Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Strongest Sage, Noticing the Cold Treatment toward the Disqualified Crest

Half a year after I turned 9 .

Thanks to training without a rest, my physical strength and mana have increased nicely .

"Gather the people! Get all the strong ones!"

Biffgel shouted such things when I was just got up in the morning .

Whom was he calling anyway, today our father Castor isn't home .

He might have gotten full of himself since the one who would restrain him isn't here .

However, I don't understand how that relates to gathering the people .

I wonder if he's going to beat me up with number or something . Then I'll neatly counterattack at Biffgel only . I feel sorry for the people who get involved in his mess .

"Mathias, don't come you . Stay still in the house . . . no wait . You should go into the forest today!"

I was trying to ignore him as I went out of the house, but Biffgel found me .

I probably should've used stealth magic instead of cutting corners there .

I thought of the above for an moment, but the content of the reply was beyond my expectations .

Biffgel encourages me to go outside . . . . ?

Don't tell me, Biffgel has finally come to his sense–

"Mathi . You shouldn't go today . A monster has appeared in the forest . "

He did not . What, he just wanted me to die huh . That's the Biffgel I know . I was worried for a second there .

When I heard monster I used 【Passive Detection】 to infer the situation in the forest .

And then, I found a reaction of a monster at a distance that the usual me wouldn't have found .

I found it not because 【Passive Detection】 was in good form today or something .

The size of the reaction was big .

Of course, it's small compared to the powerful monsters I encountered in my past life, but it's far bigger than the reaction of the lowest class monster .

Even in the best case scenario, Biffgel wouldn't last 10 seconds, Reich would probably only able to hold on for 30 seconds .

However, there is a very easy method to deal with this monster .

"Isn't it better to leave it be?"

Judging from its movement looking from far away, it doesn't seem to have noticed the village's existence .

Of course it doesn't look like it's coming either . There's a high chance that it'll just disappear somewhere if we leave it alone .

Once our father Castor comes back, I'm sure he can beat it . There's no point at all in Biffgel specially gathering people and challenging it .

"You think I'll let a monster that tramples our territory go away! I will definitely kill it with my own hands!"

Ooh . It's unusual for Biffgel to say something noble-like .

I saw through your motive y'know . Biffgel wanted to make a meritorious deed by challenging the monster .

"Reich-niisan, aren't you stopping him?"

I don't care if Biffgel goes to challenge the monster alone, but I feel sorry for the people .

"I'd also prefer we do that, but I can't . "

"Why?"

Since father isn't here right now, the people shouldn't be obliged to follow Biffgel if the eldest son, my brother Reich opposes it .

It seems the people don't like Biffgel either, there's probably no one who would obey him voluntarily .

"That's cause I'm the first candidate for the next head of the house, in other words, I'm the acting lord!"

It was Biffgel who answered my question .

I understand that the next head acts as the acting lord when the present lord is absent, but– .

On top of being the second son, the idiotic Biffgel being the first candidate for the next family head . . . .

"Oh dear, you must be kidding me . "

I spoke with weird wordings reflexively .

That's impossible isn't? I look at Reich with that feeling .

"It's the truth, Mathi . "

Wh . . . at . . .

"Seriously?"

"Unfortunately yes . . . . There's various rule for the criteria to select the next head . If it's something that affects magic prowess like the Glory Crest, a second son will be preferred . "

Glory Crest huh, the same nonsense Biffgel spouted .

Even Reich is going along with that nonsense . . . . ?

I reflexively activates detection magic to check whether someone has put me under hallucination .

However, I couldn't find any trace of illusion magic .

Reich is also not under mind-control magic . Just what's happening here .

"There's a regulation from the country for that . . . . ah . Here it is . "

Reich took out a paper after after saying that .

The title is 『Noble of Eis Kingdom – Basic Criteria for the Next Family Head』, with a big imposing seal stamped on it .

I try to read it . I've been studying while training my strength and magic, so I can read letters now .

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Noble of Eis Kingdom – Basic Criteria for the Next Family Head

In accordance to the criteria below, the one with higher score will be preferred as the next family head of a noble house .

However, in cases of special circumstances, this isn't restrictive .

Eldest son 5 points

Sons other than the eldest In case they're younger than the eldest son, minus one point per a year difference .

Glory Crest 5 points

Magic Prowess The higher one 3 points

Female -2 points

Disqualified Crest -200 points

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. . . . A scoring system .

It is a valid system to compare multiple things for important matters, but I'm not sure if it should be applied here .

No . Leaving that aside, magic prowess shouldn't be what is important to have for a noble . What're you going to do if a magic nerd who doesn't know anything else becomes a territory lord .

Apparently, according to this chart, a second son or a girl could be the family head as long as they have the correct age, Glory Crest and magic prowess .

On the contrary, people who have the Disqualified Crest (If what Biffgel said is correct, it's the crest I have) can't become the family head unless they're 200 years apart with their younger sibling .

Then let's compare Biffgel and Reich in accordance to these criteria .

Reich is the eldest son, +5 .

Biffgel is the second son with one year difference, and has the Glory Crest, +4 .

–I see . Their positions change depending on their magic prowess .

And judging from what Reich-niisan said, it seems Biffgel's magic prowess is better .

This is, well, that may be so . I've never seen Biffgel and Reich practicing their magic .

And, in case you don't train at all, the First Crest is strong .

Well, since First Crest has a low growth rate, a mere 8 year old would overtake the difference as long as they train properly .

"Then, I'm going too-"

"Don't come . "

I don't really mind at all if it's just Biffgel getting himself destroyed, but I can't ignore it if he's going to drag my brother Reich into it .

With that in mind, I was going to participate as well, but I was dismissed within seconds . Well I only said it without much thought since they originally told me to not go .

"I told you to go to forest earlier, but it'd be bothersome if you get in the way . . . . Alright, you're not to go out of the entranceway this whole day . This is an order from the acting lord . Bye . "

Biffgel left the house after adding that .

I can't exactly leave them alone . It seems Reich is following them .

Now then . What should I do now, the acting lord told me not to go out of the entrance way . Since it's an order from the acting lord, I have no choice but to obey it .

It can't be helped, let's go out through the window .

The acting lord is really kind, telling me that it's okay to go out through anything but the entrance way .