Chapter 73 - Damn Reincarnation

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As Eugene stepped through the warp gate, he faltered briefly under the dozens of gazes fixed on him. He had expected it, but every member of the main family's household had gathered in front of the gate.

"... It's cold out. Why are you all standing here?"

He had been about to say he was home, but decided there was no need and offered a breezy remark instead.

"My son!"

An answer came immediately. Gerhard, whose shoulders had been trembling some distance away, rushed toward Eugene with tears streaming down his face. That shout, those nimble movements... Eugene's eyes widened involuntarily as he stared at his approaching father.

'Is that really my father?'

Gerhard's transformation was astonishing enough to make him wonder. Ever since Eugene was a newborn, the Gerhard he remembered had been a middle-aged man with a jiggling belly.

After coming to the main estate, he had managed to lose a reasonable amount of weight by attending various functions and exercising on his own. But the Gerhard Eugene saw now, after two years apart, was utterly different from his memories.

"What a triumph of willpower."

Gerhard embraced Eugene, sobbing freely. Eugene was glad to see his father again, but he was even more impressed by his weight loss. Tendons rippled in the forearms wrapped around his shoulders, and the chest pressing tightly against him was firm, without a trace of flab.

"... Your beard seems rather overgrown. Don't tell me..."

"It's all thanks to my dear friend Sterod."

Sterod. Gargis's father. Had they become close enough for Gerhard to treat him like an older brother? From this close, Eugene could smell Gargis on his father... Grimacing, he pulled out of the embrace.

"I told you not to take that medicine."

"My son! You've grown so much in two years..."

"Not as much as you have, Father."

His body had hardened and his beard had grown bushy, but apparently his personality hadn't become any more manly. Gerhard shook his beard, damp with tears and snot, and smiled broadly at Eugene.

"You naughty boy. How could you go two whole years without coming home once?"

"I thought I wrote pretty often..."

"You call twice a year often?"

"My birthday and yours. I never missed an occasion worth celebrating, did I? And you can't put all the blame on me. You never came to visit me in those two years, either."

"You always added a postscript telling me not to come."

"True enough."

Eugene chuckled and nodded.

"But... where is the family head?"

"At Black Lion Castle."

It wasn't Gerhard who answered. Standing beside Cyan, Anisilla composed her stiff expression and gave Eugene a gentle smile.

"Next year is almost upon us, after all. The coming-of-age ceremony. You know about it, don't you?"

"Ah..."

The Bloodline Succession Ceremony was a Lionheart tradition attended by everyone from both the main family and the collateral branches. The coming-of-age ceremony, however, was only for the main family's children.

Eward, the main family's legitimate son, had come of age two years ago. Ordinarily, he would have undergone the ceremony first, but his involvement with black magic had left him all but disowned by the main family, and he had never received a coming-of-age ceremony.

"The last ceremony was skipped, and three children will be coming of age next year. It seems they intend to make it a little grander than usual."

"Is that the family head's wish?"

"It's the Council of Elders' wish."

Eugene smacked his lips at the answer. Then, remembering that he still hadn't greeted Anisilla, he bowed his head.

"My apologies for the late greeting, Second Mother."

When he lived at the main estate, Eugene had called Anisilla his Second Mother and Theonis his First Mother. He hadn't actually wanted to address them that way, but from the moment he became an adopted son, Anisilla had subtly pressured him to call her Mother.

And if he called Anisilla Second Mother, wouldn't addressing Theonis differently invite disapproval? Even after two years, the words "Second Mother" still felt awkward on his tongue.

"... There's no need for formal greetings between family members."

Now that Theonis had left the main estate, might Anisilla resent being called Second Mother? Eugene had been testing that possibility, but she showed no sign of it.

'Well, going back to her parents' home was Theonis's own decision in the first place.'

She simply couldn't return now.

"The family head isn't here, but we should still have a welcome-home party, shouldn't we?"

"Why go to the trouble of a party between family members? I don't need all that fuss."

"I thought you would say that."

Anisilla had only offered for the sake of offering. Eugene had never enjoyed parties.

"... By the way... who is that gentleman?"

Gerhard, who had been vigorously wiping away his tears, ventured the question. He glanced at Raman, standing awkwardly behind Eugene. His skin color alone made it clear that he wasn't from Kiel.

