Novel Youngest Child Of The Ducal House

Spoiler: Chapter 6: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) - Birthday

Chapter 6: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) - Birthday

AN: Fair warning. Long Chapter

Some time has passed since I visited the castle to meet with His Majesty and princess Charlotte.

I now frequently visit the castle whenever I don’t have classes. It is just so I could spend some time to play with Charlotte.

My sisters would often sulk because of this but I make it up to them by giving them the sweets that I have recently been making.

Of course it was not me who makes the sweets but instead, our head chef, Mr Rudolf, would make it while closely following my directions.

Mother dislikes it whenever I am in the kitchen as she worries that I would get myself hurt.

I will have to wait until I’m more grown up before I can actually cook by myself, so for now I will have to settle with letting Mr Rudolf handle the cooking.

Well moving back on the topic of sweets, I learned to make various dishes and pastries due to the housekeeper that lived with us in my previous life. That person was hired by my ‘Oh-so-busy’ parents in order to take care of us in their absence. It was from her that I learned how to cook various dishes.

Often times, we come along with her to her hometown in the country side whenever summer arrives. As her family owned a small farmland, I would usually help around in their field. I learned a lot of various things about agricultural work from her father.

It was fortunate for us that her parents actually liked us and had even treated us like we were their grandchildren. Our stay there allowed my sister and I to actually be able to feel like we had family…sigh…

Let's move on from the thoughts about the past.

I’m currently helping around the mansion in order to set up the venue for mother’s birthday

It should have been difficult to have them agree, but these days, they would let me do as I please as long as it doesn’t involve heavy lifting, holding sharp objects or doing something dangerous.

I had thought that it was difficult being a noble’s child but then again, I was kid that was living a sheltered life until just a few weeks ago.

“Does this look good?”, I showed the maidservant that was with me the origami cloth napkin that I folded into a swan.

“Waah~ That is quite the adorable decoration, young master~ Let us put it right over here”

As I wasn’t allowed to help do any manual labor, I turned to making decorations in order to make the place look a little bit prettier.

I also helped out by placing silverware and plates, but that was finished quicker than I had expected.

Since there’s still time before the party and I didn’t have to change my clothes just yet. Instead, I wore some simple clothing that were fine being dirtied, so that I can easily move around.

Mother, Marie, and Mary are getting their make-ups ready in their rooms, so they currently aren’t around.

In my opinion, they don’t really need to make themselves prettier than they already are, but from what I learned from my previous life’s sister, a woman simply doesn’t settle with their current appearance, no matter how beautiful they are.

Father is still in the castle, trying to finish up some important paperwork that he wanted His Majesty to look at.

He said he will be back before the party starts, and it seems like he will be bringing along His Majesty and Charlotte.

“Young Master, the item that you have requested has been arrived. I have already guided them to the drawing room”

Just as I was about to finish the last of the origami decorations, Claire arrived .

“Thank you, Claire. I will need to change first, so please entertain our guest for the moment”

***

Inside of the drawing room, I look at the contents of the box before me.

“I suppose everything is in order?”, said the other person inside the room.

Sitting in front of me was a plump man with beady-looking eyes.

“Yes. It looks just like how I wanted. Thank you, Mr Faust”

“No, no~ I should be the one thanking you, Young Master Yuriel. I had been inspired as to what new product I should sell”

“I’m glad to hear that”

This person with the evil glint in his eyes is Mr Wilford Faust, he is the owner of a company called Ivory Company. It is the store that His Majesty chose in order to spread the chess game that ‘I’ made.

I first taught that he was like one of those common corrupt merchants that I’ve seen on TV, but in truth, Mr Wilford is a very kind and gentle person.

He not only provided work opportunities for the poor, he had even built an orphanage where children that had lost their parents could learn to build their own futures.

It is because of his kind nature that his company was able to become famous and branchvout to different forms of trade.

There are still some people that are very suspicious of him due to how he looks but his appearance doesn’t seem to bother him because that is simply how he was born to look like.

On the contrary, it seems that his appearance gives him the advantage when making deals with difficult clients, so he is rather pleased with his appearance.

During my first meeting with him, I had innocently asked him why he was doing so much charity work when he could have just focused on his company… I immediately regretted asking him right after.

“The value of money depends on the prosperity of the country. If there are only a few that are impoverished then one could know that the country’s state and thus the value of their money. If a country only appears rich but have many that are impoverished, their value of money decreases and thus the value of that country also decreases. As a merchant, I have the duty to make money circulate and enrich the country and thus increase the value of our country’s money. You could even call my what I am doing as a religious service in order to let the people prosper”, was the shortened explanation.

Though I could praise his reason, I was not ready for the long speech that he dropped on to me. Even father, who accompanied me, couldn’t manage to stop his sermon-like explanation.

Happily closing the box, I made idle chatter with Mr Wilford. I had thought that it was rude to immediately send him off.

“How is your company these days, Mr Wilford?”

“Quite well actually. With the introduction of your chess game, my Ivory Company has been slowly gaining popularity among the citizens. I have even been receiving orders for customized chess pieces, that which gives me great profit. Ki hi hi hi~”

He laughs evilly but that is also just one of his quirks.

Regarding the chess game that they are now handling, Mr Wilford had said that I will be receiving 15% of the monthly income total made from selling the chess board.

I do have other ideas of products that he could sell but I’ll keep those to myself for now. Simply giving one idea after another would just cause unwanted attention for both of us.

I saw off Mr Wilford when time arrived then immediately afterwards, I headed to my room and readied myself for the party.

***

As evening slowly arrives, the number of guests entering the mansion had increased.

