdom of Sivir. Although he¡¯s not the head of the family yet, the Archduke Macaulay is bedridden all year round. The territory and family matters are basically handled by this eldest son, so he was awarded the title of Earl at a young age. Moreover, he¡¯s inextricably linked to the royal family of Sivir. It¡¯s said that he has royal blood.¡± ¡°So he has such an identity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The Archduke¡¯s territory borders that of our country¡¯s Marquis Ferrande. The two often trade with each other. If Marquis Ferrande learns that his good-for-nothing second son has offended the future Archduke because of this small matter, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be able to sleep tonight.¡± Uncle Herbert laughed with some schadenfreude. I sat in my seat and pondered. I could tell that Earl Brook had a noble status, but I didn¡¯t expect a royal of the Kingdom of Sivir to leave a message that said, ¡°We will meet again.¡± Does he want me to open such an inn in the Kingdom of Sivir? After some pointless delusions, I gave up. This was because I remembered that I had more important things to do. I had to build a rifle for the President. I also had to visit my grandfather and put this inn under the name of the Laurence family. Due to the existence of Olgus Academy, there were many nobles who were not inferior to the Ferrande Family in Heikem. It had been less than a month since Riston Inn was renovated and opened for business, and its fame had not been completely spread yet. When it becomes completely well-known in the future, arrogant second-generation heirs like the second son of the Ferrande Family would definitely flock to it. My grandfather¡¯s identity as the Dean of Olgus Academy could effectively intimidate these b*stards. ¡°Young Master, you waived the payment for everyone on the second floor just now. Isn¡¯t that a little extravagant? Our hotel¡¯s ingredients are all carefully selected. That¡¯s not a small sum.¡± Uncle Herbert saw that I was silent for a long time and asked softly. ¡°No, Uncle Herbert, such expenditure is worth it because our main customers in the future are them and the people around them. If we leave a good impression on them now, it will be a free promotion.¡± I waved my hand and smiled at Uncle Herbert. Unlike a commoner inn, which could allow anyone to dine in, the Riston Inn¡¯s threshold of five gold coins determined that it would only receive nobles and rich people. There were always fewer such people than commoners. Recurring customers, the nobles who had come and the people in their circles were all potential customers. Moreover, today¡¯s incident was so exciting that it would probably spread quickly in the noble circle. The name Riston Inn would also be known by more people. ¡°Alright, since Young Master already has a plan, it¡¯s not up to me to interfere. How¡¯s your life in the academy? Are you happy there? Have you gotten a girlfriend?¡± Uncle Herbert asked jokingly. ¡°Uncle Herbert, you can even get information about the Archduke. Aren¡¯t you asking me the obvious?¡± I looked at Uncle Herbert helplessly. There was no need to make fun of me like this. ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re wrong. It¡¯s much easier for us to investigate the neighboring countries and other places than the Olgus Academy.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I was a little curious. I didn¡¯t even know that Olgus Academy Academy had such strong methods to maintain confidentiality. ¡°Outside the academy, we can use unscrupulous means to obtain information as long as we don¡¯t let anyone guess our family background. In the academy, few of us can legally enter and because of Marquis Laurence, we can¡¯t be unrestrained for fear of causing trouble for the Laurence family. If Young Master has the time, why don¡¯t you tell me something that ordinary people don¡¯t know in the academy? It might be useful to us.¡± Uncle Herbert explained seriously. Now that he put it this way, I understood. Although what the Reinhardt Family does is beneficial to the country, we cannot work openly. Things can only be done in secret. As one of the three major academies in the kingdom, not only does one have to go through layers of screening to enter the Olgus Academy, my maternal grandfather, their superior¡¯s father-in-law was also the Dean. If anything really happened, it would inevitably implicate the Lawrence family, which made them very cautious. ¡°Something that ordinary people don¡¯t know about? I haven¡¯t found anything for the time being. But, Uncle Herbert, do you know where there are weapons shops in the city? I need to find more than five. It¡¯s best if they have fire-attribute Mages.