C46- A Noble's Duty (1)

"Why did we clear that fores- Corvin? What did you see?"

Noah had a lot of questions to ask Corvin once he fell back to the ground, but he stopped after seeing Corvin's expression.

"That... I... I don't know..."

"Huh?"

"W-We should go back... We can't deal with this thing..."

"What are you talking about?"

"This mountain..."

"What about it?"

"Wh-What if I told you it may be a giant monster nest?"

"Hm? Monsters don't reproduce or make a nest, what are you talking about?"

"You should know, some do..."

"No, they don- Wait... Don't tell me..."

"Yeah. The only way a monster makes a nest or reproduces is if it is the work of a colossus..."

"Th-Then... Does that mean this whole mountain is..."

"It is infected by a colossus... Probably, all those pink bugs we fought before, were all minions of whatever monster is producing them."

Noah's eyes widened in shock and his hands started to shake.

"Wh-What?! N-No way!"

"Noah?"

"That... D-Doesn't that m-mean....t-that thing is s-still..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Noah went out of breath and fell on his knees. His face was filled with fear, and he kept muttering apologies. Soon, he passed out while shedding tears.

"Noah!"

*****

---Nine Years Ago---

"Noah."

"Yes, dad?"

While Noah was doodling on a piece of paper, Felyp entered his room.

"Now that you are six years old, I want you to learn about your future job."

"Job?"

"Yes. You are my heir, the heir of a margrave. You need to learn how to fight and also command soldiers."

"Why do I have to do that?"

"Because, as a noble, it is your job to rule the people. You need to get better education and experience, so that you can be a good ruler, and complete your duty as a noble."

"Duty as a noble?"

Felyp crouched down to his height, and placed his hand on Noah's head.

"You see, we live comfortably, right?"

"Mhm?"

Felyp started to ruffle his hair.

"We get this luxury thanks to commoners. So, as nobles, we must pay them back with exceptional leadership."

"Really? Is that what nobles do?"

"Yes, that's what they should do..."

Felyp gave a slightly sad smile while answering. At that time, Noah didn't understand the emotions behind that smile, let alone the meaning because of his age. He smiled with excitement and asked.

"Then! What should I do?"

"Come with me. You will start with learning how to fight."

Felyp and Noah went outside, to the mansion's garden.

"Now, start with running around the mansion."

"Ehh?"

"Don't complain and do it. If you don't, you will not be able to do your duty as a noble."

'Also, maybe exercise will make your androgynous face more masculine...', thought Felyp, but didn't say that part out loud. He was sure his son was going to be really handsome over time, so he wanted to discipline him from an early age to make sure he doesn't grow a bad personality.

Noah nodded at his father and started running. As he got furhter away from where his father stood, he saw a guard come up to his father and start talking. He continued to run, and after fifteen minutes, he completed his task.

He walked up to his father, out of breath. His father had a more serious expression than before. The guard had already left, leaving the two alone.

"Noah."

"Y-Yes!"

"Go take a shover. You can ignore training for today."

"Why?"

"There is an emergency... But this might be a chance for you to gain experience."

"Hm? Okay..."

"Come to the front gate when you are ready. We will be going to Asmil city."

"Yes!"

Noah entered the mansion and took a bath. He changed his clothes and a maid prepared his luggage. After he was ready, he met with his father at the front gates.

His father was with four people, whom Noah knew. They were his closest friends, and most powerful subordinates.

Dennis, a giant but kind man with red hair and eyes. He used a giant shield to protect his comrades so that they could focus on attacking. He would carry Noah around on his shoulders from time to time.

Clark, a short man with light blue hair and slightly yellow eyes. He liked to get drunk, but whenever he fought using his powerful matter magic, he would prove that his size didn't effect his power. He usually made pranks on Noah using the fact that matter created by magic disappeared after a certain amount of time.

Olivia, an older sister-like figure who had light green hair and light blue eyes. She was excellent at biological magic, and also helped Noah many times when he hurt himself while playing.

Jack, a slightly thin man longer than his father, with brown hair and green eyes. He used vector magic, and would deliver his father's messages to him when he was away from home. One time, he was scolded by Felyp because he spent a bit of time playing with Noah when Bella was ill, instead of returning immediately to report to his father.

"Dad, why is everyone here?"

"You will see, Noah. We don't have much time, we need to leave now."

Felyp lifted Noah and sat him in his lap on the horse.

"Dad, why don't we use a carriage?"

"We don't have time today."

After answering Noah's question, Felyp gripped the reins of the horse and the group started on their way. Olivia used her magic on the horses to make them go faster, in a single day, they were halfway through their road and decided to stop and continue the next day.

At night, when everyone was asleep but Noah and Felyp, they were talking around the campfire.

"Did you see the horses, dad?!"

"Hm? What about them?"

"When Olivia used magic to help them, their legs were shining!"

"Were they? I didn't see anything."

"It was a green light, I almost didn't see it as well because of the grass on the ground. But they were shining a little bit!"

"Cool, isn't it?"

"Yes! Will I be able to use magic as well, dad?"

"Who knows? Well, noble's have a bigger chance of using magic, so you are lucky."

"Do we?! Being a noble is so cool, isn't it dad?"

"Who knows... But don't forget. Because you have all these things, you must do your duty well."

"I will! I will be the best noble and make everyone happy!"

Felyp patted his son's short silver gray hair, and smiled at his eyes that looked just like his own. He had that same smile that had a bit of sadness behind it like yesterday, but Noah didn't notice it this time as well.

"I am sure you will. But first, you need to grow up. And to grow up, you need to sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day, so sleep well."

"Ehh..."

"Yes, yes. I know. But you need to sleep."

"Okay..."

Noah went inside the tent to sleep, leaving Felyp behind to deal with his own worries and thoughts.

"A noble's duty, huh?", muttered Felyp while watching the stars in the night sky.