All of them were wearing elegant and expensive clothing that could clearly be more than enough to feed a family of four for weeks.

Father had told me that I am not allowed to go around the venue without a family member since I still haven’t made my social debut, so right now I’m together with mother. Marie and Mary had already done their social debuts so they are going around greeting some guests. They occasionally glance towards my direction, seemingly wanting to be with mother and I, rather than the other noble children.

If I’m being honest, I would rather be anywhere else besides this place.

Not only am I being showered with compliments by the noble ladies that come to greet mother, there are even those that want to have me come to their place to have tea parties with their daughters.

I’m sorry but I will have to refuse lest I be squeezed and destroyed by Charlotte.

“It is truly an honor to be invited to your birthday, Lady Northe”, said the young lady that approached mother and I.

Though she wore a veil over her head, I can clearly see that she is a beauty underneath it.

“Thank you for coming to my party, Your Holiness, Lady Frosse”, mother bowed gracefully towards her.

“Oh? And is this little one Yuriel?… Oh my~?”

When the veiled woman casts her sights towards me, she let out an amused smile and lowered herself to meet my eye-level.

“I have heard of you before but seeing you myself is truly something else. Quite the beautiful soul as well”

She places her hand above my head, brushing it with her soft hand.

What does she mean by my soul? I could only be confused by her words and actions.

“Tell me, child… Have you heard her voice yet?”, she asks me in a low and gentle tone. Her voice was only enough for me to hear.

“...”

As I was confused by what she meant, I could only shake my head in silence.

“I guess it is too early… Do not worry. Her voice will give you guidance of what your future has destined to you”

Her words were cryptic to me, so I could not help but stare dumbfounded.

“Um?…Your Holiness?”

Mother being confused by the veiled woman’s sudden actions, could only call out her with a troubled voice. Even the nearby nobles couldn’t help but look at us(at me especially) in surprise.

“My, my~ Do forgive me for suddenly ignoring you. I was simply charmed by how cute your child is”

“E-Um… Yes. I do not mind it if it is simply due to being attracted to Yuriel’s cuteness. He is a child that has inherited both my appearance and my dear husband’s intelligence after all”

“Oh?”

“Yes. In fact, the decorations for this party and the some of the menu items for this evening were all thought of by him after all”

“““Ooooh”””

Hearing mother boasting about my contributions to this party, the surrounding nobles let out surprised voices.

I couldn’t help but become embarrassed from their gazes so I hid myself behind mother. I could hear some women going ‘Aaw~’ when I did so, making me even more embarrassed.

It was not long after when a voice of an angel came to my aid.

“Yuri!”

Popping up from somewhere, Charlotte came with His Majesty following behind her.

“Now, now, Charlotte. Don’t run around whilst you are wearing a dress”

Mother and the other nobles had noticed His Majesty’s arrival, so they had immediately stopped what they were doing and respectfully bowed towards him.

“Your Majesty” “Good evening, Your Majesty”, said mother and the veiled lady.

“Yes…”, His Majesty nodded. “I would like to express my deepest thanks for inviting us to your party, Lady Marietta”

“It is an honor to receive your words, Your Majesty”, mother bowed deeply.

His Majesty is talking rather formally. The right him now widely contrasts his usual carefree attitude when he is in his office with father. Is this what they call having a public face?

Turning his head, His Majesty looked at the veiled woman that standing next to mother… her hand is still on my head though.

“It is surprising to see you here, Lady Julia. I had thought that the priestess of the goddess would not be in a place such as this”, he looks at her quizzically.

“I had simply thought that I needed a change of pace. Luckily, I had received an invitation from Lady Northe, who was an old acquaintance”, her smile peaked from under her veil, it had looked like she was showing a mischievous smile.

“I see…”, said His Majesty, although he doesn’t seem to buy her excuse at all. Turning his head to me, who’s still behind mother, His Majesty spoke in a gentle tone and said, “Yuriel, would you be kind enough as to accompany Charlotte for this evening? We adults will be partaking is idle chatter. I am sure that neither of you want to be around for that”

I looked towards mother and she nodded her head with a pleasant smile on her face.

“...Please leave it to me”

I accompanied Charlotte away from the adults, making way towards an empty table.

“Are you okay, Yuri?”, Charlotte asked worriedly. She took out a handkerchief from her dress pocket, wiping my forehead that formed nervous sweat.

“Yeah… It’s my first time being surrounded by so many adults. My nerves just got to me”

I should be fine if it was just one person at a time but suddenly being surrounded by loads of strangers will take a huge toll to my mind.

“There, there~ Yuri did a good job”

Charlotte brushes my hair with a calming smile on her face.

“Hey, Char”, I called out to her.

“Hmm?”

“Do you know the name of that person with the veil from earlier?”

“Did you mean Lady Frosse?”

“Uh huh”

“Well~ I think she is the head priestess of the church of goddess Lunaria. There are a lot of well-known people in the church but Lady Julia Frosse is famous for being the goddess’s messenger”

“Messenger?”, I asked.

“She could hear the voices of the gods and convey it to us mortals. She seems to mostly receive Goddess Lunaria’s voice though”

I almost forgot that this world had actual gods… well who’s to say that my previous life’s world didn’t have gods?…Well anyway, it seems like that veiled woman- I mean Lady Frosse, seems to be a very influential person and seems to know that I’m not the original Yuriel.

Also, what does she mean by ‘hearing her voice’?

While pondering this, I decided to ask Charlotte about the religion of this world, since it would serve as a way for us to be occupied until the actual party starts.

