Effort will never betray results.

After the kingdom of Eradel had been at war with the Empire for nearly four years, a victorless peace declaration was finally agreed upon.

The long wait had finally paid off. Enough with the sufferings and cries of the people.

But of course, such a high price through the blood and tears of the kingdom's citizens with a result without any victory, caused a kind of deep disappointment in the hearts of the citizens. There were even rumors spread in the community that a group of rebels had begun to emerge.

A compensation was always needed.

How could one accept all this defeat without getting any compensation? Even for a small victory and gaining a bit of empire territory, it could at least ease the feelings of the weeping people.

Without proper compensation, the good name of the Imperial family would never be restored. And when the people of an empire do not trust their leader, any policies for economic recovery will not be followed by the people.

To make matters worse, starvation due to lack of labor became a very complicated problem that spread like a disease.

In that dire situation, a small child who had no wealth or even parents, had little chance of survival.

Even for Maric, he couldn't be arrogant just because he had memories from the modern world. All those memories and knowledge couldn't help him because he was just an ordinary human who couldn't see the future.

The only thing Maric could understand now was the fact that he was a pretty lucky kid, of course luck and opportunity always came to those who worked hard.

'Maric Sera Noir... geez, I'm a noble now.'

Behind the window of the Mansion. Maric exhaled softly as he looked out the window.

Not forgetting, he occasionally thanked God for the luck he had gotten.

His eyes flickered for a moment after he prayed. Now, from behind the window a view of the countryside near the mountains spoiled his bright eyes.

The Viscout Noir family lived in a mountainous region near the capital. The ground around was slightly sloping with many houses and vast fields of wheat.

This was a very refreshing feeling for Maric.

The warmth of spring without any snow caused the fresh air to carry the fragrance of flowers so Maric took a breath to get as much oxygen into his lungs as possible.

"Peaceful atmosphere is the best."

Looking back down, he then grabbed the book underneath him and started reading.

The space around Maric was a little quiet, the only sound Maric heard at the moment was the sound of the pen writing on the paper.

He then turned his head towards the source of the sound.

"Father..how many more books are there on the Ancient Kislev language, is this the last one?"

Viscout Franz, who was sitting in his chair, folded the paper while answering.

"That's the last book, our family has no records about the Ancient Kislev language other than that book."

"In that case, I might have to wait patiently until I'm 15 years old to read the other books. The library in the capital should have a copy of this book, right?"

"I'm not sure..."

'Eh? Wait a minute.'

Franz was still taking notes with his pen, after he finished folding the paper and moving it to the side, he immediately grabbed another paper to write again.

As he continued to write, he also explained what he knew about the Ancient Kislev language.

"Not many people know about the Ancient Kislev language even among the royal nobles. As far as I know, only the Royal family and hero families know exactly what the Ancient Kislev language is."

"Then how does the Noir family have a copy of the book that records the Ancient Kislev language?"

"It's because someone in the past gave it to the ancestor of the Noir family. The book was given by that person."

'That person? Who is that person? Could it be the Royal family?'

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Maric immediately guessed. Based on the information Franz had provided, it was clear that the Ancient Kislev language was a secret language that might have been deliberately hidden by royalty.

For whatever reason, not many people knew the language.

Usually, secrets involving a country like this are always accompanied by hidden dangers or conspiracies.

'If that's the case, then why does Olivia who is just an ordinary person know about the Ancient Kislev language?'

Maric began to doubt mixed with suspicion. On the one hand she suspected Olivia was not a simple girl, on the other hand Maric sensed some kind of danger if she started learning the Ancient Kislev language.

If he had to choose, he would rather close his eyes and avoid danger than find out and invite danger.

Maric then placed the book on the wooden table in the room and then closed it.

Seeing what Maric was doing, Franz opened his mouth.

"You don't need to worry, all descendants of the Noir family are required to learn the Ancient Kislev language. The person who gave me the book said so. But you must also remember, never tell anyone anything about the Ancient Kislev language."

"Father... who exactly is that person? The person who gave Noir Family this book?"

With great hesitation, Maric ventured to ask.

If the person in question was from the Royal family, everything made sense and Maric could breathe a sigh of relief, because it meant that the Noir family could not be in a position where they were enemies with the king.

'I don't want to get involved with political schemes... please, don't say anything scary.'

But hope is hope, it doesn't always come true. Franz, after he placed the pen on the table, explained.

