Sevens

Epilogue

『It’s time for the first Lyle-less family meeting~.』

The Fourth Generation Head frivolously signaled the start of the meeting to the rest of those gathered.

They usually didn’t do something like that, but they decided to meet without Lyle to discuss what would happen from here on.

『Now then, let’s put Novem-chan’s matter aside for now, and decide what Lyle’s to do henceforth.』

As the Fourth said that, the Third interjected.

『Shouldn’t we leave that aside, too? I mean, Lyle doesn’t have a clear idea of what he’s aiming for.』

The Sixth was the same, but he also inserted his own hopes.

『Right. Of course, from my point of view, I‘d like it if he went and succeeded the Walt House already.』

The Seventh agreed.

Generally, the Sixth and Seventh had coinciding opinions.

Both of them adhered to the best interest of the territory.

『If that Celes succeeds it, then they’ll have to bring in a groom from another family. Everyone here should find such a fact unbearable.』

The First Generation picked his nose as he responded.

『Not really.』

On that opinion, the Seventh and Sixth, as well as the Second and Fourth, glared at him.

『On having all the land built up stolen from us, don’t you feel irritated at all!?』

The Seventh displayed his resentment, and the Third massaged his temple as he continued.

『Try remembering why the First started all of this. I don’t want to admit it, but he was able to accomplish his goal, so he isn’t really all that interested, I presume.』

The First denied the Third’s opinion.

『You fool! Even I had my hardships expanding the territory. Unlike you guys, I did it by my own sweat and blood. Even I have things I ponder over! But when I look at Lyle, you know…』

The Second quietly added on.

『Those tears are your tears at having your first love married off to another, aren’t they.』

The First choked and coughed for a while before continuing.

It seems those words were on the mark.

『I know I called him frail, and the like, but he definitely does have talent. No, more so, I don’t get how he’s still so wimpy-looking after he does so much.』

The one who answered that was the Fifth.

He didn’t seem to have any interest in the conference. Because of that, perhaps his words were the most level-headed.

『Perhaps after being shunned at the age of ten, Lyle didn’t undergo the training plan we followed, or perhaps his training had stagnated in itself. It doesn’t look like he was taught the important things, but… Oy, has the education system been altered from my time?』

The Fifth looked at the Sixth and Seventh.

After the Fifth became a viscount, he went through much hardship to ensure that the Sixth and Seventh could obtain Counthood.

『A few things have been omitted. To my grandson who would aim to live as a count, rather than wisdom and experience of how to stand on the battlefield, I thought that learning to rule was more important. No, more than that, there was just no time.』

The Sixth said that, and the Seventh agreed.

From the Founder’s perspective, the Walt House had grown too big. Because of that, things that were thought of as unnecessary were removed from their education.

In exchange, refinement based on their elevated positions were thrown in.

『During my time, we were met with peace and stability, so even when I taught my grandson the basics, I put an emphasis on management methods.』

The First and Second were surprised upon hearing that.

『It’s as if he’s a real noble.』

『In our time, it was field work and monster hunting. Also, dealing with enemies was essential.』

The Fifth let out a sigh.

『He is a real noble. Also, are you sure we should be leaving Lyle’s future on hold? Even when we’ve finally racked up some achievements for him?』

Perhaps because he didn’t notice it, the Second tilted his head.

『Racked up achievements? That bandit extermination clearly dropped the public opinion of him. And also, in regards to his homeland, Lyle’s already appealed to them to take action with his fruitless efforts.』

The scariest thing was they had no idea what the other side would try to do.

With the Walt House’s scope, even if they didn’t try to gather information on Lyle, it would flow in regardless.

Even if he was driven out, they were their son’s actions.

If they saw some suspicious movement, they may send someone to pursue him. With the current Lyle, fighting one on one against a skilled opponent would be difficult.

That was why he had acted in a foolish manner where they might think they really didn’t have to do anything about it.

He acted like a foolish son, where there would be no wonder why he was kicked out.

Of course, since that did drop the name of the Walt House, there was the possibility of them sending an assassin. But then killing him at the start would have been much more efficient.

The monster was disrupting the normality of their decisions. Or perhaps they were simply uninterested…

Regardless, the sort of action the enemy would take would be made clear by this case. That was what they concluded.

The Sixth heard the Second’s question and grinned.

『It may have fallen in Dalien, but there’s still the truth that Lyle subjugated a bandit brigade. A reputation like that can be manipulated however you want… Just like I controlled it when I took over the Walt House’s darkness. Though because of that, my grandson started to hate me.』

The Sixth dropped his shoulders, and the Seventh drummed on them to console him.

The Third smiled as he spoke.

『Rumors are never something to rely on. In Dalien, he’s a coward who used the money they had worked hard to save up to overwhelm some lowly thieves with a force of six fold. But they don’t deny that he subjugated them. Look, as long as they don’t ask how they were defeated, then it’s not like you have to tell them.』

Everyone nodded as they looked at the Third.

