“What do you mean by stupid…?”
“What else would you call the claim that an obstetric death is a murder committed by the fetus, if not a stupid remark born from medical ignorance?”
“……”
Valtraus tried to offer a timid rebuttal.
However, in the face of the excessively objective logic flowing from Hard’s mouth, he lost all will to fight.
It wasn’t a particularly pitiful sight.
Thus, I leisurely entertained idle thoughts as I carefully picked up a canapé served as an appetizer with my fork and brought it to my mouth.
‘By the way, Hard and Ragfrid aren’t just emotionally dry; it feels as if any trace of emotion never existed in them. Yet Valtraus is uniquely emotional, isn’t he?’
Come to think of it, Karbaldr as described in the Original Work was just as emotional.
Considering how he vented his anger on the innocent Reysir Daudabina because he couldn’t manage his own loneliness, he could be called the spitting image of his older brother.
If two out of the three siblings have such a disposition, it wouldn’t be a new trait that suddenly popped up like a mutant.
I suspect they might have inherited the personality of the deceased Duchess.
“Ragfrid. You mentioned earlier that you were about to scold Valtraus.”
“Yes, that is what I said.”
“Since you brought it up first, take responsibility for educating your younger brother so he never goes around spouting such lacking words again.”
“I understand.”
Passing the role of teaching his own child to the eldest instead of doing it himself—he really is an incredibly irresponsible man as a father.
Nevertheless, Ragfrid accepted the order as if it were only natural with an extremely polite attitude.
Valtraus’s face turned red as his pride was crushed, yet he couldn’t dare to disobey and kept his mouth tightly shut.
“Then, let us move on to the next item.”
Hard didn’t even bother to look at what kind of expression his eldest son was making.
In a business-like manner, he mentioned the name of the Possession Body.
“Karbaldr. If there is anything to report regarding the incident that occurred at the Academy today, speak.”
For a moment, I was tense, thinking he would naturally ask about Yor.
Because I received a different question, the tension drained out of me.
Admittedly, the occurrence of a Demonic Realm during the Graduation Ceremony was merely an expected event for me.
However, for others, it was a sudden anomaly, so it was something ‘that must be reported to the head of the family.’
But….
“Nothing in particular. As you would know since you must have already received a report, I was quite distracted at the time for various reasons. I was not in a state to observe the abnormal phenomenon occurring there. Therefore, I likely know nothing more than what you have already been reported, Father.”
I skipped the detailed report by replying indifferently as above.
The very fact that Hard could ask me about the Magicalization meant he had already received a report on the matter.
It was expected. For a Duke, information on such major incidents tends to roll in even if he stays still.
“Why did you not come to report immediately despite such an abnormal phenomenon occurring?”
“Is that a problem? I assumed you would receive a report through other routes anyway, and isn’t that exactly what happened?”
“That abnormal phenomenon is not something to be passed over lightly.”
“I know that as well. Isn’t it the same phenomenon that occurred in the Daudabiner County ten years ago? Since it didn’t end with one and a second instance has occurred, there is no guarantee there won’t be a third or fourth.”
“If you thought that way, and yet did not report it to the head of the house… how am I supposed to take such behavior from you?”
As long as he got the report through some channel without being late, why is he nagging so much?
Despite having not even a speck of intention to respect his children, it seems he has an overflowing desire to be respected by them.
After letting out a deep breath that was close to a sigh, I poured out the following words quickly, as if speaking for the Possession Body.
“Since losing my memory, I have only seen you exactly once, Father, and we haven’t even shared a conversation. My only interaction with you was being slapped on the cheek. Would it even be possible for me to visit your office as soon as I returned home and chatter away about every little thing I experienced at the Academy today? In the first place, if I had requested for you to listen to me, would you have even listened, Father?”
“If you had said there was an important matter to report, I would have listened.”
“I was too exhausted and tired to beg for your ear and even file a report while enduring being treated like a person begging for attention.”
“……”
Hard seemed to be lost in thought for a moment without speaking, then nodded as if he understood.
However, there was still someone who didn’t understand.
“I don’t know what happened, but there must have been a way to ask me to deliver the report instead.”
Ragfrid said this while staring blankly at me sitting next to her.
Her face was definitely expressionless and her voice was flat, but I could sense a strangely dissatisfied air.
‘No way? No, it couldn’t be. It’s not like Ragfrid is the older brother of a female protagonist in some family-regret romance fantasy novel…!’
It couldn’t be that because the younger brother—who used to approach and talk to her tirelessly despite her own indifferent attitude—suddenly started keeping his distance, she felt a sense of regret, started paying attention to him, and developed an affectionate heart.
That’s because the genre of 《Nas-e》 is a male-oriented fantasy novel, and I, who possessed this novel, am also a man.
‘In male-oriented novels, the family only tends to regret after the protagonist gains strong power and authority. Since I have neither power nor authority right now, it doesn’t seem to be a regret-themed progression after all…!’
