Before Sarah's legacy and Janina's birth

The local temple of Wolfsteeth was very new, relative to others in the empire, thanks to a certain wolfkin, who was now sitting in the main office.

Religion was essential to almost everyone on the continent, and the temple was as legitimate as all the others.

The problem was that they disliked the region close to Kratikal because of its corrosive energy. This also applies to the other six families entrusted with guarding the border.

Thus, Kairoso, a druid born in this relatively devastating region, was an exceptional case, as most druids were born in the most nature-friendly areas without corrupting energies from wild demons flying in the air.

Usually, environmental factors play a significant role in receiving their [Divinity Line]. Getting a nature-related legacy close to the east border was the same as getting ice-related legacies inside a volcano or fire-related legacies in the ocean.

As this was the case, he was also very resistant to the dastardly corrosive energy and, thus, had a special status inside the temple. He could do special missions in the east and represent them much better than other druids.

Inside the office, he cursed inwardly as his seat was too small, so he had problems sitting straight or moving around too much. It would be hilarious for onlookers, but the air around him told another story.

The office in itself was small, too. This is a typical problem for Kairoso since most temple members are not tall and belong to smaller-sized races.

It was chaotically decorated with various plants, from colorful flowers to ugly-looking cacti. Every plant that could be locally found was crammed into the room.

The temple members, especially the nature-dwellers, didn't have the same sense of beauty as the beast-kin and regarded all plants as beautiful. So every temple had its own style, depending on the plant life in the local region.

The desk was the most impressive part of the office, which symbolized that it was not just an office but the head office. It was part of the giant tree that went through the temple and whose crown shadowed the whole building built around the tree. A hole was carved out in the tree with a horizontal plate, which acted as the desk.

In front of the desk sat Green in a giant blossomed flower, which acted as a chair. The little fairy and messenger had interacted with Kairoso multiple times, and it was tense every time to say it nicely. But she gritted her teeth and met this unpleasant fellow who, as a druid, had some pull inside their institution.

A fox-kin, in a fine butler suit, with a typical fake smile seen by nobles, was standing beside the wolf-kin, trying to speak for his master, "Ms. Green, we are here only for the intel of the oracle regarding the movement of the demons, no need to be so stiff."

She sighed heavily, brought some documents out of her drawers, and threw them unsightly onto the desk. The documents were made of special leaves harvested from unique trees. Such leaves could be easily used for writing and were even more robust than parchments.

Kairoso took them nonchalantly, ignoring her conduct. He was tired and wanted only to go home.

While reading, one of his eyebrows rose higher and higher, and his tone became confused and worried, "Why are the demons only in the northern part? They are usually more distributed around the border, not this focused..."

Green sighed and wanted to comment on this matter, "Mr. Druid..."

Kairoso interrupted her bluntly while still reading through the documents, not looking up, "Call me Kairo. No need to be so formal."

Green's face twitched slightly as she thought it would be disrespectful to call druids by their name, 'If I think about what the branches would do to me if I called the messenger of nature by their name...,' she shuddered slightly.

Like almost every other position inside the temple, branches were named after parts of the tree. The closer to the roots, the more important the position. Green herself was a bud and pretty low on the hierarchical ladder. Only because of her messenger status did she have her position as a leader of this small branch.

She regained her composure after a moment, and the voice came out forced like her smile, "...fine ...Kairo, I just wanted to assure you that we will provide support with our healers and that I hope that you will take some of the... inexperienced ones and look after them... for the temple's sake of course."

Kairoso shook his head, "No. They need a good amount of willpower..."

Green instantly interrupted him, waving her hand, "They have! You don't have to worry about anything in this regard!"

Sarusos's eyebrow went up as his voice changed to a mocking one, "Oh, Ms. Green, if I remember correctly..." he tapped his chin with his index finger and continued, "...wasn't the fight with demons some kind of ritual for the higher-ups for you fairies?"

She was surprised that the rude druid or his retainer before her knew about something like this.

Green's attitude changed, and before she could answer in panic, Kairoso continued, "Tsk, useless noble brats. So you want me to babysit them?"

The atmosphere in the room went from slightly uncomfortable to ice cold.

