Chapter 51 Introduction

Nicholas and Stella continued on chatting about different things; their previous topics began to change, and they began getting to know more about each other while walking around the Curtana estate. Nicholas showed her different parts of the estate, such as the rehab center, the open field, the lecture halls, and finally the training ground.

When they entered the training ground, they suddenly felt the change in temperature. The heat wave came from the numerous soldiers currently training. There along the soldier, Nicholas saw Clarice training her swordsmanship using a training sword since it was her routine to do so in the morning. He saw Clarice swinging her sword on a training dummy, so he approached her with Stella.

Nicholas: "Hey, Clarice!" He called out to Clarice and wished her a great morning.

Clarice: "Ohhh, my liege. Great morning today!" She stopped her training and wiped some sweat with her towel on her shoulder and also greeted Nicholas with a great day. Then she saw a girl beside Nicholas; she was unfamiliar with that girl, so she was a bit inquisitive of her gaze.

Clarice: *Stareee*

Nicholas: "Ahh. Let me introduce you to Lady Stella; she is the daughter of the Duke of Harlow. About a year and a half older than us, she loves to go on an adventure, and she loves lamb." He introduced Stella to Clarice. 

Nicholas: "And Stella, this is one of my best friends in the world, Clarice Claireton. She is my personal knight; she likes training and going to dungeons. I personally think you guys will definitely hit it off if you guys get to know each other." He also introduced Clarice to Stella.

Clarice: "Good morning, lady Stella. My name is Clarice Claireton, the personal knight of the heir of the Curtana household," she said, and she greeted Stella with a salute and formal bow that she learned when greeting a noble from one of her lessons. Because, despite Nicholas great treatment of Clarice, she is still a commoner with a huge status discrepancy with Stella, who is the daughter of a noble. 

Stella: "Hi, nice to meet you too, Clarice. It's fine; you don't have to talk to me so formally since you're Sir Nicholas's closest aide. You talk to me in informal language in day-to-day affairs; I'm not that stiff in using it, especially when talking to a friend," she said courteously as a reply to Clarice.

Clarice: "Nice to meet you, lady Stella," she greeted her again.

Stella: "Actually, I heard about you guys. You and Maria from Nicholas who was telling about your adventures. I heard you guys started going on dungeon exploration almost daily ever since last year. How was your experience?"

Nicholas: "She really is excited in adventuring stuff, haha."

Clarice: "Ahh, thank you, lady Stella. We started more than a year, and I personally really did have fun going on adventures and exploring dungeons with the young master. Lady Stella, did the young master tell you about the time we did a solo dungeon?"

Stella: "You guy did a solo dungeon?!? Tell me more about it!" She dragged Clarice to a nearby seat, and they began to talk about stuff. They left Nicholas and talked about the dungeon in Curtana.

Clarice continued talking about their experience in going to different towns to clear dungeons and broaden their horizons. Then, Clarice also talked about the dungeon break that happened in the town of Marchelle.

Nicholas: *What's happening here?* He was stunned that the two girls began to talk and left them out of the conversation.

Stella: "You guys really fought a life-and-death battle all night long?" she asked excitedly.

Clarice: "Yes, lady Stella. That encounter with the dungeon break was very tiring and exciting. Also, we received a token of the guild master for our great performance during the battle."

Their conversation took a bit of time, changing from topic to topic. They also talked about training together since Stella will be staying in the Curtana household indefinitely, and coincidentally, they are both sword users. Finding that, they began chatting about the sword and techniques lively and excitedly.

Nicholas, on the other hand, was only on the side, listening to the two girls chattering. Letting them get to know each other more. In Nicholas's opinion, Clarice and Stella had the same kind of energy. It is like a kindred people meet for the first time looking already like longtime friends. They were a bit stiff the first time they met due to the difference in status, but their interest in the same things instantly broke the ice in their friendship.

And while they were in deep conversation about sword techniques. Suddenly a maid came to fetch Nicholas and Stella.

Maid: "Young master and lady Stella, the countess is waiting for your presence in her office." She was sent by Madame Iris.

She was also apparently excited to meet and talk to Nicholas's fiancée and cannot wait anymore since she didn't have time to talk to her in the main hall after the greetings. So there Stella and Clarice conversation abruptly came to an end; they said goodbye to each other.

