Reincarnated Villain System

Chapter 6

“Pu!”

“L-lord Brother?”

“It’s nothing. Haha.”

Under Mana’s concerned look, Zephyr shrugged it off with a laugh as he glanced at the top of her head. Due to the two year age gap between them, Mana was half a head shorter than him, so the ‘ Affection Points +1000 ’ was practically sticking right next to his face.

Clovis moly! 1000 Affections Points! A freaking four-digit figure!

Zephyr was screaming frenziedly in his mind, and he had a strong urge to do a celebratory dance right on the spot. While the Emblem of Glory probably played a huge role too, it was still unbelievable to him that a four-digit figure would roll in just by feeding Mana a spoonful of meat. This was way better than him tearing up before Cordelia earlier on!

Zephyr turned to look at Mana with his golden eyes once more, and this time, other than pity, his eyes also carried a hint of joy too.

By brushing up Mana’s affection, not only will I be able to avert my death flag, I’ll be able to strike it rich too! This is killing two birds with one stone!

“Come, have another mouthful. Ah——”

“Glomp.”

Affection Points +50!

“Mana, this beetroot is delicious. Have a taste.”

“Un… Glomp.”

Affections Points +70!

“This is the orange juice that goes well with the specialty wine that Viscount Ross gave our father. It has a citrusy sweetness to it. You should have a try.”

“Glub glub… Lord Brother, this orange juice is really, really sweet!”

“Isn’t it so? I also think it’s delicious too.” Affection Points +100!

It was as if a switch inside Zephyr had been flicked on when he saw how numbers that kept popping up above Mana’s head. He immediately got into his overly doting brother mode and ordered his servants to grab everything delicious that he could think of within the house and bring it over here.

“Bring me the chocolates that Viscount Isaac sent me for my birthday this year.”

“Bring me the milk candy that my father gave me.” Quick, just bring everything here!

Standing behind the duo, Cordelia stared in googly eyes as she watched how the selfish and bad-tempered young master she struggled to handle unhesitatingly brought out all of the good stuff he had stashed away to share them with Cordelia. Even the Seven-colored Royal Macarons that he couldn’t bear to eat went right into Mana’s mouth, as if fearing that she wouldn’t have enough to eat.

What in the world is going on? Does the young master really like his new adopted sister so much? It doesn’t make sense for their relationship to have proceeded to such an extent so quickly… Or could it be that…

Cordelia’s eyes widened even larger. Looking at the loving siblings before her, she thought that she might have just inadvertently stumbled upon the truth.

Heh, is that how it is? Well, I must admit that Miss Mana is a beauty in the making.

Looking at the blissfully smiling silver-haired girl, Cordelia’s lips inched upward to form a knowing adult smile.

That explains why the young master acted so out of character the first time they met. It turns out that he has fallen in love with little Mana at first sight! I must say, children nowadays sure mature fast!

Cordelia placed her hand dreamily on her slightly reddened cheeks as her imagination ran off in a direction that wasn’t particularly family-friendly. But soon enough, she snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the little duo before her with a worried frown.

While it was gladdening to see that the two of them were getting along well, it was a pity that Mana was the daughter of a baron house. With such a background, it would be nearly impossible for her to marry into a marquess house… Wait a moment, that was not right!

Cordelia, who was just about to arbitrarily proclaim that this budding romance would end in tragedy, suddenly thought of another factor that she had neglected—the crisis the Calypso House faced over its lack of offspring.

The Calypso House was a distinguished noble lineage with many years of history behind it, but consecutive generations of poor birth rates had resulted in Marquess Archer and his sole son, Zephyr, to be the only ones left in the lineage. Under such circumstances, it would be unwise for Zephyr to seek a political marriage with other houses.

The reason was simple—they would be in a vulnerable position if the other party coveted their wealth.

It was a known fact that Zephyr was the only successor to the Calypso House, which meant he would eventually inherit Marquess Archer’s position. If any nobles were to covet the Calypso House’s wealth and power, they could simply marry their daughter to Zephyr and seek an opportunity to do away with him. The Calypso House would then be left without a successor, thus placing Zephyr’s wife next in the line of succession.

