Crack! Crack!
In the refined fireplace, premium pine logs were continuously licked by bright flames, releasing a clean, fragrant aroma.
Warm currents drifted ceaselessly through the hall, forming a stark contrast with the cold darkness outside.
At the center of the hall, a long wooden table stood quietly, draped in a white tablecloth upon which silver candelabras and precious porcelain tableware had been arranged. Graceful serving girls were carefully placing each piece.
As luxury goods imported from the distant elves, these porcelain pieces were impossibly smooth — finer and more lustrous than the skin of a newborn baby — and adorned with exquisitely delicate botanical motifs. They were practically works of art, brimming with the elves' perfectionist aesthetic.
The price of such tableware was, naturally, terrifying. The combined worldly possessions of all these serving girls couldn't come close to matching it.
If even one piece were accidentally shattered, the Baron would fly into a terrible rage.
On the table, everything was laid out in perfect order: roasted chicken done to a gorgeous golden crisp with juices running free, tender calf loin meat, a woven wicker basket filled with fine long white bread loaves, and a honey-colored porcelain basin to one side containing a milky-white mushroom meat soup that gave off a rich, savory aroma. A purple copper ladle rested on the rim of the soup tureen for the masters to use.
At each seat, there was not only silver cutlery and porcelain plates but also several small saucers containing fine white salt mixed with sesame seeds and ground black pepper.
At this moment, Leilin was using his pale, delicate little hands to deftly wield his knife and fork, evenly coating a piece of calf loin in pepper before bringing it to his mouth.
The chef's skills were quite commendable — the beef was incredibly tender, with just the right amount of chew. Leilin nodded slightly in approval.
"Ha ha… Look at that! Our boy is practically a grown man now!" From the head of the table, Jonnas held a glass of red wine and laughed heartily.
Before the enormous dining table, only Leilin's family of three and Isabelle were seated. The rest of the serving girls and servants could only stand to one side and wait.
The high-ranking butler of the estate, a white towel draped over his arm, stood respectfully behind the Baron. The other apprentices did the same.
Clearly, this was a family banquet.
"Of course… My little Leilin is the best! Look how much he's eating — with an appetite like that, he'll definitely grow into a fine young man who'll have all the other girls swooning!" Lady Sarah chimed in with a laugh.
It had to be said that the current Leilin had inherited the genes of both parents. His physical development was remarkably good, and the beginnings of a handsome face were already subtly taking shape.
As for Isabelle on the other side, she simply nodded and redirected her attention to the apple pie in front of her.
"Alright! Sarah! There's something I want to discuss!" Jonnas set down his glass, his expression growing somewhat serious.
"I believe… it's time to begin Leilin's vocational and intellectual awakening!"
"But… he's still so young…" Sarah's face showed some worry.
"No! He's already five years old! Children of other nobles receive their enlightenment at this age. Do you want our child to fall behind at the starting line?" Jonnas countered, leaving Sarah speechless.
Leilin continued eating and drinking, but his ears perked up.
"Five years old? Enlightenment? Looks like I can start delving deeper into this society. After all, Belzebub's memories are all about demons and hell — there's barely anything about the material world…"
At the same time, Leilin marveled at the nobility's educational model.
Nobles weren't born that way. To maintain illustrious glory and status, one had to invest tremendous effort.
Every noble heir received a rigorous education from a young age. Through generations of such传承, even if the occasional degenerate slip through, the noble class generally remained the most wise and learned people in the world.
"Elite education, monopolizing knowledge?" Leilin mused to himself. He was well aware that the cost of education here had reached staggering levels, so among the estate's entire staff of servants, only the butler and a handful of knight apprentices could read. The rest were all illiterate.
Clearly, in such an environment, commoners who grew up had no way of competing with the descendants of nobles.
If that was true for knowledge alone, it was even more so regarding the control of power.
"Leilin, what about you?" Jonnas looked at Leilin.
"I think I can do it, Father!" Leilin answered calmly. He had long grown tired of the charade of pretending to be a child.
"Ha ha… That's the spirit of a true heir of the Farell family! Well done!"
The Baron laughed heartily, drained his glass of red wine in one gulp, and then began discussing with Sarah which scholar they should hire.
Leilin naturally had no say in such matters and could only quietly sip his mushroom soup.
"You're— so— done— for—"
Through the gaps in her movements, he could see Cousin Isabelle pulling a face at him, mouthing the words.
