[
"Well… aside from my Spirit, which is somewhat closer to an adult's due to carrying my memories, everything else is standard infant data…"
Leylin's expression was somewhat awkward. This state was even weaker than when he had first transmigrated into the
"However… the average adult standards here are different from the Wizard world, so I can't simply make a blanket comparison…"
Leylin fully understood the new standard the Chip had adopted.
The current unit of 1 represented the baseline data of an ordinary commoner in the
[Beep! Foreign energy source detected! Assessment: beneficial radiation to host!] The Chip's voice sounded once more.
"Oh?" Leylin pulled up the location the Chip had flagged, and then he saw a mass of milky-white luminescence in his lower abdomen, continuously radiating outward.
"That's… the divine power from that bishop just now!" Leylin was quite certain of this.
"What effects does this radiation have?"
[The radiation is in a state of decay and weakening. Estimated complete dissipation in 79 hours. Simultaneously increases host's Strength, Agility, and Constitution!]
The Chip quickly provided its answer.
"A blessing from the
Of course, he would not deny this privilege. With such a blessing, his growth would certainly outpace others of the same age. When he grew up, he would possess far greater strength and physique.
"The gap is determined from the very beginning! A different starting line. Those children born as commoners will essentially never be able to catch up to the noble prodigies — even if they pour in a hundred times the blood, sweat, and effort, plus a dash of luck, they might only ever catch a glimpse of the noble's retreating figure…"
Although Leylin had confidence in himself — that even starting from the humblest of commoners, he would ultimately reach the pinnacle — he would obviously not refuse a higher starting point and status.
"Where's my cousin? I want to see my cousin!"
Clang! The door was shoved open, and a tender, young voice rang out. The speaker was clearly not very old either, their speech still carrying the lilt of a child.
The other maids seemed to recognize her as well, allowing her to lean over the edge of Leylin's cradle.
"Oh! He's awake!" the little girl exclaimed.
"Is this a relative of mine?" Leylin opened his eyes in annoyance, sizing up the rude intruder who had interrupted his thoughts.
She had the same sky-blue eyes as him, with soft golden hair drifting over a fair, delicate forehead, carrying a hint of playfulness.
Her small, slightly upturned nose sat above a cute little mouth that was smiling enough to reveal charming little fangs, with two adorable dimples on either cheek.
"Isabelle! You're disturbing your cousin!" At that moment, other adult voices rang out as well. Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, the little girl was pulled to the side, and her dissatisfied protests could be heard from time to time.
"Isabelle, is it? What a spirited little thing!"
From the curious gaze she had just cast, he sensed enormous trouble. Clearly, she had a fierce curiosity about him.
He could easily imagine that with this cousin around, his life in the future was not going to be peaceful at all.
What drove Leylin even more to the brink of madness was that, in his current body, he had absolutely no power to resist!
"Heavens, please! Send that Isabelle straight home — preferably to the other end of the continent…" Leylin began to pray earnestly.
Unfortunately, the
That cousin Isabelle proceeded to take up residence in his family's estate, and the word put out seemed to be that the young lady would be staying with the Faolan family for quite some time…
The days that followed were absolute misery for Leylin. Having his cheeks pulled and having cream smeared all over his face were minor matters — the worst of it was that his cousin actually tried to imitate the adults and change his diapers!
Good heavens! Being manhandled like a baby after reincarnating was humiliating enough, but now he was going to have his diapers changed by a little girl who was barely older than a toddler?!?
By all the gods, in that moment Leylin truly felt an impulse to just die.
If those gods had known what awaited them in the future, they would have wholeheartedly supported and endorsed this decision — but unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world.
Given Leylin's lack of pride and shame, this was really just a minor affair. After blushing a few times, his emotions settled down entirely. In fact, he quickly discovered the ultimate weapon for dealing with cousin Isabelle — crying! Sobbing his heart out!!!
After all, he was a baby, and bawling after being bullied was the most natural thing in the world. And whenever this happened, his mother or some servant or maid would always come to his rescue. The adults would even scold Isabelle sharply on occasion, filling Leylin with an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
After a few such episodes, Isabelle no longer dared to do anything that particularly upset Leylin. She even seemed a little afraid of him, which pleased him immensely.