Such vile acts had already happened several times in history to houses with few members in their lineage. While such actions were frowned upon in the circle of nobility, there was little that could be done if there was no evidence to convict the culprits, and culprits were rarely foolish enough to leave behind any incriminating evidence.

Looking at it from such a perspective, Mana would indeed be a better option. Despite her lower lineage, she was in an advantageous position due to the close ties between the Calypso House and the baron house that she had descended from, which meant that the Calypso House had a good grasp of Mana’s background as well.

As long as the little duo could cultivate feelings for one another from a young age, Mana would indubitably be the best candidate as Zephyr’s wife!

Perhaps, the old master leaving to deal with some urgent matters might even have been part of the plan as well to create an opportunity for the young master to get close to Miss Mana. This would mean that Miss Mana has already been internally decided as young master Zephyr’s future wife!

What about Mana’s identity as an adopted child of the Calypso House, you may ask? That didn’t pose a problem at all. All they had to do was to send Mana out to be adopted by another house before having Zephyr to marry her back into the Calypso House!

Having come up with a complete scenario in her mind, Cordelia looked at Mana with gleaming eyes. She felt like she had managed to peer through the intricate fabrics of the circle of nobility to arrive at the truth. What she didn’t know was that none of what she had just come up with had ever flashed across Zephyr’s mind.

All Zephyr could think of right now were the rows of Affection Points popping up above Mana’s head.

+60 Affection Points! +75 Affection Points! +110 Affection Points! +95 Affection Points…

Zephyr felt as if he was watching an ATM machine shooting out banknotes all over the air. His Affection Points were increasing at an incredible pace, surpassing the 2000 mark within a short span of time.

But as the saying went, ‘the overeager won’t be able to eat hot tofu’. It was not wise for him to rush things right now. As compared to the initial swift increment, the Affection Points rising above Mana’s head were growing fewer and fewer, and Zephyr knew exactly the reason behind that.

“Lord Brother, I-I can’t eat anymore.”

With a huge feast of delicacies and desserts placed before her, the silver-haired girl rubbed her stomach and spoke up in embarrassment.

Faced with such a situation, Zephyr knew it would be best to wrap things up here. He was already more than contented to have been able to earn over 2000 Affection Points in a single meal, and Mana did have a little too much to eat.

“Since you’re full, let’s end this luncheon here. Out of consideration that you aren’t able to use a fork and knife properly yet, you’ll have your meals with me for the time being.”

“Ah? H-how can that do? To impose so much on Lord Brother would be…”

“Hm? Are you averse to the idea?”

“No! There’s no way I would be! I’m just afraid that I’ll be troubling you too much…”

“It’s no trouble at all. You’re my little sister, and this is what I should do as your older brother. You need not think of it that way.”

I’ll brawl with anyone who dares to say otherwise!

With a grand wave of his hand, Zephyr dispelled the final unease in Mana’s heart. The silverhaired girl smiled with a slightly reddened glow on her face, and a series of numbers appeared above her head once more.

Affection Points +500!

Uwaa! Mana, are you an angel? You don’t know how much I love you right now!

Zephyr was deeply touched by this final sum he received. He bade farewell to Mana before the latter proceeded to leave the dining room. This time around, however, her treatment was far better than before.

“Miss Mana, please be careful.”

Due to Mana’s shorter stature, the chairs in the dining room were a little too tall for her, such that her feet were unable to reach the ground. She was just about to hop down the chair when three maids suddenly rushed forward to support her. Their attitude toward Mana was much more amiable than before, treating her with the respect that a daughter of a marquess house deserved.

“Please hold my hand.”

“Be careful.”

Mana was treated like a fragile porcelain doll as the servants carefully supported her down from the chair. She pondered a while over the sudden change in the attitude of these adults before finally turning to look at Zephyr with gratitude in her eyes.

Affection Points +500!

“Thank you, Lord Brother.”

“Hm? It’s nothing much. I’ll be seeing you later for dinner.”

“Un! I’ll be taking my leave then.”

Mana courteously lifted her skirt slightly and curtsied before leaving the dining hall a little reluctantly.

After seeing off his beloved adopted sister, Zephyr was finally able to get back to his meal. He was too focused on feeding Mana and earning Affection Points earlier that he hadn’t been able to eat anything.

“Hm? Why is there another 500 Affection Points?” Zephyr muttered under his breath while chewing on his lamb steak.

