The young nobleman hanging around the orphanage was the current archduke’s son, Schweith Van Solisthea.
He and his accompanying knights were arguing with a nun in front of the orphanage.
While his grades at the Istal Magic Institute’s advanced department were excellent, he was known a problem child among the teachers.
This was because the academy was wroth with strife and he belonged to one of the two major factions.
The main culprits were the 【Weisler Faction】and 【Saint-Germain Faction】.
Both factions had made significant contributions to the country, with the Weisler factions producing a plethora of combat mages and the Saint-Germain faction many acclaimed magic researchers.
However, that was in the past, and the now well-established factions only shared a mutual hatred of one another.
Although they shared a common enemy in the Knight Order, the cold war continued on the verge of open conflict.
Schweith was apart of the Weisler faction and received favorable treatment because he was the eldest son of Archduke Solisthea.
Of course, his top-class abilities fed into and helped inflate his ego.
Since Creston had been also a part of the Weisler faction, he thought himself the successor to the 【Purgatory Magician】’s legacy and held his grandfather in high regards.
As a result of his upbringing and the praise he received from those around him, Schweith was one step away from becoming an irredeemable human.
He was now of marriageable age, too.
Last summer he happened upon, and fell in love with, the nun who ran the orphanage, and ever since then he half-courted, half-harassed her.
He visited her every day during his summer and winter holidays.
No, it might already be too late. He was starting to taking on a stalker’s mentality.
“Therefore, why don’t you become my woman. How long have you withered away in this orphanage?”
“I am where I decided to be. My life will not be dictated by you!”
“How long are you going to maintain that rubbish attitude? I always get what I want in the end. That includes you, Luseris.”
Luseris had grown up in this orphanage.
At the time, only a monk and a priest had been here to take care of the children, but things have been different ever since Luseris returned after completing her training.
Four priests now ran the orphanage, and the country financed its operations.
For that reason, Luseris decided to stay and practiced her healing on citizens at a reduced cost.
Schweith came across her during such a session.
In his heroic delusions, such people were undeserving of her treatment and so he sought to make her his own.
His sanity was called into question when “Oi, you! Become my woman, was the first thing he said to her.
Luseris response, “Hahah〜?” to that pick-up was to be expected.
She politely declined his advances after that, but using the exercise “Getting familiar with a lord’s duty.”, he visited the orphanage at every opportunity.
Comments like, “The existence of the orphanage can devalue the city’s landscape.” were clearly meant to entrap Luseris.
However, his repeated attempts to court her, lead to Luseris to despise the stubborn Schweith .
unbeknownst to Luseris, her hard-line rejection only intrigued him further.
They were sinking into a quagmire.
“First of all, I hate you with a passion. Who could love a vile person that tries to exploit other’s weaknesses? You’re the lowest of the low.”
“Ack, but…… you can only say that for so long. All it’ll take is a new business license being issued to wear out your welcome here. You have to think about the children〜.”
“You character is truly vile. It’s a pity to think of you as the next lord. Your brother Croisas is the better option.”
“You bitch! You like that two-faced bastard more than me?!”
“He’s far better than an idiot who mindlessly abuses their power!!”
While you couldn’t call their exchange a lover’s quarrel, it was undoubtedly an emotional exchange.
Injured pride would be the least of everyone’s worries if things were handled poorly.
If Schweith were to kill Luseris, he would turn all four the major temples against his enemy.
Such an act would turn this squabble into an international and religious incident.
The resulting backlash could result in the total destruction of the Solisthea dukedom.
Schweith seemed unaware that the royal family couldn’t and wouldn’t protect him in a crisis of that scale.
In addition to his bullying behavior, his pride was out of control.
“…… She flat-out rejected him, yet he still pursues her? I guess he doesn’t know when to quit?”
“That right. He’s such a child.”
“A child calling someone else a child…… he’s not even that far along. It’s hopeless, isn’t it?”
“He tries to seduce her every day, but it’s impossible, right?”
“Using such cowardly methods…… it won’t attract anyone no matter how hard he tries. It’s his first love, but he managed to shoot himself in the foot at every turn. It’s impossible to recover from this.”
The two people in question turned their attention to the scruffy mage and the orphans.
Moreover, the analysis of their current situation continued as the pair dumbfoundedly looked on.
“Saying ‘Become my woman’ the first time you meet?’, I’m struggling to determine if that’s overconfidence, stupidity, or both. In the first place …… he should’ve coincidently bumbled into her and started up a conversation. Something like ‘I’m sorry the failings of the city fall upon you, Sister.’ would’ve worked.”
“Oh, that’s cool!”
“Aren’t first impressions important? Going about it that way would’ve given him the impression of being a kindhearted nobleman.”
