Cain was now pale in the face as he sat back onto the chair. His face had lost all hope.
“Cain, let me ask once more. Who are you?”
Everyone in the room was staring directly at Cain.
“…Okay. I’ll tell you the truth,” Cain began, resigned. “However, can you keep the secret only amongst those in the room? Otherwise…”
Everyone nodded.
“I am without a doubt, the son of Garm. There’s no mistaking that. However, I still have memories of a previous life. Those memories come from another world, the same world the founder of this country came from. We even come from the same country in that world. The name of that country is Japan.”
Silence dominated the room upon Cain’s shocking confession.
“I knew you weren’t an ordinary ten-year-old, but I didn’t expect you to have memories of living in the same country as the founder.” The king seemed satisfied with the explanation.
“A-are you really our son? You’re sure of that?” Garm asked in concern.
“Yes, there’s no mistaking it. The Goddess of Life, Rime, told me herself when I was baptized.”
“You’ve met a god before?!”
The room was shocked once more. People usually didn’t actually meet with the gods during their baptisms. Although saints would occasionally receive revelations from the gods, even members of the clergy wouldn’t meet with them directly.
With slight regret, Cain continued to explain.
“…Yes. When I was baptized at the church, I met with the Seven Pillars.” There wasn’t much more to hide, so Cain chose to come completely clean.
“All Seven Pillars?” The king asked, “Is that why you couldn’t show Garm your Status?”
“Yes, that’s part of the reason why. My titles, abilities, and blessings, are not things I can casually show to others.”
“All right, can you show us, at least? We’ll of course promise to not reveal it to anyone else.”
“Okay.”
Cain cast the spell in resignation.
“Status Open.”
Status
Name: Cain von Silford
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Titles: Margrave’s Third Son, Reincarnator, Disciple of the Gods, Prodigy, Natural Enemy of the Forest of Monsters, Destroyer of Nature, Dragon Slayer, Blessed by the Gods
Level: 298
Health: 5,857,240/5,857,240
Mana: 102,643,240/102,643,240
Rating: SSS
Magic: Creation Magic Level 10, Fire Magic Level 10, Wind Magic Level 10, Water Magic Level 10, Earth Magic Level 10, Light Magic Level 10, Dark Magic Level 10, Spacetime Magic Level 10, Everyday Magic
Skills: Appraisal Level 10, Item Box Level 10, Military Arts Level 10, Martial Arts Level 10, Physical Tolerance Level 10, Magical Tolerance Level 10
Blessings: Blessing of the God of Creation Level 10, Blessing of the God of Life Level 10, Blessing of the God of Magic Level 10, Blessing of the God of Earth Level 10, Blessing of the God of War Level 10, Blessing of the God of Technology Level 10, Blessing of the God of Commerce level 10
Upon seeing Cain’s Status, everyone was speechless. Time passed. Silence dominated the room.
The king, overwhelmed by Cain’s status, said weakly, “I-I didn’t expect for there to be blessing levels above that of five. Cain, is that Status of yours real? If it is, this entire country—no, this entire world—has to kneel at your feet. That includes me, the king. As a Disciple of the Gods, you are above all of us in stature.”
“Your Majesty, if possible, I’d like things to remain the way they are right now. I’m Garm’s son, a ten-year-old child. I do have memories of my previous life, but I’m satisfied with my current lifestyle.” Maintaining the status quo was the best outcome for Cain.
“…Very well. Thank you. I now understand why you’re always causing unprecedented trouble,” the king said.
The king looked directly at Cain. “In the future, if something were to happen, will you defend this country?”
Cain matched the king’s serious gaze and responded. “I’m a Baron of the Esfort Kingdom. I like this country. Princess Telestia, Miss Silk, and my family all live here, so I will definitely defend it. However, if there are wrongs, they must be righted.”
A weight lifted off his shoulders, the king let out a sigh of relief.
“Under normal circumstances, I should promote you to duke, but we have to keep this under wraps. Suddenly promoting you out of nowhere will lead to unnecessary complications. When the opportunity presents itself, I’ll promote you bit by bit. Some people would continue to get in our way if you remained a baron after all.”
Cain smiled wryly—that last comment brought to mind Marquess Corgino.
“What was shared here today must not leave this room. Don’t tell anyone, not even your family members. Understood?” At the king’s strict command, everyone assumed a vassal’s bow.
Garm said with a relieved smile, “I was a bit upset when you refused to show me your Status, but seeing it now, I can understand your reasons. Sorry, Cain.”
All of Cain’s secrets were revealed on this day.
A month passed since the day Cain’s secrets were exposed. Cain had spent the month much the same as he had previously. He was often summoned to the palace to play Othello with the king. Even now, the king had yet to defeat Duke Eric a single time.