Fairies, and all the races of the nature dwellers, have a hateful relationship with all demons. Especially wild-demons are seen as the worst of all. A campaign in Kratikal is nothing but collecting a massive amount of merit for the noble youth.

Kairoso fell into thoughts, 'Something happened. Otherwise, they wouldn't send their children to the frontline... let's see what she will say and how much I can squeeze out of her.'

Green gulped slightly and waved her light green wings out of nervosity, "Listen, we can surely work something out... right?"

The wolf-kin frowned, trying to play hard to get, "There are almost no safe positions in my campaigns to the east..." Sarusos continued with a crescent moon of a smile, "...but my lord, we can surely do Ms. Green this favor if she can do something for us."

Kairoso and Green stared at Sarusos to continue, both with different facial expressions, both smiling. Still, one nervously and the other mischievously, "From the information we collected, Ms. Green was a student at a magic academy, and since we can't get any magician to come to us for the Archmage puppy's sake, I think it would be a perfect solution."

Kairoso nodded, "Sounds good."

Since the Leonandra estate found out that Alexander had the talent to be a mage, they tried everything to find someone to teach him, but it was mostly in vain for many reasons.

One reason was their ignorance towards magic, and as they described in their letters, Alexander's ability, which they sent to various institutions.

It didn't go well.

The cathedral scholars noted in their letters that he could come to their academy when he was older and take the entrance test like everyone else. They thought it was overhyped parent's babble by Marisia and Kairoso.

If they believed what they told in their letters, Alexander would be an archmage in twenty years.

They had very good reasons to not believe them since many other noble parents were doing the same and overrated their child to be the next tower leader, although they only learned [Mana Sense].

Their letters to magic-inclined nature-dwellers also received a negative response. They wanted to avoid stepping into the territory for the previously mentioned reasons.

Dragon-kins and their clans declined immediately, saying Alexander was a fluke and it was impossible for him to have any meaningful talent.

According to Alexander's parents' opinion, they are usually arrogant bastards. The empire treats them with care since they are an essential resource for war, as they are the only beast-kin race that has overwhelming proportionally born magicians. So they have no incentive to come to the territory, even for a pile of gold coins.

While Marisia read the letter, she almost destroyed her office out of anger and frustration. She also asked her husband to look for even some third-rate magician as it was getting ridiculous that they couldn't find anyone.

This third-rate magician was sitting now before him.

Green was baffled. First, by how they gathered the information since she was a drop-out more than a hundred years ago, and second, that they wanted her to be the teacher for some brat who, most likely, barely mastered [Mana Sense].

She flew in the air and was aggravated, "Wait! What do you mean by teaching magic?! My specialization is herbalism and agriculture!"

Saruso shook his index finger, "No, Ms. Green. You were also pretty good in a subject called Lifestyle magic, from which you learned a lot of useful spells, am I right?"

Green was shocked at how they even learned about the modules she attended, "Yes but... I mean... isn't Mr. Alexander like 5 or 6 years old?! Shouldn't he just try to learn first how to manipulate or widen his [Mana Sense]?"

Saruso chuckled slightly with a hand held in front of his mouth. His tail was slightly wiggling, signaling that he was happy, "Sure, but he is already using magic to an extent, but we don't really know how good he is compared to other apprentices or what to do with him, honestly."

Kairoso leaned back, and the chair crunched slightly, "He is strong. Insanely so, even compared with other mages I fought against... but he has no fundamentals, spells, incantations, etc. He does not need some high-level professor from the royal academy but someone who teaches him some basics like the food spell I saw a couple of times."

Green was bewildered, 'What does it mean he is insanely strong?! He even said that Ms. Lorient was weak at some point, and she was the one who fought two dwarves and won!'

However, she wasn't into teaching noble brats and tried to shirk it away, "Hey... I really don't know if I can teach..."

Kairoso raised his hand to stop her, "I like Saru's idea. I will take your brats if you teach Alex till he gets his legacy."

Green slumped forward, "Fine..." suddenly, she looked at him sternly, "...BUT! If he can follow my teachings is another thing!"

Saruso chuckled slightly, "Don't worry, Ms. Green."

