Chapter 99

Duke's Magic Genius - Chapter 100 (99/324)

100

The next day.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I had a quick breakfast and immediately headed to the training ground.

The three knights were already waiting on the platform.

It's still before the appointed time, they're quite diligent.

I slightly bowed my head and sat down next to them, and Jacob spoke to me.

"Fourth Young Master."

"Yes."

"I have a question."

"Please go ahead."

"About the people you chose yesterday, can you tell me the criteria you used?"

Curiosity was evident in his eyes.

The three knights here were all top-tier experts. Since the people you chose didn't catch their eyes, it's quite natural for them to be curious about your criteria.

They probably looked like participants with no talent at all.

What should I answer?

I have no intention of mentioning the Insight Eye, so I'll have to come up with something plausible.

"Just a feeling."

"…A feeling?"

"Yes. I just felt like they should pass."

My answer made the three knights look bewildered.

"…Is that the only reason?"

"Yes. I have a good intuition."

"…Indeed."

"Why don't we see how they perform after some training?"

The candidates who passed the first round will undergo a month-long training camp to evaluate their potential.

A month is enough time to see at least some improvement.

Since I'm confident in the results, I can answer quite confidently.

"…Understood."

After the conversation ended, we waited for a while, and the citizens of the estate filled the training ground.

There were more people than yesterday.

"How many in total?"

"Roughly twelve thousand."

When I asked the knight in charge, he gave me the number.

The faces of the three old knights showed a look of fatigue upon hearing the answer.

"…Let's get started."

The test proceeded in the same way as yesterday.

Of course, my Insight Eye was constantly active.

* * * * *

Twelve thousand.

After reviewing the participants for half a day, I was completely drained.

After confirming the last group.

"Ugh!"

"Finally done."

The three knights, who had been sitting, started to stretch. Out of the twelve thousand participants, about eight hundred were selected.

'Probably around four hundred will remain after the first cut.'

The month-long training process.

During this period, the number will likely be reduced by half.

But that's fine.

In the long run, those four hundred will be a great asset to the family.

Craft looked at me and the old knights.

"The level isn't as bad as I thought."

His face looked quite bright. The other old knights nodded in agreement.

The talents of the selected candidates seemed quite promising.

Moreover, there were quite a few exceptional talents.

If they can endure the training, they have the potential to reach at least the mid-expert level in the future.

There were more than fifteen such talents.

Four of them were chosen by me.

My participation has brought many benefits.

"Indeed… there seem to be many talents who can start as training knights and eventually become squad or company leaders. If we expand the scope to the entire empire…"

It will be quite a sight.

All kinds of talents will knock on the door of the duke's family. I slightly bowed to the old knights.

"Thank you all for your hard work."

"Fourth Young Master, you also worked hard. Get some rest."

Oh, right.

Before parting, I had one more question.

"Malone."

"Yes, sir?"

"I have a question. How is the internal investigation going?"

"We are thoroughly investigating those with suspicion. So far, about five people have been caught."

The fate of those caught is obvious.

After the investigation, they will likely be gathered and executed.

"Is Baron Hemington on that list?"

When I asked, Malone shook his head.

"He is suspected, but the investigation shows he wasn't deeply involved. It seems he followed the Second Young Master without knowing anything."

Though disappointing, the baron will have to be dealt with when I end the viscount. If he's willing to inform assassins about the family's internal affairs, he must have a significant grudge against me.

Such a person is bound to cause trouble if left alive.

'Well, it won't be hard to get the viscount to mention the baron's name.'

I can leave that for later.

After finishing my thoughts, I bowed to Malone.

"Yes, then I'll take my leave."

As I entered the annex, I saw the Sword Demon Squad training with swords in the training ground, sweating profusely.

Perhaps because they are now confident they can become knights, they are training with great enthusiasm even though it's late in the evening.

Seron ran up to me when our eyes met.

"Young Master, you're here."

"Yeah. How's the training going?"

Seron nodded vigorously.

"Yes. Thanks to Sir Leonhardt's lessons, everyone is adapting very quickly. At this rate, they will become proficient in swordsmanship soon."

"How about you? Have you accumulated a lot of aura?"

"Yes. Thanks to the ring, I've accumulated much more than expected."

Seron is currently at the upper level of Sword User.

While a Sword Beginner is just an entry-level, a Sword User is the level of a knight who has some experience with swords.

Expert.

The difference between an Expert and a Sword User is simple.

Can they properly imbue their sword with aura?