¡± I thought about it for a while. In the month I was in school, I really hadn¡¯t heard any secrets that ordinary people didn¡¯t know. However, the matter of forging a weapon for the President was imminent. ¡°Weapon shops? There are too many. There are adventurers heading to the Northern Territory to train every day. Weapon shops are a popular industry. I¡¯ll write down the locations for you now.¡± Uncle Herbert casually picked up the pen and paper on the table and started writing. It didn¡¯t take long for him to write down the names of nearly ten weapons shops. ¡°Thank you, Uncle Herbert.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Young Master, it¡¯s rare for you to come back. Have a good rest. I¡¯ll go out and see if there¡¯s anything they need my help with.¡± ¡°Okay, go ahead.¡± ¡­ The next day. After resting in the inn for the entire night, I walked down the street and went to the weapon shops that Uncle Herbert had written down for me. I left two to three blueprints with each shop. After agreeing on the time to collect the products, I immediately rushed to the next shop. When I arrived at the last shop in the east of the city, I saw a familiar figure at the entrance before I even entered. Secretary Evelyn, whom I met once in the Student Council Room, was chatting with the boss in the shop. ¡°Registrar Evelyn, what a coincidence. Are you here to buy weapons too?¡± I took the initiative to greet her. This is someone I may have to deal with for the next few years, and I¡¯m happy to get to know her. ¡°So it¡¯s Will. Hello.¡± Evelyn turned back and greeted me with a smile. ¡°Yo! Young man, so you and Evelyn are classmates. Haha, if you need any weapons, just tell me. I can prepare them for you and give you a 40% discount.¡± The weapon shop owner saw me talking to Evelyn and immediately greeted me warmly. ¡°Thank you for your kindness, Boss, but I¡¯m not here to buy weapons today. I need you to forge two things for me. These are the blueprints. Please take a look.¡± I took out the blueprints for the last three parts and handed them to the boss. ¡°Hmm~ The measurements, sizes, and strength are all marked in detail. It seems that this young man is also an expert at drawing blueprints. With these, there won¡¯t be a problem.¡± The boss casually glanced at the first blueprint and praised it with a smile before continuing to flip to the others. When he saw the third blueprint, he frowned visibly. ¡°What are you planning to do with a copper shell that has such a small diameter¡­¡± ¡°Boss, I heard that you have the best fire-attribute Mage blacksmith in the city. Although the diameter of this copper shell is a little small, it¡¯s not difficult for a Mage. Seeing that you¡¯re in such a difficult position, could it be that the Mage is no longer around?¡± I looked at the shop owner and my heart skipped a beat. It would take a long time to polish the entire copper piece into a bullet shell by hand, and it was very likely to fail. ¡°Look at what you¡¯re saying, of course not.¡± The boss put down the drawings and looked over, but not at me. He was looking at Evelyn, who was standing beside me. ¡°Evelyn, I¡¯m sorry to have to trouble you again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Uncle Yager.¡± Evelyn raised her head and smiled. Then, she looked at me. ¡°Will, come with me. You can tell me directly how you want it to be.¡± ¡°Um¡­ okay.¡± Chapter 37 - Intelligent Races Among The Demons I followed Evelyn to the back of the weapons shop. Evelyn took down a piece of brass and weighed it in her hand. She was obviously very familiar with the place. ¡°The caliber and length will all be based on your blueprints.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get started. How many do you need?¡± ¡°Five.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Evelyn skillfully placed the brass in her palm. Her lips moved slightly, and the fire element quickly wrapped around the brass, dividing it into five portions of the same size. Immediately, the five pieces of brass melted into fluid in Evelyn¡¯s hand and began to transform into the shape of a bullet shell. Ten minutes later, the shell casings identical to the one on my blueprint had been forged and lay in Evelyn¡¯s palm. ¡°See if this is what you need. Tell me where it needs to be improved.¡± ¡°Mm, mm. The bottom here needs to be polished. Evelyn, since I¡¯ve already troubled you with the shell casing, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to help me make five matching warheads. They have sharp tips and are roughly shaped like this. I¡¯ll pay you accordingly.