Max Walt

Max Walt is the Fourth Generation head of House Walt and one of the ancestral spirits sealed within the Blue Jewel (the Drahotsenny kamen', or Jewel) that the protagonist Lyle inherits. In life he was the head of the family when House Walt earned its baron title, and he served longer as head than any other ancestor. He is described as a man with glasses and long blue hair swept into a side parting; his spectacles are a distinctive trait, and among the spirits he tends to look and act more mature than his own youthful-seeming father, the Third Generation, Sleigh.

As a spirit in the Jewel, Max is a fussy, talkative advisor who is especially insistent about how Lyle treats women. Because House Walt was deeply indebted to the Foxiz family, he (like the Second Generation) constantly nags Lyle to cherish and rely on Novem, coaching him on things to say to raise her regard. Above all he is remembered as a family man: warm, dutiful, and self-sacrificing, prone to worry but genuinely devoted to his household. His flashbacks show him doting on his much-younger wife and their newborn son, the future Fifth Generation Fredricks, whom he named himself.

In combat Max is the true master of the twin short-sword style that the party member Miranda also uses. His recorded Skill is 'Speed', which increases movement speed — an ability that awakened when the Third Generation lay dying on the battlefield and Max needed to rush to his aid. During Lyle's training the ancestors, Max among them, force him to clear the thirtieth floor of the Dungeon without relying on Jewel Skills, teaching him not to depend on borrowed power. Max is the one who ultimately passes Lyle his 'final skill' before his memory fades.

Max's arc is bittersweet. He became baron very young, was looked down upon by local nobles and left to shoulder the family alone after his father died in battle before completing a proper handover. He nonetheless grew into a great and respected head, tirelessly rebuilding and developing the domain and winning the deep gratitude of its people. He too died young in battle, leaving his own son Fredricks to carry the burden of the house early. In the Jewel, his father Sleigh tells him he was a far worthier head of House Walt than himself and calls him his pride.