Throughout this week, which I spent like a slave, I was scolded for every ‘task’ I had to leave to Chris or his children.

Yet I endured each one, trying my best to be a better slave each time.

Getting stronger was the most important thing for me. If the Laergas Family was the best option for me, then I was ready to tolerate even more.

So even this simple thing, Chris Laergas himself closing the door that was left open, was actually a big problem…

“Now…”

But, for some reason, the man I expected to glare at me… looked calm. There was no anger in his eyes, just a calmness I couldn’t quite understand why it was there.

“I’ll keep my word, Adr—”

He paused for a moment, one eyebrow slightly raised as he studied me. Then suddenly, the corners of his lips turned up, and his strangely calm expression instantly changed to one that looked like he was enjoying himself. Then…

“Ah, ahahahahah!”

He slapped his thigh so hard that the sound echoed throughout the room. I was trying to figure out what was going on, unable to comprehend anything, when he talked again.

“Ah, haaa… you played your role very well. There’s no need to be so tense, calm down. You passed the test after all.”

…

Wait a minute…

After treating me like a slave for a week, scolding me and giving me death glares for every wrong move I made, is he now acting like it doesn’t matter at all…?

Is he laughing at me because I got nervous, thinking I did something wrong after everything I’ve been through…?

I… didn’t misunderstand, right?

“Oh my, you really made me laugh this hard.”

…

I’m going to kill this man.

No, wait…

I’ll make him work until death just like me, and only after that, I’ll kill him.

“Anyway, put your plans to kill me aside and listen carefully now.”

After wiping the tiny tear from his eye with the back of his hand, he leaned back and continued speaking, without completely erasing his smile.

“Let me be clear, I still don’t trust you very much. I haven’t mentioned it until now, and I’m not sure if you realize it somewhat or not, but there’s a dormant consciousness of my great-grandfather inside you.”

All the anger I felt toward the man in front of me, all the revenge plans running through my mind… they vanished. The world seemed to stop spinning in that instant.

“Which means killing you would also erase that consciousness.”

He paused, narrowing his eyes for a moment.

“Well, it will be erased, I guess. It needs to be erased.”

His smile completely vanished, his ocean-blue eyes staring at me as if I were… an enemy.

“But that small chance that it might not be like that… it messes things up. If I were sure your consciousness would disappear, no matter what you did to me, no matter how much potential you had, no matter how much you begged… I would have pulled the plug on you right where we first met. But I can’t. That’s why I’ve been trying all this time to be sure I could trust you.”

…

So he was aware of the thing I’d been so careful to keep from him all this time? From the very beginning?

Then… was all my effort in vain?

These thoughts were running through my mind as I paused, trying to clear my head.

No, I hadn’t struggled in vain.

It was still too late to react like that.

If he realized I was hiding something from him, the trouble would be much greater. He seems to be keeping me alive for now, after all.

“You look surprised.”

Fuck.

“You probably triggered something in that secret hideout you found in Neutral and absorbed his consciousness. Although I’m still not quite sure.”

…

Ah.

This misunderstanding… is good, I guess?

“Anyway. That’s why I couldn’t trust you, no matter what you did. However, based on what Matthew said, what I learned after researching you, and my own observations… I’ve started to think that I can at least use your potential.”

Though… he’s not tricking me, right? The possibility that he deliberately orchestrated this ‘misunderstanding’ isn’t zero, after all…

I need to stay vigilant.

“Maybe, I doubt it, but if the consciousness inside doesn’t try to ‘take you over,’ or even if it does, if you can resist it, you could be more useful to us than dying and taking my great-grandfather with you.”

Whatever happens, I must continue to be careful. I don’t know what exactly

Lithoa did to them, but… it definitely wasn’t pleasant, judging by how scared they are of him and how cautious they are.

“Hey, what are you thinking?”

I stopped in an instant, everything in my mind suddenly wiped clean.

I looked into the eyes of the man in front of me with a surprised expression, and at that moment I realized that his attitude and everything about him had completely changed.

His eyebrows were furrowed. His ocean-blue eyes were sparkling. There was a slight pressure on me, enough to keep me in place, but it would definitely increase if I resisted. Even the amount of light entering the room seemed to have decreased.

Chris Laergas… I don’t know why, but he was angry.

“You just thought of my great-grandfather’s name. What were you thinking?”

“H- huh?”

Ah…

“Don’t even think my name in your mind.”

Right… those were his last words before putting himself to sleep.

After learning that the man in front of me already knew the truth, I foolishly forgot this warning.

I opened my mouth to speak, but then I realized that the skill he used whenever he was interrogating me was active again.

I wanted to tell the truth. If I spoke without thinking, I would blurt out everything without even realizing it.

