Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 330: Visiting the Duke

Chapter 330: Visiting the Duke

"Are you ready?"

The sudden boisterous voice snapped Douglas out of his thoughts, allowing him to register the presence of a muscular Beastman with a mane of red hair similar to a lion.

The man, who wore nothing apart from torn shorts, stood before Douglas, his gaze filled with slight disdain toward the latter.

"If you don’t have anything to say, I’d rather you not stare at me like a lost puppy." The man derided with Douglas realizing his mistake.

"Sorry." He apologized as he rose to his feet.

Snorting, the Beastman remarked. "I had thought someone different would be here, who are you meant to be?"

"Al... Lord Alex sent me in his stead to learn the ways of your people."

"Hmmph, he must be busy causing chaos in another location."

Though inclined to agree with the Beastman’s assessment, Douglas intoned. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"Call me Andre, Chief Andre. And no, there’s nothing wrong, just that I have to watch my people go to battle all because we owe a favor."

"Are you against it?"

"Bah, who said that?... I’m merely worried that it might have repercussions which most likely, it would."

"I do apologize for any inconveniences we may have caused."

"Hah, it’s fine. Anyway, we aren’t here to talk about that so we should get to it then."

"Mn."

"So firstly, a brief history." Chief Andre remarked as he placed his hands behind his back, taking on a dignified pose.

Seeing this, Douglas paid rapt attention, unwilling to miss out on a single detail.

"The concept of Entropy has been with Aragon since time immemorial. It’s said that our ancestor, Viracocha, sailed through aggressive seas, scaled the highest mountains, cut through terrifying forests, and at the end of his adventure reached the location of what is now Aragon. In his journey, he was faced with the elements, struggling against its unpredictable nature which always seemed insurmountable no matter how much he tried to adjust to it.

"Due to this, our great ancestor decided, instead of fighting against nature, he would rather embrace it and thus began the creation of what we now call Entropy."

"A rather fascinating story." Douglas couldn’t help but comment with Chief Andre shrugging.

"It is quite exaggerated but regardless, it suffices to give one basic knowledge of what Entropy entails. I’m sure you have already figured it out."

"Unpredictability." Douglas instantly replied as he found himself recalling his fight with Carlos.

Just remembering how his sword had moved without direction and yet struck home each time was enough to fill Douglas with a sense of dread... and intrigue.

Noting the expression on Douglas’s face, Chief Andre inquired. "What is your name, boy?"

"Douglas." Douglas calmly replied.

"Tell me, Douglas, what does it mean to be unpredictable?"

"That..." Douglas paused as he found himself pondering the chief’s words.

What did it mean to be unpredictable?

He felt it wasn’t as simple as it sounded which caused him to introspect more than necessary, a state Chief Andre was forced to snap him out of with a slap to the head.

"What useless thing are you doing?"

"What?"

"I asked what it means to be unpredictable, it’s not like I asked for a mathematical formula so what’s with the deep thought?"

"..." Douglas grew even more confused as he stared at Chief Andre.

Had the question been simpler than he thought?

"Hah." Chief Andre sighed as he explained. "To be unpredictable means to embody a state where one is unable to determine your next move, it’s as simple as that."

"That’s it?"

"Hah, you humans and always trying to overcomplicate things. Why would we make it complicated in the first place?" Chief Andre berated with Douglas feeling slightly embarrassed.

In a bid to prove himself, he’d ended up making things harder than they were meant to be.

"So what now?"

"Now, you learn."

"Hmm?"

"You have understood what it means to be unpredictable, but that’s only a mental thing. Your body still hasn’t understood, so you would have to correct that."

"How do I do that?"

"Tell me, where are we right now?"

Inspecting the enchanting forestry about him, Douglas replied. "The Wandering Forest."

"Indeed, now good luck."

With that, Chief Andre turned and left Douglas at the periphery of the Wandering Forest.

Silence persisted for a few seconds with Douglas watching Chief Andre disappear from his sight before he muttered softly while scratching his head. "Is that it?"

***

There were several academic universities in the Empire, the total of which was around 6 with the seventh having been destroyed due to unfortunate circumstances.

However, Farfouth held a special place as the first to be built during the reign of Emperor Enoch VII and most importantly, the first one that taught mysticism to its students, a feat that would only be achieved by the other universities during the latter reign of Emperor Enoch IX.

Of course, teaching was only reserved for final-year students but that did nothing to change just how revolutionary that was.

It showed how the Empire wished to follow the footsteps of Salem Theocracy and Judah Dynasty which had already established an educational system to cater to those interested in the supernatural world.

Though curious to learn how mysticism would be taught in such a novel setting, Alex knew the chances of doing so were slim due to the identity of the person he assumed.

Lucius was, according to how Alex interpreted it, a PE instructor and this was for the first grade students.

Of course, considering most attendees at the Academy were nobles, they’d hardly make themselves available for such a class which meant Lucius was stuck teaching the few middle-class children that managed to get into the school.

Though unfortunate, it made Alex’s work easier since he wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing himself with course outlines and the like.

Which gave him ample time to get his work with the Supreme Order done as quickly as possible while also completing the trial Adam had given him.

This brought him to the question of; how exactly was he to chase knowledge?

It sounded simple at first but after consistent thinking, Alex had found himself pulling up repeated blanks which only served to frustrate him.

Letting out a sigh, he sought to get a reprieve from his thoughts as he busied himself studying the architecture of Fullborough.

It took a full day but he had reached the duchy of his benefactor, Duke Fitzgerald.

The duchy, Fullborough, was not too far from Cance, with the journey being a few hours using a steam car and a day and a half utilizing a carriage.

His brief study quickly made some things clear about the duchy which was once held by the Crown, only handed over to Lord Fitzgerald after his illustrious act of service to the Crown as a professor in the Imperial Academy.

The architecture here compared to Cance was mild and the people ranged from barely middle-class to lower-class citizens with farmers, animal caretakers, and smithies in the majority.

Regardless, it had a rather quaint feel that left one feeling relaxed, which was why despite its lackluster appearance, Lord Fitzgerald had accepted it with a smile on the day he was granted the title of Duke.

There was no need to worry about greedy people coming here to take his land since in all honesty, there was hardly anything to take.

Letting out a sigh, Alex was about to relax on the soft red couch installed in the steam car when the car suddenly came to a stop with Butler Fenwick announcing. "We have arrived."