Chapter 11
Half a year after I turned 9 .
Thanks to training without a rest, my physical strength and mana have increased nicely .
"Gather the people! Get all the strong ones!"
Biffgel shouted such things when I was just got up in the morning .
Whom was he calling anyway, today our father Castor isn't home .
He might have gotten full of himself since the one who would restrain him isn't here .
However, I don't understand how that relates to gathering the people .
I wonder if he's going to beat me up with number or something . Then I'll neatly counterattack at Biffgel only . I feel sorry for the people who get involved in his mess .
"Mathias, don't come you . Stay still in the house . . . no wait . You should go into the forest today!"
I was trying to ignore him as I went out of the house, but Biffgel found me .
I probably should've used stealth magic instead of cutting corners there .
I thought of the above for an moment, but the content of the reply was beyond my expectations .
Biffgel encourages me to go outside . . . . ?
Don't tell me, Biffgel has finally come to his sense–
"Mathi . You shouldn't go today . A monster has appeared in the forest . "
He did not . What, he just wanted me to die huh . That's the Biffgel I know . I was worried for a second there .
When I heard monster I used 【Passive Detection】 to infer the situation in the forest .
And then, I found a reaction of a monster at a distance that the usual me wouldn't have found .
I found it not because 【Passive Detection】 was in good form today or something .
The size of the reaction was big .
Of course, it's small compared to the powerful monsters I encountered in my past life, but it's far bigger than the reaction of the lowest class monster .
Even in the best case scenario, Biffgel wouldn't last 10 seconds, Reich would probably only able to hold on for 30 seconds .
However, there is a very easy method to deal with this monster .
"Isn't it better to leave it be?"
Judging from its movement looking from far away, it doesn't seem to have noticed the village's existence .
Of course it doesn't look like it's coming either . There's a high chance that it'll just disappear somewhere if we leave it alone .
Once our father Castor comes back, I'm sure he can beat it . There's no point at all in Biffgel specially gathering people and challenging it .
"You think I'll let a monster that tramples our territory go away! I will definitely kill it with my own hands!"
Ooh . It's unusual for Biffgel to say something noble-like .
I saw through your motive y'know . Biffgel wanted to make a meritorious deed by challenging the monster .
"Reich-niisan, aren't you stopping him?"
I don't care if Biffgel goes to challenge the monster alone, but I feel sorry for the people .
"I'd also prefer we do that, but I can't . "
"Why?"
Since father isn't here right now, the people shouldn't be obliged to follow Biffgel if the eldest son, my brother Reich opposes it .
It seems the people don't like Biffgel either, there's probably no one who would obey him voluntarily .
"That's cause I'm the first candidate for the next head of the house, in other words, I'm the acting lord!"
It was Biffgel who answered my question .
I understand that the next head acts as the acting lord when the present lord is absent, but– .
On top of being the second son, the idiotic Biffgel being the first candidate for the next family head . . . .
"Oh dear, you must be kidding me . "
I spoke with weird wordings reflexively .
That's impossible isn't? I look at Reich with that feeling .
"It's the truth, Mathi . "
Wh . . . at . . .
"Seriously?"
"Unfortunately yes . . . . There's various rule for the criteria to select the next head . If it's something that affects magic prowess like the Glory Crest, a second son will be preferred . "
Glory Crest huh, the same nonsense Biffgel spouted .
Even Reich is going along with that nonsense . . . . ?
I reflexively activates detection magic to check whether someone has put me under hallucination .
However, I couldn't find any trace of illusion magic .
Reich is also not under mind-control magic . Just what's happening here .
"There's a regulation from the country for that . . . . ah . Here it is . "
Reich took out a paper after after saying that .
The title is 『Noble of Eis Kingdom – Basic Criteria for the Next Family Head』, with a big imposing seal stamped on it .
I try to read it . I've been studying while training my strength and magic, so I can read letters now .
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Noble of Eis Kingdom – Basic Criteria for the Next Family Head
In accordance to the criteria below, the one with higher score will be preferred as the next family head of a noble house .
However, in cases of special circumstances, this isn't restrictive .
Eldest son 5 points
Sons other than the eldest In case they're younger than the eldest son, minus one point per a year difference .
Glory Crest 5 points
Magic Prowess The higher one 3 points
Female -2 points
Disqualified Crest -200 points
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. . . . A scoring system .
It is a valid system to compare multiple things for important matters, but I'm not sure if it should be applied here .
No . Leaving that aside, magic prowess shouldn't be what is important to have for a noble . What're you going to do if a magic nerd who doesn't know anything else becomes a territory lord .
Apparently, according to this chart, a second son or a girl could be the family head as long as they have the correct age, Glory Crest and magic prowess .
On the contrary, people who have the Disqualified Crest (If what Biffgel said is correct, it's the crest I have) can't become the family head unless they're 200 years apart with their younger sibling .
Then let's compare Biffgel and Reich in accordance to these criteria .
Reich is the eldest son, +5 .
Biffgel is the second son with one year difference, and has the Glory Crest, +4 .
–I see . Their positions change depending on their magic prowess .
And judging from what Reich-niisan said, it seems Biffgel's magic prowess is better .
This is, well, that may be so . I've never seen Biffgel and Reich practicing their magic .
And, in case you don't train at all, the First Crest is strong .
Well, since First Crest has a low growth rate, a mere 8 year old would overtake the difference as long as they train properly .
"Then, I'm going too-"
"Don't come . "
I don't really mind at all if it's just Biffgel getting himself destroyed, but I can't ignore it if he's going to drag my brother Reich into it .
With that in mind, I was going to participate as well, but I was dismissed within seconds . Well I only said it without much thought since they originally told me to not go .
"I told you to go to forest earlier, but it'd be bothersome if you get in the way . . . . Alright, you're not to go out of the entranceway this whole day . This is an order from the acting lord . Bye . "
Biffgel left the house after adding that .
I can't exactly leave them alone . It seems Reich is following them .
Now then . What should I do now, the acting lord told me not to go out of the entrance way . Since it's an order from the acting lord, I have no choice but to obey it .
It can't be helped, let's go out through the window .
The acting lord is really kind, telling me that it's okay to go out through anything but the entrance way .