"What are you doing?! Let him go!"
Alia’s cries fell on deaf ears as the guards pulled away.
I could have tried to fight back, but there was no point. I was in the middle of the Lix Estate. There was no way I could fight against all of them, especially with the elders and the patriarch nearby.
Alia continued to complain to the guard and her older brother as I was quietly dragged into the basent of the Lix Estate, where a few others were chained up, probably left to die.
"You shouldn’t have ssed with our master. He has a lot more influence around here than that useless girl," one of the guards said as he threw on the ground and tied up.
Once they saw that I didn’t reply or look in their direction, they stopped trying to talk to and quietly left.
’Knowing Alia, she will probably go complain to her father, the patriarch. Even with her ager influence, her father is bound to be interested in , especially since he watched how I treated Alia’s maid.’
Around two hours passed until the sa guards as before ca to get unchained.
"Don’t think for a second that you won. There’s no way you’re not going back down there."
"Mhm."
I dismissed their words with a nod as they brought in front of a decent crowd where dozens of individuals with bright red hair were looking upon . All of them had this aura of confidence, sothing that I had only seen from mbers of powerful families over the years.
’The entire main family has gathered. It seems my actions were a much bigger deal than I expected.’
I hadn’t done much, but it seed Oliver had used his influence to make this a much greater deal.
Nevertheless, I had a plan.
"Bow before his Greatness!" the guards exclaid as they forcefully brought to my knees.
"I greet the Lix Patriarch," I said in a monotonous voice, staring at the ground.
"Enough, let him be," he suddenly declared as he waved his hand.
Only then did I et his heavy gaze, which analyzed every inch of my body. Now, that we were this close, I confird that he had been the one observing us when Alia had first arrived.
He was definitely amongst the strongest I had t in my life. Even if he was trying his best to conceal his Mana and his Physical Aura, it was clear as day.
The Patriarch stayed quiet after those words, his facial expression changing a few tis as he looked at .
"Where did you et my daughter?"
"I t her by luck. I was on death’s door, and she saved my life."
He raised an eyebrow.
"And why were you on death’s door?"
"I thought too much of myself and almost died against monsters."
He rubbed his chin and shook his head, seemingly annoyed by sothing.
"What kind of monsters? What rank were they?"
He wanted to learn more about my abilities. I had seen this greedy gaze many tis in my life. He was the sa as the rest of them.
I decided to take a gamble and lie, as I rembered that his son was about C-Rank based on the handshake we shared earlier. So, I adjusted my answer with that in mind. I was also confident in lying as I had learned how to perfectly control my heartbeat back in the camp.
"They were B-Rank monsters, sir."
"And how old are you?"
"I just turned eighteen, sir."
And then, I realized that I had made a mistake as all of the Lix Family mbers whispered to each other frantically. I, honestly, haven’t thought much of my answer. All my life, I had seen people aged around 15 years old killing B-Rank monsters, and they weren’t even considered talented.
"What rank are your affinities and what is your mana core’s capacity?"
"I’m sorry, but I think that’s personal information."
"HAHAHA!"
The Patriarch burst out laughing before losing his cool. The atmosphere changing in a split second. So much so, that I found myself almost unable to breathe.
"You sure have guts. However, you should answer my questions... Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to punish you."
"F-Father, please!" Alia tried to complain, but quickly shut her mouth with a single glare from her father.
Struggling to open my mouth, I whispered under my breath, "I can tell you... in private."
The Patriarch seed to understand my words as he imdiately ordered everyone to get out of the room, even the guards.
A few minutes passed and there were only the two of us left.
His gaze was intense and filled with warnings. If I made one wrong move, then I would be dead before I could even react.
He snapped his fingers, and a small device appeared in the middle of the room, one that I recognized well. The device was called an Appraiser, and it would show the user everything related to his powers: the affinities he awakened, the capacity of his mana core, and his unique skill.
"Place your hand on it."
"Before that, you need to take an oath that you will not speak to anyone about what you see today."
The Patriarch grinned. "I don’t think you’re in the position to make demands."
"Is that so?" I tilted my head. I knew I couldn’t let him walk all over . "Three years ago, you ordered an assassination on the Demacia Family, more precisely, on their—"
The Patriarch’s eyes widened as his aura, which he had kept hidden, suddenly burst forward. In an instant, I found myself on my knees, coughing up blood because of the high energy density he was emitting.
"Who are you really?" He frowned.
"Y-You don’t need to know that. All you need to know is that everything related to this assassination will be revealed to the whole world if I don’t co out of here alive," I bluffed. "You don’t think I ca here without any plans, did you?"
"What do you want?"
"Nothing much, I simply need a personal recomndation from you to enter the Royal Academy."
"Even if I ask the Royal Academy for a favor, they will refuse. You’re a commoner; the only possible way for them to make an exception is if you were to have exceptional talent. However, no matter how long I look at you, I can’t feel anything special."
"Take the oath, and I will show you my talent."
The Patriarch decided to play along now that I had forced his hand and took the oath, which would kill him if he ever defied it.
Only then did I step forward and place my hand on the Appraiser.
[Appraisal has begun...]
[0% -> 23% -> 46% -> 100%]
[Appraisal completed.]
As the ssage appeared over the device, a large screen with all of my information appeared in the middle of the room, allowing everyone present to read its content.
"T-This... How is it possible?!"
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