Something terrible has happened!
When I woke up early this morning, I had a feeling that it was the end of the world.
I held my head in my hands, frustrated and wanting to escape reality, but this was a reality I had to face.
I wet the bed.
I am just a kid, after all, and there's nothing I can do about it. I can convince myself that, but subconsciously I can't accept it. I'm already quite old (psychologically speaking), why do I have to endure this humiliation? Tell me, all reincarnated protagonists have experienced this! They must have!
...
"Young Master Robert, the Marquis is waiting for you in the reception room."
"Huh?"
While I was pretending to be studying diligently, I received a summons from the Marquis Bahod. This usually doesn't mean anything good. No, it doesn't necessarily mean he specifically wanted to see me.
"Is there anyone else besides me?"
"They also called Miss Aisha, Miss Lia, and Master Lucius."
All four children are gathered together. Could it be like last time...? Random guesses are useless; let's go check it out first. What's intriguing is that this time the gathering is in the reception room, not in Marquis Bahod's room.
Following the maid to the reception room, the space inside was no less spacious than the living room. In the center was a luxurious red sofa chair, but no one was sitting down at the moment.
Looking around, I saw that Aisha and Lucius had arrived before me, and they immediately glared at me with hostility as soon as I entered. Although this was the usual thing, their gazes seemed particularly sharp today, and I couldn't remember doing anything about it.
None of the four ladies were present, so it seems that the nature of this gathering is different from the last one.
"Robert, come over here."
Marquis Bahod was standing by the window, beckoning me over. Beside him stood a strange man, clearly a nobleman in his fifties or sixties, with a thick, white beard and a stern face that exuded the authority of a teacher. He scrutinized me closely, without any ill intent, but something about him made me feel uneasy.
He showed no humility whatsoever in front of Marquis Bahod. Was this man some higher-ranking nobleman?
If I don't behave well, Marquis Bahod would consider it a loss of face—how frightening!
"This is a magician who works at the royal palace. Lord Darian Santerstin, please say hello."
"Hello, Lord Darian."
A new character has appeared, and just the phrase "serving in the Royal palace" sounds impressive. This man named Darian makes no attempt to hide his formidable aura. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of him in the novel. Perhaps he's not an important character, so I simply didn't remember him.
"Stretch out your hand."
"Huh?"
I was puzzled by the strange man's sudden order.
Do as instructed.
"yes."
I couldn't disobey my father's orders, so I obediently stretched out my hand. What on earth was he going to do?
I saw Count Darian wrap his hands around mine and knead them back and forth.
Huh?
What, what, what, what, what, what?!
He wouldn't be the kind of person with that kind of fetish, would he?
Goosebumps! Goosebumps!
"How about it?" Marquis Bahod asked from the side.
"...90 points."
Huh? They even give scores? Does this world use scores to objectify people? No way, this treats people like commodities.
However, 90 points doesn't seem too bad, if the full score is 100. I also have a vague feeling that I might grow up to be a fairly handsome guy, after all, I inherited noble blood, so I'm quite confident in that regard.
"90 points, that's not bad compared to Lucius and Aisha."
"With more training in the future, they should still be able to achieve something."
Hey, hey, hey, these parents are actually comparing each other in front of their children. Do you know that this kind of behavior is very inappropriate for the education of children?
Lucius and Aisha's gazes at me became even more piercing.
"Excuse me, what is this rating about?"
It doesn't sound like a rating of appearance, and I didn't think so at first either, otherwise touching hands would be completely meaningless.
"Count Darian can determine a person's magical potential through contact with them. A person's magical potential is determined at birth, so knowing this early on makes it easier to plan for the future."
It's here! A humanoid, self-propelled magic detector!
Unlike Magic Power, Magical potential, in layman's terms, is like the upper limit of MP in a game. Having enough MP allows you to learn various spells and pursue a career as a mage.
In the novel, nobles are generally depicted as having exceptionally high magical potential, hence the existence of magic academies to specifically train their spellcasting skills. This also leads to many scoundrel nobles looking down on commoners with their innate talent; "I" am one of them.
Although Robert in the novel is a self-proclaimed genius who is easily defeated by the protagonist, his talent is indeed not bad among nobles. 90 points is not exceptionally outstanding, but it is still outstanding among the nobles whose average is less than 80.
Of course, though it is said that Magic Potential is determined at birth, it can be increased by acquired efforts. Mages in this world after divided into 9 ranks from 1 to 9 with rank 1 being the weakest and rank 9 the strongest. Every Breakthrough in the real, can increase the Magic Potential by at least ten times. Depending on the use of resources, this number can be further further multiplied.
