I Can Tame Everything!-Chapter 40: Meeting the Duke! II
Chapter 40 - Meeting the Duke! II
The Duke's family and Rex's group sat at the dinner table, while the butler excused himself after guiding Rex to the dining hall.
Rex took in his surroundings. There was Duke Asselin, who had greeted him first. He wore khaki pants and a white shirt, seated at the center of the table. His wife, in a blue gown, sat beside him on one side, and then there was his son, seated on the other.
The son looked to be the same age as Rex. Despite all the resources the Duke had poured into him, he was only at Ascender – One Star.
"Honey, meet Rex and his companions. Don't go by his appearance—he may be around our son's age," Asselin said, glancing at his son, who was eating timidly.
"But he is far stronger and has also been gifted with an ability... like Princess Vivienne," he added, beginning the conversation.
Everyone's surprised gaze followed the Duke's hand as it gestured toward Rex, who was already checking their statuses while using [Basic Mana Sense] to scan his surroundings.
[Name: ??]
[Entity: ??]
[Rank: ??]
[Name: Lewis Walterius]
[Entity: Human]
[Rank: Ascender – 1 Star]
"He certainly is talented," said the woman sitting beside the Duke.
Just as Rex waited for his earlier question to be answered, the Duke's son asked, "Father, why have you brought them into our house?"—though he already knew the answer. His tone was respectful, but his eyes looked at Rex with envy and hatred.
Rex straightened up and looked at the Duke, clearly wanting to hear the answer as well. Whenever he asked the butler Scias, he would simply brush him off with a vague reply.
Sigh. "Alright, I guess it's time for me to answer that question," the Duke said, putting down the food he was about to eat.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat quietly, then began. "His Majesty, King Edmund, along with the other three kingdoms, have decided to attack the Verdant Abyss Forest. We need your abilities to help us secure as many purebloods and resources as possible for our kingdom."
Rex frowned at the new information. Even though the Duke downplayed the seriousness of the matter, his son spoke up in an annoyed tone while putting a spirit beast meat in his mouth.
"Father, you know it's a war between humans and beasts. If he's going, I want to participate too—" he said, looking at Rex with a small smile that clearly hoped for a refusal, trying to scare him with the word war.
His expression seemed to say: If even I'm not going, there's no way I'll allow this.
The thing was, without Rex in the picture, the Duke's son, Lewis, was sure that with some convincing, he would be the one to get the opportunity to join the war—which obviously had its own benefits.
His mindset was to sit in the backlines, using his status as the Duke's son to give orders and enjoy all the advantages.
Rex had ruined all of this. His father, Asselin, was taking Rex to the Verdant Forest while leaving him behind. Lewis planned to scare Rex and sow doubt in his mind to break whatever agreement had been formed with the Duke.
There were officially four kingdoms: Myrrhaven, Lyonesse, Vulkaris, and lastly, Umbrenfall.
The Verdant Abyss Forest could also be counted as a kingdom of its own—such was the strength and power of the beasts within it.
The Duke glared at his son, then glanced back at Rex in a dismissive way.
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"You don't have to worry. Even though we're competing for resources with the other kingdoms, there's a treaty that states all humans must work together.
With all four kingdoms combined, it will be easy to take down the beasts.
And besides, those lowly beasts were the ones who started this—we're just striking first," the Duke reassured Rex, his aura beginning to slightly pressure him as he continued.
"There's no danger. You just have to go into the forest and use your ability to capture as many purebloods as possible," he said, raising his voice slightly.
"Don't worry. House Walterius will represent you and support you fully with whatever resources you may need," he concluded.
The son opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it.
Madam Gloriana simply gave Rex a soft smile.
Whatever the Duke said might have convinced Rex—if he were truly as young as he appeared.
Is he seriously bullshitting me and asking me to go into a beast-filled forest? While sugarcoating his words?
Rex looked at the Duke, who was still pressuring him—just enough to make him feel it.
I'm going to kill this Duke the first moment I get the chance, he thought as the pressure built.
But he didn't let it show on his face. Instead, he smiled through the building pressure. Seeing this, the Duke smiled back and withdrew the pressure.
"Good, good. I'm happy you're representing us. And as I said, you don't have to worry about any resources," he said, then called out, "Josef," while wiping his hands with a silky towel after finishing his meal.
The moment he called the name, a man appeared, kneeling beside the fancy chair the Duke sat upon.
Without even looking at Josef, the Duke said, "Rex will be our honored guest. Give him everything he needs. No need to hold back."
Then he glanced at Rex. "See? You can take anything and everything you want—no restrictions." Josef nodded, bowed, and disappeared without saying a word.
"Also, rest well. We'll be leaving tomorrow to meet the King," he said, rising from his chair. "If you stay loyal to me, I'll treat you like a son," he added, looking at Rex.
Rex sat silently as Darius and Arcane looked at him with strange expressions, unsure of what to say.
"Yes, Lord Asselin," Rex replied in a calm tone, meeting the Duke's blue gaze.
The Duke had gathered some information on Rex and knew that he was an orphan, so Asselin tried getting closer to him emotionally.
The Duke smiled and added before leaving, "Since you were an orphan, you can call me Father. From today onwards, we are a family," he said in an affectionate tone, yet his gaze betrayed the warmth in his voice.