Another additional 500 Affection Points had suddenly been added to him, causing the total amount of Affection Points he had to rise beyond 3000.

The fact that he was able to earn so many Affection Points within just a few hours was indubitably good news for both him and the Calypso House. The more Affection Points he earned, the lower the chance of the Calypso House declining and him turning into a tragic cannon fodder villain.

After this huge harvest, it was time to move on to the next step, and that was to try out the Affection Points Exchange Shop and see if it was really possible to make purchases.

Otherwise, if he were to find that there was some hidden caveat behind the Affection Points Exchange Shop after saving several hundred thousand Affection Points, it would really be a huge tragedy.

To be safe, it was best for him to try it out for first.

Having made up his mind, Zephyr turned his sights toward the Affection Points Exchange Shop.

Chapter 7: Give Me A Good One

Zephyr believed deeply in spending money only on things that were worth their value.

 Having made a small fortune for himself, Zephyr spent two hours taking a more detailed look through the items in the Affection Points Exchange Shop, and he soon noticed something.

 As the tip from the System had mentioned, the Gold Coin Shop mostly consisted of items that improved his individual characteristics. The items in the Affection Points Exchange Shop, on the other hand, appeared to be a little more peculiar.

 Take this for example:

 【Banshee’s Umbrella

    It screams during heavy downpours.

    Price: 500 Affection Points】

 “…”

 Are you joking with me? What is the use of something like that?

 Screams during heavy downpours? What is the use of that? Would the rain disappear just because the umbrella screamed? Besides, if one were to flip its meaning around, isn’t it just an ordinary umbrella when it’s not raining then?

 The cheapest good that Zephyr found so far cost 500 Affection Points, but it would appear that he couldn’t expect quality out of cheap stuff. The cheapest items were so bizarre that he had no idea how he could use them at all.

 While Zephyr’s aim was to test out the functions of the Affection Points Exchange Shop, he didn’t want to buy items that he had no need for. These were precious Affection Points that he had earned by giving up his beloved milk candies and chocolate!

After spending a long time browsing through the list of items, Zephyr finally stumbled upon something that still looked decent.

 【Skeleton Pallbearer Army

    The summoned beings of the Commandment Cult’s Gravediggers. Born for death, they bring joy to the living.

    Price: 2500 Affection Points】

 Hm… I don’t really get it, but it sounds quite amazing. It should be a combat-related item, right? Furthermore, the item illustration also looks quite formidable, a huge skeleton head.

 Seems like an okay choice!

 Having come to a decision, Zephyr finally leaped down from the chair he was sitting on.

 “Cordelia, I’ll be heading to the training field in our backyard later in the afternoon.”

 “I’ll make preparations right away.”

 After Cordelia left the room, Zephyr headed back to his bedroom with the other servants to take a short nap. As a 9-year-old at the moment, he needed to have sufficient sleep in order to grow up well.

 After busying himself for the day and having his fill of food, the drowsiness was already setting in, so it didn’t take long for his consciousness to start drifting off. This made him deeply cognizant of the fact that he was indeed a small child now.

 Zephyr had once heard someone saying that a human was a slave of his hormones, or that a person’s body would influence one’s train of thoughts. He hadn’t thought too much into those theories previously, but the current him felt that there were grains of truth in them.

 For one, shedding tears was definitely not something that the Zephyr of the previous world was able to do on command; being a 20-year-old adult, it was hard for him to tear up at all.

 Another thing that he noticed was that there were actually no lewd thoughts surfacing in his mind when he leaped into the embrace of the fairly beautiful Cordelia earlier on, which was probably just the kind of reaction one would expect from a 9-year-old.

 “I guess libido really is the effect of our hormones at play.”

 While muttering to himself, Zephyr finally fell into a deep sleep, charging up his energy for his activities later in the afternoon.

 --------------------------------------

 The Calypso House’s backyard was huge, at least in Zephyr’s opinion.

 In the circle of nobility, the front yard represented the face of a noble house whereas the backyard was a reflection of their decorum. One of the ways how nobles determine if a noble house was declining was through looking at their backyard.

In this world, gardening was viewed as an art form practiced exclusively by nobles. Nobles rarely engaged in physical activities, choosing instead to focus their efforts on nurturing plants and flowers to raise the aesthetics of their yards. Some of the richer nobles would even renovate their yards every season in order to uphold their distinguished image.