As for Captain Tifana, it appeared that for some reason or another, her family had approved of her engagement. They sent a letter requesting to meet Cain once they came to the capital.
The king, upon reading the letter, had no choice but to recognize Tifana as another one of Cain’s fiancées.
Garm had completely given up. “I’ll not mettle in your affairs any longer. Do as you wish.”
As for Cain himself, although he remained against it to the very end, since the king and his father had acknowledged it, his engagement with Tifana was now official. As with Telestia and Silk, the announcement would take place after Cain turned twelve and entered the academy.
At the moment, Cain was drinking black tea in a room in the palace. Telestia and Silk were sitting in front of him. Silk was her usual self, but Telestia had a grim look on her face.
“Sir Cain, why are you marrying Captain Tifana?” Telestia’s cold gaze stabbed into Cain.
“It just kind of happened after I sparred with her…” Cain answered weakly.
“Well, this is Cain we’re talking about. I wonder how many wives he’ll have by the time he’s an adult? It’s fun being together with Teles, so I’m fine with it. My father has three wives, too,” Silk said. Fortunately for Cain, Miss Silk appeared to be rather magnanimous.
“My father told me that your engagements will only be made public after you turn twelve and enter the academy. Please don’t increase your number of fiancées too much, okay?”
“…Okay.”
For the rest of their tea party, Telestia continually poked at Cain. Afterwards, as he was leaving the palace, he bumped into Tifana.
“Cain! What good timing! Let’s make love (spar)!”
Whenever she ran into Cain, she would always ask him to fight her. Tifana was quite the musclehead. There was a reason why Daim the Vice-captain was responsible for managing the practical affairs of the Royal Guard. After spending more time with her, Cain understood why.
Since Cain was only ten, Tifana easily dragged him off. The knights at the training grounds looked at Cain with pity in their eyes, as usual. To an outside observer, it would appear as if a knight was abducting a child.
As often happened, a ten-year-old and the captain of the Royal Guard were facing each other with swords in hand at the training grounds.
“Baron Cain got kidnapped again. I feel bad for him.”
It was practically a daily occurrence at this point, so nobody was surprised. Since Cain’s Status gave him a significant advantage, he never lost. However, his swordsmanship up to this point had relied completely on his Status. He learned a lot of technique from Tifana.
After several dates (sparring sessions) with Tifana, at some point or another, Sword Saint was added to his titles. Tifana’s swordsmanship also improved through facing a stronger opponent in Cain.
They always had Boost activated during their dates, so they moved at speeds the other knights could only barely follow with their eyes. Nobody was able to interfere. These daily dates would usually last for an hour, ending only once Tifana finally ran out of energy. Ignoring the exhausted Tifana, Cain greeted the other knights as he was leaving the palace.
Phew…Tifana is getting stronger, Cain thought, impressed.
After leaving the palace and exiting the aristocratic quarter, Cain headed to the commerce district. He was headed to the Saracaen Company. He regularly dropped by to offer new potential product ideas. Up to this point, they had already assisted him with Othello and bidets. Cain was the only one capable of creating Venetian Glass, but they helped him sell it on consignment.
The products Cain came up with were all extremely popular, and it appeared that both the production factory and the company were doing well.
“I can no longer sleep with my feet pointed at you, Baron Cain! We owe you much. I had planned to have Parma continue her training here at the store, but thanks to the ample operating funds we now have, I was able to hire some employees. When she turns twelve, I intend to have her attend the academy. She will be in the same class year as you, Baron Cain, so I hope you’ll treat her well.” Tamanis politely bowed his head.
While Parma was studying to enter the academy, she continued managing the shop and practicing her bookkeeping.
“Sir Cain, I’ll be in your care,” Parma said with upturned eyes. Before he knew it, Cain found himself agreeing.
As a side note, Cain had yet to receive permission to touch her cat ears.
After bidding Parma and Tamanis farewell, Cain returned to the carriage and headed home. He entered the study of his mansion, opened the book about Emperor-level magic he had borrowed from the king, and began to read.
“I can read this because it’s written in Japanese, but this book is also why I was exposed.”
Cain sighed as he turned the page. The author of this magic book had treated it as a diary and included personal details in between the explanations of various spells. Cain learned several things from the diary portions of the book.
Yuuya Terra Hirasawa Esfort, the first king and author of this book, had gotten into an accident in Japan and passed away. He then found himself summoned to this world. Uncomfortable with the situation in the country he had arrived in, he fled along with some friends. He eventually made a name for himself as an adventurer. He later became known as a Hero, then founded his own country.
“He wasn’t a reincarnator—he was a transmigrator. There might be others like him out there.”
Cain decided to keep that in the back of his mind.