Having died in battle, the Third Generation was known by the general populace as a famous righteous general who succeeded in aiding a retreating army to reach safety.

But he hardly looked like that sort of person.

『The persuading power sure is different when it’s you saying it.』

On the First’s cynicism, the Third smiled and agreed.

And he let out a statement concerning Lyle’s future.

『Let’s say that Lyle becomes successful as an adventurer, and let’s say he went back to the Walt house again. Well, that one is based on the individual’s will. Now about that monster that our First Generation was talking about. It looks like there was some reality in that..』

Hearing that, those around started to think.

The reason was because Lyle was much greater than they had expected.

Hearing an explanation on Skills, and having undergone minimal training, he was able to pull them off in a few days. He was still unrefined, but still, you could call it astounding.

The First responded with a haughty attitude.

『That’s what I told you, didn’t I!? And wait, if she’s on a level Lyle can’t win against, Celes must be something quite outrageous herself.』

Celes’s danger level had exceeded the expectations of everyone present.

His first battle. That time he was fighting goblins as well, even if he had comrades, Lyle remained calm.

Even against the bandit brigade’s boss, he never panicked.

He was quite lacking in experience, and there was a problem with his stamina and Mana, but his talent was exceedingly high.

And the Walt house had given birth to a monster not even that Lyle could win against.

『The territory is one thing, but this country’ll be stormy from here on out. I mean, there’s no predicting a monster. Because of that, the old dogs of my generation went through hell.』

【Monster Celes】

That was something that had become a large problem for the House Heads of old.

At first they thought the problems lied with Lyle, but considering the cold reception from his family, he probably hadn’t received a decent education.

The target of comparison was so far out of the norm, that the boy’s abject personality was explainable.

Five years. Being able to withstand that environment for that long was already worthy of assessment.

But Lyle was extraordinary.

For an existence that was able to pay him no mind, it wasn’t strange for one to call them a monster.

They had no choice but to pay heed to the existences the First Generation referred to as monsters.

『Overwhelming power, and on top of that, a selfish personality. This’ll be troublesome.』

The Fifth spoke, and the Sixth agreed with him.

『If Celes runs wild, perhaps even the Walt house will fall to ruin. If you think of that, there’s some good fortune in Lyle getting driven out. Our bloodline will still remain.』

The First voiced his approval.

『Right. If he becomes an adventurer and raises some money, should we go raise a village again? We can even leave Bahnseim behind this time. Novem-chan and Aria-chan are with him. We can’t be putting them through anything dangerous…』

But it wasn’t an accepting mood for that notion.

Everyone present wanted to do something if there was something they could do.

『The path that Lyle decides to tread will become important. Of course, it’s Novem-chan that has gotten me a little curious.』

On the Third Generation’s words, the Second seemed fed up.

『You’re still on about that? Do you think that every good kid out there has secret intentions and malicious thoughts? She’s a pure maiden who seriously believed in Lyle’s lie!』

And on the Second’s attempt at convincing him, it was the Third’s turn to be fed up.

However, the Fifth sided with him.

『Even if she’s scheming something, there’s no way she’ll bring harm to Lyle, so isn’t it fine if we just leave it? If she did intend harm, there would be no reason for her to serve him this far. Also… are we going to be kicking Aria out at this point?』

On the Fifth’s opinion, the faces in the area turned troubled.

Her father had connections with bandits, and he was to slave in the mines to atone. On top of that, she had lost everything and been driven out of her home.

The First made a complicated expression.

『She’s the exact likeness of my first love, but seeing my descendant marry her leaves quite a strange taste, though.』

The Seventh spoke.

『It’s because you got Lyle to do those unnecessary things that it came down to this! If you had just cooperated with him at once, we would have gotten on without these peculiar worries.』

The Fourth dragged the conversation on track again.

『Well then, until Lyle decides his future plans, let’s put this matter aside. Good work everyone.』

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Left alone in the conference room, the First Generation folded his arms and sat atop the chair with his legs crossed.

Who he was thinking of was Lyle.

『If you just consider pure and utter talent, there’s no doubt he’s above us, I see.』

The precepts that had launched from one line the First had said at a party.

Perhaps… they had honed the Walt House’s bloodline.

Lyle’s ability was currently lacking in experience, but even so, he had the greatest latent potential out of any of the Heads of History.

『… With that, he’d easily surpass me when I was most active.』

He muttered that, sprung up, and landed on the floor.

『Well, well, well. With the seven in the Jewel, and his own Skill on top of that, just what sort of monster will he become… If there really was someone out there who could stop that Celes, then perhaps it’s no one but Lyle.』

The First Generation… Basil Walt walked towards his room, as a grin quietly erupted on his face.

『Well then, it’s time I put an earnest effort into helping him. The day when he learns to use the third stage may come, so I’ve got to train for that… It may not even take that much time.』

He opened the door and entered his room.

『And it won’t be long before my teaching comes to an end…』

The door slowly closed.

There wasn’t a soul in the conference room.