Leven wore a dazed expression after hearing the family’s secret. "So that’s why our house has produced martial kings for generations..."

It felt... underhanded, somehow.

So they didn’t reach such heights by their own power?

People revered those who reached the pinnacle not just for their strength, but for the blood, sweat, and tears they had shed along the way. Yet here, someone else had trained their aura for them?

Of course, even this method had its conditions. Both parties needed to practice the same line of martial arts, with similar attributes. They had to be closely related by blood, and they needed to train together over a long period of time.

It wasn’t as if one could simply sit down and say, "Here, let me transfer my aura to you," and suddenly a vast reservoir of power would appear. Still, no matter how strict the conditions, it felt like cheating to him.

"No wonder the family kept this a closely guarded secret." If even Leven, a Strauss heir himself, found it distasteful, what would others think? It was hardly a method anyone could proudly boast of. "So that’s how Emil advanced so quickly?"

Varos shrugged. "You can’t exactly awaken someone’s aura in their place. But once he became an aura user, I imagine he received quite a bit of help."

Leven let out a long sigh. Now that he thought about it, he felt bitter. He had always known their father favored Emil. But he hadn’t realized just how deep the disparity ran.

Leven muttered. "I always thought he was just a prodigy, gifted beyond measure..."

Karnak grinned. "Well, he was a prodigy."

The mere fact that he could instantly absorb and make that aura his own was proof of exceptional talent. Not just anyone could do that.

Leven gave the others a skeptical look. "For someone supposedly so special, you all seem to be managing just fine yourselves?"

Even Varos, for instance, had quickly made the chaos aura Karnak had given him his own, ascending to the purple-tier.

"He was already martial king level to begin with. Don’t forget, we might look like this on the outside, but inside, we’ve all been around for over a hundred years," Karnak explained.

"Then what about Lapicel?" Leven questioned.

Karnak answered him. "Same thing. Her soul is still that of a martial king."

"But once I learned the method myself, it wasn’t all that difficult either," Leven said.

"Exactly. That’s why you ended up becoming a martial king in the future too. Even after fighting your future self, you’re still doubting yourself?" Karnak asked with a frown.

"That person really doesn’t feel like me at all." Grumbling, Leven shifted his gaze to the red-haired beauty beside him.

Come to think of it, Sir Serati still hasn’t been able to absorb the aura she received.

It was just a passing thought, but apparently, it showed on his face.

Serati let out a faint laugh. "You’re starting to understand what talent really means after seeing me?"

"Ah, no, that’s not what I meant..."

"Don’t worry about it. I’ve already stopped comparing myself to you all."

Feeling awkward, Leven averted his gaze. But then, a question suddenly came to mind. "Wait. If it only works with blood relatives, how is Sir Varos going to teach me?"

They weren’t related by blood or anything else. They were complete strangers.

Varos readily acknowledged that. "You’re right. That method won’t work here."

"Then?"

"We don’t need it."

"Sorry?"

"We already used it."

Karnak clicked his tongue at Leven. "Did you seriously not notice after saying it yourself? That’s exactly what I’ve been doing."

That was it. Karnak, too, had been cultivating aura he couldn’t use himself and passing it along to Varos and the other aura users. In truth, they had already experienced something very much like the Strauss method of aura transmission.

"The original method itself was inspired by how necromancers transfer dark aura to dark knights and death knights. The first lord of the Strauss family took a hint from that and developed it into his own technique. Which is why I could do it too."

"Our house’s technique came from necromancy?" Leven said with a frown.

Karnak shook his head. "They didn’t learn necromancy, just took the idea. Not a hint of wickedness in it."

Still, there was no denying that the method had originated from necromantic arts. No wonder the martial kings of the past had kept it so tightly under wraps.

Varos changed the subject. "Either way, the fact that the Strauss family consistently produced martial king-level talents is still impressive."

Having someone else build your aura didn’t automatically make you a martial king. There was something special about Delphiad swordsmanship that ensured worthy heirs could fully realize their potential.

"That’s what I’ll be teaching you," Varos explained.

Leven nodded in understanding. "Then that leaves just one problem."

If that were the case, Leven would have to stay by Karnak’s side at all times to continue learning from Varos. Not just that, as Karnak’s vassal, he couldn’t afford to stray far.

However, under the current circumstances, he couldn’t remain as a knight of Baron Zestrad’s household. Back then, it had been fine. He was just a scion of the Strauss family serving in another family’s retinue. Nothing unusual.

But now? He was the sole heir and current head of the great Strauss family, one of the three most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance. Could he still remain as a mere knight of some remote, third-rate barony? It would be unthinkable.

Leven asked, "Do you think people will accept that?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"No way."

"Absolutely impossible."

"That’s beyond absurd."

Leven looked helplessly at Karnak. "But I still need Sir Varos’s teachings, don’t I?"

Karnak nodded. "That’s right."

Leven asked, "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Karnak had already anticipated this situation. Anyone could have seen it coming, and he had a solution prepared well in advance. "We’ll just become mages and knights of the Strauss family."

"What?"

"You don’t get it? We’ll serve under the Strauss family," Karnak repeated.

