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'Did you learn it?'
His inner thoughts couldn't stir the night mist.
The petite demon's god was unwilling to admit his own 'incompetence.'
Was he truly incompetent?
No.
Human God's rank was there. Whether it was [Future Sight] or his possessing the body of the original Human God, inheriting the Human-Friendly BUFF.
Both were absolutely useful.
But for Human God, this was merely a weak manifestation of his authority. If he weren't sealed, he wouldn't even bother using it.
But Allen was different.
"Heaven gives, but if you do not take, you suffer for it; when the time comes, if you do not act, you suffer for it."
You give it, I use it. The more you give, the more I use.
You've been hovering over me for more than ten years, just watching for fun without putting in any effort. How can that be?
[Fine, you're amazing.]
Bang, the smoky words dispersed before Allen, merging into the mist around him.
But the wide smile that had just been on his face vanished. He looked at the base of a streetlamp nearby, silent.
Candlelight illuminated his body.
Human God, however, remained hidden in the void world.
One bright, one dark.
Provocation, stimulation, inducement—such methods could no longer elicit specific behavioral movements from His mouth.
But.
He had already done his best within his capabilities.
Looking up, Allen gazed at the streetlamp nearby.
He reached out, distantly holding the soft candlelight.
So, next step...
Kill James and complete the plan.
In his line of sight, candlelight shifted to scorching daylight.
Day and night had changed places.
His standing position had also changed.
The street of the Upper Noble District was completely different from its misty, quiet state last night.
Very bright.
Scorching sunlight streamed down from the sky, flowing over Allen's fingertips, running along his arm to his face.
Allen bathed in the afternoon sun, clenching his fist.
He grasped the sun.
His previously silent, tense expression had been replaced by a wide smile.
The Jobless world has about three hundred days in a year. As the Dragon Calendar progresses, the exact number of days fluctuates slightly.
April of year 414 had passed.
May arrived.
At this moment, before Allen was...
...the Boreas mansion in the royal capital.
"Look... that person is..."
"Ah, the Boreas family's sword genius. What a pity I couldn't enter the advanced dojo last night. He was personally granted the Water King title by Her Majesty Reida last night, but I heard he's also King-rank in Sword God Style."
"This 'Dawn' is nothing special, is it? Truly an excellent young man..."
"...It's been a long time since I've seen such a genius..."
"His face is also very handsome. He must be sixteen, right? About the same height as my husband's brother, but his physique is very tall and sturdy..."
"No, he's thirteen."
"So... so young. It really makes one's heart stir..."
"Heh heh, Lady Lirss, don't joke around."
Allen lowered his hand and turned to look at the passing nobles.
The elegantly dressed noblewomen strolling on the street smiled kindly at him, lowering their heads slightly in greeting.
Allen nodded back at them.
However, there were more than just a few of them on the roadside street. More than ten nobles passed by on this afternoon street.
Regardless of gender, almost all of them looked at Allen. Their whispers turned into a stream of information, flowing into Allen's mind.
All of it was praise, deliberately voiced loudly, as if fearing Allen wouldn't hear.
Before last night, the negative malice—such as 'creating a spectacle,' 'cooperating with Reida to gain fame,' 'arrogant and unwise'—was like the night mist of yesterday.
The sun shone upon it.
And all of it melted into 'positive goodwill.'
Young, capable, a direct descendant of one of the Four Great Noble families who gained fame overnight in the royal capital's third generation.
He was naturally one of them in the future.
And, the timing of gaining fame was excellent, in the midst of the already ignited succession struggle.
In just one night, all the nobles understood:
Allen Boreas Greyrat was a rising star. After the change in power, he was sure to be a prominent figure who would leave his mark on the royal capital.
What was the point of making an enemy of him?
This was the thought of 'outsiders,' but some people didn't think so.
Thump, thump, thump, urgent footsteps came from the main gate of the Boreas mansion.
—The iron-forged fence-like gate couldn't block the view.
Allen Boreas Greyrat had 'gone missing and died,' but such power struggles, intended to avert disaster, were very common in noble circles.
Everyone knew it.
Now, this discarded son, driven from his home by the family head.
Returned with anger.
Creak!
