Book 1 Chapter 5

[5]4

Leaving the fainted Celia behind, Leo returned to the mansion.

In the mansion's living room, Reina and Zis were talking.

Around them, Zerdinger's knights stood in formation.

Reina, who found her son, smiled.

"Did you finish your training today?"

"Yes, Mother."

Leo, who answered Reina's question, glanced at Zis.

'They kept talking about Zerdinger, Zerdinger. He really is amazing.'

Even in his previous life, warriors of his caliber were rare.

'The name 'Heroic Noble Family' doesn't seem to be for nothing.'

"Leo, this is Zis Zerdinger. He's a guest who came to visit our family this time."

"I am Leo Flobe."

"I am Zis Zerdinger. As you probably already know, I am your uncle. Please be comfortable around me."

"May I ask what you mean by 'be comfortable'?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"The blood of Zerdinger flows in me. But still, I am not a Zerdinger."

Zis's eyes lit up at Leo's clear drawing of the line, and Reina shook her head.

'My son just isn't cute.'

Zis Zerdinger.

Currently, the vice-head of the Zerdinger family and the official second in command.

Usually, a person of Leo's age would be thrilled if such an important figure affectionately called them 'uncle.'

However, while they might be connected by blood, they are strangers in terms of family registry.

The Zerdinger family law is very strict.

That's why Reina didn't introduce Zis as his uncle.

Leo also guessed that, which is why he asked.

"So, in a public setting, I won't be able to call you my nephew."

"Understood."

Zis burst out laughing, watching Leo's crisp reply.

"You don't seem like my sister's son."

"Hohoho. What does that mean?"

Reina, who was laughing while stepping on Zis's foot, asked.

"Leo. Didn't you see a child named Celia on the training ground?"

"Her?"

Leo glanced at the mansion's main gate.

There was Celia, foaming at the mouth and being carried on a stretcher.

"Gasp! Oh, Young Lady!"

"What is this!"

Zerdinger's knights were aghast.

"Huh."

Zis let out an exclamation of admiration.

'Did he defeat Celia without mastering aura?'

"Sir Wheaton, what happened?"

At Zis's question, Wheaton recounted what had happened at the training ground.

Zis shook his head upon hearing the story.

The cause of defeat was clear.

'Arrogance.'

Celia underestimated Leo simply because he couldn't use aura.

Of course, from a common-sense perspective, it wasn't a wrong thought.

The difference in combat power between an aura user and a non-user is enormous.

But it remained true that Celia was caught off guard.

'And that's not the Zerdinger way.'

Zis stood before Leo.

"To defeat Celia, that's amazing."

"That child looked down on me."

"Yes. But it seems there was a promise between Celia and you."

"Yes. I made a bet with Celia Zerdinger. The loser would become the winner's servant."

"What!"

"Do you think that makes sense?"

The Zerdinger knights flared up, as if it was unacceptable.

The direct descendant of Zerdinger becoming a servant?

The Zerdinger knights glared at Leo.

But Leo didn't bat an eyelid.

"From now on, Celia Zerdinger will be my maid for one week."

Reina chuckled.

Her son was a person who followed through on his words.

Still, she hadn't expected him to say such a thing so nonchalantly in front of the Zerdinger knights, who were glaring fiercely.

'Who could stop that personality?'

Meanwhile, Zis smiled softly.

"Celia is a Zerdinger. We can't have her doing maid work."

He continued, as if reasoning with him.

"I hope you'll forgo the promise. Instead, I'll give you another reward. Yes, for example…"

Zis stroked his chin.

"How about our family's high-tier Aura Martial Art?"

"I refuse."

"What did you say?"

"This bet was a promise between Celia Zerdinger and me."

Leo glanced at Celia.

"Sir Zis called her 'Zerdinger.' Since she bears the name of a heroic noble family, she should be able to take responsibility for her own words."

Leo turned his gaze away and met Zis's eyes again.

"Even if there's to be a discussion, it's something for her and me to do. And…"

Leo drove the point home.

"If it's an Aura Martial Art to be used as an excuse to avoid shame for your nephew, then I don't think it's worth learning."

Sparks flew from the eyes of the grinding knights.

"Unacceptable!"

"How dare you insult Zerdinger!"

The knights yelled, flaring up.

Seeing this, the enraged Wheaton rebuked them.

"In what safe place are you raising your voices right now!"

"B-but, Captain!"

"Is there any reason to stand still after hearing such words!"

"It seems…"

Reina, who had been observing the situation, shook her head with an expressionless face.

"It seems the standard of Zerdinger has fallen quite a bit since I left the family."

"No matter if you were once a Zerdinger, Lady Reina, those words cross a line!"

A knight said, as if warning her.

And a murderous intent appeared in Wheaton's eyes.

"How dare you!"

Just as Wheaton was about to explode in anger.

Reina raised her hand to stop Wheaton.

Then she stood before the knights.

"Cross a line? Then I ask you. Who exactly are you to interfere so carelessly in the conversation of the vice-head?"

Dismay surfaced on the knights' faces at the chilling question.

"Th-that is."

"Clearly, I am one who left the family. Still, Zerdinger remains a proud honor to me. So I feel I must speak."

A fierce aura emanated from Reina's body.

"A mere knightling dares to interrupt when the vice-head is speaking? Are you knights? Or are you beasts busy barking regardless of the situation?"

"Gasp!"

The knights held their breath.

Reina's dignity.

It was so similar to that of the family head.

Zis, who had been quietly watching the scene, spoke in a gentle voice.

"Sir Wheaton."

"Yes, Vice-Head."

"These individuals seem to lack the qualifications to be Zerdinger knights."

"Understood."

The knights' faces turned pale.

