Chapter 175 - Damn Reincarnation

Riu Dragonic

SPLASH!

The jet of water struck the bridge of his nose. Droplets splashed into his eyes, ran down his cheeks, and dripped from his chin. His collar and the fur on his cloak were soaked, but Eugene left them alone for the moment.

He had deliberately let it hit him instead of dodging. Inside the cloak, Mer gaped, unable to understand why.

'Sir Eugene?'

DRIP, DRIP.

Eugene stood silently, tasting the water that had seeped between his lips. It was sour... That fucking brat. He must have mixed vinegar into the water. The sourness lingering in his mouth, the wetness on his face! Eugene turned his head and spat.

"Ahahaha!"

Roaring laughter erupted from beneath the bed. Without even wiping his face, Eugene watched the little boy crawl out.

Riu Dragonic.

The boy, who was ten this year, had his father's red hair and blue eyes. His build was unusually lean for a child, though his face still retained its inevitable baby fat.

A thoroughly mischievous grin filled that round face. In one hand, he held a water pistol aimed at Eugene.

"... Heh, heh."

Naturally, Riu offered no apology. If he had enough sense to apologize, he wouldn't have opened fire with a water pistol in the first place—much less one filled with vinegar water. Eugene nodded and chuckled.

PEW!

Riu fired again. Once more, Eugene did not dodge.

SPLASH!

A slightly stronger jet than the first struck his lips. That little bastard deserved to be ground up and drunk. He had aimed precisely between Eugene's closed lips, forcing vinegar water into his mouth.

"Can't you even dodge that, mister?"

Riu waved the water pistol and snickered. There was not a trace of concern for the consequences on his face. Of course there wasn't. This was the Dragonic estate, its head was Alchester Dragonic, and the brat firing a water pistol right in front of him—the brat who deserved to be beaten to death—was Riu Dragonic. The only people in this estate who could scold Riu were presumably his parents, and Alchester was hopelessly besotted with the son he had fathered late in life.

Chuckling, Eugene waggled a finger.

POP!

One by one, the droplets soaking his face and clothes, along with those that had fallen to the floor, began to float upward.

"... Wow!"

Riu let out an innocent cry of wonder at the sight.

"That's magic, right? I've heard lots about you too, mister. You're an amazing knight and an incredible mage, right?"

After saying that, Riu lowered the water pistol. His expression suggested that he wasn't entirely convinced by his own words. Glancing between the lowered pistol, Eugene, and the droplets floating before him, he muttered,

"... Then why can't you dodge a little water pistol like this?"

"Heh, heh..."

Eugene smiled brightly and flicked his finger at Riu.

"So I could do this, you little shit."

BANG!

The droplets shot forward in an instant and burst against Riu's face. They didn't merely burst, either. With precise control over his mana, Eugene forced every scattered droplet into Riu's nose and mouth.

"Gack!"

There was no way a ten-year-old child could prepare for an attack like that. Riu rolled on the floor as sourness filled his nostrils and mouth. The water in his nose flowed down into his mouth, and he flailed, coughing and spluttering.

"Blech! Gaaack!"

Eugene approached the struggling boy. Riu, who had been rubbing his nose fiercely and spitting out water, jerked his head up. Anger filled his young eyes.

"Are you crazy, mister?! Wh-what are you doing to me!"

"Were you crazy when you did it to me?"

"I... I thought you'd dodge it...!"

"Does thinking I'll dodge make it all right to fire a water pistol at someone you've just met? And since I didn't dodge and took the fucking water to the face, isn't this self-defense?"

"But... but... you're an adult...!"

"Age has nothing to do with taking responsibility for your actions and not behaving like an idiot. Personally, I'd like to take this as an insult and cut you down with my sword."

As he spoke, he let a little killing intent slip out. Riu's face went white. Unable to argue any further, he lowered his eyes and hunched his shoulders.

"... But out of respect for your father, Sir Alchester, I won't draw my sword."