All she could think was how this was a waste of time, 'Damn it! I will milk those damn nobles dry for their favor! At least I need to teach Alex only for a couple of years...'

Afterward, they talked more about the situation in the north. She gave away more of her men than she wanted but to please the nobles and get later favors was vital for her as she tried to get into a higher position.

Later at the Estate

Light flooded softly into the sleeping chamber of the lady, which hugged her and the lord, who lay beside her. The light embraced their cuddling, giving a sense of tranquility and peace.

Such moments were rare for nobles and, more so, for those who fought against monsters and demons.

Most commoners envy nobles for their high levels and privileges, with which they can live much longer than most of them. Still, the truth is that barely any noble, especially those active on the battlefield, reach the end of their lifespan.

Be it because of assassination, disease, suicide, or being killed - being a noble never brought the fabled peace and prosperity many peasants dreamed of.

Thus, such moments were precious, and the wolf-kin couple knew this, so they savored such occasions to the fullest.

While the lady caressed her husband's chest, his rasping voice was heard through the room, "A couple of weeks, at most."

The lady smiled slightly while her big stomach was bulging out from under the blanket, "Don't worry. This is the fifth one, and it feels more like a chore at this point."

The lord suddenly laughed out loud, "Guhahaha! I remember how you got Lori and Narsi. You were like a..."

Her look interrupted his laughter, and memories of her first pregnancy and his broken hand flooded his mind.

She stopped glancing murderously at him and laid down peacefully on his arm while murmuring, "It was your fault, and by the way, you were looking so wild... I couldn't resist."

Kairo raised an eyebrow, slightly confused, "I was? Not anymore?"

Marisia snickered slightly, thinking how Kairo was in the past, "I needed to domesticate you after all the time out in the field and in the temple."

Kairo fell into thoughts and answered her after a while, "The field, I get it, but the Temple was pretty fine..."

Marisia laughed loudly, "Hahaha, I was there, and it was terrible. The temple looks fine from the outside, but all the nature-dwellers have no sense of culture and etiquette..."

Kairo scratched his head with the hand he had left after Marisia occupied the other one as her pillow, "It was not that bad..."

Now Marisia raised her eyebrow, "Really? I remember visiting the temple once after our marriage with you and how proudly you showed me around. You were sleeping inside their private forest in, what was basically a hole, hunting for food, and your teacher was a treant who thought houses were dwellings for devils."

They looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Guhahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Followed by this, they talked till into the night.

The next day, in Wolfsteeth, inside a famous restaurant.

A clink resounded as the wolf-kin girl put down her glass of wine. She wore an exquisite and colorful dress adorned with a giant ribbon around her waist and a bright flower that accessorized her braided hair.

The restaurant they were dining in was one of the most famous ones for the upper classes in Wolfsteeth.

Lower nobility didn't have much wealth, so visiting the "Golden Apple" as a knight family would be unthinkable. The exception to this rule was sitting and chatting casually, "Does it taste well, papa?"

Kairoso nodded while putting a giant piece of meat in his mouth while the juices dripped down slightly, "Hm."

While eating rudely, Sarah started complaining teasingly, "You know, men should usually entertain women while going out."

The Wolf-kin smirked slightly and looked at his daughter, "You and a woman? Fine..." he cleared his throat and sat up straight, "Oh glorious daughter! As the lord, how do I deserve to breathe the same air as my holy and righteous daughter? Who but not you deserve that all men should crawl..."

The Wolf-girl noticed how everyone in the restaurant looked at them, undoubtedly because her father was making a scene to embarrass her. Her ears went down, and her tail started to curl slightly out of embarrassment.

The blush could be seen all over her face as she shouted, "STOP! You big dumb oaf!"

"GUHAHAHA! Alright, alright, calm down, little pup."

Sarah puffed her chest out, crossed her arms, and turned her head to the side, "You know, I don't know how mama can love such a big child!"

Kairo smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Ask your mom. Sometimes you need a bit of childishness in your life."

Sarah glanced at her father and smirked slightly, calming herself down and trying to graciously take a sip of her beverage. She was a weird mix of elegance and childishness, which was fine for Kairoso since she should enjoy her childhood.

Kairo just watched her and enjoyed such a peaceful sight, 'I will be away and in the worst-case scenario for a long time, so I should enjoy myself now.'

