The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

“Whhew, quite a sight, isn’t it?”

Raul floated high above Gariet Castle, gazing down at the baron’s fortress using his psychokinetic powers. Even in the dead of night, torches lined the walls and magical lights illuminated the lordly mansion, casting small glimmers in the darkness.

“What do you see?”

“As expected, the aerial defenses are quite lacking.”

Rabel, perched on her skill compendium, adjusted her glasses and surveyed below.

Her senses detected the castle’s defenses and magic barriers, which were like a doughnut: strong along the walls, with major protections like a grand magical barrier, defensive fields, and mana suppression zones, but only minimal defenses like alarm spells and coordinate disruption magic at the core.

“Well, full-scale magical barriers covering entire castles are prohibitively expensive to maintain, so it’s understandable.”

The installed magical circles ranged from 3 to 5 circles in level. For an average baron’s castle, this was overkill, yet still somewhat superficial.

‘Well, Ruben is a kingdom where magical capabilities are notably deficient.’

Such fortifications were only possible due to Viscount Jaden’s substantial investment.

“Are you sure about this? There might be a mage who fortified these spells inside the castle.”

Raul asked, Rabel smugly smiled.

“Who do you think I am? Deceiving a 5th-circle mage is child’s play.”

Despite being restricted to 6th-circle abilities due to the skill compendium, Rabel’s magical prowess and knowledge were originally on par with or exceeded that of an 8th-circle mage.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Drawing things out could alert the enemy to their troop movements, causing complications.

“Target acquired. Cancellation!”

With a flick of Rabel’s small hand, a cloud-like anomaly in the air dissipated.

“Now!”

Whoosh.

Raul accelerated sharply, descending into Gariet Castle. Shrouded in invisibility and silence magic, Raul’s presence went unnoticed.

He further invoked assassination skills, ‘Presence Elimination (C)’ and ‘Object Assimilation (C),’ to blend seamlessly into his surroundings. Clad entirely in black and wearing a bronze mask taken from one of the Imperial Hounds, even if spotted, his identity would remain concealed.

Without touching the ground, Raul’s form glided through the air, reminiscent of an ethereal monster like a ‘Wraith’ or a ‘Ghost’. Moving through the shadows, Raul approached a large warehouse or administrative building, its silhouette prominent in the night.

「Is this the place?」

「Yes, the energy I’m sensing is definitely coming from here.」

Though reports from spies had been reliable, checking for himself was crucial to avoid ruining their plans. Raul paused at the wall of the building, focusing his senses. His keen perception allowed him to survey the interior as if seeing through the walls.

‘One knight and five soldiers?’

Surprisingly, the knight wasn’t even at Expert level.

‘Such lax security for an important site. Lucky for me, I suppose.’

Likely, many knights were occupied with tonight’s festivities.

「Rabel, your turn.」

「Got it. I’ll isolate the place without a peep.」

As Rabel cast several spells, an aura wrapped the building, ensuring no sound or light would escape.

‘Now then.’

From Raul’s sleeve, twenty black daggers floated, trailing behind him. Silently, Raul ascended, bypassing the door, and entered through a rooftop window that opened on its own.

Whoosh!

Slice! Swish! Thud.

A whirlwind of death swept through the room, leaving no one standing but Raul.

“Is this it?”

“Yes, that’s the core mana stone which forms the heart of the portal.”

“Then I’ll take it, thank you very much.”

Raul’s hand glowed golden as it reached into the small orb embedded in the floor.

Zzzzt!

Sparks flew as the magic array resisted fiercely, but it couldn’t hold against Raul. With a faint smile, Raul pocketed the translucent sky-blue mana stone etched with mysterious runes.

A snap of his fingers, and the mana blades on the dozen floating daggers began to whirl around him, slashing through the floor, walls, and ceiling, destroying everything in their path.

“That should be enough.”

With the portal magic circle completely torn apart, rabell confirmed the destruction.

“How long until they can fix it?”

“Depends. A 5th-circle mage would need at least a week to fifteen days.”

“That’s quite the range.”

“Mages differ greatly in skill, even within a single circle. And with high-quality magical tools or equipment, they might shorten that time.”

“That’s problematic.”

Raul had infiltrated the enemy castle alone to ensure that Viscount Jaden and the traitors couldn’t escape. All his efforts to win the fight would be in vain if the real instigators got away.

After a brief mental calculation, Raul decided.

“It’s best to be thorough. Rabel, let’s go catch the mage as well.”

“Phew, I knew it would come to this.”

Although grumbling slightly, rabell didn’t try to dissuade Raul. In her opinion, no one in this castle could stop Raul. Initially, both Kane and Rabel had different opinions when they crafted this plan.

“If you’re going to infiltrate the castle, why not just capture or kill Viscount Jaden?”

Kane suggested they could handle Jaden directly with the extra manpower of the agents and Pierce.

“The more people involved, the lower the success rate. Raul can capture Viscount Jaden alone.”

Rabel believed Raul was capable of taking down Jaden without assistance.

“That won’t do.”

However, Raul had a different perspective.

“This is a sensitive political matter. It’s not just about whether I can handle it alone—it’s about how it needs to be done.”

This was an issue that his father, Count Melvin, and his eldest brother and heir, Dylan, needed to resolve personally. To solidify control over the fief, which was essentially a coalition of numerous nobles, the House of Ashton needed to display its strength.

