This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

These surviving bloodlines include several colossal beasts with dragon lineage, which either slumber in some forbidden area or are revered as sacred beasts by some religions and worshipped.

However, there are a very small number of humans who, or their ancestors, received gifts from the dragons and, by acquiring dragon blood, possess unparalleled power.

Among them, the most renowned is the Dragon Sleep Valley Clan.

Legend has it that this family pledged allegiance to a powerful obsidian dragon in ancient times, standing guard and keeping watch while the dragon slept to prevent it from being disturbed by evil spirits.

Before the dragon race migrated, this obsidian dragon, to thank this loyal family, bestowed upon them a sliver of their bloodline, making them sub-dragons.

Several hundred years ago, Hessen I led his army to sweep across most of the continent and established the Hessen Empire. It is said that he had the support of the Dragon Sleep Valley clan, because the queen whom Hessen I married was from this family.

The Black Forest royal family envied the dragon bloodline of the Dragonsleep Valley clan and longed to merge with them, only to be firmly rejected. However, they later used unknown means to reach a marriage alliance with the clan, allowing the Black Forest clan to marry a daughter of the Dragonsleep Valley clan every five generations.

The last member of the Black Forest royal family to marry a member of the Dragon Sleep Valley family was the late Emperor Black Forest VI.

This queen from the Dragonsleep Valley family bore two children for Blacksen VI. The eldest son is the current Blacksen VII. However, the dragon bloodline is not obvious in him; he is just stronger and has a slightly longer lifespan than the average person.

His younger brother, Prince Heinz, was quite extraordinary. The Empress was seven years pregnant when he was born, and he was not a human-shaped baby, but a completely black egg.

This indicated that the child received more blood from his mother's side. Hesse VI was very pleased and placed high hopes on the child, even intending to pass the throne to him. However, the egg did not hatch until seventeen years after Hesse VI's death, by which time his brother had already been emperor for nineteen years.

Out of consideration for his birth mother's feelings, and because of his suspicious nature and lust for power, King Hessen VII did not "deal with" his younger brother in the same way he had with other princes of his generation. Instead, he simply excluded him from the center of power and made him a prince with no real authority.

But this doesn't mean that he has no supporters.

On his way home, Dick encountered no "accidents." While passing through the Marquis of Ulen's territory, he even ran into his old classmate Hughie. Upon hearing that Hughie had been tricked into returning home by his father by feigning illness and then forced to go on blind dates, Dick immediately brought gifts to visit him, just so he could mock his good friend to his face.

Hughie is a hardcore magic fanatic who has no interest in the marquess title or the vast fortune. However, he is the only son of the family line, so the old marquess's attitude has always been very clear: he can support his son's great ideals, but the boy must get married and give the family a few more children.

So Hughie was tricked into coming here this time, which was no longer a blind date, but a forced mating!

When Dick saw his good buddy looking utterly dejected, he immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha... Hey old classmate, you weren't raped, were you?"

"I like being passive, is that not allowed?"

Hughie gave Dick a disapproving look and sipped the nourishing soup that his family had carefully prepared for him.

Seeing this, Dick thought to himself that the kid was really exhausted; he didn't even have the energy to argue with him anymore.

So he patted the other person on the shoulder with great sympathy and then handed him the gift he had prepared.

What is this?

"These are some magical research manuscripts from the time of the Holy Kingdom of the Elves. I acquired them by chance and thought you might be interested, so I brought them over to you on the way."

"Is it really so, Godfather!"

"It couldn't be more real."

Upon hearing that Dick had brought such a wonderful gift, Hughie grinned broadly, his previously melancholy eyes instantly regaining their usual clarity.

However, the kid quickly regained his composure and looked at Dick warily.

"You never offer help unless you need it, but since it's a gift, tell me! What do you want from me?"

"I'd like to borrow your Ulun family's business channels to help me sell some goods."

"What product?"

"this."

As Dick spoke, he took out a heavy ceramic jar from his spatial bracelet. After unsealing it, he revealed a golden, viscous liquid inside, which had a sweet fragrance.

"Is this honey?"

"It's syrup, from Laguge. It tastes sweeter than granulated sugar. So, what do you think? Is there a market for this?"

What Dick took out was corn syrup made by Ruby Eyes and Lucoa together, or more accurately, fructose syrup made using modern enzymatic sugar production.

The raw material was corn that had been magically ripened and harvested as early as the end of June. Ruby Eye provided the technology and blueprints, and Lucoa was responsible for "hand-crafting" the relevant equipment. Production had already started secretly in early August, with some samples produced in small batches first.

When Dick returned to the capital, he brought some syrup with him, but he didn't intend to give it to his family, nor did he plan to tell them that he had set up a sugar factory in Laguge.

Knowing his family members as he did, if they found out, they would definitely try to take it.

So he chose to visit his old classmate on his way home under the guise of visiting a friend, and meet directly with Marquis Ulen to discuss the possibility of cooperation.