"..."

"Aren't you going to answer?"

"Y-yes, sir..."

"And where's your apology?"

"I'm... sorry..."

On the verge of tears, Riu bowed his head.

... Mer had watched all of this from inside the cloak. She wondered what to make of Eugene—Hamel, the Great Hero of three hundred years ago—creating such a menacing atmosphere and intimidating a mere ten-year-old boy.

["... You certainly are... thorough, Sir Eugene."]

'You've got to beat a brat's bad manners out of him while he's still young. The reason Cyan and Ciel are decent human beings now is because I gave them hell when they were little.'

["... Yes... How very impressive."]

Mer said no more.

Eugene dragged over a nearby chair and sat in front of Riu. The boy was still frightened, his gaze lowered. His eyes were brimming with tears, yet he was desperately holding them back rather than letting them fall.

"Did Sir Alchester tell you to shoot me with a water pistol?"

"... No..."

"Then what? Did someone else in the estate tell you to shoot vinegar water into that obnoxious Eugene Lionheart's face?"

"No. I just wanted to shoot you, mister."

"If you call me 'mister' one more time..."

Eugene left the threat unfinished and crossed his legs. Riu flinched at the movement.

"... I'll do something far scarier than whatever you just imagined."

"Y-yes, Eugene."

"So. Why did you want to shoot me?"

"... They said you were an amazing knight... so I thought you'd dodge..."

"Of course I could have dodged. I deliberately chose not to."

As Eugene spoke, he twitched a finger. Riu's hunched body straightened out. Thoroughly startled, the boy looked back and forth between himself and Eugene.

"Wh-what was that? Mana? You made me move with mana, didn't you?"

Well, now. Eugene raised an eyebrow and studied Riu. He had honestly paid little attention when Alchester said his son was quite gifted... but it seemed the boy did have enough talent to make the empire's foremost knight proud.

"... Wow... Whoa...!"

Riu could sense at least some of the mana lightly touching his body. It was common for children of distinguished martial families to begin learning mana at an early age, and equally common for them to sense it from that age. Ciel and Cyan themselves had begun younger than Riu.

But Riu sensed mana far better than Eugene had expected. The mana touching him now was so faint that even most knights would have trouble detecting it clearly. Yet Riu was perceiving it little by little, if not perfectly, and moving his body this way and that.

'Now this is interesting.'

He had come to try to contact a dragon, but Riu's talent was rather intriguing. Eugene gripped Akasha inside his cloak and pictured a spell formula. There was no need to chant aloud; his will alone set the magic in motion.

His vision shifted in a sudden sweep.

What Eugene saw changed slightly. Focusing his consciousness, he looked at Riu. It was a high-circle detection spell. He intended to use it to examine Riu's core and the flow of his mana, but...

He couldn't see them. The detection spell was active, yet neither the core nor the mana flow was visible.

["Huh?"]

Mer tilted her head, puzzled as well. Exceptional mana aptitude at a young age was understandable in a prodigy born and educated in a distinguished martial family.

But resistance to magic was another matter. The Insight Eye Eugene had used was a Sixth Circle spell. A little boy born into a family of knights, not mages, was rejecting Insight Eye? Without an artifact imbued with resistance magic, or even having cast a spell of that kind?

["... This... isn't magic resistance."]

'I know.'

If it were, he would have resisted when Eugene forced water into his nostrils and mouth earlier. Eugene pictured the formula again, and this time Mer helped.

WHINE!

His vision focused once more. Yet Riu's core remained invisible. Mer was right. No matter how strong his magic resistance might be, it should not be completely invisible, without even a faint outline. Was some spell protecting him? He couldn't see any such spell, either.

'... He isn't... doing this consciously. If he could fool magic like this at ten, the little bastard would have to be Vermouth reincarnated.'

"Do you like Lord Vermouth or Lord Hamel better?"

"What?"

