Chapter 40 - Damn Reincarnation

The Square

The fluttering hair seared itself into his mind. The moment Eugene saw it, he hurled himself down the steps without hesitation. Gargis, following behind him, cried out in surprise, but Eugene never heard him.

The square was packed with people. Eugene plunged into the crowd without a care. He shoved aside anyone in his way, squeezed through gaps, and kept moving forward.

He couldn't have been mistaken. He could recognize that distinctive hair color among hundreds, even thousands of people. That unnatural pale purple was the color of Senya's vast mana suffusing her hair.

'Senya.'

A hallucination? Impossible. Eugene wandered through the crowd, turning his head every which way. Surely he couldn't have mistaken what he'd seen, not here, not in these circumstances.

"..."

He stood stock-still, staring ahead.

Senya was walking in the distance. There was no doubt. Her build hadn't changed from three hundred years ago. Had her hair grown quite a bit? Of course it had—three hundred years had passed. Clutching at his pounding heart, Eugene approached her.

Even when he came right up behind her, Senya didn't seem to sense his presence. With so many people around, he supposed that was possible. What should he say? He recognized Senya, but she wouldn't recognize him.

I'm Hamel. I've been reincarnated as Vermouth's descendant.

No, seriously. I'm not bullshitting you. I really am Hamel.

Imagining that conversation, Eugene reached toward Senya. That ill-tempered bitch wouldn't take his word for it. She might swear at him and tell him to stop talking shit.

He sincerely hoped she would. He hoped that, even after three hundred years, her personality hadn't changed much from what he remembered. That she was still just as foul-tempered and foul-mouthed.

"Senya."

Eugene called her name in a trembling voice. He reached out and grasped her wrist.

No, he couldn't grasp it.

Senya was right before his eyes, but he couldn't touch her. And that wasn't all. Her figure overlapped with the people moving toward him and on either side. Eugene stared blankly at the sight.

He'd seen it even as he approached. Senya didn't avoid the people walking toward her. She passed straight through them. Despite her striking hair color, no one so much as glanced at her. Instead, they only cast irritated looks at Eugene as he roughly forced his way through the crowd.

'A ghost?'

He couldn't sense any presence from Senya, though she was right in front of him. He reached out again and again, but couldn't touch her. He felt none of a living person's warmth. Yet she wasn't cold, either.

He simply felt nothing. Like an illusion or a ghost, she was unmistakably before his eyes, yet he had no sense that she actually existed.

Senya stopped walking. Eugene stopped as well. She turned her head, and he lowered his outstretched hand. Since he couldn't touch her no matter how he reached, he saw no point in trying again.

He saw her face. As he'd thought, the portrait in the mansion and the statue outside the tower looked better than the real thing.

In the portrait, Senya's disgruntled expression had softened into a benevolent smile.

The statue wore a proud, confident smile.

The Senya before him wore neither. Irritation and exhaustion lingered around her eyes. Those lips had never stopped grumbling, day in and day out. At least her face was exactly as Eugene remembered.

He wondered what expression he should make, then settled for giving her a grin. A thought suddenly struck him. Even if he smiled like this, Senya wouldn't recognize him. He'd called to her several times from behind without any response, so she probably couldn't hear his voice, either.

But if she'd turned around anyway...

Didn't that mean she could see him?

"Here."

Eugene promptly raised his middle finger at Senya.

She blinked at the sight. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. Then she chuckled. That laugh, too, was exactly as he remembered.

Senya moved her lips. He couldn't hear her voice, but she moved them slowly, as though trying to convey her meaning without sound.

Found you.

Her lips moved three times.

Then Senya vanished before Eugene's eyes. Like smoke dispersing, her figure faded away. For a while, he stood motionless, staring at the place where she'd disappeared.

"I found you, too."

With a chuckle, Eugene turned around.

"Senya Merdein."

He murmured her name. His heart wasn't heavy. Senya wasn't dead. He was certain of it. What had stood before him moments ago wasn't a ghost or a lingering thought left behind by her death.

It was a phantom created through magic.

'Found you.'

Senya was alive. Alive, and she'd come to find Eugene. How had she known? Because he'd flipped off her portrait? He'd told her to come find him herself if she didn't like it. Had she heard him and come?

'No way.'

The mansion had been preserved for centuries. Countless people passed through it every day, blinded by all sorts of superstitions about passing exams and whatnot, muttering to Senya's portrait. No matter how incredible she was, it would be impossible for her to listen to all those murmurs and find Eugene.

'Maybe she remembered my soul, like Tempest. Or...'

Eugene lowered his gaze to the necklace.

'She came looking for the necklace.'

