The other two girls looked much more innocent. When they looked at Lance, there was more sympathy in their eyes than mockery.
Sabina was gentle by nature, much like her mother, and kindhearted as well. Irene, the viscount's adopted daughter, was much the same.
"What did Father say to you, Brother Lance?" Irene asked softly from the edge of the bed.
Lance considered the question for a moment, then shook his head with a smile.
"Nothing important. Just a few trivial matters. I heard you laughing and came over to see what was going on."
Biqi sprang up as though she had just witnessed something unbelievable.
"Came to see us? Wasn't peeking at Irene while she bathed last time enough for you?"
"That happened?"
Lance froze, suddenly at a loss for words.
The previous owner of this body had actually spied on his own younger sister bathing before Lance transmigrated into him? They were not related by blood, but she was still his adopted sister...
Lance was speechless.
Irene's cheeks had turned bright red, yet she did not say a word. That was more than enough to tell him the accusation was probably true.
"You were terrible tonight," Biqi continued without mercy. "I really don't understand why Father treats you so well. He gave you such a precious chance to learn magic. Even my brother never received an opportunity like that."
A flash of jealousy crossed her eyes.
Lance understood immediately. The viscount's favoritism toward him over the years had caused plenty of resentment, especially because Lance himself had shown so little ability.
Not everyone could be as unconcerned with status and competition as Irene and Sabina.
Irene rose to rescue him from the conversation.
"Brother Lance, I finished the book you lent me last time. Can I go to your room and exchange it for another one?"
Lance collected himself and smiled. "Of course."
Irene cheered, hopped barefoot off the bed, and came out carrying a thick book.
Lance ignored Biqi's jealous stare, nodded once to Sabina, and left the girls' room with Irene.
He deliberately let Irene walk ahead.
Otherwise, explaining why he could not find his own room would have been rather difficult.
The innocent Irene had no idea that her brother's soul had already been replaced. Hugging the thick book as she walked, she chatted happily.
"Brother Lance, The Tales of Ronitas that you recommended was wonderful. My favorite was the story about the crow and the scarecrow."
Lance could only make vague noises of agreement.
'He was not the bookworm who had originally owned this body. How was he supposed to know what stories were in that collection?'
Fortunately, Irene noticed nothing strange.
Before long, they arrived at a room. Lance quietly memorized its location and followed her inside.
"Huh? Why didn't Aunt Xili prepare hot water and candles for you tonight?"
Irene looked puzzled as she pushed the door open.
Lance felt another wave of irritation, but there was nothing useful he could say. After some searching, Irene finally found a candle on the desk and lit it with a match, bringing a little light into the room.
"I'll put this book back where it belongs, then find something else to read."
Irene gave Lance a playful smile, hugged the book to her chest, and slipped into one of the small adjoining rooms. Candlelight soon appeared there as well.
Lance let out a long breath. He closed the door and sat at the desk for a short rest.
As the viscount's second son, his quarters were clearly larger than those of his sisters.
There was a bed in one corner, with a table and wardrobe near the entrance, as well as two small adjoining rooms. After a quick look around, Lance understood the layout. One of the side rooms was a private washroom. The other was a study containing three full rows of bookshelves.
A collection that large was uncommon in this era.
The former Lance had asked merchants passing through the castle to buy most of these books in distant Torrent City. Many of them were difficult to find on the local market.
Lance entered the study and looked around with interest.
Besides the bookshelves, the room contained a writing desk stocked with everything he might need: quills, ordinary ink, and sheets of thin paper made from a material he could not identify.
He walked over, picked up one sheet, and rubbed it between his fingers.
'Scan and analyze the composition of this paper.'
[Fox is executing the command.]
[Material analysis complete. The paper appears to be a composite of plant fibers and animal fats. Insufficient data is available to determine the manufacturing process.]
Lance marveled inwardly.
This world clearly had its own remarkable technologies. The paper was extremely thin and light; it would have been difficult to produce with primitive manufacturing methods.
'And if ordinary paper was already like this, what about the materials used to study magic?'
The thought fascinated him. He had inherited some memories concerning such things, but borrowed memories could never be as clear as personal experience.
"Brother Lance, is this Lady's Diary any good?"
A playful head suddenly appeared from behind the second row of bookshelves.
Irene's long golden hair made her pale skin look almost luminous. Her eyes were blue as sapphires, lending her an unusually gentle, clear appearance.
Lance forced himself to remain calm.
"That depends on your taste. Honestly, I don't remember the contents very well."
"Really?" Irene asked suspiciously. "The last time I came to your room, you were reading this exact book. That was only a week ago, and you already don't remember it?"
Lance broke into a nervous sweat.
