The Boreas Family's book collection was comparable to a large library.
One could say this was their family's most important heritage and foundation.
However, what currently caught Kael's eye was the cat-eared maid responsible for attending to him; her tall, full curves showcased the beauty of her silhouette to the fullest.
The men of the Greyrat family all shared this taste—they liked them big.
"Master Kael, if you have any needs, please just give the word. I will be waiting outside."
"Thank you."
Kael's gentle smile left the cat-eared maid feeling a bit overwhelmed by the favor.
The status of demi-humans in human cities was easy to imagine.
It was fortunate that the Boreas Family took a liking to demi-humans and provided them with decent jobs as maids; otherwise, they would most likely have ended up in the city's underground slave markets.
Kael glanced at the classification labels in the library, found the section he wanted to browse, and pulled up a chair.
He was allowed to read these books, but he could not take them out.
Any one of them was worth more than ten gold pieces, enough to buy a maid with quite exceptional looks.
Why mention maids again?
It was all Philip's fault for disturbing Kael's state of mind.
Just moments ago, he had spotted a rabbit-eared maid running out of Philip's room with her clothes in disarray; one didn't need to think to know what those two were doing inside.
Most nobles in the kingdom practiced monogamy.
This was actually due to the nature of noble political marriages.
However, this didn't mean the noble lords couldn't have harems; the maids in the household were, by default, expected to handle the lords' physical needs.
He wanted such a decadent and depraved noble private life too.
However, almost all the good maids on the market were monopolized by the high nobility.
Occasionally, some maids would trickle out from the mansions of palace nobles, but this had nothing to do with the underage Kael.
For now, Kael could only criticize it harshly in his heart before continuing to research and study his magic.
It had to be said that in this library, he truly found a lot of useful knowledge.
Most of it, however, involved magic theories and conjectures; specific magic spells or circles rarely appeared, likely hidden elsewhere by the Boreas Family.
After all, spells and circles could be directly converted into power, which was a noble's most important inheritance.
Unfortunately, the Boreas Family hadn't produced any children with significant magical talent for several generations; most had followed the career path of swordsmen.
In a sense, this was a waste of the advantages of their noble birth.
Kael flipped through the books very quickly, and before long, a stack of finished volumes piled up beside him.
Important points of knowledge from them were transcribed into another book.
Having a photographic memory, he naturally didn't need to take notes; this was a gift prepared for Roxy.
A collection of magic notes from her teacher—he believed it would keep her happy for a long time.
But just then, the sudden sound of a door opening broke the original peaceful atmosphere.
"Bean Sprout!"
Eris barged in aggressively. The maid beside her couldn't stop her at all and could only offer timid advice.
"Miss, Master Kael is inside reading. Master Philip has ordered that he must not be disturbed."
"I'm here to read too, is that not allowed?"
Eris snapped back.
The next second, she was choked up by a single sentence from Kael.
"Are you even literate, Little Chili?"
Kael looked up and tilted his head.
"...I, of course I am! I can write my own name!"
Eris felt a bit guilty upon hearing this, but her confidence returned in an instant, as if she truly felt that being able to write her own name was a very remarkable thing.
"Master Kael."
The cat-eared maid looked self-reproachful.
"It's fine. This is Little Chili's home, after all."
Kael offered a word of comfort. Hearing this, Eris felt a little happy; she no longer broke down easily when called "Little Chili."
Having heard it so many times, she had grown somewhat accustomed to it.
Moreover, Eris herself called Kael "Bean Sprout" every other word, so they were even.
"I heard that you've chased away several of your primary teachers."
Kael asked with a smile.
Philip had mentioned this to him, and one could tell from his expression at the time just how much of a headache it was.
For a high noble family like the Abelais, the primary education for the family's children was quite strict and comprehensive, with over five home tutors provided.
Covering arithmetic, etiquette, horsemanship, swordsmanship, magic, and so on.
Unfortunately, except for the swordsmanship tutor who survived, all the others had resigned.
Eris was quite proud and smug about this.
"Hmph, that's because they were too useless. They couldn't even beat me, so what right do they have to teach me?"
This was an issue with her grandfather, Sauros.