"Which of the two do you like better?"

"... I... I like Lord Oryx Dragonic."

Vermouth would never spout nonsense like that.

"Come here."

At Eugene's abrupt beckoning, Riu edged closer. Eugene suddenly reached out and caught his wrist.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Hold still. I need to get a better idea of how to teach you."

Offering that excuse, he sent mana in through the boy's wrist. It circulated through Riu's body without obstruction. Eugene narrowed his eyes and peered into Riu's face. The boy merely blinked, not understanding what Eugene was doing.

"... Something's coming up from my wrist... through my arm. That's you doing it, right?"

Despite being invisible to detection magic, he offered no resistance whatsoever to mana entering his body. Hard as it was to believe, had he simply been born with an absurd degree of magic resistance? Unable to accept that, Eugene used the detection spell once more.

At that instant...

Eugene released Riu's hand without realizing it. A sudden chill swept over him, freezing his expression. He had felt this before. Where had it been? Rubbing his goosebump-covered forearm, Eugene stepped back.

"Eek!"

He wasn't the only one who felt it. Mer, who had been investigating Riu's peculiarity with Eugene from inside the cloak, screamed. Terrified by the strange, alien pressure, she shifted within the cloak and buried her face against Eugene's chest.

'Fear.'

Mer had never reacted like this even to the remnant of a Demon King or the hostility Iris had emitted. Only then did Eugene realize what he had just felt. This was neither hostility nor killing intent. Like the roar of a wild beast that made muscles spasm, it was a presence that stiffened and scattered mana.

'... Dragon Fear.'

The presence unique to dragons that Raizakia had emitted. That arrogant race could disrupt magic and stiffen mana simply by revealing its aura.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Riu stared at Eugene in confusion. He had seen Eugene's cloak writhe violently, and the purple hair peeking out from between its folds. Then there was that tiny scream just now. He was burning to ask about it, but Eugene's expression was so grave that he kept his mouth shut for the moment.

'... He emits Dragon Fear unconsciously, without even feeling it himself?'

Eugene considered what might have triggered the Dragon Fear. Had Riu instinctively reacted to a different kind of mana flowing into his body?

But how?

* * *

"How did you find my son?"

"I can see why you're proud of him, Sir Alchester."

They were in the Dragonic family's training hall, a domed building separate from the mansion and devoted entirely to that purpose. Examining the magic imbued in each of its walls, Eugene continued.

"His aptitude for mana is particularly remarkable. Enough to make me think he truly is of dragon blood."

As he spoke, Eugene studied Alchester's expression. He hoped something might show, but Alchester only beamed at the praise of his son.

"... Which left me curious about a number of things."

"Curious about what?"

"Every citizen of Kiel knows that Lord Oryx Dragonic, your family's founder, was half-human and half-dragon. And among his descendants, you, Sir Alchester, hailed as the foremost knight of our time... and your son Riu could be said to have inherited that blood particularly 'strongly,' couldn't you?"

Eugene continued to watch Alchester's reactions as he spoke.

"... Those are kind words, and they make me very happy."

Looking deeply moved, Alchester nodded.

"Three hundred years have passed since our founder's time. The Dragonic family arose in the same era as Lionheart, and we have carried on our name to this day. It isn't something I can claim pride in myself, but... I have striven to be like our founder, who defended Kiel during the war."

That wasn't what Eugene wanted to hear.

"That mindset is hardly unique. Every successive head of Dragonic has sought to defend Kiel. Isn't Lionheart the same? You revere the Great Hero, Vermouth the Great, and his descendants must have trained to become like him..."

"..."

"I hope my son grows up that way as well. Following chivalry, serving His Majesty the Emperor as his sole liege, and defending the empire. Someday... when my son succeeds me as His Majesty's guardian knight, I hope he maintains close relations with your Lionheart..."

"I'm not a candidate to become family head."

