He suddenly jumped to the present while studying the history of the empire and the ducal family.

“I’m talking about the current imperial navy admiral, the Grand Duke of Dennox, and the heir, Colonel Reynard Dennox.”

Valentin’s mouth gaped open. Not only was it surprising that the Inherent Ability wasn’t just an exaggerated element to inflate the greatness of classical legends or founding myths, but it has been maintained until now?

“I thought it was an ability that had already disappeared and didn’t exist now?”

“It seems to have remained weakly. It sometimes appears in newspapers. People who can bend a fork or use a very small psychokinesis to move objects. Now it has been transformed into almost trivial tricks.”

Valentin fell into thought at Dalton’s words as he absentmindedly tore bread.

Whenever he saw a mention of people with Inherent Abilities in history books, he had passed it over without much thought, thinking it was just an old story mixed with exaggeration and fiction like the story of Bak Hyeokgeose hatched from an egg, Hwanung who descended from heaven, and Ungnyeo the bear who became a woman. Indeed, to think of it as a legend in history, it was recent enough to be quite credible as it was a few hundred years ago, not a few thousand years ago.

Moreover, it still remains even if weakly like a residual trick?

Dalton shrugged his shoulders, took a sip of the coffee that had completely cooled while talking, and frowned.

For the flow of the story becoming more interesting, Valentin rang the bell to call Dawson, and seeing him enter silently like a capable butler and start reheating the pot, he opened his mouth again.

“So the Inherent Ability of the Dennox family is still being maintained even now?”

“Yes.”

Dalton nodded while being served new coffee. It was a tone implying that his family was such a tremendous and dangerously skilled family.

“Among the people we know even indirectly, they might be the last remaining Inheritors.”

Reynard Dennox, an Inheritor.

He said it so calmly as if it was a very obvious fact that it felt like everyone except Valentin knew about it. Valentin made a sad face again, feeling like he became stupid in an instant.

“Why didn’t I know that at all?”

At the expression of blaming his stupid self, Dalton laughed and put sugar in Valentin’s teacup.

“Because no one says it outright. But if you had paid a little attention and looked at newspaper articles in detail, you could have reached that conclusion by connecting it to history to some extent.”

Kind Dalton added that it might be something someone like you who avoids the war aspect like the plague might not know, as that ability was related to military power.

“Even when I learned about the ducal family in history, I thought the Inherent Ability part was a peculiarity of a bloodline that had almost disappeared…”

“People living in modern times can only think that way. It’s still a mystery why that power hasn’t disappeared and continues to flow in the ducal family. Because they don’t reveal it themselves.”

“Weren’t people curious?”

If I were a historian or reporter, I would have been dying to know the reason out of curiosity?

Was it because the family’s prestige was so tremendous that they couldn’t dare to dig into it? Valentin had that question while sipping the tea blended with a sweet and sour apple scent.

“The Inherent Ability of the Dennox ducal family is top secret. The reason is unknown, but I think it’s because that power is related to national strength. In fact, it’s still treated as a military secret even now.”

“Military secret…”

“And who would dare to casually ask out of curiosity?”

“Indeed, seeing the prestige of that family…”

“Even in the past long ago, they wouldn’t have been able to ask even if they wanted to. Maybe the imperial family knows properly.”

Dalton put down his coffee cup with a click and wiped his hands on a napkin. Leaning back leisurely in his chair with his chin resting on his hand, he looked at his nephew Valentin, who was like a youngest sibling, with a meaningful expression.

“Colonel Reynard Dennox… Do you know why he holds such a high rank at a young age?”

It felt like they had reached the end of the warning about his identity.

“No…?”

Come to think of it, I’m curious. Valentin’s head tilted.

“No matter how much he’s the heir of the Grand Duke who is the navy admiral, it’s too fast a promotion within the special hierarchical society of the military. In this day and age when even imperial family members don’t immediately get field grade officer ranks.” (Field grade officers refer collectively to majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels in the military.)

Although Dalton had the answer, he threw the story like a question for the sake of Valentin’s deep thinking ability. And after a brief pause, he clasped his hands, brought them to the tip of his chin, and solemnly opened his mouth.

“According to what is quietly heard, he is the one who inherited that Inherent Ability most intensely. To the point of being comparable to the first Grand Duke.”

This time, Valentin’s eyes widened to the point of popping out.

“What…?”

“Reynard Dennox. He is the one who has the same tremendous Inherent Ability as the first Grand Duke.”

Dalton said again, looking at his nephew whose mouth was gaping open.

Are you saying he has an ability comparable to the legendary power…? Is he a unicorn? Or a pegasus…?

