"What foolish nonsense...?"

"To claim that a death during childbirth was murder committed by the fetus—if that isn't a foolish remark born of medical ignorance, then what is?"

"......."

Valtraus attempted a weak rebuttal, but—

Faced with the excessively objective logic flowing from Hárðr's mouth, he completely lost the will to argue.

He didn't even look particularly pitiful.

So I calmly speared the canapé being served as an appetizer with my fork and put it into my mouth while letting my thoughts wander.

Come to think of it, Hárðr and Ragfrid are so lacking in emotion that it's hard to imagine they ever possessed any at all. But Valtraus is strangely emotional.

Now that I thought about it, the Karvaldr described in the original novel had also been highly emotional.

Considering how he vented his loneliness and resentment on the innocent Reisir because he couldn't control himself, he could almost be considered a reflection of his older brother.

If two out of the three siblings shared that tendency, it wasn't something that had suddenly appeared like a mutation.

Perhaps they had inherited their temperament from the late Duchess.

"Ragfrid. Earlier, you said you were about to reprimand Valtraus."

"Yes, I did."

"Since you brought it up yourself, take responsibility and educate your younger brother so he doesn't go around spouting foolish nonsense again."

"I understand."

Passing that responsibility onto his eldest child instead of teaching his own son himself—

As a father, he could hardly be more irresponsible.

Yet Ragfrid accepted the order with impeccable courtesy, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Valtraus's pride had clearly been wounded. His face turned red, but he couldn't bring himself to disobey and merely shut his mouth.

"Then let's move on to the next matter."

Without even glancing at the expression on his eldest son's face, Hárðr spoke in a businesslike tone and mentioned the name of my possessed body.

"Karvaldr. If you have anything to report regarding today's incident at the Academy, speak."

The moment he called my name, I instinctively tensed, assuming he would obviously ask about Yor.

But the unexpected question immediately drained that tension away.

The appearance of the Demon Realm during the graduation ceremony was, from my perspective, nothing more than a scheduled event.

To everyone else, however, it had been an unprecedented anomaly.

Naturally, it qualified as something that had to be reported to the head of the family.

Even so—

"There is nothing in particular. As you likely already know, since a report must have reached you by now, I was in a state of confusion at the time. I wasn't in any condition to properly observe the anomaly that occurred. Therefore, I know nothing beyond the contents of the report you already received, Father."

I answered casually, effectively omitting any detailed report.

The fact that Hárðr was questioning me about the Demon Realm Transformation itself meant he had already received information about it.

Which was only natural.

For a Duke, news of an incident that significant would arrive without effort.

"Then why did you not report it immediately after returning?"

"Would that have been a problem? I assumed you would receive a report through other channels regardless. And isn't that exactly what happened?"

"That anomaly is not a matter to be taken lightly."

"I know that as well. It's the same phenomenon that occurred in the Daudabiner Earldom ten years ago, isn't it? Since it has now happened a second time, there is no guarantee there won't be a third or fourth occurrence."

"And despite understanding that, you chose not to report it to the head of the family. How exactly am I supposed to interpret that action?"

He had received the report in time anyway, so what was all this lecturing for?

A man who never once considered respecting his children, yet whose desire to be respected by them overflowed endlessly.

After releasing a long breath that was almost a sigh, I spoke while feeling as though I were voicing the grievances of the original owner of this body.

"Since losing my memories, I have met you only once, Father. We exchanged no conversation whatsoever. The only interaction between us was you striking me across the face."

"......."

"Under those circumstances, was I supposed to return home and immediately visit your office to chatter about what happened at the Academy today? More importantly, if I had requested an audience because I had something to report, would you have listened at all, Father?"

"If you had said it was important, I would have listened."

"I was too exhausted to endure being treated like someone desperately seeking attention. I didn't have the energy to beg you to listen to me merely to deliver a report."

"......."

Hárðr seemed to contemplate my words for a moment before eventually nodding.

As though he accepted the explanation.

However, not everyone present appeared convinced.

"Even so... you could have asked me to relay the report on your behalf."

Ragfrid said that while staring directly at me from the seat beside mine.

Her expression remained completely blank.

Her voice remained as indifferent as ever.

And yet, for some reason, I could sense a trace of dissatisfaction.

Surely not...? No, that's impossible.

Unless Ragfrid is secretly the older brother character from one of those family-regret romance fantasies...

The younger brother who used to approach her endlessly despite her cold attitude had suddenly begun keeping his distance.

Perhaps regret had begun to creep in.

Perhaps concern for her younger brother had emerged.

Perhaps warmer feelings had started to grow.

No.

That couldn't be right.

The genre of 《NaSE》 was a male-oriented fantasy novel.

And I was also a man.

In male-oriented fantasy stories, families only begin regretting their actions after the protagonist obtains overwhelming power and status.

Since I currently possess neither power nor authority, this doesn't seem like a family-regret storyline.

Judging by how she had prefaced her statement with, "I don't know what happened..."