"Count Darian, what are his magical attributes?"
"It's Fire Attribute."
"Fire Elements attribute, it's not bad."
I know that too. In the novel's magical setting, all magical attributes are divided into seven types: fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, darkness, and light. Each person is born with their own attribute can which is common knowledge but it doesn't mean you can only learn spells of that attribute. Everyone can learn magic of all attributes, it's just, the innate attribute greatly increases power of that magic attribute and reduced the cost.
Although there are mutual restraint relationships between different magical attributes, if the difference in magical power is significant, the restraint relationship can be canceled out. For example, 70 MP fire magic can defeat 40 MP water magic. In this case, MP becomes crucial.
My magical attribute is fire, a highly offensive magical attribute. Many protagonists in shonen manga I've read have fire attributes; you could say it's a very powerful talent. Marquis Bahod seemed quite satisfied with this.
Incidentally, the protagonist, a low ranking noble promoted from commoners, possesses all give magical attributes—fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind—an unreasonable power-up, which allowed him to defeat the Demon King in the last Volume.
Damn it! Why wasn't I reincarnated as the protagonist?
"Father...Master?"
"Lia, you've arrived. Come here. This is Count Darian Santerstin, a magician who works at the royal palace."
At this moment, the last child, Lia Anglus, also arrived in the meeting room.
That's right, I know I'm not the best in this family. Even if the male lead hasn't appeared yet, I can't become the protagonist of this family.
because...
"9, 99points!"
"What?!"
Everyone present, except for myself and Lia, was incredibly surprised.
"Wait, Earl Darian, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"...Absolutely right. I felt a tremendous flow of magic in her hands. I have never encountered such a first-rate genius before."
"Oh, to be called a genius by you is indeed quite remarkable."
Marquis Bahod's gaze towards Lia changed, but it wasn't the look of a father filled with joy and love for his daughter; rather, it was the greedy look of someone who had simply discovered a treasure. What on earth was this scoundrel father thinking?
And Count Darian kept rubbing Lia's hand as if repeatedly confirming something, a sight that looked extremely criminal and made one's heart tremble.
"Lia is scared, that's enough."
"Hmm? Oh, yes."
After my persuasion, Count Darian finally let go. If I encountered such a situation in modern times, I would definitely call the police and let them take this old pervert to jail.
"Her magical potential is impeccable; the only regrettable thing is that she is a water-type."
"Water attribute... Oh well."
"In any case, you are bound to achieve great things in the future. Congratulations, Marquis Bahod."
"No, no."
Marquis Bahod glanced at me. It was so obvious. He was probably thinking that it would be great if we could switch places with his fire attribute.
With a fire attribute score of 90 and a water attribute score of 99 and even a counteracting relationship between them, I would say I'm utterly defeated in terms of magical talent. Therefore, in the novel, as long as Lia stands against Robert, Robert basically has no chance of winning.
If the Marquis of Bahod truly chose his successor based on merit, then Lia should have been the obvious choice. Don't think it's unreasonable for a woman to become the head of a family; this world isn't real history, and that's how the author set it up.
In the end, Lia did indeed inherit the Anglus family headship, but the main reason was that her older siblings were utterly incompetent. In fact, Lia in the novel was very reluctant to inherit the Anglus family, probably sharing my thoughts.
Coupled with her timid and introverted personality, she initially didn't even dare to defy her brother Robert, possessing great talent but lacking opportunities to use it. This made Robert firmly believe that he was the rightful heir.
As the youngest sister, Lia was in a vulnerable position in this family for a long time. It can be said that her childhood was unhappy and lonely, just like now, trembling behind me... No, wait, why is she hiding behind me?
Damn! She's so cute! As expected, a younger sister is a very precious thing. Why doesn't Robert in the novel appreciate his sister at all? I don't understand.
"What are they talking about? What does 99 points mean?"
Lua asked me cautiously in a low voice.
It's understandable that she doesn't yet understand just how extraordinary her magical talent is.
"It means you will definitely become a very outstanding person in the future."
"An outstanding person? Will everyone praise me?"
"yes..."
You will be recognized by the person you like the most. I almost blurted that out.
Most of the people surrounding Lia now are malicious, and she will definitely encounter many setbacks and sad things in the future. It's best not to say anything that might give her unrealistic expectations.
"So you need to grow into an excellent person quickly."
I cannot be the hero who melts the frost in her heart; all I can do is not lift the last tile in the rickety little house.
"Um."
Although I couldn't see Lia's expression, I felt like she was smiling.
It must be my imagination.