"My squire."

"... Your squire?"

"Yes. His name is Raman Shulhob, and he's... uh... Raman, how old are you?"

"Thirty-two."

Raman cleared his throat before answering. Thirty-two. That made him thirteen years older than Eugene.

"You look older than your age."

"The desert winds are harsh..."

"I brought him here myself, and I can vouch for him. I call him my squire, but I won't be teaching him anything. I'll just keep him at the annex and have him do odd jobs."

Anisilla and the rest of the main family's household regarded Raman warily. He could only flinch under their gazes and let his shoulders slump.

As a warrior serving the emir of Kajitan, Raman had attended many different functions and seen outstanding warriors. But among all the warriors he had encountered in his life, very few could match the knights here at the Lionheart main estate.

'In both individual skill and numbers, they're leagues beyond the emir of Kajitan's warriors...'

Should a family without even a noble title possess such an outstanding order of knights? Raman couldn't reconcile it with his understanding of the world. And the knights he could see weren't even all of them. The Lionhearts' true strength lay in the Black Lion Knights. Raman knew that very well.

'With this much military strength, they could plot a rebellion whenever they wished... '

Of course, in its centuries of history, the Lionheart family had never once plotted rebellion against the Kiel Empire. Even so, Raman felt its power was excessive for a single family.

'And my lord is this great family's adopted son.'

Raman's heart swelled as he glanced at Eugene. Eugene had saved his life repeatedly.

Without Eugene, Raman would have died in the sandstorm or sunk into quicksand. Even if he had survived those, the assassins and sandcasters would have silenced him. Or Amelia Merwin would have killed him deep underground, or her pet would have. Or he might have failed to escape and starved to death.

Though he had been dragged into all of those ordeals because of Eugene, Raman believed he ought to repay Eugene's kindness with his life. That conviction had led him to leave Tairi Al-Madani and become Eugene's subordinate.

Even if he ended up a mere handyman at the estate, whatever work he did for Eugene would allow him to repay that debt little by little.

"Nina."

Eugene beckoned to Nina, who was waiting nearby. At twenty-two, she no longer retained the youthful look she had possessed two years ago. He frowned as he examined her slender frame.

"Have you been skipping meals because I wasn't here? Or has someone been giving you a hard time? Why do you look so worn out?"

"You announced your return so suddenly, Young Master. I've been rather busy."

"You're not the only person working at the annex. What could have kept you so busy and worn you out? Did someone tell you to do all the work yourself? Was it that head-servant woman?"

As Eugene's eyes narrowed, the head servant standing farther back went pale.

"N-no, sir."

"I volunteered to do it myself. You haven't changed, Lord Eugene."

The head servant supervised all the servants employed by the Lionhearts, but the annex where Eugene stayed was forbidden territory that even she dared not interfere with.

Eugene knew that, too. He had simply been probing to see whether any of the other servants had bullied Nina during his long absence.

"Good, then. Nina, take this fellow with you and teach him some jobs."

"What sort of jobs should I teach him?"

"Cleaning the stables and the training grounds... and, well... anything you don't want to do. The annoying jobs that need muscle."

"Are you sure that's all right? He's your squire, Lord Eugene..."

"He's my squire, so he has to do what I tell him. Raman, this is Nina, my personal attendant. Technically, you could call her your immediate senior."

"My name is Raman Shulhob."

His senior... Raman looked at Nina with an uneasy expression. Before they arrived at the main estate, Eugene had told him about the important people in the Lionheart family. Nina, a servant, had been included among those "important people."

'I have to defer to a young woman ten years younger than me...?'

He had pledged his life to Eugene, but deep in his heart, Raman still retained the pride of a rugged desert warrior. Of course, that pride did not venture out of those depths.

The injuries from Eugene's beating had already healed, but Raman was still afraid of his fists.

* * *

"Why the long face?"

Saying they should let the brothers catch up, Anisilla led the household away. Gerhard, who had learned to read the room during his time at the main estate, naturally went with her, while Nina took Raman back to the annex.

That left only Eugene and Cyan in front of the warp gate. Eugene grinned as he addressed Cyan, whose face was drawn into a deep scowl.

