My Fate System

As his words associated with his identity, Nikolai realized that this young man wasn't a true fan of his father. The alternative was that he respected him or tried to prove he was worthy of being the heir by defeating the strongest man in the world.

Regardless, the words the young man spoke sounded delusional in Nikolai's ears, but they worked to make the boy rise again. No words left his mouth, and the young man lowered his hand before asking.

"Again?"

"Again!"

Then, the eagle descended from the sky, and the boy began running again, with each step making him give out a pained groan. Finally, they left to leave the young man and the hiding Nikolai and Maria.

"He better awakens quickly," the young man looked at the rising sun as he said helplessly. "I can afford to keep sleeping in this place."

'That explains the rumors of him being a philanderer,' Nikolai thought to himself, and seeing the princess's happy smile, she was bound to have realized the same thing.

"This is one rumor turned to be false," the princess said without fear of being heard, which meant that the umbrella also isolated sound from leaving.

"What is his name?" Nikolai knew it was bad to feed her ego, but he was interested in this young man because he could hold his own against Master Edward.

"Lucas," she said and then added. "Lucas Griffin. He is my childhood friend," she didn't say it gloatingly, but with pride. Nikolai glanced at her and then at Lucas, and he finally understood their connection.

Lucas seemed captivated with the princess in his vision too, but Nikolai thought it was another admirer of many. Now, it might not be too bold to say that the feelings were mutual.

"I guess it is time to go back," Nikolai concluded since this little 'investigation' should be over. However, the princess looked at him with disapproval.

"You are acting rather ungrateful, even though I told you how to appease my uncle," Saint Maria said, looking upset. "You can go back if you want to, but I'll never help you again."

"...I apologize," his brow twitched, but he had to give in to her demands. After all, she was indeed useful. If he had to play with kids to get information on the monsters, he would play until his bones broke. "Is there another rumor?"

"That's a better attitude, detective Lyle," she grinned while looking at Lucas, who was crouching beside the river bank to wash his face. "During the last tournament, Lucas defeated his nephew and a few of the powerful youth in our generation. They say that he did so by cheating and drugging them."

"We need to find out if he has actual strength?" Nikolai pondered. His vision confirms that he has that kind of strength, but he wanted to know how this young man grew so powerful.

"After he returns from his morning activities, Lucas usually goes into the forest beside the city. Unfortunately, however, I couldn't send anyone after him to know what he does there."

'Please respect his privacy, at least,' Nikolai inwardly sighed. However, there was one common aspect among the children of nobility: being spoiled and selfish.

Lucas waited for the kid to return, but he did not, so he went to look through the street. When they arrived at the scene, they saw the young kid sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Besides the kid stood the eagle, a bit perplexed about what to do.

"You overdid it again, brat," Lucas crouched beside the kid and grabbed his wrist. Then, a smile of pride appeared on his face. "At least you are better than yesterday, which means you are getting stronger. Yuno, take him home."

As he commanded the eagle, Lucas picked up the kid and placed him on the eagle, which flew away while making sure to protect him.

'Why is he helping him?' Nikolai wondered to himself as Lucas watched the kid disappear into the distance before walking out of the neighborhood.

As the people emerged out of their houses, Lucas made his way through the streets, whistling. Nikolai was sure that he was aware of the rumors resulting from his actions but still did them anyway, which was interesting.

"He must be going to the forest," Maria muttered as she followed after him. Nikolai could only silently follow her without saying anything.

Lucas strolled through the city and left through the front gates under the eyes of the guards. Their pursuit continued through the forest and beside the river, leading them toward a waterfall.

Lucas jumped down from the cliff, and the wind carried him to land beside the waterfall, which threatened to deafen their ears. They looked down to find Lucas jumping over a rock beneath the waterfall.

There was a flash of green light and then a breeze that passed through their hairs toward Lucas. A burst of mana accompanied the howling sound of the wind, which rushed upward as if trying to split the sky.

The sound coming from the waterfall ceased and was instead replaced by the mighty wind. When they opened their eyes again to see, they were dumbstruck by the appearance of the water gathering in the air above Lucas.

The wind created a barrier above the young man, who sat on the rock in meditation. The water spilled to the side of the barrier before it stabilized.

"He is not done," muttered the princess as Lucas stood up and looked upward. His green eyes flashed, and his arms were thrown toward the sky as the wind burst forward to push the waterfall back.

'He is insane,' Nikolai knew that Lucas was training, but it was simply crazy to do so under such circumstances. If he lost grasp of his mana, then the water gathered above him would be enough to kill him.

The insane aspect of this matter was the wind he controlled, which made Nikolai doubt if this young man was an ancient monster.

The wind pushed against the water, despite the two having different densities and masses. Then, as a giant lake appeared in the sky, another change arrived, and the wind made one last push.

As if something was breaking through the water's surface, the lake began to swell until the water exploded in every direction. The princess tightened her hand around the umbrella, which worked to shield the water.

"And now this explains the aquatic monster said to have appeared in this land," the princess laughed as the sky kept raining, and the waterfall resumed. "He grew so strong," she said with sadness.

As Nikolai tried to find the words to describe the spectacle, the princess's bracelet began to glow. Finally, her face crumbled, and she sighed before tapping the bracelet.

"I need to go," the princess said. "It seems that there is a visitor, another one trying to woo her highness," she sighed with exasperation. "I think that Lucas must be tired. I would be worried if he was not. Can you make sure he returns safely to the city?"

"As you command, your highness," Nikolai bowed down, and the princess handed him the umbrella with a smile.

"I am grateful, Lyle," she said before the princess's body began to turn into petals which scattered in the wind, disappeared from her spot.

"A bunch of monsters," Nikolai blinked as the petals drifted into the wind and then disappeared altogether. As the waterfall resumed falling, Nikolai turned back to look for Lucas. However, he was gone.

"You know, I can feel the wind as much as I can control it," a voice said from behind him, and Nikolai turned to find the young man standing atop a tree's branch. Lucas jumped to land in front of Nikolai, and his boots got muddy. "Ah," he cried with surprise.

Nikolai kept quiet and held his breath. Lucas, on the other hand, was shaking the mud off his feet in annoyance. Then, after a sigh, he looked in Nikolai's direction.

"I can easily know you are there because you are blocking the wind."

"..." Nikolai was speechless that the princess missed having such a feature. It was simple enchantment magic to install a corresponding wind current like the one blocked. With a sigh, the umbrella disappeared into his pocket dimension. "Hello there," he greeted.

"Hi~" Lucas grinned and waved. "You are rather calm for someone who was caught," he said with an interested smile.

"You appeared after she disappeared, and it can only mean that you are aware of her identity. Otherwise, you would have attacked us since the beginning."

"Why do I feel like I am acting, as long as someone is watching?" Lucas sighed. "I did this for the past few days, but the moment she was watching, I felt like I was showing off."

"I don't care," Nikolai said. "You seem capable of going back on your own.. Therefore, I have fulfilled her request," Nikolai turned to walk away.