My parents were quite ashamed, understandably so. Any noble whose house got trespassed by a thief would be ashamed, moreover when their child almost lost their life to the said thief.
The knights and guards were reprimanded harshly. The guards directly responsible for this overlook were fired, and new guards were placed in their place. The household grew quite lively.
“The youngest is surprisingly strong…”
“Right? I saw the dead body, it was so gross… Eugh! How did he hurt the thief like that?!”
“The youngest is dangerous. I don't know how I'll reject him if he decides to approach me again…”
“I don't think he would do stuff like that again, hasn't he changed for the good?”
“Well, you never know with these nobles— EEP! It's the young master!”
I was passing by the backyard where a bunch of maids were putting out clothes to dry in the sun, when I heard some gossip. I didn't reprimand them, waving at them and walking away instead, because honestly, gossip was what kept these maids energized.
Anyway, which one was it that said I approached her before? Her voice sounded familiar, is it that maid again?
I turned around to take a look at them, and all of them flinched and scattered. I didn't get the chance to figure out who it was. I couldn't bother to waste time searching for her, I had been summoned by the Count.
I’ve succeeded in fixing my Weak Bone Syndrome, and I even gained a bunch of levels. My mood was bright, and hopefully the Count wouldn’t say anything to ruin it. Making my way inside the mansion, I headed towards the meeting room. I knocked at the door, and the Count’s voice summoned me inside.
When I stepped inside, I blinked in déjà vu. Huh? Baron Carlstein and his daughter awaited me in the room, along with my father. Although this time my mother was sitting beside him.
“Hello, father, mother,” I bowed towards them and then turned to the Baron. “Greetings, father-in-law.”
“Oh!” The Baron laughed. “That caught me off guard, you're already calling me that?”
I didn't plan to, but seeing that girl's shocked and annoyed expression was worth it. She shot me a short glare before looking away.
“Ah, did I get too comfortable?” I raised my head and asked.
“Of course not! I don't mind being called that by a lion like you.” He said, “Come, come, take a seat.”
I walked to the third seat there and sat down. The Baron looked at his daughter and nudged his chin. The girl held back a sigh and got up, walking over and sitting beside me. My mother covered her face with a fan and giggled, while the girl beside me showed a polite smile. I held myself back from mocking her.
“How are your injuries, Iskandaar?” The Baron spoke, looking at all the bandages around me.
“They've been treated fast by the family doctors, so thankfully I'm alright now,” I said. I had healed off most of the wounds, although some of the deep ones would need a bit more to heal.
“That's great,” he said. “It'd have been horrible if you received any permanent damage. My daughter was especially worried about you.”
Yeah, I doubt that.
I looked at her, as she smiled politely, prompting me to smile back. “He has no idea, does he?” I said in a low whisper as she giggled with a weird smile.
My father spoke next, “Both the Baron and your fiancé were worried, that's why they rushed here to check on you after hearing the news. However, I have summoned you to talk about some other things too.”
“Oh, what happened?”
“That thief wasn't a simple one,” he said, grabbing something from under the table. It was the pouch of the thief. “We retrieved it from his body. According to what you said, he was opening drawers and looking around at other things for quite a while. And yet he didn't take any of those expensive things. His bag was empty. He must have been looking for something in particular.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, he's probably not a random thief. Someone hired him. From the injuries he inflicted upon you, I could tell that he was strong. Plus,” he took out something else, placing it on the table. The baron scowled deeply upon seeing it.
“So it's them,” he said, seeing the emblem.
“Who?”
“The Thief's Guild,” my father replied, pointing at the emblem. “A normal thief would have fled upon getting discovered. But he was ready to silence a noble by killing him just so that he could continue his search. He didn't want to fail his mission at any cost.”
“That's the Thief Guild for you,” the Baron said, crossing his arms. “Any guesses as to who it might be who hired them?”
“Honestly, no,” the Count said and looked at his friend. “We got really lucky this time. If the thief was someone more experienced and stronger, Iskandaar would have been in serious danger. That's why I've called you here. As his soon-to-be father-in-law, I'm asking you to help me in this search.”
The Baron scratched his chin, “I naturally don't mind helping him, but how do you want me to help? Do you need more guards?”
“No, I need your information network,” he replied. “Just help me search around as to who might be after the family. Of course, while I said I don't have any real suspects, I have a list. That'll be helpful to you.”
“Then, of course, my friend,” the Baron nodded. “If you need help, I'll lend you help.”
The Carlstein Barony’s military power was greater than ours, being a border family and all that. On the other hand, the Romani family was one of the merchant-like families. We exported flowers, spices, silk, and many other things. Wealth-wise, we were far superior to the Barony.
