"I've already sent a message to Miss Virelle, and she will speak directly with the king. For now, we'll stay here, as your parents will be training you personally."
"They're going to train me?"
Enrico was being carried toward the mansion, which was already visible just a few meters away. The speed of someone in the Eighth Circle was impressive, and that only increased his desire to reach that level as quickly as possible.
"Yes. They want to see the extent of your potential."
"This is going to be difficult."
"Well, the young master has done an excellent job pretending to be a prodigy so far, so it should be easy."
Angela only said that because she wouldn't be the one going through the training. Enrico had managed to defeat the bosses of the false water dungeon almost entirely through strategies, going in and out before being eliminated. And there were still two bosses left, in addition to the hidden boss.
'The problem is that I can only do this for five hours at most before I need to rest when it's time to sleep or when I have some free time. And I won't be able to face the other two for another few days.'
[It's possible to improve the false dungeon if you complete the first year.]
'Really? And what will the improvement be?'
[The time you spend inside will be twice as long as the time in the real world, and you'll be able to remove one of the restrictions we established.]
Enrico immediately became eager for the end of the year to arrive. That improvement would be extremely advantageous, and he didn't even need to think much to know which restriction he would remove first.
'And can it be improved again?'
[Yes. When you complete the Infernal Academy arc, which lasts two years, you'll be able to receive another improvement. This time, you'll be able to remove another restriction and increase the reward percentage for defeating a boss.]
'System, I'm starting to like you more now... Thank you for not being completely useless.'
[Do you want me to take back everything I just said?]
'I'm sorry. I got too excited.'
When they arrived at the mansion, Enrico saw that all the family members were gathered in the courtyard, eating while waiting for him. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the two of them began walking toward the table. Of course, Enrico intended to sit down as quickly as possible, since he was still tired.
"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Solcren. May I sit down and rest?"
"Of course. And please add Ferreira to your surname."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Solcren Ferreira."
After sitting down, Enrico calmly looked at his parents in this world while Angela remained by his side. He had already had dinner with them before, but on that occasion, the atmosphere had been far too uncomfortable, as if there were constant tension at the table. This time, however, things seemed better, which was almost a problem for Enrico. Honestly, it was difficult to talk to that family, with the possible exception of his siblings. At least no one had asked where he had gone, possibly because Angela had accompanied him back.
"I heard I'll be receiving personal training from you. What kind of training will it be?"
"It depends on who trains you that day. Your father and I will train you separately, just like your older siblings. There will be four different days of training."
'This is going to be difficult, but difficulties are good for me. That way, I'll become stronger quickly.'
[Tsk.]
"Where did you go in such a hurry? And why did it take you so long to return?"
Upon hearing Titanza's question, Enrico averted his gaze. He had thought everyone would drop the subject, but, much to his dismay, his parents had decided to start acting like real parents.
'If I weren't strong, I'm sure they wouldn't even care... Now I need to come up with another excuse.'
"The young master urgently needed to meet Miss Virelle to discuss some matters related to his training as her disciple."
"I see. It's good to see that the young lady is so interested in turning my son into her disciple."
Upon hearing the answer, Titanza seemed satisfied. Enrico looked at Angela gratefully and returned to eating.
'There must be something related to the future that made him go to that place and celebrate when he arrived. Besides, he didn't react the same way when I was carrying him. It must be something that even I can't perceive...'
Angela wanted to ask the young master what had happened, but she had no intention of pressuring him. After so many battles, he was probably extremely tired, and besides, he would soon have to begin training with that family, whose members might end up hurting him during the exercises.
'I need to keep an eye on them. Young master, I guarantee that I won't let them hurt your body too much. After all, it needs to be at one hundred percent for my young lady's training.'
'I prefer my food and the food from Astrong. I wonder if they prepare anything besides bitter food? Well, that's Matteo's problem.'
While Angela was worried about Enrico's safety, he was thinking about something else. Matteo was someone who had always preferred extremely bitter foods, far beyond what would be considered normal. Because of this, he made the entire family eat the same kind of food, except on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, when Titanza chose the menu.
'Come to think of it, this guy only eats bitter things even on Saturdays and Sundays. And judging by the others' expressions, even though they're used to it, they can hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive.'
It was somewhat difficult to believe that Titanza herself had allowed Matteo to have more days to choose the meals than she did. After all, she didn't seem like someone who would back down so easily unless she had some plan behind that decision.
'If that's really the case, she's clever. She's making the children with potential look forward to the days when she chooses the food.'
From the glances Titanza occasionally directed at him, Enrico realized that she was also planning something to draw him over to her side. In Matteo's eyes, there were signs that he intended to win him over to his own interests as well.
'These two are going to give me trouble over the next few weeks.'
"Brother, would you like some?"
Taíra, sitting beside him, spoke softly while holding an apple. Her face showed nervousness and tension, as if she were afraid someone might notice what she was doing. Enrico understood the situation and pretended to drop something. Then he bent down to pick up the apple she was offering him, accepting it with a discreet smile without the others seeing.
"Thank you, little sister. I'll remember to do the same for you."
After sitting back down, Enrico noticed a small smile appear on Taíra's lips as she lowered her head. She might still become a villain in the future, but for now, he would try to guide her down a different path.
'It's actually quite nice to have a little sister.'
[How touching. Want me to cry?]
On the other side of the table, Platina and Valerio noticed the exchange between the two and looked away, pretending they hadn't seen anything. Meanwhile, Angela, standing beside Enrico, could barely contain her laughter at those two younger ones, who believed they had fooled everyone. She also noticed Matteo's dissatisfied expression as he continued eating.
'Perhaps the little one isn't so bad after all, but I still need to be careful with the others.'