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Chapter 10: Coach, I Want To Play Basketball

What kind of person was Roel Ascart?

If someone were to ask the farmers of the Ascart Fiefdom this question a month ago, they would have surely laughed their heads off.

Everyone knew that nobles of Roel Ascart’s standing usually stayed in the most stately of mansions within the city. Even those living in the city would struggle to catch a glimpse of him, let alone farmers living in the city outskirts like them.

But a miracle occurred half a month ago. The young master of the marquess house actually lowered his pride to step onto the fields on the outskirts of town in order to visit the farmers, thus granting Old Kent and the others the rare opportunity to see him in person.

And everyone’s first response upon seeing Roel Ascart was all the same?, and that was to take a second look. He was simply too good-looking, that’s why.

Roel’s face was a lethal weapon in reaping Affection Points. Some said that he was cute, some said he was handsome; if the public had a list of desired features, Roel’s face would certainly check them all. It wasn’t long before rumors comparing Roel’s looks to the beautiful elves of stories began spreading far and wide, making him the perfect lover budding young women who had just opened their eyes to the opposite gender dreamed of.

The next thing that people noticed about Roel after his physical appearance was his attitude. From Old Kent’s point of view, Roel Ascart was an earnest person who treated his subordinates with respect.

It was nearing autumn now, so the weather had cooled down significantly. Nevertheless, the noon sun was still an adversary that ought to be feared. There was plenty of restless fidgeting amongst those queuing up, and even Old Kent himself couldn’t help but feel irritated under such weather.

Despite so, Roel Ascart was still able to maintain his poise. He didn’t lash out at his subordinates; on the contrary, his attitude was even better than the usual tax officials that came down.

Of course, as a noble, it went without saying that there was no way Roel Ascart would be exposed to the sun like the rest of them?—there was a servant holding an umbrella up to shelter him from the glaring sunlight?—but to be honest, it didn’t make too much of a difference. On top of that, he had to maintain his spells in order to keep the millstone turning.

From such a perspective, it would stand to reason that Roel Ascart would have been far more exhausted than the farmers, who were only standing in the queue.

Thinking up to this point, the old farmers couldn’t help but think in their minds: Young master Roel sure is a wonderful person!

While Kent and the others were looking at Roel with looks of admiration, the latter was also looking at them?—with the green light popping up above their heads, of course?—feeling deeply moved too.

What a wonderful harvest I’m having here!

A smile carrying earnest delight blossomed on Roel’s face.

Over the past month after recovering his past memories, Roel had managed to get used to his life here, and a series of elaborately designed self-salvation plans had also been put into motion.

As someone who was in no way lacking in self-awareness, Roel knew deep down that he hadn’t managed to triumph over his death flag yet. As a key boss in the common route of the game, Roel’s conflict with the main character and his harem party ran far deeper than a single Alicia. While it was good news that he had managed to reconcile with Alicia, thus averting the future fate of being slain by the future Silverash Child, there was still a plethora of possible ways he could meet his end.

Despite only being a 9-year-old, Roel knew that he had to start working hard from now on if he wanted to ensure his survival, and the first step was to figure out how he could put the item he had obtained from the Affection Points Exchange Shop to good use.

Half a month ago, Roel approached Marquess Carter for a talk, expressing his repentance over the tyrannical attitude he had put on thus far. He claimed that having Alicia as his stepsister had made him realize how lacking he was as a brother, so he decided to turn over a new leaf and become someone who could shoulder responsibility.

After apologizing sincerely with a lowered head, he raised his head back up to seek Marquess Carter’s opinions about what he should do next, only to recoil at the sight of the crying middle-aged man before him.

There were few who could dispute that Marquess Carter was a highly successful individual, who was both a distinguished magician and one of the few high nobles in the Theocracy. Yet, there had been two thorns in Marquess Carter’s heart all this while?—the premature death of his beloved wife, and his son’s incompetence.

