I'm the third son of a viscount's family, but I have a claim to the throne. - Episode 3

“What are you doing, Brother?”

I called out to my eldest brother, Akius, while glancing around at the scene before me, which looked as if a giant had been playing in the mud.

My brothers, who had been rigorously educated from a young age, had always seemed unsure how to interact with me, their carefree youngest sibling, before I became “I.” They mostly kept their distance, rarely involving themselves in my life. However, after my awakening, I realized I needed to carve out my own path and began studying diligently. Over the past few years, my relationships with my brothers had improved significantly.

Unlike my brothers, I had little chance of inheriting the viscountcy or marrying into a high-ranking noble family. Precisely because I lacked a clear future, I felt it was essential to learn as much as possible. My father’s belief that I should “enjoy a carefree childhood” with only light education now felt overly lenient to me.

I understood his perspective—it was likely a reaction to his own upbringing. As the first prince, he had been raised under strict tutelage, with little time for play. He probably thought sparing me from such a burden was an act of kindness. But in my opinion, that mindset was misguided.

How long did he plan to let me play around?
Granted, even as a viscount’s son, I’m still a member of the royal family. If I were to fail at the royal academy, it would reflect poorly on the royal house. I assumed that as the time for my enrollment approached, the royal-appointed tutor would have ensured I was properly prepared, regardless of my father’s objections.

My eldest brother, Akius, now 16, and my second brother, Carpeus, aged 14, were both attending the royal academy and living in the dorms. Because of this, I only saw them during summer vacations. I would be entering the academy next year, by which time Akius would be in his final year. Since I would likely have little contact with him after adulthood, I made an effort to learn as much as I could from him during these breaks, whether it was studies, magic, or swordsmanship.

After all, they’re my brothers. I wanted to build a good relationship with them.
In my previous life, I vaguely remember having only a sister, and we weren’t particularly close. In this life, I hoped to foster a better bond with my siblings.

Even if I left the viscountcy in the future and barely stayed in touch, it wouldn’t hurt to maintain enough of a connection for them to lend me a hand in times of need.

“I’m practicing making irrigation channels and reservoirs,” Akius explained.

“Irrigation channels?”

It made sense. The Calberg Viscountcy still had undeveloped land. Proper irrigation could undoubtedly increase agricultural productivity.

Still, it was unexpected for the heir to personally use his magic for such projects. But then again, if magic could serve as heavy machinery, it made sense to leverage the strong magic of the ruling family as a resource.

“Yes.

When I started attending the royal academy, I realized I had already learned most of the material from our tutor. I found myself bored until I met a professor from the higher academy.

He taught me about modern applications of magic for land development, and I’ve been researching it ever since.

Fortunately, I have strong water magic, and Carpeus has strong earth magic. I can locate underground water and draw it to the surface, while Carpeus can channel it to the areas we want to irrigate.

It’s a great way to utilize the powerful magic we inherited from the royal bloodline.

For now, we’re just practicing on our land. But once we graduate, we’ll be able to tackle larger projects,” Akius explained.

“And if we develop new farmland, I might even be granted a barony to manage it,” Carpeus added with a smile.

“Derekvald, when you enter the royal academy, you should research ways to contribute to land development too.”

That was a fair point. The Calberg Viscountcy still had unexplored areas. But even with the royal family’s vast magic aiding development, creating enough land for two baronies seemed far-fetched.

Clearing land is one thing, but finding enough people to farm it is another. Bringing in large numbers of outsiders could lead to conflicts with the existing residents.

Still, it was encouraging to see my brothers experimenting and striving to improve. I couldn’t afford to lag behind.

“Magic is meant to be utilized! I’ll do my best to contribute, starting with small steps!”

Magic tools and the mana stones that power them are quite expensive. My mother, having endured years of poverty, often substituted her own magic for such tools and became skilled in everyday magic.

From heating water and drying hair to cleaning clothes and carpets, she taught me various practical spells, often accompanied by amusing stories from her poorer days.

Such skills would undoubtedly be useful if I became an adventurer. Personally, I preferred honing practical everyday magic over practicing dangerous offensive spells. Not to mention, it was easy to practice nearby.

“To practice my magic, I learned this,” I said, grinning as I cast a spell to clean my brothers’ mud-covered clothes.

Their shoes could wait until we returned home.

“Well done! Thank you,” Akius said with a warm smile.

Now then, while the irrigation project intrigued me, I had planned to review physical enhancement techniques today. Time to push myself a bit more.

I tracked bear footprints silently, leaping from tree to tree. Using a combination of physical enhancement and wind magic, my movement through the forest felt almost ninja-like—a style I found thoroughly enjoyable.

I had even attempted to replicate ninjutsu techniques like shadow clones or fire release. While I couldn’t create actual clones, I managed to develop a makeshift fire distraction technique by igniting a small explosion to obscure vision and quickly moving.

Creating realistic clones with light magic was beyond me, as I wasn’t skilled enough with that element. Even my tutor had never heard of such a spell.

Still, as an 11-year-old capable of defeating a bear with physical enhancement and magic, I wasn’t doing too badly.

After my 11th birthday, I received approval from a retired adventurer-turned-soldier, who served as my mentor. On days without studies, I was allowed to roam the territory, camp overnight, and hunt dangerous beasts or monsters, selling them to the adventurers’ guild in the domain capital.

It was good practice for when I registered with the royal capital’s guild after enrolling in the academy at 12.

Today, I was tracking a bear spotted near a village, but I had wandered deeper into the forest than planned. Beyond the mountain to my left lay the Falkis Earl’s territory.

Akius had warned me to avoid drawing attention if I crossed into their lands, as my father and the earl apparently had a strained relationship.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and a loud roar echoed through the forest. A massive cloud of dust rose into the air.

“What the…?! Who’s using large-scale offensive earth magic here?”

It looked like Mountain Break, a spell used for major construction projects or warfare. The energy felt similar to something I’d seen Carpeus practice once.

“Did some dangerous monster appear?”

I activated physical enhancement and sprinted toward the source of the disturbance.

If a monster that required such magic had been unleashed, I couldn’t risk it retreating into the Calberg Viscountcy and causing harm.

As a member of the ruling family, it was my duty to protect the territory and its people. But the thought of fighting a creature I couldn’t defeat made me feel woefully unprepared.

This noble life—with royal bl00d and a claim to the throne—is proving to be far tougher than I expected!