"Wait, hold on..." Stammering, Leven barely managed to ask. "You’re saying you’re going to enter my service? You’re going to switch our lord-vassal relationship?"

Karnak frowned. "Why not? What’s the problem?"

"There’s no way there isn’t a problem..." Leven thought in disbelief.

Karnak, serving under him? Even if it was only in an official capacity, would that man truly call him lord and speak to him with deference?

Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it...

While Leven looked thoroughly put off, Serati and Varos, on the other hand, seemed to find the idea rather reasonable.

"That would definitely solve everything, Lord Karnak," Serati said.

"Exactly. No one would find it strange that way," Varos agreed.

"W-wait a moment!" Leven hurried to interrupt them. "This isn’t as simple as you’re making it sound."

Leven himself barely thought about it, but the fact remained: Karnak was undeniably a noble of the Eustil Kingdom, a public official, and a member of the King’s Order.

"How could you possibly serve the Strauss family?"

"Well, no. I’m not saying that the Zestrad family will fall under the Strauss family," Karnak replied casually.

That would’ve been treason against the Kingdom of Eustil. Such was a matter of severe consequence.

"But me, as an individual, accepting the Strauss family’s invitation as an advisor? There’s no problem there," he continued.

After all, Leven himself had served as a knight of the Eustil Kingdom’s King’s Order, despite being a citizen of the Ethriel Kingdom and a scion of the Strauss family.

The Seven Kingdoms Alliance, as its name suggested, was a union. It was a loose confederation and not as strictly controlled as an empire. For individuals, rather than entire houses, there was a surprising amount of freedom in movement.

"Varos and Serati can remain as invited guests under the same arrangement." What’s more, there was a significant advantage Karnak couldn’t ignore. "If we stay here with the Strauss family, our own lands become a lot safer too. From my perspective, it’s the better choice."

Leven’s expression gradually shifted. At first, he’d thought it was absurd. But the more he listened, it didn’t seem so outlandish.

Now that I think about it... it actually makes sense...

***

As the new head of the Strauss family, Leven had barely a moment to catch his breath. He had to conduct his father Gellard’s funeral, learn the duties of a family head, and make contact with the side branches of the family.

The only relief was that the Strauss family, unlike other noble families, had relatively little in the way of administrative burdens. As a house founded on martial prowess, the duty of every head of the family was first and foremost to grow stronger and reach the rank of martial king.

A system had long been in place for the house’s internal affairs to manage themselves. In other houses, this might have risked the family head becoming a powerless figurehead. But not in the Strauss family.

Every successive head had reached the heights of martial king. Who would dare try to make a puppet out of a martial king? When you had the strength to crush dissent at any time, no one could afford to step out of line.

Of course, Leven had a weakness: he’d taken the position at a young age, without proper training as an heir. But this, too, wasn’t a fatal flaw.

In truth, Leven was hardly lacking compared to the martial kings of the Strauss family’s past. Hadn’t he already reached blue-tier at his age? Gellard himself had been about the same in his younger years. Emil alone had advanced unusually quickly.

So the vassals decided to wait and see. There wasn’t anyone else more suited to take the helm, after all.

Meanwhile, Karnak and his companions settled comfortably as honored guests of the Strauss family. Not a single vassal objected when Leven invited them to serve as advisors. Karnak already held considerable renown, and his close relationship with Leven was well-known.

Above all, the fact that Karnak had publicly credited Leven with the salvation of the Strauss family weighed heavily in their favor. In noble society, such graceful acknowledgment of merit demanded an equally noble response.

Curious, Serati asked, "Did you plan for this outcome all along, when you gave Leven the credit?"

"Of course. Did you think I hadn’t anticipated this?" Karnak replied, smiling.

"I didn’t mean I didn’t expect it..." Naturally, Serati was well aware of such customs herself. She was simply impressed that Karnak had anticipated it so well. "You’re surprisingly sharp about things like this, yet when it comes to reading people, you’re so clueless."

"Reading the reactions of a group is easier," Karnak replied. "When people’s desires align in a clear direction, it’s much simpler. It’s individual minds that are tricky."

For reference, Alius’s memory manipulation had been handled flawlessly. He no longer harbored the slightest suspicion toward Karnak and was thoroughly preoccupied interrogating Sir Kairon of the Strauss family instead.

Kairon, for his part, didn’t find the questioning odd at all. Considering he’d fought alongside a heretical cult, being grilled about whether he practiced necromancy wasn’t exactly out of place. After it was confirmed that Kairon had no ties to necromancy, Alius returned to the temple at Derath.

"Well, now that things have settled, it’s time we found out what’s really going on," Karnak declared.

Varos tilted his head in curiosity. "How do you plan to do that?"

The soul of Future Leven was already beyond their reach.

"Sure, we lost the man himself," Karnak admitted, a sly grin curling his lips. "But we still have people who were involved."

He was referring to Emil and Gellard, whose bodies had been seized by Future Leven. Of course, Gellard was already dead, but that hardly mattered. After all, necromancers specialized in speaking with the dead.

"I’ve been avoiding necromancy as much as I could, but I guess there’s no helping it this time," Karnak said with a crooked grin.

Serati let out a sigh. "For someone who claims he’s been avoiding it, you sure seem to use it at every opportunity these days."