Chapter 48: Entering High Society (1)

4***

A month had passed since I formed a new Connection with the children.

This year, as always, the world was colored white.

Beyond the window, all that could be seen was a white world.

Outside, snow was falling ceaselessly, leaving no room to even set foot.

Inside the warm room, the fireplace crackled softly.

Using the sound of the burning wood as ASMR, I swirled the teacup under my nose.

'It should have arrived by now.'

As the scent tickled my nose, I recalled the Telegram I had sent to the Order four days ago.

What I had sent was none other than the GIK Guideline, a method for treating Heart Disease using Insulin.

'This world still lacks proper Heart Medicine.'

In this era, the only medicine with a cardioprotective effect is Digitalis.

A world without Nitroglycerin, Diuretics, or Beta-blockers.

In a world like this, even GIK Therapy is a godsend.

'I need to make other medicines quickly.'

However, in the 21st Century, GIK Therapy was removed from the guidelines for Myocardial Infarction.

It had a cardioprotective effect, but the inconvenience of having to manually adjust the IV Fluid was too great.

With advanced technology, Heart Disease could be managed with oral medication at the click of a button, so why bother with an IV Fluid?

As a result, GIK Therapy became a treatment used only before heart surgery and nothing else.

'Come to think of it, in the 21st Century, it was a treatment only done in the Thoracic Surgery Department and the Emergency Medicine Department.'

Internal Medicine, on the other hand, had so many other good drugs that they hardly ever used GIK Therapy.

I'm envious.

In Thoracic Surgery, the diseases we dealt with were often the final boss, so we didn't have that many options.

Just as I was mulling over my 21st-century medical knowledge.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of a knock on the door, my consciousness returned from a 21st-century General Hospital to the reality of this Fusion Punk World Setting.

"Young Master, a letter has arrived."

"Come in."

The door opened, and Head Butler Wilhelm entered holding a Silver tray.

A single letter lay on the tray.

"It arrived through the Merkur Trading Company."

"Merkur?"

My heart fluttered with excitement as I checked the letter.

Had a reply from the Order already arrived?

It was entirely possible.

After all, Director Schun had built up a lot of Accumulated Favor with the Order, so they were quite fond of me.

'Perhaps before next spring, the guideline will... ah.'

But as soon as I saw the envelope on the tray, I couldn't hide my disappointment.

It wasn't a letter from the Order.

The Order typically seals its letters by pressing the Seal of each Branch into Sealing Wax.

However, the letter on the Head Butler's tray was sealed with a string, not wax.

'Who sent this?'

Seeing as it was sent with a string and not wax, it wasn't from a noble.

Then it must be from Wangcho or one of the Scholarship Students...

I checked the sender's name written on the envelope.

Sender — Ayla & Valeria

'Aha.'

It was the sisters, Ayla & Valeria.

Our potential Saintess, or Romance Fantasy female lead.

And her older sister.

'They've sent a letter already.'

The corners of my mouth turned up unconsciously.

Before the Heavy Snow began, I had sent a Promissory Note to the Scholarship Students to help with their heating costs.

Unlike Limbus Pit, Civitas Square has good heating facilities, so almost no one freezes to death.

But that didn't mean fuel costs weren't a burden.

So, I sent them a small sum for fuel, along with a letter telling them not to catch a cold this winter.

And this letter appeared to be a thank you for that.

'So this is the joy of being a Daddy-Long-Legs.'

I carefully untied the string on the letter.

As I took out the letter, something else slipped out with it.

It was a Pressed Flower.

Its edges were slightly faded to brown, but it was a flower with white petals.

'It's a Daisy.'

This precious thing.

In a world without a sun, the act of sending such a Pressed Flower is especially meaningful.

Even more so if it was one she had grown herself.

I placed the Pressed Flower on a corner of my Desk and unfolded the letter.

======================

To Director Schun,

Hello, Director.

I am the Scholarship Student, Ayla.

You said it was okay to write to you freely, so I'm mustering the courage to do so.