Due to his excessive spoiling and his own character flaws, Eris followed his example, favoring violence and habitually using her fists to solve problems and vent her emotions.
"According to what you're saying, whoever has the bigger fist is right."
Kael followed Eris's logic.
"Exactly!"
Eris tossed her red twin tails up and down.
"Then I haven't seen you show much respect to me."
...
Eris's expression stiffened for a moment, and then she tried to cover for herself.
"We haven't settled the score yet! I came here to find you for another battle!"
"Refused. I'm busy."
Kael flipped through the book in his hand, reading with great interest.
In his previous life, his IQ was lacking and he didn't understand the joy of reading, but now things were quite different.
"I have the final say here, Bean Sprout!"
Eris was so angry she climbed onto the table and stood in front of Kael.
This angle was actually quite nice; looking up, he could see Eris's well-proportioned calves. The view was great.
"Then I'll have to call Mr. Philip over."
Kael looked perfectly calm.
"Are you even a man!"
Eris stomped on the desk, making loud thumping noises.
"No, I'm currently just a boy."
Kael curled his lips and then added another sentence.
"Also, standing on the table is very rude. Get down quickly."
"Why should I listen to you."
Eris crossed her arms, habitually going against Kael; the number of people in this house she actually respected could be counted on one hand.
As for Kael, Eris was halfway to being convinced in her heart, but she wouldn't admit it at all with her mouth.
Otherwise, she wouldn't just be talking; she would have made a move long ago.
"Didn't you say you could write your own name? Write one and let me see."
Kael pushed the paper and pen to the side and spoke to Eris.
"Hmph, then keep your eyes wide open and watch closely."
Eris immediately got off the table upon hearing this; she was quite easy to coax.
She picked up the quill awkwardly and put it to the white paper with full confidence. After some scribbling, she lifted her chin triumphantly.
"It's wrong."
Kael took a glance and knew Eris's literacy level.
She was just an illiterate hooligan.
"How is that possible? That old man taught me this way."
Eris was shocked, but she didn't suspect Kael was tricking her.
Compared to that fragile old man, Kael, who was "evenly matched" with her, was much more trustworthy.
Eris, with her stubborn and competitive nature, had subconsciously modified and beautified the previous three battles.
One was a crushing victory for her.
The second one was Kael cheating, so it didn't count.
The third one was her being careless and failing to dodge.
In short, the advantage was hers!
Kael picked up the quill and wrote Eris's name. Even an illiterate like Eris could appreciate the artistic charm of the Gothic-style English calligraphy.
"Emmm..."
Eris became a bit withdrawn.
Could it be that she really was illiterate?
Even "Little Chili" knew that as a noble, being unable to even write her own name was a shameful thing.
One couldn't blame the elderly linguistics tutor for being irresponsible; it was just that his old bones couldn't withstand Miss Eris's roughhousing.
"First of all, that's not how you hold a pen. You're using too much force. Didn't your swordsmanship teacher tell you? You should hold back thirty percent of your strength when striking, and the same principle applies to writing."
Kael took Eris's hand and corrected her incorrect way of holding the pen.
"Is it like this?"
Eris was unconsciously guided by Kael's words and actions, even forgetting her original purpose for coming.
It was a very simple principle.
It was just a critical success on checks for attributes like charisma and eloquence.
Of course, there was also the prerequisite condition of her previous defeats.
Time passed, and evening arrived in the blink of an eye.
Philip came to the library, intending to invite Kael to dine with him.
Opening the door, he saw this unbelievable scene and instinctively wondered if he had played too hard with the maids today, to the point of being bleary-eyed and having hallucinations.
Could it be that someone had swapped her out?
"Father!"
Seeing Philip, Eris hurriedly showed off the results of her afternoon's work.
"This is truly unexpected."
Philip looked at Eris, then at Kael, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Kael, I sincerely invite you to serve as Eris's home tutor."
Philip said in a serious tone.
He had lost so much hair worrying about Eris's education lately, and he hadn't expected the path to salvation to be right before his eyes.
Philip didn't expect Eris to become a great scholar.
But at the very least, she had to be literate; otherwise, who would inherit this massive family estate?
