Chapter 9: Resolution

Chapter 9: Resolution

The Duke’s face turned dark, and even Madam looked a little embarrassed. The Northlands were vast and sparsely populated, with a tough and fierce folk culture. If it was about raising a group to fight, with the Northlanders’ fearless and stubborn nature, that wasn’t a problem. But when it came to wealth… forget it. According to the records Bran read in books, people from the south called Northlanders savages, barbarians, humanoid Magical Beasts, and so on. Not a single word was related to civilization.

The traditional Adulthood Ceremony, which eliminated the weak and kept the strong, made Northlanders stronger and tougher-skinned with each generation, but they never seemed to grow any brains. Northlanders had sharp intuition and were extremely sensitive to malice. This made it difficult for traveling merchants from outside to operate in the Northlands. The moment they had a thought of cheating, with the Northlanders’ stubborn nature, knives would be drawn. What was reasoning? What was evidence? A famous saying among Northlanders was “Let everyone judge who’s right.” The result of being surrounded by a group of intuitive and stubborn folks… better not to talk about it. This also made the Northlands famous for being exclusive and closed-off. Outsiders couldn’t adapt to the Northlands, and Northlanders couldn’t adapt to the outside World. In such an environment, trying to accumulate wealth… well, haha…

Bran secretly laughed in his heart. Northlanders could make do with food, clothing, and shelter, but they always sought perfection in weapons and equipment. This perfection wasn’t about appearance, but inner quality. So even if Northland weapons looked shabby, their cost wasn’t cheap. Bran had wondered more than once if it was because they spent all their energy on pursuing quality that they were too poor to even decorate the appearance?

Bran believed his father had the ability to pay for two sets of weapons and equipment, but it would definitely be quite painful. This was a really difficult choice. Holding a mindset of watching a joke, Bran carefully observed the Duke’s facial expression while counting down in his heart: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

The Duke agreed. With the Northlanders’ prideful and face-saving nature, being questioned by his youngest son in a public place like the dining room, about being poor and whatnot… Even though the Duke was relatively well-traveled and knowledgeable, living in the big environment of the Northlands, his temperament still couldn’t escape the characteristics of the region.

Facing her excited older brothers, Third Sister finally couldn’t hold back and said, “I want one too.”

Bran followed up with a stab: “Third Sister should have one too. Second Brother can’t even beat Third Sister, and he gets to have one, so Third Sister should have an Attendant too.”

Second Brother Aki retorted, “Who says I can’t beat her?”

But facing Lily’s challenging gaze, he immediately shrank his neck and quieted down.

Bran, holding a mentality of enjoying the chaos, added, “Actually, even Big Brother probably can’t beat Third Sister.”

At this point, the eldest and second brother finally sensed Bran’s overflowing malice and almost shouted simultaneously, “You! Shut up!”

Bran lowered his head and pretended to whisper, “What’s the skill in taking your anger out on me just because you can’t beat Third Sister.”

Now, Third Sister looked at the Duke with a proud face. Soon, the Duke yielded under his Third Daughter’s gaze. He truly had a good daughter. Perhaps because girls developed earlier, Lily’s height had already surpassed the second brother’s, and her martial skills were outstanding.

Bran looked at Third Sister. He could faintly sense a subtle Mana Fluctuation within her body. Based on her usual performance, Bran somewhat suspected that Third Sister should be the type with a strength-based Awakening, where Mana acted on her own body. Perhaps precisely because of this, Third Sister had never noticed the change in herself. Bran focused his attention on the Dinner Knife in his hand. He could feel another invisible hand reaching out from within his body and wrapping around the utensil. If this kind of Mana only flowed within the body, then perhaps it only caused changes like cold, heat, numbness, or swelling. Such Awakened individuals would likely find it very difficult to notice it themselves.

Third Sister was the one who most deserved to get a personal Attendant first, not anyone else, including himself. Was this fate? Different people, different destinies.