Thanks to the money you sent, I think I'll be able to spend this winter warmly.

I used to always catch a cold before the snow stopped each year.

It's a relief not to have to worry about that this year.

Thank you so very much.

The enclosed flower is a Daisy I grew myself.

I put a pot by the window and watered it every morning.

I wanted to give it to you, so I pressed it prettily and sent it.

I hope you like it.

Oh, right. My mother said that when writing these letters, I should also mention what I've been studying, so I'm writing it here.

Lately, I've been preparing for my second year in the Seminary's Middle School Division and doing some Pre-study on the History of Theology.

I actually want to pre-study to be a Healer, but my mother says it's meaningless unless I awaken my Divine Power, so she's making me study History.

I think my mother believes I might not be able to awaken my Divine Power.

But I'm confident...

Do you think so too, Director?

I would be grateful if you could tell me what you think.

I think even my mother would listen to what you have to say.

Well, I'll end this letter here.

Please take care of your health, Director!

Sincerely, Ayla

P.S. — My older sister wanted to write a letter too, so I've attached it below.

======================

Below Ayla's writing, the penmanship changed.

Unlike Ayla's round, bubbly handwriting, this was sharp and neat.

It was Valeria's writing.

======================

To Director Schun,

This is Valeria.

First, thank you for the Magic Stone Lamp you sent.

Thanks to it, I can now study without worrying about dripping wax.

When a candle burns for a long time, the wax drips and makes the desk messy, and worse, the smell of soot gave me a headache.

The Magic Stone Lamp doesn't have those problems, so it's much more comfortable to study with.

My mother also liked it, saying it was less tiring on her eyes.

I am now preparing for the Middle School Division graduation exam and the High School Division entrance exam.

The graduation topic is to analyze cases of treaty signings between the Empire and neighboring kingdoms and submit a report, and it's more complex than I thought.

However, thanks to the Scholarship, I was able to buy textbooks and save the time I would have spent waiting in line to borrow them from the library.

I will study more with the time I've saved.

I will become a person who lives up to your expectations.

Sincerely, Valeria

=======================

I put the letter down.

From the handwriting to the content.

I could see just how polar opposite the sisters' personalities were.

While Ayla's writing dripped with a Feeler's Sensitivity, Valeria's writing conveyed a Thinker's Rationality with clarity.

It's not that either one was particularly bad.

I just found the difference amusing.

I placed the two letters on my desk and thought for a moment.

'Did Daddy-Long-Legs write back in the Original Work?'

I wasn't sure. I wasn't one to read classic literature diligently.

But I was well-versed in the conventions of Web Novels.

'I should probably write back, right?'

If I don't, the genre always seems to drift toward Anguish.

I picked up a pen and began to scratch it across the paper.

The content was nothing special.

For Ayla, I sent words of encouragement, 'You will definitely awaken your Divine Power,' and for Valeria, I replied that if she needed more materials, I would send even hard-to-find ones.

Of course, I included a line about not studying too late and being careful not to catch a cold.

I folded the letter and melted Sealing Wax over a candle flame.

Red wax dripped onto the envelope, and I pressed my Seal onto it.

In the middle of the Crow drawing, the letter 'Schun', as if scribbled, was imprinted.

I originally wanted to make it Schnabel.

But I couldn't fit all the letters on the Seal, so I had to compromise with Schun (Schn).

Because of this, more people in the world knew me as Doctor Schun rather than Doctor Schnabel.

There wasn't much of a difference between the two, so I didn't bother to correct them.

'Time to send the letter.'

However, there was an important point here.

That it must be sent through the trading company, not by me directly.

This is because, in people's minds, Director Schun is a self-made man, a Dirt Spoon who succeeded through hard work.

At least, he is in the eyes of the Scholarship Students.

That's why the children harbor hope.

That if they work hard, they can become like him.

That they can be judged by the path they've walked, not by where they were born.

There was nothing to be gained from revealing to those children that I was a noble from birth and didn't need nearly as much effort.