 While the Calypso House was rich, it wasn’t as extravagant as those nobles. A huge part of that was simply because the patriarch, Marquess Archer, was a magician who wasn’t too interested in art. Nevertheless, the Calypso House still employed two gardeners to maintain its two yards.

 Beside the exquisite backyard garden maintained by the two employed gardeners was the Calypso House’s training field.

 This training field was mostly reserved for Zephyr to practice his spells. One thing of note was that most noble houses didn’t have such a facility. The Calypso House only happened to be an exception due to its illustrious lineage of skilled magicians. It was not uncommon for members of the Calypso House to charge alongside a bunch of muscle heads on the battlefield, so it was only natural for it to have such a facility.

 However, due to the superior strength of Marquess Archer, he rarely frequented the training field ever since reaching adulthood. It was only after Zephyr’s birth that the training field was finally opened once more.

 “Cordelia, I need you to leave with the others first. I would like some time to myself to ruminate.”

 “Young master, you should have someone by your side when you practice.”

 “There are no weapons here, and you are aware of the spells I am able to use too. There’s nothing to worry about.”

 “But…”

 It took quite a while before Zephyr finally managed to persuade his personal maid to guard the entrance to the backyard. After finally being freed from his guardian, it was time for Zephyr to go all out.

 “System, I want to purchase Skeleton Pallbearer Army from the Affection Points Exchange Shop!”

 【Request received.】

 【Are you certain that you wish to spend 2500 Affection Points to purchase Skeleton

Pallbearer Army?】

 【Yes/No】

 “Yes!”

【You have obtained Skeleton Pallbearer Army. You may choose a location to place it down.】

 Following those words, a shadow of 2 meters in height suddenly appeared within Zephyr’s sight. It felt similar to the games of the previous world, where a player, after selecting a building to construct, had to choose a location to place it down. Zephyr chose a flat ground three meters away from him.

 A burst of dark wind congregated within the area that Zephyr selected, and an ominouslooking black coffin materialized on the ground, emanating a chilling air of eeriness. Six skeleton soldiers stood neatly in two rows beside the coffin. They kneeled on the ground on one knee with their heads lowered, displaying their deference to whoever was inside the black coffin.

 Zephyr was astounded by this imposing sight. This was the first time he was coming into contact with the supernatural powers of this world ever since regaining his memories, so he was unable to come to terms with it right away. Nevertheless, he quickly recovered from his shock and began skipping around in joy.

 “Clovis moly, they really are skeleton soldiers! And I’m getting six of them for just 2500 Attraction Points?!”

 Even if these skeleton soldiers were lower-tier troops, it felt like a huge value for money given the Affection Points they cost. At this rate, he might really be able to summon a massive army of skeletons at will, making him a nigh invincible existence in this world!

 Zephyr was so excited that he began rolling around the ground in glee. It took a while before he managed to calm his ecstasy down and return back to his feet.

 “Cough cough, I need to calm down first. It’s still too early to be rejoicing. I still have no idea how powerful these skeleton soldiers are yet. Right, I should give it a try.”

 With such thoughts in mind, Zephyr turned to the wooden pole by the side and issued an order, “Attack! Cut the pole down!”

 The empty eye sockets of the six skeleton soldiers lit up slightly as they turned their heads toward the wooden pole. Then, with a series of creaking sounds, they rose to their feet and stood tall like warriors preparing for war.

 Then, they lowered their waist, propped up the coffin, and placed it on their shoulders.

 ???

 Hold it right there, what’s going on? Is the coffin their weapon?

 No, wait a moment. How is it that this scene looks so familiar to me?

 While Zephyr was deep in thought, the six skeleton soldiers began dancing with unbelievably uniform movements as they marched forward in a neat formation. Their movements were so smooth that it was hard to believe that they were just skeletons.

At that moment, the world seemed to have fallen silent for Zephyr. A slight spring breeze blew a fallen leaf across Zephyr’s frozen face, seemingly nudging him toward the greater world out there.

 However, Zephyr wasn’t in the mood to think of anything else. Looking at the army of dancing skeletons before him, a thought surfaced in his mind.

 It’s a team of professionals…