Evaluation.
It is a skill that everyone desires.
The ability to distinguish between good and bad—who wouldn’t want the judgment to discern between the two?
Particularly, if one could assess an opponent’s abilities in advance, it would be useful in many ways.
For this reason, since ancient times, magicians have been working on developing items that could delegate such judgment.
Among them, the pinnacle is the Status eye.
It is an eye that can discern even the powers that the person themselves does not recognize, simply by seeing.
It was developed by Serro Rogers, a companion magician of the first Hero, and has been passed down through the Rogers family for generations. Currently, it is owned by Zero, the Imperial Minister of Defense of the Renal Empire.
However, the Status Eye cannot be loaned to anyone.
It is solely monopolized by Zero.
In terms of evaluation, the next highest-grade item after the Status Eye is the crystal ball owned by the great sage Minerva.
Supposedly, if you ask the crystal ball, it can verify the potential of the target or something like that.
This is also an item monopolized by the great sage, but in terms of versatility, it can be considered more accessible than the Status Eye, since it is at least possible to request a loan.
Of course, making such a request to someone of high status like the great sage would be impossible without considerable standing.
In the end, for ordinary people, this remains a distant matter.
To address this, magicians developed an item called the Monocular.
The Monocular is, as the name suggests, a pair of glasses with only one lens. By looking at someone through it, you can see their abilities.
Naturally, the more expensive the item, the higher the accuracy.
Among these, the monocles made by the Grimoire Kingdom, known for its excellent craftsmanship, were famous for their precision.
In particular, monocles made by the GreenGreen guild, located in the capital, were so accurate that they were referred to as “pseudo-Status Eyes.”
Not long ago, the finest monocle among them was presented to the woman who had just been appointed as the Minister of Defense.
In other words… to put it simply, Brunhilde Volanchepour was someone who possessed a tool for evaluation that was second only to the Status Eye.
Scarlett had made excellent use of the monocle from GreenGreen more than anyone else.
She had the ability to pick out the sly, weed out the incompetent, uncover fake treasures, and showcase practical utility.
Then one day, she received a letter from her troublesome younger sibling.
<Unni, I have acquired a vassal. He is capable. I have granted him the title of Baron on my own, but I ask that you approach His Majesty the King to have it officially recognized.>
“What…? A Baron…? Is this an arrogant attempt to imitate an Earl? The reason I sent him off to the countryside wasn’t so he could play king! I sent him there to learn a bit about the world, and now he’s quickly gotten caught up in power games and is asking for a title? This won’t do…”
Brunhilde immediately called for her younger sibling.
She intended to teach Scarlett a lesson—titles were not something that could be granted to just anyone.
Even the King carefully controlled and strictly limited who could receive a title.
A mere count expanding his barony carelessly could be seen as creating factions, which could invite suspicion and provoke disapproval from others.
Scarlett didn’t understand that. It just showed how naïve she was.
The vassal that Scarlett had evaluated as was likely nothing more than a common fraud, a type of scam artist. After all, Scarlett’s wasn’t exactly top-tier.
Brunhilde made a decision.
Once Scarlett brought the vassal over, she would evaluate him using the monocle, thoroughly investigate his true nature, and then strip him of his title.
She would also make sure to discipline Scarlett, ensuring that she never recklessly granted a title again.
“You’re Victor Evans?”
As soon as Scarlett appeared with the unfamiliar man, Brunhilde immediately put on the monocle, without a word of greeting.
The monocle could reveal even the number of chest hairs Victor might be hiding, after all.
“I’ll judge for myself. Whether you’re useful or not…”
The monocle first expresses the opponent’s in .
The most capable person Brunhilde had met so far was the Empire’s Princess Irene.
Irene de Renal.
Her was 8391, an extremely high number, and Brunhilde was momentarily taken aback by the figure.
Next was the Empire’s Grand General, Olivia Alaystar, with an evaluation of 6521.
The friendly border lord from the Grimoire Kingdom, Kralus, was 4512.
These were the people Brunhilde considered truly .
Even so, she wasn’t expecting that level of talent.
If Victor could just exceed a score of 1000, she would be willing to accept him as a vassal.
‘Well… such a lowly creature…’
At the very least, there was nothing to lose.
Brunhilde stared at Victor through the monocle.
The number displayed was 1.
Everyone started at 1.