“He failed at the start?”
“Come on!”
“Unsightly. You don’t want to be like that do you?”
The pair’s initial encounter was being analyzed objectively.
“That’s not the end of it. You want to spend more time with her, so you’re trying to scatter the orphans throughout the old city? Your true motives are so blatant that you can’t even call them ulterior.”
“Didn’t Sister also said something like that?”
“I suppose. Even if you’re the next lord, appearances are important. It’s a shame that a mere rumor is enough to tank a leader’s credibility. Who would want some random and ignorant failure as their next lord?”
“His credibility will plummet 〜.”
“He can kiss his love and lordship goodbye〜.”
“It’s over, it’s over-♪”
Although it seemed outlandish, it looked like the logical outcome.
Schweith seemed to writhe with anger at the mockery.
Whether he realized it or not, he wanted to lash out because he was forced to recognize his failings.
That was the source of his anger……
“At this point, your goodwill has fallen to rock bottom, yet you still persist? It’s already over.”
“””Failure, failure, giant failure!!”””
“I commend him for having the guts to still come here. Still, it’s nothing but wasted effort on his part. The brave thing to do is give up on his childish behavior.”
“””Brokenhearted, unemployed, say goodbye to life!””””
“No, I’m not saying he should commit suicide. He’ll have to carry this shame for the rest of his life……”
The children were unforgiving in their taunting.
“Ah, if he regrets what he’s done he should lower his head, apologize, and try to be a better person from now on. If it’s not a situation you can make amends for, it’s better to give up. You can still become a lord at this point.”
“Can you live with a broken heart?”
“Rather, it’s a good thing〜.”
“He’s in bad shape! Healer, he’s in critical condition.”
“Does he want to be an adult? Or remain a child? Does he even know?”
Although it was small talk, it was a matter of life and death for the person in question.
The commotion had gathered the attention of the bystanders.
For the image-obsessed nobility having one’s shameless intimidation tactics revealed was a critical blow.
He’d been so preoccupied with his butch seduction, Schweith had been oblivious to the scene he had made.
Now he was fully aware that an unbecoming rumor could see his brother taking the lordship away from him.
“Were responsible for our actions. Now his love and the lordship are at risk because he acted impulsively.”
“Rather unsightly isn’t it?”
“Can we eat the skewers now.”
“Geezer, let’s eat already.”
“Is it alright if the lord’s son dies of shame?”
“”……………””
The two knights were at a loss for words.
Since Luseris was the unfortunate object of Schweith ‘s affection, it was alright if she embarrassed him, but the same couldn’t be said for some random stranger.
Furthermore, the high number of witnesses ensured that rumors would spread.
“T-That……”
“What is it? Young sister.”
“You…… Who are you?”
“Hmm, just an ordinary citizen who accidentally got entwined with these kids? ‘A geezer with food’ maybe?”
Luseris glared at the children using Zeros like a shield.
The shameless kids seemed to have a strong survival instinct.
“……I am really sorry. I appreciate you donating your time……”
“Ah…… you don’t have to go that far. What’s done is done.”
“It was a cowardly ploy. I question that person’s logic.”
Schweith had completely exposed his worst qualities.
His behavior brought his academic achievements into question.
“Does he try to brute force his way through everything? Some say power can win someone’s heart…… but that’s just idiotic.”
“He doesn’t seem to understand that.”
“It’s such a trifling thing.Anyway, I have these skewers……”
“I’m so sorry Mr. Stranger! We’ll reimburse you for your trouble……”
Luseris bowed her head repeatedly.
For some reason it made Zeros want to apologize to her instead.
“It should be fine, right? Call it a donation if you’d like…… It’ll be a problem if children don’t get enough to eat.”
“I’m really sorry!! But, are you really fine with this?”
“Yeah, I bought 50 of them without thinking, and I can’t eat them all. Hehehe.”
“Well, that surprising……”
“It was a impulse purchase. A recent payout was larger than I expected…… it’s seemed the prince of magic stones don’t fall……”
Luseris felt a strange sense of incongruity coming off the mage.
He was sloppily dressed and had a seedy appearance, but she couldn’t detect a magical aura around him.
Everyone emitted a mana field that was perceivable by a select few.
It was an ability that magic practitioners possessed and it could even appear as a skill with training.
Luseris possessed the 【Magic Perception】skill, but this skill didn’t show a reaction when used on someone with weak magic abilities. However, the feeling she got was different than normal, so she wondered if this was something else.
“Magic perception? That should probably be… around level 20? You can detect my mana though. It’s just too big to be perceived properly.”
“Huh?!”
“You’re not the only one with magic perception. Well, it basically activates automatically, so you’ll get used to it as you grow up.”
