Chapter 10

"Master, what are you thinking about?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's Zoe."

I looked up, and there was the familiar maid standing by the serving cart, looking at me with a worried expression.

Lately, I've been seeing her more often.

After I bought her village, which had been hit by a flood, she offered to do more work around the mansion as a way to repay me. Since she felt indebted, she started working hard and paying attention to the small details. She's not bad at taking care of my daily needs.

Right now, she's attending to me while I'm deep in thought in the mansion's grand hall, taking care of various things.

"Have you heard that I'm going to be the judge for the next knight selection?"

"Ah, I see!"

"Do you know about the knight selection?"

"Yes! It's the only gateway for commoners to rise in society. Those who have the skills train every day to aim for it."

"I see. Well, I've been thinking about how to conduct it. ...Do you have any challengers from your village?"

"Yes, one person from my village every year."

"I see. Well, this year I've abolished the preliminary rounds. Anyone can come."

"...Yes."

Her vague response caught my attention.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!"

"It's not that I'm offended. What were you thinking just now? Tell me."

"It's nothing much. The reason only one person comes from our village isn't because of the preliminaries, but because of the travel expenses to the capital and the cost of staying there."

"Hmm?"

"The capital has high living costs. The whole village pools their money to cover the expenses for just one person. So..."

She had a complicated look on her face.

I see, that's the situation.

"...Is that a lot? For the village to collect money to send one person?"

"Yes. They come with the village's expectations, so they take it very seriously—"

"Alright, then I'll change that."

"—What?"

Zoe looked bewildered.

"What do you mean by 'change that'?"

"The travel and living expenses. If I want to choose from as many people as possible, I can't let talent slip away because of this. I'll cover all the expenses for the candidates while they're in the capital."

"Can you really do that?"

"I can."

I said it clearly.

"I'm the one in charge of this knight selection. It's just a matter of providing the money, and I can decide it right now."

"That's not the issue... It will cost a lot of money..."

"Someone."

At my call, a male servant came in. I ordered him to find out how many vacant houses there are in the capital.

If buying up all the vacant houses is enough, that's fine. If not, we'll build new dormitories.

And food. Depending on the number of people, we might need to secure enough to feed a village or a small town. I searched my memory for the grain merchant who has connections with the Thirteen Princes' estate.

"Master... That's amazing..."

Next to me, Zoe was completely stunned as I was thinking hard.

☆

On the way back from the grain merchant's place.

After securing a promise for a steady supply of food during the knight selection period, I was satisfied and on my way back.

The main street of the capital was bustling with various people as usual.

Is there talent among them? Thinking about it made me want to stop and talk to each person.

Suddenly, the passersby started stopping and parting to the sides.

A carriage came through the path they had made.

The carriage that stopped the passersby and used the road with priority, and that crest—

"It's Noah, isn't it?"

The carriage stopped next to me.

After the horses stopped neighing, a young man's face appeared from inside the carriage.

"Brother."

I gave a slight bow on the spot.

Oscar Aralat.

The eighth child of His Majesty and my brother.

Of course, he is also a prince. The passersby made way for him because of that.

Oscar, who is known as the most benevolent among the princes, spoke with a gentle face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just wandering around. What about you, Brother?"

"I'm on my way to Cobalt Street. Say, why don't you come with me, Noah?"

"...Alright, I'll go with you."

There was no reason to refuse, so I accepted the invitation.

The driver immediately lowered the step to help me get into the carriage, and I sat across from Oscar.

As soon as I got in, the driver skillfully started the carriage again.

"I heard you're going to be the judge for the next knight selection, Noah."

"You're well-informed, Brother."

"His Majesty was praising you a lot. I haven't seen him that happy in years."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, at least since Noah was born."

"I see."

Oscar and I talked about the knight selection.

I said he was well-informed, but not as much as His Majesty.

He knew about the knight selection, but not that I had already taken action to cover the expenses for those coming to the capital.

Well, His Majesty's reaction was a bit extreme.

After a while, the carriage arrived at the entrance of another main street.

"From here, we'll walk."

"Is it alright to leave the carriage here?"

"This is a place where you use your own feet to enjoy treasure hunting."

Oscar smiled innocently.

