The Patriarch’s Visit

Even though I had made all the judgments in my head.

I didn’t let them spill from my mouth.

“Of course not. Do we not share the proud blood of Rigbelto? I naturally thought there would be at least that much change.”

As a direct descendant of a great family and a high-ranking mage, being unable to hide a single expression would be absurd.

“I believed in you, Raon.”

I almost chuckled at his words.

‘You suck at managing your expressions.’

Or maybe I just caught onto his expressions too quickly.

When you live long enough.

You end up seeing right through people’s emotions just by looking at their faces, even if you don’t want to.

“Yes. Thank you, brother.”

“Right. So. Do you have any intention of telling me? How exactly such luck found its way to you.”

“I apologize.”

With a smile, I shut down his probing in a single strike.

“I want to focus all my energy on passing the trial this time.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. But who knows what will happen if I pass the trial. So, how about you help me, brother?”

Mabel’s lips twitched.

‘This sly snake….’

To see through my intentions and make such a counteroffer.

Fine.

If you are truly going to act this way.

‘I will gladly accept.’

‘Looks like that properly provoked him.’

From here on out, it’s even more important.

I haven’t dealt with him just once or twice.

‘He’s on guard against me right now.’

The emotions swirling inside him might be mixed.

But fundamentally, he is wary that his already disadvantageous position will be threatened.

So I will use that.

“Brother.”

“What is it, little brother?”

“Let me share a good piece of information with you.”

“Speak.”

I rested my chin on the back of my hand.

“I came to prove that I am not lacking as a direct descendant.”

“Yes.”

“But I want nothing other than to prove my qualifications as a direct bloodline. Not the position of successor, nor the position of the patriarch.”

“!”

His eyes widened in shock.

I didn’t smile at him. Looking perfectly calm, as if I had never said such a thing, I opened my mouth again.

“I believe you understand exactly what I mean, brother.”

“….”

I stood up, as if I had said everything I needed to say.

Looking at my back, Mabel burst into laughter.

“That was time well spent.”

“Yes. Likewise.”

I glanced at him once before opening the door.

“I will come see you again.”

“Alright.”

Mabel was smiling, looking more satisfied than ever.

“I certainly hope you do.”

***

‘Mabel Rigbelto. A surprisingly easy character to handle.’

Mabel’s character traits are distinct.

He’s written as someone obsessed with the successor and patriarch positions more than anyone else.

So, once he’s convinced you are part of his faction, he’s the type to give generously.

If I exploit that well. I can squeeze everything out of him without making an enemy out of him, making my life in the family much easier.

‘Of course, he’s not the only one I have to worry about.’

Mabel Rigbelto pretends to be stronger than anyone.

But in reality, he was on the weaker side within this family, both in power and influence.

That’s why he obsessed over building his faction and was wary of someone like me.

‘Still, not a bad result.’

Not only did I plant the thought that ‘I might not be an enemy’ in his head.

I also instilled just enough caution so he wouldn’t see me as an easy target.

‘This is a satisfactory outcome.’

Now, the next one is.

‘The patriarch….’

Honestly speaking.

Even though I already knew the information about the patriarch, he was the trickiest to deal with.

His feelings toward Raon were clear.

But he never properly revealed them.

And neither Raon nor I were used to dealing with such emotions.

‘…Maybe this is for the best.’

I might be able to fool others.

But I had no confidence in deceiving the eyes of a great mage capable of rewriting history with just ‘acting.’

Even if he was a father who hadn’t seen his son much.

As long as he had a heart.

He might notice something, both with the eyes of a father and the eyes of a great mage.

Step, step.

First, I headed to my room.

Before going to him, I needed to recall the past as much as possible and prepare to meet the patriarch.

Creak—

The moment I opened the door.

I froze without realizing it.

“….”

“….”

I saw gray eyes staring back at me.

They resembled Mabel’s, whom I had just met.

But these were a deep gray, better described as ‘faded.’

‘Why… is this man here?’

The patriarch of the Rigbelto family.

Raon’s father.

The patriarch of Rigbelto was sitting in my room.

“….”

Tremble.

Sitting in front of him, Abella was shaking pitifully.

I definitely sent her back to her room before meeting Mabel….

She came to my room instead of hers?

‘…That’s not what’s important right now, though.’

I held back the urge to swallow dryly and turned my attention back to the patriarch.

With a face so cold the word ‘ice’ suited it perfectly, he set down his teacup.

Clack.

“It has been a while.”

“…Yes.”

He initiated the conversation.

But I couldn’t pick any further words to say.

Partly because talking to a father figure was awkward.

‘But if it were Raon….’

This silence was probably the right response.

He didn’t just dislike his father; it bordered on hatred.

“I heard you went to see Mabel upon your return before seeing your father.”

“…I apologize, Patriarch.”

The patriarch represents the family and is the leader of everyone.

