How many noble families existed on the continent?
No one knew for sure, but there were quite a few.
Since there were more than 100 kingdoms, and if the eldest son wasn’t an only child, the territories were often split, so many noble families existed.
However, among so many families, there were only a few with a good reputation.
The three families of the Runtel Kingdom, famous for their magic.
The five families of the five western kingdoms are known for their swords.
And the Duchy of Sezar, which produces many sorcerers, and the Duke of the Holy Kingdom, which produced great paladins.
These ten families were so great that everyone knew about them.
‘Among them, the Lindsay family is a great family…’
It was thanks to the servant Marcus who recognized the emblem immediately.
The Lindsay family emblem was made of an expensive metal like platinum, so it had to be genuine.
If so, how did his young lord get it?
The answer was simple.
“Friend… gave it.”
“… friend?”
Irene nodded his head.
Friend. It was still an unfamiliar word that didn’t flow through his mouth.
But she called herself Irene’s friends, so he couldn’t deny it.
But he knew why Marcus was so surprised.
Irene was a sloth who stayed away from the world, but that didn’t mean he was a fool.
‘Still, he is so shocked that he can’t speak properly… the Lindsay family is far greater than I thought.’
Irene didn’t know the details of the 10 families on the continent. He just heard of them.
But judging from Marcus’s reaction, he realized how great they were.
‘Well, it looks like the reaction of the other children at the beginning of the admission.’
Of course, that didn’t matter to Irene.
It didn’t matter if Ilya came from a noble family or not. Like how he didn’t care that Judith was an orphan.
Taking back the emblem from the servant’s hand, the boy said.
“Yes, a friend.”
“…”
“I am sorry, but I’ll close my eyes for a moment.”
“Ah, yes! Young lord!”
Irene fell into meditation on the pretext of sleeping.
It wasn’t for the usual reason. Now, he just wanted to escape from the questions.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
He had something he had to think about, but he couldn’t find an answer to it.
Irene wasn’t smart enough to solve such a problem all at once.
‘I would have run away. Or maybe I’ll really fall asleep now.’
However, the present Irene wasn’t like that.
Even if the problem was difficult, he tried and kept on trying, and then he learned to open up a path.
The problem was that it was all because of his dreams.
‘My sword… my own effort…’
To solve the problem, the boy plunged deep into his own world, and Marcus looked at him with curious eyes.
A few days passed.
The Pareira’s family wagon, which moved endlessly, came close to the family’s estate. Just one more city.
And in the meantime, the Deadbeat Noble had a similar day.
Most of the day was spent meditating and worrying.
‘Young lord, is he okay?’
Marcus’s worries grew as the days passed.
When he saw the young lord, he felt happy.
He looked better and had a better body. He even saw him talking to people other than his own family.
Such things were unimaginable in the past.
And to think he is friends with the continent’s genius, Ilya Lindsay!
It could be considered as good as being accepted as an official trainee of Krono.
Of course, he wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was sure that the relationship with the Lindsay family would help strengthen the Pareira family.
But even when such good things happened, the young lord didn’t seem to be in a good mood, as if he was bound by a problem.
‘Even if he was disappointed…’
He felt bad thinking that Irene had grown attached to the school.
Perhaps the other kids were the same.
He heard that Krono was a difficult place for beginners.
However, despite that, it was natural for Irene to be disappointed.
Especially since Irene was taking on a challenge for the first time in his life.
‘Something, I need to do something to cheer him up!’
Of course, he couldn’t think of anything.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Had he thought of such a thing, he wouldn’t be so worried.
In the end, the servant spent the time groaning while the wagon arrived at the last city before entering the family estate.
At that moment, something entered Marcus’s eyes.
‘Orc?’
Green skin.
Thicker physique than adult males.
Large teeth protruding from the mouth.
Certain. That was an orc.
‘They’re supposed to be occasionally seen only in the northwest. How did it get to the south?’
They live quite far from the Hale Kingdom, and they weren’t a race that had frequent exchange with humans, so their existence here was rare.
It wasn’t just an orc either.
Looking at the pentagram pendant around its neck and the tattoos on its skin, he seemed knowledgeable in astrology and animism.
‘This!’
The servant clapped his hands.
And immediately ran to the inn where Irene was staying.
“Young lord? Are you asleep?”
“No. Why?”
“If it isn’t too much of a problem, why don’t we go see some divination to distract your mind?”
“Divination?”
Irene knew what it was.
It was like a floating superstition around the world, something like finding out about bad luck, fortune, and the future.
“It might be fun, but…”
“It’s not an ordinary fortune-teller. An orc fortune teller resides in the city.”
Irene was shocked by the information.
It was impossible for a boy who didn’t step out of his family’s mansion to see an orc.
Out of pure curiosity, he gladly accepted it, and the two dressed up and headed for the orc.
The servant smiled.
‘Orc tellers are famous for saying good things.’
A human could foretell bad stuff, but orcs and other races never foretold anything bad or unhappy to the humans to avoid slander.
This was why orcs were preferred.
Of course, people knew that too, but they still felt good.
The same was the case for the young lord.
‘If he listens to good things about the future, he might not feel so lost and in pain. Maybe he might feel refreshed!’
As they walked with such expectation, they arrived.
Fortunately, the line wasn’t long, and Irene was shocked.
“It’s true.”
“Yes. A real orc. And did you know, sir? Orc tellers are the most courageous tellers.”
