Konan had spent seven consecutive days investigating, but things were far from simple.
All five children were only practicing high-tier magic—just ordinary purple spells.
Since that day, not a single Saint-Class spell had appeared.
Konan sank deep into thought, analyzing every possibility.
"In reality, lowbro, midbro, and highbro are far too evenly matched. They train together constantly, doing almost everything identically."
"That day, I only saw one bolt of lightning… chances are slim that it came from any of these three."
"But if I have to believe that some branch-family brat or lazy heir pulled this off, I'd rather become the family's Lightning God tomorrow myself."
His thoughts looped endlessly, advancing then returning to the starting line. Konan let out a weary sigh.
—Sigh…
"Perhaps it wasn't the children at all… maybe some unknown individual—or even a monster—was behind this."
"What could their purpose be?"
"Or perhaps the head of the family, or my own grandchildren, returned to the territory just to play a prank on me."
The more he speculated, the more hypotheses arose. Konan was clearly experiencing what people call overthinking.
"Thinking won't help. Today, I'll just continue observing the kids."
"If there's no progress today, this will be the last day."
Peering out the window, Konan spotted a rare scene.
The five children he intended to watch were gathered together, standing before Butler Hans and gardener Ziban.
"What's going on here… this is far too convenient," Konan thought, grinning.
Yet, as if mocking his plans, the children and two adults stepped into the forest.
The seven figures slowly vanished from sight.
"Tch… everything seems to go against my expectations," he muttered.
"They must be heading to the forge… shouldn't be hard to follow."
⸻
Meanwhile, at the training ground, Cyan was tirelessly honing his mana control and movement.
"I need to make my body more agile. After that incident at the Lightning Ruins, I realized my physical condition is far too weak."
"I also need to regain my high-tier mage level. Once the reward from my exam vanished, I weakened considerably."
With that thought, Cyan continued his training.
Then he relaxed his hands and noticed two men and four children approaching.
It was Butler Hans, gardener Ziban, and the four family children.
Hans spoke first.
"Young master, my apologies for interrupting your training. I have something to report."
"This useless brat is probably just here to admire the trees, not train—Lowbro muttered."
"Exactly, he's surely messing with mid-tier spells, delusional, imagining things beyond his reach—Midbro added."
"I knew it… standing here just to get Konan's attention—Highbro commented."
Ignoring their biased chatter, Cyan calmly addressed Hans.
"You said you had something to report?"
"Baron told me he has crafted weapons for the five gifted children, so I've come to deliver them."
Cyan pondered.
"Huh… Adamantite weapons… for me?"
"But why five of them? Surely not enough materials."
"And these kids don't even know how to wield swords… using Adamantite for staves seems wasteful and ineffective."
"Even if Baron made one for me just to finish quickly and gifted the others different items, that's… lacking finesse."
"Who gives a rare item to me first, in front of everyone else? Trouble is bound to follow."
"Still… it's not that important. I'll get the Adamantite weapon one way or another."
So Cyan, the four children, Hans, and Ziban entered the forest.
After about five minutes, Cyan felt something off.
"This path is slightly different… I've been here twice before, I shouldn't be mistaken."
"Also… Hans smells odd today. Does this world even have perfume? Has the butler become stylish?"
"Maybe I've been living too long in Taylor's character… unaware of such things."
Despite this, Cyan remained cautious. The path clearly did not lead to the forge.
Caius was also deep in thought.
"How could this useless brat qualify to receive weapons from the family's master blacksmith? This is one of the top-tier smiths in the Leonhart Holy Kingdom."
Engrossed in anger, he didn't notice an incoming fist.
Caius panicked, stepping on a leaf and falling backward, luckily dodging the unexpected attack.
The force was so immense it destroyed a tree behind him.
"Hey, butler! What do you think you're doing? Do you even know who I am?"
Before Caius could react, Hans slammed him to the ground. The impact left a massive dent, and
Caius was knocked unconscious instantly.
At the same time, the gardener charged at Lowbro, launching a devastating punch aimed at his head.
Lowbro was almost hit, providentially tumbling aside.
No, it's not a lucky coincidence. Cyan quickly intervened, kicking Lowbro away to evade the lethal strike.
This wasn't an ordinary punch—it had turned into clawed strikes, full of killing intent.
The opponent confronting Cyan had transformed into a demon, radiating lethal power.
"What the hell… are you rebelling?!" Lowbro shouted.
"Has our family treated you poorly? Haven't you had enough?!" Midbro yelled.
"Do you think you can defeat your master?!" Highbro roared.
"Did you sell yourself to a demon, Hans?!" Cyan screamed.
—Hahahaha… fuhahaha!
Hans laughed uncontrollably.
"I just interrupted your little act. Humans are funny when desperate."
"I merely wanted you to sleep a bit, nothing more."
"Really?!" Lowbro exclaimed.
Hans suddenly punched Lowbro in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree.
"Just kidding, fuhahaha."
Seeing two bodies unconscious, bleeding, with two powerful demons before them, Midbro and Highbro felt utterly hopeless.
Cyan tried to remain calm, but panic surged.
"Demons capable of knocking out high-tier mages in one hit… already in chapter 1?"
"Even in Taylor's story, the first chapter didn't feature any high-tier demons."
"Hans hasn't transformed into a demon yet… clearly stronger than the other demon."
"If a demon appeared in a Lightning Mage family now, it's likely 8th Demon Duke—Furfur."
"It's still early; lower-tier dukes probably hold back some of their power."
"Otherwise, those strikes would have reduced the children to dust."
"I have to act. This is my first real combat against demons in this reality."
"Even if it's over the limit, I have to do it."
"I must survive this trial."
Cyan's resolve surged, ready to face the challenge head-on.