Wheaton, with a stern face, led the knights away.

"Still, isn't it too much to strip them of their knighthood?"

Reina, who knew well how difficult it was to become a Zerdinger knight, gently chided him.

"There was nothing wrong with what my sister said. A knight's title is wasted on beasts."

Zis smiled softly.

He was a person who gently overlooked the mistakes of his subordinates.

But if mistakes continued, he was also someone who would coldly cut them off.

The knights should have realized their mistake and backed down when Reina gave the warning.

After the storm passed.

Zis looked at Leo again.

"Leo Flobe. You declared that you would make a direct descendant of Zerdinger a maid, and you said that the Zerdinger Aura Martial Art was worthless. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Don't you think that statement was reckless?"

Zis asked in a gentle voice.

Reina gazed at him intently.

Zis was in charge of educating the Zerdinger family's blood relatives.

He was the teacher of all Zerdinger children.

So he was skilled at seeing through the potential of children.

'He must be gauging Leo's potential now.'

Leo had probably already passed Zis's criteria.

The reason he was still pressing Leo.

It was because he hadn't yet grasped how deep Leo's potential truly was.

Leo also understood Zis's intentions.

So he chuckled inwardly.

"If you took it as an insult to Zerdinger, I apologize. But I didn't particularly disregard Zerdinger."

"What is it if not an insult to say you'd make a direct descendant of the family a maid, and to say the family's Aura Martial Art is worthless?"

"Celia Zerdinger's issue, as I said before, is a transaction between her and me. I believed that if she were a true Zerdinger, she should be able to take responsibility for her own words."

"Hoo?"

Zis nodded.

"And saying the Aura Martial Art is worthless doesn't mean Zerdinger's Aura Martial Art is insufficient."

"Then?"

"If Sir Zis had bestowed the Aura Martial Art as a reward for defeating Celia, I would have gladly accepted it."

Zis's lips slowly began to curve upwards.

"But Sir Zis offered me the Aura Martial Art to cover up a mistake Celia made, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You thought that if Celia hadn't been careless, she wouldn't have lost to me, didn't you?"

He asserted, lifting his chin.

"But even if Celia had approached the sparring seriously, I would have won."

'To summarize… he refused because he didn't like my attitude? Haha, what kind of guy is this?'

Laughter burst out involuntarily.

Turning his head to look at Reina, his sister was smiling as if to say 'I told you so.'

'I understand my sister's words now.'

Zis chuckled, looking at Leo, who stared up at him boldly.

'What enormous potential. If only such a child were a Zerdinger!'

The Zerdinger family would acquire another hero.

'I must speak to my brother.'

About this child who must be embraced by the family.

"Send Celia to the maid's room."

"V-vice-Head!"

The servants who were tending to Celia on the stretcher looked bewildered.

"It's an order."

The servants hesitated and then carried Celia to the maid's room.

"I understand your words. I will follow your wishes."

"Yes, Sir Zis."

"Leo. What I said earlier, that I 'would not' call you my nephew in a public setting, also implies that I will treat you as my nephew in private."

Zis smiled gently.

No matter what kind of potential Leo possessed, these words were sincere.

Knowing that, Leo complied without resistance.

"Yes, Uncle."

"Good. You seem tired from training, so go and rest."

"Have a good night."

Leo bowed his head.

"Mother, have a good night too."

"Yes. Rest well, Leo."

Leo left, and only the two of them remained.

"Sister."

"Why?"

"I will try to persuade brother to let Leo learn 'Phoenix Breath'."

"Phoenix Breath?"

The symbol of Zerdinger was a blazing flame.

True to that symbol, Zerdinger's aura took the form of fire.

Among them, Phoenix Breath was special.

It was an aura completed by the first Zerdinger family head after drinking the blood of a phoenix.

All of the family's Aura Martial Arts were derived from Phoenix Breath.

Its power was sufficient to make Zerdinger recognized as a heroic noble family.

Therefore, only those acknowledged among the blood relatives could learn it.

Reina, who hadn't expected him to bring up Phoenix Breath, couldn't help but be surprised.

"Yes. Of course, whether my brother, the family head, will permit it is unknown."

Zis spoke seriously.

"But Leo is more Zerdinger-like than anyone else."

His swordsmanship talent that defeated Celia.

His immeasurably vast potential.

"So, I need an excuse to persuade my brother."

"Are you, by any chance?"

"Yes."

Zis nodded.

"He will enroll in Rumerne."

"It's dangerous."

Rumerne, an academy that anyone who admired heroes dreamed of entering.

But to enroll in Rumerne, one needed an equivalent resolve.

It was said that every student at Rumerne was a genius.

However, the number of graduates was very small.

Of course, students who were weeded out were not expelled.

Instead, they were given full support to help them advance.

But even so, if they couldn't keep up with the classes.

Students were given two choices.

Withdrawal, or death.

Such was the harshness of school life at Rumerne.

And the entrance examination was equally harsh.

The test was conducted in real combat.

Each time, there were those who lost their lives in the entrance examination.

That's why Reina wanted Leo to take the entrance exam after mastering an Aura Martial Art.

"Leo has limitations in real combat, even if he's good at sparring."

"The potential is sufficient. There is no other way to persuade brother."

Zis clenched his fist.

"What kind of person do you wish Leo to become, Sister?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you want him to become a hero?"

"If that is the path he desires."

"Then we cannot choose only the safe path. I believe it's not bad to challenge trials."

"…"

"What will you do?"

Reina closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"I will follow Leo's wishes."

'That child would naturally say yes.'

Zis was confident.

'That child had eyes that never hesitated to move forward.'

Recalling Leo's gaze, Zis smiled.

'Heh heh. I look forward to it.'

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