¡± Seeing Evelyn¡¯s craftsmanship, I dismissed my original idea of polishing the warhead myself and described the specifications of a rifle bullet to her. ¡°No problem. So this is the rifle pellet you¡¯re making for the president? It does look very exquisite.¡± ¡°Yes, its official name should be bullet. I didn¡¯t expect that someone in the neighboring country had already produced something like a gun. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s good or bad for all countries that this object has appeared¡­¡± I explained to Evelyn and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. In the era of magic and cold weapons, firearms that did not belong to this world appeared in advance. It was still fine if they were used against the Demon King. If the ruler of a country discovers the power of firearms and becomes ambitious, a war between humans would probably begin soon. ¡°According to what you said, is this thing called a rifle a product of some forbidden magic?¡± ¡°You can say that. This thing has the ability to allow ordinary people to kill magical beasts. Moreover, with enough distance, deal with more than one.¡± ¡°An ordinary person can kill magical beasts from afar, several of them at once?! Isn¡¯t this the same as an Offensive Mage? Wait, since this thing can threaten magical beasts, if used against Mages from afar¡­¡± Evelyn¡¯s head snapped up. Shock appeared in her pupils. She stared at me intently. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s exactly what you think. When a Mage is unprepared, this object can easily kill a Mage. Even if a Mage is prepared, if the defensive magic is not strong enough, he can still die under a rifle.¡± I nodded, acknowledging Evelyn¡¯s guess. This is why the ruler of a country with firearms has the confidence to be ambitious. In the face of countless firearms, few Mages could completely resist the damage of firearms. ¡°Is that why you only made one for the President and only provided five bullets? Even if something unexpected happens, it will be easy to trace the source?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve already reminded the President. She has seen the power of a firearm with her own eyes. I made one for her just to satisfy her curiosity. Five bullets is to let each of you know how to fire this object. As for a change of circumstances, even if something really happens with this gun, given the President¡¯s ability, we probably won¡¯t know, right?¡± I smiled. I had never doubted President Leah¡¯s strength. To be able to become the President of the Student Council of a top magic academy like Olgus Academy, strength and influence were indispensable. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re really kind-hearted. However, if the President finds out that you¡¯ve been speaking ill of her behind her back, you¡¯ll be in trouble.¡± ¡°If this is considered badmouthing the President, it was you who started it, Evelyn. I won¡¯t be the only one in trouble.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that seems to be the case. Look at this bullet. If this is fine, I can finish the remaining four very quickly.¡± Evelyn blinked, picked up the first warhead she¡¯d made, and handed it to me. ¡°Let¡¯s go with this. As long as it¡¯s the right size. Again, I believe in Evelyn¡¯s capabilities.¡± I casually picked it up, looked at it, and put it in my pocket. ¡°Thank you for your trust, Will.¡± Evelyn thanked me with a smile. She made the other four warheads and continued, ¡°Will, have you been to the territory of the demons before?¡± ¡°No. How about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been there once. In the first half of the year, I heard from Angelina that the members of the Student Council participate in hunting magical beasts every year. Usually, the President will lead the team, but that time was very special, the teachers of the academy led the team. There were also the Knights and students from other academies. The President should bring you guys along in the first half of next year, but at that time, it might be Angelina who will lead us there.¡± ¡°Evelyn, what¡¯s the territory of the demons like?¡± I asked excitedly. I could finally get some information about the demons. Looking at the timeline, it was probably the time when my grandfather had organized the encirclement and suppression of the magical beasts after he had gone to the capital to participate in the meeting. Evelyn probably happened to participate on that occasion. With the Knights of the Holy Light and so many teachers around, it should have been a very safe training. ¡°The demon territory¡­¡± Evelyn hesitated. She looked up at me seriously and said, ¡°Will, do you believe that there are demons who live a farming and hunting life like us humans?