Today is the fifth day after the party ended.
And also, today... I'll have my stats checked, apparently.
I learned of this later, but Miss Krystal was the Court Mage of the Royal Family of the Egress Kingdom, the same kingdom my Father belongs to. In short, a bigwig.
She comes to our remote dominion once a month to catch up with the lord (Father) or his representative (Mother or Thomas) regarding his royal task progress. At times, she also collects yearly taxes for the king.
And that night, after seeing and catching me using a "skill," she told Mother to have me appraised as soon as possible.
Although I don't know why, Mother looked bothered by her suggestion.
Still, she went through with it, and today was that day.
"Father Kristoff, welcome. Sorry for having you come all the way here..."
Father greeted the thin-eyed old man who entered the room, smiling amicably as he shook his hand.
The old man, who was wearing expensive-looking white priest robes, smiled thinly as he replied, "Please. It is my duty to pass the word of god. It's no bother at all."
Then his gaze turned toward me, who was in Mother's embrace... no, his gaze is... a bit to my left?
"What a cute little fella..."
Slowly, his smile crept into a sleazy grin.
"...!"
This bastard!
He's not looking at me, but rather, ogling my Mother!
I could tell it, so there's no way mother couldn't tell either! However... she just gave an awkward smile.
Fuck!
How dare he!
Only Father and I can ogle my Mother's pristine twin peaks!
Anger quickly got to my head, and the urge to send the guy flying rose. And then, the next moment...
"UGH!"
The pervert priest suddenly flew backwards, hitting the wall grandly.
It was so powerful that he left a deep impression in the wooden wall, almost enough to dig through it!
"F-Father!"
The page he brought with him cried in panic as the clergyman coughed blood. However, my anger still wasn't done.
I glared at the priest, and our eyes met.
He had an expression of mixed shock and fear, but most of all, delayed regret. He tried to open his mouth, but I increased the pressure, causing him to punch through the wall and hit the outer wall of the hallway.
Just a bit more and he'd definitely fall through and hit the ground from three floors up!
"Are we under attack?!" Father growled, drawing his sword and looking around. "Aria, protect Rex! I'll check outside!"
Then, without hesitation, he ran out of the room, opened the window, and jumped down.
"..."
This was the third floor. I repeat. Since it's important.
Jumping down from that high up was practically suicide in my opinion, but...
Anyway, since Father warned Mother to protect me, she quickly retreated to the back of the room. Doing that, I lost sight of the pervert, forcing me to stop applying pressure on him.
Did it go out of range?
"Cough! Cough!"
The pervert priest coughed loudly, but I was unable to see him.
Though I'm quite sure he's looking aghast right about now.
Oh, right... That power I used was something I discovered lately.
Something like telekinesis, as I call it, but it uses mana to manipulate physical objects instead. However, that's as far as it can go.
For example, I could twist the pervert's neck and kill him, but I can't just roll him up into a ball of meat. The "strength" of my telekinesis can't do that much... Though it also shouldn't be powerful enough to send him blasting through a wall, wood or not, now that I think about it.
Did my anger increase the ability's power?
This needs a bit more research...
Soon enough, Father returned, obviously surviving jumping from three floors up, looking confused.
"I searched around, but there are no intruders or anyone suspicious outside. Weird..."
"Cough! Cough...!" The pervert then tried to speak. "It was... your son who...!"
And just as he reached that point, I once again put pressure on his shoulders. Our eyes met instantly, and for a moment, fear flashed through his eyes.
I could see his legs shaking as I put force into twisting his head.
"N-Nothing! It was nothing! I just fell backwards, that's all!"
The pervert quickly "fixed" his story.
Of course, Father and Mother didn't believe his words. How could someone falling backwards break through a wooden wall and get stuck on the next wall outside? But of course, the story that I, a baby, did it, was even more unbelievable. Adding the "risk" of incurring my wrath, he folded.
"L-Let's finish the appraisal ceremony fast, Baron. I still have appointments for this afternoon...!" the pervert said as he turned to his page. "You! Prepare the tools quickly!"
"Ah, y-yes, sir!"
Although confused, the page worked as told.
He set up a small altar, candles, and a book on a pedestal. He kept moving back and forth, fetching materials and setting everything up for five full minutes.
Then, after everything was set in the middle of the room, the pervert priest walked over and began chanting words that... I couldn't understand.
Another new language, perhaps?
After a while, although still with fear in his expression, he finally spoke to us.
"Please place your hand over this book. Doing so should bestow you with a status plate from god."
"..."
Mother carefully brought me over and guided my hand toward the book. Of course, I didn't act like I understood their words, as that would be too abnormal for someone just half a year old.
As soon as my hand touched the book's rough cover, a flash of bright light appeared.
Slowly, a glass panel appeared, floating in mid-air.
Written on it were my current stats... in this kingdom's letters.
---
Name: Rex von Grendel
Age: 6 months
Title: First son of Baron Claus von Grendel
Status:
STR: F+, AGI: F+, INT: C+
END: E-, MP: S, LUK: S
Skills:
Appraisal Lv. 8
Mana Detection Lv. 2 (New!)
Mana Manipulation Lv. 2 (New!)
Dominator's Hand Lv. 1 (New!)
---
The values weren't a surprise to me. I had been appraising myself every day, after all. However, to everyone else watching, it was something beyond imagination.
"Four skills?!"
"C+ Intelligence! My baby's a genius!"
"No way! His appraisal is already Level 8?!"
Everyone but the priest reacted with shock. He instead showed apprehension, as if convinced after what he had just experienced.
"Your son is a blessing to the world," he said, sounding almost solemn. "Having two stats at S, and having the holy Appraisal skill, is proof he's blessed by the gods!"
I can't tell if he's just bullshitting or was serious.
But his words, somehow, spread around the territory. I wasn't sure how, though.
Within a week, not a single individual in Father's territory was unaware of the "Blessed Son of Baron Claus."
Everyone was cheering, happy that with the "godsent" heir, their futures were bright.
But little did they know that a mere title wasn't the best I could offer.
After reaching one year old, I finally broke my silence...