"You really have a special talent for cooking. Appointing you as the head chef was the best decision! Anyway, the position was vacant, so it worked out well."
Up until now, the head maid, who wasn't particularly good at cooking, had been filling in for the vacant position. With Mary's cooking skills, no one in the mansion could possibly have anything negative to say about the taste. My taste buds and stomach, strengthened (?) by years of overeating and binge eating, can vouch for that!
Anyway, after waking up, I had a delightful meal. It was the happiest meal in the world.
Meanwhile, before I fainted, the family's mental technique, which served as a defense mechanism against shock, naturally came to mind. For the past month, I've been using only the bugs I knew to cultivate my magic power. Although there was a family mana technique, I hadn't thought to use it. The mana technique was something I had naturally learned since I was a child. So, I had no idea that in special cases like this, I could activate it in a new form.
But whether by chance or fate, since I discovered another route...
"Let's use this to enhance the magic power cultivation bug."
As a veteran player of <Paradiso> who enjoyed tricks and bugs, I couldn't help but think of a shortcut method for rapid cultivation. From today, I'll strengthen my magic power cultivation using this method!
After the meal, Jared dismissed everyone, except for one person he asked to stay for a while: Mia.
"The lord is such a wonderful person! How can I ever repay the lord's kindness?"
Mia liked Jared. No, she was incredibly grateful. He saved her dying mother, Mary, and provided a place for them to work. The mother and daughter had no complaints at all. Mary had been earning money with her cooking skills for a long time, and she caught the Ronella disease while helping with cooking for an expedition. So, becoming the exclusive chef for the lord and being able to cook for the mansion was an immense happiness.
Mia also preferred the lord's mansion to their almost collapsing house. Being close to the most grateful lord in the world and her precious mother, it was only natural she didn't want to leave the mansion.
"Mia."
"Yes?"
"Would you like to study magic with me from now on?"
"Magic? Isn't magic about flying in the sky and throwing fire, those difficult things?"
"That's right, but it's not difficult at all. Especially if you have a teacher by your side to help you understand the principles of magic."
Jared replied with a smile. Mia had the potential of an S-level mana sensor. She might not realize it herself, but Jared, who could see through things with his mind's eye, was confident. Mia had the same potential ability as himself, who had spent his life refining the family's secret mental technique. With just a little teaching, she would surely start sensing mana. Once that happens, a mana hole would form within her, and the foundation for basic magic training would quickly be laid. It would be instantaneous.
"But I don't want to learn under a tiger-like teacher. It's too scary, and I can't run away!"
Mia puffed up her cheeks and raised her voice. She imagined being dragged by an old wizard and undergoing harsh training. Then Jared, with a gentle voice, conjured a white sphere with a healing spell in his left hand and a wind sphere with a magic missile spell in his right hand.
"Don't worry. I'll personally teach you magic. I'll take responsibility and teach you magic myself!"
"Really? The lord will teach me directly? Then can I learn magic while eating delicious food with the lord?"
"Of course. Even if I go hungry, I'll make sure our Mia has only the most delicious food!"
Jared wanted to help Mia's potential bloom. It would benefit her and be a great help to the territory as well. It was a win-win situation. As a 4th class, there was no reason he couldn't be her teacher. And in terms of knowledge, he had enough to know up to the 9th class theory. That's because he was a grand wizard player who had already reached the pinnacle of magic in <Paradiso>. While theory and practice might not be the same, at least his memory was clear, and Jared evaluated his potential as very high.
"Great! I'll do anything with the lord! I love you, lord!"
Mia ran to Jared and hugged him tightly, like a young niece embracing her uncle.
"This is... the purity and warmth of the heart."
Feeling Mia's pure affection, Jared's eyes became moist. In his past life, he was overwhelmed by work and money, living a desolate life without even a speck of pure heart. But not in this life. Although the path ahead seemed long, there were many people around him who believed in, followed, and loved him.
"To these people, Jared is not an extra but the protagonist!"
In the grand scheme of things, he might be an unknown extra in a remote territory, but to the precious people in front of him, he was like a protagonist who couldn't be replaced by anyone else!
"I must become stronger and wealthier to embrace more precious people. For the prosperity and future of the territory."
Jared made a resolution. To adapt to this life, he decided to refocus his slightly relaxed mind and dedicate himself to training and managing the territory. Especially focusing on training. To be a good teacher for Mia and to become a powerful lord of the Krivia territory, the process of growing much stronger than now was absolutely necessary.
