Chapter 4

Four years had passed since the night Rian first sensed mana. The children of the Aster family had grown vigorously.

Thirteen-year-old Kaion had grown into a stature that made calling him a boy feel awkward. He was the pride of the Aster family and the hope of the domain. As he swung a wooden sword in the training yard, a faint shimmer like heat haze rose from his body. Aura, the symbol of knights’ strength and a measure of talent.

“Amazing, Kaion! To be already on the threshold of becoming an Aura user at this age!”

Viscount Aaron couldn’t hide his swelling emotions and patted his son’s shoulder. Kaion smiled sheepishly yet stole a glance toward the study window where his younger sibling sat. Eight-year-old Rian, sitting by the window reading, quietly gave a thumbs-up when their eyes met. That small encouragement brightened Kaion’s face even more.

At that moment, Rian saw his brother’s Aura differently.

‘It’s the phenomenon of combining bioenergy with mana and manifesting it outside the body. The efficiency is far too low. If energy were circulated spirally around the core muscles, it could produce three times the current power.’

Rian scribbled his own thoughts in the corner of the book with cipher-like symbols no one would recognize. Over the past four years he had perfectly mastered 1st-circle magic and was eyeing the realm of 2nd-circle. His magic ran on a different track than ordinary mages’. Rather than circles or verbal spells, he realized magic through his own computational methods applying physics and chemistry. For example, the ‘Light’ spell that produces a small flame would calculate oxygen concentration and ignition point to create an explosive fire with minimal mana.

He also brought small changes to the domain under the guise of “curious techniques I read in books.” Adjusting the angle of waterways to improve waterwheel efficiency, mixing lime and compost into fields to improve soil—his suggestions gradually enriched the estate. People simply thought the second young master read a lot and therefore knew many things.

“Brother! Look at the butterfly!”

Four-year-old Lily chattered as she ran around the garden. Strangely, colorful butterflies lingered unusually around her. When Lily reached out, a blue tiger butterfly fearlessly alighted gently on her fingertip.

Rian watched the scene with a smile. Lily had no combat ability, but she possessed a special talent for communing with life. Her purity drew nature’s spirits to her.

One otherwise peaceful evening, the mood at the dinner table fell heavy.

“A report has come that a goblin horde is moving unnaturally along the boundary near the Monster Forest.”

At Viscount Aaron’s words, Serena’s face turned pale. Goblins were weak monsters, but in great numbers they posed a serious threat even to the domain’s soldiers.

“Recently the number of monsters pushed out from the forest has increased. It’s a bad omen.”

That night Rian shut himself in his room. For years he had collected and analyzed every bit of information—the servants’ conversations, the guards’ watch rotations, rumors of merchants passing through the domain. It was his own small information network.

‘Goblins usually move on a three-month cycle. But this time they moved in two months. Their route is different too. This isn’t simple territory expansion. It’s evidence they’re being chased by something.’

Rian spread out the domain map he had secretly taken from the study. Using the information he’d gathered, he began to deduce the goblins’ likely escape routes and what kind of superior predator might be pursuing them.

The next morning, Rian went to his father’s study.

“Father, I had a dream last night… I dreamed of wolves with red manes running toward the western valley of the forest.”

Aaron showed a puzzled expression at the sudden story of a child’s dream. But he noticed his son’s eyes were more serious than ever.

“Wolves with red manes… Hobgoblins?”

Hobgoblins were higher-order beings that commanded ordinary goblins. If a hobgoblin had appeared, the situation changed. Aaron, half doubting but cautious, dispatched a scouting party to the western valley.

A few hours later an urgent report arrived from the scouts: they had discovered and ambushed a troop of hobgoblins hiding in the western valley and annihilated them. It was a close call that could have inflicted major losses on the guards.

Aaron looked at his son anew. It was not just a child’s dream.

“Rian, what on earth are you…”

“I read it in a book. Hobgoblins are cunning and always use weak groups as bait.”

Rian feigned innocence. Aaron asked no more, but his gaze toward his son held even a trace of awe.

Back in his room, Rian stared at the dark forest beyond the window. They had been lucky this time. But a greater threat would come someday. The domain’s soldiers and his small information network would not be enough.

‘I need power. A power of my own that can protect the family from places no one can detect.’

Rian’s eyes glinted coldly. He felt, in that moment, the pressing need for a shadow organization—equipped with both intelligence and force—under his sole control.