Given that Ragfrid started her sentence with “I don’t know what happened,” it’s more likely she’s acting that way because she’s disappointed she missed the chance to get ahead in the succession competition by obtaining important information before Valtraus and discussing it with their father.
“I apologize. Since it was right after I experienced something that didn’t feel real, I was already dazed, and encountering you unexpectedly made me fail to think of such a thing. You even took the carriage home with me to utilize time efficiently… I apologize for making you spend extra time because I didn’t mention important information then.”
“No, that… I don’t need an apology, so let’s have a talk after we finish the meal.”
“Rather than hearing it from me, it would be more efficient for you to borrow and read the report Father received.”
“……”
Despite responding as politely as possible, Ragfrid’s expression hardened silently, as if she felt I was ignoring her.
Perhaps finding that sight of his competitor amusing, Valtraus let out an artificial snort, “Puhut!”
Hard, regardless of whether his children were doing that or not, intended to continue what he was saying.
“Karbaldr. Considering the state of your mind and body today, I will not make an issue of you not reporting the important incident.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“However, what on earth were you thinking, risking your life just to save someone like a Baroness?”
Because I didn’t expect such a question to come from his mouth, my eyes widened naturally. Even for Ragfrid, who resembles her father the most, it must have been a very unexpected remark, as she flinched and showed a more surprised reaction than I did.
“It wasn’t because I had a particularly special reason or thought…. Rather, I didn’t know you would ask me about that matter in such an interrogating manner, Father.”
“Why?”
“Even if I had died there, instead of the dishonor of failing to protect your child, you could have gained the honor of having raised your child wonderfully, Father. You could also have held the professors, who are excellent human resources, responsible and demanded compensation. No matter how you think about it, isn’t it a gain?”
“So? Were you expecting me to praise you for doing well?”
“Of course not. I am merely curious about what aspect of my behavior was unsatisfactory in your eyes, Father.”
“……”
For some reason, Hard’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Did I seem too impolite because I kept talking back?
“You are a member of the Dukedom. The value of your life is fundamentally different from someone like a Baron’s Daughter, so do not act so thoughtlessly next time.”
To think he considers it so natural to weigh the value of a life based on status.
Well, it’s because he’s this kind of person that he didn’t give even a small amount of attention to his youngest son, who was labeled as a defective product.
Because his own time was too precious to look into a mere defective product.
“…Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
With that being my final answer, the conversation cut off.
The maids serving the meal entered again, cleared the appetizer plates, and placed soup bowls on the table.
The feeding bowls for the large beasts positioned on the floor were also replaced with ones containing soup.
It seemed they had prepared a full-course meal not just for Yor, who sat at the table with humans, but for the other Familiars as well.
After that, the plates were replaced several times as new food was placed before us.
During that time, the meal proceeded in silence with no conversation passing between us.
“Now, speak about your Familiar.”
Hard spoke as above and addressed me after the maids had brought out tea and dessert to finish the meal and exited the Dining Hall once again.
“His name is ‘Jormungand,’ and his Ether Characteristic Ability is manipulating the weather. Currently, he can only make it rain, but it is said that as time passes, he will be able to manipulate air currents to make wind blow or generate lightning.”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“My Familiar wrote it down and informed me himself.”
Actually, Yor didn’t write those details down and show them to me, but explaining the situation from episode 35 would be too much trouble, so I just made that up.
Was it because Yor showed perfect table manners while handling the cutlery flawlessly during the meal?
Or did he already know the fact that My Baby Dragon knows how to write?
Even though Yor didn’t take out the Whitenboard to show him the act of writing, Hard simply moved on with a “I see.”
“Can you also manipulate the weather?”
“Yes.”
“What is the range?”
“Yor can make it rain over half the area of the Academy grounds for ten minutes. And I can do about a third of that…?”
“Why is there such a difference?”
“It is a difference stemming from the amount of Aether. Considering that my Sky-Blue Aether amount is about half of his Purple Aether, Yor can be called a truly great existence that even the expression ‘special’ is insufficient to describe.”
Whenever I praised his greatness, Yor would always take a majestic posture and show his pride.
However, since this was the place it was, he seemingly didn’t want to do that today.
He just sipped his tea with a refined attitude and made a few “Myaa, myaa” sounds.
But even that must have felt annoying to Valtraus, as he started picking a fight.
“To use an ability effectively, the range of application should at least be around the size of an entire county, shouldn’t it?”
“It will become that way. Yor has only just been born and is set to grow for a long time. Eventually, he will.”
“Even if your Familiar is like that, what about you?”
“……”
To make it rain over an entire county, the Aether stat would have to exceed at least 1000.
However, even the Reysir Daudabina of the latest chapter of the Original Work, who rolled infinitely while wearing the protagonist Buff, barely entered the 500s.
I didn’t dare say that I could do it too.
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