A week passed. The system message greeted me as I ran tirelessly on the training ground. Perhaps as a result of my dedication to dieting, it simultaneously displayed quite a long sentence.
[Strong stimulation is activated. 350g of fat is immediately broken down and discharged!]
[Your weight status is adjusted from 'severe obesity' to 'mild obesity.']
[Congratulations! You have successfully lost 40kg of weight through consistent weight loss!]
[You have earned the title 'Unyielding Challenger.' As a result of the title effect, your charm stat increases by 10!]
[Your average appearance attractiveness to the opposite gender is adjusted from very low to low. For those who are interested in you, it is adjusted one level higher.]
"Phew, now I'm somewhat presentable, right?"
I grinned.
As the system message said, I had indeed lost quite a bit of weight. Although I still carried the label of mild obesity, my height made it possible to pass off as just being a bit bulky. My average appearance attractiveness was adjusted from very low to low!
In the past, the opposite gender would frown at the sight of me, but now they could at least hide those feelings to some extent. And for someone like Hayes, who likes me? It means I've gained another charm point.
In other words, she might fall for me even more. Even now, Hayes's feelings for me are enough.
"I should make good use of the title system that I had forgotten about. Since the <Paradiso> system only applies to me, the titles are one of the perks I can monopolize!"
I had indeed forgotten about the titles. Although I knew the <Paradiso> system applied to me, I was unsure about the titles. But now that I know for sure, I can strategically use the tricks and bugs related to titles in the future!
"Phew."
I let out a short sigh and sat down cross-legged. While it's not necessary to train in this position, I felt like I could focus better this way. At that moment, Isabella, who had been watching me intently from the side, spoke.
"Hey, Jared."
"Why? I'm going to train. I don't have time to play with you."
I replied indifferently to Isabella calling my name. Until just five days ago, Isabella's frequent lines were "Give me the mind's eye!" and "Give me my eyes!" like a mantra. But from four days ago, she changed her approach to speaking to me softly. I held back from talking too much, worried that the conversation might slip, but today she seemed even more serious than yesterday.
"The training method you changed to a week ago. The one where you feel mana explosively. That training."
"Yeah. Why?"
"It's really impressive. I've secretly watched many wizards train, but your method is different. It's like mana is pouring into your body like crazy!"
"Really? You can see that?"
"Yes. Humans can't see it, but I can. You're absorbing mana so much that it's practically cheating!"
Isabella hit the nail on the head. She was right. Since a week ago, I had linked our family's mana technique to the bug-style magic power training method that involved infusing magic into the abdomen. In simple terms, it was an enhanced bug training method. The training method of infusing magic into the abdomen was originally an open-type training method that was compatible with other methods, so it was also linked with our family's technique.
The method was simple. By maintaining a state where it feels like magic is about to be depleted, and infusing magic into the abdomen in line with the natural recovery rate of magic. If the magic remains completely depleted at 0, a shock occurs, forcing a fainting spell like last time. However, by adjusting it to fluctuate between 0 and 1, the family's technique, the Eucales Mana Technique, creates a new position.
[Magic is about to be depleted. The Eucales Mana Technique is activated to enhance magic recovery. To achieve this, it enters a process of doubling the output of mana road activity.]
This is it. This was a sweet tip I got for a lot of money from wizard players who had their own family visions back when I played <Paradiso>. Every mana technique has a special option that exists between magic 0 and 1, and if you maintain it precariously in this range, you can double the training effect!
Of course, the official <Paradiso> website warned that this method increases the invisible fatigue of the character. Seriously, in a bold font. But as a veteran and power blogger, my clinical experiments on myself revealed it was a false alarm.
This part was never fixed later. It was probably an intended bug or an unfixable bug, one of the two.
Anyway, thanks to this, my magic power increased by 6 per day since a week ago. Considering it used to increase by 3, it doubled! My current magic power is 184. With this, I can reliably use 4th class magic four times in a row. In fact, this means that at least within my territory, there are no enemies who can match me. Even if someone tries to assassinate or directly kill me, I can certainly protect myself to that extent.
At that moment, Isabella, with narrowed eyes, glared at me and asked.
"Be honest. You're not from this world, are you?"
"Huh?"
An unexpected but very sharp question hit the mark from Isabella.