Ch1.Blue Blood
Calix was born as the child of nobility.
Those who are said to possess blue blood.
However, since that noble bloodline belonged only to his mother, he received contempt from those around him from childhood.
Cough, cough!
"A wretched thing like a bug. How did sothing like you co to be born, tsk. Your body is frail too, so you're truly useless."
"……."
"Being the child of an immoral man, one can tell without even looking. Don't you dare even imagine trying to cling to the family."
Though Calix didn't know the exact reason, he understood that his biological father, whom he had never seen, had committed so great wrong.
Without distinction between employees and servants, they hurled insults and gossip, and even the better ones would usually ignore him, pretending not to see.
Nevertheless, what allowed him to grow up without being discouraged was thanks to his mother's love.
"Calix, you must not expect kindness from people you don't know. You mustn't mistake that people you don't know will take your side. Do you understand?"
"Yes. But Mother—"
"Of course, you need not listen to what they chatter about either. Hating soone doesn't require a great reason."
She gave him strict affection.
Even conversations between mother and child followed proper etiquette, and while patting her son's back in their isolated residence within the territory, she coldly pointed out the principles of human nature to his ears.
"Likewise, you don't need to make excessive efforts to be loved by soone. What's important is not earning hatred."
"But everyone hates ."
"Then you must bow your head and wait for the right ti. Heroes of old were people who knew how to choose where they should fight. I told you the story of Emperor Caracal last ti, didn't I?"
"Yes. He's the first emperor of the Niboria Empire, isn't he?"
"He, too, waited for the ti to rise while living a long wandering life."
Additionally, she read him fairy tales from storybooks and taught him proper behavioral patterns within the family, paying much attention so that her young son could heal the wounds in his heart.
Calix too endured the stress from his oppressive life by imrsing himself in storybooks.
Knight literature was what Calix loved most.
The story of Knight Jogaf, Calcena, and Misrate, the Song of Ellinga, and others. Since it wasn't easy to obtain books, he would read them repeatedly until the pages turned yellow.
Among them, what he was most deeply absorbed in was the story of Ashapel Raimund.
"Long ago, magicians created twelve neural accelerators to stand against evil beings. In the Niboria Empire, three heroes stepped forward."
"Caracal, Ranita, Ashapel Raimund!"
"That's right. Caracal had a neural accelerator implanted in one eye so he could read others' emotions, and Ranita had one implanted in her heart so she could detect the magical power that living beings possessed. anwhile, Ashapel had one implanted in the back of his neck and……."
"He beca the most powerful being among the heroes!"
Rustle.
Every ti his mother turned a page of the book, young Calix's heart swelled along with it.
Ashapel Raimund.
The first head of the Ashapel Marquis family and the direct ancestor of the noble family he was born into. There was no one better for Calix to imrse himself in.
"According to the stories passed down, he could read his opponent's movents. If Ranita detected magical power flowing out of the body, Ashapel had the ability to see the flow of magical power inside the body."
"Yes. That's why Ranita is called a tactical genius, isn't she? A tactician sent by God!"
"That's right. That's precisely why the love story between those two people is still talked about to this day. But for Emperor Caracal, this was like a challenge to his own authority……."
Following this, his mother would read the boring power struggles after the war, and as Calix's interest waned, he would naturally spread the wings of his imagination.
'If I could beco like Ashapel Raimund…… I wouldn't fall ill or cough, and I could receive knight training to protect the empire. If only I could get a neural accelerator implanted, it might be possible!'
The child dread of becoming a knight.
* * *
The training ground inside the Marquis family.
Kwang!
Cough, cough.
Beyond the wall, a sparring match between knights was in full swing, while young Calix peeked at it while coughing incessantly.
A place he couldn't enter.
No, a place he shouldn't enter.
Nevertheless, his two eyes were directed beyond the wall, piercing through the thick dust.
The speed was so fast it couldn't be captured, even with armor on, and the intensity where the ground surface was overturned with just a few sword strikes.