Taking a little sip from his beer, the atmosphere was relaxed except for the servants who were on standby, ready to fulfill all the lord's wishes at a moment's notice.

He ate like a barbarian while talking to his daughter, and for her, she tried to eat gracefully, but it looked rough, like someone who only read about etiquette but never actually practiced it.

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Usually, she should've learned the proper etiquette like Lorient and Narsiz before her. Still, she always managed to slip away from her teacher, and with Alexander being the perfect headache for the whole estate, her skips were more or less tolerated.

While they talked, Kairoso suddenly became more serious and interested in her interests, "So, what do you intend to do in your future?"

This caught Sarah by surprise. She almost choked on her bloody raw steak, "What do you mean?!"

He glanced at her and continued, "Lorient wants to join the east, Narsi wants to become a bureaucrat, and Alex will probably be a mage or scholar if he doesn't explode on one of his experiments. What about you?"

She didn't say anything and just stared at her half-eaten dish, knowing that what her father asked wasn't anything disturbing, but she had no idea how to answer. She hated learning and management, so this specialization was excluded.

Leading others and fighting for months was also something she didn't like. Even thinking about how she would sleep in a tent makes her shudder.

She also hated most other nobles, so marrying down and being a wife or concubine was also out of the question. Nobody really wanted her, too, since marrying the seven families who guard the border was always something without benefits.

They existed merely for protection and weren't allowed to take more territory by force or other means, but theirs couldn't be taken. Even if they went bankrupt, the crown would pay it off and investigate the situation.

Multiple times, such an incident occurred further north with the Sangjaleri family. They went every thirty to fifty years bankrupt because of their awful situation, which their fief is. They took out credits from banks that had the protection of the crown.

Thus, marrying the seven families brings no benefit but safety. So most nobles decline it and look for something which could benefit them.

She glanced at her father while he took another sip of the beer, 'What do I actually want?'

Before she could answer, Kairo waved his hand, "Don't worry. Whatever you decide, we will help you with it."

After he said it, it was silent while Kairoso ate, and Sarah kept staring and thinking.

After a short time, she looked at her father and thought, 'Hm, I like the shield, though... a guardian who defends the family internally?'

She remembered Alex and Narsiz discussing the pros and cons of dividing the defense. Sarah was at this time quite tired as she came directly after training and was only there for the snacks, listening in on their discussion, 'I need to talk with one of them about it.'

Her thoughts came back to her training with the shield. A shield, defending the family. A bulwark standing tall between all the enemies who were crazy enough to take on the Leonandra's, 'I kinda like the idea.'

Next day at the estate's training ground

Kairoso stood in front of two youths. One didn't even have his legacy, but knowing him, this disadvantage shouldn't matter much. Kairo's (Danger Sense) was telling him to at least not underestimate him.

The wolf-boy in question just stood there, playing with his mana casually. Waves of strings swirled around him, connecting with each other and creating new forms. The druid could only see it through his anti-mage skills and was flabbergasted by the fine control his son was showing him.

He was training his skills even now, 'This he has from Maris's side. I was never this diligent.'

The other one, a wolf-kin girl, was just stretching casually and yawning, but even then, her energy was circulating her body, slowly making her ready to fight, 'Not as diligent, but at least she prepares.'

Kairo crossed his arms as he went over them the last time, "So, are you sure about this?"

Alexander was the first to answer with a bored look, "Why not? I need a punching bag, and Lorient is annoyed by my magic and doesn't want to play with me anymore."

Lorient looked slightly annoyed at her brother, "What do you mean? You are just too weak."

Alex snarked slightly at her, "Can't remember the last sparring sessions?"

Lorient shouted, "I won!"

Alexander waved his hand, "Yeah, only because I stopped my spells as you ran into my fireball like a moron. Otherwise, you would be roasted."

She tilted her head, "So?"

Alexander angrily looked at her, "What so?! Do you want to know what it means to get roasted?!"

She put her hands on her hips, "hehe, sure, archmage puppy..."

She came over and tried to pet him, but he swatted her hand away, "Don't touch me! I will freeze you to death!"

