Chapter 30: Great Talent

“Nature and magic cannot be deconstructed using the same theory. Nature is an established existence. For example, the sunlight in the sky and the airflow, wind, and rain in the air are producing energy at every moment, yet they are completely unrelated to magic.”

In a small tavern on the street, Jacob was half-drunk and leaned back in his chair as he continued explaining to the people gathered around him. “Plants and trees absorb the energy of sunlight to grow, then herbivores obtain energy through those plants and trees. Many living creatures, including us humans, grow by eating plants or meat.”

“The laws of nature are everywhere. Take the Duke’s swordsmanship, for example. Wind blades follow his movements, incomparably sharp and fierce, yet it cannot be called magic. At most, it can be considered an understanding of nature’s mysteries.”

Everyone listened with great interest. Jacob burped from the wine and pointed toward the giant python skeleton on the plaza not far away.

“Have any of you ever thought about how much food such a massive creature would need to eat every day?”

Everyone, from white-haired elders to ignorant children, shook their heads. That was right. For a creature that large, even eating grass would not be enough to survive. Grass was not something that grew the moment one said it should grow.

“Look. None of us can understand it through the rules of nature. Why? Because the Mountain-River Python is a magical creature.”

“Magic is something that is very difficult for ordinary people to understand. Aside from a portion of talented mages, most of us will remain natural creatures for our entire lives.”

“The undead are the same. How can the dead in nature continue moving? Only magic can create such strange creatures.”

“The demon race developed and grew stronger through mages, but we humans went against that path and obtained power from nature to resist the demon race. Most importantly, magic requires talent, while the laws of nature can be passed down...”

At this point, Jacob suddenly caught a glimpse of a pale-blue figure from the corner of his eye. He practically sat up from his deathbed in shock, hurriedly pushed through the crowd, and chased after her.

“Wait, sir! Do not leave! Keep going!”

The people felt regretful. It had been a long time since a cultured person had come to Ice City. At least let them learn a little more knowledge.

But how could Jacob still care about these things at this moment? If he missed this chance again, who knew how long he would have to wait?

“Young Lady! Young Lady!”

Luna, who was carrying a basket of pastries and preparing to return home, turned back in confusion and saw Jacob running over with tears and snot all over his face.

Uh, I remember now. I seem to have forgotten about him...

“So it is Sir. Things have been busy recently, and I have neglected you.” Luna felt guilty and hurriedly hid the pastry basket behind her. Calculating the time, she had left Jacob stranded in Ice City for more than a week.

“It is no trouble, no trouble.” Jacob wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. This had not been easy. He had finally encountered Young Lady again.

“Cough, cough. I think it is also time to introduce Sir to my brother.” Luna believed she had some eye for talent. Jacob was a capable person, and she believed her brother would like him.

“That is fine, that is fine.” Jacob quickly tidied up his appearance. “Do I need to prepare anything?”

“No. Just follow me inside directly.”

Jacob’s emotions surged. It had to be said that he could also be considered to have reached good fortune after hitting rock bottom. By following behind Young Lady Luna, he only needed to show his face to pass through the Ducal Estate’s layers of guards. He did not even need to prepare money to grease the palms of the servants before he could directly meet Lord Duke.

Luna: Actually... people of the Northern Territory only need to make a report, and they can all come in.

The guards respectfully opened the gate. The two of them walked one after the other through the broad courtyard and happened to run into Eileen, who was heading out with a document bag.

“Lady Eileen.”

Luna waved and ran up to her, showing Jacob off as she said, “This is a great talent I brought back from the Royal Capital. He is very capable. Do you think I should hand him to you or to Brother?”

Eileen casually glanced over Jacob. How could she fail to understand Luna’s thoughts?

“Take him to your brother. If he truly is a great talent, I will reward you.”

Jacob was speechless. Why did this feel like human trafficking? However, this maid’s status truly seemed rather unusual.

While thinking this, when Eileen passed by him, Jacob still respectfully bowed.

This drew Eileen’s first formal appraisal of him. She stopped and seemed rather interested in his movement.

“Sir is from the Southern Territory?”

Jacob froze, then calmly replied, “Yes.”

Eileen nodded and did not speak again. She continued walking forward, as if it had merely been a casual question.

After entering the simple and ancient Ducal Estate, Jacob’s first impression of the environment inside was cleanliness. Not only had it been cleaned very thoroughly, but there was no floating dust in the air either. Furthermore, there were no luxury goods arranged all around, making it look extremely tidy.

After following Luna up to the second floor and arriving before the Duke’s office, Luna had Jacob wait for a moment while she entered the room first.

Before long, Luna’s clear voice came from inside. “Come in.”

After checking his appearance once more, Jacob steadied his breath, then walked in neither servile nor overbearing and knelt on one knee.

“Jacob greets Lord Duke.”

“Please rise, Sir.”

The Duke’s voice was heavy. In Jacob’s expectations, Oswald should have been a rough, bear-like man. Unexpectedly, the first thing he saw when he rose was a handsome and distinguished face.

However, the violent aura all over him could not be concealed. Compared to Frank, Oswald seemed more like a monarch as heavy as a mountain.

Oswald took out a handkerchief. While wiping Luna’s mouth as she sat on a small stool eating pastries, he asked carelessly, “Why has Sir come to my Northern Territory?”

Jacob smiled calmly, raised his head, and said, “For high office and generous salary, and also for the world!”

“The world is not so small.”

“That depends on how large the world in the Duke’s heart is.”

