Perus Kingdom, Azure Wolf Province, Morning Star City, Lord's Manor.
In the garden, two figures, one large and one small, were admiring the flowers.
"Caroso, our smartest prince died in the dungeon yesterday."
The man on the left was burly, his hair already streaked with gray, yet he still exuded an imposing presence even without anger.
His only flaw was his pitch-black mechanical left arm.
This man was Osiris Kolia, a duke of the kingdom, head of the Kolia family, Caroso's father, and the father of Azure Wolf Province.
"I know."
The boy on the right looked only thirteen or fourteen. His expression was indifferent, as though he were an emotionless machine.
This was Osiris's youngest and most gifted son: Caroso Kolia.
"Do you know why he died?" Osiris placed his large hand atop his son's head.
"Because he wasn't strong enough."
"It wasn't that simple." Osiris looked at the vibrant flowers. "If you wanted to pick one, which would you choose?"
"The ugliest one."
Caroso stepped forward and plucked a slightly wilted little white flower.
"Wouldn't you rather pick a prettier one? Your brothers would all choose a beautiful flower and give it to a noble young lady they fancied. Don't you have anyone you want to give one to?"
"There is no room for trash in my garden." Caroso casually tossed the flower to the ground. "If there are no ugly flowers in my garden, those noble young ladies will come to it themselves. I won't need to seek them out."
Osiris's eyes were filled with approval. "Who taught you that?"
"Father once said that there was no place for idlers in your ranks."
"Mm, that's right." Osiris nodded. "Go pack your things. It's time for you to leave for Mal Magic Academy in the royal capital. Before you go, remember to make another card. If you do well, your allowance in the royal capital will double. If you do poorly... you know what will happen."
"Yes, Father."
After returning to his room, Caroso sat down at his workbench.
Make another card before leaving... This is Father's test for me.
There are still two hours and thirty-two minutes before I need to catch the airship. During that time, I need to eat and pack my luggage.
No matter how busy I am, I must eat.
So... let's begin.
Knock, knock, knock...
"Who is it?" Caroso asked without looking back.
"B-Brother, it's me, Nimel..."
A young girl stood timidly at the door, holding a tray with cheese, tomatoes, vegetables, ham, and milk on it—two servings in all.
She had long golden hair and golden eyes. She wore a white wool sweater, a black sleeveless jacket, and linen-colored cropped trousers.
Nimel looked about the same age as Caroso. In truth, they were only half a year apart.
From the look of her, she seemed extremely afraid of Caroso.
Though her surname was Augustus, she was the adopted daughter of the Augustus family and had followed Caroso since childhood.
Under this social system, an adopted daughter might not be treated much better than a servant. At most, she was a slightly higher-ranking servant.
"Come in and help me pack." Caroso picked up his brush and gave the girl behind him an order.
"But, Brother, I need to complete a full meditation session before I leave..."
"Your affairs aren't important." Caroso seemed utterly cold-hearted.
"Father will punish me. If I fail, my allowance..."
Nimel's fingers tightened slightly around the tray, turning pale.
Her voice was full of pleading, as though she hoped Caroso would soften his heart.
"I said it isn't important. Follow my orders."
Father's assessment has a certain level of difficulty.
Having the two of us make cards at this time is not only a test of my speed, but also a test of Nimel's obedience to me.
It is impossible for two people to each finish making a card at the same time. Whether Nimel will obey me even knowing that failing will halve her allowance is one part of this test.
My allowance is five hundred Magic Crystal Coins, while Nimel's is only one hundred.
If my Magic Crystal Coins double, I can easily give her two hundred. That way, she will receive the reward she should have earned for completing the task, while I still gain an extra three hundred Magic Crystal Coins. A very worthwhile deal.
"Yes, Brother..." Nimel bit her lip. She wanted to object, but did not dare.
She could only walk over to Caroso's side and set down the tray.
"Do I need to tell you what to do?" Caroso asked Nimel as he drew the card he intended to make.
"I understand..."
Nimel picked up a knife and fork, carefully cutting the ham into the size Caroso liked. She even took the time to blow on the milk so Caroso would not drink it while it was too hot.
[Phew, it's finally started.] [Huojian Liuming, offer your loyalty to the great God of Wisdom!] [Holy shit, this mobile game got animated? Wait, why is Nimel so young?] [What's wrong with being young?] [No, this isn't the same as the public version.] [Wait, this seems a little different from normal. Is the version we're seeing invisible to everyone else?] [Holy shit, is this the noble Xinyue 3 treatment?] [I can see it too, and I'm only Xinyue 2.] [I'm a free-to-play player. Did I say anything?] [What free-to-play player? We're all shareholders. Speak with some backbone.] [Who's this little handsome guy?!] [I looked it up. Isn't this fucking Caroso?] [Uh... not Boss Caro as I understand him, right?] [It's him! His hair is just different, and he doesn't look as ruthless.] [Wow, young Caroso is so cute. I can do this!] [Ma'am, please restrain yourself.] [Is this an earlier storyline? Wasn't the God of Wisdom's past always deliberately obscure? Why is she with Caroso?] [Do you people not read the story when you play? Nimel was originally Caroso's younger sister.] [This must be the storyline for the newest event.] [Have you all cleared the new event already? Am I the only one who hasn't?] [I haven't either. Waiting to copy someone's homework.] [+1] [I posted the latest guide. Using the existing materials along with the event's special materials, you can make a seventh-tier legendary card. Check out my new video.] [Respect to the expert!] [Respect to the expert +1!] [Caroso is making cards? Is he a card maker? He looked like a warrior in the CG.] [So far, Boss Caro has only acted once in the story. It never said what he could do.] [What a pity. In the next chapter of the main storyline, Boss Caro is going to die.] [Sigh... We've also reached the point where we have to take down Boss Caro.]
Caroso could not help but stop his brush, staring blankly at the flood of words drifting before his eyes.
The words came in all sorts of colors, floating from right to left before disappearing after a certain distance. Some remained fixed somewhere in the center, only vanishing after a while.
"Nimel, go pack the luggage first. Without my orders, you are not to return." Caroso instinctively shifted his body, watching the floating comments warily before carefully shielding Nimel behind him.
"Yes, Brother."
At his words, Nimel decisively set down what she was doing and left Caroso's room.
Caroso inspected the magic formation in his room. There was no problem. This was an eighth-tier magic formation operating normally; outside magic should not have been able to affect the interior.
Yet wherever he went, these strange words followed, like shadows.
Looking at it that way, only magic could accomplish this.
"Strange..." Caroso reached toward the floating comments.
Who was speaking through words? It did not seem as though they all belonged to one person.
There should have been some disturbance if someone had sent such strange things into his room through an eighth-tier magic formation, shouldn't there?
This was not magical at all!
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