"... Hmm, that's right. I misspoke. But you'll still be a Lionheart then, won't you? So in the future, you and my son can defend Kiel together..."

"Can you use Dragon Fear, sir?"

Eugene decided he would be better off asking outright.

"... Hm?"

"Dragon Fear."

Oryx had not been half-human and half-dragon.

He had simply been lucky enough to acquire a dragon heart.

His descendants had no dragon blood.

How, then, could they use Dragon Fear? Even if, against all odds, they could, was it possible for a ten-year-old boy to emit it?

"By Dragon Fear... you mean... that oppressive presence dragons emit?"

"Yes."

"How could a human emit Dragon Fear?"

"... But you are... a descendant of Lord Oryx, who was half-human and half-dragon, aren't you?"

"That is true, but neither I nor any previous family head has ever emitted Dragon Fear."

"..."

"You... hmm... remind me a little of Lady Carmen."

"Excuse me?"

"No, no, don't misunderstand. I know you're not related to Lady Carmen by blood, and that there is no kinship between you. It's just... something about your personalities seems similar."

"What on earth do you mean by that?"

Eugene swallowed the curse that nearly escaped him. He resembled that woman? The woman who didn't act her age, whose bizarre hobbies and taste belonged to a shameless adolescent?

"... Long ago, Lady Carmen also... asked me something like that in this estate."

"... Asked you what?"

"Whether I could breathe dragon breath."

"..."

"She asked whether I was hiding dragon wings behind my back and a tail on my backside... and whether a black flame dragon dwelled in my right arm..."

"This is extremely rude of me to say, but Lady Carmen is not in her right mind."

"... I consider her a very consistent person."

Alchester cleared his throat and stepped back a few paces.

"And I respect her as a knight and a martial artist."

"... At any rate, you can't use Dragon Fear?"

"I don't know how."

It didn't sound like a lie. If he possessed such an ability in the first place, surely people would have heard of it.

"... I'd like to leave talk of Dragon Fear aside and discuss why I invited you here..."

Alchester cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

"... Lionheart's White Flame Formula and Red Flame Formula are very famous, but I am aware that teaching them to anyone outside the family is strictly forbidden."

"Yes."

"Naturally, I don't expect you to teach Riu either formula. I do covet the swordsmanship you demonstrated, but Riu would have difficulty absorbing it as he is now."

"I'll try my best, but..."

"No, no. I mean that you needn't concern yourself too much with teaching Riu. As I said earlier, I hope you'll remain on friendly terms with him... and the Dragonic family far into the future."

"But surely I can't teach him nothing at all?"

"The knack."

Alchester smiled as he uttered those brief words.

"I want you to teach my son the knack of handling mana."

At that, Eugene privately revised his opinion of Alchester. As Carmen had said, Alchester might be a mild, genteel man. But he certainly possessed insight worthy of the empire's foremost knight.

"For example, the optimal distribution of mana when forming sword aura. How to bind mana together when transforming sword aura into sword force. What flow to aim for when circulating mana through the core, and which paths to prioritize when sending mana through the body."

Riu's aptitude for mana was that of a genius. To other people, Eugene would look the same. Similar gifts. Eugene had brought his to full bloom, and Alchester wanted the knack behind it.

"... Teaching him the knack wouldn't be difficult, but..."

"Of course, I'm not asking you to teach him for nothing."

As he spoke, Alchester rested a hand on the sword at his waist.

"I will teach you Dragonic's martial arts and their profound principles in return."

["I was Alchester's martial arts instructor. Since I never cared for weapons like swords or spears, even as a child, what I taught him was unarmed combat—punches, kicks, and the like. The Dragonic family head at the time taught me the family's martial arts, but... they weren't much help."]

"... Hmm..."

Recalling Carmen's words, Eugene bowed his head.

"I look forward to your instruction."

He hadn't learned anything yet, but somehow he felt he was getting the worse end of the deal.

... That was what he thought until Alchester drew his sword.