“I’d prefer if we were to talk about something else but if it is Yuri’s request then it cannot be helped…”

She then tells me about the religion of this world. Apparently there are many forms of religions in this world but there are four well-known gods that govern this world.

First is Rudra, the god of earth and steel, he is known to be as a temperamental god that loves fighting. His worshipers mostly consists of those that enjoy battles and by the blacksmiths.

Next is Ludra, the goddess of wind and wisdom, she is the twin sister of Rudra and quite the opposite of his violent personality. She is known as a calm and intellectual goddess that values knowledge over conflict. Her worshipers mostly consist of those that dedicated their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and by individuals called ‘Skyriders’.

Apparently, the worshipers of the two gods don’t tend to get along with each other for some reason. The two groups tend to get into fights with one another even if the reason is as simple as sneezing. Outsiders consider that the reason for this is that the god Rudra and the goddess Ludra do not get along, this in turn affects their believers.

Well moving on from that, the third god is called Sol-Aria, the god of earth and death. Though he is someone that mostly governs death, Sol-Aria seems to be someone that monitors and handles the souls of the people, when they will die, how they will die and so on. He has varying worshipers, and is known as a lonesome god that severs the thread of life.

And finally, Lunaria, the goddess of water and life. She is the older sister of Sol-Aria and the chief god of all the other gods. The most worshiped among all the other gods, she is known as a god that values and nurtures all life, no matter the form.

“When you say that they are the well-known gods, are you saying that there are more?”

“Uh huh! They vary from minor gods, divine beasts that are worshiped as gods, and even evil gods that are worshiped by the people”

“Then why is goddess Lunaria the one that this country worships?”

“It’s not like the citizens could only worship goddess Lunaria, you know? It’s just because that she is the most popular god that people tend to direct their worship towards her more often. After all, it’s not like there’s a rule where people could only give praise to one god, you know?~”

Well I guess that makes sense?

At least there is not that much concept of monotheism in this world…well I guess it will depends on the country, but still!

It’s troublesome to be a part of religion, so I’ll just place myself on a neutral stance.

As Charlotte and I continue talking, I look around and notice that there are other noble children watching us at a distance. Their hostility towards me was so thick that I could feel it from here.

Even if they want to approach, they couldn’t because two royal guards had placed themselves near our table and approaching it without the royalty’s approval would be considered as lese majeste.

“You sure are popular, Char”, I said in jest.

“It’s because I’m a princess~ Is Yuri jealous because many admire me~?”, she teased rather cutely.

“Just a little bit. What about you? What would you think if another girl suddenly approached me?”

“That…”, her expression darkened up a bit when she thought of the possibility. “That is difficult…Yuri is beautiful, smart, and can make delicious sweets for me. It won’t be strange if another girl were to approach Yuri and…”

She started to tear up just from the thought of it, so I poked her cheek and laughed.

“Ha ha ha~ Don’t worry. Even if I were to becomes friends with another girl, it would simply be that. I have Char, so I’m already satisfied”

Hearing my words, Charlotte hid her face from me. I could see that she was trying to suppress a smile.

We both enjoyed our time before the party truly started.

***

“May I gather you attention, everyone”

When the party was going on, father’s voice could be heard all throughout the banquet hall. It was just at the right time as the guests were starting to grow hungry.

Everyone looked towards the direction of father, who stood beside mother’s seat.

His Majesty was also near him, seating on a extravagant seat.

“Once again, thank you for coming to my wife, Marietta’s birthday party. I especially would like to thank His Majesty, King Demure, for coming. It is an honor for my house and to my family”

Everyone claps and His Majesty raised his hand in confirmation.

“Before we bring out the dishes for this evening, let us hear a few words from the main character of today’s party”

Father then hands a rod-like object to mother. I guess that is something like a microphone in this world.

When father handed her the mic, mother stands and gave an elegant bow before speaking.

“I would like to personally thank those that came to today’s party. Seeing everyone enjoy themselves is always pleasant sight for someone such as I. I hope that we can all meet during the next and the ones that will come”

She then showed a very radiant smile that made the faces of all the male guests, loosen from joy. The female guests also smiled while also pinching the sides of their husbands.

“I would also like to thank the goddess for allowing me to live a healthy life and allowing my children grow splendidly….”, mother then suddenly breathed a deep breath before continuing. “I would especially like to thank her for saving my youngest child, Yuriel, when he had been caught in an unfortunate incident. If it was not because of her, I would have gone mad and this joyous event today would not have been possible”

Another round of applause was heard, this time gentler and quieter than the last.

Mother continued to speak and entertain the guests. I noticed that everyone was too focused on mother speaking, so I took the chance to slip out.

“Where are you going, Yuri?”, Charlotte asked.

”I going to be back real quick. I just need to get something”

Charlotte nodded and said, “I’m going with you”

“Sure but make sure that you aren’t noticed”

The two of us then tried to maneuver ourselves through the guests, making our way towards the terrace.

“(Claire!)”, I called out in a small voice.

From the corner of the terrace, Claire popped out while carrying the item that I received from Mr Wilford. It was now nicely wrapped up like a proper present.

“(Thank you, Claire)”

“You are welcome, young master”, like the wind that passed by, Claire quickly jumped down the terrace.

“Claire has been getting even more reliable lately”, said Charlotte with wry smile.

“Yep! Lately, she’s been training to be able to quickly come to my aid whenever I need her. It seems like she really regrets the fact that she couldn’t protect me that one time”

Claire has been training her skills her skills whenever she has free time. Since her blood as a dragonkin is supporting her, her skills are developing really quickly. I question if she should still be considered as a maid rather than my own personal knight.