“Using that ability, he achieved great victories in several naval battles to become a war hero, and received incredibly fast special promotions according to wartime military law.”

The person you thoughtlessly and excitedly danced with is such a tremendous person. As Dalton spoke with his eyes, the face of the one sitting across from him turned pale.

I not only pinched that tremendous person until yesterday morning, but also scratched his entire back… He recalled pulling his black hair in excitement last night to the point of tugging at his scalp. I completely lost my fear… Valentin stiffened, his face turning blue as if all the blood had drained from his body.

Whether Dalton confirmed his nephew’s face or not, he quickly spat out the next words as if a floodgate had opened.

“So even putting aside the greatness or sense of distance of that family shrouded in secrecy, that individual is too dangerous and unpredictable.”

“Is… is that true?”

“Yes. Haven’t you seen it in newspapers? How strict and merciless he is to others?”

I haven’t seen it because I had no interest, but I heard about it roughly. Because even in Sorencia, a foreign city, the battles and large-scale anecdotes that took place on the continent’s seas were talked about by people to some extent.

“I’m telling you this because I know well that you always want to live quietly and freely, Valentin.”

Dalton added that it was because of such concern, not for any other reason, as he knew my life goal well.

As if it was time to start work after finishing the meal-disguised lecture, Dalton glanced at his pocket watch and quickly and briefly conveyed the anecdotes he knew about Colonel Reynard Dennox to Valentin.

The incident where he summarily executed subordinates who violated military law on the spot without referring them to a court-martial.

The incident where he ignored the law and completely annihilated even the surrendered prisoners of war.

The sea of the battle he won was said to be completely red…

The small table’s white tablecloth shook lightly like there was an earthquake as Valentin trembled while listening to those stories.

What on earth did I do with such a scary person…?

Reynard Dennox

The capital city of Eldon in the Heston Empire. Near the imperial palace located in the center of the most bustling city on the continent, a few rigid and oppressive buildings were connected in a precise square. They were buildings where anyone could see that the architect had meticulously calculated to match the perfection of that proportion.

This place where even the buildings were sharp and angled was none other than the Army Headquarters and the Navy Capital Command. It was the center of the empire’s military power.

The sturdy and heavy Navy Capital Command building that looked like it would prioritize military efficiency to anyone. Clean black military boots were walking at a moderately fast pace in the spotless corridor of that building.

The shine of the military boots on which a fly would slip if it landed, the naval service uniform perfectly ironed without a single thread loose, the brown hair fixed perfectly as if not allowing a single strand to come down, and the flawless glasses represented his meticulous and strict personality.

His name was Major Shane Wilgrave.

The aide to Colonel Reynard Dennox.

Knock knock.

“Colonel.”

“Come in.”

At the voice of his superior coming from inside the room, Shane immediately opened the door and entered. It was a disciplined and concise movement that wouldn’t seem to waste energy anywhere else even for a moment.

Reynard, who was reading the post-battle report on the naval battle in the Newboman region while sitting at a spacious commander’s desk made of oakwood, glanced at Shane, his aide, entering and held out his empty left hand, saying,

“The report?”

As if he knew he would say that, Shane placed the file he had been holding in advance on Reynard’s hand without a second’s hesitation. The action that flowed like water without any other words or time-wasting movements was a naturalness only possible between those who had known each other for a very long time.

The name of the report was as blatant as it could be.

Valentin Wiche

At the top of the report, the name of a specific individual completely unrelated to the military was written like a title.

Reynard’s personality was revealed in the name written on the white paper. The shamelessness to order a subordinate to investigate a very harmless civilian (he really was a person who didn’t know shame) and the confidence that he could do such a thing without the slightest hesitation were oozing out.

Reynard opened the thick-covered file and looked bewildered at the mere three sheets of paper inside. And lifting it up to face level with his index finger and thumb, he waved it back and forth and opened his mouth to Shane.

“This is all?”

That shamelessness asking if your ability is only this much.

‘Sigh…’

Although no sound came out, the expression of twisting his lips in frustration gave the illusion of sighing disrespectfully towards his superior.

And it was only natural that the superior who had been together for a long time read the sigh from that expression.

“You only gave me a day, what more did you expect?”

It implied, ‘My ability is more than enough, but because of the absolute lack of time, the result is only three pages, and that’s because of you.’

Reynard only twisted his lips at his impudent aide without any particular scolding and irritably read through the report on Valentin Wiche.

Major Shane Wilgrave was the only subordinate for whom a bit of impudence was an exception when they were alone to Reynard, who was thoroughly based on hierarchy, military law, and orders.