They had to clearly demonstrate what happened to traitors and those who dared challenge the House of Ashton.

“So I can’t be the one taking center stage. I’m practically independent from House Ashton now.”

Using the “assassination attempt” as their justification, if Viscount Jaden were to be assassinated or kidnapped, it would only provide leverage for Jaden’s backers.

Therefore, Raul had to undertake these discreet and bothersome tasks from the shadows.

“Ugh!”

“Who’s there? Gah!”

Watching over the guest mage were two knights. Their vigilance proved futile.

Creak.

Raul opened the door and stepped inside, greeted by a sudden rush of aggressive magic.

“Wind Cutter! Ice Arrow!”

Blades of wind formed and sharp icicles shot towards him.

Clang. Boom!

But they were rendered useless. Rabel had already extended her staff defensively, and an elemental shield of pale green had materialized before Raul.

“Wind Bla—urk!”

The next magic attack never came. The mage, who had been preparing spells behind the bed, was telekinetically choked, halting his casting.

Whoosh.

The mage was pulled through the air as if magnetized, his neck gripped by Raul’s hand.

“Sleep.”

With a light tap on the mage’s forehead, his eyes rolled back, and he went limp. Raul had used psychokinetic force to disrupt the blood flow to the mage’s head, causing him to faint.

Hoisting the unconscious mage over his shoulder, Raul spoke to Rabel.

“Let’s get out of here!”

Even though Rabel had temporarily set up a barrier, a highly sensitive Expert-level knight might still sense something.

If an power user appeared, things could get complicated, so a swift retreat was the best course. Raul, stepping onto the windowsill, leapt into the air, his form turning invisible once more as he melded into the night sky above Gariet Castle.

***

Crash!

Another innocent table in the baron’s castle was shattered today.

“I explicitly ordered the defenses to be thorough!”

“S-Sorry, my lord. You instructed the knights to attend the banquet to unwind…”

“What? So, this is my fault now?”

“N-No, sir. I’ll reprimand those responsible for last night’s watch!”

Despite saying that, baron Check, the head of security, wore a face that signaled he believed he bore no responsibility.

‘This wretched bastard!’

Viscount Jaden was livid, but he couldn’t strike the baron. Baron Check was one of the higher-ranking lords who had joined his cause. If Jaden acted rashly in front of so many allies, it could fracture their alliance.

‘Just you wait.’

Though he had many allies, few truly satisfied him. Those who aligned with him were, at best, shrewd individuals or, at worst, opportunists.

‘Once I become the count, I’ll get rid of all these pests.’

Currently, they all smiled and played nice, but none of them featured in his long-term plans.

“So, what’s the exact damage?”

“The portal magic circle has been completely destroyed, three knights and five soldiers are dead, and the mage you hired is missing.”

“Damn it. Of all times…”

Honestly, he wasn’t that attached to the mage, whom he had hired with money, but the destruction of the portal magic circle was a significant blow.

“How long will it take to repair the portal?”

At Jaden’s question, baron Tate’s expression turned grim.

“Repairing it… seems unlikely.”

“What?”

Sighing deeply, baron Tate calmly explained,

“The mage who examined the remnants said it would be easier to create a new one than to repair the existing one. And that would require at least a 5th-circle mage…”

However, the castle’s magic association only had two resident 3rd-circle mages. Jaden paced back and forth, his mind racing through possible solutions and the impending crisis that loomed without the portal as an escape route.

“Damn it, of all days!”

Viscount Jaden’s anger was understandable. The envoy from the capital was supposed to arrive by portal around noon, but now that was impossible.

The backup plan involved traveling to a nearby baron’s castle via portal and then coming here by land. But that would take at least two more days, with no guarantee of reaching here safely without being caught by House Ashton’s forces.

‘How did they bypass the stringent castle defenses to destroy the portal and disappear? Unless…’

Up until now, he assumed this was the work of House Ashton, but a sudden thought struck him—it might not be. There was no evidence of infiltration through the walls.

That could mean this was the work of an insider. As he considered this, the pieces began to fit.

‘Who could it be? Which one of them betrayed me?’

Suddenly, every noble in the meeting room looked like potential traitors. One of them could very well be a spy from House Ashton. But Jaden didn’t have time to dwell on suspicions.

“Disaster! During the night, the castle has been completely surrounded by House Ashton’s forces!!”

“What did you say?”

“What’s this about? They broke through the border to our territory?”

“None of our soldiers noticed until the castle was fully surrounded?”

The members of the meeting room were bewildered. That House Ashton would move its forces first?

Despite their authority, it was unthinkable that House Ashton would surround a castle without notice, especially while the head was absent. This was, at least in their eyes, an impossible situation.

“Quiet! Everyone calm down!”

The commotion subsided at Jaden’s shout.

“What are their numbers? How many knights?”

With a trembling voice, a pale-faced knight responded,

“There seem to be at least 20,000. And judging by the flags and insignias, several other lords’ knights have joined House Ashton’s forces.”

Boom!

Jaden’s fist punched a gaping hole in one side of the meeting room wall.

“These bastards really want a fight! Prepare for battle!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

The nobles and commanders rushed out, sweating in fear, to ready their forces. Left alone, Viscount Jaden clenched his teeth.

“Fine, if it’s a battle they want, it’s a battle they’ll get.”

But he had yet to realize that the true assault had not even begun.

(To be continued)