While sending aura to the body is not difficult, sending it to an object is one of the more challenging tasks.

Of course, it's possible for a user-level person to send aura to a sword if they have the talent.

However, due to the lack of aura and skill, it's barely visible when they do.

A Beginner can't imbue aura at all.

The Sword Demon Squad, except for Seron, is probably just past the Beginner stage.

They are just starting to learn the basics of sword techniques and cultivation.

'Seron…'

He might reach the lower Expert level soon.

His talent is exceptional, allowing for such rapid progress.

"Are they all training on their own?"

"Yes. They prefer to increase their training time rather than take breaks… so they've been training continuously."

Since they are doing it voluntarily, I have no reason to stop them.

The more they improve, the more comfortable my future will be.

"Good. I won't stop you from training late, but tell them to be careful and avoid injuries. It's dark now, right?"

"Understood."

After returning to my room, I circulated the mana in the circle.

As the mana circulated through my upper body, I felt my fatigue melting away.

This is really amazing.

After relieving some of my fatigue, I called Ersiel.

Even after becoming a lesser noble, she is still my personal maid.

Her daily life hasn't changed much, but being a lesser noble is definitely better than a commoner.

In fact, as her status improved, people around her started treating her better.

"Can you make two cups of tea?"

"Two cups?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

She brought the tea, tilting her head at my request.

"Sit here."

When I offered her a seat, she sat down cautiously.

"Young Master, do you have something to tell me?"

"I have a question."

"Yes."

"About the family you lived in before. Was it the Helaime Baron's family?"

Helaime Baron's family.

If this guy's memories are correct, it's the name of the family she lived in before.

Her expression darkened rapidly at the mention of it.

"…Yes."

Oh no.

Did I touch on a painful past?

Still, I had to ask.

The reason I'm asking is to find her family.

Now that I have some leisure and a solid foundation in the family, I can search for her family if I want to.

I should do it.

"Your family. Don't you want to see them again?"

"…"

She fidgeted with her hands at my words.

It seems she wants to.

Given that she was probably separated from her family when the family fell, it's natural for her to miss them.

If she had a normal family relationship, that is.

"If you want, I can find them for you."

"…But it's a story from three years ago. I don't even know where they are now…"

"It will take time, but I can find them."

"I've already received too much from you. I don't want to cause you more trouble."

"You're my subordinate, aren't you?"

"…"

She remained silent for a moment.

Then she slowly nodded.

"I am your lord. Isn't it natural to help my subordinates with their problems?"

"Still… I haven't given you anything yet…"

What do you mean you haven't given me anything?

You received a light-attribute body.

Depending on your future growth, you could even reach 50% attribute proficiency.

Ersiel is like a goose that lays golden eggs.

It's important to give a lot to such a talented person.

If I build a strong relationship with her, I might gain absolute loyalty one day.

Of course, with her current favorability at around 90, she's already quite safe.

Still, I want to find her family.

"Anyway, you do want to find them, right?"

After pondering for a while, she shook her head with a troubled look.

Why is she refusing like this?

Something seems off.

Of course, she could refuse.

Not all families are harmonious.

She might not want to find them.

But if she had a strong aversion to her family, she would have refused immediately when I offered to find them.

There's no reason for her to look so troubled and shake her head.

There must be some reason behind this.

Is there something she feels burdened about asking me?

If so, her reaction makes sense.

'Helaime Baron's family.'

I don't know much about them.

I only knew such a family existed.

There was no reason to pay attention to a small baron's family in the southern part of the empire.

I quietly said to her.

"Alright. If you don't want to, I won't bring it up again. But if you change your mind, feel free to tell me. I'll help you."

"…Thank you."

"Good. Get some rest today. I'll call you again tomorrow."

"…Yes."

She left the room with a rather gloomy expression.

'She definitely has something on her mind.'

I need to find out more about the Helaime Baron's family.

Once I make a decision, it's best to act quickly. As I stepped out of the room, I saw Leonhardt standing by the door.

"Let's go out for a bit."

"Outside the castle?"

"Yeah. I have a place to visit."

"Should I call Seron?"

"No. He's training, leave him be. It's just a short outing."

Trasden Estate.

Given its vast size, it naturally has many informants.

Among them, I'm going to visit the 'Black Flower,' a well-known information group that provides excellent and accurate information, though their fees are a bit high.

'They should be able to…'

Thoroughly investigate the baron's family and provide me with the information within a few days.

Then I can speculate on why the Helaime Baron's family fell.

With that, Leonhardt and I started to leave the castle.