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Chapter 239

It was clear they hadn’t all been awake before my arrival. It seemed the entire family had gotten out of bed because of me.

The Grand Duke had met me once, but the rest of the family seemed eager to meet me at least once.

The lady, whom I presumed to be Harriet’s mother, looked at me with a gentle smile. “Our dear Harriet talks so much about you. At first, it seemed like she wasn’t getting along well, but now it seems you’ve grown quite close.”

I didn’t know her name, but she resembled Harriet so much that I wondered if Harriet would look like this when she grew older.

‘Yes, Harriet, grow up just like this. Though who knows if she would become as gentle and kind?’

And then, the three young men... They seemed to be the brothers Harriet occasionally mentioned.

The first, who seemed to be the eldest, looked a bit mischievous.

“Pretending not to care about looks, but secretly judging people by how they look, aren’t you?”

The second, who seemed to be the middle brother, had a subtly rude tone.

“It’s more surprising that she doesn’t care about his status. Is this face really that remarkable?”

“No way. But I heard he’s quite a talented one.”

The whole thing was suddenly beginning to feel like an appraisal.

I’d come to talk about the warp gate priority access, but the lively chatter of the Grand Duke’s family drowned out any chance I had to speak.

“You should try this, Reinhart, it’s delicious.”

I thought the palace was a lonely place, but the masters of Arnaria... This felt like madness.

Not the bad sort of madness, but like... They were acting like curious dogs. Wagging their tails, sniffing around because they were interested in me.

Adorable, friendly puppies, if you would.

‘What’s this, I’m from a poor background, yet these people don’t seem to have any prejudices against me. What’s going on? In fact, these people... They seem to fully believe that Harriet and I are not just friends, but are actually in a romantic relationship.’

There wasn’t even a question of, “Are you dating?” It had gone straight to, “You are obviously dating, so are there any issues?”

Since they hadn’t asked me outright, I had no avenue to deny it or say it wasn’t true.

‘What is this? Shouldn’t they dislike their daughter’s first boyfriend by default? Why don’t they dislike me? If it were me, I’d at least be a bit reluctant about the whole thing.’

The Grand Duke most certainly has the expression of pure disdain on his face.

“Ah, um, yes... it’s delicious,” I said, forcing myself to eat the cookie handed to me by the Lady of Saint-Ouen and nodding with a sour expression.

While the Saint-Ouen brothers spoke bluntly, they weren’t rude. The Grand Duke remained silent, and everyone else bombarded me with questions.

“You’re a superhuman, right? Can you show us something?”

“Oh, um, it’s not really a visible ability...”

“Really? What kind of power is it?”

“Self-Deception... it’s like physical enhancement. I can sense it when it activates, but it’s not something that can really be seen.”

“I heard you’ve also learned to activate Mana Reinforcement recently on your own?”

“Oh my, really? Reinhart, you’re a genius!”

‘Damn it, Harriet... You’re telling your family everything about me...’

I could handle confrontational people, but I didn’t know what to do when they were this friendly and curious. I realized I was weak against this kind of thing.

They pestered me for quite a while.

“Ahem.”

The Grand Duke cleared his throat and gestured with his chin towards the stairs.

“If you’ve satisfied your curiosities, it’s time for you all to return to your rooms.”

It seemed the Grand Duke felt the family’s curiosity had been sufficiently satisfied and was dismissing them.

The Lady of Saint-Ouen took my hand.

“I’d love to talk a little more. Can’t you stay the night? It’s already late.”

‘Oh no. The mature version of Harriet. This is so weird; it’s just her, but with a totally different personality!’

“I’m sorry, but I need to return to the Temple by morning...”

“I see... That’s too bad. Come visit us often, and bring Harriet next time.”

Then, the Lady of Saint-Ouen leaned close and whispered in my ear, “But remember. Don’t make our darling cry. I’ve heard of several incidents. Be careful from now on, okay? She’s more fragile than you might think.”