¡± There were demons living the same life as humans?! This was big news for me. Before I reincarnated into this world, everything I knew about the demonic creatures was from the goddess. As for the situation in the demon territory, I really didn¡¯t know anything. But after hearing this news, I could understand. The demon race had a Demon King that gave the goddess a headache. Naturally, they were creatures with high intelligence. A Demon King with high intelligence would not be satisfied that his subordinates were just a group of demonic creatures with no intelligence. From another perspective, if the demons were all unintelligent creatures that only knew how to fight, the war with the humans would not be as minor as it was now. ¡°Of course I believe it. The history of the demons is equally long. It¡¯s normal for them to give birth to creatures with intelligence. Moreover, you said that ¡®there are¡¯, right? Not all demonic creatures are like this.¡± I nodded and answered with certainty. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s the case. You really believe it? I¡¯ve used similar topics to test many students, but no one will believe such an statement. Moreover, the higher-ups have forbade news of such existences among the demon race be leaked to others. I only dared to tell you so bluntly because I know that you will also go to the demon territory next year,¡± Evelyn said in surprise. Chapter 38 - Origin of The Half-Orcs Evelyn continued to tell me what she had seen in the demon territory. My guess was that the demons were internally divided into different categories as well. Firstly, there were the demonic creatures without intelligence. Because the Demon King was gradually reviving, they turned from animals to demonic creatures. After turning into demonic creatures, their intelligence decreased further and they became monsters that only attacked humans. Moreover, they were still constantly being born, and they were spreading to areas where humans were active. They were also the main target of the hunts by Mages organized by the kingdoms near the northern border. There were two types of intelligent monsters. One was the peaceful faction that farmed and hunted. They were unwilling to fight humans and were more willing to fight for peace. The other was the war faction. They were also intelligent and believed that humans and demons were natural enemies, and only one could exist. They would pick out and tame some dark-attribute monsters to help them fight. With both sides keeping each other in check, there was relative peace between the demons and humans and an all-out war did not break out. The act by the human race¡¯s upper echelons of sealing the news of the peaceful demon faction and preventing ordinary people from knowing about the existence of the intelligent demons were obviously to maintain the ordinary people¡¯s hatred towards the demon race. The former Demon King had left behind a huge disaster for humans, and it had even given the goddess a headache. Now that the Demon King was about to revive, his attitude would directly determine the relationship between the demons and the humans. Although there were peace-loving demons among the demon race, the human leaders did not dare to use the future as a bet on whether the new Demon King thought good or bad of humans. They simply planned for the worst outcome. The rulers of each country were basically in agreement on this point. Judging from the fact that the goddess had Bravehearts from various worlds to suppress the Demon King, this new Demon King clearly had great destructive power. The possibility of him being a bad Demon King was not small. ¡°Will, do you want to know the history of slaves in the kingdom?¡± Evelyn pursed her lips and looked at me again. Seeing that I was stunned, she hurriedly explained, ¡°Of course, this is just my guess. I¡¯ve just held it in for too long. It¡¯s rare to meet someone who agrees with me today. I want to share it with you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Evelyn. I don¡¯t have any slaves in my family. I only found out about the existence of slaves in the kingdom after coming to Heikem. To be honest, I¡¯m quite interested in the origin of these slaves.