The moment these words were spoken, Oswald finally felt inclined to take this young man seriously. He had seen many abstract male characters, but someone with such ambition was truly rare.

He turned his head, a bit more approval appearing in his eyes, and probed, “High office and generous salary are not easy to obtain either.”

“What if I can resolve the worries in the Duke’s heart?” What Jacob feared was having no platform to display his talent. In Oswald’s words, there was no prejudice at all against his identity, and this made his heart burn even hotter.

Sure enough, he had come to the right place and judged the right person.

“What worries do I have?”

Jacob placed one hand on his chest and said with complete confidence, “I recently heard that many nobles have handed over their territories, while only the eastern nobles have remained unmoved. I am willing to make this trip for Lord Duke. Within one month, I will definitely return with the land deeds!”

“If I fail, I am willing to apologize with my death!”

“What courage!” Oswald patted Luna’s head. In his previous life, he had never heard of Jacob. He had originally thought Jacob was merely a poor scholar, but he had not expected Luna to give him such a great surprise.

“What do you need for this journey?”

“Only fifty knights to accompany me.”

The request he made caused Oswald to think even more highly of him. This clearly meant he wanted the power of life and death handed to him, and he was already as confident as one could possibly be.

In just a few exchanges, the two men seemed to understand each other, and there was no need to say anything more.

Oswald picked up his pen and wrote a transfer order with a grand sweep of his hand. “Good. Since you are someone Luna invited here, I will allocate fifty personal soldiers to you. When you return after completing the matter, I will certainly grant you high office and generous salary.”

“Thank you, Lord Duke!”

Jacob’s eyes trembled. He hurried forward, accepted the transfer order, bowed solemnly, and withdrew from the room.

Luna, who was currently gnawing on pastries, froze. Wait, that was not right. I only ate three biscuits, and you two already settled such an important matter?

She pinched her own face and, after confirming that she was not dreaming, hurriedly swallowed the biscuit and said coquettishly to Oswald, “Brother, actually, there is no need to trust your little sister so much. I do not understand this person that deeply either...”

“When he was in the Royal Capital, he even impersonated a renowned scholar and was beaten out by the people of World Tree Academy.”

Luna vaguely felt as if she had been placed over a fire and roasted. Jacob, you had better truly be capable. If you make this young lady lose face, I will personally be your executioner!

Pinching Luna’s puffed-up little cheek, Oswald smiled.

“Heh. If he truly were a renowned scholar, I would not trust him in the slightest. But this person came from the bottom, yet remained calm and composed before me. He dared to make such a bold declaration. Based on that confidence alone, I believe he can certainly do it.”

“Wait and see, Luna. This man will surely soar to the sky in the future.”

As night approached, it was time for treatment and physical examination again.

Sister Janice had been very troubled recently. She had looked through countless texts, yet she still could not find the reason for the Duke’s bodily functions weakening. Even more troublesome was that her Holy Healing Magic seemed to be canceled out and had no effect at all.

It was said that after eliminating all wrong answers, even the most impossible one would become the truth.

In the dim room, looking at Oswald, who was sitting half-reclined on the bed and emptying his thoughts, Sister Janice hesitated again and again before asking in a low voice, “Lord Duke, in the process of defeating the Undead Giant Python, what exactly did you do?”

Before her words had even finished, a sharp gaze stabbed toward her like a blade. It came from Eileen, who was sitting at the desk and organizing documents.

None of the three people in the room spoke immediately. After a long while, Sister Janice finally said with difficulty, “My lord, inside your body, there is... there is undead magic operating...”

“I know. Keep it secret for me, all right?” Oswald’s voice was very soft, and his calm expression undoubtedly told the two of them that he had known this result long ago.

That was right. How could the secret of undead magic inside his body possibly be hidden from Sister Janice, who had been treating him all this time? She was the most outstanding Sister and possessed an extremely strong affinity for goddess magic.

The only thing that could render the goddess’ Holy Healing Magic ineffective was forbidden undead magic.

“Neither of you needs to worry. I am not at the point where I will become undead. I will be fine after some time.” Oswald stopped Eileen with his eyes as she wanted to come over, indicating that she could trust his words.

Eileen nodded almost imperceptibly and lowered her eyes, no one knowing what she was thinking.

Regarding this situation, Sister Janice was actually very surprised. This was the first time she had encountered a soul that was not corroded by undead magic in the slightest.

“Indeed, logically speaking, undead magic acts directly on the level of the soul and then causes the body to distort from there. But aside from your bodily functions weakening, my lord, everything else seems normal.”

Oswald smiled. What kind of joke was that? His soul was deeply bound to the System. If it could be affected by magic, then how could the System be such an inconvenient thing?

[Exactly. Even if the goddess herself came, she would not be able to affect the Host’s soul. This System said so.]

“Since there is a chance to save you, Lord Duke should also explain the reason clearly.” The moment Sister Janice said this, Eileen immediately used a warning gaze to remind Oswald.

Oswald had no choice but to honestly explain.

“At the time, the giant python had an energy core. I could not cut it apart with my sword, so I had no choice but to... swallow it in one bite.”

As for whether he had swallowed it with his abdomen or his mouth, Oswald did not want to explain too much. Otherwise, he would truly be treated as a monster.

However, Oswald speculated that if he had normally swallowed it with his mouth, he would not have been able to sever the connection between the magic crystal and the giant python. Only the Gluttony skill had devoured the magic crystal on the level of causality.

Hearing this, Eileen fell silent.

Sister Janice also fell silent.

Most of the time, the truth was often this speechless.