Marquis Ulen is a renowned merchant noble in the empire. His family's merchant guild has a sales network that spans the entire country and even overseas, which is precisely what Dick currently lacks and cannot replicate in the short term.

Partnering with them is a good option, and most of the time, shared interests are much stronger than blood ties!

Chapter 095: A Reward from Father?

After spending two days in the territory of the Marquis of Ulen, Dick finalized the syrup purchase deal and boarded a steam ferry, arriving safely in the capital a week later.

Once the ferry entered the capital region of the empire, the scenery on both banks outside the portholes seemed to accelerate through time, rushing from a wild and backward medieval landscape to the magnificent Victorian era in just two hundred kilometers.

Many first-time visitors to the capital are amazed by its prosperity, but in Dick's view, this only shows that the capital's exploitation of the entire country has reached an abnormal level.

After the ferry docked at a pier near the capital, Dick and his entourage disembarked.

In accordance with the laws of the capital, the soldiers under his command had temporarily stored their armor and standard military weapons there when they left the Marquisate of Ulun. Instead, they all wore ceremonial rapiers that looked nice but were of little use, and uniforms bearing the Best family crest.

Meanwhile, the three beauties beside Dick are Lucoa, who transforms into a mini dragon and hides inside Dick's clothes, providing "close protection" in the literal sense. Rita and Momiji disguise themselves as ordinary maids, using disguise and disguise techniques to completely hide their originally beautiful appearances.

After the group went ashore, they quickly met with the people sent by the Duke's mansion to greet them.

To Dick's surprise, given his previously unimportant position as a younger brother in his family, the person who would come to pick him up wouldn't be of a high rank. The most likely person would be the old nanny who had taken care of him since he was a child. But to his surprise, it was the butler, Nix, who came.

This is the chief steward of the Duke's mansion. He has been Duke Rune's close attendant since childhood, growing up alongside the Duke and serving the Best family for almost his entire life.

Therefore, the fact that he was able to appear at the ferry dock and, upon seeing Dick and his party disembark, proactively and respectfully invite Dick to board the carriage and return home was already a very high level of "courtesy".

After all, given Duke Best's status and position, even if the emperor returned from an imperial tour, he would only need to greet him at the city gate, not at the ferry dock.

After Dick boarded the carriage, it traveled along the wide main road of the capital. At this moment, Dick heard a mechanical sound outside, so he drew back the curtain and looked out. To his surprise, he saw a tram coming from the opposite direction.

Okay! Calling this thing a tram might not be appropriate, since the carriages aren't actually powered by electricity, but by magic. As a result, the moment this thing starts moving, it makes Dick, a magician, quite concerned.

In the capital, magical technology, combined with Earth's advancements, is advancing rapidly. The nobles are the driving force behind these new technologies, but not their promoters. They spare no expense in creating many "spectacles," but their use is limited to the capital city and has never truly benefited the general public.

Dick didn't consider himself a noble person. If he could just lie around and enjoy life, he'd like to be a spoiled rich kid who spent his days eating, drinking, and having fun. But he disliked the distorted prosperity of the capital city; rather than being cruel and heartless, it was more like a ostentatious display of wealth and extravagance.

The carriage traveled for about an hour, passing through two towering white walls before entering the most central noble district of the capital's inner ring. This was the area at the foot of the imperial city, and also the community with the highest density of nobles and the highest average rank of nobility throughout the entire empire. Dukes were truly everywhere, and earls were as common as dogs.

The residents here are mostly court nobles. These people are different from local nobles. Most of them either do not have fiefdoms or have very small fiefdoms, only a symbolic piece of land around the capital. However, their titles are very impressive, and most of them hold certain positions in the imperial government.

However, the Best family did not belong to the court nobility. Their ancestors were local powerful families who supported Hessian I's uprising and struggle for supremacy. They originally had a large fiefdom in the southern part of the empire.

After the empire was established, Hesse I granted these close friends the title of Grand Duke and then "invited" them to come to the capital to live a good life. Later, a law was gradually formed that required these noble families to maintain their rule over their own territories while the core members of the family had to settle in the capital.

Dick was lucky to be born out of wedlock, otherwise he too would have been trapped in this capital city and unable to get out.

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of a huge, luxurious manor. After getting off, Dick looked at the familiar scenery before him and was momentarily dazed. Some memories, which were not exactly pleasant, began to flood his mind.

"I'm home."

Inside the Duke's study, Dick saw his father, Duke Rune Best, again after a year. The tall, burly man looked unchanged, still as powerful and exuding the aura of a long-time ruler.

Dick, who had already adjusted his mindset before entering, showed impeccable respect by bowing and greeting the other party.

"Father, I'm back. It's so good to see you in good health."

Upon hearing Dick's greeting, the Duke smiled noncommittally and casually put down the documents and reports he had been flipping through. With Dick's eyesight, he had seen the words "Records of the Lagug Fiefdom" written on the cover of the book as soon as he entered the room.

Clearly! The Duke was making it clear to Dick that he had not been ignoring the northern enclave over the past year, and that Dick's actions had been under his watchful eye.