'An idol is most beautiful when they remain an idol.'

Of course, the conventions of the Misunderstanding Genre would take care of most problems.

Still, I planned to hide my identity as much as possible to motivate the children.

Of course, the fact that I enjoy playing Daddy-Long-Legs also plays a part.

I folded the letter neatly and rang the bell on my desk.

Ding.

"Did you call, sir?"

"Please send this letter to the trading company. The recipient is written on the envelope."

"I understand."

"Ah, and one more thing."

I winked at the Head Butler.

"It's a secret from Freya."

"... Haha. Indeed, the Young Lady might get jealous. I understand."

The Head Butler took the letter.

A wrinkled hand carefully held the envelope and left the room.

*

It was time for Dinner.

Belying the Heavy Snow outside, the Nihilrit Family's dining hall was as cozy and warm as ever.

The entire family was gathered at the table.

At the Seat of Honor was Father Handel, and next to him, Mother Linier.

Opposite them were myself, Freya, and Erika.

And in a high chair, waving his arms, was our Youngest Child, Fried.

Today's menu was venison stew, roasted potatoes, and winter pumpkin soup.

I hadn't made it.

I've been busy with some research lately, so I haven't had time to do the cooking in the evening.

"Hmm..."

Father furrowed his brow after seeing the menu.

Father kept glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"... Didn't they say venison had arrived, Yulian?"

What's this?

What is he trying to say?

Surely, he's not disappointed that I didn't cook?

'Nah. No way.'

Both my Mother and Father.

Neither of them particularly liked me cooking.

The reason being that it was a demerit in the nobles' Marriage Market.

So, there's no way Father was waiting for my cooking.

In the first place, I'd been sneaking into the kitchen lately, so he couldn't have known I was cooking anyway.

"Have you been that busy lately?"

"Yes. I have."

"... I see."

He seemed strangely disappointed.

I decided to think it was just my imagination.

And so, the meal proceeded.

For a while, only the clinking of silverware could be heard.

"Yulian."

Around the time I'd finished about half my soup.

Father spoke.

"How old are you this year?"

It was a sudden question.

But such questions from fathers are often sudden, so I answered without fluster.

"Fifteen, Father."

"Fifteen. Right. Once the snow stops and the new year passes, you'll be sixteen."

I could predict where this conversation was headed as soon as I heard it.

Though I had already guessed the point of his words, I feigned ignorance and wiped my mouth with a napkin.

"And after another year passes, you'll be seventeen."

"..."

"When that time comes, you'll have to start looking for a fiancée."

I knew it.

The nobles of the Empire generally find a fiancé when they turn seventeen.

It's not because there's a Youth Protection Act that they don't find one sooner.

In a world that puts children to work in factories, what Children's Rights could there be?

It's simply because that's the most appropriate time.

Nobles originally begin learning Magic at 12 years old.

It takes three years to master the Basics of magic, making them fifteen.

Then, another year passes while learning Arcane Magic, making them sixteen.

However, if they were to get engaged right then, they wouldn't have time to appeal to themselves in High Society.

So they take a year to present themselves, making it seventeen.

Depending on the circumstances, one could get engaged later.

In any case, most nobles tend to get engaged at seventeen.

"I know this must be a bit startling. I was engaged to your birth mother when I was your age."

"..."

I almost choked on my food when I heard that.

It was because a forgotten part of the setting came to mind.

Father Handel's first love was not Mother Linier, but my birth mother.

But because Father Handel couldn't learn Arcane Magic and thus couldn't inherit the title, the engagement fell through.

My birth mother was a Healing priest, a Cleric, so she had no Noble Title.

If two such people married, they would be demoted to commoners, so they both went their separate ways.

...But is it okay to say that at the dinner table?

I don't think Mother Linier would like it.

I glanced at Mother, sitting beside Father.

Contrary to my expectation, Mother's reaction was calm.

"Yulian. Don't worry. I'm fine now. Your father chose me in the end, so what does the past matter?"

