Alfred pov
I arrived in the living room of duke breithild's mansion, and was guided to the dining room by the servants, where the duke was waiting for me.
Amadeus "I apologize on calling you on such short notice, please come and join me"
When I walked the the duke was in the middle of having lunch, he invited me to join him, as he was seated at the head of the table I seated myself to his right. The dining table was filled with a large assortment of dishes, that no matter how you look at, would be impossible for one person to eat, but nobles are prideful creatures, the food which is leftover goes to the servants which then praise him for his generosity. In this way he is able to improve his reputation among his servants, who would then speak about the duke's generosity to the local people they interact with, on the other hand if he spends conservatively than, he would get the reputation of being a cheapskate .
Alfred "there is no need for you to apologize, I was already done teaching the lad for the day, by the way where is berkhart, isn't he supposed to be guarding you"
The duke had apologized on the magic communication device due to disturbing, wendelins training, though it wasn't a problem since our training had already finished for the day,and even if it hadn't, I can't just refuse a summon from my employer.
The reason for the summon was that, apparently the family members of the deceased soldiers had been extremely quick to gather, when they heard that the belongings of the dead soldiers had been brought back. Instead of taking two to three days to gather as expected, they had gathered in the span of a single day, since all of them were residence of breitburg and its outscurt it had not taken as much time as previously thought for them to arrive.
I had been intrusted with the belongings of the dead soldiers, because keeping them in my magic bag was the most convenient place to store them, until the families of the deceased were able to gather.
Now since the family members of those soldiers have gathered, duke breithild wanted me to come and turn over the belongings of the dead soldiers, so they may be distributed among their families.
Amadeus "ah, speaking of berkhart, there he is"
Berkhart "geez can't I even take a small break, by the way how did training the kid go"
Amadeus "I'm also interested in, hearing about him as well"
Alfred "the amount of talent that lad has is frightening"
At my reply both the duke and berkhart made astonished expressions, for me who has extremely high standards to classify someone as having frightening talent, both of them wanted me to clarify what I meant, but Berkhart asked first.
Berkhart "what do mean that the boy has frightening talent? "
Then I began to tell how he was able to make a working magic bag with an inventory function on his first try, by reading a book on it for no more than a few hours. How he was able to learn teleportation magic, and in less than an hour achieve nearly the same efficiency as me, someone who has been using that magic for over eighty years of my life, apparently that is also the case for all the other spells I had him try out as well. He also possess all magic attributes and a high affinity for all of them, and moreover he can learn new spells at an incredibly quick rate.
At the end of my explanation both had shocked faces, even duke breithild who didn't know much about magic, knew that someone capable of this is completely unprecedented.
Berkhart "and to think, we would most likely missed out on such a talent, if we hadn't went to the knight baumeister territory"
Amadeus "yes, I am quite happy as well, he would make an excellent retainer in the future"
Duke breithild said with a happy smile. He must have been worried about finding a suitable replacement for me, once I pass away the one who would have taken my place as head court magician would be berkhart, but even though berkhart is good, he can't be a match for me, but now there is someone with the capability to surpass me and that person is the son of his own vassal. Duke breithilds excitement at that prospect is completely normal.
Magicians of advanced rank appear once or at most twice every ten year and currently there were only about a dozen advanced ranked magicians in the kingdom. Among these advanced rank magicians, talents like my own or climt armstrong, the current royal head magician, only appear once evry five hundred years, we have the capability to take on entire armies consisting of tens of thousands single handedly.
Now imagine the duke's delight when he learned that he could have a magician as a future retainer whose, talent surpasses my own by quite a margin.
Amadeus "In any case, the people should be arriving soon so lets finish lunch quickly and go to the front yard"
After finishing lunch, me, berkhart and the duke than went to the front yard of the mansion, it was quite beautiful, a perfectly maintained flower garden with a fountain in the middle, on the side the duke's household gaurd had assembled and had layed down white cotton sheets on the tiled floor.
Amadeus "I want you to put the belongings on the sheets"
I started taking out the belongings of the deceased, from my magic bag and arrange them onto the sheets. I guess the duke didn't want to put the belongings of the dead soldiers on the floor out of respect, so he arranged for the sheets.
Amadeus "the soldiers will handle things from here, lets go back"
The soldiers than guided the family members of the deceased to the front yard while me, berkhart and the duke went back inside the mansion. We are now seated in the duke's study, the duke wanted to speak to me about the matter concerning wendelin.
Amadeus "hmm, do you believe it would be odd if I called the two boys over for dinner? "
The duke asked, while directing the question towards me. He wants to form a connection with the lad while he's still young, not a bad plan from the duke's side.
Alfred "no I don't think it would be odd, they are the sons of your vassals after all, but why both of them"
Amadeus "you said that the older one, wanted to become a civil official in the capital by applying for the exams right, I want to offer him a position in the domestic affairs office of the dukedom, if he's interested"
Alfred "but you don't even know the boys capabilities yet"
Amadeus " but I do know that his younger brother is a talented magician so if the older one becomes my retainer, than the chances of the younger brother accepting my offer to become my retainer would increase, also even if the elder brother refuses, I would atleast be able to make a good impression"
'I see, he is as shrewd as ever', already making plans, shouldn't have expected any less from a great noble. Seeing that I undertood him from my facial expression, the duke continued speaking.
