[As I undergo yet another grueling training session, I can't help but feel despair at the thought of failing the selection yet again. Father, why do you gaze upon me with such high expectations?

It's July 824 of the holy calendar, the third knight selection is upon us once more... My defeat at the hands of Tirar, coming in a mere 27 seconds, serves as a painful reminder of my shortcomings.

Iverin, do you hate me? I understand if you do, a useless individual such as myself taking away a chance that rightfully belongs to you... If only things could be reversed. But alas, they cannot. Perhaps I never should have existed in the first place...]

Time trickles by as the bonfire in the cave dims, its last embers dwindling away. The sudden envelopment of darkness jolts Lynn from his thoughts as he gestured to the pile of branches and leaves by his side, setting them alight with magic and filling the flickering wood with dancing starfire. The red flames roar to life once more as Lynn flip through the pages of the diary, or rather, what may be more accurately described as a ledger of cowardice, self-loathing, resentment, and pain, written down for no one else to see.

"Laut Pedroral," Lynn whispers the name of the ordinary noble youth reflected in these pages.

Lord Pedroral, Laut's father, is a Baron of the Sika Empire, but one of those fallen noble families with nothing but a title, barely able to maintain the appearance of nobility with constant spending from the savings.

Like any parent with high hopes for their child, Baron Pedroral has placed all his hopes for the revival of his family on his son.

For noble offspring like them, if they can pass the knight examination before the age of twenty and have a firm faith, they are qualified to become a pastor or a clergy, which is undoubtedly the best way to change the family's circumstances.

For this reason, Laut has been strictly trained since childhood, with the goal of becoming a member of the clergy by passing the knight examination.

Baron Pedroral even spent a large sum of money to hire official knights to hone Laut's fighting skills.

However, Laut's talent is not that great, and no matter how hard he trains, it is to no avail. Without a doubt, this is an example of being driven mad by excessive expectations.

However, what he sees is far more complex. Certainly, Laut's decision appears foolish to Lynn.

Having some understanding of the tendencies of these nobles, Lynn deduces from the diary's depiction of Baron Pedroral's character that upon receiving news of Laut's demise, the man would consider only whether he could sire a second son or find a suitable successor among his supporters.

Iverin would be a last resort.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Like Karl, illegitimate children fare even worse, unless the family is utterly bereft of legitimate heirs; in such cases, they receive nothing...

A diary of over a hundred pages is swiftly flipped to the final page. Though moved by the noble youth's experiences, it is the mention of a particular word that truly captures Lynn's attention.

"Useless person?" he murmurs to himself, having thought he would never hear such a designation in this alternate world.

Even the most humble farmer here has value to be exploited.

Exhaling slowly, Lynn gathers his scattered thoughts and turns his gaze to Laut's corpse. As he has accepted the other's possessions, it is only proper that he should see to the proper burial of the body.

"071, what remains of our energy reserves?" Lynn inquires inwardly.

[The energy reserves stand at a mere 12.3%, with a discernible decrease in energy concentration. It is predicted that the energy reserve will increase by a mere 1% every ten hours.]

As he had suspected, Lynn gazed upon the faintly illuminated night sky, ablaze with stars, each one twinkling and shining with a light that seems to dance and play across the darkness. The stars are so bright and numerous that they seem to stretch out into infinity, filling the sky with an otherworldly glow.

In the distance, a faint wisp of a nebula can be seen, its swirling gases and dust glowing a soft pink and purple in the light of the stars. Above, the faint outline of a galaxy can be seen, its spiral arms stretched out across the sky like a vast and intricate web.

As he gazes up at the cosmic panorama, he feel as though he was looking into the very heart of the universe, seeing things that are beyond the understanding of mere mortals. The night sky fills them with a sense of wonder and awe, and he feel as though he is standing on the very edge of the cosmos, gazing out at the infinite wonders that lie beyond.

As Lynn had surmised, the activity of magic seemed to ebb and flow with the passing of Monday. After a night of rest, the physical and magical energy he had expended during the previous battle had largely been restored.

In Laut's diary, Lynn had stumbled upon a vital piece of information: the town in which he found himself was none other than the port town of Nordland.

In other words, the underground river that snaked its way through the castle emptied directly into the Mist Sea.

Unfortunately, in his quest to defeat Archbishop Anthruk, Lynn had been forced to send Aubrey and Dove away.

He could not determine where these two witches had drifted, but if they were fortunate enough to possess a sufficient affinity for water, they could easily wash up on any shore, rather than being swept along like Lynn, forced to slowly learn how to swim.

Finding two living beings throughout the entirety of Nordland without the ability to communicate would be a daunting task.

Avoiding the Church's pursuit would also prove to be a formidable challenge.

After much contemplation, a name suddenly came to Lynn's mind: Old Lard Rod!

Regardless of where Aubrey and Dove might be, so long as they still harbored plans of reaching the land of the witches, they would inevitably make their way to the port town and seek out Old Lard.

"So all I need to do is find this person first!" Lynn stood and gazed upon the tall walls in the distance. "Now, the only question remaining is how to safely enter the port town...."

"071, retrieve information on disguise and transformation techniques, preferably those that can be accomplished with simple materials," he said.

Taking in the sight of Laut, whose appearance and hair color were almost identical to his own, Lynn considered the possibility of temporarily assuming the other's identity in order to deceive the guards of the port town.

He was almost certain that, in addition to trimming his hair and the disguise technique, "Basic Magic for All" contained a spell that would be suitable for this situation...