The gate was pushed open by the butler, who had watched Allen being mocked and humiliated last night. He looked at Allen in a panic, sweat pouring down his face, despite being a North Saint.
He didn't know if he was scared, or just exhausted from running.
And the two guards protecting the house looked utterly bewildered.
Young Master Allen.
How is he alive again???
The butler looked at Allen's expression, finding him calm and seemingly very happy.
He subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Young Master, you've returned."
Allen looked up at him, smiling.
"Rielna, long time no see."
Butler Rielna chuckled, pulling out the handkerchief from his uniform pocket, about to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something auspicious, but before he could speak.
He stiffened.
A gentle voice drifted by his ear.
Its content made goosebumps rise all over him, like a venomous snake licking his face.
"It's been a few days since we parted in Flowing Falls City. You left in such a hurry, you didn't even say a word."
Gulp. The sound of swallowing was clearly audible. Rielna's hand, holding the handkerchief, froze in front of his face. Then the handkerchief was pulled away by a hand that reached towards his face.
Allen casually waved his hand.
"Go, put my luggage in my bedroom."
Rielna's face grew stiffer. He hesitated for a long while, then said with difficulty.
"...I can find a better living room for you on the third floor. The largest guest room is more spacious than the one you used to stay in. No need to..."
Allen folded the handkerchief. "Who took it?"
Rielna said with difficulty: "Young Master Two."
"Throw all his things out. Now that I'm back, it wouldn't be right not to have a word with James first. By my reckoning, there's enough time."
"This..."
Allen tilted his head, looking at Rielna, quietly observing him.
The latter's face was numb.
Just then, a fierce footsteps sounded from the side of the door, moving extremely fast, wrapped in battle aura. In a few steps, they reached Allen's side.
"Allen! Don't bully..."
Slap! Allen slapped him down. The latter used the folded handkerchief to wipe the blood from his hand, then turned and carefully placed it in the butler's chest pocket.
He patted his shoulder. "Go do it."
The butler glanced at Young Master Two, who looked five parts like James, covered in blood and broken teeth, rolling on the ground. Then he looked at Allen, who was now bearing the names of Sword King and Water King, and whose reputation had already risen in the royal capital. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and quickly walked through the mansion's central courtyard, heading inside.
Behind him, Allen watched the butler's back as he went to report. He smiled.
He tilted his head, looking at the 'brother' on the ground, who was covering his face, almost in tears, and was only sixteen.
"Do you really think that with those childish, vulgar words, you could conspire with your brother, who serves in the street patrol, to successfully drive me out of the 'family home' five years ago?"
"Ailong, Big Brother will... teach you a lesson..."
Allen shook his head. "Healing magic is forbidden. Let him recover on his own, or he won't learn his lesson. If I find that foul mouth of his healed, next time it won't be his mouth, understand?"
The house mage, who had hurried over, immediately stopped, neither advancing nor retreating.
He could only helplessly turn his head to look at the mansion's main gate atop the white stone steps behind the central courtyard.
Clack, clack, Allen walked towards the mansion's main gate.
And in that short while, the courtyard had become lively. Maids stood respectfully on either side of the main gate, and the elegantly dressed Madam Boreas also stood on the steps, her face grim. She first glanced at her son, trying hard to suppress the anger that surfaced on her face.
She took a deep breath, staring fixedly at Allen, who had reached the steps below her. After a moment, her expression softened slightly.
She even managed to force a smile.
"Listening to Allen... Weirleigh was indeed a bit abrupt."
A forced smile spread across her lips. Coupled with her dignified demeanor, it looked very awkward, like a puppet being forced to dance.
"After all... how could an elder brother come home and put on such a face for his younger brother... And you, Allen, honestly, in these seven years at Boreas, you were taciturn, spending your days either holed up in your bedroom or at the Water God Style Main Dojo. You weren't close to your brothers, and you never once called me Mother... They inevitably have some resentment."
The word 'brother' was emphasized, drilling out from between her silver teeth.
Allen twisted to look at the Madam of the Boreas family, whom he had never called Mother, his expression quite playful.
"Brother?"
Madam Boreas froze.
Allen stepped towards the mansion's main gate. The two passed each other. The moment he was about to push the door, he raised an eyebrow.
He turned and scanned the faces of the beast-girl maids around her, then spoke.
"Where's Sasha?"