She postured her hands in the air and grinned at him, "Oh, sorry! I only heard that women use ice magic, are you a girl? Should I call you Alexandria?"

Alexander looked at her with slight blood lust and a wide smile. The temperature fell around the training ground by the second while the stench of Lorient's demon's aura started to leak out from her.

A burst of loud laughter interrupted them, "Guhahahaha! Calm down, both of you. Should you not be worried about how you will even scratch me?"

"..."

"..."

Alexander and Lorient stopped bickering and looked at their father, who was obviously provoking them, and back at each other. After a moment, they nodded and focused on how to kill their father.

Their gaze was exciting for Kairoso to see. He never tried to educate his children about being warriors or anything else. He let them free reign and hoped for the best, and Marisia almost agreed with him, just that she only taught them the noble's conduct and some basics. Everything else was finding their interest and helping them develop it.

A warrior can become a general, a mage can become an archmage, a bureaucrat can become the prime minister, etc. With their relatively neutral stance and Lorient already inheriting the demon aura, they could grant their children much more freedom, especially after Lorient showed her desire to fight.

With a big grin, his rough voice went through, "Now... let me see!"

A green mist suddenly surrounded the massive wolfkin. Kairoso wanted a friendly spar and didn't transform into any of his forms.

But, even though he only wanted to test his children a bit, they kept him on his toes. In the next second, a giant fireball flew directly into him.

Holding a hand in front of him, it exploded, but Kairo didn't have a scratch on him, "Not bad, maybe in a..."

Before he could finish the sentence, he saw a smile building on his son's face and felt at the same time a demonic aura to his left. Turning his head, he saw how Lorient was already spinning on her heel and aiming with her other leg toward his head.

Blocking her kick, he wanted to counterattack and see their capabilities. They were already stronger at this age than he was, but something like that didn't mean much.

Like his wife, you could stagnate for a decade and then have a good two to three years where you better yourself massively, especially concerning the demon energy.

"Is that ...all?"

In front of him, Lorient suddenly jumped back, and his danger sense was screaming at him from where his youngest was standing.

Standing at least 10m away was Alex and concentrating on his magic. It was hard to visualize, but through hard work, he could do it faster and faster after every try, even if it became more and more minuscule.

And this time, he stood still and spun half a dozen small pockets of icicles in the air. Opening his eyes, Kairo could feel bloodlust coming from him, 'This is bad. Mari told me about his condition, but I didn't know it would be that bad.'

Kairo's bloodline was developed through war and suffering. Thus, he could bring out the bloodlust seen by ancient beast-kin. But in today's world, it was obsolete and only useful for bloodthirsty mercenaries, 'It should be fine. His path is that of a mage, so stacking willpower should give him later on enough resistance.'

Suddenly, Alexander screamed, "Eat shit!" and all the icicles rushed at an insane speed, spinning even faster than flying toward the giant wolfkin.

Seeing this, Kairoso pushed his energy a bit, sensing how dangerous such an attack could be.

As all the green mist became denser and entirely surrounded him, all the air bullets hit him, sliding him back a couple of meters.

After a moment of silence, Kairo heavily exhaled, and a smile was seen on his face, "This is good! Now let me..."

Before he could end his sentence, Lorient jumped at him from the other side with another kick, 'What sloppy and repetitive teamwork.'

Grabbing her leg mid-air, he used her momentum to arc her against the floor. A loud crash resounded in the hall, and Lorient didn't move anymore.

"Are you fine?"

"Urgh..."

"Good. Next time use your aura like your mother, with more finesse and..."

As Kairo berated Lorient, Alex thought, 'He is fucking ruthless.'

Looking at his dad, he had no idea what else to use - his previous attack was already equivalent to a handgun. Usually, when he trained this move, every time it hit, a layer of ice surrounded the point of impact, and this monster deflected six shots simultaneously. The ice melted on his energy, which he mantled himself with, but he suddenly got an idea that could work.

Glancing to the side at Alex while talking with the half-conscious Lorient, Kairo was waiting for him to make a move, but he also knew that he couldn't be as rough with him as with Lorient, who was stuck inside the floor and not moving.

He was too young to properly have a trained body, and through extensive studying in whatever, he barely had the time to do it, 'He should be around five years old... he is insanely strong for someone this young.'

