Summary so far:
In the autumn of his tenth year, Toma traveled to the royal capital to take the entrance exam for the academy. There, he encountered Reinhardt, the seventh prince. While Toma harbored no ambitions to manipulate the kingdom, the king ordered Reinhardt to keep an eye on him.
Toma successfully passed the academy’s entrance exam. However, he pointed out that the wine produced and sold by Marquis Lightstar and his branch family, Viscount Fiat, contained poison. The wine had been made using the koji (malt) of the Horse King, stolen from the Ashud territory. When taken to a lower altitude, the koji produced delicious wine, but it also became toxic.
Marquis Lightstar faced trial but made a desperate attempt to assassinate Toma , which ultimately failed.
Duke Bayerlein exposed Lightstar’s numerous misdeeds, leading even Viscount Fiat to abandon him. The Lightstar family was stripped of their title and exiled. While they escaped execution, they were unaware that Duke Bayerlein’s agents awaited them on the island they were banished to.
Unexpectedly, Toma also cured the king’s illness. His discovery of the wine poison saved hundreds of thousands of lives, earning him the title of marquis.
Though a marquis, Toma was still a minor and a student at the academy. Therefore, his grandfather, Duke Bayerlein, became his guardian.
At the academy, Toma befriended several individuals, including Reinhardt, Lady Claudia of the Balzer Count family, Bruno of the Delinger Count family, Daniel of the Eichhorst Count family, Lady Deborah of the Holtzwart Count family, and Lady Lene of the Neuberg Marquis family.
During this time, the academy held simultaneous martial arts and magic tournaments, where a major incident occurred.
The Catrias sect of the Nirgnead faith, based in a neighboring country, plotted to kidnap Toma and Prince Reinhardt and carried out their plan. The operation was conducted by Haten, the dark faction of the Catrias sect.
Toma , cornered by Haten’s leader Vishnou, turned the tide of the battle when the overconfident Vishnou revealed himself. Through Vishnou, the truth about the abduction of Aliusha was unveiled.
The Bayerlein family, which oversees the kingdom’s dark affairs, had Aliusha (Helmina), who was deeply cherished, abducted to weaken the family. However, Helmina tried to throw herself into the River Ryber, losing her memory as a result and becoming a slave of the Lightstar family.
Duke Bayerlein’s fury knew no bounds. Vishnou, captured and subjected to relentless torture by both the temple and the duke’s forces, eventually revealed crucial information about Haten.
Thanks to Vishnou’s confessions, the balance began tilting toward war for the Kingdom of Kurudia.
Meanwhile, the Baldo territory, which became Toma ’s domain, was in terrible shape. Years of misrule by Lightstar had left the people destitute. To revitalize the region, Toma began brewing beer and mass-producing refrigerators for sale.
Toma also ventured into the Alirak Dungeon (the dungeon in the royal capital) in search of an item Deuro had mentioned. Despite countless attempts, he couldn’t locate it but continued searching with determination.
When Toma reached level 300, his conversion ability leveled up, which turned out to be the key to finding the item.
Within the Alirak Dungeon, Toma discovered the Sacred Luminous Stone imbued with Deuro’s divine power and brought it back. He enshrined this Sacred Luminous Stone in a temple under construction in his domain.
Meanwhile, Ben fought Count Balzer, the father of Lady Claudia, in a brawl, ultimately defeating him. This allowed Ben to resolve his feelings and become engaged to Lady Claudia.
Ben was also knighted as a baronet but now faced the challenge of literacy and arithmetic as a newly titled nobleman.