¡± I waved my hand and said. I was in a daze earlier because Evelyn¡¯s words instantly reminded me of someone. Elena. After returning from the slave market that day, Uncle Herbert felt that I should have gotten some information from the slaves I bought. However, because I didn¡¯t want to see this scene, I bought Elena to do it for me. At this moment, the world lines seemed to have met. It wasn¡¯t the slave Elena who was giving me answers, but Evelyn, the Registrar of the academy¡¯s Student Council. ¡°I guessed it when I saw the ruins in the territory of the demons. There is probably another race at the border between humans and demons, half-orcs. According to my speculation, they might be the products of humans and demons¡­¡± Evelyn elaborated on her opinion. I listened equally intently. In the societies of the humans and demons, there was a group of beings who were curious about the unknown world or could not integrate into their society. Some of them wanted to explore unknown areas, while others wanted to escape from others and find a new place to live. In the end, they met in the rainforest where the humans and demons bordered each other. Because both sides were intelligent creatures, they could think of all kinds of ways to communicate. As they communicated and understood each other more and more, another race was born. Some of them kept the genes of either parent and had the appearance of either a human or demon. Some of them inherited the original genes of both parents. They had human bodies, yet maintained some of the demons¡¯ most original characteristics and became half-orcs. The human and demon societies gradually discovered their existence, and such unions were not tolerated by both societies. So the war began. The weak foundation of the half-orc race was far from enough to withstand the anger of the two major races. Under the double encirclement, the society established quickly collapsed, and their clansmen fled in all directions. Half-orcs with human appearances or human bodies became human slaves. Half-orcs with the size or appearance of demons were trained as slaves and pets by the demons. They were the demonic creatures that could use dark attributes. ¡°Brilliant conjecture! Evelyn, if you didn¡¯t mention that this was your guess, I would even think that this is the history of the half-orcs.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but applaud. From the characteristics of the half-orcs, these guesses were quite reasonable. ¡°I¡¯m a little embarrassed by your praises. Unfortunately, I¡¯m just making wild guesses. I¡¯ve never thought of buying slaves, so I can¡¯t verify them.¡± Evelyn scratched her head in embarrassment and held out her other hand. ¡°Look, these are the remaining four warheads, Will. I¡¯ve completed your task.¡± ¡°Thank you, Evelyn. This is your payment.¡± I took the warheads, took out the five silver coins I had prepared, and handed them to Evelyn. ¡°Thank you, Will.¡± Evelyn took the silver and beamed. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I should go and see how the boss is doing.¡± ¡°You better not, Will. The boss certainly isn¡¯t done yet. He¡¯s more used to forging weapons in the cellar at night. How about this? Anyway, I¡¯ll be here for the next two days. When school starts, I¡¯ll bring it to the Student Council Room for you.¡± ¡°That would work. Thank you, Evelyn.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°By the way, Evelyn.¡± I took two steps outside and suddenly turned to Evelyn, whose eyes were filled with confusion. ¡°If I verify your guess, do you want to know the outcome?¡± Evelyn thought about it seriously for a while and laughed softly. ¡°Forget it. If it¡¯s true, I¡¯ll hope it¡¯s fake!¡± ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± After putting away the shells and bullets, I walked out of the weapons shop. I needed to rush back to the inn to make gunpowder and ask Elena if the slave situation was true. Only after getting confirmation could I confirm why Uncle Herbert wanted me to know this information. Could it be that the Reinhardt family was related to the half-orcs? If we were¡­ It would be Chris and Jennifer! At this thought, I immediately rushed back to the inn and returned to my room. I couldn¡¯t gather enough ingredients to make smokeless gunpowder for the time being, but I could make black gunpowder within a short duration. Midnight. There was a knock on my door. ¡°Young Master Will, I heard that you were looking for me?¡± It was Elena¡¯s voice. Chapter 39 - The First Human Target of the Devils Contract I opened the door. Elena stood outside the door in her pajamas. A fresh scent of petals wafted towards me. Her hair wasn¡¯t completely dry. She¡¯d obviously just taken a shower. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Young Master Will, it¡¯s so late. What are you doing?¡± Elena looked at the gunpowder powder that I¡¯d just finished mixing on my table and asked curiously. ¡°I¡¯m just making a toy. Don¡¯t worry about it. Elena, let me ask you, do you know the backgrounds of the maidservants who came with you?