What I Want Is the Breathing Technique

"Cooperation!? That works!"

Quint hadn't thought that far ahead. He suddenly realized that he seemed to have gotten a grasp on some of Lister's personality traits.

Naturally, he had no objection to working together!

As long as it helped him claim the ducal seat, he was willing to make any deal and pay any price.

"If we cooperate, what do you want? A title? Money?"

"I can give you all of that, but only after I become duke."

"I don't need any of that!"

Lister's future would certainly not be confined to the tiny Duchy of Will. Even the Kingdom of Lucian was too small in his eyes.

There was only one reason he had tolerated Quint's arrogance from the start, and had merely humiliated and taught him a lesson in the dueling arena without truly hurting him.

It was the Will Breathing Technique he possessed, that passive skill that increased stamina!

But Quint seemed to realize something, and couldn't help guessing aloud.

"Don't tell me... you want... to marry my sister?"

Lister had been looking forward to his answer, only to be struck speechless by Quint's train of thought.

"Which of my three sisters have you taken a fancy to?"

"Surely it's not my third sister? She's already thirty-seven, has a fiery temper, and has several male lovers. I think you'd better forget about her."

"My fourth sister is already thirty-three. She has a bad temper and an arrogant personality, and she's completely on my eldest brother's side..."

"My fifth sister is twenty-eight this year, and she's very gentle with people. She'd be quite a good match for you, but her figure isn't quite as... as Anna's."

As if laboring under some misunderstanding, Quint began introducing his three sisters to Lister in great detail.

Will II had six children in total, three sons and three daughters, all of whom were among the duke's legal heirs.

Of course, in practice, a professional's rank was essential for inheriting the ducal seat.

Judging by some of the rumors currently circulating in the city, only Will II's eldest son, second son, and third daughter had a real chance of inheriting the ducal seat.

"Stop! Stop!"

"Who told you I wanted to marry one of your sisters?"

Lister really couldn't listen any longer and hurriedly interrupted, feeling that Quint had gotten the wrong idea about him.

"Really? Then whose woman do you want to marry?"

"Don't worry. As long as I can become duke, I'll help you get any woman, no matter whose she is!"

Quint was a little confused now. Of all the people he had met, Lister was the most unusual.

Lister wanted neither a title nor money, so the only thing Quint could think of was women.

Thinking back on how Lister had pursued Anna, as well as what he had just said about not having the heart to hurt her, Quint believed his guess was right.

"Forget it! I'll be straight with you. I want one of the Will Family's inherited skills."

"That's impossible!"

"The Will Family's rare shield skill has never been passed on to outsiders in all these years."

Quint's voice rose sharply, perhaps because it had never occurred to him that Lister wanted one of his family's inherited skills.

Quint still had a bottom line when it came to this. At the very least, he couldn't accept it for now.

"No professional family with a rare skill could possibly give someone else the foundation of their family's inheritance. Would you teach the Merrick Saber Technique to someone else?"

The most fundamental difference between ordinary professionals, or rather commoner professionals, and established professional families like theirs lay in their inherited skills.

Only a family founded by a professional with a rare skill of C-rank or higher could be called a professional family.

"I know that puts you in a difficult position, but I don't want your family's rare shield skill."

"What I want is the breathing technique. I don't suppose that's a problem?"

Lister could tell that the rare skill was out of the question.

At least within the duchy, every rare skill was kept strictly within its respective family and could never be given to anyone else.

"The breathing technique? You want the breathing technique? Not our Will Family's shield skill?"

Quint was even more surprised now. He had never expected Lister to ask for that low-grade breathing technique.

From what his father had told him when he learned the family's skills, the origins of their breathing technique were unclear. In any case, it had ended up being named after their family.

It did have an effect, but it wasn't an advanced skill.

He had practiced hard for years without gaining much from it, and his father had never paid attention to how his breathing technique was progressing.

He really hadn't expected the technique to be what Lister wanted.

Could there be something about the breathing technique that he didn't know?

He thought it over for a while before finally nodding in agreement.

"All right! But only after we join forces to deal with Kailina."

In the end, he didn't know what the breathing technique did, and he thought of how he had gained nothing from practicing it for so many years.

Quint finally stopped dwelling on it and put the matter to the back of his mind. His priority was to become duke.

Quint had walked into the Merick Family's residence with a heavy expression, but he left with a smile all over his face.

Although he had made a complete fool of himself in the duel and had been driven out of Will City by his father, he had gained quite a few benefits too.

Given his current situation, at least, the city's seven major professional families would surely believe what he said and be willing to join his camp.

He had also secured a secret partnership with Lister, a professional with considerable potential, for the mere price of a breathing technique.

The thought that he had finally taken the first step toward competing for the ducal seat made Quint's journey to Rai Territory the next day feel much lighter.

Lister didn't waste any time either. On the day Quint left, he finished packing and contacted the Poly Merchant Association in preparation for his departure.

The duchy's southern territory lay at the southernmost end of the Duchy of Will, right next to Whitaker Province.

Although the Kingdom of Lucian had yet to become an empire as it would in the future, it already occupied a vast area and ruled over three duchies and eight provinces.

Despite hurrying along the way, Lister only reached the Viscounty of Renekton, next to Rai Territory, on the evening of the fifth day.

The baronies and viscounties enfeoffed by the duchy were actually about the same size, each roughly the size of a town.

The difference was that baronies were small towns and not very wealthy, while viscounties were considerably more prosperous.

The Barony of Lai had now been overrun by the Ghost-Eyed Giant, so Lister could only settle down first in the neighboring Viscounty of Renekton.

Quint's first stop was also the Viscounty of Renekton.

Lister strolled through the market in the town center with two attendants behind him.

As expected of a borderland, most of the goods in the market were daily necessities, food, and strong liquor.

There was none of the trade in artwork, ornaments, and books of all kinds that could be found in the duchy's main city.

Taverns were the most common establishments in the market. After passing the third one, Lister finally found the place he had come for.

"Sir, what can I help you with?"

It was a storefront with a Porter Caravan sign hanging outside. As soon as Lister entered, a clerk stood up to receive him.

There was little room to stand inside the shop, with the floor covered in flour, farming tools for breaking ground, and the like.

Only on the shelves were there some ready-to-eat provisions, such as black bread.

Lister instinctively felt that he had come to the wrong place.

"This is a branch of the Poly Merchant Association, isn't it?"

The clerk silently sized up Lister's distinctly noble attire and the bearing lent to him by the two attendants behind him, as though he had guessed something.

"That's right! Are you Baron Merick?"

"This is indeed a branch established by Lord Porter."

"If you've come to collect something, please first show me your token!"