5 – Soaring Popularity

“Shall I place the desk here, young master?”

“Yes, please do.”

After the first successor trial concluded, Porto gifted me the room Felix had been using.

-You have earned it.

Not that the small room I was originally using was bad.

-Let’s get the luggage moved!

Dalpi was actively pushing for the move, and we were currently in the midst of it.

The reason, as I understood it, was that the shared dormitory the servants used was uncomfortable, so she wanted to use my small room.

Well, Dalpi had always worked diligently?

And there was nothing illegal about giving a maid the room I used to have?

Besides, Dalpi wasn’t particularly friendly with the other servants?

So I just gave it to her.

Dalpi’s expression was brighter than usual.

“Heave-ho….”

“Lifting it like that will hurt your back. Use leverage.”

“Unaccustomed to physical labor, being a pampered young master.”

“You should train now, so you can satisfy the young lady who will one day be your wife.”

Dalpi slammed down both a wardrobe and a bed three times her size – *thump!* – simultaneously.

She wore a serene expression, unlike me, who was dripping with sweat.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“Nothing is heavy for me. If I set my mind to it, I could lift the entire mansion.”

It was always amazing to watch.

How could such strength possibly emanate from that slender, small frame?

She possessed an astonishing might, as if she could casually heft 3 reps of 50 tons.

Frankly, I believed her strength even surpassed that of Sir Ian, the knight who instructed Haniel and me in swordsmanship.

“Now that I’ve exerted myself, I feel a craving for meat.”

“Eh?”

“Shall we venture out into the forest for a hunt today, perhaps?”

“Dalpi…”

Dalpi was audacious to an incredible degree.

She was a powerhouse, capable of felling even monsters larger than bears with her bare fists.

Though, admittedly, she wasn’t the brightest bulb.

‘Blind in her ignorance, yet blindingly strong.’

That was my assessment of Dalpi.

Perhaps no one else in this manor could best her in a one-on-one confrontation.

For that very reason, I refused the servants that Porto intended to provide alongside Felix’s room.

I had no desire to be surrounded by more people than necessary, and Dalpi alone was sufficient for both guarding and serving.

It was my principle to only keep trustworthy individuals close.

‘Truly, a gorilla…’

I stood mesmerized, watching Dalpi carry an absurd amount of luggage with almost acrobatic skill.

“♪~”

In any case, thanks to Dalpi’s efforts, the move was completed within thirty minutes.

“All done. Well done, everyone!”

I hadn’t used those muscles in ages; I feel exhausted.

“I’ll go and move my belongings into my room now.”

“Shall I assist?”

“It’s quite alright. Please, rest in your room. I’ll be back shortly.”

And so, I was left alone in my new room.

‘Felix, you lived in such a lovely room, and still you had complaints about me?’

The room I had previously occupied was essentially a storage space.

Porto had taken it upon himself to have the items cleared out and convert it into a room for me in spite of my ineptitude. But it was dimly lit, with poor sunlight, and little different from the servants’ quarters.

“Now this finally resembles a young master’s room.”

It had expanded, grown nearly threefold.

Back in my previous life, I’d visited the apartment of some rich guy, living alone in a place that was 50 *pyeong*. The living room there was about this size, precisely.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the walls were adorned with expensive ornaments and skillfully painted masterpieces of unknown origin!

There was no real *need* to move the furniture, but things like the bed, wardrobe, and desk… I preferred the familiar.

So I put in a bit of effort.

‘And leaving it as is… well, it feels a little…’

Imagining Felix toiling away in the war, honestly, it bothered me a bit!

So I stowed away anything that reminded me of Felix. Heh heh.

I laid down on the bed.

And spoke a familiar name.

“Nob AI.”

『Did you call?』

“Can you tell me more about yourself?”

Nob AI was an artificial intelligence program I frequently used in my previous life.

It appeared before me after I became aware of my past life, and it was a tremendous help during the Successor Trials.

‘No matter how I think about it, these aren’t ordinary abilities.’

If I was to navigate this harsh world going forward, I desperately needed the AI’s assistance.

In my previous life, it was only good for simple Q&A or generating images, but now, it seemed capable of much more.

If only to avoid becoming a soldier like Felix!!

『My name is Nob AI. I am an artificial intelligence program created by NobMaker. I provide various benefits to the user, free of charge.』

“What exactly are these ‘various benefits’?”