”Let’s go back. Father or mother might have noticed that we disappeared”

“Un! I’m excited to see Auntie’s reaction”

Returning to the party, mother and father had just finished their speech. She’s now talking to other adults while also being greeted by their children. His Majesty is also speaking to other people, though he side seems to be more formal than mother’s.

Charlotter and I silently made our way towards mother. I hid the present behind my back, so that she wouldn’t notice.

“Sweetie?”, noticing me walk towards her, mother called my name with a rather surprised look on her face. It seems like Charlotte’s grinning face gave away the surprise.

I held out the present and sweetly greeted my mother.

“Happy Birthday”

Tears had started to form on the corners of her eyes when she saw the present.

She crouched down and hugged my tightly, the surrounding adults looked at us warmly and Charlotte was happily jumping in place.

“May I open this now?”, mother asks.

I simply nodded with a smile on my face.

She carefully unwrapped the present, making sure that she doesn’t dropped it.

“!!”

What laid before her was a wooden box with our names carved on the body of the box.

“What an adorable gift”, a noble lady commented.

Upon lifting the lid, a soft melody started playing. It made everyone’s eyes gather to the box, as they saw the small figurines that stood was within the box. The figures were of a woman and a child smiling as they danced.

Those figurines were of course, the image of mother and I.

I asked Mr Wilford if he could make a music box for me, using the melody that I remembered from my past life and the figurines that I made using earth magic. He happily accepted the request and made this for me without charge.

I carefully watched mother’s expression as she looked at the music box. Mother’s eyes started to tear up as she embraced the music box close to her chest.

Turning her eyes towards me, she pulled me into her embrace and kissed the top of my head. I could her warmth and felt comfortable in it.

I was happy that she liked my gift. I was happy that such a kind person was my mother. For the first time in my life, I felt happy for giving a gift to my parent.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 7: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) - Dragon (Part 1)

Chapter 7: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) - Dragon (Part 1)

A major incident had occurred at a nearby village near the capital.

“Evacuate the women, children and the elderly first!”, yelled the man wearing leather armor.

“GUUAAAAHHH!!!”

“!!”

As he was evacuating the villagers, an earth-shaking roar echoed all throughout the village.

“Watch out!!”

“Aah!”

This was followed by a volley of flames raining down from the sky.

Houses went ablaze and few bodies flew through the air because of the impact.

Only a few had manage to remain unscathed from the attack while most were left injured or dead.

“...Why…”, said the man in disbelief as he watched the village burn. Luckily for him and the people that he loaded into the carriage, they had safely escaped the village without any of the creatures in pursuit.

Through his eyes that looked back at the burning village, he could only look in frustration as the place that he grew up in burned, and most of the people that he knew were now left to die.

“Damn it! Why did this have to happen!!?”, he cursed in angered.

No one could have known that a pack of wild monsters known as Raptor Dragons, would attack the village so far away from their usual territory.

‘Just for what reason did they come here?’, were the thoughts the villagers inside of the carriage.

***

“That’s very good, young master! You have now successfully mastered most of the elementary class spells that I have readied for you. I believe we can now finally move on to the more intermediate types of spells! We might even be able to move on to creating your own spells. Is that not exciting!?”

“Aha ha ha…”

Lately, my magic classes has been rather… weird.

“…I have decided! Let us now start your study on the intermediate level!”

“I feel like teacher has another purpose in mind”

“That is simply your imagination!”

After she had nothing left to teach me in regards basic studies, teacher had excitedly started our lessons in magic.

That in itself wasn’t much of a problem… at least at first.

“Come sit on teacher’s lap. We will do what we did when I showed you the basics of weaving elementary spells”

“Y-Yes…”

At first we were having normal discussions on the basics, then when we actually moved on to practical study, teacher's eyes shined and she started becoming more and more aggressive in her teaching.

The problem that I understood Ms Riona has, is that she is the type of person who’s really passionate in her research… or should I say hobbies?…Anyway, she will closely observe things that would involve magic.

“Yes, yes~ That’s it… Properly feel the mana coercing through your body. Memorize how I am moving the mana and associate it with your own senses as if it is the blood flowing through your veins”

Teacher says that I have a very good affinity with magic, so she is excitedly using me in parts of her research, whilst making it appear as way of teaching me… I started to worry where our classes are heading to.

“Aha~ Observing young master’s mana flow is truly the best sight to behold. Oh~ how I wish to take you back with me to my lab, so I may observe you even closely with some proper equipment…(I’ll even properly dress you up as a cute little assistant~)”

I didn't hear what she said under her breath but I somehow felt a a shiver run up my spine.

“...”

I tried to ignoring her mumblings, so that I could focus on weaving my mana.

“Haa… Haaa…Haaa”

But f-for some reason, teacher was starting to breathe heavily.

Her breathing was rather erotic that I couldn't help my mind from wondering away.

“U-Um…”

“I-Ignore me, young master…Haa~…W-When moving intermediate class mana through someone else’s body… the user would tend to become very sensitive to various sensations. P-Please ignore me and focus on yourself…Ahaaa~!”

(Ignore her!? Like hell I could do that!)

Though I protested that in my mind, I continued familiarizing her mana. Letting it course through me as I understand the proper flow.

We can do it, me! Just ignoring teacher squirming behind us! Ignore the two soft things that are closely pressing against our back! This is also a trial for us to learn new magic!

“Ah!”

Just as I was trying my best to weave the mana, I felt a weird sensation travelling through my arms. When I focused myself towards it, it moved and started spinning on my palms.