Dick wasn't surprised by this, after all, he had things to do there, so it was impossible to hide it from everyone, as long as his "core secrets" weren't exposed.

"You did a good job this year."

"It is my honor to share the burden of my family, and besides... I also hope to prove myself through this."

“Dick, it’s just the two of us here, father and son, so there’s no need to be so formal. I know that you’ve been keeping to yourself all these years, living cautiously and hiding your talents. I’ve seen it all. It’s precisely because I know you have the ability and want to prove yourself that I used the excuse of you taking the blame for your elder brother to appoint you as the governor of Lagug.”

"I understand your good intentions, Father."

"Good that you understand."

Dick, whose acting skills have reached perfection, played a role in a "filial piety" scene with the Duke. He even let a few crystal tears slide from the corners of his eyes when he bowed his head, almost perfectly showing the emotion of being overjoyed after hard work.

However, just as Dick was about to express his willingness to continue his efforts in the harsh land of Lagug and fight for the family's interests, the Duke suddenly changed the subject and said something that Dick, who had anticipated all sorts of scenarios, did not expect.

"Dick, would you like to be an earl?"

Chapter 096: Belated Fatherly Love?

"Do you want to be an earl?"

Seeing Dick's stunned expression, Duke Rune repeated his words, a slight smile playing on his lips.

“You did a good job in Laguge, especially in suppressing bandits. That’s a real military achievement. So I took the liberty of reporting your merits to the Senate. His Majesty the Emperor was very impressed with your talent and decided to confer upon you the rank of Third Count.”

"Father, isn't this... inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"When I was suppressing bandits in Laguge, I only killed two or three hundred and captured less than a thousand. To give such a small achievement a third-class earl is probably not convincing. People will laugh at us."

"It's alright. When I reported it to you, I added a zero to the number of people. That's enough."

"..."

The old duke's words left Dick speechless.

When Dick reported his war achievements, he deliberately only reported one-fifth to conceal his true strength. However, the Duke added a zero, doubling the actual number.

In fact, falsifying data is commonplace in all sectors of the empire, and the greater the background of the person involved, the more severe the super multiplier often is.

People like Dick, who deliberately underreport their abilities in order to keep a low profile, are actually the odd ones out.

If this title had been given to him a year ago, Dick would have been overjoyed. But now, he has finally made some progress in Lagug, and everything is going well. However, he is now being relocated because of the title, and he might even be recalled to the capital to become a useless court noble. That would be incredibly unlucky!

But just then, the old duke spoke again, which took an unexpected turn.

“I know you’ve done well in Lagug. Now that I’m sending you to a different place, you might not be so happy. So I talked to those old guys up there and we decided to just give you Lagug as your fiefdom, and the Empire will compensate our family with other places. What do you think of that, my child?”

Dick was momentarily at a loss for words, because this arrangement was exactly what he wanted. Once he became Earl of Lagug, he would truly have no other worries.

But the problem is, Dick really doesn't understand why the Duke would do this.

Does he not know what he has been doing in Lagug?

Or did he know all this, but intentionally wanted to benefit himself?

Dick was indeed a bit confused, but it was really inappropriate to ask too many questions and make excuses at this time. Since this conferment was what he needed, he had no reason not to accept it.

"Thank you for your guidance, Father."

"Remember to say thank you to our wise and mighty Emperor when you're out there."

“I will keep this in mind.”

"Go ahead, it's a rare treat to be back in the capital, so relax a bit. Your investiture ceremony will be in five days at the earliest. In the meantime, if you don't want to stay at home, you can go to the St. Mary's Hotel on Maple Street. I have a private room there, and the conditions... are quite good."

Looking at the old duke who suddenly seemed like a "father figure," Dick was genuinely bewildered. Even after leaving the duke's study, he still couldn't figure out the various reasons.

To be honest, in the first eighteen years of Dick's life, he had hardly felt any fatherly love from Rune. He lived in a small courtyard in a corner of the Duke's mansion and was raised by the two nannies who smothered his birth mother. During this time, the Duke rarely visited him. It was not until he became a magician that he finally gained a certain status and was allowed to dine with other family members, but he could only sit at the very end of the table.

The fact that this indifferent father has suddenly become kind to him inevitably makes Dick feel a little uneasy.

"Could they be setting me up?"

With this question in mind, Dick looked at the old butler who had been guarding the door of the study and asked him to arrange a carriage for him. He wanted to go to the Magic Academy to visit his mentor.

The old steward immediately said that there were always carriages available at the mansion for his use.

However, just as Dick went downstairs and headed out the door, he ran into his third sister, Finney, in the lobby.

It had been a year since I last saw her, but my third sister was still as "charming" as ever. Her gorgeous outfits always put her at the forefront of fashion in the capital, as if she had just returned from a salon for some aristocratic young ladies. But unfortunately, her figure, appearance, and temperament all seriously dragged down her fashion sense.

When Finney saw Dick come downstairs, she was first startled, then her expression immediately darkened, making no attempt to hide her disgust for Dick.

"Weren't you exiled? Who let you come back?!"