I don't know about that.

You weren't like this when I was younger.

...is what I almost said.

"Ahem. I seem to have spoken out of turn. Anyway, at your age, shouldn't you be preparing for an engagement soon?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Especially if you're to enter a family as an adopted son-in-law, this period will be more important for you than for anyone."

That's true.

To reiterate, sixteen is the age when the names of this world's noble scions begin to seriously circulate in the Marriage Market.

If I didn't actively market myself during this period, I could end up being sold off to an old spinster who had missed her own Marriageable Age.

'Good merchandise sells out early, after all.'

There's a reason nobles don't dawdle and get engaged at seventeen.

However, I held no particular complaint or worry about this situation of being married off as an adopted son-in-law.

There's still a year left.

Isn't it enough if I achieve an Accomplishment that prevents me from having to become an adopted son-in-law?

Even if I do become one, I might meet a compatible Connection.

So there was no reason to see the engagement as a purely bad thing just yet.

'There's no need to be too anxious until then.'

Just as I was mumbling such peaceful self-reassurances.

"That makes no sense."

Clack!

Freya said, slamming her fork down roughly.

"Older Brother cured the Demon Disease. So why does he have to bow his head and enter another family?"

"Freya."

"I don't understand. Older Brother isn't someone who should just be an adopted son-in-law. Curing the Demon Disease should be enough to start a new family, shouldn't it?"

Freya's eyes, as clear as a glacier, turned to Father.

Father gave a bitter smile.

Then he suddenly looked at Mother as if seeking her permission.

Mother nodded, then spoke up herself.

"Freya. I know why you're angry. But this is Noble society. Your father was the same."

"Father too...?"

Beside Mother, Father also nodded with a bitter expression.

"Your father also entered the Nihilrit Family as an adopted son-in-law. Before he was engaged to me, he was a rather famous Knight-Errant. He was someone who reached the 3rd Rank with Fighting Aura alone."

"What? Father did?"

"Yes."

Mother continued her explanation.

"Freya. As you said, if one could become a noble through Meritorious Deeds or Accomplishments alone, there would probably be many knights in the Empire who could become nobles. But they cannot. Do you know why?"

"I... don't know."

"Because they cannot pass on that special quality."

That's right.

That was the problem.

First of all, a noble's Privilege comes from their Duty.

Therefore, a noble must fundamentally possess combat strength or an equivalent skill.

The kind of power that can protect their family and domain from Demonic Beasts and Demonkin.

But this alone is not enough to become a noble.

Because one more element is required.

"Fighting Aura, in the end, must be honed from scratch by the individual. Therefore, there's no guarantee that level of mastery will be passed on to their descendants."

"..."

Succession and development.

Another duty of a noble.

A noble family must protect the Empire for generations.

Therefore, they must prove they can succeed the special quality that made them nobles, and that they can develop that succeeded quality.

This is also why the majority of knights cannot become nobles.

Because there is no guarantee that their successors, or children, will inherit their special quality.

And there's even less of a guarantee that it will be developed.

"But Arcane Magic is different. Knowledge can be succeeded even across generations. And if it's succeeded, it can be developed through Research."

And this is also why nobles are so obsessed with Arcane Magic.

Because unlike Fighting Aura, the succession and development of magic are relatively guaranteed.

Unlike honing, knowledge isn't greatly affected by the uncertain variable of genetics.

And even if they can't pass on magical talent, they can just keep having children until one inherits it.

It doesn't even matter if the person who learned the Arcane Magic is weak in their generation.

They just have to ensure the Arcane Magic is succeeded within the next generation or the one after.

If succession continues like that, development is just a matter of time.

This was why the Legitimacy of nobles was directly linked to Arcane Magic.

"You can't receive a Noble Title just for being great in this one generation. You must prove that you can protect the Empire for generations, from your Ancestors to your descendants. A title is also a promise that continues to future generations."

"But talent can be inherited too!"

