Chapter 17- A year later

A year later,

In the Vinlig Territory, the support of merchant Vorila had proven invaluable.

He provided five gold coins, a substantial amount, especially considering that a single copper coin could feed a person a full meal for an entire day.

With ten copper coins making one silver and ten silver coins equating to one gold coin, it was clear that one gold coin could provide food for 100 people for a day.

Even in areas still scarred by battles and barren from conflict, the territory thrived thanks to the funds generated from monster hunting along the border of the Vendal Kingdom.

Due to the rapid subjugation of monsters by other races and the Vinlig Territory being on the borders of the Vendal Kingdom, this influx has brought in a steady stream of monsters, which has allowed the territory to sustain its citizens.

Meanwhile, the Count's Mansion had undergone significant changes.

Once compact and isolated due to the strict rules from the mistress of the house, it had become more open and welcoming, thanks in part to a few loyal servants who had been with the Count since the beginning and were now given the freedom to act.

Outside, a maid was drying clothes, and even though there was snow all around and no sunlight, she didn't seem to need their assistance.

Swish

"Phew, finally done!" she exclaimed, wiping the sweat from her brow after using her awakened ability called 'Master of Washing' to wash the clothes.

Stretching her back, she glanced toward one of the mansion's open gates, which revealed the training ground.

There, several maids stood by the door, likely arrived here after their shifts had ended, their eyes focused on someone special.

'Now it's my turn!' With that thought and a dreamy smile gracing her features, as if imagining something delightfully adorable, she made her way toward the gates.

Just then, seeing the maid coming towards the training ground after washing all the clothes, one of those already standing there realized it was replacement time. She passed by her and went to arrange and pick up the clothes, with her head bowed as if disappointed to have her shift start now.

Inside the training grounds, it wasn't a handsome, muscular soldier that had captured their attention.

Instead, all eyes were on their young master, who was hard at work, though not exactly running on his two legs.

"Haa... haaa... haaa! Mikk!" Lucian lay flat on the training ground, gasping for breath after exerting himself in a full lap around the grounds.

He called out for something, and in an instant, three maids sprinted to him, arriving as if to offer sustenance.

They knelt and bowed their heads respectfully, while one maid lifted a milk bottle and handed it to him with a gesture of professionalism.

As he took the bottle, Lucian began to gulp down the milk.

'Dammit, I have a blister on my palm.'

He thought indignantly while trying to catch his breath and finish the bottle.

These twelve months had seen his weight increase significantly, even as he continued his exercise regimen.

At this point, he had managed to attain the ability to run on all fours—a feat in itself.

However, he didn't stop there; he pushed himself to walk longer distances in an effort to burn off the fat before it turned him into a walking hippo.

'I've only just begun to grasp the language of this world,' Lucian reflected.

Though unable to communicate much beyond simple observations, he had started to comprehend several words—how they pronounced 'Count' and other phrases that began to make sense with repetition.

"Do…dway," Lucian said, taking the bottle from his mouth. He clearly instructed the others to leave him be.

Unsurprisingly, even with his slurred speech, his companions understood and nodded in response. They accepted the milk from him as if it were a knight receiving his sword, then leaped back, holding the hems of their dresses as they retreated to their positions.

"Hey, don't you think the young master is growing quite healthy?" one of the soldiers on the opposite side of the training ground remarked.

Ever since the young master began training there, the entire area had been divided, leaving only half for the soldiers to practice.

On the other half, Lucian himself was hard at work. Given the size of the entire training ground, this arrangement wasn't too much of a problem.

However, witnessing an infant scuttling around on all fours was undeniably distracting.

"Yes, he… um, looks a bit chubby," another soldier said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his t-shirt and glancing toward the young master. They couldn't help but notice how rapidly he was growing—not by age, but in size.

He appeared almost as if he were two years old already.

Despite this, a content smile spread across their faces as they looked at him, mirroring the fond expression one adopts when observing something adorable and industrious.

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After spending the day on the training ground and indulging in a solid twelve-hour nap, it seemed that the culprit behind this was now taking its position inside the library.

"Young master, this is our kingdom," One of the maids surrounding the small child said, as she pointed at a map laid out before him.

With a face full of smiles, though knowing he would not understand anything, she pointed towards their estate, while looking at the pouted and chubby face of the baby.

For Lucian though, the book, nearly the size of his entire body, remained open before him. Given his chubby figure, it was still insufficient to cover him completely, but he sat with his legs spread, gazing intently at the map.

'It must be this place,' Lucian thought, unable to comprehend most of the details, but at least he understood that they referred to him as the young master while pointing out a specific area on the map.

This led him to guess that this was indeed their kingdom.

He observed a large landmass surrounded by ocean, with directions clearly indicated.

Though the letters were beyond his understanding, north always remained pointing upward—at least in his past world.

He also noted that the nearby area marked by a different color likely signified another kingdom.

With the compass and the maids indicating a particular spot, he concluded that they resided in the north, right on the edge of two kingdoms.

'Hmm, according to that couple, there are several races as well in this world,' Lucian reflected, casting his gaze toward the book. The varying colors on the map suggested that those places might belong to the kingdoms of different races.

Although he couldn't recall all their names, he distinctly remembered elves and dragons among them.

Elves and dragons were quite familiar to him from his own world, but he struggled to recall the names of other races that sounded strange, like Dariant or Haidrens.