“I… was just wondering why you hated and feared him so much. What he could have done to be even erased from history. That’s all…”

Chris Laergas narrowed his eyes a little more.

“Are you sure?”

The pressure on me, the atmosphere in the room, grew heavier.

It became even harder to speak.

“Y- yes. Why would I lie…?”

He continued to stare at me for a few more seconds. But then he stretched a bit and sighed. First, the glow in his eyes faded, then the pressure in the room eased.

“These are… things you don’t need to know right now. Let’s continue our previous conversation.”

As if nothing had happened, he brought back that little smile.

He was so different from before that it was as if… he was acting right now.

His current state seemed like a simple image he was putting on in front of me. The one from a moment ago… was the expression of his true feelings toward me.

I swallowed involuntarily when I realized this.

Chris Laergas… was much more dangerous to me than I had thought.

“As I promised, I’ll make you stronger. Much stronger. By the time summer ends and the academy reopens, you’ll probably be B+ grade. You’ll be pretty close to A- too.”

But this was the moment when I instantly forgot everything that had happened, when I ignored the danger of the man in front of me, when my eyes widened like saucers, and I stared at the man in front of me with my mouth open.

Almost A-?

By the end of summer?

Is such a rate of improvement even possible, even for someone like me…?

I swallowed once again and opened my statistics window.

<<——————————

–Personal Information–

Name: Adrian

Last Name: Caleo

Race: Human/Elf

Age: 19

–Statistics–

General Level: B-

Strength: B

Agility: B-

Vitality: C+

Endurance: C+

Luck: D+

Magic Power: B

Mana Efficiency: B+

Charm: A-

–Order–

Grade: C

Status: Novice

Purity Tolerance: C+

Limit: C

–Masteries–

[Spear Mastery(B-)] — [Mana Specialist(B-)] — [Qilsak Spear Mastery(C+)] — [Mana Magic(B+)]

–Active Skills–

[Mana Ascension(C+)] — [Platform(C+)] — [Wrath of the Vines(B-)] — [Guardian Radiance(A)

–Passive Skills–

[Difficulty Lover(A)] — [Friend of Mana(B+)] — [Poison Immunity(D-)]

——————————>>

I wanted my general level to be B- before starting this ‘internship’ thing, and I managed to do so.

It was three days before going to Rector Melany that I reached B-. Being a half-elf made the progression from C to B much easier, which helped me considerably. After all, I already had a mana heart.

And there was no way the man in front of me didn’t know this. He must have known my general level was B-.

And yet, despite that, he said I would increase my general level by two grades? No, considering he said that I would be close to A-… I would jump almost three grades in just three months…?

“Heh, I can see you think it’s impossible. But you’ll see for yourself.”

His smile widened as if he were enjoying himself. Then he paused as if something had suddenly occurred to him.

“Of course, you won’t get that much power unconditionally, I’ll tell you that up front. When our work is done and you’ve grown stronger as I mentioned, your rate of progress will slow down. It will be harder to improve your general level and stats. Though there will be a trade-off. Even though your progress will slow down, every step you take in this regard will now be more effective than normal.”

Everything he said made my brain hurt even more. It wasn’t because I didn’t understand, but because of excitement and… curiosity.

I was excited because if what he said was true, this was truly the most important step I could take to grow stronger.

I was curious… because I was beginning to understand why and how the Laergas Family had become so powerful, how they had acquired such effective methods.

This family… was like an absolute weapon that Cevilian kept secret. If they were among the most powerful families on the planet, among all races, I wouldn’t be surprised at this rate.

And that was what confused me.

Yes, a family member from a few generations ago may have been one of the most powerful beings the planet had ever seen… but how had the entire lineage become like this?

It was strange when I thought about it. Even if the members of a family were generally powerful individuals, it wasn’t always the case. And even if it were, their skills and powers would be similar.

The Laergas family was different.

Chris Laergas was a man whose strength I still couldn’t grasp, and he also possessed a strange skill for interrogation.

His only daughter, Claire Laergas, was the most effective healer I had ever seen.

His middle child, Matthew Laergas, possessed a broken skill that could enable him to become incredibly powerful in the future.

His youngest child, Tom Laergas, was a sort of ‘prophet’ who could paint pictures of the future.

Each member of this family had very… different skills, but ultimately they were people I could describe as absurd and abnormal.

“Oh, and you’ll also have a random skill that will be quite effective. I forgot to add that.”

…

Absolute nonsense.

On top of everything else, a random skill too…?

As I was thinking this, Chris Laergas stood up and stretched slightly. Then, broadening his smile a little more, he headed for the door.

“Anyway, follow me. You’re going to go through a rather… long process.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep