Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

However, Therese no longer doubts this matter, because to become an SS-rank adventurer, one not only needs to complete a terrifying amount of tasks, but also needs to defeat monsters equivalent to "Saint-level" monsters, something that neither high-ranking swordsmen nor mages can do.

Furthermore, it's important to note that adventurers typically form groups to complete missions more safely.

But Wood's adventure party consisted of only him!

This means that Wood is not only a strongman comparable to a "Sword Saint", but also not an ordinary Sword Saint!

"Actually, regarding the disaster that occurred in the Fituia territory, instead of posting a request to the Adventurers' Guild, it's better to find out from the temple or your grandmother."

"My mother couldn't possibly be unaware of such a major national event; in fact, if she wanted to, she could easily know much more."

Through Wood's explanation, Therese finally learned about the disaster that had occurred in the territory of Fituia, which had caused Wood and his family to be scattered to various places, and she quickly offered Wood a better solution.

"Aunt Therese, isn't this your real purpose? You said you were taking time off to show me around the capital, but you actually wanted to use me as a buffer to resolve the conflict between my mother and grandmother, didn't you?"

Having her little scheme exposed, Therese stuck out her tongue and admitted the truth.

Indeed, it was all a pretense that Trez was showing Wood, Noren, and Aisha around the royal palace today. Trez's real purpose was to take Wood and the others back to the Latoria family home.

Rather than trying to get her strong-willed sister and mother to compromise, Therese felt it would be easier to solve the problem by finding a breakthrough elsewhere.

Clearly, Wood has two younger sisters, who are the best point of entry for Therese to use, mainly to get Wood to apologize to their mother Claire on behalf of Senis.

Given the mother's longing for her sister Senis over the years, and with Wood being such an excellent grandson, this matter can probably be put to rest.

The two walked and talked, and soon arrived in front of a luxurious mansion. The guards who had been standing at the door bowed and greeted Therese when they saw her, saying, "Welcome back, Miss Therese."

Clearly, from the very beginning, Therese had been leading Wood toward home, and by the time Wood realized it, they were already at the door of the Latorrea's house.

The building is entirely blue, with iron gates gilded with gold paint, and a vast courtyard filled with various rare and precious flowers.

Just by looking at the house from the outside, Wood felt that the Latorea family was probably even richer than the Boreas family, where he had stayed before.

This is not surprising, after all, the Boreas family is merely a lord's family, while the Latorea family is an earl's family residing in the capital.

Furthermore, Philip was not the head of the Boreas family line, while Senis's mother, Claire Latorrea, was the head of the entire Latorrea family.

"The man next to me is Wood Grellatt, my sister's son. You should get to know him. From now on, Latoria will also be his home."

If he wants to go home, you should know what to do, right?

Upon hearing Therese's introduction of Wood, the guards quickly bowed to him and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Wood."

Looking at the guards bowing to him, Wood looked embarrassed. He had been hesitating about whether to enter the Latorrea family home, but Therese had clearly forced him into it, defining his identity right away...

Wood's good upbringing ensured that the guard who saluted him did not lose his manners, and he returned the salute in kind to show his respect.

However, Wood did not notice that a pair of eyes were watching from the window of the distant mansion, but Claire nodded in satisfaction when she saw Wood's courtesy.

Chapter 289 First Meeting with Grandma Claire

Whether or not to acknowledge the identity of the young master Wood is something that Therese cannot do in her capacity; Claire is the true patriarch of the Latorrea family.

The fact that the guards of the Latorrea family dared to address Wood as "Young Master" directly suggests that they had received instructions from someone beforehand.

Now that they were already at the doorstep of the Latorrea family, and with Therese's encouragement, Wood was eventually pushed into the Latorrea mansion, albeit reluctantly.

Before entering the mansion, Therese worried that Wood was meeting his mother Claire for the first time.

Therefore, she was worried that some of Wood's actions might displease his mother, so she kept explaining his mother's personality and likes and dislikes to Wood along the way.

Through Therese's description, Wood also gained a general understanding of what kind of person his grandmother, whom he had never met, was.

Normally, Claire Latorrea would be either at the palace or at home handling clan affairs at this time, but today, she was in high spirits and suddenly went to the backyard to drink black tea.

Originally, Wood was brought to the backyard with the intention of giving him a crash course on Therese, his mother's favorite subject. However, upon seeing his mother sitting gracefully in the backyard drinking tea, he was immediately stunned.

She wasn't fully prepared yet, how did she end up "bumping into" her mother?

Logically speaking, drinking black tea in the backyard isn't a strange thing, but this is her mother, Claire Latorrea. Shouldn't the old woman be a workaholic? When did she find the time for this?

"Therese, if I remember correctly, it should still be the Templar Knights' working hours right now. Can you tell me why you're here?"

Claire held a teacup in one hand and sat upright with a dignified posture. Even in her rare moments of leisure, her words and actions were meticulous.

Therese's personality was usually quite lively and active, but under Claire's authoritative gaze, she seemed completely subdued...

First, Claire used her imposing gaze to subdue Therese, who was skipping work, and then she turned her attention to Wood.

And after lingering for quite some time, he finally turned back to Therese, clearly waiting for her to give him an explanation.

However, just as Therese looked distressed and hadn't yet organized her thoughts, Wood, who was standing next to her, took the initiative to introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Claire. My name is Wood Grellatt, my mother's name is Senis Grellatt, and my father's name is Paul Grellatt."

I am the second son in my family, and I have come to greet you on behalf of my mother. It is truly impolite of me to visit you without your permission.

This is a gift my mother asked me to bring; I hope Lady Claire will accept it.

Looking at Wood beside her, after a long and detailed apology and a perfectly standard aristocratic gesture, Therese was completely dumbfounded.

She hadn't even sorted out her words on how to introduce Wood to her mother when her little nephew had already perfectly executed a set of aristocratic etiquette.

Moreover, there wasn't a single flaw in Therese's choice of words or her gestures when she bowed.

No, it should be said that Therese even thought that Wood's actions were more proper than those of the teacher who taught her court etiquette.

When Wood took out the beautifully wrapped gift, Therese was completely dumbfounded. She didn't even know when Wood had prepared a gift!

"Grerrat? Is this the one she chose?"

Since she knows she's wrong, why didn't she come in person this time, but instead sent you? Does she even still consider me her mother?

Upon hearing Wood's words, Claire's teacup suddenly shattered with a "bang," spilling all the tea onto her blue dress.

But the other party didn't pay attention and continued to stare intently at Wood in front of him with a piercing gaze.

Seeing her angry mother, Therese was clearly panicked; the script she had planned was not like this.

However, because it happened so suddenly, the drama took an unexpected turn before she even began her performance.

However, compared to the flustered Therese, Wood, though also showing a look of fear on his face, was actually quite calm inside.

With his sensitivity and control over magic, he was able to clearly capture the trajectory of Claire's magic just now.

In other words, the reason why the cup in the other party's hand shattered was not because of his anger causing his magic to become disordered and run wild, but because Claire did it on purpose.

According to Therese's previous description, her grandmother was a stubborn, strong-willed person who valued appearances and had extremely high expectations of everyone, including herself.

Wood's polite and courteous words and actions had actually earned Claire a lot of goodwill.

In addition, considering Claire's guilt towards Senis over the years, Claire should have forgiven her daughter long ago in her heart, otherwise she wouldn't have tacitly allowed the guard to call Wood "Young Master".

As for why Claire acted angry, Wood guessed that she was embarrassed and needed to save face.

After all, if someone with such a stubborn and strong personality were to forgive Senis so easily, where would her dignity as a mother be?

And just as Wood had predicted, Claire left after throwing a tantrum, using the excuse of needing to change her clothes.

She didn't intend to send Wood away; in fact, she asked him to wait for her to return, after which she would explain the rules of the Latoria family to him.

Therese was completely dumbfounded, because just a second ago she had seen her mother, who seemed incredibly angry and was about to kick Wood out on the spot.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be all bark and no bite in the end, and it wasn't hard to tell from Claire's words that her mother seemed to still intend to leave Wood in the Latoria family.

Wood and Therese didn't have to wait long before Claire appeared before them, dressed in a new evening gown, looking dignified.

Furthermore, her cold and serious expression made it impossible to tell that she was the same person who had just been angry.

"Wood Grellatt, although I don't know what kind of person your father is, it seems that although Senis is an unfilial daughter who does not respect her elders, she has raised you to be quite outstanding."

Senis was once hailed as the "benchmark of a young lady of high birth" in the capital under my tutelage, but in terms of etiquette and aristocratic demeanor, I think you are even more outstanding than your mother.

I already knew something about you. Besides your excellent aristocratic manners, you also seem to be an excellent warrior.

Then let me see if your abilities are as outstanding as your other skills.

Chapter 290 More Than Just a Sword Saint…

Looking at Claire Latorrea, who had already drawn her magic wand, Wood understood that this was a test from his grandmother, partly because she wanted to know more about her grandson, Wood.

On the other hand, Claire probably also wanted to see if Senis could raise Wood to be as outstanding as she was.

"Therese, lend her your sword. Even the best swordsman can't defeat a mage without a weapon."

Wood had sensed Claire's magic before and had a general understanding of her level. In addition, because she was an elder, Wood was inclined to refuse.

However, when he saw his grandmother Claire's serious expression, and even asked Therese to lend Wood the sword, he couldn't help but show a helpless look.

"Wood, you need to be careful. Don't let your mother's age fool you; she was a member of the Knights Templar when she was young."

Although she is certainly not as powerful as she once was, as a devout follower of the god Milis, and with a mother who is a water saint-level mage, she also possesses a certain level of swordsmanship.

Upon hearing Therese's words, Wood looked at Claire with a slight expression of surprise.

Wood wasn't surprised that the other party was a "Water Saint-level" mage, after all, Senis's talent as a high-level mage couldn't have come out of thin air.

However, to Wood's surprise, Claire Latorrea in her youth was not only a Water Saint-level mage, but also possessed swordsmanship skills comparable to a high-level swordsman.

This was the first time Wood had encountered someone with such remarkable achievements in both swordsmanship and magic since he came to this world.

Alice and Kyrie Irwin are both very talented in swordsmanship, but their magical abilities are terrible. At best, they are only at the level of novice mages.

Rudy has a good talent for magic, but even though he has been training with Paul since childhood and has been guided by famous teachers such as Gilead and Rijkaard, he is at most an intermediate swordsman.