A chill ran down my spine. As she spoke those words, the eyes of Lady of Saint-Ouen and Harriet’s three brothers shifted slightly.

This crazy, doting family... It felt like they would kill me in the most painful way possible if I made Harriet sad.

They already knew about the times I’d made her cry. It must have been early in the first term.

I had stumbled upon the impossibly good fortune of the White Palace opening its doors to an unexpected request from a commoner at this hour, as well as receiving the warm reception of the Grand Duke’s family, all due to my connection with Harriet. But there was also some misunderstanding at play.

If I ever were to make Harriet sad, this outsized hospitality would turn into outsized vengeance.

‘Harriet, you thick skull... Your family is... really scary... No matter if I’m the Demon King or something else, I think your family might just kill me anyway...’

***

In the end, the Grand Duke’s family didn’t ask why I was in Arnaka at that hour. Their curiosity toward me had roused them suddenly and led to them bombarding me with questions, then finally reluctantly returning to bed upon the Grand Duke’s orders.

Now, only the Grand Duke and I remained in the parlor.

While everyone else had been bustling about, the Grand Duke had been watching me calmly.

“Priority access to the mega warp gate... Yes, I can grant you that.”

He immediately wrote up a document and handed it to me as if it were no big deal.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duke didn’t ask why I was there at that hour either. Perhaps he assumed I had a good reason.

Or, it could be that he simply wasn’t interested in the affairs of those of lower status.

Now that my business was finished, I could leave, but it would be rude to do so without being dismissed, especially after the considerable grace he had shown me.

I had already acted rather rudely, but he had repaid my rudeness with kindness.

I couldn’t afford to show any more disrespect to the Grand Duke’s family. And though I had no reason to ingratiate myself, I didn’t want to come off poorly either.

‘What am I thinking? I’m not her boyfriend! But there was no point in behaving badly on purpose, was there? What should I do?’

“Walk with me.”

The Grand Duke stood up, and I followed him. During our first encounter, he had openly asked Harriet if there was something wrong with her eyes, as if utterly incredulous that she could care for someone like me.

He seemed more serious now than he had been back then.

The Grand Duke and I walked through the gardens within Arnaria.

“I heard you started something called the Magic Research Club.”

“Ah, yes.”

“And you’re planning to create some ludicrous inventions, I imagine.”

“Yes.”

The Grand Duke walked through the silent garden. He seemed to have something to discuss with me. He wasn’t curious about why I was in Arnaka; instead, he’d asked me about Temple matters.

“It’s going to be impossible,” he said.

The Grand Duke had refused Harriet’s plea for investment funding, and they seemed to have had an argument over it. The Grand Duke Sentheon was a grand mage, and if he said it was impossible, then it was impossible.

Ordinarily, that would be true.

However, I knew that it could be done, which meant the Grand Duke’s prediction was wrong. He walked ahead of me, still not turning around, and continued to speak.

“You don’t know magic. Those who don’t understand magic think that it’s possible to use it to create anything, and wish for all sorts of things. They don’t know how magical energy is structured, how mana circuits are designed, what kinds of circuits can or cannot be embedded in the different types of mana stones, and yet they think that one word, ‘magic’, solves everything. People call them magical-omnipotence zealots.”

His words were meant as a criticism, but they sounded somewhat different to me. It felt like one of those development team versus planning team conflicts in the real world.

—“Make this.”

—“How are we supposed to make it?”

—“Just make it somehow. Aren’t you all good with computers? That’s what you get paid for, right?”

—“No, you have to understand, it’s not as easy as you think. This isn’t like the last time.”

—“You said it wasn’t possible the last time, but you still managed to do it. Do the same this time.”

—“No! This is entirely different from that!”

Was this a parallel to that sort of grumbling? The Grand Duke didn’t seem to be whining, though.

“But, you know...”

“... Yes?”

“The inventions that changed the world often originated from the idle talk of lay people.”

The Grand Duke continued walking.

