As soon as my nod and the deal-closing sentence ended, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to lighten up by several degrees. Aiselin let out a soft sigh of relief, and the haughty smile imbued with aristocratic demeanor reappeared on her lips. Without hesitation, she signaled Sebastian. The butler stepped forward, slowly taking a small velvet pouch from his breast pocket, loosened the drawstring, and placed a brilliantly gleaming gold coin into my hand.
The weight of the gold coin was truly distinct. It was heavy, radiating a capitalist allure that, whether in my past life or this one, a guy used to eating instant noodles and chasing deadlines like me simply could not resist.
"You have from now until tomorrow morning to settle your family affairs," Aiselin said, turning around to step into the luxurious carriage. "Tomorrow at dawn, Sebastian will bring the carriage to pick you up at the village gate. Do not be late, Zero. The Shirakawa family always highly values punctuality!"
"Yes, My Lady," I replied, maintaining the standard bowing posture until the carriage rumbled away, gradually disappearing behind the row of trees along the dirt road.
Holding the gold coin in my hand, I walked back home while my mind continuously ran calculations. How many meals, how many plots of farming land for my parents was this single gold coin equivalent to? At the very least, right now, I was no longer a freeloader who only knew how to carry a hoe to the fields. I had my initial investment capital, a lucrative contract, and the opportunity to access a massive database of magic that my commoner self might not even see in a lifetime, let alone touch.
However, the specific problem of Aiselin's younger sister kept hovering in my head. An abnormally high-paying project always comes with extremely massive systemic risks. No one gives anyone anything for free.
That night, in our dilapidated house, I placed the gold coin on the rickety wooden table before the wide-open eyes of my father and mother.
"Oh my heavens! Zero, where did you get this?" my father stammered, his hands trembling, not daring to touch the glaring surface of the coin.
"I was hired as a tutor by a lady of the Shirakawa family," I tried to explain in the simplest language possible. "They paid my wages in advance. Tomorrow morning, I will have to go to their estate and start living there."
As soon as I finished speaking, my mother tightly grasped my hands, her eyes full of anxiety and panic: "But why get involved with the nobles, my child? We are only the commoner class, stepping into the world of powerful people like the Shirakawa family... if something happens, who can we cry out to? Can't you just stay home and help us hoe the fields, poor but peaceful, isn't that okay?"
I looked at her weathered eyes, deeply etched with the wrinkles of hardship, and my heart wavered slightly. I couldn't just bluntly say that I wanted to find a sugar patroness, let alone explain about the mana conversion research project or my past life.
I could only hold my mother's calloused hands, smiling gently but firmly: "Father, Mother... I actually have a very great passion for magic. I want to understand it thoroughly, want to reach further than the corner of this village. The Shirakawa estate is my only chance to access that massive treasure trove of knowledge. Please rest assured, I know my limits, I can take care of myself."
Hearing me say that, my father let out a mournful sigh. He took a drag from his rolled tobacco pipe, letting the blurry white smoke rise in the flickering light of the oil lamp, then slowly placed his rough hand on my shoulder.
"Your mother and I have no assets to give you, nor can we help you in any way on your path of studying magic. If that is truly your dream and passion, we will always support you." Father's voice was contemplative, containing boundless love. "But you must remember, the bustling city and noble estates are as deep as the sea. People can crush a commoner like you with just a flick of their fingers. In life, endure what you can endure; your own safety comes first, is that clear?"
"I understand clearly, Father." I nodded, engraving his loving advice into my heart.
…
Dawn arrived earlier than I thought. As the sun just peeked over the hill, the gold-plated carriage bearing the Shirakawa family crest had already stopped abruptly at the village gate.
My parents saw me off all the way, giving me all sorts of advice. I waved goodbye to them, gritted my teeth, and stepped into the carriage. The moment the door closed, I knew I had officially stepped out of my comfort zone to enter a completely new frame of reference.
The carriage began to move; I looked curiously out the window. The familiar countryside scenery gradually fell behind, making way for smooth paved roads.
Sebastian sat opposite me, his back perfectly straight and as silent as a pre-programmed machine.
"Young Master Zero," he suddenly spoke up, interrupting the circuit analysis flow in my head. "Lady Aiselin highly evaluates your logical thinking capability. However, you need to prepare yourself mentally. Tutoring the Second Young Lady... is an incredibly bizarre issue."
"How bizarre, sir?" I raised an eyebrow, the instincts of a researcher awakening.
"Magic examinations from top-tier mages all yield the same result: the young girl's body and mana circuits are completely normal, even absolutely perfect." Sebastian's voice clearly revealed a rare perplexity. "There are no signs of rupture, no blockages, and her static mana core is also very stable. However... the Second Young Lady cannot use any magic at all, even the most basic spells. The mana from her core completely refuses to form magic."
Hearing this, the analytical radar in my head immediately flashed. Perfect hardware, stable mana, no connection issues, but the system couldn't execute the cast magic command?
This condition... if I used the language of my past life to describe it, it was exactly like a PC assembled with the most expensive components; plug it into the mainboard and the lights still turn on, the cooling fans still spin smoothly, but it has an operating system error or a corrupted compiler, so it cannot run a single line of code. Thinking of this, I agonizingly remembered the pain of fixing code in my past life.
