《Combat Empire》Sweet Dreams

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The woman hadn't come for any purpose other than to introduce herself to him. As for Celine, she always followed Miss Didier.

Lucas soon forgot about the whole thing, continuing to read while Emelie decided to have a servant watch Lucas instead of her watching him. She simply couldn't waste time like this anymore, and she warned Lucas about other people before walking off to go help manage her husband's land, as well as her father's. Her father sent her reports, which was how she could help.

She would've had Lucas simply take the books he wanted, and then follow her back to their room, but he was adamant on staying and it was hard saying no, considering what the tutor had just said.

Why Lucas wanted to stay was simple. He didn't want to have to go back to the library after reading, to get more books. Also, he feared he might fall asleep and waste time if he sat down on a comfortable chair or bed while reading. Being so young gave him the energy to wreak havoc if he so desired, but in the blink of an eye, he could fall asleep, just like that.

He proceeded to read for the next couple of hours, before getting tired and taking the books he didn't finish or still found interesting, back to his room. There was a registering process though, of course. He had to leave some of his mana or the book couldn't go. He briefly studied it but it was far more complicated than a simple lightball.

Batain was right in saying conduit magic and imbuement magic weren't that similar, though was this even imbuement magic? Was he really the one performing magic by leaving his mana there?

He quickly went back and picked up a couple more books on magic before trudging back, the servant watching and helping him the entire time.

Once he got back, he didn't immediately start reading. He was already saturated with knowledge. Also he'd just get a headache if he kept reading. Instead, he began assimilating the new things he'd learned, turning them over in his mind.

Overall, he'd learned a bit more history and more of the little intricacies of magic.

'So many countries only rose because of this 'god' shit. It's stupid but kinda interesting. Some fade, some get crushed, others manage to grow.' While the general concept remained the same, it was twisted hundreds of different ways throughout history.

There was only one constant: the World's Law.

It wasn't a literal law; it had started off as the remaining power of the ancient empire that had once ruled the world: the soldiers, police, and various loyal noblemen who'd been stationed there. Using more advanced technology than the rest of society, they holed up during the natural disasters that would wreck the world.

Once those disasters ended, and the grass had begun to green again, they emerged as a sort of police of the continent. Throughout history, the shadowy organization had played a huge part in destroying blasphemous upstarts, though not once had it actually tried to take power and revive Empre. It surely had the power to do so, given the deep roots it had.

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It was while thinking about all these things billions of miles above him, that he drifted off to take a nap.

An hour and a half later, he woke up, feeling oddly refreshed in the way only a nap could give. Getting up, he stretched, before staring into space, simplemindedly enjoying life for a minute. Then he picked up one of the books he'd brought.

He didn't really have much in the way of entertainment. It was an issue that came both due to the technology, and his age. He didn't have the technology required for the fully consuming entertainment of Earth, and due to his age, he didn't get anything more than toys and books to read. It was acceptable though. His parents loved seeing him read and he enjoyed it to an extent as well, as he learned a fair bit.

What was unacceptable was wasting time doing things that didn't really give him anything long term, like he had in his first life.

Shaking his mind off those depressing thoughts, he got up, checking his parents' rooms to see if they were still around. Upon seeing they'd left, he left his room, calling a servant to take him to the dining hall. It'd been quite a while since he ate breakfast in Batain's room.

Looking out the window, he saw a pale orange yellowish light, signifying that the day was at least in its latter half. Getting to the dining hall, he briefly marveled at its size before evaluating the people sitting there. Judging from the lack of blonde hair, most of the people there didn't seem to be actual members of his family but, rather, guests.

'Heh, should I dye my hair blond to fit in?' The thought briefly crossed his mind. He had somewhat similar features to the rest of the family. However, he doubted it really mattered. Besides, where would he get hair dye or the permission to use it?

Looking around, he saw a familiar tall frame sitting down. Walking over to them, he tapped the person. "Hi, Uncle Batain."

Batain frowned, before looking down at the pipsqueak he was supposed to be teaching. Almost immediately, his eyebrows shot up. "Don't tell me you figured it out already."

Lucas simply shook his head.

"Then what the hell are you here for?"

"To eat."

Batain was about to shoo him off when he remembered that the kid knew almost no one so having him eat by himself in a room full of strangers wasn't the best idea. He inwardly sighed at his own kindness. "Where are your parents?"

"They're still working." Lucas sat down next to him. "What are you going to eat?"

"Beef stew", Batain grunted out. Lucas, then, asked his servant to order beef stew. He didn't really know what to eat, given that he didn't know what the kitchen and could make, so he'd just follow someone else's lead.

Once their food was brought to them, they both began gobbling it with equal voracity and relish. Quickly, they finished and asked for seconds. They were still eating that, when one of the most beautiful women Lucas had seen in a while, walked up to their table.

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She had long blonde hair extending down her back, stopping just shy of her butt. Her eyes were a bright playful blue, matching the cheeky smile she was giving.

"Aw, Bat, is that your kid? He's just like you, it's super cute."

Batain looked up at her warily, as if she'd come to take his stew. Still, he responded, after finishing the food in his mouth. "He's not my son, Thecla."

By now the woman had sat down, putting her elbows on the table, seemingly hung on Batain's every word. "Really? Then whose is he?" She sounded genuinely shocked.

"Sebastian's."

"Oh, I do see the resemblance a bit. He looks and acts a lot more like you, though. It's cute. What's your name?"

Lucas had trouble following her speech. It was way too fast and animated. It was like she was cheeriness personified.

"His name is Lucas." Batain answered for him. Lucas was quite surprised at how curt Batain was being. He hadn't known the man for too long but he seemed a lot more like the type of guy who, when they didn't want to talk to you, would say anything they wanted to.

"Hi, Lucas! I'm your aunt Thecla. I'm the oldest one so if you really need anything, come to me before anyone else, ok? Ah, he's so cute! I love kids." Once again, her speech was so animated that Lucas had trouble following what she was saying. Meanwhile Batain sipped on his wine, uncomfortably.

After a tiny second of awkward quiet, she got back up. "Ok, I was just checking in, to see who my little nephew was. See you later, Bat. And remember what I said, ok? Bye!" She ruffled both of their hair before leaving.

A slight shudder went through Batain's body at those last words. He'd lost his appetite. He looked down to see Lucas still eating away at his stew. There was a slight resemblance between the two of them but not a lot, compared to both of their resemblances to Sebastian.

Lucas, noticing Batain looking at him, looked up from his meal as well. "Who was she?"

"She's your aunt Thecla, like she said." Batain's explanations remained curt.

Normally, Lucas would leave it at that but considering he was a kid, he could have a little leeway in terms of how he talked to people. "Why'd you seem scared of her? And you let her call you Bat."

"Because she's strong as hell. Also she's the one who came up with the stupid nickname. If she wants to use it, she can use it." Batain's expression turned grave at Lucas' question.

Lucas, as an only child, had a tough time connecting his gorgeous aunt with someone that could whoop Batain's ass, but he didn't doubt what he was saying. He simply went back to eating his nice beef stew.

Batain would've left early but Lucas seemed to be finishing the rest of his meal quickly enough that he'd walk with the kid back to his parents' room.

While they walked back, Lucas' apparently personal servant trailing behind them, Batain looked down at the kid. Batain never really considered getting a kid, and he wouldn't start now. They were a hassle. A man couldn't even eat his beef stew without getting prodded because of his kid. And then there's the fact he'd probably have to care for the woman he had the kid with. That was probably a part of the goal of Daphne's little stunt. A truly devious girl she was, trying to force him into a relationship. It was pointless though since he would never care for that kid even if he was fooled into having one.

Thecla wanted the same from him too. She'd always been stupidly idealistic about a 'perfect family.' The more kids, the better in her eyes. As such, she'd tried to get Batain to marry, on multiple occasions. When that failed, a simple girlfriend was fine enough. Still, he remained averse to having a relationship, content to hit it once and leave.

And who could blame him? Batain was about to preface a rant about his right to smash and dash, until he realized the only person near to hear him was a child. Well, there was the servant following him but as per the name, they were servants not beer buddies. He didn't feel like having to explain to Thecla why all the servants were gossiping about Batain's night life. Hell, they already did a lot of that with Nathan.

Dropping off Lucas at his parents' place, he began walking back to his room. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't talk about the conduit magic lessons. He was glad at least that the kid had the common sense to leave the block in his room. It'd be quite easy to identify it if one focused on it.

Speaking of which, he needed to teach him how to mana cloak, at some point. Eh, that would come later. The kid needed to first learn how to light that cube up, and that'd surely take a while.

Having reached that point, Batain put his thoughts about the boy to the side, whistling a little tune, as he walked back to his room.

Lucas entered his own room which was close to his parents'. He'd been given a key, though it was mildly frustrating that his servant had to be the one to use it, as he couldn't reach.

Once in his room, he began looking for things to do. Ironically, it was because Lucas showed so little interest in things like toys as a baby that contributed to his lack of stuff to engage with.

'Shit, maybe this tutoring thing is a good thing', he thought, as he picked up his cube and began infusing his mana into it. His servant had left the room, leaving him alone as he attempted to light up the block of metal.

Still, nothing worked. By the time his parents came back to check in on their son, he was fast asleep, his dreams as varied as his day had been.

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