『The benefits I am currently providing to you are as follows:』

『1. Information Provision: Based on the data I have learned, I can provide you with any information you desire.』

『2. Automatic Protection Program: In times of crisis, I can temporarily control your body to ensure your safety and well-being, allowing you to overcome the situation. Currently, “crisis” is defined as any situation where your “physical body” is at risk of injury, but you can customize this definition.』

『3. Specialist: I can handle complex and specialized tasks that require extensive knowledge and skills. The fields include magic, art, development, architecture, medicine, and many more. However, similar to the Automatic Protection Program, I cannot perform actions that exceed “your limitations.”』

『4. Learning: Nob AI learns based on what you see, hear, and feel. This is the foundation of all the benefits I currently provide.』

『5. Growth: Under certain conditions, Nob AI will grow!』

Each and every one, incredible abilities.

How did this guy, who was just an ordinary AI in my previous life, grow so powerful?

If I had possessed these abilities back then, maybe I could have survived the nuclear blast launched by that old pig in the North?

“Why in the world was *I* reborn, and why did *you* appear before me, of all people?”

It was the question I was most curious about.

『That, I also do not know. My learned data cannot infer such information.』

Even the AI didn’t know.

Well, frankly.

I didn’t have any lingering attachment to my past life.

It had only been a fortnight since I became aware of my past life, but this didn’t feel like a sudden possession.

More like reincarnation. The past fifteen years, during which I didn’t have these memories, were also completely mine.

Being nagged by my siblings, Ester Tristy, was me, and Ester Tristy, who is now fiddling with Nob AI, was also me.

Time dulls emotions and slowly erases memories.

Now, I can’t even remember the names of my former work colleagues, let alone the people I was close to in my past life.

Life in this mansion was now more familiar than life in my studio apartment.

If Dalpi wasn’t by my side, even if I returned to my original world, I’d probably feel even emptier than I do now.

I wanted to enjoy my current life.

『Do you have any other questions?』

“No! That’s enough for now…”

“Young master, why are you talking to yourself?”

“!!!”

Jeez, you startled me. I almost had a heart attack.

Dalpi brushed his hands off as he entered the room.

He had a sack slung over his shoulder, which I looked at quizzically.

“You’ve already moved everything?”

“There wasn’t that much. I finished in a flash.”

Typical Dalpi.

Seeing him handle everything so efficiently, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could survive on a deserted island on his own.

“Oh, and young master.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s some mail that came for you.”

Dalpi dumped the contents of the sack onto the floor with a crash.

“Wh-What? Why are there so many?!”

“Though the senders number easily in the hundreds, I haven’t memorized them all, but roughly, they all express a desire to meet you, young master.”

I picked up the letters that lay within reach amongst the countless others.

『Greetings, Esteemed Master Tristy, I am Erenus, a legacy-class mage nestled within the Huanseong School. I heard the news of your solving the Millennium Problem. I wish to gaze upon the rising star that is Tristy…』

『Good day, Master Esther Tristy. I am the operator of the Golden Voyage Trading Company…』

Is this what the life of a celebrity is like?

The problem I thought was a simple succession test was, in truth, the Millennium Problem that no one had solved for centuries.

“Didn’t it appear in large print in monthly magazines? It’s only natural this would happen.”

Honestly, even just yesterday, I hadn’t quite grasped it.

I noticed the gazes of my siblings, my father, and the servants had changed, but that was about it.

Seeing this many letters, it finally hit me.

I had become famous.

Unintentionally, mind you.

“Haaah…”

If I had known it would cause such a ripple effect, I would have told Nob AI to solve only 50% of it.

‘Is there no way to turn back time?’

『There isn’t!』

Thanks for letting me know…

“Eesh, I need to sort this out first.”

“I shall handle the sorting. I will categorize them by nobles, magic towers, merchants, the press, and so on. Please leave it to me. You have other matters to attend to, young master.”

Hm?

“Master Jefre Tristy requests your presence.”

“Second Brother?”

“Yes. He has something to say to you in person.”

I blinked.

He was recognized by all as the most calculating and adept at social graces among my siblings.

If I were the old Esther Tristy, I would have been intimidated, but things were different now.

“Where is he?”

Whatever the reason.

Right now, I was one of the heirs who had most perfectly captivated Porto.