And more than that, he is the father who brought Raon into this world.

Seeing him first was the natural order of things.

It was a level of disrespect easily worth pointing out.

Judging as such, I bowed my head.

‘…This wouldn’t have been his original reaction, though.’

Raon hated his father.

Depending on his stress level at the time, he would even spit out lines like this:

‘Don’t try acting like a father when you never have before.’

‘….’

Of course. It’s not like I couldn’t say those words myself.

But because I knew the patriarch’s true feelings.

I couldn’t bring myself to say them to his face.

‘…He’s a pitiful character, really.’

The position of a patriarch meant he couldn’t have only one child.

He couldn’t love only one child.

And he couldn’t protect only one child.

Well, it was a given as a father.

But even if his children aimed for each other’s lives and eventually drove each other to death.

Because he was a patriarch before he was a father, he had to maintain a stance of a ‘bystander.’

In order to protect the family.

‘…The problem is I know too much.’

In the past, he hid his intentions so well that I treated him as an ‘enemy’ and gathered information on him.

After several resets, I finally discovered his true feelings.

‘I wanted to protect you.’

After hearing that line even once.

I couldn’t act hostile toward him.

‘…It probably doesn’t matter.’

The route was already deviating from what I initially planned anyway.

And there was nothing bad about softening my relationship with the patriarch.

Under the condition that I give up on the succession race.

And gain power instead.

“…You have changed significantly.”

The patriarch, who had maintained his silence for a while, spoke again.

His gray eyes harbored a strange light.

“Almost like a completely different person.”

An immediate chill ran down my entire body.

‘Did I get caught?’

No.

If he really figured it out, he would have restrained me immediately somehow.

No matter how much mana I had or that I possessed a mana-absorbing chain.

The patriarch’s realm was not something that could be hindered by ‘mere things’ like this.

“….”

“….”

Silence hovered between the two of us for a moment.

From the side, I heard the sound of Abella choking on her spit and coughing.

Hiding my immense tension, I glanced at the chain.

‘If he tries to kill me, can I run?’

Impossible.

Even for me, against a great mage, securing an escape route—let alone a chance at victory—was completely out of the question.

“….”

Clack.

Fortunately.

The patriarch stood up without launching an attack at me.

Abella, having barely stopped coughing, pounded her chest lightly and spoke.

“A-Are you leaving?”

“Yes.”

The patriarch nodded and walked past me.

“I merely came to see your face.”

Pat.

The patriarch’s hand tapped my shoulder.

As if cheering me on.

“You look much better.”

“…Thank you.”

I reached up with Raon’s hand and touched the shoulder the patriarch had just patted.

The hand of the patriarch, who had a face like ice.

Was warm.

‘….’

How was it when I first met the patriarch?

Back then, I didn’t know how to plan my route, so I spent two whole years at the academy.

The patriarch I saw after that.

Didn’t say a single word.

‘….’

Even when Raon met his death.

Even during the sudden events after his death.

As time passed, the ‘patriarch’ grew stronger while his humanity faded, and his evaluation of Raon kept plummeting.

The first line he ever spoke to me.

Was two years after the tutorial. Spoken only when I returned as quickly as possible and passed the siblings’ trial.

‘I will return your place to you.’

That was a position I wouldn’t have gotten back if not for the patriarch’s consideration.

Did Raon know that?

Right now, before those emotions had deepened.

What kind of feelings are you harboring?

What are you thinking as you look at that warm back that had to appear so cold?

I stared blankly at my ‘father’s’ back.

***

“…Patriarch. Are you finished?”

“Yes.”

The Wanderer approached the patriarch, his body fraught with tension.

Despite having already reached the realm of a great mage, the patriarch continued to grow.

He was slowly inching closer to the realm of the Absolute, known as the ‘Emperor,’ a level achieved by very few in history.

‘If it is the Patriarch… he might have seen what I could not.’

The only ones capable of deceiving his eyes were fellow patriarchs of a similar realm and the Emperor.

No matter how much mana Raon possessed to rival him, he was still nothing more than an inexperienced greenhorn.

He did not possess the ability to deceive the patriarch.

‘If Young Master Raon truly committed an act he shouldn’t have….’

Exactly how.

And from what transcendent being he had borrowed power.

He needed to know.

As a priest.

He could not dare let a heretic live.

“How was it?”

At the Wanderer’s loaded question.

The patriarch lightly closed and opened his eyes.

“He was not afraid of me.”

“…Pardon?”

“That is enough.”

The patriarch did not answer the Wanderer any further.

Without showing a single sign of casting, he vanished from the spot with Teleport.

“….”

Standing there.

The Wanderer stared blankly for a moment, then scratched his head.

‘…I suppose that means he isn’t a heretic?’

He’s so unfriendly, honestly.

***

‘….’

I thought I was going to die.

