TVRP 8

Chapter 8

Father’s warhorse was dragging a massive corpse behind it.

“My goodness……”

“It really is a Dead Dragon.”

The knights murmured here and there in voices filled with awe.

At Father’s signal, the dismantlers who had been waiting rushed over to the corpse and began their work.

Watching the scene filled with the stench of blood and innards, I smacked my lips.

How much could all of that possibly be worth?

I had heard that every part of a dragon-type monster, from its wings to its tendons, could be sold for an exorbitant price.

The heart in particular was an essence containing an explosive amount of power.

Of course, since it came from a monster, it would be highly impure and require refinement. But with just that one thing, a mage would be able to cast magic to their heart’s content.

Naturally, mages would be willing to carry astronomical sums of money and beg to buy it.

If only I could get something like that for Rossi too…….

I could use it as an incredible power source.

“First you were starving, and now you’re drooling too?”

Only after Lawrence snapped at me in a contemptuous voice did I realize that my desire had literally been dripping from the corner of my mouth.

But why has he been hanging around here all this time?

I wiped my mouth and glared irritably at Lawrence.

That evening, I headed toward the dining hall feeling slightly uncomfortable.

How long had it been since I’d eaten at the same table as Father?

Two months? No, was it three months—urgh!

As I entered the dining hall, my eyes widened.

A boy with long silver hair tied up in a single ponytail, resting his chin on his hand at an angle.

Despite his beautiful appearance and the fact that he was only fourteen, the boy had already grown almost as tall and well-built as an adult.

He was my eldest brother, Edward Sergeneb.

Why is he here?

Although Edward was a member of House Sergeneb, I rarely encountered him inside the castle.

His favorite pastime was roaming battlefields teeming with monsters, as though he were addicted to bloodshed.

Edward’s blue eyes rested on me for a moment before passing straight over me.

As though he were looking at empty air.

“Today, I will assess the results of your training so far.”

Father spoke with a dignified and authoritative expression that seemed completely at odds with his reputation as a slaughterer.

It felt as though lightning had struck inside my head.

The candidates for the next head of House Sergeneb were required to demonstrate their training achievements once a year before the current head.

But that event wasn’t supposed to take place until a month from now.

“Um, Father.”

I raised my hand and cautiously spoke up.

Father’s gaze turned toward me.

His emotionless eyes were like those of someone staring at a pebble, and my body instinctively shrank back.

But I had to say it.

“I thought it was supposed to be a month from now……”

I had been preparing something to show Father as well.

This year, I thought I might finally be able to prepare a convincing version of Rossi.

The mechanical engineering knowledge from modern Earth that had come to me because of the accident had been a tremendous help in developing Rossi.

“Training for another month won’t evolve a blockhead into something other than a blockhead.”

Lawrence sneered.

He was so irritating that I wanted to punch him.

I whipped my head around to glare at him, but surprisingly, Lawrence didn’t follow up with any more harsh words.

He simply stared at me.

Almost as though he were testing my reaction.

Then a languid voice broke the silence.

“What kind of competition is it this time, Father?”

Edward looked directly at Father as he spoke.

Edward was the only person in this family who wasn’t afraid of Father.

It wasn’t because he’d already become stronger than Father.

He had simply spent so much time on battlefields since childhood that he seemed to have completely lost his fear.

“Instead of going through this bothersome procedure, we could just start the succession battle now.”

Edward raised one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile.

“After all, I don’t think the succession order will change no matter how many more years pass.”

I felt Lawrence’s body stiffen slightly beside me.

Suggesting that they start the succession battle right now was practically the same as saying he wanted to eliminate all of us who were candidates for the position of head.

If the succession battle began now, Lawrence and I would be dead without even putting up a fight.

Clink.

I turned toward the sound of a teaspoon falling.

Eloise was sitting there with a pale face.

Because Eloise was physically weak, she would automatically be excluded from the succession battle.

But the prospect of a future where her younger siblings had to hurt one another must have been a nightmare for my kind-hearted sister.

“The procedure is absolute, Edward.”

Father spoke with a cold expression.

“The succession battle will not take place until Lillian becomes an adult.”

“Yes. I apologize for saying something unnecessary.”