She'd probably placed some kind of magic on it. He couldn't know which explanation was right.

But one thing was certain.

'Senya knew I'd been reincarnated.'

She might even have intended it.

'She isn't dead.'

But she apparently wasn't in a position to come herself. That must have been why she'd sent a phantom to find him.

"A seal, then."

Eugene murmured with an unconcerned expression.

"Did you do it yourself? Was surviving three hundred years too much even with magic? Or did someone seal you away? Who? A black mage? A Demon King? Either way, you can't move around yourself. Got it."

As he murmured, he stroked the necklace.

"Since you came to find me this time..."

The smile Senya had worn just before dispersing and disappearing wouldn't leave his mind. He'd never known that disagreeable bitch could smile like that.

"I'll come find you next time."

As long as she was alive and not dead, that was enough.

Eugene chuckled and left the square.

Or tried to.

"Where on earth did you run off to in such a hurry?"

"You don't need to know."

"This isn't Gidol. The streets are as tangled as a maze, and there are plenty of nasty, spiteful people. A naive country bumpkin like you, who knows nothing of the world, would make tempting prey."

"Are you fucking calling me a country bumpkin because I told you not to call me a hick? What's the difference between a hick and a country bumpkin?"

"Hick is a derogatory term. Country bumpkin is a statement grounded in reality."

"You goddamn pig."

"That is incorrect. I'm not a pig. Doesn't pig refer to someone plump with fat?"

"You seem awfully proud of your muscles, but they're all size and no substance. Have you already forgotten losing to me at arm wrestling?"

"... I merely let my guard down."

"Let your guard down, my ass. You were straining with all your might before we even started."

Grumbling, Eugene slapped Gargis on the back.

"As far as I'm concerned, your precious muscles look no different from a pig's jiggling fat."

"Don't insult the muscles built with my family's secret muscle-growth tonic."

"I haven't insulted them. I just think it's a waste of well-built muscles. Stop obsessing over making yourself bigger and think about how to use your muscles properly."

"I see..."

Eugene was just saying whatever came to mind, but Gargis's eyes shone as though he'd gained a great revelation.

"You're right. At some point, I seem to have stopped listening to the voice of my muscles and become obsessed with showing them off..."

"Save that nonsense for when you're alone. Show me your Red Flame Formula."

Eugene was at the training ground attached to Gargis's lodgings. As he'd planned at the bank, he'd come to see Gargis's Red Flame Formula firsthand.

"You practice the White Flame Formula. Why are you interested in the Red Flame Formula?"

"I'm curious."

"It's easy enough to show you."

Without questioning him much, Gargis stripped off his top and tossed it aside. Eugene didn't understand why he had to take his clothes off, but he quietly watched rather than making an issue of it. Gargis struck a pose, his bulging muscles rippling.

"... Why are you striking such a revolting pose to use the Red Flame Formula?"

"Because I want to."

"Right..."

Gargis's gaze grew calm. Soon, reddish mana enveloped his entire body. The Red Flame Formula of the Lionheart collateral branches. Eugene could see its difference from the White Flame Formula at a glance.

The density of the mana was incomparable. The way it fluttered like flames resembled the White Flame Formula, but that resemblance was only visual. There would be an enormous difference in power.

"Does the Red Flame Formula split the core, too?"

"Our family's Red Flame Formula has five stars," Gargis answered proudly.

"In the original Red Flame Formula taught by the main family, the core doesn't split. The various collateral branches develop that formula further. Through the efforts of our distinguished ancestors, our family succeeded in increasing its stars to five. As far as I know, you can count on one hand the families whose offshoots of the Red Flame Formula have five stars."

'... Father's family only managed two.'

That was why the Red Flame Formula could never surpass the White Flame Formula. Eugene rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a moment.

"How many stars do you have?"

"Two."

Two stars in the Red Flame Formula. It was incomparably weaker than Eugene's White Flame Formula had been at two stars.

'Even after centuries of development, the Red Flame Formula is limited to five stars. That bastard Vermouth really was a genius.'

The main family's White Flame Formula.

The collateral branches' Red Flame Formula.

'The Red Flame Formula the main family's knights learn doesn't split the core, either.'

Even so, the Red Flame Formula was an outstanding mana-training method. The knights who swore allegiance to the main family took great pride in learning it, alongside the honor of serving Lionheart.

'No matter how I think about it, I don't understand. Vermouth wasn't such a petty bastard...'

He'd kept the White Flame Formula as the main family's secret art, teaching only the Red Flame Formula to the collateral branches and retainers. The main family hadn't used its resources to develop it, either. That task had been left entirely to the collateral branches and retainers. With things arranged that way, the gap between the main family and the collateral branches could never close.

