The ultimate power, or rather a transformative power never seen before, can completely change the world.
Outside of this, some smaller forces, undeniably, can also influence the world.
However, at the early stages of these forces’ influence, before they fully coalesce into the ultimate power, they are not very noticeable.
Around the same time.
Near a bustling city in the Southern Free Federation, inside a magnificent manor.
In the bedroom, Sherlock sat on a chair, with a look of disbelief, turned to the old man in front of him and said, "Is this true?"
The old man was tall and slender, looked quite old, with thick gray-white eyebrows. Beneath them were a pair of sharp eyes that were concealed.
Upon hearing Sherlock’s words, the old man nodded slightly and replied, "Yes, it’s true."
"Then..." Sherlock’s expression turned incredibly conflicted, trying not to look into the old man’s eyes, murmured, "So, the family knew all along that there’s something strange about me, knew I had some abnormal conditions?"
"Yes," the old man said again.
"The blue-skinned rat..."
"Those weird, half-real, half-false dreams I have..."
"They know as well." The source of thɪs content is novel⚑fire.net
"I—" Sherlock suddenly didn’t know what to say, finally, couldn’t help but hold his head with both hands, retreating from the chair, squatted in the corner of the room, facing away from the old man.
He wanted to be alone.
The old man, however, was not bothered, continued sitting in the room’s chair, quietly waiting.
After a while, almost long enough to put a bored person to sleep, Sherlock suddenly turned around, almost jumped in front of the old man, questioned, "If the family knew all these things, why didn’t they tell me earlier?"
"Because the time wasn’t right."
Sherlock didn’t believe him: "I want to hear the truth."
"Alright." The old man slowly spoke, "Actually, the reason the family didn’t tell you these things is because they didn’t think highly of you from the start. After all, you were very mischievous since childhood, your talent wasn’t great, you were considered a child to be abandoned.
So, the family thought it was enough for you to live a mediocre life. The biggest contribution might be earning some benefits for the family through a marriage alliance and giving birth to excellent descendants."
"Isn’t that great," Sherlock grinned, "That’s exactly what I want, living leisurely, playing every day, isn’t it great! You agreed, I’m happy, it’s perfect."
"But—" The old man’s eyebrows slightly relaxed, revealing a knife-like gaze, said, "But that was before. To be exact, a few months ago, when we tricked you into coming back to marry into the Kana family, we still held this idea.
But later, you went to all lengths to cancel the engagement, and after being punished, you did several bold things under the guise of compensation, and the situation changed."
"Why is that!" Sherlock puzzled, grumbled resentfully, "The things I did were indeed bold, but the effects were good, weren’t they? That also counts as me compensating for the loss of the engagement, why still punish me?"
"That’s where the problem lies." The old man sighed, "What you did was too remarkable, your performance too outstanding. Not only did you make up for the loss, but also allowed some family members to see your real abilities.
Plus, your brother Ian, who left for trials with Master Torre, has been out of contact for so long, likely met with misfortune, so the family started reconsidering your role. Maybe you shouldn’t be abandoned, should be valued. Therefore, they revealed some secret truths to you and let you handle some family matters."
Sherlock’s expression twisted, squeezing out a smile worse than crying, "This is a bit unreasonable, you are turning against me, I clearly made contributions, yet you treat me , squeezing me..."
"Anyway, it’s the family’s decision." The old man suddenly stood up, patted Sherlock’s shoulder, stepped outside, "Think it over, agreeing would be best."
"What if I don’t agree?" Sherlock shouted at the old man’s back, pulling his throat.
"Hehe." The old man’s voice came, eerie as if drifting, "You will agree."
"I..." Inside the room, Sherlock’s expression crumbled.
After a while, Sherlock looked at the wall with a mournful face, muttering to himself, "Am I just this unlucky? Doing a good thing still wrong? I just want to live a relaxed life, it’s a bit too much for you to value me , too much!"
Suddenly, a blue figure resembling a rat popped out from under the table, looked at Sherlock, grinned, making a "cackling" sound, as if mocking.
Sherlock glanced at it, angrily kicked at it, turned and threw himself on the bed, shouted rudely, "Get lost! Don’t bother me, I want to be alone."
The blue figure hesitated for a moment, looked at Sherlock, tilted its head as if thinking. Afterward, its form slightly twisted, gradually became transparent, merging into the air.
As soon as the blue figure disappeared, Sherlock suddenly jumped out of bed, ran to the wooden rack in the corner, took down a scroll, opened it to see a map of the Main Continent inside.
Sherlock snorted, his face full of dissatisfaction, looked at the map and said, "Want to see me, make good use of me, and then constantly squeeze me? Dream on, I’m running away from home, make it so they can’t find me. Hmm, let’s see where to go..."
Sherlock’s finger moved across the map, finally stopping at a point in the Northern Soma Alliance’s territory: "Hmm, this place is nice, mountains and water, the name is..."
Soma Alliance, Farlo City.
Within Soma Alliance, it’s a medium-sized city, situated by the mountains and rivers, scenic, convenient in transportation. It’s not far from Soma Alliance’s South Capital "Shaya," but lacks "Shaya’s" bustle, with more tranquility, making life slow down.
It’s recognized as one of the best cities for retirement within the Soma Alliance.
Of course, this applies to wealthy Nobles and Wizards with extraordinary abilities.
Poor Civilians wouldn’t consider retirement, only where the next meal comes from.
At this time, in a secluded alley, a Wizard in a black cloak was cautiously knocking on a wooden door.
A moment later, with a "creak," the door was opened, a woman stepped out, followed by two girls.
It’s the mysterious Witch Cesi, Justice Girl Narlyd, and Cat Slave Girl Heidi.