It seemed more likely she regretted missing the opportunity to obtain important information before Valtraus and gain an advantage in the succession competition by discussing it with Father first.

"I'm sorry. The incident felt unreal, and I was already confused. Then I unexpectedly encountered you, Older Sister, and simply wasn't able to think that far ahead. You even chose to return home with me in the carriage in order to use your time efficiently... I apologize for causing you to waste additional time because I failed to discuss the important information then."

"No, that's..."

Ragfrid hesitated briefly before speaking again.

"The apology is enough. Let's talk after the meal."

"It would be more efficient to borrow and read the report Father received than to hear the story from me directly."

"......."

Although I had answered as politely as possible, Ragfrid's face stiffened.

Perhaps she felt I was deliberately keeping my distance.

Watching his rival stumble, Valtraus let out a deliberately exaggerated snort.

"Pfft."

Meanwhile, Hárðr showed no interest whatsoever in what his children were doing.

He simply continued the conversation.

"Karvaldr. Considering the condition of your body and mind today, I will overlook your failure to report the incident immediately."

"Thank you for your understanding."

"But what exactly were you thinking when you risked your life to save the daughter of a mere Baron?"

The question was so unexpected that my eyes widened before I realized it.

Even Ragfrid, who resembled Hárðr more than anyone else, visibly flinched and looked even more surprised than I did.

"It wasn't because of any particularly special reason..."

I paused.

"More importantly, I never expected you to criticize me over that matter, Father."

"Why?"

"Even if I had died there, you would have gained the honor of having raised an admirable child rather than the disgrace of failing to protect one. Furthermore, you could have demanded compensation by holding the professors—valuable personnel—responsible. No matter how one looks at it, wouldn't that be beneficial?"

"So what? Were you expecting praise for a job well done?"

"Of course not. I'm simply curious what part of my actions displeased you, Father."

"......."

For some reason, a bitter expression crossed Hárðr's face.

Had my repeated arguments crossed a line?

"You are a member of the Ducal Family."

His voice was calm.

"The value of your life is fundamentally different from that of a Baron's daughter. Do not act so recklessly in the future."

To him, judging the value of a life according to social status was so obvious that it required no explanation.

Then again—

This was exactly the sort of person he was.

A man who had branded his youngest son defective and consequently found no reason to spare him even the slightest interest.

His own time was simply too valuable to waste on a defective product.

"...Yes. I will keep that in mind going forward."

The conversation ended there.

The maids entered once more, removed the appetizer plates, and placed bowls of soup before everyone.

The feeding bowls belonging to the large beasts resting on the floor were likewise replaced with bowls filled with soup.

Apparently a full-course meal had been prepared not only for Yor, who was dining alongside the humans, but for the other familiars as well.

After that, the plates were replaced several more times as course after course was served.

Yet throughout the entire meal, silence prevailed.

No one exchanged a single word.

Only after the maids brought tea and dessert to conclude the meal and departed from the dining hall once more did Hárðr finally speak.

"Now then. Tell me about your familiar."

"My familiar's name is Jörmungandr. His Ether Attribute Ability is weather manipulation. At the moment he can only create rain, but in the future he should be able to manipulate air currents to generate wind or even summon lightning." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Who told you that?"

"My familiar wrote it down and informed me personally."

In reality, Yor had never actually written that information for me.

Explaining the circumstances surrounding Episode 35 would have been far too troublesome, so I simply improvised.

Perhaps it was because Yor had demonstrated flawless table manners and perfect control of his utensils throughout the meal.

Or perhaps Hárðr already knew that my baby dragon could write.

In any case, despite Yor not producing a whiteboard and writing anything, Hárðr merely nodded.

"I see."

Then he moved on.

"You can manipulate the weather as well?"

"Yes."

"What is the extent of your range?"

"Yor can make rain fall over roughly half of the Academy grounds for ten minutes. As for me... approximately one-thirteenth of that."

"Why is the difference so large?"

"It stems from the difference in the amount of Ether we possess. My amount of sky blue ether is only about half my purple ether. By comparison, Yor is so extraordinary that even calling him unique feels inadequate."

Whenever I praised him, Yor would normally strike some magnificent pose and bask in the compliment.

Today, however, perhaps because of the formal atmosphere, he seemed reluctant to do so.

Instead, he simply sipped his tea with dignified composure.

"Myah. Myah."

Apparently even that was enough to irritate Valtraus.

He immediately picked a fight.

"For an ability like that to have any practical value, shouldn't it at least cover the entire territory of an earldom?"

"It will eventually. Yor was only recently born, and he's expected to grow considerably in the future."

"That's your familiar. What about you?"

"......."

To make rain fall across an entire earldom would require Ether Stats of at least one thousand.

Even Reisir, who had spent the latest chapters of the original novel endlessly benefiting from protagonist privileges, had only recently broken into the five hundreds.

The words I can do it too simply refused to leave my mouth.