"... Thanks for showing me."

Eugene still couldn't understand Vermouth's actions, but he didn't dwell on them. For now, one thing was clear: the White Flame Formula was superior to the Red Flame Formula.

'I was going to try incorporating the Red Flame Formula if it showed enough promise. There's no need.'

Gargis's family's Red Flame Formula was supposedly among the best of all the collateral branches. Even so, it wasn't worth going out of his way to learn.

'There's no need to add the Red Flame Formula.'

Of course, Eugene hadn't seen its five-star level. But the density and movement of the mana before him were enough to gauge its caliber. He turned away without regret.

"I'm leaving."

"Already? The giant's testicles should arrive soon."

"Enjoy looking at them yourself."

"I've already taken my shirt off and activated the Red Flame Formula. How about a sparring match?"

"I'd win for sure, so what's the point? Forget that and listen to, what was it, the voice of your muscles."

"Wonderful advice..."

Deeply moved, Gargis nodded. He immediately lay down and started doing push-ups, but Eugene didn't look back.

'... Akron.'

Senya's smile still hadn't left his mind.

'They said her last spellbook is there.'

Witch Craft.

'There was nothing noteworthy in the mansion. The statue was the same. Or could there be something in the Green Tower's library?'

The place where Senya had served as tower master.

'I'd look ridiculous poking around the Green Tower for no reason. Should I just wait for Lovellian's recommendation to bring me an entry pass to Akron...?'

Balzac Ludbeth.

The Black Tower Master had offered to write a recommendation as well. With that, Eugene could probably be optimistic about the outcome.

"There's no need to rush."

Murmuring to himself, Eugene entered the Red Tower.

"I'm not the one waiting, anyway."

After waiting three hundred years, she surely wouldn't complain about waiting a little longer.

'Who told you to reincarnate me?'

Instead of returning to his room, Eugene went straight to the elevator and descended to the research wing.

'I'll find you within ten years at the latest. You've waited this long, so just wait a little longer.'

He entered an empty research chamber and closed the door. Casually tossing aside his coat, he set the Moonlight Sword fragment in the center of the chamber.

"Let's examine it one step at a time."

Murmuring, Eugene stared at the fragment. He'd watched it absorb moonlight throughout the early morning. Apart from giving off light, there was nothing unusual about it, but it was unmistakably a fragment of that terrifying Moonlight Sword.

The sword only Vermouth had been able to wield.

"... Hmm."

Eugene slowly activated the White Flame Formula. Replacing the stars at his heart with circles, he cast a spell.

WHOOSH!

An enormous fireball appeared before him. It was a First Circle attack spell, but wrought from the White Flame Formula's mana, the fireball was far too large to seem like First Circle magic.

Even fired with full intent, the fireball failed to burn the Moonlight Sword fragment. The instant it touched, the fragment's mysterious power scattered all its mana.

'It's different from the Devouring Sword.'

Asphel, the Devouring Sword, cut through the structure of magic and swallowed its mana.

'Different from Gedon's Shield, too.'

Gedon's Shield sent any attack that touched it into a void.

'It collapses the structure through contact alone. That's how it scatters the mana.'

He recalled an attack method Vermouth had favored. With Asphel in hand, Vermouth cut down every spell aimed at him and converted it into his own power.

Simply cutting through them was enough for most spells, but Asphel couldn't cut through the magic of high-ranking demons or Demon Kings. That was why the battle against the fifth-ranked Demon King of Carnage had been so grueling.

But after he acquired the Moonlight Sword, even the magic of demons and Demon Kings could no longer touch Vermouth. Any spell scattered the moment it met the Moonlight Sword. He would immediately swing Asphel to swallow the scattered power, then follow through with an attack.

'... That little fragment won't be able to scatter high-level magic.'

But it could instantly disperse low-level spells.

'And yet its power is blocked just by putting it in a wooden box.'

The Moonlight Sword's power activated only through direct contact with mana. In fact, Eugene had used the White Flame Formula naturally while carrying the wooden box against his chest.

'Just carrying it against my chest would let me counter an unexpected attack.'

It was a crude approach. But wasn't the fragment itself crude?

"Then let's do this the crude way."

Grinning happily, Eugene drew Wynnyd.

'If my mana doesn't collapse against that fragment... '

Mana drawn out through the White Flame Formula enveloped Wynnyd.

'If the magic I cast doesn't collapse... '

He cast magic alongside his sword aura. Dozens of Magic Missiles circled around him.

'The cohesion of my mana will grow stronger than my current mastery of the White Flame Formula allows.'