Amadeus "In that case alfred, bring them over tonight at 8pm, I look forward to meeting them"
Berkhart "well, master anticipated something like this, so he had both the lads stay in his house"
Amadeus "that's even better, take good care of them and buy them anything they need, I'll take care of the bill"
After that I'm dismissed by the duke and return to my mansion via teleportation.
Wendelin pov
Finishing the lunch that master had taken out from his magic bag before leaving, erich goes to his room to rest, while I go to the sofa and take out the book on mana control and exercises from the magic bag.
I activate my 'god speed' skill, but something was different than before, I could feel that the skill was using my magic power, although a very small amount. I didn't feel this before, but now gaining a greater control over my mana due to the 'mana control' skill, I can sense a small part of my mana being used.
I start reading the book on mana control with my 'god speed' active, when I'm almost finished, I sense teleportation magic being activated, sensing this I immediately deactivate the skill and look towards the place of the teleportation magic signature to see my master standing there.
Wendelin " master, your back"
Alfred " yes, why don't you fetch your older brother then we can start our tour of the city"
I go upstairs to fetch erich, who was resting in his room, and then start our tour of the city with master.
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We are sitting in a cafe in the middle of breitburg, just having finished our tour of the city. We explored the shopping district where master had bought us new sets of clothes, although we told him that there was no need, but upon masters insistence, we ended buying 4 sets of new clothes for both of us. Two for casual wear and two for outdoor events.
He also bought all sorts of other things like accessories and books for us as well, both erich and me insisted that it was too much but he only replied with 'don't worry about the money'.
We who had spent our lives in a poor knight territory up till now were quite astonished at all the spending that master was doing. In the baumeister territory people survived on the bare minimum, and the merchant caravan came three times every year, and since the two of us never really bought anything from them before, this was the first time we got to experience something like shopping.
We also visited the famous places like the library, magic airship docks, the martial arts school's district where there were dojo focusing on spearmanship, swordsmenship, archery and the magic combat art were located, this was the place where the soldiers of the feudal army were trained. We also toured the aristocratic sector which was filled with beautiful mansions, belonging to the retainers of duke breithild and rich merchants of the city, masters mansion was also belonged to this part of the city and was among the most extravagant ones, since he was one of duke breithilds high ranking retainer.
Alfred "wendelin, erich, duke breithild wishes to invite the two of you to dinner at his mansion tonight, so what do you say? "
Erich "of course we will attend, but why would duke breithild be interested in meeting us"
The duke probably wishes to offer me a place as his retainer, though for now he probably wants us to be acquainted, thats why he is inviting us to dinner, he is probably the one who instructed master to buy us all those things as well, most likely to win us over. As I was thinking this with my gaze projected downwards, master who was paying attention to me seems to understood that I was thinking something.
Alfred "well, you will find out from him, wendelin you seem to be thinking something, what is it"
Wendelin "does the duke wish to appoint me as his retainer in the future? "
As I said this to face of my master gained a surprised expression, then it turned into a smile full of pride, while erich also understood the duke's reason for inviting us"
Alfred "I shouldn't have expected any less of my student, the duke is interested in hiring you as a retainer, since a talent like yours us incredibly rare, he does not want to give up this opportunity"
Wendelin "I see, the duke is definitely a shrewd man"
Hearing such words about his employer from the mouth of his five year old student, master could do nothing but make a wry smile.
Alfred "also you will be considered for the place of head court magician of the duke breithild household after I retire, for years I have served as a deterrent force for any would be disputes, but after I'm gone someone is going of have to take my place, the duke expects that someone to be you"
Wendelin "but don't you still have a lot of time left, plus isn't there berkhart? "
Alfred "berkhart is strong but his magic capacity doesn't even come close to mine or yours so he is limited due to it, as for my age I'm 104 years old, so I don't have much time left"
Wendelin "what!"
Erich "what!"
Both me and erich lose our cool for a moment before calming down and looking at him with shocked expressions.
Alfred "now, it isn't that surprising, those who possess magic have a younger appearance than their actual age, that's why I look like a 60 year old even though my actual age is 104"
Hearing his explanation our faces turn back to normal, master then directs a question towards me.
Alfred "I've been meaning to ask you, about your age and birthday wendelin"
Wendelin "well I'm five years old, and was born on the third day of the second month"
A look of surprise flashed through alfreds face as he heard about my age, before gaining an understanding look. In this world each year had 12 months with each having 31 days for a total of 372 days in an year. The months didn't have a perticular name
Alfred "I originally thought you would be around 7, it seems that your magic is assisting in your body's development, that is why you look older than your actual age"
I'm pretty sure its due to my 'super soldier 'skill, but I can't really tell him that, so its better for master to just believe that he is correct.
Wendelin "master I wanted to ask you something"
Alfred "yes what is it?"
