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Volume 5 Chapter 3 Part 6

An old man who was known to be the oldest resident of the entire village called out to Theo.

「I thought you left because you didn’t like us bending our necks to the Rossini family? 」

「Yes, back then, that was my reason for leaving. I just couldn’t bring myself to forgive your unwillingness to take action against them. 」

After Theo looked at the old man and said that, he looked back at Siluca.

「My old man built a secret granary to save the village from starving to death because of the Rossini’s plundering, and whenever there would be a food shortage, he’d go and distribute it all to the people of the village. However, he was reported by someone to the minions of the Rossini family, and they’ve come to the village in large numbers. These people then killed my father after publicly mocking him to make an example out of him, thanks to which the village managed to be spared from the tax collection for that year. 」

Theo spoke each of these words after carefully thinking them through.

It was a sad story, but it also made Siluca proud just by listening to it.

「Before I moved on to live in the city of Laxia, I briefly lived in Suikum while following the traditions of its inhabitants. For a while I was beaten senseless on almost daily basis, but the people of the Rossini family that were keeping an eye on me soon learned that even though I wasn’t very bright, I was pretty dexterous and it was useful to have me around. Before long, one of the leading figures recognized my abilities and made me his henchman. I thought that if I stick with him long enough, I will eventually come back to the village… for looting purposes. 」

「Is that so…? 」

At first, Theo wanted to take revenge the village.

「At that time, I thought that this was the only possible way for me. 」
He spoke in a voice that made him sound much older than he actually was.

「But now I understand. 」

Theo nodded quietly.

「If my father hadn’t been handed over to the Rossini goons at that time, then the village might have been burned to the ground and many people might have been killed. I suppose my father knew that as well when he started building the secret granary, and he was prepared to face the consequences. 」

「Do you hold a grudge against us for what we did back then? 」

「I don’t have a reason to hate you. The ones responsible for it were the members of the Rossini family, not you. 」

After saying that, Theo turned his gaze to the east.

「While I was living in the city of Laxia, I finally noticed what the Rossinis were truly like. They’re the ones who rule by instilling guilt, fear and distrust in the people of the island. If I plundered my hometown under the banner of the Rossini family, it would be like dancing to the tune they’ve been playing for me the entire time. 」

Theo continued speaking indifferently.

「If I stayed in the city, then it would be the same as if I became the very same traitor against whom I wanted to fight. While I was feeling tormented by my discovery, I ended up wandering into a Demonic Realm, and there I was attacked by a deer. My fight with it was desperate, but by some miracle and a stroke of luck I managed to defeat it. But then its corpse had disappeared and something akin to a black mist formed itself around it. I didn’t even know what that thing was at that time, but now I know that it was a Chaos Core, and that absorbing it granted me power. 」

Theo continues to speak to no one in particular.

「As soon as I took the Chaos Core into myself, I was attacked by a terrible pain. It was like being eaten alive by Chaos from inside out. In fact, it is said that if it’s left untreated, humans will go mad and die because of the harmful effects of Chaos on the body. If I didn’t want to die, I needed to stabilize it and turn it into the power of my own ambition. 」

When Theo said so, Irvin and the other three Artists in his team looked at each other meaningfully.

「No matter if it’s for the purpose of creating a Crest or engraving an Art onto your body, the thing that is needed to transform the Chaos Core is first and foremost a strong will. 」

Aishela also nodded her head. That’s also why many Artists make sure to take care of their Arts so dearly.

「Unfortunately, I didn’t know that at the time. So after what seemed like an endless time of nothing but suffering, I remember making a wish upon the one who was causing me that pain: I wanted to save this village. And once I spoke that wish, what appeared on my hand instead of an Art was this Crest with the Banner of 「Patriot」Etched onto it. 」

Saying so, Theo raised his right hand so that both the villagers and his friends could see it clearly, and then he made his Crest shine with brilliant light. It was a Baron-class Crest, and the light it emitted was strong and pure.

The villagers let out a low shout of admiration.

「The one to answer Lord Theo’s wish must’ve definitely been The Only God! 」

Priscilla had an enchanted expression on her face. Siluca glanced sideways at Priscilla, but didn’t object her words in any way. Nowadays, it is known that Crests are a manifestation of a Lord’s willpower, but the principle behind how exactly do they work is still unknown.

Theo is the so-called guardian Lord, and when she heard the story he told just now, Siluca seemed to understand what the reasoning behind it was. For Theo, there was no other way than being a guardian: he could never be such mundane things like a farmer, mercenary, fisherman and such…

(Because he wanted to protect this village more than anything else.)

However, Theo now has changed his mind in such a way that he wants to protect every citizen of the island, but his actual ambitions were even bigger than that, because he also wants to protect the people of the whole continent.

To Siluca, that was the final proof of how gentle and kind he actually is.

「Theo, you are good man, just like your father was as well. He build the secret granary for the village so that we wouldn’t go hungry in the hour of greatest need, and when that came to light and the Rossinis came, he ended up sacrificing himself for the entire village… 」

「I still remember you calling my father an idiot, and how badly I was bullied by everyone in the village because of him. 」

「I still remember you saying that my father was an idiot. And I was bullied badly by the people of the village. 」

Theo bravely looked the old man in the eyes.

「That’s right. When he died, it’s true that we all felt happy that our lives were going to be spared and that the tax collection for that year was going to be omitted for us. However, from the next year onwards, we were subjected to even harsher tax collections. 」

Most of the villagers were silent with their heads hung down.

But one person did look up. It was the young man named Fabio they met when they entered the village.

「Are you going to overthrow the Rossini family and become the new Lord of this island? 」

Fabio asked while pointing his finger at Theo.

「That’s what I intend to do. 」

Theo nodded.

「Then should we even accept that? You were born in this village just like us, weren’t you? You’re not of a Lord’s lineage, you’re just an ordinary commoner! And you say that you want to become a Lord of this village as well as the entire island? Are you joking?! Why should we risk our lives for you now, just to have you leave the island again, huh?! 」

Siluca felt a strong desire to run up to that man and punch him in the face for what he was saying, but she managed to hold herself back.

It is possible to become a Lord even if you’re not one by birthright. However, there is a surprising number of people who think it is unacceptable for a commoner to become a Lord.

This is one of the harmful effects of the peerage system introduced by the Mages Association. And before everyone realized it, it became an established norm that only those of noble birth or the descendants of Lords could become Lords themselves