Chapter 17: As expected of young nobles, learning all sorts of strange things

Thadeus couldn't help but feel amused and somewhat worried as he watched Maru's face display a variety of rather colorful expressions in just 3 seconds.

Thinking he couldn't leave it like that and feeling somewhat guilty, he stood up and spoke to her in a soft voice. "Maru, what's wrong? I'm sorry if I bothered you by bringing this up, I..."

Thadeus approached her and placed his hands on her shoulders, intending to calm her. She blinked, her gaze slightly lost, and suddenly showed a guilty expression. What does she feel guilty about? Acting strangely?

It was confusing him more.

“No, no, no… it’s nothing. I was just overthinking something unimportant. I’m not going to dwell on it any further.” Maru smiled reassuringly, taking his hands and gently removing them from her shoulders.

As if to make sure he didn't feel guilty about her strange actions, she looked away for a moment and quickly added something that puzzled him, "I was just a little embarrassed. Maybe I got confused and said nonsense about being noble for no reason."

What the hell is this girl talking about? Completely confused, Thadeus blinked. “Huh? But Maru, wasn’t that heraldry you showed me that of the famous Grand Duchy of Aragon, the one I recall fell into great disgrace in the past or something?”

He was sure of it. She had shown him, after all. He could still remember the stupid grin she probably had on her face at that moment, when she'd revealed her story to him. While he was happy she was able to share something like that with him, he didn't expect it at all.

Honestly, I had thought she was the daughter of a merchant; not a high-ranking noble of the Empire, nor even such an illustrious Grand Duke. It was simply mind-blowing.

“Huh?”

Maru exclaimed, with an expression of total confusion, while still holding Thadeus's hands, looking at him straight with a smile that he couldn't help but think was quite silly, which made her adorable.

Trying to ignore him as he involuntarily grimaced, Thadeus continued speaking, keeping his gaze on hers. “Since everyone knows the layout of such an infamous grand duchy, and the thing was practically made of gold and magical enchantments to boot, it was hard not to believe your words…”

At his words, she remained completely stunned for a few moments before she suddenly dropped her hands and looked at Thadeus with eyes trembling with anger.

Beautiful…..

Although he knew the other party was upset for some reason he didn't understand, far from being intimidated, Thadeus found her adorable. He wisely refrained from telling her that she was far from being as intimidating as her mother. Instead, he just blurted out the question with a frown, "What now?"

“What heraldry are you talking about?”

“Are you seriously asking me?” Thadeus was speechless. What’s the point of this all of a sudden? Maru’s behavior was disconcerting him more and more. “Is this some kind of test to see if I remember? Come on, who doesn’t know about the family heraldry of the King of Heroes, Aragon?”

Answer: Everyone knows them. For the love of the gods... They were the most illustrious lineage in the world, on par with the imperial family of Arswerdia! Even the poorest commoner has not only heard of, but also seen the design of Aragon's heraldry somewhere random.

Who on the entire continent didn't know this girl's family?

“…And the enchantments...how do you know they are real?”

Thadeus couldn't help but give her a slightly exasperated look at this strange insistence on asking him things he already knew, his behavior completely incomprehensible. "You're joking, aren't you, Maru? Come on, I use magic too. I can tell if something is enchanted or not at a glance."

After all, how was he supposed to be a Sky Knight if he couldn't use Magic at all?

Using Magua was important not only as a combat power for such knights, but also to be able to sign the contract that magically binds a Wyrven to its tamer and rider. No one else could do it for them, so they had to be able to do it themselves.

Trying to be a Sky Knight without being able to use Magic? Absolute nonsense. And especially, it has to be Wind Magic, because Wyrvens are magical beasts that flow with the wind—it was only natural.

Fortunately, Thadeus met all the requirements to make his dreams come true. That's why the villagers pooled their funds so he could become a Wizard—something he was both grateful and ashamed of—and bring pride to his village.

Naturally, with his own studies in magic and practice manipulating Spirit energy, Thadeus could do something as simple as sense magical enchantments as powerful as those contained within that thing…and to say he was shocked would be an understatement.

I couldn't believe it.

Nobles in many kingdoms across the continent wore their family heraldry both to announce their family origins to the world and for their own protection, as the enchantments on wearable heraldry could withstand enemy attacks as long as they had magical power, among other security functions.

What's more, for a commoner or bourgeois to use such things publicly is not only illegal, but depending on the family in question, they could be killed on the spot. With such knowledge, how could Maru be lying?

Thadeus simply couldn't believe it.

She had already shown him evidence of her origin in a way he couldn't doubt...and now she was asking him if the enchantments on his heraldry were real?

Does that even make sense?

“Maru, I think you're going crazy,” he couldn't help but say, his expression worried. That was the only explanation he could come up with in the heat of the moment, feeling anxious about his little sister's mental state.

“Yeah, crazy to avoid being part of clichés!” Maru suddenly shouted, with a face that seemed to scream “I’m going crazy, hahaha!”

“Clihe…what?”

The silver-haired boy could only repeat what he'd said, unsure of what the hell he meant by all that. In fact, it was the first time he'd heard the word 'Clihe'...what language was that?

Thadeus, who didn't even know the other party meant "Cliché," could only assume it was some language nobles learned. As expected of young nobles, learning all sorts of strange things...such rude thoughts crossed his mind.

“It doesn’t matter!” Perhaps realizing what he was saying was pure nonsense, Maru downplayed it, and instead, made him feel a question “By the way…. You remember where the shield was, right?”

“…. Of course”

Looking at her with pure suspicion about her strange actions, Thadeus just shrugged and walked familiarly towards the cabinet where he knew Maru kept the heraldry, opened the lowest drawer of it, and took out the object in his hand.

It was a gold and silver metal object, with the design of a ferocious black dragon being impaled on a spear. It looked quite cool, and Thadeus felt the terrible magical power within with a serious expression as he held it up to Maru.

And then, suddenly, Maru's face lost all color in less than a second.