I remember it like it was yesterday thanks to the many rituals and magics I performed on myself back on Earth.

I was three years old when my mother took Cael and me out of the Upper-class district and into the city proper when we were visiting the Capital.

Mother was always mischievous like that, a trait that she supposedly inherited from her own mother while her sister, Duchess Lysandra, inherited the magical prowess and seriousness.

I remember not being willing to leave my mother's side even for a single second like a child that age would normally act. My brother, on the other hand, inherited the same mischievousness from his mother and had bolted out of our line of sight the moment he received the all-clear from his mother.

I remember wandering the streets with our hidden escort unit trailing after us, looking at various shops of the commoners and buying trinkets and foods that caught our interest.

Our peaceful walk turned serious when one of the escorts who went after Cael returned with an urgent expression.

Mother wasted no time in directing us to the location until we arrived at an alleyway leading into the slums of the city.

There, sitting on the ground, was a frightened girl with white hair and silver eyes who was the same age as my brother, looking at an injured Cael who was trying to engage her in talks, all the while ignoring the piles of unconscious thugs surrounding them thanks to Cael's 2-star Aura Novie powers at the age of 10.

The way my mother's eyes lit up when she watched my brother talk to the girl did not put my 3-year-old mind at ease.

I recognized those emotions I felt as jealousy and fear once I became a proper adult.

Fear that mother would start ignoring me now that she had a 'daughter' to look after just like she always said she wanted. Jealousy that some commoner girl would take my place in the family.

Of course, all of that was clear nonsense, but what 3-year-old is rational?

Once Mother brought the girl in as Cael and I's maid, I wasted no time in showing my dislike for her, a display that would only escalate as the years went by.

Thankfully, despite the various types of torment I put her through in my foolishness, I never assaulted her in that way, or any other woman for that matter. The reason, perhaps, was that my actions were partially motivated to spite my Father and not truly done for my enjoyment?

Whatever the reason might be, I am truly thankful that my younger self never actually crossed that line despite his many scummy actions.

All I remember of my formative years is the torment I put the poor girl through, and the various ways Cael tried to comfort the girl through the hardship.

If I didn't know any better, I would have claimed that my brother had fallen for Leyla.

Which might explain the hollow expression on her face when news reached us of his death.

Whatever may be the case, it does not change the fact that I need to protect her from now on. Especially now that I have the power to do so much more than I could the first time around.

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"I am sorry young master, but I don't think we should-"

"Then, what are you going to do if the Raptors swarm? Are you confident that with your 3-star Aura Adept strength, you can ward off an entire swarm of Frost Raptors?"

"….But the orders-"

"Are you going to take responsibility if we all end up dead? Will you?"

"…We will change the route and take the southern path towards Noctura."

Cedric gave a satisfied nod and headed back to his carriage while the Knight Captain cussed silently at his back.

However, no matter how much he resented his Young Master at this moment, he had no choice but to agree with him on one thing.

With the Season of Luxia coming to close any day now and the Season of Cryos nearly upon them, the likelihood of the Frost Raptor migration happening was very likely. And if they were unlucky enough, they might end up caught in the middle of a few thousand strong adult Frost Raptors which were generally as strong as a 1-star Aura Adepts at least and sometimes even reached as high as 1-star Aura Masters.

"Great Luxia, protect us from calamity, and our young master's antiques."

"You know that not even the gods can protect us from Lord Cedric, right?"

"Piss off, at least let me have my fantasy."

The grumbling Knight captain led his fellow knights back to the camp to inform them of the new decision.

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As I entered the carriage, I found Leyla kneeling in front of a plaque engraved with various symbols carved into it, praying.

If it was me from before, I would have sneered at her prayers and ordered her to destroy that plaque with her own hands just to torment her mind.

But, now that I know the power of faith better than anyone else in this world, I would never do such a careless thing that could end up with me being cursed in some way.

The primary religion that is worshiped by humanity is the Elemental Pantheon, a deceptively simple name for a complex pantheon.

It consisted of Luxia, the goddess of the Sun, Light, and Faith. She is also the queen of the pantheon. Umbranox, the god of the Moon, Darkness, and Knowledge. He is the brother of Luxia. Then, there is Terra, the goddess of the Earth, Harvest, and Wisdom. She is also the sister of Luxia and Umbranox, being the youngest of the trio. These three are considered the main trinity of the Pantheon and above the rest of the gods in the pantheon.

After the three, there is Aetherius, the god of Wind and Travel. Ignis, the god of Fire and Blacksmiths. Marina, the goddess of Water and Healing. Voltar, the God of Thunder, Life, and Aura. And finally, Cryos, the goddess of Ice, Death and Magic.

And just like on Earth, people tend to worship gods that are much more closely related to their day-to-day lives.

The Duke family had their own 'favorite' gods among the pantheon that we worship just as the rest of the people have their own preferences.

For example, my family, the Terron, worship Terra, the Goddess of the Earth. And just like the Ignire family, our family name was also derived from the deity that we worship. The Ignire worships Ignis, the God of Fire. The Aquatia are the only family that did not derive their name from their deity. They worship Marina, the Goddess of Water. The Royal family worships Luxia, the Goddess of the Sun and Light.