Suddenly Kairo glared at Alexander as he could feel how the air moved towards him, "Oh, I will gladly accept what you want to throw at me! Guhahaha!"

While he was somewhat joking, his aura became even denser since his sense of danger was screaming to stop that spell, 'What the hell is he doing?!'

All he could see was how a small flame was slowly and gradually getting bigger and bigger while Alex was sweating.

Under the flame was Alex, he concentrated all the mana he had to move the pockets of Atoms through his mind and crash them together, creating friction, 'The heat is too strong!'

He felt like he was working again in the laboratory and using a special oven to boil magnesium or other alkali metals.

The control was not even a problem since he could manipulate the mana just fine, but the heat from his own spell was so intense that he used a water shield in front of him to absorb it, which didn't really help since it practically started to boil.

His head screeched at him since something like this pushed him into extreme concentration, and it felt like someone rammed nails into his ear.

"Get ready, my soon-to-be-dead-father!" holding the yellow glowing fireball in front of him, Alex shot it, and while it was only the size of a football, it suddenly grew and grew while flying towards his father. At the halfway point, it had the size of a gymnastic ball.

Kairo saw this and knew that it was dangerous, and it made him happy, and a ferocious smile bloomed over his face, 'That is my son!'

Next to his aura, he also used skills for defense like [Bark skin], which laid a layer of very sturdy bark over his body. He rarely felt this alive for the last 12 years, since the birth of Lorient, where he swore to Marisia to act safer and not endanger himself.

By the time the glowing murderous ball of fire was before Kairo, he had summoned roots to entangle it and burn it out. All the roots were surrounded by his greenish aura, which trapped the mini sun. It was now barely moving but burning up all the roots, which were replaced quickly.

After a full minute, Kairo was huffing and puffing, clearly surprised by such an attack, and his smile showed the pride he had. The fireball was gone, entirely burned up, but as it was very close to him, he could feel the intense heat.

While walking towards Alex, Kairo's [Bark skin], which he overlayed over his skin, was slowly falling down. The little sun god was lying on his back, huffing and puffing with a smile similar to his father's.

As Kairo stood over him, he thought about where to find a good sparring partner. He spotted many things he needed to correct, like his static movement. For a war mage, it was fine, where he just threw a giant spell at the battlefield from range and went back to relax, 'I need him to train more physically.'

An assassin or good archer could take him out as his awareness was entirely focused on me.

Whatever mistakes he found, he held back and let Alexander relax. While Kairo used a good portion of his mana, Alex used all of his.

But this nice father/son moment was disturbed by Alex, "Dad..."

Kairo cocked his head, and his smile vanished, thinking something terrible had happened, "Is everything alright?"

Alex looked at his father up and down and, in the end, back into his eyes, "You are naked..."

Kairo looked at himself and nodded, "Don't worry, they were just some sparring clothes." Also, he clearly misunderstood what Alex wanted from him, thinking he felt bad for burning some cloth.

Alex then looked around, and all the female soldiers and servants turned around, not daring to look at the lord, but before he could say more, he heard how Lorient stood up again, "Uhh, what was that?! DAD! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!..." another sniff came from her, "...why does it smell so burnt?"

Alex just looked at the ceiling, trying not to burn his father's dong into his mind, 'Hm, it is fun being a child without worries, huh?'

Later at one of the estate's offices

A beautiful study with high-class wood furniture embroidered with carvings of abstract animals of all sorts of legends, multiple wolf-kin were sitting on the Kilé's, which were more designed like couches.

Narsiz was one of them, one leg over the other, stern with a polite but forced smile and a somewhat protruded vein on his forehead. Sarah leaned against him, munching on some grapes while looking at the ones sitting in front of them.

Marisia and Kairo sat opposite them, one léger, one formal. It was clear-cut who came after whom.

In the middle was a table on which were maps and other documents of their territory. Today was to be decided where Narsiz would go. Which city/village will he stay in and learn his art: Bureaucracy.

Usually, his head teacher would sit here and decide with him. But he was suspended after Narsiz went through multiple levels of increases, which also gave him a new perspective and knowledge.

Alexander's lessons and homework pushed Narsiz's skills relatively high, and he sometimes attended his lessons with Ocilia from that point on. Still, only for subjects like economy, philosophy, etc.

After more than a year of rigorous learning, he was more knowledgeable than his primary teacher and could easily debate or discuss topics in their particular field.

Everything they were teaching him was how he, as a noble, was above all, and everyone should listen to him, or else he should use more forceful methods to make them obey.

Is there some riot because of food shortage? Violence and don't even think about lowering the tax on the farmers.

Do you have a wealth of five years' worth of tax sitting in your treasury? Don't even think about investing. Make it ten years' worth of tax even though you could invest it and make more long-term.

Commoners should always obey and be happy even living on this land, never mind their productivity or opinion.

He talked all the methods through with Alexander and realized there was so much more to being an administrator than just pure face.

He remembered how even his mother talked with him about how it would not work or, if it worked, you would have a stifled economy if he went with the methods of his teachers.

For various reasons, most nobles didn't think about investing. One was contempt for commoners. Another one was that they were lazy and satisfied with their wealth. Others only wanted to secure enough resources for the heir or heiress of their house.

Narsiz thought about how he discussed an example with Alexander and his mother that he needed a long time to understand.

The argument from his head teacher was that money should not be spent on the lowest of the low, as they were basically trash, never able to accomplish anything. Still, Alexander had the opposite opinion: Spend more on the lowest, while Marisia argued that it should only be enough to let them live.

It is easy to get a return for the money spent on some food, an administrator who advised the poor towards a job, and someplace to sleep for a while. The same goes for orphanages, widow homes, etc.

From the obvious economic advantages this little investment would bring, residents would also have a good view of their rulers. With this, they are more ready to defend what they have, especially if other territories don't have such things.

This was, as explained, not some purely altruistic mindset but how people behave and work. If a war breaks out, would you want to become a refugee and flee to a territory where the conditions of low-class commoners are basically the same as some slum rat or fight, so your daughter doesn't end up in a whore house in this slum?

If going from an altruistic point of view. The territory will grow immensely like Wolfsteeth and all the cities around the sea Howl. More and more people will come, and other regions will lose them, and the only way to go against it is either war, which will not happen, or adjust their policies so that their populace will not run away.

Never see people as people but as investments - if looking through an economic lens. This is also something Narsiz learned from Alexander. People needed to be sorted like things by what was required.

Strength, economic power, potential, beauty, etc. It sounds even worse than what nobles think about the people, but they need to look as emotionless as possible at them. Pride? Useless. If it is enough for a noble to bow so nobody would ever hunger anymore, Narsiz would be ready to be on his knees for the rest of his life.

Even Marisia was surprised by the change in how Narsiz looked at things, but nothing changed in his goals. Only the way was now much different.

Having the territory flourish and enter a new golden age? Is it not a noble's conduct to give itself to the territory and his people? This was his responsibility and conducts, which he followed, and he would choose the best one, never mind the methods.

It is different from what most think. Even Narsiz's grandparents weren't of that chivalrous mindset. Still, as someone born into the family, Narsiz was put into a situation where he stood, like his younger brother described as excellent, with a sword in one hand and a scale in another. Throwing both away is nothing more than spitting into the face of all the people who gave him the possibility and responsibility to hold the scale and sword.

A soft but solemn voice interrupted Narsiz's train of thought, "Son, did you decide where you want to go and who will be your protector?"

Narsiz frowned, not saying anything and thinking things through. He doesn't want to have any protectors, as he just barely trusts his maids and butlers. He could only trust his own blood; his parents knew this and were concerned by this character flaw.

Every noble needed retainer or even the ability to bind people to them. Narsiz wasn't one with such a skillset. He had distrusted everyone apart from his family.

It was simple paranoia explained through an assassination attempt where he was almost poisoned but barely survived as a small child, forcing him to be bedridden for a whole year.

Plus, since childhood, he had only minimal interactions with other children of nobles, like all the other Leonandra children. Such led to his current character flaw.

Thus, Narsiz was never really able to make connections or even friends like all the other children. This, in fact, went as far as they would be thoroughly ostracized by others. As such, incidents like the one with Lorient, where she went violent against others at a gathering for children of nobility, were nothing unusual.

This time, Narsiz was ready to work on this flaw in the town he would be sent to.

His father's rough voice came through as he leaned against the couch like some local gangster scratching the bandages from his burn marks, "We will not force you to do anything. Ultimately, you can stay at the estate and have an easy life. With Alex as a mage, Lorient with the inheritance of the demon annihilation divinity line, and Sarah, a crazy talented shield wearer, you can do what you want."

Sarah chimed in from the side while throwing a grape into her mouth, "Yeah! Don't worry, Narsi. We have your back. Get a harem and get a lot of pups!" she sounded sincere.

Marisia started to frown, hearing her husband's and Sarah's remarks. She knew exactly what he was trying to do as she looked at Narsiz's clenching fists, 'Kairo was never the most sensitive, but I at least know that he really doesn't care if Narsi does something. He just wants him to realize his potential...' she looked at Sarah, who gulped grapes down without a care in the world, '...Sarah, on the other hand, is... just honest.'

In Sarah's case, if the lady told her that she could laze around for her whole life, she would do it without questions asked.

The young wolf boy had his head hanging low and ears dropping, but after thinking, he suddenly smiled and looked into his father's eyes, "I knew who to take with me."

Kairoso raised an eyebrow, "Oh, tell me?"

Clearing his voice slightly, he replied somewhat unexpectedly, "I want Sarah and Lorient to be my protectors, and I want them to go with me to Puru!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

A grape fell on the floor. This was the only sound for a good minute. Suddenly the lord's laughter was heard even outside the study, scaring some servants, "Guhahaha! All right!"

The lady suddenly turned to him, glaring daggers like he was insane, her voice raised, "What do you mean it is ok?! They are not Tier 2, and I suspect Lorient is not even level 40, if at all! Also, she needs to stay and get her demon energy under control! Did you forget how she attacked them?! What is going on in your head?!"

Kairo became suddenly serious and swung his arm around Marisa's shoulder, softly caressing her, while looking at Narsiz and making a 180, "She is right. You need at least one protector. While Sarah would protect you, their protectors will not put their life down for you."

Marisia's tail swung unconsciously around while Kairoso caressed her, but she was clearly upset that he just took her opinion without discussing it further. It was vital for her that Kairoso could be a stopgap for her ideas, which she could bounce on him.

She looked at both her men, ignoring Sarah since she was clueless, eating her grapes.

She suddenly remembered that Alexander was talking with Aro, Cross, her husband, Narsiz, etc. Basically, every male that was in the family and close to her. She only discovered through rumors that he told them that pregnant women were much more emotional and that you should treat them more softly.

Marisia didn't like it. Not at all. In the last months, she was treated like a child by her family, retainers, and servants.

Everything she said was accepted instantly, and all the work she did by educating her retainers to debate her on ideas was gone, 'Alexander, what the hell did you exactly say to them?!'

What Alexander said was true for humans on earth, but in a world of beast-kin and magic, it was not true, especially if you had enough skills and attributes to control your emotions, which Marisia had.

Her whole frustration was the treatment, and she couldn't really blame a child, even though a genius, a child nonetheless.

She snorted at Kairoso, "Darling, shut up, please."

Usually, Kairo would playfully rebuke, but now he just smiled at her words and kissed her cheek, 'I hate it... but it is not so bad either,' a light blush invaded her cheeks.

She concentrated on the problem at hand and cleared her throat, "Fine, take Sarah with you, but I want both of you to find two more protectors. Otherwise, nobody will leave this estate."

Narsiz sighed heavily but gave up discussing it since his mother made sense. Also not want to stress her and the unborn puppy more, "Ok, Mother."

She looked at Narsiz and knew what he did but even hated while getting her way. It was important for her that her children said what they thought. Only this way could they thoroughly discuss such problems and develop into more competent leaders.

She clicked her tongue, which was very unusual for her, and while she went out, she banged the door in anger.

The two wolf-kin men stared at each other till Kairoso broke the silence, "Women, huh?"

Narsiz nodded and answered him while rubbing his temples, "Yep, women."

Sarah threw another grape into her mouth, "They are so weird."

"..."

"..."