After my talk with my fiancé last time, I looked into what the Barony lacked so much that she had to sell herself for an engagement. It seemed starvation was a large problem there, as there was little land to farm crops. Our family could greatly help them overcome that problem, while also making a profit ourselves.
Other than food, what the Baron had the most was military power. Strong people, information agencies, spies, and so on. He didn't mind deploying a few to help in the search.
“Here's the list,” the Count handed out a scroll to the Baron who accepted it.
Taking a look at the scroll, he frowned. “There are quite some bold names there. If one of those names turned out to be the true culprit, things might get troublesome for the County.”
“That's what I fear,” the Count replied. “Especially the Black Draconia Dukedom. If it's indeed them…”
“Uhm,” the baron cleared his throat and looked at me and his daughter. “Why don't you two go out and enjoy some private time? It's adult talk, don't bother yourself with this.”
The girl exchanged glances with me and nodded. Soon, she and I walked out of the room. I'd have loved to listen to it more, but it seemed too sensitive to allow children into that talk.
****
“We should have stayed indoors, instead. You brought me to this garden last time too.” We walked past the same garden, although this time we didn't get to walk to the white roses before she started talking. “And why are you quiet again? You really love it when a girl takes the initiative, huh?”
“I’m just appreciating the flowers. Unless the sunlight bothers you, it's better than indoors.” When I said that, she narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. A moment later, she stopped.
“How did you do it?” We came to a stop before a bunch of sunflowers.
“Do what?”
“Defeat a Second Ascension [Thief],” she said. “All members of the Thief Guild are 2nd ascension or above. How did you defeat him? I'd have understood even if the enemy was Level 19, however, just reaching Level 20 grants them their Class and Skills related to that.”
“Are you curious about my mysterious mystery-powers? Sadly, sweetheart, a magician can't revea-”
“Quit playing,” she withdrew a palm, and her palm shone. “If you're not going to tell me, I'll have to see it for myself.” Her palm attack rushed toward my chest.
Yeah, I'm never marrying her.
“We’ve only met a week ago, and you're already resorting to domestic abuse?! That's insane.” I said and she grumbled.
I barely evaded the palm attack, but then her other palm rushed toward me. I grabbed her forearm this time, forcing her to the side, twirling her body after that.
She was stronger than me, but without some kind of weapon or Skill she was nothing in front of a professional kickboxer like me. The only way she could even touch me was if she used her full power, but she didn't want to actually hurt me, which allowed me to play with her. I twisted her body, spinning her as if we were dancing, and she grumbled.
“You're taking me for a fool!” She slammed her other palm at my chest, and I barely grabbed her by the wrist before the impact. “....”
“You'll force me to commit a crime if you don't stop,” I said, and she scowled.
“Then try-”
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My leg swiped under her. A long skirt was not suitable for fighting, I hope she'll realize that. She fell to the ground, and I fell above her. My body pressed against hers and I held her hands locked above her.
“....”
“It's okay, we're engaged anyway. Even if your purity has been ruined, I accept you.” Her knees tried to slam into my abdomen, but I pressed it down with my hips. “Behave.”
“Let me go.”
“Promise me to stop acting up like a little girl, then I will,” I said.
She had the strength to send me hurdling away, but she didn't want to hurt me. Such a cautious girl.
“I promise.”
“Good.”
I got off her and reached out a hand. She scoffed and slapped my hand away, getting up by herself.
She dusted off her clothes and I watched her with a shrug. She should have attacked properly if she really wanted to gauge my strength.
“So the rumors about enlightenment are true,” she said to me. “Your growth has been explosive. What is your level right now?”
Speaking of levels, she was at [Level 23] right now. She had already leveled up once during last week. She must have been close to a breakthrough the last time we met.
“Level 12,” I saw no reason to lie, it was still a lot lower than hers. Whatever the case, the progress I made was insane.
Name: Iskandaar Romani (???)
Age: 19 years
Race: Human
Qi: 1200/1200
Level: 12 | 22% EXP
Class: [Level Requirement Not Met]
Class Skills: [None]
General Skills:
The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree [6.67%]
Insight [Basic]
Swordsmanship [Basic]
Boxing [Basic]
It was a lot of progress for a week.
The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree had crossed 6% at the same time I killed the [Thief]. From what I've noted, in each 6 levels, I gained about 3.33% growth. At least so far, maybe it'll change in the future. At this rate, I'll only reach 100% when I reach Level 180 if my math is right. That'll take a long time.
Hopefully, there are other ways to increase it, that I've just not realized yet. It'll take decades to reach a high enough proficiency, otherwise.