Clarice: "Good bye, lady Stella; I also have to go back to my training. See you tomorrow!" she said in a cheerful voice. 

Stella: "Goodbye Clarice, let's meet here tomorrow morning as promised," she said in a graceful tone.

Nicholas gestured to the maid that they should go first, so both Stella and Clarice waved goodbyes to each other before she began to follow the maid to the office of my mother. Nicholas didn't follow them yet since he still had something to tell Clarice.

Nicholas: "I'm expecting to go on a date with you later." Nicholas whispered in a teasing tone.

Clarice: "Yes..." she replied with a slight blush.

After saying that, he quickly followed the maid and Stella. Nicholas immediately caught up with the maid and Stella, who were on their way to the mother's office.

Nicholas: "Looks like Clarice and you really hitting it off." He nudged Stella when he caught up with them.

Stella: "It seems so; she has a lively and easygoing personality."

---

At the office

Madame Iris, the countess of Curtana, was waiting for his son and Stella to arrive. She was currently sitting on a tea table drinking quietly while reading a book on the terrace of her office room.

She was casually sipping tea when a knock on the door was heard. After a moment, the maid who was with Madame Iris opened the door. Who came in was Nicholas, Stella, and then the maid came in right after.

Nicholas scouted the room to look for her mother, and when he saw her outside, He came out to the terrace to greet her mother with a hug and kiss on the cheeks. Stella followed behind, and then Nicholas again began to introduce Stella to her mother.

Nicholas: "Hey mom. Why did you call me and Stella for? I thought you wanted me to show her around the Curtana estate," he said in a calm and soft tone.

Countess Iris: "Well, I thought you guys would be quick, but it has been hours since you guys started walking around. I got impatient and will also be busy this afternoon, so I decided to call you two over," Countess Iris said as she stood up from her seat to approach Stella.

Countess Iris: "Hello again, Stella. Nice to meet you. It looks like you two are going along just fine." she said in a slight teasing tone when she arrived in front of her.

Stella: "Hello, countess Iris, nice. Nicholas is really a great guide," she said in a low and soft tone because she was a bit shy due to my mother's aggressive approach.

Nicholas: "MOM!" He looked sternly at Countess Iris to stop her from teasing Stella.

Countess Iris: "Come sit; we have a lot to talk about." She ignored Nicholas and invited Stella to the table.

Stella: "Nicholas, how about you check on the office right now? I heard that you still have papers or something that needs some of your attention," she said to Nicholas, trying to shoo him away.

Nicholas was puzzled by her mother's instruction, but he still agreed to it because he thinks that his mother wanted to talk to her privately. Nicholas then nudged Stella and said goodbye to her mother, and Stella then proceeded to leave.

Nicholas left her mother's office to do his daily quest first before going to his office. So that was what he did. He opened his system panel and checked his daily quest. After that, he went to his office to do his papers since he would go out with Clarice in the afternoon.

In his office, he continued his planning to add additional things to his business since his father already approved of his conglomerate plan. He also got some documents coming from his father's intelligence agency about the situation in Daedric news and recent events.

Nicholas: "Hmmm."

He prepared documents about his planned alchemy guild; he wanted to start it early but will not invest in much before he sees the contents of the alchemy book that will be rewarded to him after he completes his story quest.

[Story Quest 04: The Battle to the Top]

[Improving and getting stronger had been one of the desires of any living being, but endlessly slaughtering to gain experience and power was one of the most crude ways of acquiring it. It has been a way of life for most, but not until a higher being then introduced a balance-breaking method]

[Quest]

[Successfully create 10 dungeons] [10/10]

[Let a dungeon absorb the maximum amount of mana] [0/1]

[Rewards]

[Alchemy Book]

Nicholas already summoned ten dungeons in the forest, but there is still about a month before he can finish the story quest. The first dungeon still needed time to fully absorb mana.

At first, Nicholas hoped that none of his built dungeon would be cleared; it was a waste of investment if it was cleared someone beforehand. But then he realized that he could secure the dungeon through his father's authority. To properly secure some of his dungeon, he asked his father to let him choose some low-level fluctuated dungeon to his name. His father agreed readily because he was also instructed by his father to experiment more about useless monster materials and find uses for them if possible.