'How was he supposed to know details like that?'
"I... only skimmed it. I was busy preparing for Teacher Amman's test. You know how difficult studying magic is."
Even Lance thought the excuse sounded terrible.
To his surprise, Irene nodded seriously.
"Mm. I know magic is very mysterious. Only a tiny number of people in the whole world can become wizards. Brother Lance, you have to keep trying. I believe you can become a wizard like Lord Amman."
Warmth stirred in Lance's chest.
Irene genuinely cared about him.
At least not everyone in this castle was his enemy.
...
In the end, Irene left with Lady's Diary.
Lance closed the door behind her, then stood by the window and looked toward the distant coastline. Although it was a summer night, the howling sea wind still carried a chill. A thin layer of mist slowly formed over the hazy water.
He shut the window, collapsed onto the bed, and gradually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Lance skipped breakfast entirely. He merely told Aunt Xili, who was responsible for looking after the viscount's children, that he was going out, then hurried from the castle.
The viscount's castle stood atop Windwatch Cliff. Below one side of the cliff lay jagged reefs and the sea; the other faced inland. A narrow causeway connected the castle to the outside world.
At the foot of the cliff stood Windguard Town, the largest and most prosperous of the five towns governed by the viscount.
But Lance was not headed there.
The viscount had granted him permission to travel freely throughout the castle and the territory, and Lance had risen early because he wanted to reach Amman's residence: Moonlight Tower, two miles down the coast from the castle.
The morning sea breeze carried a faint salty scent across Lance's face. He breathed in the fresh air greedily.
The environment of this world was magnificent, hundreds of times better than polluted Earth.
A stern-faced soldier followed behind him.
The man had originally been assigned to castle duty, but when the captain of the patrol heard that Young Master Lance intended to visit Moonlight Tower, he sent the soldier along as an escort.
Everyone knew Lance would probably not remain in the castle much longer, but that did not mean the servants could ignore whether he lived or died.
Quite the opposite.
If anything happened to Lance during these last few days, the furious viscount would never forgive them. The patrol captain therefore took no chances. There were normally no dangerous creatures between Windwatch Castle and Moonlight Tower, but he still assigned the best swordsman under his command to accompany Lance.
"Your name is Poirot, right?" Lance asked casually as they walked.
"Yes, young master," the soldier replied lazily.
"How good are you with a sword?"
A trace of disdain flashed through Poirot's eyes, but he did not dare speak disrespectfully.
"I rank among the top three in the patrol. I'm certainly no match for your elder brother, though. Young Master Griffin may be able to ignite the spark. He's already advanced to Silver Swordsman despite his age."
'Oh? Is that so?'
Lance's expression did not change.
His elder brother was clearly no ordinary man.
"What sword techniques do you know?" Lance asked.
"The kingdom's basic military swordsmanship, [Spirit Fox Swordsmanship], which Lord Viscount taught me, and [White Fang Swordsmanship], which I picked up when I worked as a mercenary."
"Good. Demonstrate all three for me," Lance said calmly.
"Now?" Poirot stared at him.
"Right now."
Poirot muttered under his breath, but he did not dare refuse. He drew his weapon and demonstrated all three styles from beginning to end.
The two remained on the beach while the minutes passed.
A little over ten minutes later, sweat beaded on Poirot's forehead. He sheathed his sword.
"Young Master Lance, that's everything I know."
The request had struck him as odd, but he assumed Lance had simply developed a sudden interest in swordsmanship. It never occurred to him that there might be another reason.
A faint smile touched Lance's lips.
"Good. Thank you. Let's keep going to Moonlight Tower."
They resumed their journey.
Then Fox's sweet voice sounded inside Lance's mind.
[Data classification, collection, and recording complete. Please assign names to the three data sets.]
Three circular icons appeared in Lance's vision.
Whenever he selected one, the image of a man practicing swordsmanship appeared before his eyes, reproducing Poirot's movements exactly.
'[Piaoqi Kingdom Basic Military Swordsmanship].'
'[Spirit Fox Swordsmanship].'
'[White Fang Swordsmanship].'
[Naming complete. Fox has begun analyzing the data. Estimated analysis time: approximately thirty minutes.]
Lance was completely satisfied.
This was the true strength of Fox, his master chip. It could scan, store, classify, and analyze almost any information.
If Lance wanted to learn one of the sword styles, he could call up the stored data at any time and reproduce the techniques with extraordinary accuracy.
Whether he should actually learn them, however, would depend on Fox's analysis. If one or two proved genuinely useful, he would consider adding them to his arsenal.
After they had walked along the beach for a while longer, Moonlight Tower finally came into view beside the sea.