I wiped my palms, drenched in cold sweat, with a handkerchief.

‘…Still. I survived, so it’s fine.’

With this, the immediate issues within the family were resolved.

All that was left.

‘The trial in two weeks.’

I had to start preparing for it now.

Even though my legs were trembling a bit and I felt exhausted.

A single day was a massive amount of time.

It would be different if this were still a game, but now that it was reality, I had to manage my time well.

“Abella.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going out.”

“Uh, w-wait a moment!”

As if she hadn’t expected me to move again so soon, Abella hurriedly stood up and swept an assortment of items into her pocket.

Perhaps spatial magic was cast on it, as her pocket didn’t bulge in the slightest.

“Ready!”

Having confirmed she packed the coin pouch while getting ready, I gave a brief nod.

‘I need to move quickly.’

My brain felt fried.

But after forcing it to work as much as possible, I decided on what to do first.

‘I’ll tour the territory and gather information.’

Of course, taverns and similar places were out of the question.

Pointlessly agitating my siblings might just crank up the trial’s difficulty.

To a place that was safe to visit in the game.

That’s where I should go.

Creak—

Upon stepping out, I made eye contact with a maid cleaning the corridor.

The maid naturally lowered her eyes.

I pointed a finger at my room.

“Clean it up. Don’t touch my things.”

“U-Understood!”

“….”

Abella seemed fascinated by the maid taking such a submissive stance, staring blankly for a moment before hurriedly running after me as I walked away.

Sweeping her messy hair to the side, Abella asked cautiously.

“…Young Master. Where are you heading?”

“I don’t know. It’s too stifling inside.”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps because I usually complained about it being stifling inside, she didn’t say anything more.

Leaving the mansion, a massive garden that would take minutes of walking just to see the end of came into view.

The guard stationed by the gate asked me.

“Where are you heading, sir?”

“The territory.”

“Then I will escort you.”

The guard bowed politely and guided me to a spot right next to the mansion gate.

Installed there was a teleportation device with maintenance costs that could cover a commoner’s living expenses for an entire year.

As I stepped onto the teleportation device, the guard bowed politely.

“Please contact us whenever you wish to return.”

Clunk!

The lever was pulled down, and the teleportation device emitted a bright light.

“….”

“….”

“…?”

What the. Why isn’t it teleporting?

Briefly wearing a flustered expression, the guard fiddled with the device before, ah. Belatedly realizing something, he spoke to me cautiously.

“…Um, please detach the chain first.”

“Ah!”

Abella hugged my chain into her arms.

Only then.

Flash—!

The teleportation device activated properly, transporting my body.

The garden I saw just moments ago was gone, replaced by the sight of a bustling city swarming with people.

“Wow… It really has been a while….”

The territory directly managed by the Rigbelto family, a historic domain maintained since the family was first established.

The Rigbelto Estate.

Seeing a territory with infrastructure that rivaled the current imperial capital in reality rather than in a game made it even more beautiful.

“….”

Feeling an overwhelming thrill as a gamer, I took a step into the territory.

The territory.

Was loud, yet looked exactly as I had imagined.

An evolved version of a market you’d expect to see in a fantasy game… is how I’d describe it. The structures were generally similar, but artifacts activated sporadically to clean the dirty streets and purify the air.

“Here, here! Try some roasted lizard! No, old man! You can’t just eat it for free!”

“Eh? You said to try it!”

“I meant buy it and try it, obviously!”

The bickering market, the swarms of people, the laughter and atmosphere felt from everywhere.

Everything was exactly as I had pictured.

Yeah. So this is the world you’ve been looking at.

“Huff, huff, huff….”

After wandering around in a daze for a bit.

Abella, who was following behind me, grabbed me while panting.

“Y-Young Master!”

“?”

“If you’re just going to walk around aimlessly, how about over there? The terrace is really bright and the tea is delicious, so it’s a great place to pass the time.”

“….”

I glanced at the cafe she pointed out.

‘Did she like places like that?’

To say she pointed anywhere at random, her eyes were shining too brightly and she clearly looked excited.

Instead of answering, I breezed inside, and Abella, following right behind, familiarly rented a table on the VIP terrace.

“Paper.”

“Yep!”

Taking a seat, I spread out the paper and tapped it with a pen.

‘The major events related to me mostly happen two years from now.’

I had organized events occurring prior to the two-year mark a few times before.

But most of them were insignificant.

And due to the Rigbelto family strictly controlling information, I couldn’t even gather them properly.

‘Even the major events I managed to dig up mostly happen at least half a year from now….’

I rested my chin on my hand.

‘…Should I plan to visit the important characters in the meantime?’

My head was spinning.

I glanced outside the terrace just to clear my mind for a moment.

“!”

My eyes went wide.

Down below the terrace. An old man soaking up the sunlight while drinking coffee caught my eye.

Why is that old man down there?