Chapter 44. The Succession Battle for the Dukedom (3)
My skill window clearly contained the skill [Status Abnormality Immunity].
Naturally, I was immune to curses as well.
This was the perfect opportunity to drive Black Mage Amar out immediately.
If I succeeded, Vincent would have to enter the succession battle without a helper.
That would be perfect for making the Duke of Veneto feel threatened from the very beginning.
The greater his fear became, the larger the compensation he would give me.
So when the opportunity appeared, I intended to get rid of Amar.
However, Vincent suddenly grabbed Amar’s arm.
“Teacher, stop. We have something important starting tomorrow.”
“But that man dared to insult my ability...”
“I said stop.”
“...Understood, Young Master. Forgive me.”
Huh.
That little brat was better than expected.
Had the childish behavior from earlier been an act?
Vincent sighed, then changed his expression completely.
“Viscount Marcel truly is someone who must be handled carefully, just as our spies reported.”
He was trying to annoy me by casually implying that he had planted spies around me.
Naturally, that was bullshit.
There was no reason for him to place spies inside a tiny frontier territory that had previously had nothing to do with him.
I smiled again.
“I’m honored you cared enough to send spies after me.”
“You are a person who requires special attention.”
“So the foolish little boy from earlier really was an act. You deserve an Oscar for Best Actor.”
“Oscar? Anyway, it seems pretending to be an innocent boy failed.”
“You’re calmer than your teacher. Actually, is he really your teacher?”
Amar’s face turned red again.
He was incredibly easy to provoke.
Vincent did not even look toward him as he answered.
“We already told you. I learn mathematics, astronomy, and geography from him.”
“Who killed your eldest brother? I heard he fell from a horse and broke his neck.”
“That question came out of nowhere. I don’t know.”
“So you admit he was murdered.”
“Officially, it remains an accident.”
He answered without the slightest disturbance.
And this boy was only sixteen.
He seemed far more suited to being a ruler than Viscount Chioggia.
Now I understood why the Duke of Veneto had Vincent in mind as his successor.
Still, I can’t deliberately lose. Kid, you picked the wrong opponent too. Don’t blame me.
Vincent would probably become successor in the end anyway.
But because of me, the process was going to be painful.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
“So am I.”
Vincent and I smiled at each other.
* * *
The first day of the succession battle arrived.
When we returned to the Veneto lord’s residence, the entire place felt strangely silent.
It was not that there were no people.
Everyone was simply being quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
We crossed the silent corridor and entered a large conference room.
No one else had arrived yet, so we sat at the prepared table and waited.
Viscount Chioggia, sitting beside me, was biting his fingernails from nervousness.
His personality really did not match his appearance.
“Viscount Chioggia, relax. There’s no reason to be this nervous.”
“Can you guess what kind of test Father will give us?”
“Something that favors Vincent.”
“What?”
“It’ll probably be an intellectual problem.”
“Ah...”
Viscount Chioggia looked devastated.
Everything his appearance suggested about him was useless except the fact that he looked like someone who disliked using his head.
He was much weaker inside than he looked.
“Viscount Marcel, Vincent is very good with numbers.”
“I know. So calm down. You’ll have a heart attack at this rate.”
“Haha...”
He laughed weakly and slumped in his chair.
Apparently, he truly had no confidence in intellectual matters.
A little while later, people began entering one by one.
The third and fourth sons arrived with their helpers and sat far away from us.
No one greeted each other.
After some more waiting, a servant suddenly opened the door and shouted loudly.
“The lord is entering. Please rise.”
Everyone stood.
I looked toward the door.
The elderly man who entered had the same square jaw and solid body as Viscount Chioggia.
He looked almost exactly like him.
How can they look that similar? They’re practically copies.
They were even similar in height.
The Duke also had the same habit of cracking his finger joints.
It was a moment that made me feel the power of genetics.
The Duke of Veneto cleared his throat.
“Ahem. I know all of you are tired from preparing for this succession battle. I’ll present the first problem immediately so we can finish quickly and rest.”
A problem? Is this a quiz?
“The first problem is calculation.”
Math? Damn it. I’ve forgotten a lot.
I had not been bad at math in my previous life, but far too much time had passed.
Before I could even sigh, a servant accompanying the Duke stepped forward holding a long metal pipe.
Everyone stared at it.
The atmosphere became tense.
Some people were practically holding their breath.
What’s the problem?
The confused gazes naturally returned to the Duke.
He slowly opened his mouth, enjoying everyone’s attention.
“If this pipe has a diameter of one foot and a length of ten feet, calculate the surface area...”
What? That’s easy.
I answered before he finished.
“31.4 square feet.”
“...To five decimal places...”
“31.41592.”
It was basic pi, something Korean children learned in elementary school.
The textbook usually only used 3.14, but plenty of students memorized extra digits for no reason.
I had been one of them.
I got lucky. He only wanted the answer.
If he had asked me to derive pi itself, I would probably have lost.
Even if mathematical development was slower in this world because of magic, Black Mage Amar was clearly educated in mathematics.
Anyway, the moment I answered, everyone in the room stared at me.
I ignored them and watched the Duke.
I was waiting for him to declare the winner.
“Hmm...”
The Duke only groaned.
Naturally, he had expected Vincent and Amar to answer.
They were the ones known for mathematics.
Finally, the Duke looked at me.
“Who are you?”
“Eric Marcel. I am participating as the helper of Viscount Matteo Chioggia.”
“You calculated it in that brief moment? Impressive.”
I merely shrugged.
Then the Duke said,
“In any case, that was only a practice problem.”
This damn old man!
So from the beginning, if anyone other than Vincent answered correctly, he planned to quietly move on to another question.
