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Chapter 225 - I'll Break Your Limits

“Hahaha- Our second son has come.”

Count Whiskers greeted his second son, Nathan Whiskers, warmly.

“F-Father. What on earth has happened here?”

“Haven’t you heard? Hmm, I thought it would have spread to Freya as well.”

The Lord of Whiskers said proudly with a laugh.

“It changed a lot in a short time, right? It’s natural to be surprised.”

“Am I not dreaming right now? I don’t understand anything at all. Is this really our territory? Is it possible that I’ve gone mad from studying too hard at the academy?”

He wasn’t a child who used such rough language.

Nathan Whiskers was using quite rough language even in front of his father, showing how surprised he was.

But the Lord of Whiskers understood.

If he were in Nathan’s position, he would have reacted the same way.

 

This change happened in a really short time.

It seemed like just yesterday that Nathan entered the academy, but when he returned home for his first vacation, his hometown had changed enormously, so it was enough to be surprised.

“Let’s talk slowly for now.”

The Lord of Whiskers first took Nathan to the market.

Originally, the market in Whiskers territory was a very narrow place with no vitality.

The only places with some people were the shops supported by the nearby Huntar territory.

“What is all this? Why are there so many people? C-Could it be that from Huntar territory…”

“Nathan, Huntar territory is now part of our Whiskers territory.”

“What!?”

Nathan blinked his eyes.

“Then these people…”

 

“They are people who came to use our Whiskers territory market. Some came from far away, and some came from nearby territories.”

Freya Academy is located in a huge territory classified as a grand territory. So Nathan knew well how many people gather in the market of a grand territory.

“This number of people… it’s more than the market of a grand territory!”

“That’s right. In terms of scale, it’s about that much, and probably even bigger in terms of profit.”

“P-Profit? Are you taking that much tax?”

“Tax? No. We’ve reduced taxes a lot.”

“Then where does the profit come from… Don’t tell me, are we doing this?”

“That’s right, it’s a business directly operated by our family.”

The Lord of Whiskers explained about the business. Lightweighting, attribute granting, and even dyeing magic.

He explained that all of this huge scale business was directly operated by the Whiskers family.

“Then all these many customers…”

 

“Yes, they are all sources of income for our territory.”

The Lord of Whiskers said so while showing Nathan around the expanded market.

“We’re continuously expanding the scale of the territory. Because so many people are coming, the previous size can’t handle it.”

“…”

Nathan could only blink his eyes while listening to his father’s words.

He couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

The Whiskers territory Nathan remembered was a humble rural territory unable to escape from its past glory.

A territory waiting for its downfall without any development potential or any hope to speak of.

It barely held on by receiving support while being economically dependent on the nearby Huntar territory.

Meanwhile, if any income was generated, it all went to his sick eldest brother.

Because of that brother, his father had many worries.

 

His father boasted, telling him not to worry, that he would surely get better, to just trust him.

His father, who smiled while saying that, had a crying face to anyone who saw. To think one could cry while smiling. After seeing that sight, Nathan devoted himself to studying with determination.

“Father, what about Brother? Where is he now?”

“Nathan, did you really not hear? About what happened to your brother?”

The Lord of Whiskers asked with a truly puzzled face.

“It should have spread to Freya. This is strange.”

Of course, it wasn’t that he hadn’t heard anything.

Stories about his brother had certainly reached Nathan’s ears.

When he heard that his brother Ethan had been hired as the top scorer in the Ivecar Academy teacher recruitment exam, he was puzzled.

Moreover, when he heard that this brother had beaten Ivecar’s famous teacher Claudie Hyde, he doubted his ears.

But he thought it was all false rumors.

 

The last time Nathan saw his brother, he was in a state where he seemed like he would die even from coughing.

It was hard to believe that someone who even had difficulty walking was hired as the top teacher at Ivecar, let alone beating that Teacher Claudie Hyde.

He wanted to investigate where such false rumors came from.

But Nathan Whiskers was an exceptionally outstanding elite student even within Freya.

Since no one openly asked about his brother, he couldn’t even get a clue about the truth of the rumors, let alone the facts.

“W-Was that really true? No way, no way… Then my brother…”

“Your brother has recovered. Well, to be precise, he hasn’t fully recovered, but he’s really gotten much better.”

The Lord of Whiskers said.

“All of these businesses and the development of the territory were all done by Ethan, Nathan.”

“Really?”

It was hard to believe.

 

First of all, he was extremely happy. To think his brother had gotten better enough to move normally.

Regardless of how he got better or how much he improved, just the fact that his brother became healthy made him incredibly happy.

“Yes, remember the old days? Your brother, the genius in swordsmanship, and you, the genius in magic. You were the pride of our family.”

The Lord of Whiskers said with satisfaction.

“Your brother has returned.”

“Father… please hit me once… Urk.”

Bam-!

Before he could finish speaking, the Lord of Whiskers’ fist struck.

“Wh-What? Father, what strength…!”

Nathan touched his cheek in bewilderment. This wasn’t the father he remembered. Looking closely with surprised eyes, his complexion had improved greatly and his body had grown larger than before.

Above all, that strike just now. It was so powerful that he could have fainted if he wasn’t careful.

 

“I’ve been training a bit these days. I felt the need to get stronger.”

“Phew… Father, even after hearing everything, I can’t believe any of it.”

The happy feeling was momentary. The words “magic genius” that the Lord of Whiskers just mentioned stuck with Nathan.