So the problem didn't lie in the physical hardware, but in the "software" or "algorithm" that converts mana inside her?
"A compiler error..." I muttered. If the problem truly wasn't in the hardware but in the command conversion mechanism, then those basic magic textbooks would definitely be useless.
I mentally drafted a new research outline. It seemed I would need to access a large amount of multidisciplinary documents, not limited to magic but also delving deep into biology, medicine, or the scientific knowledge of this world. Furthermore, to solve such a systemic project, understanding the client's background is mandatory. I tapped my fingers lightly on my knee, thinking to myself that I had to quickly learn the comprehensive history of the Tenko Kingdom and especially the genealogy and secrets of the Shirakawa family. Who knows, this system error might stem from some sort of genetics or bloodline curse?
While I was absorbed in setting up script execution steps in my head, Sebastian's even voice rang out again, pulling me back to reality.
"Eldest Lady Aiselin is the eldest daughter of the Shirakawa family, and also the representative of the family due to her innate talent for magic," Sebastian said slowly, his demeanor still flawlessly professional. "Although the young lady is only 14 years old, her workload regarding internal family management and diplomatic activities is exceedingly massive. Every day, the young lady must represent the family to attend tea parties and socialize with other noblewomen to solidify their power network. Therefore..."
Noble tea parties? It sounds leisurely and elegant, but with my experience watching the news, those tea parties are actually seminars reeking of politics and covert infighting; the tension level is probably on par with a summit meeting between high-ranking leaders, no joke.
The old man paused for a beat, looking at me with calm eyes. "The young lady is very busy. She will only have free time in the late afternoon and evening. Lady Aiselin instructed me to relay to you that: during those times, you are to go directly to the young lady's private room to report on progress and conduct your teaching."
"Private... private room?"
I almost bit my own tongue. Red alert! The entire risk warning system in my brain immediately wailed with deafening sirens. Wait a minute, where is the logic in this?
A noble, aristocratic lady, one of the most powerful in the kingdom, designating a boy with a lowly commoner status to enter her bedroom in the late afternoon and night? Even though this body is only 13 years old, my soul is a mature former Ph.D.!
The experience and sharpness of a systemic risk analyst told me this was a trap! Either it was an extremely harsh loyalty test, or an absolute information security mechanism. But what if someone in the family caught me sneaking and knocking on the eldest lady's door in the middle of the night? I would definitely be branded with the crime of having illicit intentions to sully noble honor and be taken out for execution before I even had time to create a magic circle! This was no longer clinging to a sugar patroness for a meal; this was clearly climbing a high-voltage power pole!
My mind was spinning with dozens of the worst-case risk management scenarios, cold sweat beginning to bead on my temples, when Sebastian's calm voice suddenly cut through that chaotic train of thought.
"You do not need to let your imagination wander too far, Young Master Zero," Sebastian said, seeming to have seen through the panic that was constantly crunching numbers behind my dark-circled eyes. "That is the young lady's order, and in the estate, her word is law."
I swallowed, about to open my mouth to ask to change the teaching location, when Sebastian continued, his tone now carrying an indescribable majesty.
"However, before worrying about your evening work schedule, there is a more important procedure you need to pass."
"What procedure... sir?" I asked cautiously, the feeling of unease rising again.
"Immediately after this carriage enters the gates of the Shirakawa estate," Sebastian looked straight into my eyes, dropping each word distinctly. "You will not be taken to your quarters. You will come with me, heading straight to the main hall to meet the Head of the Shirakawa family."
The air in the carriage suddenly dropped a few degrees.
Facing the chairman of the board before even getting an employee ID badge? It seemed my tutor project defense session would take place much sooner and be much fiercer than I had imagined. At this moment, I thought to myself, "Is there any way to decline this? Mom, Dad, save me!"
After some time, the carriage began to decelerate. My heart rate increased as the feeling of unease remained. I leaned forward to look through the glass window. As the carriage turned a corner, the view expanded.
My god.
Before my eyes, behind the exquisitely forged iron gates, was an entirely different world. A vast campus stretched out, with lush green lawns and shrubs trimmed into complex, artistic geometric shapes. A patrol squad in armor as shiny as silver, long spears in hand, was moving in formation in the distance. Maids in black and white uniforms and neatly dressed male butlers moved busily but orderly across the paved courtyard.
And then, the main architecture appeared. It wasn't a house; it was a massive castle, more complex than anything I had ever seen in those manga or anime series. Hundreds of small windows, pointed towers reaching into the blue sky, steep dark blue roofs, and sculptural motifs exquisite down to the smallest detail. Its symmetry and scale overwhelmed me. I felt pitifully small before the magnificence of power.
I held my breath. All anxiety about the Head of the Shirakawa family was temporarily pushed back by pure awe. "Too... too big," I muttered inwardly, unable to take my eyes off the castle. If this was only the front facade, just how immense must the entire Shirakawa estate be?
The carriage came to a complete stop before the steps of the main hall. Sebastian smiled, a rare smile but one that brought no reassurance.
"We have arrived, Young Master Zero. After you."
End of Chapter 6