Even though he's a young man, he has a childlike smile that suits him well.

We got out of the carriage and entered Cobalt Street, which was right in front of us.

Cobalt Street is a place where antique dealers are concentrated.

Some have shops, while others have stalls.

All the antiques in the empire gather here, but so do many fakes.

In this small town, where the genuine and the fake are mixed, it is considered a noble pastime to use your own eyes to find real treasures.

"Have you been to this place, Noah?"

"I've heard a lot about it. This is my first time actually coming here."

"I see."

"I've heard it can be quite expensive."

"Not really. Ten thousand Leen should be enough to start with. If you find a real treasure, it should be enough as a down payment."

"I see."

The average monthly income for an adult male in the capital is ten Leen.

Ten thousand is not a small amount, but it's necessary to meet a real treasure.

I walked around with Oscar.

We went into shops to look at treasures and examined the items displayed at stalls.

"There are paintings too?"

"Yes, but most of them are fakes."

Oscar, who was answering, had lost the enthusiasm he had when he first came here.

It was clear that his mood had dropped because he hadn't found any treasures.

Well, treasures don't just appear easily.

I thought about this while casually picking up and examining items at the stalls.

I don't really understand antiques and art.

Generally, it seemed that shops had better items, while stalls had more junk.

But that might just be a preconception.

While thinking about this, I picked up a book from a stall.

It was a thick, very old book.

"---!"

Instantly, my hand stopped.

"What's wrong, Noah?"

"...How much is this?"

"Three Leen."

I took out the amount from my pocket and handed it to the vendor.

Then I examined the book closely.

"What's wrong, Noah? Why are you looking at it with such a scary face?"

"..."

Oscar, as if remembering something, grabbed my wrist and examined the old book closely.

This action made me wonder, "What's going on?"

"Brother?"

"This is... Yes, no doubt about it. Noah, this is a treasure."

"A treasure?"

"Yes. This is a magic book by the great magician Andrea, and it's the original."

"..."

I smiled back at Oscar and looked at the old book—magic book—again.

I didn't know it was a treasure, but the moment I picked it up, I saw something change.

---

Name: Noah Aralat

Thirteenth Prince of the Aralat Empire

Gender: Male

Level: 1/∞

HP F Fire F

MP F Water E+SS

Strength F+F Wind F+F

Stamina F+F Earth F

Intelligence F Light F

Spirit F Dark F

Speed F

Dexterity F+F

Luck F+F

---

This is my status.

The part that usually stays in the corner of my vision moved.

A "+" appeared next to Wind.

It was definitely because of this, so I paid three Leen to get it.

I looked at the magic book while walking, and Oscar was still talking beside me.

"It seems to be written in a later period. Depending on the content, it's worth at least a thousand Leen. Wow, to find a real treasure on your first visit to Cobalt Street, and from a stall, no less."

"...I can feel it."

"What? Feel what?"

I stopped walking.

Holding the book, I thrust Leviathan into it.

"Noah!?"

Oscar was surprised, but I ignored him and thrust Leviathan into the book as Leviathan had instructed.

Leviathan had told me that the magic book contained a sealed soul.

I wanted to see the soul, so I followed Leviathan's instructions and thrust the sword into the book.

Then—A black shadow came out of the book.

The shadow was in the shape of a person, but it had no pupils and was completely white, and a menacing aura surrounded it.

"Impossible! A forbidden book with the author's soul sealed inside!? Run, Noah! That thing has mastered wind—"

Before Oscar could finish, I moved.

What moved me was the mad dog and loyal dog, Leviathan.

Leviathan directed the strongest hostility it had ever shown at the moment the shadow appeared.

So I acted immediately, slashing with the magic sword and cutting off the head of the man who emerged. Then, I used Leviathan's ultimate move, the water pillar, with a return swing.

The severed head and the body still attached to the magic book were both blown away by the water pillar.

The "+" disappeared from my status.

It was a waste, but Leviathan's hostility was essentially a warning, so I thought it was better to act this way.

"By the way, Brother, you were shouting something just now. What was it—Brother?"

I realized that Oscar was staring at me with his mouth wide open, completely stunned.

"What's wrong, Brother?"

"You... When did you get so strong?"

Brother was genuinely surprised.