"I and the ancestors of the Noir family don't know that person's real name either. That person calls himself Mr. Superior."

'Mr. Superior? What kind of strange name is that? No wait, forget it. I'm sure whoever called himself Mr.Superior must have died of old age, he lived at a time when the ancestors of the Nori family were still alive, there's no way he's alive today.'

Maric slightly shook his head, he didn't want to think about this matter further.

Maric then looked at Franz who was writing again.

"Father... If it's too much trouble for you, I can help you with the paperwork."

"No need..."

Franz replied briefly.

After a moment of silence- Franz's eyes were now once again looking at Maric, from his current reaction, there seemed to be something he wanted to know from Maric.

"Speaking of documents, there have been a lot of reports of kidnapping cases lately, and they're all coming from border towns. Have you ever heard of something like that, Maric? In the town where you previously lived, there were also many similar cases."

'I did say that I was willing to help out of gratitude. But that doesn't mean that I'm willing to cooperate to get involved in such a horrible case. I also know my own limits.'

With that thought, Maric then shook his head. He was now planning to say what he knew using childish language to give the impression that this was the only information he knew.

"I don't know much. I've only heard that kidnappers always target 15-year-olds or adults."

"Yeah, that's enough..."

If Maric in the past had been consumed by his curiosity, he might not have survived this far, he did hear a lot of knights talking about kidnapping cases, but he never saw it firsthand.

Maybe it was because he always tried his best to avoid such dangerous things. Maric originally thought that the kidnapping case was just a normal case where some people had lost their minds and started killing other residents to steal food.

But hearing that such cases persisted even after the war ended, shows that it was no ordinary abduction.

Moreover, right now Maric had to continue acting like a nine-year-old child. He didn't want to show any abnormalities that might make others uncomfortable.

Therefore, in Maric's every action, he always saved room for a very innocent reason.

Having set his heart and mind, and hearing that he would eventually learn about the Ancient Kislev language, Maric then reached back for the book on Ancient Kislev to read it again.

Franz, who seemed interested in Maric's behavior, then asked.

"Is the book that interesting?"

"Yes, this book is very exciting."

"It's not a children's storybook. Kids your age shouldn't be reading books like that."

Maric, who was not paying attention, continued to read the book while answering.

"I don't like reading children's books because I feel that they are filled with lies."

Franz could not comment, considering where Maric came from, it would make perfect sense why he could think that way.

Maric then continued with his eyes turned away.

"Father... In the town where I used to live, there weren't many children who could read, I sometimes found it difficult to talk to them, they would avoid me for that reason. so I had a lot of time to read children's books and started to feel bored."

Most of what Maric says is a lie. The real meaning of what Maric said was something simple, "He didn't want Franz to suspect Maric just because he was reading books that weren't for his age." Every little suspicion can cause discomfort.

Just as Maric thought that, he heard Franz drop the pen from his hand. The pen fell to the floor and rolled over, but instead of Franz picking up the pen, he stretched his body to lean against the back of the chair.

In the distance, Maric's ears twitched as he heard the muttering of a Viscount.

"-Ah... So that's it... maybe it can be done."

........

Inside his luxurious private room, the now suspicious Maric looked at the bright stone in his hand.

There was an inscription on it, so he studied it and discovered that every little sentence on the stone was in Ancient Kislev.

'Olivia... Don't tell me that this is really a magic stone that can see the future.'

It sounded very absurd. But Maric felt that it was worth trying.

So he read the writing inside the magic stone in the ancient Kislev language.

"_Honorable God of white Dragon. Great white dragon... I ask you with all my faith... please fulfill the request of your believers and show me a piece of the future._"

Maric's lips trembled.

From the stone, a bright bluish-yellow light illuminated the entire room. Maric's eyes were closed from the light, but he knew it was probably time for him to have a vision of the future.

After a while, the light beam shrank and disappeared. Maric opened his eyes again but nothing happened.

"I don't see anything, where is that piece of the future?"

Maric instinctively looked around to make sure that nothing was happening.

Suddenly, a suspicious sound reached his ears. Immediately, Maric investigated the source of the sound and opened the window of his room.

The source of the sound turned out to be the legs of a pitch-black owl perched on his bedroom window.

"That stone can't see the future, it's actually a stone to summon owls. Olivia why did you lie to me?"

Giving up on what Maric found, he then chased the pitch-black owl away while closing the window of his room and immediately went to sleep.