¡± I returned to my seat and asked Elena. ¡°Yes, I do. Lord Zucker asked me to record the backgrounds of all the high-end ¡®horse shows¡¯ so that I can introduce them to the guests in more detail and eliminate their worries.¡± Elena¡¯s bright eyes dimmed a little as she lowered her eyes and replied. ¡°Tell me more.¡± ¡°Yes, Young Master. Of the nine maids who followed me here, only one of them is a pure human. The rest are half-orcs from the demon territory. According to Lord Zucker, they are the same as that fox girl. They also have the blood of half-orcs in their bodies. It¡¯s just that their characteristics are not obvious enough.¡± ¡°Is that what the circus owner told you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the situation with that human girl?¡± ¡°She was adopted by Lord Zucker. Someone sold her to the circus. Lord Zucker saw that she was pretty, so he let her live with the slave girls.¡± ¡°Do you know about the experiences of those half-orc girls in the demon territory?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Lord Zucker didn¡¯t tell me. Well, Young Master, I was actually sold to the circus because my family was poor. It¡¯s just that my memory is better than others, so Lord Zucker kept me by his side to nurture me¡­¡± Elena¡¯s voice trailed off as she spoke. I didn¡¯t ask any more questions. I leaned back in my chair and recalled Evelyn¡¯s guess. Just as she had thought, the slave girls were mostly half-orcs. Only very few humans were sold to Zucker because of their family. Zucker only told Elena such information because he didn¡¯t want the buyers to doubt the background of the slave girls. Based on these statements, Evelyn¡¯s guess was most likely correct. However, if I want to be completely sure, I would have to ask the circus owner, Zucker. ¡°Young Master, is there anything troubling you? Why don¡¯t you let Elena massage your shoulders? Elena¡¯s skills are pretty good.¡± Elena looked at me, who was frowning, and asked. ¡°There¡¯s no need. Elena, go back and rest early. I still have a lot of things to trouble you with tomorrow.¡± I sat up straight and replied to Elena. It was a taboo for assassins to let others touch their bodies at will. Once it becomes a habit, it would make them lose their vigilance. This kind of thing, in words, was a sixth sense. It¡¯s just like being watched on the streets. Even if you don¡¯t see it, you can still sense that someone is watching you. Moreover, you can even lock onto the target the moment you turn around. ¡°Ah?! Young Master Will¡­ don¡¯t you need Elena to serve you? I thought that once you were done asking¡­¡± Elena was stunned for a moment before looking at me in disappointment. Her face turned slightly red. I was also stunned. It was good to be enlightened, but could you not be so enlightened in this aspect? Look at how old I am. Speaking of which, I didn¡¯t seem to have told Elena my age¡­ ¡°Ahem! Elena, don¡¯t think too much about such things if I don¡¯t mention it.¡± I replied with a cold face. ¡°Yes, but you called me over so late at night. I¡¯m a slave you bought for 15 kingdom gold coins¡­¡± Elena replied aggrievedly, crossing her arms and squeezing them against her chest, her nightgown sinking into a deep cleft. It had to be said that she seemed to be even more tempting than before¡­ I looked away a little. This was the knowledge that Zucker had imparted to them. Together with the effect of the slave brand, the person who bought them could order them around at will¡­ Just imagining it was enough to make one¡¯s blood boil. Perhaps. I could try using the Devil¡¯s Contract on Elena. As something created by the goddess, it should have a stronger dominance than the legendary legacy of the Demon King. If I could properly convey my thoughts to Elena, she might become an even more reliable helper in the future. ¡°Elena, have you ever tested your magic attributes?¡± I asked. ¡°No. Lord Zucker would never let us learn magic.¡± Elena shook her head. I realized immediately that I had asked a stupid question. That¡¯s right, it was impossible for a slave owner to buy a slaves that would pose a threat to him. There were too many things that magic could do. Even wind and water magic, which were mostly used for support and healing, had their own offensive incantations. Once a slave learned magic, they would have the ability to perish together with their master under certain conditions, especially such slaves who cater to their master¡¯s fetish. ¡°Give me your hand. I¡¯ll use a spell on you. With luck, you might become a Mage.