Wendelin "when you recovered the belongings of the dead soldiers from the demon forest, weren't there belongings of the dead soldiers of our territory as well"
Alfred "no, in fact most of the dead bodies were recovered by the soldiers when they were retreating and only a few hundred were left behind, which I had been tasked by the duke to recover. Fortunately none of the bodies of the people of the baumeister territory were left behind"
Wendelin "ah I see, that was quite fortunate"
Alfred "yes it was, but I wasn't able to save the former duke breithilds life back then, we were lucky that two thirds of the army was able to retreat in an orderly manner, to safety"
Seeing the gloomy atmosphere that descended onto the table, master tries to change the subject.
Alfred "well, its getting late we should go back, and prepare for the dinner at the duke's mansion"
Both me and erich agreed by nodding our heads and returned back to the mansion with master.
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Amadeus "I hope you enjoy the food to your hearths content, there is no need to hold back"
Me and erich are currently sitting on the dining table in the dining room of duke breithilds mansion, apart from us master, berkhart and duke breithild were also present. It was the first time for me and erich to be in such a formal event. Master had told us to dress-up in the formal wear he had bought us today, on our tour of the city. All sorts of amazing dishes have been prepared and arranged on the dining table.
Amadeus "so erich, I heard from alfred here that your preparing to take the civil official exams in the capital that would be held in two months"
Erich "yes, he has been extremely kind and allowed me to stay at his own home, until the exams. He even agreed to teleport me to the capital, I really don't know how to thank him"
Alfred "I already told you that there is no need to thank me kid"
Amadeus "well erich, I want to offer you a place in the domestic affairs department, what do you say?"
Hearing this, a look of surpise then contemplation flashed through erichs face, before finally answering.
Erich "I am very grateful for the offer, but I can't accept, if I accept then it would become a case of my family suspecting that you are favoring me as the next head of the baumeister household"
Amadeus "I had a hunch you might say that, so I had a few things prepared"
As duke breithild says that a butler walks in and hands over a letter and a piece oof paper to erich.
Erich "this is?"
Amadeus "a letter of recommendation from me and permission slip which would allow you to enter the cities library without having to pay the entrance fee"
Erich "thank you"
Erich said sincerely while bowing his head, duke breithild than starts to look at me.
Amadeus "well I have a gift for you as well, since I didn't want to make you feel left out"
He says while having a bright smile on his face, then a butler walks out carrying a staff made of mythril, silver in colour with ornate designs carved into it, about two feet in length, with a large red magic gem at the top, about the size of a persons fist. Both berkhart and alfred were surprised after looking at it.
Amadeus "this magic staff is currently owned by the duke breithild household, it was excavated in the underground ruins of the ancient magic civilization, it is now yours"
I took the staff from the butler and took it into my hands, holding the staff it felt as if the circulation of my mana in the mana pathways had been pushed to its limit.
Berkhart "that staff wouldn't be suitable for other magicians, but it should suit you perfectly"
Alfred "you see that staff uses your mana to accelerate the mana flow in your body to the limit, meaning just by holding that you are getting an effect more than ten times greater than regular mana control exercises, this should help you increase your mana capacity at incredible pace as well as increase the size of your mana pathways, you can also use it to cast spells faster but that comes at the cost of decreased mana efficiency for the spell, so its best to use it as a training tool, but you have to be careful while using it, since it drains mana very quickly "
Amadeus" well do you like my gift wendelin "
Wendelin " yes thank you very much, it will help me out a lot"
I replied while having a happy smile directed towards duke breithild. This is an unexpected gain, this staff will help me out a lot in expanding my magic capacity. Then my eyes went back to the staff with a sparkle in them, everyone just chuckle when they see me looking at the staff like that.
Amadeus "so wendelin, what do you say about being adopted by me, into the duke breithild household"
Everyone became shocked when they comprehended duke breithilds words. I was extremely shocked as well but I didn't let it show on my face. I then started to think about the positive and negative points, the only negative point would be things differing even more from canon, but so much has already changed, as for the positives there are many, even if I turn him down he might become offended, but if I accept then things will become a lot easier for me. After deliberating on this I gave him my answer.
Wendelin "I accept, thank you for adopting me into your esteemed household"
Hearing my reply margrave breithild showed a delighted expression.
Wendelin "also if its not a issue, may I keep living with master and big brother erich until, he permanently leaves for the capital"
Amadeus "of course, I also believe it will be better for you to live with alfred until your basic magic training has finished, also I will have the official documents regarding your adoption written up, all you would need to do is give your signature the rest will be handled by me"
After that the dinner continued without incident, after which me, master, and erich returned to masters mansion.
Burkhart pov
As I see the leaving figures of the lads and master, I turn my attention to the duke who was still seated at the head of the table.
Burkhart "you didn't say that you were gonna adopt the lad, plus isn't that wand only allowed to be given to the court magicians of your household"
Amadeus " he is a talented magician, I simply want to make my claim on him before the people in the capital get a whiff of him, this way the child is now a part of my household. Regarding the wand I was the one who made that rule and I can remove it"
Hearing the dukes reply, I remain silent and pity the young lad. The lads gonna have a lot of trouble in the future, hope he is able to handle it well.