Whatever good mood the Baron had retained from the previous meeting had disappeared.
He had not even combed his long hair. Not changed his dusty clothing.
It was problem after problem.
Reading the open paper, he let out an incredulous chuckle and threw it on the table.
The Knight Asterix stood in front of the seated Baron; his hands clasped together covering groin area.
"Why?" The Baron asked. "Why request us to change Liam's opponent—to Valen?"
"The Lady told me that it would be best for the House to go in this direction," Asterix replied.
If he were honest, he would rather not be doing this.
He was wasting both his and the Baron's time.
Unfortunately, for him, this decision was not his to make.
"And why would that be for the best?"
Asterix hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse—something that did not include saying that Liam had just crushed Jorvik in a fight.
"Well, right now, the attention on Liam is slowly increasing, so—"
Cheng, without even needing to fidget his fingers, could see through Asterix.
"Liam has already beaten Jorvik, hasn't he?"
Once more, the Knight couldn't say anything.
There was no reason to lie to Cheng; he would read through you like an open book.
Especially if you were someone like Asterix.
The Baron scratched his beard upon hearing this. "Really?" he asked Cheng, almost as if confirming the truth.
Cheng turned to Asterix, waiting for an answer.
But Asterix remained silent, not wanting to expose the matter even more.
Seeing the Knight's expression, the Baron nodded. "So, it's true," he muttered, tapping on the table.
Although Cheng could tell this was true just by reading the Knight's body language, a part of his logical mind started doubting itself.
Fighting was not something one could master simply by reading a book and applying it.
You had to first understand the theory.
Then test the move out for yourself.
Then ensure you are comfortable executing the moves.
Finally, it was about drilling the moves over and over again before you even started sparring.
So, for Liam to suddenly become someone capable of fighting at this level was unlikely.
'Just luck, perhaps,' the Baron thought.
He immediately dismissed the idea that Liam had actually learned how to fight.
He was a fighter himself.
And the idea that someone who had not put in an ounce of discipline could improve in such a short span of time was out of this world.
It was also incredibly disrespectful—to him and to all the other martial fighters who had sacrificed so much for the art of combat.
"But even so..." he continued, "Why do you wish to change his opponent? So what if he passes the test?"
Asterix hesitated before replying, "It's so that Valen—"
Cheng cut him off.
"Lady Rhyla is currently trying to position Valen as the main candidate for Syphora's husband.
She can't risk having Valen share the House's attention with Liam, as that would diminish his standing among the other noble candidates.
Which means Liam didn't just beat Jorvik by pure luck. He beat him properly—without any question or doubt."
Asterix knew that Cheng, the former Imperial Calculor, was good at his job.
But both he and Lady Rhyla had done their best to keep their plans a secret.
So to see Cheng decipher their scheme so accurately was not only impressive—it was terrifying.
'Scary…'
If Cheng had figured out Lady Rhyla's plan so easily, what else might he have already uncovered about the other members of the House?
"So this means if Liam wins, it will also disrupt our plans to have Valen as Baron?"
Cheng shook his head. "Not entirely, but it will slow us down. And given the challenges we face, I don't think we can afford any delays."
Gorath stretched his neck, struggling to process the fact that Liam had managed to dominate a trained fighter.
"But how? How is that kid able to win?" the Baron questioned.
Seeing that they already knew too much—and that the Baron still wanted the best for Valen—Asterix finally exhaled and dropped his shoulders, trying his best to relax.
"Liam slapped Jorvik's chest. And Jorvik just ragdolled to the floor."
Both Gorath and Cheng waited for Asterix to continue.
But after a moment of silence, Gorath spoke.
"That's it?"
Asterix lightly nodded. "Well, yes."
Cheng turned to the Baron.
While he might not understand how this was possible, perhaps the Baron—being a fighter—would.
But as their eyes met, Cheng saw the same confusion in the Baron's gaze that he had seen in Gorath's.
Cheng didn't need an order. He quickly rubbed his fingers together, calculating the possibilities of what might have happened.
"There are a few cases of martial students who have learned at a speed considered anomalous.
But that occurs only under specific conditions: a proper instructor and a training period lasting at least several months.
There is no record of any martial instructor visiting Liam or training him.
So unless Liam is a once-in-a-lifetime genius who requires no training to become skilled at combat, I would dismiss that idea.
Even if he had trained in secret, it is still unlikely that he would be this proficient in such a short time."
Cheng opened his eyes, still baffled.
The Baron sighed.
Calculors could predict multiple possibilities.
However, sometimes, there were aspects of life so unexpected that they wouldn't even be considered in the equation.
Liam had transmigrated into this world.
And because that possibility wasn't factored in, the Calculor was left simply confused.
As stated earlier, the Baron had kept a close record of his children's lives.
But nowhere in those records was there any hint that Liam had been training—or even studying.
All he did was eat.
'Maybe the records are wrong.'
The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly shook it off.
The Codex Imperialis didn't make mistakes.
At least, not often enough to rewrite a person's history.
They would not make a mistake that massive.