¡± I held out my hand to Elena. ¡°Become a Mage¡­ Young Master Will, are you joking? Elena is just a slave. I¡¯m not worth it¡­¡± Elena stared at me in shock. She took two steps back and waved her hands frantically. ¡°Whether it¡¯s worth it or not, it¡¯s up to me to decide. Moreover, it¡¯s only a possibility. If you don¡¯t have the talent to awaken magic, this spell will at most strengthen the connection between our consciousnesses. I don¡¯t have to say anything and you will understand what I mean. Come.¡± I gestured with my finger again. Only then did Elena hesitantly put her hand in mine and close her eyes. ¡°Relax, Elena. Let go of your consciousness.¡± ¡°Mm¡­¡± The moment my consciousness entered Elena¡¯s mind. Crack! Something shattered. Elena quickly opened her eyes and touched her neck. ¡°Young Master Will, this is!!¡± ¡°Nothing. I just unsealed your slave brand.¡± Just as I thought, the goddess¡¯s Devil¡¯s Contract successfully removed the slave brand and replaced it. ¡°Young Master Will, is¡­ is this really good for you? Elena being a slave is clearly more beneficial to you. Are you really not afraid¡­¡± Elena was so excited that her words became incoherent. ¡°Alright, alright, Elena. I know what you¡¯re trying to say. Even without the slave brand, I believe you won¡¯t betray me, right? Moreover, this spell will connect our consciousnesses. As long as I want to, I can know what you¡¯re thinking. So, don¡¯t think too highly of me.¡± Looking at Elena, who was overwhelmed with excitement, I still ended up casting a damp on her. At the end of the day, I was still making use of her more. Even if I¡¯d removed the slave brand, I was only using another method to control her. If she continued to think for me like this, I would feel a little sorry. ¡°No, the moment Young Master Will bought Elena without any desire, Elena decided that you were the best master. No matter what, Young Master Will is Elena¡¯s master,¡± Elena said with certainty. Chapter 40 - News of the Magic Competition of the Three Academies It took me half the night to dispel Elena¡¯s desire to offer herself. When I saw her the next morning, she was already in high spirits assigning tasks to the maidservants in the inn. She even revealed her smooth neck that was usually tightly covered. On the other hand, I wasn¡¯t doing so well. With only three hours of sleep, I was rather sleep deprived. I appeared on the street with two dark circles under my eyes. As agreed yesterday, I was going to the various shops to retrieve the rifle parts today. Although I knew that getting multiple shops to forge a rifle might result in larger tolerances, it would maximize confidentiality. Fortunately, I know an outstanding Mage blacksmith and she is my classmate. The problems that may arise can be easily resolved now. ¡°Will, you look very tired. Did you not sleep well last night?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I didn¡¯t sleep well.¡± ¡°Then you have to rest well today. The boss is still resting, but the parts you need have been forged. I¡¯ll bring them over. We¡¯d agreed that I would bring them to school for you tonight. I didn¡¯t expect you to come personally.¡± Evelyn smiled at me and turned to go to the back to get my parts. ¡°No, I¡¯m here to ask you for help. Originally, I needed the President to find someone to help me adjust these parts, but with you around, there¡¯s no need to trouble others.¡± I explained the purpose of my visit and removed a large packet of parts from the bag. ¡°Oh, I see. I didn¡¯t expect to be the first person to see what the rifle looks like. I¡¯m very honored. Let¡¯s begin.¡± Evelyn brought the parts and laughed at the package I¡¯d left on the counter. ¡°Alright!¡± We went to the forging area and I began assembling the components in the bag one by one. I picked out the components with the wrong measurements and asked Evelyn to modify them. Nearly two hours later, a bolt-action rifle laid quietly in front of Evelyn and me. ¡°Evelyn, do you want to give it a try first?¡± I deftly demonstrated pulling the bolt. I took a bullet from my pocket and asked Evelyn. ¡°No, Will, I have to remind you that President Leah doesn¡¯t like her toys to be touched by others first, especially when she hasn¡¯t permitted it. I suggest you keep it well. We can play it openly when you demonstrate for the President tomorrow.¡± Evelyn narrowed her eyes as she reminded me. ¡°Thank you for your reminder, Senior Evelyn. I will remember it.¡± I put the rifle away in a cloth sheath that I had prepared earlier. I didn¡¯t doubt Evelyn¡¯s description of President Leah¡¯s personality. Especially since I didn¡¯t know anything about her. There was nothing wrong with being careful. ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t expect you to be so humorous. President Leah is a very good person. She just has a strong personality. Will, don¡¯t misunderstand her because of what I said,¡± Evelyn laughed and explained. ¡°Mm, mm. That won¡¯t happen. See you tomorrow, Evelyn.¡± I shouldered my rifle and bade Evelyn farewell. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± ¡­ The bell rang. The usual day passed. I shouldered my wrapped rifle and headed for the classroom door, where Sephone was already waiting for me. ¡°Will, here, here!¡± ¡°I¡¯m here, Sephone. How was your weekend?¡± After our previous conversation, my relationship with Sephone improved. ¡°Not bad. I just didn¡¯t leave the campus and explored the entire academy with two of my classmates. Now I don¡¯t have to ask others for directions wherever I go. What about you, Will?¡± Sephone raised her head proudly and turned to look at me. ¡°I had a good weekend too. I spent two days heading to more than ten weapon shops in the city and made this.¡± I patted the cloth bag on my shoulder. ¡°This? Is this the rifle President Leah entrusted you to forge?¡± Sephone reached out to touch it and asked curiously. ¡°That¡¯s right. I plan to hand it over to the President as soon as possible so that it won¡¯t keep weighing on my heart.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s indeed the case. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll come with you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I headed to the Student Council Room with Sephone. In the month after school officially started, we had already been there three times. We knew that the members would gather here every Monday after class. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s Sephone and Will! You two are the latest again, but you¡¯re still so close. How enviable.¡± As soon as we pushed open the door, Angelina¡¯s teasing voice came from the front. In the room, Vice President Matthew and Secretary Evelyn were sitting quietly in their seats. Senior Elsa was sleeping soundly on the long table. Only Angelina had her arms crossed and was looking at me and Sephone with a teasing expression. ¡°Senior Angelina, you only need to attend two classes a day. Don¡¯t make it sound so easy.¡± Sephone rolled her eyes and retorted. ¡°Hehe, who¡¯s the one in the first grade? Everyone has been through this. But I wasn¡¯t wrong to praise your good relationship.¡± Angelina smiled. I only found out last week that the higher the level, the less classes you attend. There were six classes a day in the first grade, but after the second grade, there were only four classes a day. As a third grader, Angelina only had two classes a day. ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t outtalk you. Anyway, you¡¯ve always got a reason to tease me and Will.¡± Sephone sat down sulkily. I looked at the end of the long table. Usually, President Leah would be sitting there at this time, but today, that seat was empty. ¡°Senior Angelina, where¡¯s President Leah?¡± I asked. ¡°The academy called her over for a meeting. Maybe something happened.¡± Angelina shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°Is that so¡­¡± I pulled out a chair and was about to sit down. Creak~ The door of the Student Council Room opened again. Just as I turned my head, Elsa, who was sleeping soundly, had already gotten up and sat quietly in her seat. ¡°Everyone, let me tell you a piece of bad news. The kingdom has decided to hold a magic competition between the three academies in four months. The venue will be at Olgus Academy. There will be participants from the first to fourth grades. The Student Council will be busy.¡± President Leah announced the news and returned to her seat. ¡°Magic competition?! Both academies are sending people over. Oh my god! We¡¯ve already hiding at the border. Why is there still a magic competition?!¡± Senior Sister Elsa was like a frightened cat whose fur stood on end. ¡°President, this is the first time in 20 years that the three academies are jointly organizing a magic competition. What exactly happened?¡± Angelina frowned and asked. She was completely different from when she teased me and Sephone. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s pressure from outside. The Dean didn¡¯t tell me in detail. I¡¯m just guessing. Just prepare well,¡± President Leah said casually. Her gaze shifted to the cloth bag I had leaning against the table and her eyes instantly lit up. ¡°Will, is this the rifle you made for me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, President.¡±