Coslo Family

The moment he took his first step, his cover was blown, and Hudson's pride as a transmigrator vanished in an instant.

Sure enough, there were still plenty of smart people in the world. Luckily, he had discovered it early. Otherwise, he would surely suffer a huge loss in the future.

Perhaps seeing Hudson remain silent for so long, mistaking it for a blow to his spirits, Baron Redman comforted him. "Don't be upset. At your age, being able to do this much is already quite good.

In truth, no matter how brilliant a performance is, it cannot fool those who are paying attention. It is just that most of the time, everyone chooses to play dumb.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to use this matter to make a name for yourself, but you went too far in crushing Lesur so ruthlessly. He is your younger brother, after all."

Brothers turning against one another was cruel to any father.

Although Baron Redman had punished Lesur harshly, it was only because he hated to see him fail to live up to expectations. Deep down, he still cared about this son.

After a brief pause, Hudson asked somewhat hesitantly, "But Father, didn't you say that a qualified noble must always seek to maximize benefits?

"Lesur not only has poor character, but is also hopelessly stupid. Letting such a fool enter noble society would only bring shame upon the family. I merely put trash to use!"

Being merciful to an enemy was being cruel to oneself. Though the hatred belonged to the original owner of this body, since he had inherited that identity, he had to inherit that hatred as well.

Destroying him outright would be too cruel, and Baron Redman would never agree to it. So Hudson would simply go with the flow and cut off Lesur's future path.

After this incident, Lesur's future prospects had already been affected. Before the uproar died down, even going out would be difficult for him.

Then, by taking the chance to kick him while he was down and use him as a stepping stone to build his own reputation, Lesur's future would become even more "brightless."

Nobles had their own rules of the game. No one liked someone with a ruined reputation, especially someone like Lesur, who held no title. No one would accept him.

If he could not even enter the circle, how could he have a future?

Unless Lesur was a cultivation genius who could rise to the very pinnacle of the continent. But that was almost impossible. The estate's resources were limited, and all his brothers and sisters had their eyes on them.

After wasting away his years, even a genius would fade into mediocrity, much less someone who was not some extraordinary talent to begin with.

Perhaps provoked by his words, Baron Redman stared fixedly at Hudson. Only after a long while did he slowly say, "Hudson, your views are far too extreme. These are not thoughts someone your age should have.

"There is nothing wrong with seeking profit, but you must possess the heart to control that pursuit. You cannot lose yourself in it.

"Although there has never been right or wrong in the world of nobles, only advantages and disadvantages, there are many smart people in this world. Often, cleverness only leads the clever astray. You should learn to settle yourself and hide your edge.

"Enough. Leave now! Finish reading the books in the Library Tower before considering this question again."

Baron Redman flicked his sleeve and left, leaving Hudson standing there in a daze, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Heavens bear witness, he had only said those things as a disguise. Taking a small jab at Lesur had merely been going with the flow.

Their relationship had been poor to begin with. After something like this happened, if he did not even retaliate, would that not arouse suspicion? After all, he was only a sixteen-year-old boy.

"Settle myself" and "hide my edge"—did that even need to be said? If he had not feared changing too much and attracting the attention of observant people, he could have laid low until the end of time.

Ambition had to be built upon strength. Having lived two lives, Hudson might not have gained many virtues, but he had learned how to bend and stretch.

His cheat had yet to arrive, so he was merely an ordinary person with some extra memories. In this world where the strong devoured the weak, how could he dare show off?

If the original owner had not been such a poor student who hated reading above all else, Hudson would have gone to the Library Tower long ago. Baron Redman's order had given him the perfect excuse.

Following the hazy memories in his mind into the "Library Tower," Hudson was quickly disappointed. The mountain of books he had imagined was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were only carefully preserved parchment scrolls.

For a moment, Hudson even considered getting rich by inventing papermaking, but that impractical thought was quickly dismissed.

Leaving aside how complicated the papermaking process was, it was not something he could create with only a half-baked understanding. More importantly, one's position determined one's perspective. As a member of the noble class, he had to consider matters from the standpoint of the noble bloc.

The invention of paper could lower the cost of spreading knowledge and aid the dissemination of culture and learning, but was that something the noble bloc needed?

The answer was obviously no.

Parchment was expensive to produce, and its inability to facilitate the spread of culture and knowledge was certainly a flaw. But looked at another way, that was also an advantage.

From the standpoint of the noble bloc, knowledge was naturally best monopolized by one's own side. The higher the cost of spreading culture and learning, the more conducive it was to maintaining that monopoly, and the more favorable it was to the rule of the noble bloc.

As a beneficiary of the system, he definitely could not do anything that betrayed his own class. No matter how important money was, it could not compare to his life.

Picking up a scroll of Continental History, Hudson immediately began reading with great interest. Unfortunately, most of its contents were vague and glossed over in a few words, while much of it was merely hearsay.

There was nothing to be done about it. Although the Coslo Family had been passed down for a thousand years, they were still only minor nobles and simply lacked the ability to gather information on the entire continent.

Hudson felt that the greatest reason the family had survived until now was—its ability to reproduce. One only had to look at Baron Redman to know that the Coslo Family had always been exceptionally gifted at sowing seeds.

Thanks to the family's fine traditions, aside from the eldest son inheriting the family estate, all other sons, upon reaching adulthood, left to make their own way with a set of knight's equipment and several attendants.

Such a brutal way of survival was the best way to temper people. Although most members of the family fell along the path of struggle, there were still lucky ones who stood out. Some earned titles through military achievements, while others gained them through noble marriages.

After generations of accumulation, there were no longer few minor nobles bearing the Coslo Family banner. They were considered one of the empire's most prolific families.

More people did not necessarily mean greater strength, but more people certainly meant stronger survival. Even if one branch died out, someone would soon fill the gap, preventing the tragedy of the empire forcibly reclaiming their fief due to a lack of heirs.

If they continued operating according to this model and slowly expanding their influence, then even without any particularly outstanding figures emerging, the Coslo Family would sooner or later rise into the very top ranks.

Of course, that was on the condition that their birth rate remained this high. Otherwise, in a world where wars broke out frequently, no one knew whether tomorrow or disaster would come first. Perhaps a single war could wipe out a thousand years of accumulation.