"But you haven't been able to prove that."

At Mother's firm reply, Freya pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze to her plate.

Watching my younger sister, I couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

'This is how it is.'

It's easy to forget with all my recent activities, but my actions haven't drastically improved the Empire's situation.

Quinine only managed to halt the retreating Southern Front, and even that was just giving it some breathing room.

Humanity still lives trapped within walls, worrying about when those walls might suddenly collapse.

In such a world, the weight of a title was not so light that it could be rashly given to someone who would live for just one generation, a mere hundred years.

Because a title is, in the end, a promise that these walls will not fall.

A hope that will continue to the next generation, and the one after that, even to the names not yet born.

To sum it up, the fact that I created Quinine, made Insulin, and cured the Demon Disease?

It's amazing from the Empire's perspective, that's true.

The Empire never takes the Meritorious Deeds of a competent person lightly.

That's why they gave me a hefty sum of money and guaranteed my Rights so that other trading companies, nobles, or the Order couldn't infringe upon my interests.

But that is all a reward for 'this generation's competence'.

A title was a completely different story.

What the Empire demanded for a title was not just competence, but the Perpetuity of that competence.

In the end, without a 'promise' that this incredible talent, the 'ability to develop medicine,' would be succeeded by my descendants, they couldn't readily grant me a title.

I understand the Empire's position completely, which is why I'm not particularly angry.

'The Empire doesn't know I'm the Protagonist. What can you do when the System is designed that way.'

Unless I come up with an invention in my generation that completely exterminates the Demonic Beasts.

Otherwise, the Empire isn't likely to change the Aristocratic System it has maintained for a thousand years.

'The System doesn't exist for the individual, after all.'

But unlike me, the still-young Freya seemed unable to accept the injustice of this system.

"But... it was the Demon Disease..."

"I'm fine, Freya. Thank you for being angry on my behalf."

"It's nothing..."

Freya poked at an innocent potato with her fork.

Father, who had been watching her quietly, spoke.

"Freya. And being an adopted son-in-law isn't necessarily a bad thing. Have you ever seen me being disrespected in this house?"

"N... no..."

"Right. Just because one is an adopted son-in-law doesn't mean it's necessarily bad."

He's right.

Being an adopted son-in-law doesn't mean you're in a position where you have to walk on eggshells.

In fact, as you can see from Father's case, there are plenty of instances where an adopted son-in-law takes the title of family head.

After all, the Nihilrit Family needed Father's combat strength.

In other words, if you're good enough, you won't have to live cautiously anywhere you go.

"Even if your older brother enters another family, I don't see him as someone who would live at the mercy of others. Lately, he doesn't even care what I think and wanders outside all the time."

"..."

The way you say that makes it sound like I'm running around like some kind of delinquent.

Father ignored my silent protest and continued speaking.

"So don't worry. As much as you worry about Yulian, we worry too. So I'll make sure Yulian doesn't end up with a witch-like sister-in-law that you're worried about, Freya."

A hint of Father's characteristic dry humor tinged his last words.

The table went quiet for a moment, then the sound of Mother suppressing her laughter could be heard.

Freya didn't say anything for a while.

She kept her lips pressed tightly together, her eyes lowered to her plate.

The roasted potato she was poking slowly slid off the end of her fork.

Then, her expression gradually softened.

Freya gave a small nod.

Then Freya suddenly muttered to herself.

"No, wait. If Arcane Magic is the problem..."

Freya turned her head to the side.

From her perspective, her gaze fell on Erika, who was over my shoulder.

"...Huh?"

Erika, who had been struggling to pick up a small potato with her fork, felt the gaze and looked up.

Erika met Freya's eyes.

"Wha?"

"No... it's just... Unnie, don't you have any thoughts on this?"

"Thoughts on what?"

"Do you even know what we were talking about?"

"Sorry. Wasn't listening."

Freya let out a shallow sigh, then,

"Haaah, it's nothing. Unnie, just please stay healthy."

She shook her head.