A common hardship faced by single-parent families was the difficulty in expressing care and concern for the child during his growth, and that often led to many complications afterward. The situation was especially exacerbated in the Ascart House as Marquess Carter, as an important figure in the Theocracy, had a lot of work to deal with, leaving him with little time to accompany Roel. At the same time, he felt apologetic for Roel for having to grow up without his mother, so he tried to make up for it by doting on Roel. Ironically, his kind intention only further fueled Roel’s tyranny.

Roel became a selfish and domineering individual, never hesitating to scold and beat up the servants. Anyone with eyes could tell that he would eventually grow up to become a cruel fief lord.

Marquess Carter wasn’t blind to how Roel was becoming, and he was anxious about it too. But at the same time, he simply couldn’t bear to harden his heart against the child he had with his deceased wife. In the end, he decided to adopt a similar-aged child in hopes of dispelling his son’s loneliness and nudging him toward a more positive direction.

Despite so, Marquess Carter didn’t expect it to be so effective as to induce immediate changes in Roel!

It went without saying that Marquess Carter was extremely excited to see such a development, but he knew that he mustn’t get ahead of himself just yet. He would have to make sure to properly steer Roel in the right direction from now on so that he wouldn’t go astray again.

So, after a long moment of hesitation, he decided to reveal a fact to Roel first, and that was that... Roel didn’t possess any talent as a magician at all!

Marquess Carter also felt deeply helpless about this as well. Roel was already 9-year-old, but his study in spells was not going well at all. One must know that Marquess Carter was already a proper transcendent back when he was at this age! Compared to him, Roel was truly feeble.

The inability to become a transcendent meant that it was unlikely for Roel to become a central figure of the Theocracy like Marquess Carter, but fortunately, that was not vital for a noble.

Roel might not have been able to bring the Ascart House to greater heights, but he should at least be able to safeguard the family business for the next generation.

As a father, Marquess Carter didn’t have great ambitions for Roel. All he wished was for Roel to grow up happily and live a peaceful life. That was probably the same wish that most parents in the world had for their children.

Little did Marquess Carter know that the many women whom Roel would eventually cross paths with had already ensured that peace would never become a part of his life.

“Father, are you saying that rather than studying magic spells, it would be better for me to focus on learning how to manage the fiefdom well instead?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s likely that the Ascart House might decline in your generation, but as long as you grit your teeth and push on, you’ll eventually be able to make a turnaround.”

The Ascart House was a lineage of distinguished magicians, such that there would be a highly talented magician offspring at least once every two generations. Marquess Carter only had one son, Roel, which meant that the next generation was already doomed. But even if he couldn’t rely on his son, surely he could count on his grandson, right?

“Find a few more wives and make sure to have a lot of children. That’ll increase the probability of you having an offspring strong enough to prop up our Ascart House.”

The frank advice from Marquess Carter left Roel a little speechless. He could only be impressed by just how open-minded Marquess Carter was.

But as ridiculous as those words sounded, Roel knew that Marquess Carter meant what he said. The continuance of a noble house’s lineage was not to be made light of.

So, Roel could only silently nod his head while feeling a little conflicted with the idea of becoming a wastrel who lived off his children.

After going one huge round with his father, Roel felt that he had done enough padding, so he finally revealed his intention.

“Father, I’m interested in the agriculture industry and the taxation of our fiefdom. May I request to temporarily take on the position of a taxation official so that I can see how the system works?”

“That’s a wonderful idea! Feel free to go ahead with it. As long as you wish to learn, I’ll support you unconditionally!”

Marquess Roel, who had finally seen some hope in Roel, was afraid that Roel was just speaking on a whim and would soon change his mind, so he immediately got his subordinates to prepare the documents and stamped his approval on them within moments.

Having achieved his goal, Roel thanked his father before looking at the documents in his hands with tears glistening in his eyes.

My skeleton coolies can finally get to work now!