I naturally had the information about another technique in my head, now that I've touched the 6.67% threshold. That seemed to be the other important thing. After crossing every 3.33% in the progress bar, I gained information about a major technique. I guess it went like 3.33%, 6.67%, and then, 10%.
Last time it was a Sword Art. This time I gained a Fist Art, although I've yet to test it out.
Along with the Fist Art, there were some notifications I had skipped last time.
[...You've processed and learned the first move of the True Demon Fist Art.]
[Additional knowledge about ‘fist martial arts’ in general comes with the technique, to help you properly perform it. The knowledge is intricate enough to solidify into a skill.]
[The Basic Skill ‘Boxing’ has been unlocked.]
That was how I came to have the Boxing Skill, too. I wonder why it didn't give me a skill for my Kickboxing knowledge. It didn’t count the one time I used them. What's up with that?
“I heard you were Level 2 before?” She asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
She wore a surprised expression, and I too was surprised by her question. How did she know? Who told her that?
Ah, right, they must have used a measuring stone on me when I was unconscious a week ago, to make sure everything was alright. So it must have been father who told her and the Baron.
On a related note, the original Iskandaar has never leveled up before, except for that one time he encountered a dog that chased him for hours, and using pure survival instincts he kept running and gained a level in the process. His family knew that. So a lot of people around the town knew that he was Level 2.
“I was.”
“Impressive growth,” she said with a frown. “It took me years to rise to Level 12 back in the day. I'm jealous. How do I reach enlightenment?”
“Hmm, let's go have a drink. When you're really drunk, I'll push you on the street. You'll hopefully reach enlightenment too,” I told her and she scoffed.
“It was my fault for asking you.” She said, “For your information, I'll never drink with you. Who knows what you'll do to me if I get drunk?”
I laughed and began to walk again. “Now come on, let's continue walking. I'll grab another white rose for you from ahead.”
“I don't want it,” she said and followed behind me.
Ignoring her, I wondered how the meeting was going. Who were the suspects of this incident? If it's someone important enough, my game knowledge should come in handy. Unfortunately I had no idea.
****
It was thankful that Iskandaar didn't know who it was, because that'd have gave him a headache. The meeting inside had grown tense.
The air was thick with tension as the Count and the Baron discussed, with the Countess sometimes chiming in.
“As I feared, the Black Draconia Duke is the greatest suspect?” the Baron asked. “They haven’t tried to retrieve it all these generations, but the current Duke is too ambitious for his own good. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really sent a [Thief] to retrieve that item.”
“The Emperor wouldn’t like that,” Rithea, the Count’s wife, said. “Would he?”
“He wouldn’t,” the Count replied. “There’s known tension between the current Emperor and the current Draconia Duke. So we have that in our support. However, we lack any real proof that it really was the Duke who sent the thief to us. Especially when the thief didn’t succeed in stealing the item.”
The item in question was a sword; a family heirloom of the Black Draconia Dukedom. When the Romani family’s first ancestor came to the Ethenia Empire, he had to work hard for the nation to accept him. However, due to his outstanding achievements, not only did the nation accept him, he even earned the position of Count. Within those years of adventures of his, he had once had a bet with the then Black Draconia Duke, from which he took the family sword after winning the bet.
It has been a part of Romani County ever since.
The ancestor and that particular Black Draconia Duke didn’t hold any bad blood over this incident, but their upcoming descendants were not the same. Many of the latter Draconia Dukes challenged the Romani Counts over and over again, and while most of the Counts wisely rejected the challenge, one recent Count accepted it.
Iskandaar’s grandfather, Sikandar Romani, the living-legend bear of a man, accepted the challenge out of pure fighting spirit. And won. He defeated the Draconia Duke in a way that stupefied the Empire. The Duke did not show his face to the public for years to come until he stepped down from the throne and let his son have it.
“It seems the former Duke hasn’t let go of that incident yet,” the Baron said. “Or maybe his son is acting on his own, trying to take revenge for his father’s defeat. In either case, I too believe the Dukedom is the prime suspect for this.”
“Um, but…” Rithea hesitated. “I’m curious about something. As much as I love my son, he’s not that strong. The thief couldn’t have been above the 2nd Ascension, why would the Duke hire someone so weak?”
“You don’t understand, sister-in-law,” the Baron replied. “In fact, I suspect the thief was just at Level 20, the lowest possible for the Thief Guild. This time their goal was not the sword, otherwise they wouldn’t have searched Iskandaar’s room. The Duke isn’t foolish enough to assume such a valuable item would be kept unprotected in the young master’s room.”
“Then?”
“The thief likely wanted to steal something else of value,” the Count explained. “Something to warn us about. That someone had trespassed our household without our knowledge and fled without us ever noticing. It was a tactic to scare us. He was probably after the Magic Codex inside Iskandaar’s room, which is quite expensive even for nobles.”