He pretended not to notice at all, which earned him an eye-roll from Isabelle.
"Chip! Display my current data!"
After finishing his meal, Leilin returned to his own room. This was a privilege he had fought hard to obtain — although the Baron and Baroness had agreed to this request in principle, there were conditions attached.
At the very least, in the room next door, separated only by a silk curtain, an experienced serving girl was stationed, ready at any moment to attend to the young master.
Of course, Leilin never gave her the opportunity.
This precocious behavior delighted the Baroness on one hand, yet carried a faint note of bittersweet emotion and regret on the other.
Listening to the gentle breathing from the隔壁 room, a faint luminescence flickered through Leilin's eyes.
[Leilin Farell — Strength: 0.4 | Agility: 0.3 | Constitution: 0.6 | Spirit: 1.0 | Status: Healthy] the Chip reported faithfully.
Leilin's current physical data was already significantly better than that of other five-year-old children, and his spiritual stats had recovered to the average level of a normal human.
Even so, Leilin couldn't help but frown in dissatisfaction.
"The recovery is too slow! The laws of the
Through several small experiments, Leilin had already confirmed that while the World of Gods contained supernatural power, it rejected any entity that grew too powerful. Even the gods themselves, after ascending, had to leave the material plane and build their own divine kingdoms in the outer realms.
Moreover, the physical constants here had changed. The attractive forces between various particles had been mysteriously enhanced, making supernatural power far harder to manifest.
In short, to move mountains and seas in the World of Gods, even the gods had to pay an enormous price and exert tremendous effort.
"The intellectual side I can deal with, but as for the vocational awakening…" Leilin's eyes held a glimmer of anticipation.
In the World of Gods, those who wielded supernatural power were collectively called "professionals," and it seemed one could undergo professional certification at guilds and similar places to obtain various privileges and benefits.
Under Baron Jonnas's command, the number of such professionals appeared to be quite scarce as well.
Of course, the entire Farell family's foundation rested at the port. Perhaps the family's main forces had always been stationed there — Leilin harbored his own suspicions.
The Baron acted quickly. The very next morning, a well-dressed elderly man was invited to the estate.
"Good morning, young master Leilin Farell!"
The scholar had the refined air of someone who had spent a lifetime immersed in books. His manners were impeccable, and he seemed to have already enjoyed a pleasant conversation with Baron Jonnas, as he was directly hired as Leilin's private tutor.
In a small parlor that had been hastily arranged, Leilin met his new teacher.
Unfortunately, when it came to the depth of knowledge, Leilin himself far surpassed this man by more than a few lengths. However, the scholar clearly possessed a far greater understanding of the World of Gods than Leilin did, so his expression remained genuinely respectful.
"Good day, Teacher! May I have your name…"
This courteous conduct visibly surprised the scholar. He adjusted his glasses, and the interest in his eyes deepened. Obtaining a clever and talented student would be a stroke of great fortune for him.
"You may call me Antony!" the scholar said with a smile. "What a polite young gentleman!"
"Good day, Teacher Antony!" Leilin bowed again, all the while secretly using the Chip to scan the man's full profile.
[Scan complete! Name: Antony | Strength: 0.9 | Agility: 1.2 | Constitution: 0.8 | Spirit: 1.7 | Assessment: Ordinary human; slight aptitude in spiritual aspects!]
"Just an ordinary scholar template…"
Leilin sighed inwardly. He had been hoping to encounter a
But clearly, Antony across from him was nothing of the sort.
"So, what exactly can you teach me?"
Leilin cut straight to the matter.
This directness visibly caught Antony off guard. "As a noble heir, there is a great deal of knowledge you need to master — languages, literacy, etiquette, basic arithmetic, and so on. My greatest expertise is linguistics, so I will be starting you with the Continental Common Tongue. For a five-year-old child, this is the most appropriate arrangement. As for the other subjects, I'm afraid that depends on the Baron's wishes…"
"Very well, then let's begin!"
Leilin nodded. Although he had already acquired a large volume of linguistic data during his first projection into the World of Gods, it clearly wasn't enough.
After all, as a noble, one needed to master specific formal expressions and even particular mannerisms of speech, or else be dismissed as a country bumpkin. Though Leilin loathed such formalism, until he possessed the ability to break the rules, the wisest course was to adapt to them first. That was the way of survival.