[Yoltar, strike harder! Your advantages won't be displayed with half-hearted attacks!]
[Yes!]
The two knights displayed a fierceness hard to imagine as training, and Knight Commander Airic, who was watching, gave strict teachings.
anwhile, Calix's eyes were clearly fixed on the three knights. As always, sothing was glinting at the back of their necks.
'Light is coming from the back of their necks again today.'
What this strange phenonon ant could be easily guessed even by an eight-year-old child.
Content he had read countless tis in storybooks,
It was the ability that heroes possessed.
Kuung, jjeoeoeng!
However, the mont the sparring began again, regret appeared on Calix's face. If he had inherited Ashapel Raimund's ability, he would have been able to see through the knights' movents completely.
He couldn't even properly catch the sight of the knights swinging their swords.
He could only see the light at the back of their necks scattering like afterimages.
'……This is the ability of the tactical genius, Ranita. I was born in the Ashapel Marquis family, so why did I develop this kind of ability?'
The puzzled expression didn't last long.
He was still too young to continue complex thoughts, and anyway, the fact that he was special was enough to comfort him.
However, what was most fortunate was that Calix hadn't forgotten his mother's teachings.
'I mustn't tell anyone. Heroes know how to bow their heads and wait for the right ti!'
The child knew well that he shouldn't reveal his talent.
* * *
After hiding his own secret, Calix grew up properly without major incidents.
Instead of becoming pessimistic and twisted about his situation, he grew into a person who knew how to obtain what he wanted from those who ignored him.
"Let
into the room. I won't touch anything. I'll just read one book and co out."
"If the young master finds out……"
"Here. You said you needed white bread?"
"……You need to co out quickly."
"Of course."
For an illegitimate child of a noble family, learning was sothing one had to seek out oneself.
Calix helped the gardener's work and obtained bouquets in return, traded those bouquets with a cook who needed them for white bread as soft as cotton, and the white bread soon went to a maid who wanted to commorate a special day, turning into ti.
The room of Janik Ashapel, the marquis' family's eldest son.
Through his deal with the maid, he stuffed the 'Niboria Empire Legal Code' into his head. While he used to read knight literature in his mother's quarters, the real knowledge of nobles was only in the legitimate heir's room.
Ramungste's 'Duties and Rights', the church's distributed 'Light of Faith', 'The Book of Hunting' dealing with hunting and court etiquette, and others placed there so he could fulfill the virtues of governance and social responsibilities as a high noble.
"Co out quickly! He's coming now!"
"……I know."
Though he couldn't obtain everything at once, developing wisdom beyond his years was the result of such efforts.
Thanks to this, by the ti he turned sixteen, his reputation around him beca 'a moderately clever and moderately perceptive illegitimate child.'
If the Ashapel Marquis family had been maintained stably, he would have walked the path of an administrator, cleric, or rchant with the help of his adoptive father, Baron Pentan.
However, fate turned everything upside down in one night.
Wareureureuk!
Ahhhhk!
On an evening when the full moon rose, Yaleyan Von Ashapel, the marquis's second son, raised a rebellion to monopolize the heir position.
The outer castle was early engulfed in flas, with smoke rising, and the sounds of soldiers' footsteps and clashing weapons echoed.
The result of the rebellion was decided early before sunrise.
"Lord Yaleyan has been recognized as the legitimate heir!"
"Drop your weapons and surrender! Further fighting is aningless!"
"……."
The series of military actions successfully ended under the marquis's tacit approval.
"It's not over yet! Secure the key figures first!"
And,
As soon as Yaleyan Von Ashapel received his father's recognition, he decided to clear away the things that were eyesores.
"Calix! My son!"
"……Mother!"
What happened afterward was pain that couldn't be expressed in words.
Being separated from his mother while alive, being dragged away by slave traders and traveling beyond the border for months, and finally being thrown into a mine in the Astria Kingdom.
However, great talent originally blooms in tragedy. Calix's story begins right here.
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