"Senna..." Arthur paused for dramatic effect. "She refused to let me go on my own and insisted on joining me despite the danger."

"That's... Too bad." Levin's gaze became empty, as if he were trying to organize his thoughts.

He seemed hesitant to throw himself into a conflict in the hopes of getting to know Senna more. On the other hand, if pursuing Senna wasn't enough to get Levin on board, he might be swayed by the added benefit of ingratiating himself to a newly minted Earl.

Of course, Arthur was already the heir to a wealthy marquisate, but as it were, Levin would have remained a tutor only. However, if Levin knew Arthur had been granted his own earldom to manage at such a young age, then perhaps he'd be more inclined to join him.

Levin was young in his own right, and he'd likely remain a tutor for many more years before he had the opportunity to settle down to research in some minor lord's court.

"It's ok, Mr. Levin. My father told me it shouldn't be too dangerous as it's all just for show so the emperor can grant me an earldom—Ah!" Arthur shouted before covering his mouth in a flash. "That was supposed to be a secret. You can't tell anyone, ok?"

Levin's empty gaze came alive, and he recoiled his head in confusion as if he wasn't sure what he had just heard. "What did you just say?"

"Phew..." Arthur looked down and wiped his forehead, pretending to be relieved. "Thank goodness you weren't paying attention. Father would've been furious with me for casually spilling such a secret."

"Secrets are meant to be kept, so do your best to keep them lest others lose their trust in you." Levin paused for a moment before shaking his head. "I suppose you'll be too busy with your preparations to attend tutoring?"

Arthur was surprised by such a reaction. He didn't pursue the bait Arthur had left but moved past it as if it were nothing. It took a rare breed of man to turn down a golden ticket like the one he had just offered Levin.

"Yes, sir." Arthur shifted his gaze away from Levin, feeling a bit guilty over his attempt to trick the man. "I leave in a week. So I'll need to prepare, which won't leave much time for lessons."

"That's a shame." Levin shook his head and sighed as he began to pack up his things. "Very well, I'll write up some notes for you to study in your free time. So come see me in a few days to pick them up."

Arthur thanked him and saw him off. Unfortunately, Levin likely wouldn't be following him, but they had only known each other for a few days, so it wasn't too surprising.

As far as the secret that Arthur had purposefully slipped to Levin, he wasn't worried about the man telling anyone. When fishing, sometimes the fish snatches the bait and flees, so he wouldn't have used his new earldom as bait had he not foreseen such an outcome.

If Levin did tell someone before the war ended, Arthur could easily play it off as if he had misunderstood his father's words. It wasn't like Arthur gave Levin the deed stamped with the imperial seal as proof of his claims. Without the deed as evidence, Arthur's 'secret' would be written off as a rumor at worst and an embarrassing misunderstanding at best.

It would have mattered even less if Levin had told someone after the war. The noble factions would criticize the emperor even if Arthur truly deserved to be granted land, and the truth of the matter was bizarre enough for most nobles to laugh at the absurdity of it.

Arthur was the heir to a marquisate; why would his father buy him an earldom and then disinherit him from the marquisate's line of succession? It may be troublesome, but if his father wanted to remove him as heir, there were far cheaper methods to employ.

Even Arthur couldn't understand what his father was thinking, and he had the benefit of having it explained to him by the man himself.

"Where the hell is Kyren and Foster?" Arthur murmured as he placed his research journal on one of the desks and sat down.

Kyren's grinning face peeked out from the bookshelf opposite Arthur as if on cue. "What are you lonely, kid?"

"You're hilarious..." Arthur rolled his eyes. "What do you think about my father's proposition?"

"Oh?" Kyren's grin grew a size larger. "The kid's asking me for advice now? Who would've thought the day would—"

"—Just answer the question." Arthur cut him off before he could start his little ego trip.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Fine, fine." Kyren threw his arms up in defeat. "Must've been about twenty—twenty-five years ago now... I got sent to guard some fortress being constructed in Leran's Pass—the mountain passage connecting Sparnia to Bern southeast of here.

"Anyway, the Bernish royal family wasn't keen on the idea of a fortress being built on their border, but they couldn't risk all-out war either. So the little shits sent some of their priests to a small Bernish village by the pass and slaughtered the lot of 'em.

"The priests used their blood to summon a few abyssals from Minaan's realm before letting them loose through the pass... You ever seen an abyssal before, kid?"

"No, but I've read about them." Arthur replied.

"Words won't do them justice. They're nasty, violent things that'll keep coming at you until one of you dies. If you cut off their limbs, they'll launch into a frenzy, snapping at you with their teeth. If you knock out their teeth, they'll try to stick you with one of their horns.

