Chapter 92: Changes

Chapter 92: Changes

Things regarding the Fairies were progressing smoothly, which put Bran in a good mood recently. First his younger sister, then his older sister, began to show signs of Mana leakage. They had also found their own Fairy partners, gradually activating their own Mana vitality. After that, it was about observing their physical growth.

During dinner, the Duke reminded Bran, “The Fairy Garden in the Castle, shouldn’t you tidy it up?”

Bran readily agreed, “Okay, no problem.”

This made the Duke somewhat uncomfortable. He looked Bran up and down several times, then asked, “Are you hiding something from me?”

“No. According to our agreement, I built the Fairy Garden, and it has already started working.”

“What do you mean? Explain clearly.”

“The important thing about the Fairy Garden is the Mana environment. That day, I took out the Meteorite Fragment. It can stabilize and strengthen the way Mana operates, so I buried it in the flower bed. Then, using the flower bed as the center, I made modifications at appropriate distances, like the floor tiles and wall tiles, eventually forming a network. My Mana is already active. As long as it can keep operating here, it will naturally gradually gather the surrounding Mana.

The flower bed outside, the dining room here, the corridors, your study, and so on, together they form the Fairies’ Garden.”

As Bran finished speaking, the Duke felt like throwing a plate at his face. But in the end, he took a deep breath and suppressed the impulse.

Bran then continued to explain unhurriedly, “Actually, some Little Fairies are already living here. I just wanted to compare, under the condition that people don’t know the Fairies are already by their side, how much they would be affected.”

The Duke asked with concern, “How is the effect?”

“Pretty good. There’s a brat in the Castle who has shown obvious changes.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? Whose child?”

“Back then, when no one was around, he chased after me calling me an Idiot. Wouldn’t it be too easy on him if I told now? So, let’s observe for a while longer.”

Bran smiled with a hint of malice. “The flower bed outside was deliberately piled up like that to make others look down on it, to think it wasn’t finished. That way, the verification results later would be more reliable. Now that the verification is done, I’ll carefully fix it up tomorrow.”

…

After dinner, Mother and Bran returned to the Mountain Villa together. Then the mother and son sat in the Courtyard and began to chat.

“Do you think you could help establish a Garden in the Western Territory as well?”

“For now, it’s not possible to do it like the Castle. The Meteorite Fragment isn’t safe; it has many properties I don’t understand. Here, I check and adjust it every day, so everything is under control. If the fragment can’t be monitored, it might be dangerous.”

Seeing Mother look somewhat disappointed, Bran suggested, “We can let Sister and younger sister handle this matter. Actually, doing it the Fairies’ way would be safer and more reliable. When next spring comes, let them travel to the Western Territory, and look around to gain experience along the way.”

Seeing Mother hesitate to speak, Bran had to state his position clearly. “My goal is to help the Fairies settle down, to re-establish a partnership between the Fairies and us. They should eventually enter the homes of all Northlanders. So, I cannot keep too many Little Fairies in the Castle. You should tell your brothers in advance; it’s best to send some escorts to bring a few of their own underage youths here.”

Bran did this because he understood that power must not become unbalanced. Unbalanced power would only intensify conflicts. Maintaining an appropriate balance, letting the Northlanders flourish across this land and increase their population, that was the most important thing.

Putting her worries aside, Mother patted his head contentedly and said casually, “After so many years, the Fairies actually sought you out. You have really good luck.”

Bran laughed. “It really was luck. No one ever told me stories about Fairies. And Fairies are beings close to the spiritual level; they are very sensitive to negative emotions. I only had curiosity and caution towards them, so they eventually accepted me.”

Saying this, Bran grinned widely. “From now on, we shouldn’t tell children stories carelessly. I asked Cousin about Fairy stories, and that silly girl specifically mentioned the Fairies’ betrayal. Maybe there were other Little Wizards who passed by before, but they held some negative feelings towards the Fairies, so the Fairies didn’t come out to communicate with them. After returning, I gradually realized that what the Fairies need is a Northlander who holds goodwill towards them.”

“You performed very well. In all these years, only you uncovered the truth of the Wasteland.”

“It’s not really the truth; mostly just guesses.”

“It’s already very good. Why were you the only one who discovered these things?” Mother said with some pride.

Because he lacked Reverence, because he simply didn’t believe in tradition, he just wanted to know why. Of course, Bran couldn’t tell these facts, so he went along and said, “Because I’m your son. You gave birth to a good son.”

…

A few days later, the Duke and his wife began to have headaches over this good son. Bran’s plan regarding the Eternal River had reached their ears. Their eldest and second sons had unknowingly become test subjects. They were recruiting people in the Castle, causing quite a stir.

But as the mastermind, Bran was nowhere to be seen, watching his two older brothers cause a commotion. This idea wasn’t bad; even the Duke was somewhat tempted. But just letting a few children handle it made him a bit uneasy. So, he started considering arranging some helpers for the children.

How to arrange help for Bran gave him a headache. The Duke knew he could control the eldest and second son, but he definitely couldn’t control Bran. This child had never been controlled since he was little, which made him feel somewhat frustrated.

He even felt somewhat inadequate before this child, especially when his wife told him, “Bran remembers everything. All of it.” Who knew what words he had unintentionally said in front of this child all those years? Things that should be said, things that shouldn’t. Except when this child stood under the sunlight, stood before the Castle gate, where did he hide other times? What was he doing? Why did he have so few impressions?

This child was a bit strange. He returned from the Trial very well, well to an almost unbelievable degree.

“Hah! The Idiot in the Castle.” The Duke shook his head with a bitter smile. Now the revenge had come, just like the brat in Bran’s story who had changed. But if Bran didn’t say, no one could figure it out now. Everyone in the dining room heard it that day, and they were all guessing who this lucky yet unlucky child was. The problem was, back then, even Bran’s own Sister called him an Idiot, let alone other children.

Now because of this, who knew how many children were getting beaten; it was payback time. The most hateful thing was, this bunch in the Castle really had no shame. Every day during meals, they loudly talked about how they beat their own kids. But Bran acted like he didn’t hear it, which meant the beatings weren’t enough! This made the Duke and his wife quite embarrassed. Their old faces often turned bright red, and they began to dread the daily meals.

Now the Duke and his wife discovered a sad fact: they were starting to have no way to deal with this son. Beating him was already impossible. If they just talked, this child would agree nicely with his words, then turn around and treat it like wind, like it meant nothing…