"Hmm?" Noel glanced at Anna who just returned and asked, "You good?"
Anna nodded with a serious expression. After getting Anna's confirmation, Noel continued his practice. Meanwhile, Anna took a moment to think about the knowledge that the Thunder Berserker Spirit gave her earlier. She still couldn't comprehend how the Thunder Berserker Spirit would give this technique.
The technique itself wasn't that hard, but if she had to fight Noel before applying the technique, she had to restrain him somehow.
"…" Anna took a peek at Noel once again before closing her eyes with a troubled expression.
She didn't know what to do.
"Anyway, we have to wait until dawn before executing the plan. It's also better since we'll get a good visibility." Anna muttered in a low voice while examining Noel's body. She had to make sure that he didn't train too hard that it would affect his performance tomorrow. Though, it seemed Noel just made a simple swing without putting too much power. A swing like this wouldn't do anything to the current Noel.
Since there was nothing she could do, she just sat there without doing anything while thinking about what her spirit said earlier.
'Noel this, Noel that, huh…' Anna lowered her head. 'It's true that I have been trying to learn from Noel, but it seems that I've come to accept that I'm inferior to him? No, my talent should be similar or higher than Noel.
'Even though I want to change Noel, it doesn't mean I'm going to pursue my own path. Have I truly forgotten this? Has Noel changed me to this weak self?' Anna let out a long sigh, realizing that she had softened a bit too much.
Noel was indeed special in her mind, but there was this charm that somehow made people accept Noel. Even she didn't know what it was.
She couldn't help but be curious and ask, "Noel. Why do you help people in the first place? Normally, Nobles won't be this kind to the commoners, especially those who live in the village."
"Huh? This comes out of nowhere." Noel's eyebrows twitched.
There was a mission from Ardagan that forced him to help people. But there was one more reason why he tried to turn over the new leaf and became this kind of person.
…
A few years ago.
Noel was lying down with his head on top of a maid's lap while enjoying the gentle breeze in the morning.
It was a peaceful day and he didn't want to do anything.
But a middle-aged man came. This middle-aged man had long black hair and tied neatly on his back. He looked at Noel with a smile despite him being a useless guy.
"Noel."
Noel opened his eyes, recognizing the voice. "Father?"
He also realized the maid had also lowered her head as if she wanted to greet his father without waking him up.
But since Noel had opened his eyes, there wasn't a need to do it anymore.
"You're lazying around here again?"
"I'm supposed to take care of the family after succeeding your position. Since my life will go through hell after that, won't it be the best choice to spend the rest of my peaceful days like this?" Noel asked.
Even though he looked like lazy and irresponsible, he still accepted the fact that he would succeed his position as if it was his duty.
The middle-aged man glanced at the maid and said, "Consider you are dismissed."
The maid fidgeted for a moment, not knowing what to do with Noel's head on her laps. But Noel was still thoughtful enough to lift his body so that she could move away.
After the maid left, Noel asked, "Does Father have something to tell me?"
"I know that you don't want to be bothered by many things, but I have things that I want to teach you."
"I have read some books about the business. It should be fine since I'm reading those books in installment. I should have finished all of them by the time I succeed your position." Noel nodded with a calm face.
"No. This is something more important than the book."
"Huh?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows as if he felt his peace was disturbed. Learning from his father meant it would take a lot of time from him, so he didn't really want to do it.
However, Count Ardagan raised one finger and said, "I'm going to teach you about one topic every week. Don't worry. I'll make sure it doesn't exceed thirty minutes. You can even throw those books away in exchange for this time because I'm planning to teach you a life lesson."
"Huh? I can throw away those books?" Noel narrowed his eyes, contemplating. "For now, let's hear about it. I'll see whether I have to throw those books away or not."
Count Ardagan smiled. Despite his laziness, it seemed Noel was still responsible enough to consider the books to be important. It showed that even though Noel would meet some difficulties in the future, he should be able to maintain the family.
"I know you are smart. When you show me how you notice some blanks in the account book, I know that it'll be fine to leave the family in your hand. But there is something that differentiate our Ardagan Family from your average merchants. What I want to tell you this week is about three types of people."
"Three types of people? You're not talking about genders, right?"
"Not at all." He shook his head and began his lecture. "Let's say there is someone who is asking for help. The first person thinks like this, 'What can I get from helping him? Shouldn't he pay me for labor or shouldn't he give me something bigger?'
"Then, the second person thinks like this, 'He has helped me in the past or he might help me back in the future, so I should help him I guess?'
"Lastly, the third person doesn't think and simply say, 'Sure. Let me help you,' without the need of exchange. What do you think about these three people?"
Noel lowered his head, thinking.