‘Hmph… surely it won’t stop there, right? There are times when people with a value of 1 turn out to be complete idiots… but no way it’ll stay at 1.’
2
3
4
5
6
‘Oh… it’s going up. Although slowly…’
Brunhilde vaguely thought that it would likely rise to around 50.
The real concern, however, was 100.
For an ordinary person, surpassing 100 meant they could be considered useful enough to be employed as a decent worker.
7
7
7
‘What? 7? Ridiculous. If this is the limit, then there’s nothing more to see… I guess I’ll have to tell Scarlett soon. This guy is unfit to be a vassal.’
77?
‘Wait a minute… it’s not 7, it’s 77? Is it still going up? Hold on… but suddenly rising this quickly…’
777
‘777? Skipping over the numbers in between and jumping straight to three digits? Could this… be going over a thousand?’
1000
1500
2000
2500
‘What..? How high is this going? And why is the increase so huge?’
Normally, when the value exceeded a thousand, it would rise incrementally by one level at a time.
Seeing a jump of 500 points per stage meant the peak was unimaginably high.
‘3000…? 3500…? 4000… 5000… Wait, the rate of increase just got even bigger?!’
“Ugh…! S-SCARLETT! Where on earth did you find this guy…?!”
“? Oh, unni? What’s wrong with you? And what’s with the monocle?”
“Lady Scarlett… I think your sister might be a little off. Are you sure she’s okay?”
Victor and Scarlett stared at Brunhilde, who was sweating profusely.
However, Brunhilde was too consumed by the numbers reflected in the monocle to care about her dignity.
The numbers were climbing rapidly, faster and faster.
At this point, she began speaking the numbers out loud.
“6000… 7000… 8000…! 9000!!!”
10,000.
It was a number she had never seen before in her life.
The result had surpassed even Irene’s previous highest score.
And then…
“10,000!! Aaah!!”
When the number hit 10,000, the monocle could no longer withstand it and exploded.
“Haah…! Haah…!!”
Brunhilde fell to the ground, gasping for air. Scarlett approached her, looking concerned.
“Unni. What was that explosion just now? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“S-Sk, Scarlett…”
Brunhilde asked her younger sister,
“Who… who is he…? Where did you find him?”
“He didn’t come from anywhere. One day, he just suddenly appeared in Ludin village.”
“What…? H-His he dangerous?”
“I don’t think he’s dangerous.”
“How can you be so sure? What if he’s some demon in disguise? What if a Four Heavenly King is secretly plotting in human form?!”
“I’m sure that’s not the case.”
“How can you be so certain?!”
“Hmm…”
Scarlett hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“This is just between us, but… Victor is actually a former hero. A hero could hardly be a demon, right?
After all, he’s summoned from another world.”
“What? A hero? That’s just a joke…”
Wait, hold on.
Brunhilde suddenly recalled something.
The name Victor… that was exactly the name of the hero.
It was a common name, so she hadn’t caught it at first, but now that she thought about it, Victor Evans’ appearance had an unusual air to it.
Could he really be the hero?
‘But… if he’s the former hero, Victor, then he’s rumored to be incompetent… No, wait. Brunhilde… Do you believe in rumors? Or do you trust your own eyes?’
The dignified Brunhilde could no longer tolerate any further disgrace.
She stood up abruptly and confidently faced Victor.
“If the monocle hadn’t exploded at 10,000, I can’t even imagine how high your value might have risen…” She continued with renewed composure. “Let me introduce myself again. I am Brunhilde Volanchepour, Countess of the Grimoire Kingdom and Imperial Minister of Defense. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Ah… n-no, the honor is mine,” Victor stammered, somewhat taken aback by the sudden shift in attitude.
Brunhilde, however, maintained perfect etiquette as she addressed him.
“I am grateful that someone of your caliber is willing to become a vassal of our family. Of course, I support your promotion to Baron. However, there is one issue.”
“What is it?”
“As a Count family, we have the right to bestow the title of Baron, but official recognition must come from His Majesty the King. Without it, we won’t be treated as true nobility. Of course, if you don’t wish for that, there’s no need to worry. However, I believe someone of your caliber deserves to be officially acknowledged by His Majesty and become a true noble. Furthermore, a Baron title would be too low for someone of your ability. I will personally approach His Majesty and request that you be granted the title of Viscount instead. What do you think?”
“What do I think…? Well…”
Victor responded inwardly, “It’s a huge win, of course.”
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