It wasn’t that she couldn’t detect his mana field because he was weaker than her, it was because Zeros’ field engulfed everything around him.
For the first time, Luseris was feeling the same sensation one feels when coming across a monster that was leaps and bounds beyond their capabilities.
The lower the skill’s level, the more likely you’d needed to sever your own magic connection before entering an enemy’s field. It wasn’t something you could understand without experiencing it yourself.
“S-Sorry……”
“It’s a common occurrence amongst mages. Don’t worry about it.”
“But, I didn’t mean to be rude…”
“I guess I failed in that regard. For a while now……”
Luseris was at the marriageable age of eighteen.
The ample bulge in her chest region indeed emphasized that fact.
Zeros’ eyes had noticed them a while ago and had been trying to look elsewhere ever since.
“Breast freak” would be an apt description of him.
“Hey!?”
“You have a beautiful figure…… Faced with such a beauty, my eyes unintentionally wandered.Sorry.”
“””Pervy geezer〜〜!”””
She attempted to cover up her chest, but the pressure on her white robes emphasized them even more.
What was meant to be neat and clean had become erotic.
“Well, I’m drawn to larger ones…… ahem! Sorry……”
Though, breasts that exceed the Guinness record were a bit much.
That’s what he felt.
“I-I thought you were a true gentleman……”
“I’m an ossan. Isn’t a little perversion fine? I’m still a good person at heart.”
Zeros’ shameless perversion brought tears to her eyes.
However, his calm demeanor remained.
“It’s obscene. It’s shameless! It’s naughty!!”
“All men think erotic thoughts. Of course…… the same applies to them.”
Three people, including Schweith , looked away.
He seemed to be on the mark.
“Do you look upon me with such eyes?! Disgusting!!”
“Mmm…… Men will always look upon a beauty like you, right? Well, part of them…”
“Part?”
“Other women or homosexuals might glare at you. Perhaps some of the people you’ve treated gave you similar looks.”
“That… that kind of thing…”
“Can you deny it? For men, a beautiful woman is synonymous with an unknown world. There’s no end to the adventurers trying to dive in.
You need to be aware of that. Being far above an ordinary woman……”
At that moment, Luseris’ cheeks were redder than a tomato.
Her platinum blonde hair reached her back, and she had a figure that most models would be envious of.
With her cute babyface and steadfast attitude, if you called her a saint, it wouldn’t take much to convince people.
However, her upbringing in the orphanage seems to have left her oblivious to her own attractiveness.
“Beautiful…… me? You lie! But…” Luseris was left muttering to herself.
“By the way, about the skewers…… where can I put them?”
“Oh?! T-That! Eh…… the kitchen…”
Still embarrassed by the compliments, Luseris struggled to string an answer together.
As an aside, she was unaware that her fellow male priests struggled against their desires during their training because of her persistence.
Her attractiveness was an undeniable fact. However, she lacked self-awareness……
“Now then… the children are starving.”
“””Meat〜〜〜〜〜〜♡!!””””
They were energetic children.
So the priestess and the child began leading Zeros inside, but…
“Wait, do you think you can get away with insulting a noble?!”
Schweith called him out.
“Oh, you’re still here? Weren’t you already dealt with? That resilience is frightening.”
“Shut up! I don’t know which faction you belong to, but I won’t be humiliated by a mere gray robe……”
“Gray robe? Are magician’s ranked by the color of their robes?”
“What…… So you’re a magician from another country. It goes gray, black, red, and white, with gray robes belong to the lowest class magicians. I’m not the same as a fledgling mage, I’ve already obtained a red robe.”
Schweith was so proud of himself that he failed to notice the gap in his reasoning.
“Well, does that mean anything?”
“What?”
“I’m a foreign magician, remember? Just because this country has a color ranking system doesn’t mean I follow it.”
“……………”
The color ranking system for magicians was unique to this country, so the difference in their abilities remained unknown.
Without a high-level appraisal skill, it was impossible to gauge an enemies strength by sight alone.
“Hmph, so what. I’m still a high ranking mage. Do you think I’d lose to some magician of dubious origins?”
“What’s the source of your confidence? If you can’t grasp your opponent’s abilities, you’re as good as dead…… Isn’t it your own fault that rumors are already starting to spread? Why not stop while you’re ahead?”
“Shut up, aren’t you a magician? How could such a weak person defeat me?! 『Fireball』!!”
He was probably upset that Zeros was invited into the orphanage.
All of a sudden, Schweith shot a chant-less spell at Zeros.
But…
“Ha!”
―――Wuuesh……
Zeros causally swatted the fireball aside,
“Huh?! A-Aren’t you a magician!?”
“Yes, I am. However, I’m also a skilled combatant. Why?”
