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 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.
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 exactly why, Mother looked bothered by the suggestion.
Still, she went through with it, and today was that day.
"Father Kristoff, welcome. Sorry for having you come all the way out here..."
Father greeted the thin-eyed old man who entered the room, smiling amicably as he shook his hand.
The old man, 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, cradled in Mother's arms... no, wait. His gaze was aimed a bit to my left.
"What a cute little fella..."
Slowly, his smile crept into a sleazy grin.
"...!"
This bastard!
He wasn't looking at me—he was ogling my Mother!
I could tell, so there was no way Mother couldn't tell either. Yet she just gave an awkward smile.
Fuck!
How dare he!
Only Father and I get to ogle my Mother's pristine twin peaks!
Anger surged to my head, and the urge to send the guy flying rose up. And then, the next moment...
"UGH!"
The pervert priest suddenly flew backwards, crashing into the wall with a thunderous impact.
It was so powerful that he left a deep impression in the wooden wall—almost enough to punch clean through it!
"F-Father!"
The page he'd brought with him cried out in panic as the clergyman coughed blood. But my anger still wasn't satisfied.
I glared at the priest, and our eyes met.
His expression was a mixture of shock, fear, and delayed regret. He tried to open his mouth, but I increased the pressure, sending him through the wall and slamming him into the hallway's outer wall.
Just a bit more and he'd definitely fall through and plummet three floors to the ground!
"Are we under attack?!" Father growled, drawing his sword and scanning the room. "Aria, protect Rex! I'll check outside!"
Then, without hesitation, he ran out of the room, flung open a window, and jumped out.
"..."
This was the third floor. I repeat. Because it bears repeating.
Jumping from that height was practically suicide in my opinion, but...
Anyway, since Father had warned Mother to protect me, she quickly retreated to the back of the room. Doing that, I lost sight of the pervert—and without a line of sight, I couldn't maintain pressure on him.
Did it go out of range?
"Cough! Cough!"
The pervert priest was hacking loudly, but I couldn't see him.
Though I'm fairly sure he was looking aghast right about now.
Oh, right... The power I'd used was something I discovered recently.
Something like telekinesis, I'd call it—but it uses mana to physically manipulate objects rather than the mind. Beyond that, though, I wasn't sure of its full scope.
For example, I could theoretically twist the pervert's neck, but I couldn't roll him up into a ball of meat. The "strength" of my telekinesis wasn't that extreme... though it also shouldn't have been powerful enough to send him blasting through wooden walls in the first place.
Did my anger amplify the ability's power?
This needs more research...
Soon enough, Father returned—miraculously alive after jumping three floors—looking thoroughly confused.
"I searched the area, but there are no intruders or anyone suspicious outside. Weird..."
"Cough! Cough...!" The pervert tried to speak. "It was... your son who...!"
And just as he reached that point, I put pressure on his shoulders again. Our eyes met instantly, and fear flashed through his gaze.
I could see his legs shaking as I applied force, threatening to twist his head.
"N-Nothing! It was nothing! I just fell backwards, that's all!"
The pervert quickly "revised" his story.
Of course, Father and Mother didn't believe a word of it. How could someone simply falling backwards punch through a wooden wall and get lodged in the outer hallway wall? But the story that I—a baby—had done it was even more unbelievable. Adding the "risk" of incurring my wrath, he folded.
"L-Let's finish the appraisal ceremony quickly, Baron. I still have appointments this afternoon...!" the pervert said, turning to his page. "You! Prepare the tools now!"
"Ah, y-yes, sir!"
Although clearly bewildered, the page did as told.
He set up a small altar, candles, and a book on a pedestal, moving back and forth to fetch materials for a full five minutes.
Then, after everything was arranged in the middle of the room, the pervert priest walked over and began chanting words I... couldn't understand.
Another new language, perhaps?
After a while—still visibly shaken—he finally addressed us.
"Please place your hand over this book. Doing so should bestow upon you a status plate from god."
"..."
Mother carefully brought me over and guided my hand toward the book. I played along, acting as though I didn't understand their words—revealing comprehension at half a year old would be far too abnormal.
As soon as my hand touched the book's rough cover, a flash of bright light appeared.
Slowly, a glass panel materialized, floating in mid-air.
Written on it were my current stats... in this kingdom's script.
---
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'd been appraising myself every day, after all. However, to everyone else present, 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, on the other hand, showed only apprehension—as if my earlier display had already convinced him.
"Your son is a blessing to the world," he said, sounding almost solemn. "Having two stats at S, and possessing the holy Appraisal skill, is proof he is blessed by the gods."
I couldn't tell if he was just saying what sounded right or if he meant every word.
But his words spread through the territory regardless—I wasn't entirely sure how. Within a week, not a single person in Father's domain was unaware of the "Blessed Son of Baron Claus."
Everyone was cheering, happy that with such a "godsent" heir, their futures were bright.
But little did they know that a mere title wasn't the best I had to offer.
After reaching one year old, I finally broke my silence...