Edward obediently apologized.

“There seem to be several bugs in this family who do nothing but consume food expenses without contributing anything.”

The characteristically crystal-clear blue eyes of the Sergeneb family swept over me and Lawrence.

His gaze was literally that of someone looking at insects.

Aside from a faint irritation, there was no emotion in it.

This was why I considered Edward a psychopath.

Someday, under the pretext of the succession battle, we would have to hurt our own siblings.

Whether we got along or not, we were still related by blood.

Even I didn’t exactly feel excited when imagining myself getting rid of Lawrence.

And yet Edward seemed to be looking forward to that future tremendously.

He must have seen so much blood since childhood that something in his brain is definitely broken.

Perhaps the part responsible for conscience or sibling affection.

I glanced at Lawrence.

His already pale face had turned even whiter.

His fists were tightly clenched.

He was clearly terrified.

Setting aside how annoying he is, I almost feel sorry for him at times like this.

I had absolutely no intention of facing Edward, that monster, head-on in the succession battle.

Of course, I knew that participating in the succession battle was the sacred duty and fate of the Sergeneb family.

But after regaining the memories of a modern Earthling, the idea of “fate” felt far too old-fashioned to me.

Are you crazy? I need to run away before that happens.

I was still trying to figure out how to do that, though.

Unlike me, however, Lawrence probably couldn’t imagine any future other than facing Edward in the succession battle.

A future where he had to fight that monstrous eldest brother with everything he had must have been like a nightmare.

A nightmare that drew closer with every passing moment.

When our eyes met, Lawrence seemed to move his lips as though he wanted to say something.

But soon, he turned his head away.

“What is the event, Father?”

I asked while pretending to be calm.

Please, let it at least be something I can handle.

If it was archery, horseback combat, or hunting like last time, I would be in trouble.

Rossi wasn’t developed enough to participate in that kind of combat yet.

“We will meet again at the training grounds in one hour.”

Father spoke in a frigid voice.

“I will reveal the event then.”

In other words, it was going to be a secret.

That meant I couldn’t even prepare for it during the next hour.

I let my shoulders droop and left the dining hall.

The “tests” of House Sergeneb didn’t particularly care about methods or means.

We were a swordsmanship family, but that didn’t mean we had to pass the test using swordsmanship.

For me, that was good news.

It meant I could use magical machines, including Rossi, as much as I wanted.

But not today.

I looked down at the half-reconstructed remains of Rossi and grabbed my hair in frustration.

Thanks to that damned Olga, my progress on modifying Rossi had been delayed.

Still, I should at least make a minimal effort.

As it happened, I’d had an idea just before going to sleep last night.

“Hey.”

The idea was to add a new gear to joint number seventeen here.

That should allow for much freer and more flexible movement.

I’m sorry, Rossi. How come Mom only thought of this now?

“Hey.”

The problem was that friction might occur between the two materials.

The elasticity I had designed might also exceed its limits.

There were plenty of variables.

But I judged that they were still manageable.

“Master!”

“Waaah!”

At the sudden shout, I practically jumped three centimeters into the air from my chair.

“Ah, what the heck! Why are you suddenly shouting—”

I angrily turned around, only to widen my eyes.

Ha…….

And then I was so stunned by what I saw that I forgot to breathe.

The night before, I had ordered the maids to fill the bathtub with warm water.

The maids had been openly annoyed by the request, but apparently even they thought Eden looked seriously filthy, because they filled the tub without complaining.

Eden took a bath.

I offered to help because it would be difficult for him to wash every part of himself properly, but instead of answering, he merely stared at me with a contemptuous look for a moment.

The nerve of him.

Anyway, thanks to that, all the grime that had coated Eden had been washed away.

“The picture doesn’t do you justice……”

The illustrations of Eden in the original novel were incredibly high-quality.

They were so good that I could stare at those illustrations without eating and still feel full.

But even those pictures seemed unable to capture the real thing.

Skin as white as porcelain, with perfectly proportioned features.

Eyes that looked as though gold had been melted into them, and dark hair that swayed like ebony.

Hmm. As expected, his face is seriously unfair.

“What? Picture?”

Eden furrowed his brow, seemingly unable to understand.

I waved my hands dismissively.