It was burning hot and yet I didn't flinch away in pain. It felt like fire was trying to burst out my palms yet its heat made me comfortable, like everything would be okay if I just let it be.

Continuing this, the mana suddenly converged into one point and a pink flame appeared in between my hands.

“Teacher! I did it”, I called out to her.

When I looked up to look at teacher, I met eyes with teacher who had her eyes half closed.

“T-Teacher?…”, I uneasily called out.

Her mouth was in a suppressed grin, as her body started trembling.

A ringing danger echoed inside my head, telling me to run away.

“Young…master~”

"!!"

But before I could even move, I was quickly hugged by her.

Her appearance was rather erotic and her heavy breathing closely reverberated in my ears.

“Young master did a good job~", she said as she started stroking my head. "As a reward~", my cheeks were suddenly held, as teacher's face started incing closer. "I’ll give you so-”

“Hold it!!”

Before contact was maid, the door busted open.

Maybe because she was hearing the developments of what was happening in the room, Claire quickly entered and pulled me away from teacher.

I was tightly hugged by Claire, my head buried on her stomach.

I felt relieved since I thought that something important was going to be stolen.

“[Water Bubble]”

“Ugyaa!”

Without even question, Claire shot water towards teacher's face, completely soaking her from head to toe.

“W-What happened!?”

Looking around, Teacher; who seems to have snapped out of whatever weird state she was in, stood up in a panic.

I secretly gave Claire a huge thanks in my heart.

I’ll ask father to give her a bonus on her next payday.

“Please refrain from teaching inappropriate things to the young master”, were Claire’s frank words.

Whenever Claire gets mad, she stops showing emotion on her face and her face right now is completely devoid of it. Teacher could only tremble before her.

“I-I’m sorry…”, teacher quickly apologized with her whole body on the floor. “I may have forgotten that transferring intermediate class mana would usually return a feeling of intoxication to the one transferring it. Please forgive me for almost doing something dangerous to the young master”

Her apology was from the bottom of her heart, but it also felt like she was disappointed in missing an opportunity…I will properly ignore that.

“I understand… but how will you teach me intermediate magic then?”

If this will happen every time she makes me familiarize with magic, I will have to put up proper defences.

“I-I’ll properly procure a potion that will counteract the effects by next week”

“Please do make sure of this. Else I will raise a complaint towards the master of the house”, warned Claire. Teacher repeatedly nodded with teary eyes.

“Um…Then what will I do with this?”, I then showed her the pink flame that I was now able to produce.

“Hmm…”, quickly shaking away her tears, teacher approached the flame and examined it.

It took her a few seconds before answering me.

“Oho~! To think that young master’s first intermediate spell would be Healing Flame. Your teacher is quite impressed!”

“Healing Flame?”

“Yes. It is a variant of the flame attributed spells. Though the flame attribute is mainly for offensive spells, Healing Flame does not simply burn. It is spell that is already within the levels of the rare Holy attribute. It only burns those that mean to bring harm to the caster while simultaneously healing those that do not”

“I see”

It seems like I learned a very useful spell.

I can’t wait to show it to Charlotte.

“Excuse me for disturbing your conversation but I came not only to protect young master’s chastity”, Claire said coolly. “A knight had arrived saying that Master Simon is requesting for the young master to come to the castle”

“Father?”

It’s unusual for father to ask me to go to the castle at this time. Usually he will ask me the night before if I want to go, never when he is already there.

Understanding that the strangeness of the situation, I nodded and excused myself to teacher.

***

“I’m glad that you arrived”, said father as soon as Claire and I entered his office in the castle. “Sit down while we wait for father to arrive”

“Grandfather will come?”

Speaking of grandfather, I already met him once before.

General Darius Northe, the current grant general of the kingdom’s army.

He’s a large and scary man with arms twice as big as my head. He can literally smash a boulder with his bare hands, so they had given him the nickname ‘Mountain Crusher’, much to his displeasure.

He loves children, especially his grandchildren, so it’s always a great contrast whenever he is with subordinates or with us.

“Yuriel!”

And speak of the devil himself, grandfather came bursting into father’s office with large heavy steps.

“Hello, grandfather”, I greeted him.

I was immediately picked up by his large arms, gently placing me on his shoulder.

“Ga ha ha~ It always makes my fatigue go away whenever I see my cute grandson. If your grandmother was still alive, she would surely be squishing your cute cheeks”, he says as brushes my cheek with a finger.

My Grandmother... father said that she was someone that always had a weak body. Before I was even born, she contracted a sickness that was widespread throughout the continent, and peacefully died in her bed. From the stories that father told me, she was a kind woman that heavily contrasted the loud and brawny grandfather. Everyone in the family misses her to this day, Grandfather, especially.

“Father, this is not the time to play with Yuriel”

“Ah, right, right”

Grandfather sat down with me still riding sitting on his shoulder. Both their faces were serious but if one were to see this from the outside, it would be a strange sight.

“Before we conduct the emergency meeting with the other knight captains, I would like to discuss if we should tell them the possibility of a dragon appearing”

 

Dragon!!
got dragon slayer title next? get dragon egg as pet??!~

 

Spoiler: Chapter 8: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) -Dragon (Part 2)

Chapter 8: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) -Dragon (Part 2)

“Before we conduct the emergency meeting with the other knight captains, I would like to first discuss the matter if we should tell them the possibility of a dragon appearing or not”

Hearing father’s words, my body stiffened up.

Dragons, though they vary in class, they are known as the strongest living creatures in this world.

Just the sight of a lesser dragon would make most people run away in fear.

Is father saying that a dragon appeared near the capital?

“Umu…I know how you feel but we simply can’t hide the fact. The only thing that would make Raptor Dragons go out of their territory is when a creature stronger than them had stolen their turf. When the number of Raptor Dragons are reported to be at least 50 or so, the possibility of them being scared away by a dragon is quite likely”, grandfather replied.

Speaking of Raptor Dragons, I learned that though they are called dragons they are mostly flying lizard-type monsters.

Classified as a B rank monster, they would use their wings to glide atop of trees, using the forest to their advantage when hunting. They usually hunt in packs during the night, so they have an advantage because of their night vision.

“I see… I just wanted to make sure but it looks like it really cannot be helped… Yuriel”, father then turns his eyes towards me. “I understand that you are now able to do healing magic, am I correct?”

“Yes”, I nodded. “Though they are mostly of the elementary class. I have also just finished learning elementary class barrier magic as well… Ah! But I should be able to cast one intermediate class healing spell called Healing Flame”, I puffed out my chest in pride.

““What!?””, both father shouted.

Is there something wrong?

“A class 2 intermediate spell at your age…Simon!”

“I know, father… Yuriel, listen to me closely”, father called out to me in serious tone. “Do not, under any circumstance, use that spell in public. If you are simply using it inside the mansion then it is fine for you to practice it, but I will have to forbid you from using it outside. Understand?”

I didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to use it but I still nodded to father’s words.

“Then I want you to come along during this excursion”

“!!?”

“Calm down. You will not be fighting. I will not allow that. You will stay in a secured base and heal those that will be injured”

“Like I would agree to let Yuriel get in danger”, grandfather added.

“The army is currently lacking magicians that can use healing magic. You may not know this but healing magic is quite difficult to learn, they tend to be scouted by the church and most dislike being brought into dangerous places”

“We could always force them to join the army but no good will come when we simply solve it by using force”

“So all I have to do is heal those that are injured?”, I asked.

“Yes”, father answered.

“You can also take it as learning how to camp outdoors. Ga ha ha”, added grandfather with a hearty laugh. “Well we’ll discuss more about it later. For now let us immediately head over to the meeting room in order to conduct the emergency meeting”

Saying so, father and grandfather stood up from their seat. I was still sitting on grandfather’s shoulder, so I was brought along to the meeting room.

***

--Blue Knight Corp Captain, Corey Belrus’s POV--

“...And that concludes the report on the current situation of Gres”

After hearing about the eyewitness accounts of the survivors of Gres village, the room was bathed in complete silence.

Not even the adorable child on the general's shoulder could give solace to the hearts of the people within the room.

"...This is impossible", somebody muttered.

The sudden appearance of more than 50 Raptor Dragons attacking a nearby village and the possibility of a lesser dragon or above taking over their residence in the forest had made many of us tense up.

Though we could leave the subjugation of the Raptor Dragons to the Adventurer’s Guild, the difficulty of the situation raises when the appearance of a real dragon is confirmed.

“But what if it isn’t a dragon?”, the captain of the green corp asked.

“Then we must simply subjugate it. Even if it is not a dragon, a creature that could make a wild pack of more than 50 Raptor Dragons move away from their territory is more than enough to mobilize the elite knights of the kingdom”

He's right.

Raptor Dragons are known to be extremely territorial, but when they are met with an enemy that they have no chance of defeating, they will rather run away than fight.

The green knight captain gave an understanding nod when she heard the general’s words before sitting back on her seat.

As knights, it is our duty to keep the peace of our country, but fighting a dragon or something close to it, will still be quite the feat.

“I will only have the red, blue, and green knight corps partake in this mission since. The rest, I want some of you to create a barricade outside the forest where Gres is located. This is in the event that any straggler escape the subjugation.

An emergency request has already been given to the Adventurer’s Guild to join in the subjugation. We will be meeting with them later.

They will be in-charge of handling the Raptor Dragons while the knight corps will search and investigate the cause of why they strayed away from their territory.

We will most likely arrive at the village by tomorrow afternoon.

Any questions?”

“Sir”, the leader of the red knight corp called out.

“Yes, Captain Hilbert?”

“About what you said earlier.... about bringing the child on your shoulder…Is the general positive in making this decision?”

Everyone’s eyes focused on the small girl(?) that was comfortably sitting on his shoulder. The child stiffened up when they noticed that all eyes were on them.

“Yes”, he nodded in affirmation. "Yuriel's job will be healing those that are injured. Just so everyone is clear, this child is quite skilled in regards to magic. In fact, he has a wide array of healing and protection spells that will be very useful in this operation. Let me show you"

We a speed that contrasted his large build, the general quickly drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed his hand. Blood dripped thickly as it went all the way through… or that was supposed to be what had happened.

“[Air Capsule][Light Bind][Shadow Shackles]”

As soon as he moved, three consecutive spells were released by the child on his shoulder. The general's movements were sealed completely by the spells.

The spell themselves were not really that impressive, but it was the child who made those chains, who left us in a daze.

They that magic is actually quite difficult to learn, as one needed both knowledge and large amounts of internal mana to produce spells. If that child could already cast three spells at once, then one could only imagine what his future has in store for him.

“Stupid, Grandfather!”, the child shouted.

While were left staring blankly at the situation, the child jumped down from the general's shoulder and dauntingly stood on the table before him.

“Hrrk!”

It seemed like he took a massive blow from hearing his grandchild's words.

His magically chained up body collapsed on the floor with his eyes wavering as he looked up at the child.

“I understand that grandfather is the type that loves boasting about his grandchildren but you do not have to stabbed yourself to prove a point!”

”But…-"

“Yuriel is right, father”, the prime minister interjected. “Even I had already told you before that you should refrain doing something so irresponsible”

The two stared at the general with cold gazes, as his huge body slumped over from shock.

“...Yuriel, I believe that your grandfather has reflected. You can release him now”

“...Understood”

“Yuriel…”, groaned the general but the child didn't bother looking at him anymore.

“Hmph!”, he puffed his cheeks at him.

“!!”

The general was now in a sorry state, lying uselessly on the floor.

Seeing that, the prime minister took the stage in continuing the meeting(or more specifically, ending it).

“Now that you have your orders, quickly gather your men. The operation will start at the second toll of the afternoon bell”

“““Sir!”””

“Captain Corey, Captain Tiana, you two stay for a moment. Yuriel, you can go greet with the princess before we head back”

Giving our salute, we all moved but the prime minister called out to the leader of the green knight corp and I.

When the child had left the room, the prime minister spoke.

“I will hand to you an order of utmost importance”, he said with seriousness.

If the prime minister is the one that is ordering this, I could only wonder just what kind of mission this will be.

***

After hearing the prime minister’s order, I was left with a sense of utter disappointment.

The contents of the mission that the prime minister gave us was to guard his child(who was actually a boy) during the operation. Basically, we were left with a babysitting duty.

We are elite knights, the strongest soldiers of the kingdom for crying out loud! We have a duty to be the symbol of the kingdom’s strength, not some child’s personal escort.

“Haa… How disappointing…”, I sighed.

“Is there a problem, Rey?”, Tiana, who was walking beside me, asked.

“Yeah. It’s about being left with guarding the prime minister’s kid. I don’t want to be left doing babysitting work”

Seriously, I find the kid adorable and all, but having to take care of them during such a dangerous mission is unheard of!

I'll be a laughing stock among the knights because of this.

“Are you sure? Then you can leave taking care of the prime minister’s son to me”

“Eh? You’re okay with that?”, I asked her. “Don’t you dislike men?”

“You’re being rude. I simply do not like it when men approach me with ulterior motives. Won’t you not dislike them as well if whenever they approach you, their gazes automatically wander towards your breasts?”

“Well…”, even as a woman, my eyes will still wander towards the two large mountains in front of me, but I could see her point.

“Also, even though he is male, he is still but a child and his appearance makes him look more like a girl. I am fine with that. Lastly, I heard from my older sister that he is quite the gentleman for a boy his age”

I suddenly stopped walking and looked at Tiana in surprise.

“Huh!? Wait. You mean that ‘Silver Wind’ Riona knows him!? Isn’t she a former S class adventurer? Why is someone like her acquainted with the youngest son of the prime minister?”

“She’s currently acting as the boy’s personal tutor. She accepted the job since she needed sponsorship for her research but I heard from her that he is quite intelligent and worth passing her knowledge to”

Are you kidding me!? Riona Greenwood is famous for being among the top strongest people in the world! Why would someone like her have the need for sponsorship from the prime minister!??

“Hey, Tia-”

“I won’t disclose what my sister is trying to research. Don’t bother asking”

Dammit! I really wanna know~

“Well, I will go to my squad and pick some people that are fine with children. It will be difficult if I do it by myself after all”

“Hold up! Who says that you're going to do it alone!?”

“But I thought you didn’t want to become a babysitter?”

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to actually disobey the order given to me by that monster of a prime minister? I’m not suicidal, you know!?”

Seriously, this woman…

The general will have my head if I let something bad happen to his grandchild!

“If that is the case then let us meet up later. I will have the prime minister’s son on my carriage first, the next day it will be your turn. When we arrive at the village, we will have him stick close to us. You okay with that?”

“Sure. I’ll leave the actual caring for to you though”

“I’m fine with that”

Separating from Tiana, I head towards my corp's building. This will be the first mission that we had in a while, so they would surely be raring to go... but I wonder how will they react when they hear that we’ll also be handling guarding duty as well?

 

When are the next chapters coming? I can't wait anymore!

 

Great job so far

 

Sorry. I've been dealing with some personal stuff, couldn't get into the mood to write a chapter.

I'll try to get back into it by monday or something.

Thanks for liking my story

 

no update?

 

Sorry for being unable to post chapters for some time now. I've been having personal problems and stuff, so it was hard to find the will to write.

I'll try to post more often but since I am now looking for a part-time job, it may not be as often as you may think.

Anyways~ here's a new chapter for ya'll and thank you for reading

Spoiler: Chapter 9: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) -Dragon (Part 3)

Chapter 9: Yuriel Gadius Northe (Age 9) -Dragon (Part 3)

After Claire returned from the mansion in order to get me some change of clothing and other stuff that I would need, we were now riding a carriage to Gres, with the knights and other adventurers…or that was how it was supposed to be.

As soon as we gathered at the entrance of the capital, a messenger from Gres arrived saying that even more monsters had appeared at the village.

Grandfather immediately issued the command of using the military’s large transportation airship(which I didn’t even knew the country had), to sortie immediately.

The airship is called the Ark, and it could fit more than 800 people with room still left to spare.

Apparently, it is a craft that is only used during times of war time in order to transport large quantities of soldiers, equipment and rations over long distances. It doesn’t have the need to worry about being bombarded because of the strong multi-layered barriers applied on to it. The only problem the aircraft is that it consumes large amounts of mana crystals that the country produces, making it become rarely used outside of war.

To grandfather, the situation was already dire enough, that we needed to use the Ark in order for us to get there quickly.

“Are you doing fine, Young Master? Do you want some candy?”, Claire asked worryingly.

She’s currently worrying if I’m feeling any motion sickness. Even though the Ark doesn’t move that much, those that are not used to riding a flying vehicle are having their guts spilled out.

I could see from one corner of the ship, that there were adventurers currently huddling next to a healer that was curing their motion sickness.

We may have not reached the destination yet, but there are already those that needed healing.

Even though I haven’t ridden a plane, I did not have any problems with motion sickness. In fact, I felt like I want to look down to see the scenery, but I’ll refrain since looking down from such a high place is still scary.

I shook my head and reassured Claire by jumping up and down..

“I’m fine~ Let’s go to where Ms Tiana is”

“Very well”

Ms Tiana is one of the knight captains that grandfather assigned to protect me.

Apparently, she’s teacher’s younger sister and even more surprisingly, I heard from her that teacher was a former S rank adventurer.

When I think about it, teacher did have the feeling of being someone who’s very strong, but I didn’t think that it was at the level that she was considered to be one of the strongest.

It made me curious as to why she had decided to retire and become a researcher as well as a part-time instructor at the academy, instead of continuing her work.

From what I understood, she had accepted father’s invitation to tutor me in exchange for financial support in her research, but is she really that low on money? Or is it because it’s the prime minister’s request?

Arriving at the place where Ms Tiana stood, she noticed us and gave me a short bow.

“How may I help you, young master Yuriel?”, she asked.

“Um… I had already told you to please just call me Yuriel”

“That is so… Pardon me. Is there something you need of me, Yuriel?”, correcting herself, Ms Tiana once again bowed.

“...Yes. I was wondering how much longer until we reach Gres”

She made a pondering look before looking at a watch that she took from her pocket.

“From my estimate, we will arrive within a couple of hours. It usually take us a day’s journey in order to arrived at Gres due to its location within the Newman Forest but with the Ark, we only need a few hours”

“I see… while I wait, is it okay for me to train my magic? I promise not to do dangerous spells”

To my request, Ms Tiana once again made a pondering look before suddenly being cut off by a voice that shouted loudly behind us.

“Everyone gather round!”, yelled a bald headed man. “Im’ma explain the details for this emergency request. If ya’ll don’t get your butts over here, I’ll consider it as you guys forfeiting this here quest issued by the country”

He’s a rather large elderly man but with the amount of muscles on his body, he’s anything but elderly.

Our eyes met for a moment before he returned looking at the people that gathered around him.

“He’s a very intimidating grandpa”, I said to Ms Tiana.

“That person is leader of the adventurer’s guild, Robert Einstein. He is previously known as a very capable A rank adventurer with the title ‘The Invisible’ before taking the role of guild master”

“That sounds amazing”

“Listen up! I want y’all to group up in teams of 5 or more. I don’t want any of you's going round thinking that ya can handle Raptor Dragons by yourselves. I’ll give ya’ll the duration of this flight to ascertain yourselves with the people you teamed up with. Those that are already in a party, you can still gather people in your group. Those that can’t find a group to team up with, head for one of the available guild staff and talk to them ‘bout it. Again! I don’t want any of y’all to go underestimatin’ Raptor Dragons, they may look stupid but those bastard are anything but! Rewards gon be big, so stay alive to receive it! Got that!?”

“““Yeah!!!””

To the guild leader’s words, all of the adventurers gave a rowdy response.

“One more thing! Those of yous that get injured don’t forget to immediately retreat and head for the medical group! They be headed by that little kid over there, so I don’t want any of yous messin' with ‘em just ‘cause they be young. Yah hear!?”, at his gesture, all of the adventurer’s eyes focused towards our direction.

Some had surprise seeing such a young kid being the head of a medical group while others seemed to have simply nodded as if they figured something out.

“It’s my first time hearing that I’m the leader of healing unit”, I whispered towards Ms Tiana.

“It was decided by the general and the actual leader of the medical squad. It is so that no one will mess with you as you do your work. You are also given the right to refuse treating someone if they are ignoring the procedures”

“I see…”

Maybe with this, I won’t be subjected to one of those troupes where the person gets picked on by older adventurers just because they are children, but it also bothers me that they gave me the power to decide whether to treat someone or not.

When the guild leader finished his briefing, all the adventurers scattered in order to discuss their plans. The guild leader himself approached us after seeing that everyone moved.

“Welp! I warned them not to mess with yah. Ya can heal them as much as ya like, if they end up botherin’ ya then feel free to kick them out”

He only said those words before moving on towards some people that look like the guild’s staffs.

“He’s a weird person”, I muttered.

“That is true but from what I have heard, the guild leader is actually a very kind”

“Huh…I guess that would be the case”

Looking at the large muscular back of the guild leader, I could not help but feel that he is familiar…

***

After the ship flew for some hours, we could see plumes of smoke over at a distance.

“Everyone get ready to land, we are arriving at Gres!”, one the knights shouted.

Everyone held on to their weapons and ready themselves for whatever may happen after we landed.

Claire told me to stick close to her, just in case we get rushed.

But as soon as we had landed.

“...”

“What the hell…”, one of the knights muttered.

We were greeted by a village of only corpses of both the inhabitants and the monsters that had invaded it. At the center of the village was a huge body of a monster known as Mountain Giant… but only half of its body was left behind.

Later did I learn that this was not the only time that I will would be surprised today.

 

Nice chapter, can't wait for the next one!

Hope that this time we'll get ine faster, no pressure though...

 

Moving and editing whole story(just polishing it) over at scribblehub.