“Huh. I have heard that good luck comes just by meeting orc tellers.”
“Right.”
In truth, all orcs tellers only spoke about good things, but the servant didn’t want to point that out.
After a brief wait, it was Irene’s turn.
Excited, the boy sat down, and the servant took a seat.
The orc teller greeted them with a bright smile.
“Nice to meet you, customer! Is this the one who wants to see the divination?”
“Yes.”
“Nice! What would you like to know? Fortune? Today or this year? Love? Good luck? Please ask me anything! This brave orc… will…”
It was that time when Irene and Marcus were shocked by the fluent words of the orc.
The orc’s words gradually slowed down.
They looked to see if something happened, but nothing was out of the ordinary.
No, the orc was looking intently at Irene.
“…”
“…”
“… excuse me, is there some problem?”
Their eyes met, and there was silence. Irene felt his back sweat, and the servant began to feel pressure at what was happening.
After a while, the orc spoke with a serious expression.
“Pardon my rudeness, but how old are you?”
“Let’s not do such a trashy fortune thing again! Let’s go, young lord.”
The servant who became angry spoke with a heavy face.
The orc teller, Kuvar, looked at the two who were leaving and spoke.
“Damn, I can’t do business here anymore.”
It was unavoidable.
To be honest, his divination was horrible.
He has been in business so far, thanks to his mouth and great observation skills.
Even with this kind of ability, 99% of the customers can be satisfied, but there is always a glitch.
And this was such a case.
‘And, what does it mean that he failed the test with those ridiculous muscles?’
He felt it. How desperately the man sitting in front of him had been training.
He could tell by just looking at him. A body developed beyond comparison.
Body trained for practical movements rather than simply moving for the sake of the task.
Such a person had an attendant behind him. He thought that the kid had to be the son of some high-ranking noble or wealthy merchant.
And he was right.
He looked like he was going to take an entrance exam for some knight school, so he asked the kid to take a good talisman… it was probably discarded.
‘Not a knight, a swordsman? I mean, do all the people there have the same eyes?’
It wasn’t just his muscles that were extraordinary.
Kuvar had no sense of astrology. However, he could do some magic.
To brag a little, he never saw anyone better than him in magic.
In his view, the gold energy in the customer was unbelievably great.
It was at a level that couldn’t be built in a year or two.
Energy like steel which could only be gained after living an entire lifetime.
‘A 16-year-old with such energy? Who would believe that!’
Because humans were a different race, he couldn’t guess the age correctly, and because of that, many mistakes were made.
And his observation skills missed today.
“Well… this is a business which runs because of such mysterious existences.”
That was right. Despite not getting a penny, Kuvar was happy.
It was refreshing to see a human who accumulated one of the elements, especially one who wasn’t over 20.
Which was why despite being yelled at, he gave the boy a present.
It wasn’t his, but a note containing the power of a great fortune teller, his master.
His master’s clever note would give the boy the best advice.
“Will we meet again? Hm…”
If there is a chance, he wants to meet the kid again.
Kuvar scratched his head and pulled out a bottle from his waist.
And to waste away the fortune he earned, he walked into a gambling house.
“I apologize. I didn’t know that it would…”
The next day, in the wagon, heading into the estate, the servants bowed.
On that day, he felt so bad that he couldn’t apologize.
Eyes full of regret.
Of course, Irene was fine.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“But.”
“We didn’t hear anything bad, right? A lot was wrong… wrong, but it wasn’t entirely bad.”
“Is that so…”
Not entirely wrong?
Marcus thought.
He asked the 16-year-old young lord what his actual age was, and he told the person who was back from failing the exam that he would get admitted unconditionally, despite not knowing what he even applied to.
‘I should have swore a little more!’
Those thoughts disappeared with Irene’s next words.
“I didn’t fail.”
“Huh?”
“Stuck. I’m sorry for telling you now… I forgot about the other things. Sorry.”
“…”
“Ah, but I have homework from the school master… a conditional pass. If I finish the homework within a year, I can go back there.”
“Uh, uh…”
The servant’s mind felt lost.
Why did he only say that now? Did he have to congratulate the young lord? Or should he spare the words because he hasn’t passed yet? Should he just cheer?
No, he passed? An official admission into the Krono Swordsmanship School?
His thoughts couldn’t get organized, and Marcus struggled to clear his thoughts.
And Irene was pondering what the orc had told him.
‘You don’t have to be alone to stand-alone.’
Although it seemed like a random piece of advice, Irene couldn’t ignore it.
‘What the orc teller said about my age… he must be referring to the man in my dreams.’
And it seemed like he was talking about five elements and the golden guinea. A word often heard at a swordsmith.
Steel will. This, too, must have been referring to the man and not himself.
“Ugh.”
Small things were amiss, but the big frame was right.
The latter was something no one noticed. Even Ian couldn’t.
‘Let’s not ignore it.’
Irene concluded it.
There was no need to rely blindly on what others say, but there was no need to ignore it either.
For now, it was enough. It was time for the boy to finish his own thoughts.
The soldiers outside the wagon said in a nervous voice.
“Ahead… the wagon of Gairn is coming.”
At those words, Irene came back to his senses. The servant, Marcus, looked out of the window with a shocked expression.
Gairn Viscount.
A family which secretly checks in on the Baron Pareira family.
And it was a family with two sons who openly ignored the eldest son of Pareira.