“You’re carrying two swords…… possibly…”
“I’m better with swords, but I don’t need them or magic to deal with you. My fists are more than enough.”
Zeros’ god level combat skills weren’t something an ordinary mage could handle.
After all, magicians were at an overwhelming disadvantage in close range combat.
“Hmph…… mages need to fight in close quarters. Why are you so surprised?”
“Hey, you guys…… by me some time. I’ll reduce this fool to ashes!!”
“Eh!! Understood.
“Leave it to me, Schweith -sama!”
The Knights put their hands on their swords and sized up Zeros.
Knights with sheathed swords were at a disadvantage when facing a brawler.
Also, the opponent could use magic and had swordsmanship.
“Grabbing the hilts? Are you sure you want to do this?”
“W-What……?”
“Are you prepared to die when you draw those swords?”
“”!?””
A cold sweat ran down their backs.
At first glance, nothing had happened, but the air had clearly changed.
The knight where frozen in place…… an enormous monster appeared to have manifested before their eyes.
“What’s wrong? Go!!”
“B-But……”
“Schweith -sama…… This man…… is too strong…… there are no openings.”
“Schweith …… level 53; Tokusa, level 60; Santos, level 64. You’re so weak, I want to cry.”
“””!?”””
The two knights hadn’t revealed their names or levels.
Even Schweith hadn’t mentioned his level.
It was impossible to see other people’s stats without the appraisal skill, and even then, you couldn’t see much until you reached higher levels.
Without appraisal skills or magic items, one’s stats screen remained invisible to other people.
Zeros wasn’t holding a magic item. The answer was obvious then.
“A-Appraisal……?!”
“Eh, I can see all of your stats. Do you know what that means?”
“You’re much stronger than us……”
“Fool…… if he were such a high-level person…… wh-why would he look so suspicious…”
“I can take down wyvern on my own. Eh, it wasn’t that difficult.”
The man in front of them had unimaginable power.
For the first time in his life, the prideful red-robed Schweith had met a warrior far superior to himself.
And he’d picked a fight with that person.
“Fuck! Flames of purgatory, become the dragon that annihilates my enemies. Ancient overlord of the netherworld……”
“Huh?! Schweith -sama, that chant!!”
“Do you plan to burn down the entire city?!”
“Hahahahaha!! He who reduces all to ash!! 【Dragon Inferno Destruction】!!”
Once more, flame dragons attacked Zeros from all sides.
However, Zeros simply sighed.
“I’ve already seen this. 『Phantom Rush』”
Zeros left afterimages in his wake, as he dispelled each of the dragons with a flurry of kicks and punches.
You could minimize the effect of area of effect magic my crushing the spell before the physical phenomenon was entirely triggered.
Everyone was left dumbfounded by the insane display.
“This is the last one.”
With that lackadaisical comment and a scratch of his head, Zeros stomped out the last flame dragon.
His aloof attitude showed just how trivial this was to him.
He’d just undone a spell capable of destroying a city with his bare hands.
“The one Creston-san used was far stronger. Well, it’s to be expected from a level 50 magician.”
“I-Impossible…… that was my strongest spell. It was swatted away so easily……”
“Oy…… now……”
“That…… the previous duke’s name…”
“Oh, didn’t I already say it? I’m currently a guest at Creston-san’s mansion.”
“””What did you say!!”””
In other words, he was the former duke’s acquaintance.
This had become the worst situation for Schweith .
“N-No way, grandfather……”
“I’ll tell him everything that happened. You have to pay the price for your actions, right?”
“Please don’t! I’ll be killed if you do that!!”
“I refuse. Remember what you tried to do to the Sister? That was something pretty bad, right? My principles won’t allow me to forgive scummy magicians. Especially the scum that grows drunk off their power……”
“Please, I’ll do anything!!”
“Rejected, magicians are seekers of knowledge. I won’t acknowledge those who leave that path in favor of corrupt political power.”
Schweith was cut down without mercy.
(This should be a nice bit of medicine. Only tragedy follows the rise of a selfish leader〜)
Honestly, Zeros had no interest in other people’s affairs.
He only wanted to show off a little and look like a cool magician.
As far as Zeros was concerned, the best outcome is that other magicians and nobles left him alone.
“Ha〜〜〜.”
“By the way, Sister? The skewers…”
“Y-Yes!! Oh… this!”
“What’s wrong? Did you have something else in mind?”
“That’s not it! Come in!!”
“I’m not gonna bite.”
A nervous Luseris lead Zeros into the orphanage.
The children followed after them, shouting 『Yeah〜. Meat, Yeah〜』.
Schweith fell to his knees.
He was left basking in his sins.
After that, Zeros enjoyed a meal at the orphanage before returning to the mansion.