VIP Chapter 74: The Matter of the Birthday
The days of school always pass quickly. As classes are crossed off the schedule, the pleasant and short weekend arrives.
But…
This Saturday is extraordinary for Will.
Getting up early, Will glanced at the clock. There was about an hour left until his meeting with Treya.
His desk was a messy pile of draft paper, book pages, and large sheets of information that he had returned with Mr. S.
Will searched through the pile of documents for a long time and finally found his red-covered “Quest System.”
He opened it. In fact, it was already scribbled all over by himself. It’s fine; a qualified planner must be mentally prepared to revise drafts countless times from the initial version.
[Quest 88: Help Treya master a method to gain the Demon’s favor during the Crowning Festival.]
You ask about Quest 87?
Quest 87 was deleted because Treya skipped a grade and directly requested to study with him!
That’s right, his system is this willful, brooks no argument.
“The Demon’s favor…”
Will has not forgotten about this matter.
This is a setting that was revealed here, slightly earlier than in the original work. The original work revealed this setting when Treya had already been a defeated waifu for a long time. This is a big boost for her, allowing her to appear in later plot points.
But for the current Treya, it might even be too late.
Because the earlier she receives this recognition, the earlier she can learn the true Entak Demonic Sword Arts; otherwise, she will only ever grasp the superficial.
Closing the “Quest System,” Will began to search through the information on each successor of the Demonic Sword Arts.
The Entak Family is large. Besides the main lineage, some collateral branches can also learn the Demonic Sword Arts.
However, they are all considered to be of the Royal Family, and this is a secret sect of the Royal Family, with a high level of confidentiality. It is difficult to find the real information about these successors. They can only be found by sifting through dungeon exploration record books that read like a ledger.
Some records are even too detailed and have been classified as forbidden books.
However, Will already knows their secrets from beyond this world—
The Entak Family’s “Demonic Sword Arts” are, in reality, demonic and heretical, except for the basic eleven stances, which a normal person can perform with a sword.
The higher-level techniques, which allowed Eugenie to be called the “Red-Haired Sword Demon” and which she loved to show off within the adventuring team…
are actually achieved by borrowing the sword through a temporary spiritual possession, with the Demon’s favor.
The Entak Royal Family has not been good people from the ground up.
Three hundred years ago, the king who founded this era was also an adventurer. When he cleared a certain dungeon, he obtained the Demon’s Spirit Vessel on the final floor and received its protection.
Its uses are not limited to swordsmanship.
Hypnosis, control, mental killing, curses, plagues—almost anything you can think of.
Among these uses, swordsmanship can be considered simple, brutal, and pure.
This is the secret to the Entak Royal Family’s power.
In an era where strength was king and dungeon exploration was difficult, the Entak Royal Family used this power to excavate many good things from dungeons and eliminate many rivals.
Of course, dungeon exploration has become much easier now. Will bets that that old monster Carver probably has many hidden treasures of the same level.
Oh…
But this favor, unfortunately, is not something everyone with Entak blood can obtain.
The Demon has no gender and may not have a specific personality; it is a being like a collection of chaotic consciousness.
However, it is “consciousness” rather than “rule.”
It is like a very casual person—which fits the nature of a demon, perhaps. It will choose the objects it prefers to bestow its favor upon.
“Phew… Thank you to Mr. S for helping me organize these finally. I should have a general idea of what the Demon needs.”
Will took a deep breath and took out something he had treasured from the drawer.
“Young Master! The carriage is ready!”
—only to be interrupted by Iaar.
Will quickly crumpled the item and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Ahem, then, then, then… let’s set off.”
“Mm… Young Master, did you just hide something?”
“No need to mind, it’s just a very normal thing.”
Will waved his hand.
“Then… that, and… today… today is… is… Young Master’s…”
Iaar normally wouldn’t open the door without knocking.
But…
When she was practicing peeking through the door crack that morning, she saw her Young Master again at his desk, studying diligently. He looked very handsome when he was focused—that’s not it!
He was too deep in thought and serious.
It made Iaar wonder if he had forgotten that today was his birthday.
Speaking of which, when they were at the manor in Hysterm before, although his birthday was celebrated grandly, and even fireworks were prepared for him, the Young Master never seemed particularly happy.
For fourteen years, according to what Iaar heard, only when the Young Master was one year old did Old Master Carver return once.
After that, his birthdays were almost always celebrated by himself blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, with the servants planning it.
After all, he only started school now. Before this, he always had private tutors come to the house and didn’t have many friends.
This is his first birthday away from the manor.
Iaar didn’t want him to miss out. She originally wanted to prepare something secretly. Although she didn’t have many materials, she wanted to at least give him a surprise.
However, last night, she had already had her coffee and perked herself up. After confirming that the Young Master’s door was shut and the light was off, she sneaked out to bake a cake.
Suddenly, the Young Master caught her!
And he told her that he was going to Treya’s house tomorrow, to get to bed early and prepare well.
This way, he wouldn’t be home during the day.
Her freshly baked mini-cake, which she had painstakingly learned to make, didn’t have enough time to be prepared.
—Did the meticulous, cautious, and well-remembered Young Master truly forget his own birthday?
“Huh? Iaar, aren’t you coming? Although I haven’t set a specific time with Treya, I still don’t want to keep her waiting too long.”
“N-No, nothing.”
—See, he really forgot!
“Alright, alright, then let’s set off.”
—But he seems quite happy today.
This time, the carriage sent to pick up Will was directly from the Royal Family.
This carriage was touted for its absolute secrecy.
However, its external decorations were magnificent, attracting 100% of the回头率 as it sped through the streets.
This carriage was famous for never exposing its itinerary.
But it had a royal emblem of a rose with a missing corner directly attached to its roof.
This carriage guaranteed absolute safety.
But frankly, it wasn’t as sturdy as the armored car Will had equipped himself with in the very beginning.
Royal Family!
Do you even know why you’re going to fail!
Look at these fatal details!
You can’t wait for others to know that “a distinguished guest is entering the palace from the city,” can you!
Sitting inside the carriage, Will felt a bit uncomfortable.
Iaar, on the other hand, was very excited. It was the first time she had traveled so far from home since arriving in the Capital.
“I didn’t expect, Young Master, that you would… would bring me along.”
“Mm… Generally speaking, for a private gathering, it’s normal to bring a trusted personal servant, right?”
“Is, is, is that so? Trusted… personal… per… personal…”
“And, bringing you… isn’t just for the purpose of being a servant.”
“Uh huh?”
“Treya needs some resistance to completely overturn her previous perceptions and learn diligently from me from scratch.”