"They're mindless beasts resistant to magic that can regenerate most of their body if you leave them be too long. The only way to kill them is to cut out their mana core, but they'll viciously defend it at any cost. So most of the time, you just gotta keep hitting them until they can't regenerate their bodies anymore."

Arthur knew abyssals were resilient, but he was surprised that Kyren seemed to have trouble with them despite being a ninth circle mage.

"So what happened with the fortress?" Arthur asked.

"What do you think happened? I killed the lot of 'em, but not before a few abyssals reached the builder's camp and had themselves a feast. The construction was delayed, but in the end, the fortress got built a few years later.

"Anyway, after the battle, I searched the area to ensure there weren't any more of them when I came upon the village where it all started. I didn't find any more abyssals, but I did find the villagers.

"The crazy shits were all smiles as they lay in the dirt with their necks slit. Dozens of 'em, men, women, and children, all happy to have been sacrificed for their shit god.

"That's the type of people you'll be trying to rule over... It ain't no simple thing to try and sober up people that drunk on god, kid."

Arthur drooped his head and sighed before walking over to a bookshelf and grabbing a map of Nithe. He unfurled the map on the desk and gazed at it in silence.

"What about the Helrian tribes to the south? Have you ever been there?" Arthur asked.

"Never had a reason to since Sparnia doesn't share a border with them, but I met a Helrian on an Innihanan trade ship once." Kyren replied as he floated about the room.

"And?" Arthur raised his hand and implored him to continue.

"And what, kid? What do you want me to say about him? He was just a normal guy that happened to have horns and a tail. He liked women and alcohol, the same as most. If you removed his horns and tail, you could find a hundred guys like him at any port."

Despite the mild response, Arthur still felt uneasy about the Helrian tribes as he scanned the map around the Helagaust territory.

The Arran mountain range that traveled north to south across the continent stood east of Helagaust. The Orcish tribes lived on the other side of it, but luckily, the mountains were impassable unless using one of the few breaks in the range that people used to traverse them.

The closest break happened to be Leran's pass seven hundred miles north, so Arthur wasn't too concerned about dealing with any Orcs.

Directly north of Helagaust stood Elrinth Forest. It occupied hundreds of square miles and got its name from the belief that the Elrinth pantheon of gods lived there, much like the Greeks and Mount Olympus. However, to the less religious, it was a place that even beasts avoided with a wide berth, as nothing that entered the forest had ever returned.

The Helagaust territory was like a small hidden valley between the Arran mountains, Elrinth forest, and Pick Bay to the west. There were only two land routes to enter it: one to the south, which led to the Helrian tribes, and one to the northwest, which led to Bernish lands.

It was strategically defensible, but the territory's problem wasn't a foreign threat.

According to the map before him, only one city existed in Helagaust named Piltash. Unfortunately, the map didn't include any other information about it other than its location on the northwest coast of Pick Bay.

Kyren floated between Arthur's face and the map as if he were on a lazy river. "What do you plan to do?"

Arthur shooed Kyren away with his hand before returning his gaze toward the map. "I'll go to Helagaust."

"Were you not listening to me, kid? These people kill their own like it's nothing. So what do you think they'll do to a skinny little lord from Ollerin." Kyren mocked as he lazily circled Arthur like a shark circling prey.

Arthur shook his head. "Helagaust is relatively isolated. The nearest city is over sixty miles away, so it's possible they aren't as fanatical as the rest of Bern... On the other hand, it's also possible that they're even more devout in their beliefs due to their isolation. Either way, I won't know until I get there."

"You should just head to Sparnia. A few of my buddies should still be alive somewhere. You could just tell 'em you're my bastard, and they'd do right by you."

"If Helagaust doesn't work out, I may take you up on that offer even though the thought of being known as your bastard son makes my skin crawl."

"Just go to Sparnia now, my good son." Kyren attempted to speak in a fatherly voice before covering his mouth and giggling like a schoolboy. "There's nothing in Helagaust for you anyway. It's a waste of time going there."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You're wrong. After the war with Bern, the imperial family will turn its focus on Agelia while Ollerin's nobles scramble to gain control of the new territories. As a result, Helagaust will become even more isolated than it already is, allowing me to do as I please without interference for a few years."

"That's assuming you aren't sacrificed to Minaan first." Kyren added.

"That's why I will go there first and feel it out. If I find that I can't get the people under control, then the world will learn of Arthur Drent, the bastard son of Kyren Drent." Arthur turned his gaze toward Kyren. "Satisfied?"

"What about the war, my good son? Even if your father was telling the truth about you only being there for show, wars are unpredictable."

"You're right." Arthur grinned. "Thankfully, I happen to have a useless spirit haunting me that is perfectly suited to be my personal scout. So it's time you start earning your keep, dear father."