The Villainous Noble’s Father - Chapter 7

I’d heard stories about the knights with crimson eyes.

No, by now, those stories are practically legends.

They were undefeated on every battlefield. Never once retreating, always pushing forward into the heart of the fiercest battles, a ruthless force of warriors. 

They were always sent to the front lines to rescue allies, and naturally, they were the last to retreat, covering everyone else’s escape.

Every single member was a named hero, honored with titles, a legendary order of knights. They were handpicked and formed by my father himself in his younger days, recognized as the kingdom’s greatest fighting force.

That was the Third Knight Order of House Finster.

They bore the emblem of the Finster family, a black key, and were known as grim reapers, carving a path through hopeless battlefields. 

And leading them… was my father. The Black-Shining Reaper, Roberto Maxwell von Finster-Heréol.

To be taught magic by him personally… me, of all people? I was so thrilled I felt like I could fly. I’d never been this excited in my life. The training was for military combat enhancement magic. A technique called “Red Eye.”

I’d only heard vague rumors about it before. It was a secret spell developed by my father, some even called it a national treasure of the Finster-Heréol family… no, of the entire kingdom.

Of all the secret techniques, this one was supposedly easier to use and had been passed down to various noble families. Of course, since it’s a state-classified magic, very few know all the details.

BZZZT!

“Tch! Damn it! I failed again!”

Channeling mana into my body, Mana Veil mode, that part was easy. That’s basically what I’ve always called body enhancement magic, anyway. Controlling the flow of mana? Also not a problem. It’s the foundation of all magic. You can’t use any spells without it.

But maintaining a high-speed rotation of mana inside my body? That’s where things get really tough. I could get the mana to spin, but I couldn’t keep it going steadily or make it fully sink into my body. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do it right.

“Damn it! Even after Father personally taught me, I’m still screwing up like this?!”

Frustrated at my own incompetence, I flopped onto the ground. The sun had already risen high in the sky and was starting to dip. It had been a while since Father explained the Red Eye technique to me that morning. Probably about 30 minutes of his valuable time… and I’m wasting it like this.

Guilt started to well up inside me.

“U-Um… Y-Young Master?”

A maid spoke up timidly. She had pink-blonde hair done up in a loose braid. I recognized those big blue eyes. She’s the maid I bumped into before. To be blunt, she was the one I tried to blame for breaking Father’s dishes.

“Uh, ah… r-right. What is it?”

Oh no! How am I supposed to talk to her after that?

I stammered, unsure what expression to wear.

“Y-You haven’t had lunch yet, s-so… I brought this. T-The Lord said to bring it to you, sir.”

“Father did!?”

I shot up and looked at her. She was holding a basket, it probably had food inside. Then it hit me. Father specifically sent her?

Ah… I see now. That’s what this is about.

He’s giving me a chance to make things right, I hadn’t even apologized to her yet.

“…I’m sorry about the other day.”

Once I realized that, I straightened up, looked her in the eyes, and bowed my head.

“Y-Young Master…?”

I heard her startled voice, but I didn’t look up.

“There’s no excuse for what I did. It was a shallow, disgraceful act, not just for a noble, but as a person.”

Thinking back to how I acted made me feel so ashamed, I had to close my eyes tight.

“If it’ll make you feel better, you can hit me as much as you want. I really am sorry.”

“…Even if you say that, I could never actually hit you.”

Her soft words caught me off guard. She was absolutely right. Most of the servants in the duke’s household were nobles, yes, but their rank was far below mine as the duke’s heir.

If I remembered correctly, she was from a cadet branch of a noble family connected to ours. Given our status difference, if she actually struck me, she’d be the one punished. What I said could easily be taken as me threatening her.

“N-No, I didn’t mean it like that!”

I looked up in a panic and saw her smiling awkwardly, a little embarrassed.

“I understand. I accept your apology. And no, I’m not going to hit you.”

The gentle afternoon sunlight bathed her kind smile in a warm glow.

“Now please eat already. You haven’t had anything since this morning, right?”

“Ah, y-yeah… Thanks.”

Later that day…

The maid, Yulia Sederholm, is a diligent and kind girl. At her suggestion, we moved to a nearby gazebo and ate at the table there.

Yulia stood behind me as I sat, politely tending to everything. But every time I saw how considerate she was, I felt worse for trying to pin my own mistake on someone like her. 

Honestly, I could barely taste the food.

“Ah, Young Master! The sprinklers are about to start! You would’ve gotten soaked if you stayed out there.”

I looked up mid-bite, probably a delicious sandwich, though I couldn’t really tell. In the garden, cylindrical devices were rising from the ground, spraying water everywhere.

“Sprinklers, right? Lord Finster made these magic tools. I’m always amazed when I see them.”

Even while I was brooding about my shame, I could hear Yulia talking cheerfully.

“It’s neat, isn’t it? The only magical function is generating water. The rest is just basic water pressure doing the work…”

She blushed, saying she actually liked this kind of magical gadget. But I was suddenly struck by something else entirely. Only the water generation is magical… the entire system runs on water pressure…

Wait… That’s it! It’s just like the sprinkler!

I’d been trying too hard to control the mana’s rotation, but I didn’t need to do that at all! All I had to do was create the flow path, then let the mana spin on its own at full force!

Ah, crap! I’d been overthinking everything!

With that flash of insight, I got so excited I grabbed Yulia by the waist and hugged her tight.

“Yulia! My goddess! You’re amazing! Thanks to you, I finally figured it out!”

“Eek!?”

I said some ridiculous, cringe-worthy line I’d never used in my life, savoring the sweet scent of her as I hugged her.

Looking back, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking.

“Thanks for the food too! I’ll definitely repay you!”

Ignoring the stunned, frozen Yulia, I rushed off from the gazebo to continue training my combat magic.

Later that night, I ended up tossing and turning in bed, cringing non-stop as I remembered how embarrassingly I’d acted toward Yulia.

The only consolation was that I did, in fact, finally master the “Red Eye” technique.