“No way,” his wife gasped. “But then, if they’ve sent a warning shot, it means that they’ll surely send more experienced assassins next time.”
“Precisely,” the Baron nodded. “But worry not. Even the Duke ought to be shocked at the young master’s performance this time around. Plus, they hadn’t actually expected him to get caught. So they’re aware that we’d keep an eye out for them, the Thief Guild, in particular. They wouldn’t be so hasty as to come. Especially if I send some spies sneaking around the Black Draconia Dukedom. They will be warned that we’re suspecting them, and therefore put their plans on hold in fear that we might find proof to report to the Emperor.”
Ultimately, it was their arrogance that they could invade Iskandaar’s room, and escape even if the young fool somehow noticed them, that cost them their plan. Just because of that little carelessness, their plan had been blocked off.
“Curses,” the Countess scratched her cheek. “Politics is too complicated, as always. First that thing with Lockdarn Barony recently, and now this.”
The Baron burst out laughing, “It’s always been. Sister-in-law, please, don’t complicate your mood by wondering about these useless things, you’re more suited for battles rather than politics anyway. We two will take care of the useless thinking.”
“Haha,” the clumsy woman rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “And please, don’t call me sister-in-law anymore, this is not the old times anymore, our kids are engaged.”
The Baron laughed out loud as did the Count, before the three of them spoke for a bit more about related topics. Ultimately, the situation seemed taken care of, as long as the Baron would send his spies to the Black Draconia Dukedom. The unpleasant talk ended pleasantly over tea, and the nobles soon bid each other goodbyes.
****
It had been a while since then, and the plan between Count Romani and Baron Carlstein bore fruit.
The Black Draconia Duke sat on his throne, finger thrumming against his armrest. The grand hall he sat inside was dark and gloomy, the walls black, with paintings of Black Dragons spread all over. It was a sight that’d have any Noble fascinated, and peasants bow in appreciation.
Before him, an informant kneeled, head low and body trembling. He wore black robes and a mask, as suited for the Secret Squad of the Black Draconia Dukedom. They were elites among elites in the Dukedom, and yet, before the Duke, this servant quivered like a guitar string.
“How does someone fail in such an easy task?”
“Sorry, my lord…”
The Duke’s jaws clenched and unclenched. A part of him wanted to lash out and paint the floor with this bastard’s blood, but that would be unnecessary and would only ruin the fine carpet.
“What did the Thief Guild say?” he asked.
“They’ve promised to compensate… with money,” the informant replied. “They’re also ready to accept your next commands if you have any.”
“I don’t,” he grumbled. “Those useless imbeciles can’t get a thing right. Do they really believe I’ll hire them again, after such an embarrassing failure? How could their 2nd Ascension Thief die to the useless youngest of the Romani family? Are you kidding me?!” his fist slammed against the armrest.
The informant flinched, swallowing his saliva, and lowered his head further. With a grumble, the Duke said, “Besides, they suspect us. Another informant reported that Carlstein spies have been seen in our territory. Moving against those pathetic Romanis now would leave behind tracks about our involvement, it’ll be troublesome. Father wouldn’t want that.”
The current Emperor and the Black Draconia Duke went to Waybound Academy together. Due to the political situation back then, he didn’t support the current Emperor in the battle for the throne. So there’s bad blood between them, and over the years, it only intensified. The Emperor always waits for an opportunity to get back against the Black Draconia Duke, and he would surely not let go of such a prime opening.
So the spies mustn’t learn anything about the Duke’s involvement in this matter.
“Ah… in that case, what’re your next orders, my lord?” the informant asked, and he let out a hum of consideration.
“I can’t let a rat escape. Since my blade, directly or indirectly, has touched the youngest son of the Romani, he needs to die,” the Duke chuckled. “If not here, then at the Academy.”
His two children were in their first year at the Academy right now, they didn’t have much power—the two Romani children in the Academy were already 2nd year and 3rd year, they couldn’t be hurt. However, next year, the youngest would surely enroll. Then, his two children, who’ll be 2nd year, will have enough power within those walls to ensure his death. Plus, his own youngest child would enroll next year.
The Duke added, “Send a letter to my eldest. Tell her to work with her younger brother for now to gather power on their fingertips faster, make their own faction within the Academy, so that they're prepared for trouble next year.”
“As you wish, my lord,” the informant bowed in obligation.
Certainly, soon would be the worst time in the Romani Family's history. The Duke would make sure of that, starting now, and reaching its critical point when Iskandaar Romani will enroll in the Academy.
Bad times were coming.