“The late emperor Legnet de Gradias once issued a decree to create a uniform and widespread large-scale magical transportation system because of the constant traffic congestion and accidents caused by carriages within the imperial capital.

“The late emperor knew nothing about magic. It was an impossible task. Everyone believed that creating such a thing was impossible. Everyone ridiculed the emperor’s judgment and criticized him, calling him a magical-omnipotence zealot.”

“But now, we have magic trains in the capital.”

“And about 150 years ago, Emperor Organtia de Gradias pointed out that, despite its usefulness, teleportation magic was excessively rare. So, he suggested we create permanent dimensional gates, like those used in summoning magic, to link various regions.

“Permanent dimensional gates! How would we supply the necessary mana stones, and how were we supposed to use them to connect the entire continent together like a spider’s web? The cost, the technology, the practicality—everything about it was problematic. It was considered an absurd idea. Everyone criticized it, said it was impossible, and lamented that the empire was doomed.

“But now, the warp gate system has been established across the entire continent. It was thanks to the warp gates that the Demonic Conquest was possible.”

Ideas deemed impossible, the idle talk of lay people. That was the origin of these world-changing inventions.

The Grand Duke turned to face me, staring down at me with his tall frame. It was overwhelming.

“Reinhart, what do you make of all this?”

The idle talk of lay people—did he mean that such idle talk could eventually lead to world-changing creations? If so, was that a compliment?

In that case, though, the Grand Duke would have invested his money in us. Instead, the Grand Duke had fought and had argued with his dearly-beloved daughter.

The unspoken meaning behind his words was clear.

“You mean to say that, to turn the impossible ideas of these lay people into reality, one needs to be at least an emperor?”

“So you’re not entirely dumb,” he said with a nod. “If you had taken this as a compliment, I would have dismissed you.”

The Grand Duke’s previous words had not been a compliment, but an expression of scorn.

‘This is the kind of work that even emperors who wielded the power to influence all of humanity were harshly criticized for merely attempting. And you think you can do this with just a group of students?’

That was why he considered my plan absurd.

“They only succeeded in accomplishing these feats because they were emperors. And they were monumental feats, even for these emperors who ruled humanity and wielded influence over all its people. These were endeavors that had implications on the rise or fall of imperial authority.

“Of course, you aren’t exactly setting out to create magic trains or warp gates. But you’re trying to create tools that allow external mana to be used like innate mana, and devices that make it easier to reach the realm of the superhuman.

“One would revolutionize magic, and the other would change the trajectory of superhumans. And inevitably, they would both alter the future of warfare. I am convinced that these two inventions could be on par with, if not surpass, magic trains and warp gates.

“You are not an emperor, and your research group is not the Magic Association, nor a secret magical society, nor does it have members of the Temple’s Magic Research Institute. Do you really think what you plan is possible?” the Grand Duke asked pointedly.

There was only one answer.

“Yes,” I answered without any hesitation.

The Grand Duke seemed somewhat taken aback by my calm reply. “Why do you think so?”

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll make it work.”

The only response I could offer was this flimsy assertion.

“If we lack funds, we’ll raise them. If we lack abilities, we’ll develop them. In the end, isn’t that what the emperors did?”

“‘If it doesn’t work, then make it work. Do whatever it takes to make it work. I’ll provide unlimited support. Just keep at it until it’s done.’ Isn’t that something that the emperors would have said?”

The Grand Duke’s expression grew peculiar.

I continued, “I don’t understand magic. I don’t know it at all. But I will make sure these things get made. I will procure, by any means necessary, all the materials needed to achieve it. That’s the only thing I can do.”

The past emperors didn’t understand magic, and neither did I.

The emperors had promised unlimited support, and I would promise the same. Unlimited support.

Was I saying that I was the same as an emperor? The Grand Duke seemed to find the certainty in my words peculiar.

“Alright, let’s assume you can manage that. In the end, the ones receiving this support are still only students.”

Even if I promised support comparable to that an emperor could offer, these researchers weren’t the world’s greatest mages. The gap between the skills of the researchers and the things they were trying to make remained unresolved.

