Held in Sylvia's arms, Raon left the annex building for the first time and went towards another large building on Zieghart land.
'That must be the main building.'
The building came into view. Its height almost seemed to reach the sky, and the width left his field of vision even from such a distance.
It would not have been at all strange for a building of that size to be called a castle, rather than a house.
'Suits the ruler of the North.'
Though Zieghart was just a noble family, they possessed more territory and military force than the kingdom. They were not a part of the Six Kings for nothing.
'So, everyone lives there?'
Helen had said that, excluding Sylvia and himself, the rest of the direct line family members resided near the main building—close to the head of house.
While there must be a reason that Sylvia lived apart from the annex building, he was not told what it was.
'They really do all sorts of things.'
A child's skull, initially bared open towards the sky, started closing when they reached four years of age. It was said that a child's aptitude for mana would not change afterwards.
The event that gathered the children with closed skulls, and checked their ability with mana, was the Judgment Ceremony being held that day.
'It doesn't matter, whatever I am.'
Even if his ability was of lowly status, the Ring of Fire would raise his body and affinity for mana to its best condition. Gifted aptitude or the like were unimportant to him.
"Raon."
Sylvia held him up slightly just as he began to slowly spin the Ring of Fire. He glanced to the side, noticing that they had already reached the entrance of the main building.
"Whatever Raon does, Mommy will not mind. You just have to grow healthily."
"Okay. I got it."
He smiled like a child who knew nothing.
"My son is really the cutest!"
She rubbed her face against his cheek again. He would be unable to move for five minutes if that kept up.
"Ahem. Milady."
"Oh, sorry!"
Sylvia came to her senses as Helen cleared her throat. It was a relief that she had come with them.
"Let us go in. We may have been a little late."
"Okay."
She entered the Lord's manor while holding onto Raon.
'The standards are high.'
Perhaps it was because it was the main building, and the Lord's manor at that. There wasn't a single normal person inside. There was a bright twinkle in the eyes of not just the soldiers, but the attendants and maids as well.
"We will arrive soon. Hang in there."
"Okay."
Together with Sylvia, Raon passed the central corridor of the first floor. An iron gate, large enough for a giant to walk through, stood at the end of it. It was the entrance to the audience chamber where the Judgment Ceremony would be held.
"Sylvia Zieghart, Raon Zieghart, Helen Carvin. Verified."
The soldier guarding the audience chamber turned on his heel and opened the door.
Cre-ak!
Following the dull sound of metal being twisted, a whole new world opened up.
A brilliant light poured down from the ceiling, and on there were ornaments—of which the worth could not possibly be fathomed—lining the gold-colored wall.
That room, which made one instinctively think of money, was the audience chamber to meet the head of House Zieghart, Glenn.
Boom!
With the sound of the door closing, the attention of the people in the room pierced Raon like an arrow.
"Sylvia? Then that child is Sylvia's?"
"What young child has the looks, to such a…"
"Blonde, with red eyes."
"He's small. I heard he had an illness, is that true?"
"Must be, since he inherited the blood of a loser."
"It should be referred to as a failure, not a loser."
People whom he had never seen before all paid close attention to Raon. Of course, it was not of the positive sort.
Because he was so young, Raon was able to feel the underlying emotions shot at him directly.
"To even let a guy like him enter."
"Is there a need to progress with the Judgment Ceremony for a failure's son?"
"Exactly. This is lowering the standards."
Though he did not know who the 'loser' or 'failure' they referenced was, they were very obviously condemning both Sylvia and him.
'Hmm…'
Raon wriggled his fists. While he was completely indifferent to being referred to as small, his chest felt tight.
"It's alright, Raon. Just look at me."
Sylvia gave him a smile, even after hearing words like 'failure' and 'outlaw' bandied about.
'She's strong, as expected.'
Sylvia was a person with a strong mind. At her gentle voice, the throbbing of his heart settled down.
'They must be from the collateral line.'
Raon's eyes, which skimmed the interior of the audience chamber once he regained his composure, stopped at the top of the platform.
Seven people were sitting on red chairs.
They surrounded themselves with an aura on a different level compared to those below and were looking down on the others.
'They are in a different league.'
If the collateral line below were foxes and wolves, then the direct line on the platform already gave off the presence of a dragon soaring through the sky.
While they did not open their mouths like the collateral relatives, they looked down at him and Sylvia as if gazing upon trash.
'Seems they are all enemies.'
He had just reached the conclusion that it was a broken family when Sylvia headed not towards the top of the platform, but the bottom. And she went straight to the end of it.
'It's strange.'
He had many questions.
There is, usually, a wall between the direct and collateral lineage that could not be overcome. If it were the direct line, it would not be as strange as the collateral line very obviously provoking a fight.
Furthermore, Sylvia lived separately, and could not head up the platform. It was obvious that she was being discriminated against for some reason, even if she was of the direct line.
'What's the reason?'
It might be from being called an outlaw and a loser, or because she lost a spar or a war.
Clang!
As he was considering the reason for the discrimination Sylvia was facing, the soldiers standing outside the door of the audience chamber brought down their spears.
"The head of House Zieghart, ruler of the North. Lord Glenn Zieghart has arrived!"
With that, the large iron doors of the audience chamber opened wide.
Glenn Zieghart revealed himself with a domineering shock that rang through the air, at which the very atmosphere seemed to tremble.
Gravity seemed to be heavier, and it became difficult to breathe from his arrival alone. A suffocating tension ran through Raon's spine.
"Lord Zieghart!"
The dragons looking down from the top of the platform, as well as the wolves who bared their teeth from below, all knelt at the same time.
Thump.
The sound of his footsteps.
With the same hard sound of his footsteps as five years ago, Glenn Zieghart entered. He spread his absolute presence, which weighed down the entirety of the audience chamber, as he sat down on the golden throne in the middle of the platform.
"Let us begin."
The moment he flicked his fingers, a sword burst from the middle of the audience chamber. It was an enormous stone sword, which seemed like it would be difficult for even giants to hold up.
'That must be the Sword of Judgment.'
The sword, an object from a thousand years ago, was said to be able to identify a person's aptitude for mana when they put their hands on it.
The Judgment Ceremony utilized the stone sword to determine the children's aptitudes.
"First, Burren Zieghart."