Nathan, who had been called a magic genius of the Whiskers territory since childhood, was full of confidence.

After his brother fell ill, the burden of being the last hope of the territory weighed heavily on him, but Nathan rather enjoyed that burden.

He thought he would change everything with his talent.

But after entering Freya Academy, that confidence was considerably shaken.

Of course, he was treated as an elite student with high grades within the academy and had quite a reputation.

“And Father, I don’t think I should be called a magic genius anymore.”

“…Did something happen?”

“No… I’m sorry.”

 

Seeing Nathan’s darkened expression, the Lord of Whiskers looked worried.

***

Before going to the imperial palace, Ethan returned to Whiskers territory.

Thanks to being registered with Wind Cloud, the arrival was instantaneous.

“It’s developing day by day.”

It seemed that his father, the Lord of Whiskers, was developing his capabilities along with it.

Ethan immediately went to the market to check the business first.

“There are no problems.”

After that, he immediately looked for Schudlen.

Ethan planned to enter the imperial palace with two guards.

The imperial palace is a den of snakes. Settling in the imperial palace alone without any connections is no different from walking around with your neck exposed in the middle of a battlefield.

 

‘I need someone to be my eyes.’

And he planned to ask Regia to train these two for later. If it’s Ethan’s request, Regia would personally agree to it.

“Huh?”

While looking for Schudlen, Ethan spotted a quite familiar face.

Next to that man was the Lord of Whiskers.

“Brother?”

And from that side too, as if recognizing Ethan right away, he immediately approached Ethan.

“Nathan.”

With medium-length hair reaching the nape and sharp eyes.

It was Nathan Whiskers, Ethan’s younger brother.

“Brother! Are you really okay now?”

 

“Yes, it’s all thanks to father. And thanks to you for giving up so much. Nathan, thank you so much.”

Although it was their first meeting in this world, the conversation was smooth because he knew the Nathan inside the game well.

“Instead of doing this here, let’s talk over a cup of tea.”

***

Whiskers Lord’s Castle.

Nathan Whiskers got to hear in detail about the achievements Ethan had made in a short period of time.

They were all shocking stories, but the most surprising was his brother’s ability.

“The illness was hiding all of your abilities.”

He knew about his talent in swordsmanship, but he had no idea about his business talent.

Moreover, that enormous capacity felt with every story was something that even Nathan, his brother, didn’t know about at all.

“I wonder if it’s all bursting out at once because it was suppressed until now. Anyway, I’m really glad, brother.”

 

Nathan also felt something welling up inside him seeing the healthy Ethan. It was probably because he had only seen his sick appearance for so long.

“Nathan, more than that, I want to hear about that story from earlier in detail. What happened at the academy?”

“…”

Nathan remained silent.

‘It seems like some problem has occurred.’

Ethan closely examined Nathan’s expression.

‘I think I roughly know what the problem is.’

There was only one thing that Nathan Whiskers would worry about within Freya Academy.

Background.

Although Nathan would be called one of Freya’s five stars, it was a name given for overcoming numerous difficulties on his own.

His family name and background were factors that held him back in reverse. Even now, they couldn’t even provide any notable human support.

 

‘Originally, Schudlen should have gone to Nathan.’

Ethan had taken that talented Schudlen.

‘Although it’s not quite a replacement…’

“Tell me, Nathan. The current me, no, the current Whiskers…”

Ethan said with a smile as if telling him not to worry.

“Whatever your worry is, we can solve it all. So…”

At Ethan’s words, Nathan raised his head. For some reason, he felt a reassurance that everything would really be solved as Ethan said.

“Tell me. What’s the matter?”

“Well…”

Nathan explained the situation he was currently in.

Freya Academy had much greater differences between classes than Ivecar Academy.

 

High-ranking nobles who had received elite education from childhood occupied all the top ranks, and the level of education they received from birth was different.

Moreover, they had good mentors attached to them, so even if they reached their limits or had deficiencies, they could quickly supplement their problems.

When Nathan first reached the upper ranks, he didn’t know this.

It felt like he could reach the very top ranks if he just took one more step.

It seemed like he could do it if he just tried a little more, but it wasn’t happening.

He felt the limits of his talent. But Nathan didn’t have anyone to help him like the other top-ranking students.

As he was from a family that could collapse at any time, Nathan felt burdened even to ask for support.

Listening to the story, Ethan recalled the stories Nathan had told him in the game.

‘Hearing the story, I remember now. He said there was a time when he hit a wall and couldn’t overcome it. Fortunately, thanks to a teacher who cared for Nathan among Freya’s teachers, he overcame it.’

To be precise, he received extreme education from a magician introduced by that teacher, and it was through that that he overcame his limits and was able to be where he was now.

‘He said it was luck at that time, but the journey to grab that luck wouldn’t have been easy.’

 

The difference in skill grows larger as you go up the ranks. Even if it looks like a small difference, many fail to bridge that gap and advance to the top ranks.

‘You’re caught there right now.’

So he can’t help but doubt his own talent. And at the same time, resentment towards his family arises.

‘Now I understand.’

Originally, this would be the point where he would struggle with resentment towards his family and the limits of his talent.

And probably Ethan would have died at this time.

‘So he was able to steel his resolve. More fiercely. But now I’m alive and well.’

Then all he needs to do is create a new opportunity to steel his resolve.

“In short, you’re feeling the limits of your talent, Nathan?”

“…It’s embarrassing to say, but yes.”

“Then I’ll break those limits for you.”

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