However, I dared to contradict the Grand Duke.

“No, I don’t see it that way. I am certain that Harriet de Saint-Ouen will become the greatest mage in the history of humanity.”

The Grand Duke’s expression twisted slightly, as though he hadn’t expected me to say such a thing.

“Is it really so surprising that a mage of such caliber could create something that could turn the world upside down in their youth?”

Harriet would become the greatest mage in human history. The Grand Duke likely believed this as well. Why then would it be impossible for someone like Harriet, who was far beyond the norm, to achieve extraordinary things?

Geniuses inherently defied logic. It was only natural for such beings that defied logic to accomplish the impossible.

“Geniuses walk their own path, one that ordinary people, and most average people, can never understand. For an ordinary individual to deem something impossible from their own perspective when it might be possible for a genius is ignorant.”

It was possible to be insulted by being labeled average, but I noticed the corner of the Grand Duke’s lips twitching.

‘That’s right. How could you not react when someone offers such extreme praise for your daughter?’

“Is that so? That our daughter will become stronger and greater than me?! That she will make me seem ordinary by comparison?”

‘Of course! She’s the best!’

‘You’re thinking all this in your head right now, aren’t you?’

“It’ll be strange if it doesn’t work out. That’s what I believe.”

“Ahem... Hm.” The Grand Duke cleared his throat a couple of times, and placed his hand over his mouth to suppress his twitching smile. “Indeed, it seems I lacked faith.”

“I understand your concern, though. Even though you know that the future is bright, you still prefer that she walk a safer path.”

“Hmm... Yes, that was my intention.”

His concern was as strong as his belief in Harriet. He had not thrown his full support behind the Magic Research Club because of his worry that Harriet might struggle when faced with an impossible task.

He could have simply given her the money instead of framing it as investment, but he hadn’t.

Money wasn’t the issue—it was the fear that his daughter might break while chasing the impossible. That was why he had decided to summon me when I had suddenly shown up.

He might have been planning to tell me to abandon the projects that the Magic Research Club were pursuing. However, it seemed he was moved by my unshakeable trust in Harriet.

He was embarrassed that he, who knew his daughter’s talent best, had shown less faith in her than an outsider like me.

The Grand Duke seemed to be feeling an unusual kind of shame.

“And, well... This is a separate matter, but...”

“Hmm. What is it?”

“By any chance, did you have a fight with Harriet?”

My question caused the Grand Duke’s eyes to widen.

I’d deduced that Harriet had had a big argument with her father after discussing the matter of investment funding with him, and she was the type to hold a grudge for a long time.

It was clear that the issue did not revolve just about the money. The Grand Duke had probably told her not to pursue the Magic Research Club project at all.

The fight had likely not been about the money at all, but about her father telling her to not waste time on such a pointless project while Harriet insisted on doing it.

Right now, they were probably in a cold war, with Harriet sulking and saying, “I hate you, Dad! I don’t like you!”

Her father had to be in a state of anxious distress.

“I’ll try speaking with her when I return to the Temple, Your Grace. I’ll tell her that you weren’t worried about the money, but about her well-being, both physically and mentally.”

The Grand Duke’s face turned red. “Hmm... Ahem. Well, you don’t have to...”

‘I’ll scratch that itch for you, you old man.’

Her mother seemed friendly, and now that I had a good look at her father, I understood why.

“Ah, um, well, it isn’t really something... you need to concern yourself with... It’s just, um, common between us...”

‘Harriet got her personality from her father. Look at him, being all tsundere.’

It was oddly cute when a man of his stature, the Grand Duke, and a grand mage at that, acted like this.

“A-hem. But, well... If you can clear up the misunderstanding... That would be good.”

‘Anyway, your daughter is amazing. Wait. That didn’t come out right. Anyway, you know what I mean. She’s something else.’

With that, I seemed to have hit “MAX” on the Grand Duke of Saint-Ouen’s favorability scale.