Stolen novel; please report.

The majority of the Commoners, like Leyla, worshipped the pantheon as a whole.

Walking silently to the back of the Carriage, I sat down and waited for Leyla to complete her prayer while I contemplated my next move.

Now that I have managed to avoid running into my cousin through the judicious use of blackmail and valid concerns, I need to make a few changes to my plans.

My initial goal was to quickly reach the Ignire family and have Duke Ignire recommend me to the best blacksmith in Draken City controlled by the Draken Marquis family.

If my plan for a certain ruin located on the other side of the wall is to succeed, I will need all the help I can get, and there is no way I am fighting the Demonic Beasts on the Western Frontier without any gauntlets and armor to augment my fighting style

But now that I am forced to head towards Noctura, the city that is the home to Noctura Marquis family, I will need to take care of something else first before I head to the Western Wall.

Back during the fall of the Kingdom, The Noctura family was the first to fall, just a few days before the city of Ignire fell and the Western Wall was destroyed followed by the fall of my own family and the city of Terron just a single month after. But before their destruction, Duke Ignire sent us a letter saying that there was unusual movement from the Noctura family before the fall,

Now that I have the chance to investigate, I should try to see if I can find any clues on just what caused the fall of Ignire and Noctura in the first place.

With a plan set, I sat silently for Leyla to finish.

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"..Young Master? What do we do now?"

I raised a brow at Leyla's worried expression.

"Leyla, you do know that all of our knights are at least Aura Novices with the captain being an Aura Adept while our adversaries are, well"

I motioned towards the ragtag group made up of thugs and criminals who had escaped civilized territories to avoid punishment.

"Even then-"

"Leyla, you worry too much. Relax and have some tea."

"W-What?? How can I drink tea that was made for you? In fact, a servant like me should not even be riding in the same carriage as you, instead, I should be traveling with the rest of the servants-"

"Do you want me to repeat that particular conversation again?"

Leyla immediately shut up as she remembered the lengthy lecture that I had given her when we first left the Terron mansion.

With Leyla's worries still on her mind, I forced her to sit down in the carriage and lunged onto the top of the vehicle, intent on observing my Knights as they carried out their duties.

And just as I predicted, it did not take even a minute for the organized and trained Knights to take out the group of bandits in a methodical manner.

Those who died would not receive a proper burial, instead, they would be cremated in a pile of bodies. Those who surrendered would be escorted to the nearest town with us and would be sold off as slaves for a set amount of time corresponding to their crimes. If there were no records of their crimes, then they would be held within the local prison until an agent of the Kingdom could travel across the territories and gather evidence.

While it was not right to sell people as slaves according to my morals that I picked up from Earth, it is a necessary evil in this world and the only way to properly punish evil doers.

Since the Kingdom did not have unlimited resources and with humanity surrounded on all sides by hostiles, the Royal family and the rest of the ruling class could not afford to fill prisons with people who committed crimes and feed them without getting anything in return. The Kingdom simply could not afford such a massive resource sink in its already fragile economy. Hence, the slave system existed as the only way of punishment that could be self-sustaining.

But, just like any other system, it is not infallible.

There were many horrific things that I had seen before I was taken to Earth in the original timeline before the fall of the Kingdom, including the slave markets located in the major cities across the Kingdom.

The things that I had seen there made me question whether the Kingdom actually deserved to be saved.

In fact, it is a sentiment that has not changed even now. But, I cannot afford to think about the faceless people suffering unjust treatment in those slave markets when my loved ones are in imminent danger.

That did not mean I would forget about it all together. Once my family is secure and the threat towards the Kingdom is rooted out, the Slave markets are going to get one hell of a headache in the form of the Terron Duchy.

With the threat taken care of, I decided to head back into the carriage.

It was then, that I picked it up. The subtle shift in mana across the entire area was followed by a flash of light nearby.

The Knights were instantly on guard as I pulled mana into my fingers, ready to draw a few runes should whatever the source of the sudden surge of mana prove itself to be a threat.

But what emerged from the woods proved to be something that none of us expected.

The trees bent to the will of the mage hiding within the arriving group as the carriages that rivaled our own in size and luxury emerged, each one having the distinct symbol of a raindrop with a whirlpool at the bottom and the Trident pointing upward at the top.

I could not help but feel like the universe was playing a prank on me as the carriage in the lead opened its doors and a girl my age with blue hair and lilac eyes descended followed by an old man with grey hair from old age and blue eyes, his massive staff and traditional robes worn by the Imperial academy of Magic and Aura showed that he was the mage that manipulated the trees before and was probably responsible for the burst of mana from before.

The girl surveyed the area before her eyes landed on my stiff figure on top of my carriage. The savage grin that graced her face filled me with nothing but dread and exhaustion.

"Mother knew you would try to pull a sneaky one on us, Cedric. Thankfully, you are not all that smart, allowing us to catch up to you."

With a wry smile, I got down from the carriage.

"Hello to you too, Elara."