The maids exchanged glances, their faces somewhat awkward. They remained silent about the whereabouts of Sasha, the personal maid who ostensibly attended to all of Allen's needs, but in reality only had to clean his bedroom daily and wasn't harassed by the young masters, a pitiable 'chore-doer.'
The Madam's lips curved into a heartfelt smile at his words. She turned to look at the head maid beside her.
"Allen is speaking. Where is Sasha?"
The head maid dared not look at Allen. She stammered.
"Sasha is cleaning the garden in the backyard. Young Master Boreas said... she's meant to do chores, so she should be doing chores... so..."
Before she could finish, Allen cut off her response.
"Where's Boreas?"
The Madam's newly emerged smile froze on her face. She abruptly turned to look at Allen, and said through gritted teeth.
"Your brother is on a mission in Rigard; he won't be back for a while."
Allen nodded, then asked again.
"Where's Sasha?"
An observant servant had already gone to summon Allen's former personal maid. After his words fell, very quickly, thump, thump, thump, a cat-eared girl, covered in dust and grime, carrying a shovel, hurried over with the servant.
Seeing the crowd, her face, roughened by daily farm work, showed a very uneasy expression. She timidly walked into the crowd, head bowed.
Then she saw Allen's hand on his sword sheath.
She froze, then looked up.
She saw Allen quietly watching her.
Although he had changed quite a bit, she recognized Allen's appearance at a glance.
Clang!
The shovel fell to the ground.
There was no joy of reunion. The cat-eared girl instinctively took a step back, subtly glancing at the head maid and her mistress's feet, her body trembling.
Allen, meanwhile, tilted his head, looking at her trembling fingers, his face showing no particular emotion.
However...
Slap!
Allen's nominal mother, seeing Allen's demeanor, suddenly erupted in rage and slapped the head maid beside her.
"What are you standing there for? Take Sasha to clean up, and have her continue serving Allen!"
The head maid seemed to awaken from a dream. She quickly stepped forward, grabbed Sasha the cat-eared girl's hand, and left.
The latter, from beginning to end, dared not look at Allen.
Allen quietly watched the cat-eared maid leave.
He turned to look at the Madam beside him, who looked very uneasy, fearing Allen's anger would fall upon her eldest son.
He carefully scrutinized the mistress of Boreas in the royal capital. He suddenly smiled, which made the latter, who had been 'greeted' in advance by James, involuntarily tremble.
"Where's James?"
On the second floor, in the study.
James sat before the table, arranging the chessboard in front of him.
Perhaps it was because Saul had often been coerced into playing chess by the current King in his youth, but both the royal capital mansion and the lord's mansion in Fittoa.
Chessboards were placed in both the reception hall and the study.
Creak, the door opened. A figure walked directly through the study, coming before him.
James remained unmoved, still seated before the chessboard, his back still straight, his brow...
...still tightly furrowed.
With an intimidating aura, he spoke without looking up.
"You're back. This is your home anyway. No need to make such a fuss. If you're dissatisfied, let them apologize to you."
Clack, the sword sheath was placed beside the chessboard, making James's brows twitch and the butler behind him break into a cold sweat.
Allen casually sat opposite him, looking down at the arranged chessboard.
He reached out and chose black.
Clack.
He made a move.
It was a fierce, all-out attacking opening.
"Who is dissatisfied? I saw you leave Flowing Falls City quite quickly. After two years, you're still as strong as ever. Don't you consider having a few more children? Poke and Virgil are two years older, and they're still as foolish as ever, with no progress."
[Persuasion] his inner thoughts strummed the heartstrings, making even the usually composed James feel a surge of anger.
He narrowed his eyes, suppressing the nameless fire in his heart, focusing solely on the 'game' before him.
Clack.
A response, a move.
It was a cautious and steady defensive move.
"Empty talk is useless. Focus on the present. The struggle for the succession has already begun."
"Pledging allegiance to Her Highness Ariel. From her style, it seems like a move Philip coached you on. Building momentum, leveraging prestige, gaining fame in the royal capital—that's a good move."
A smile surfaced on his lips. He reached out and captured Allen's attacking 'pawn,' replacing its position and tossing it off the board.
"But, what's the point?"
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Power Stones==Bonus Chapter