Meanwhile, Ethan was listening to the entire conversation with a half-dazed expression.
'What did I just hear?'
The noble lady had taken him to a magnificent castle and declared to the middle-aged man who appeared to be her father that she wanted to adopt him.
Even more astonishing was that the middle-aged man had permitted it.
Ethan thought while looking at the middle-aged man before him.
'He looks like a high-ranking noble.. And incredibly strong too.'
A sharpness hidden beneath his well-groomed appearance.
Whether he was hiding it in front of his daughter or not, Ethan felt he was much stronger than the knight he had seen in the carriage.
'Anyway, how did things turn out like this..?'
Ethan gathered his thoughts.
Not bearing their family name.
That meant they wouldn't fully accept him as a member of the noble family.
'Well, that doesn't really matter much to me.'
Survival.
That was Ethan's only goal for now.
'Of course they wouldn't readily accept a child who isn't of their blood as family. Especially nobles.'
The fact that the situation had progressed this far was already absurd.
Ethan looked down at his body once more.
'.. A fully grown adult in his late twenties trapped in a baby's body is the most absurd thing of all.'
Eventually, Selene took the baby Ethan out of the office.
"Emily."
"Yes, my lady."
A maid who had been waiting outside approached at Selene's call.
Emily, as the maid was called, looked worriedly at the silent Selene.
"Did His Excellency not permit it..?"
Selene shook her head at the cautious question.
"No, he permitted it."
"Really?"
Emily's eyes widened.
"That's wonderful, my lady. Congratulations."
"Yes. However, he forbade giving him the Barret name."
"That means.."
"It means he's refusing formal adoption."
Selene continued.
"But even this much is fortunate. I was really anxious, thinking I might have to send this child back to the cold streets."
"My lady.."
At those words, Emily remained silent for a moment, then showed a determined expression.
"Don't worry, my lady. I'll also help take care of the young master diligently."
"Thank you, Emily."
Selene muttered softly as she looked at Ethan, who was staring up at her.
"This child, when he smiles, his eyes reveal truths as clear and universal as starlight. Like axioms of the universe made visible."
Eventually, Selene thought of something and spoke.
"'Axiom'. From now on, this child's name will be 'Axiom'."
"That's a beautiful name."
Then, another notification appeared before Ethan.
[Name has been determined.]
»'Axiom' will be entered as the player's name.
'Axiom?'
Ethan opened his information window to check the name.
──────────────
[Character Information]
Name: Axiom
Level: Lv.3
Trait: Demon God Palace
Strength: 1
Vitality: 1
Magic Power: 20
Agility: 1
Additional Stats: 0
※Buff: Mesmerize(Lv.??)
──────────────
It was quite ironic.
Although he had his real name 'Ethan Steele', such rules didn't seem to apply here, and the name field had been "Undetermined."
Ethan thought about the name as he looked at it.
Axiom.
'How poetic.'
He had only smiled to survive.
But was that how he appeared to this person?
Axiom's eyes slightly widened as he checked the information window.
'What's this now?'
The buff indication added at the bottom.
Content that hadn't been there before had been added.
'Mesmerize? When did I get this?'
Axiom looked at the details of 'Mesmerize' with curious eyes.
※Buff - Mesmerize(Lv.??)
»Gradually creates goodwill in those who come into contact with you. A permanent buff that can only be removed by the one who cast it.
'A permanent buff?'
Usually, buffs were temporary and disappeared after a certain time.
But a buff that works permanently and can only be removed by the caster?
'I've never heard of such a thing. Who could have cast such a buff on me..?'
No matter how much he thought about it, there was neither a person who would cast such a buff on him, nor a motive for doing so.
'Well, it's fortunate for me anyway.. but it's mysterious.'
As a result, the situation turned out favorably for Axiom.
It seemed that this woman taking him in was also influenced by the buff to some extent.
[Hidden scenario quest 1-1 has been completed.]
»You have gained 100 experience points.
»All stats have increased by 1.
[You have leveled up.]
Just then, notifications for both the hidden scenario quest completion and level up rang simultaneously.
Ethan felt power amplifying in his body.
'Right. The hidden scenario quest.'
Axiom's eyes widened at the notification.
He clearly remembered what happened before being pulled into this place.
'I'm sure it said a 'hidden scenario quest' would activate, right? So that's why I'm in this state.'
In fact, the cause of this situation was the start of the hidden scenario quest.
'So this really is the world inside Ethereal Odyssey? Is this the continent of Saint Gaia?'
He was incredulous at his own thoughts.
A world inside a game.
But all circumstances forced him to make such a conjecture.
However, while there was circumstantial evidence that this was Saint Gaia, it wasn't certain.
Axiom soon had a puzzled look.
'But if 1-1 is over, that means there should be 1-2, 1-3, so why isn't the next quest appearing?'
There should be continuity to proceed to the next stage.
But no further quests appeared before Axiom.
'I wonder why..'
As his thoughts chained together, Axiom felt certain gazes.
'What is it?'
Axiom turned his eyes to look around.
Servants paying respects as Selene passed by.
After she passed, they stood up again and were staring at Axiom.
They were clearly looks of contempt.
'As expected, I'm not welcomed.'
That was understandable.
From their perspective, some orphan had entered and become their young master overnight.
'.. No, wait. Since I wasn't given the family name, I'm not a young master.'
Well, Axiom didn't care much about what they thought or how they acted.
'As long as we don't interact, there should be no problems.'
Axiom shifted his gaze away from them and opened his information window.
Perhaps due to the quest reward he just received?
All stats had increased by 1, his level had risen to 4, and he had gained additional stat points.
Axiom invested all 5 additional stat points into magic power.
'Now my magic power is 26. For level 4, that's definitely high.'
While Axiom was feeling satisfied, Selene left the main building and headed somewhere.
After walking for about 3 minutes,
Past a well-maintained park, a mansion appeared at some distance.
Standing in front of the mansion, Selene spoke to Axiom.
"Axiom. This is where you'll be living from now on."
Axiom looked up at the mansion.
'It's big.'
As expected of a noble's mansion?
Even though it wasn't the main building, it was impressively large.
'A noble family of this scale must be at least a viscount level.'
It was undoubtedly a massive noble family.
'Let's first learn about this place. I can make plans afterwards.'
Axiom entered the mansion, cradled in Selene's arms.