"This..."
Kael looked hesitant, so Philip quickly added.
"You only need to set aside a little time each day. Furthermore, the Boreas Family is willing to sponsor you, helping you go further on your magical career path."
Philip had originally planned to observe more regarding the sponsorship, which was also his purpose for opening the library.
"This actually depends on Miss Eris's own wishes."
Kael gazed into Eris's red eyes, which were as clear and bright as gemstones, seeing a hint of surprise and anticipation, though mostly still pride and bashfulness.
"If it's Kael, he's barely qualified enough to teach me."
Eris turned her head away and said with a huff.
This feeling of being valued and respected made her very happy... Philip's sponsorship wasn't just reflected in money; the Boreas Family's storehouse was also partially opened to Kael.
Both alchemy and item-crafting required a great deal of practice, involving an uncountable amount of magical materials, many of which were difficult to obtain through regular channels.
For the Boreas Family, these were not a problem.
As long as they could cultivate a qualified chemist or item-crafter, it would be enough to break even.
Thanks to Philip's sponsorship, Kael soon made a major breakthrough in magical materials science, successfully developing the magical technology of Slime Gel Chips.
He then combined the gel chips with a mechanical gear movement to create an Automatic Daemon Core Device.
With this core providing kinetic energy and computing power for the puppet, the next thing to consider was merely the puppet's body.
Compared to the former, this was much easier.
With mechanical gears as bones, artificial muscle as flesh, and Slime gel as skin, and then constructing a magical circuit connecting the entire body, an automatic artificial intelligent daemon was born.
Kael sat in front of a chair, carving the facial features for his puppet.
In fact, most of the body had already been constructed, and the internal magical circuits were correctly connected to the core, ready for activation and functional testing at any time.
However, Kael had poured a great deal of energy into the first daemon he had built by hand, so he naturally wanted her to wake up in her most perfect state, which is why he spent a lot more time carving the details.
The mechanical gear daemon took the form of a petite young girl.
Her skin was as white and translucent as snow, with a faint blush on both cheeks, perfectly illustrating what it means to be fair and rosy.
Her exquisite and perfect features were flawless, and paired with flaxen long hair, she appeared both ethereal and elegant.
Even the magnificent dress she wore was designed by Kael; one could see gear elements decorating it and narcissus flowers on the cuffs. The overall style was vintage yet full of a mechanical feel.
Of course, the iconic Bonnet on her head was indispensable.
Roxy also participated in the creation of the daemon, though with her technical skills, she mostly just helped out with minor tasks.
Even so, Roxy benefited greatly from the experience.
Looking at the girl-like daemon who seemed to be fast asleep, Roxy's gaze couldn't help but fall on the sizable curves of her chest, and a hint of regret rose in her heart.
The only suggestion she had made was to flatten those curves; clearly, for the same girlish figure, such prominent results were obviously illogical.
Kael firmly rejected this.
Although small is also cute, big is the ultimate truth.
"You don't seem to have named her yet."
Roxy watched as Kael carefully applied nail polish to the daemon, asking with a suppressed hint of jealousy.
"I've already decided."
Kael took a moment to admire his work and then continued.
"Her name is Sandrone."
"Does this name have any meaning?"
"Nothing, just a memory."
Hearing this, question marks popped up in Roxy's head. You're only a few years old, what kind of memories could you have?
"Wait! I almost forgot the most critical element!"
Kael's sudden exclamation startled Roxy, who quickly asked.
"What element?"
"White silk stockings! That is Sandrone's soul!"
...
After personally completing Sandrone's soul, Kael finally showed a satisfied expression. He pressed his hand against her chest and injected mana, which was the true source of life for a daemon.
Sandrone's originally reclining body slowly straightened, as if waking from a dream, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Those deep blue Cybernetic Eye, crafted from gemstones, clearly reflected Kael's face, brimming with a pure, newborn-like innocence.
However, Kael had already injected basic logic algorithms and cognitive abilities into the chip, allowing Sandrone to have a certain level of awareness of herself and the world from the moment of her birth.
Her pale pink lips, like a budding peach blossom, softly spoke her life's purpose.
"Master, I shall offer you my everything."