It had to be said — in certain respects, Leylin's moral compass was appallingly low!
The occasional awkward moments in daily life were trivial matters. Thanks to his infant status, many adults never bothered to keep their conversations out of his earshot. After all, who would suspect that a baby only a few months old could have any sort of memory? This meant Leylin ended up gathering a great deal of intelligence.
In fact, thanks to the Chip's formidable information-gathering capabilities, combined with the careless chatter and gossip leaked between the various servants and maids, Leylin's knowledge of his own family quickly surpassed that of most people. He even learned quite a bit about matters that were supposed to be kept secret.
After all, for those servants, being able to freely gossip about their masters behind their backs was practically second nature.
Moreover, they made no effort to avoid the infant Leylin, never imagining that their little master already possessed consciousness and was remembering every single word they said in perfect clarity.
Although the content of their discussions was mostly crude beyond belief, filled with wild exaggeration and baseless speculation, through cross-referencing and piecing together the fragments, Leylin rapidly developed a deep understanding of his family. He even used the Chip to construct a relationship diagram.
First, there was his father — a baron of the kingdom, Jonas Fairlan. The man appeared to have inherited his grandfather's military merit, which had earned him a fiefdom. He was a newly minted noble of the kingdom.
Then came his mother — Sarah, a gentle and kind-hearted lady. Jonas also seemed to have several younger brothers and sisters, and together they constituted the direct line of the Fairlan family.
There was no help for it. For a noble family that had earned its status through military service, the effort required to obtain a fief was brutally punishing.
Leylin's grandfather had apparently served as the captain of the royal guard and had some degree of friendship with the then-prince, now the reigning king. In the wars that followed, he had nearly given his life, sustaining injuries so severe that even divine arts could not fully heal them. Only by seizing the opportunity to expand the kingdom's territory had he barely managed to carve out a domain and receive the title of baron — only to draw his last breath shortly thereafter.
Even this territory was not located within the kingdom proper, but on a remote island overseas.
And that island was precisely where the manor Leylin currently inhabited stood.
Speaking of which, his father Jonas was quite a capable lord. After arriving at his fief, he had vigorously cultivated wasteland, developed production, cultivated several cash crops, and even built a reasonably functional port on the remote island. By providing passing ships with fresh water, food, and repair services, he had gradually built up the domain.
Of course, along the way he had also repelled several pirate attacks.
By now, the entire Fairlan fief had undergone a complete transformation and was hailed as the "Jewel of the Kingdom's Coastal Waters." Naturally, this had attracted the covetous eyes of some of the older noble families.
However, all of this was still within Jonas's capacity to handle. At least for the time being, no dangerously sharp conflicts had erupted, which put Leylin's mind somewhat at ease.
Within the Fairlan family's manor, aside from Leylin's family of three, there was only young Miss Isabelle. Her parents seemed to have forgotten about her entirely, leaving her here. And from the look of things, she was thoroughly enjoying herself and had no desire to leave.
Apart from Isabelle, the rest of the manor was staffed entirely by Fairlan family servants.
At the top of the hierarchy was the silver-haired butler Lane, and below him were large numbers of cooks, maidservants, servants, Knight apprentices, and the like.
The Fairlan family's manor was vast in scope, containing its own independent farm, mill, stable, workshops, oil press, and more. There were even sprawling fields of fertile farmland and hired farmhands working the land.
The entire manor could provide large quantities of flour, vinegar, and wines, along with a small number of iron farming tools — with the doors shut, it could sustain itself for quite a long time entirely on its own.
In Leylin's eyes, this was a textbook example of a feudal manor economy.
Since the Fairlan family had a relatively short history, they still lacked both the financial resources and the material means to construct a castle of their own.
In truth, building a castle required enormous amounts of stone and grain, and even the assistance of Wizards and a great number of extraordinary individuals — even many long-established noble families often could not afford it.
Of course, once a castle was completed, it became a source of pride and a symbol for the entire family.
The noble castles in the world of the Gods boasted top-tier defensive capabilities, with the added protection of magical formations that meant even entire armies could not breach them in a short time.
Among the circles of the nobility, lacking a castle of one's own often left one feeling inferior in social dealings.