"Even Lady Anisilla smiled and said it had been a long time. Didn't you miss me at all? What's with that face? Need to take a shit?"

"... You were so careful to call her Second Mother while she was here."

"That's what makes Lady Anisilla comfortable, isn't it?"

"Who are you to concern yourself with my mother's feelings?"

"What's gotten into you, asshole? Going through late puberty like Ciel? Can't be. You already went through that at fifteen. Forgotten already? Stealing the knights' cigarettes and sneaking off to smoke..."

"Sh-shut up."

Cyan spat the words, his face turning bright red. He glared at Eugene for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

"... What the hell are you?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Are you really... nineteen, the same age as me?"

"Want the truth? I'm not your age. I reincarnated."

"Quit bullshitting."

Why ask what he was if he wouldn't believe an honest answer? Eugene clicked his tongue and gave Cyan's shoulder a light tap.

"What? Seeing me after so long really drives home how amazing your brother is?"

"Yeah."

What was wrong with this bastard? He was making things awkward. Eugene blinked at Cyan's frank answer.

"Two years for you, two years for me. The same two years passed for both of us... but you... look like you've had twenty."

Cyan spoke in a seething voice. He opened and closed his fists, which he had clenched so tightly that the blood had stopped flowing, and sighed at length.

"I think I worked incredibly hard, too. While you were learning magic, I... stayed here and swung my sword like a madman. I trained in the White Flame Formula, too. Turned sword aura into sword force, worked on maintaining that sword force, honed my mana..."

"You did work hard."

Eugene murmured as he looked Cyan up and down. Compared with two years ago, Cyan's mana had increased beyond recognition and become far more refined. He couldn't assess it precisely, but Cyan seemed to have passed the White Flame Formula's third star long ago.

That was an extraordinary achievement, one matched by only a handful of people in Lionheart history. Over three hundred years, only a few had reached the White Flame Formula's third star before coming of age.

Even so, competing with Eugene was impossible. Eugene had already reached the White Flame Formula's fourth star, and beyond that, he had created the Ring Flame Formula.

That gap could not be closed. It had never been a fair competition in the first place. To Eugene, who retained his past life as Hamel and all its memories, the support Cyan received by being born into the main family was nothing remarkable.

Nor had Eugene taken things easy in his second life. Why hadn't he trained his mana before the Bloodline Succession Ceremony? Because he knew that beginning a few years later would put him at no disadvantage.

By waiting without violating the family's rules, Eugene had obtained Vermouth the Great's White Flame Formula and Wynnyd, the Storm Sword. Those had accelerated his growth explosively.

Eugene was now stronger than Hamel had been when he first met Vermouth. In another ten years at the latest, he would reach—no, surpass—the strength of his previous life.

'He's done pretty well, really.'

Knowing his own circumstances, Eugene took it for granted that he was stronger than Cyan. Whatever happened from here on, Cyan would never become stronger than him.

Eugene knew that, but Cyan didn't. To Cyan, Eugene must seem like a monster who made it perfectly reasonable to think the heavens were unfair.

It would have been understandable if he despaired and lost heart. Yet instead of despair, Cyan felt frustration.

Eugene liked that reaction. Admittedly, Cyan felt this way because Eugene had spent years patiently beating him up and reshaping his mindset. But if his innate nature had been truly wretched, no amount of beating would have changed him like this.

"You should become the family head."

"I suppose twins really are twins."

"I heard what Ciel said, but now that I've seen you myself, I just can't do it. How can I become the family head when you're incomparably better than me?"

"Why can't you? If you want to do it, do it."

"I can't accept that!"

"If you really want to make me the family head, duel me. If you win, I'll do whatever you say."

"... If I beat you in a duel, why would I make you the family head? I should be the family head, since I beat you."

"You're sharper than I thought."

"What?"

Eugene murmured with a little admiration, while Cyan glared daggers at him.

"Do you think anything good will come of forcing someone into the position when he doesn't want it? A position like that should go to someone with the drive for it. I have no desire to become the Lionheart family head."

"... Take the position, even if it's only in name. I'll do the things you don't want to do."

"Do you know what that means? You'll never marry or set up your own household. You'll stick around the main estate and wait on me for the rest of your life? You, with all your pride?"

"..."

"Besides, you know I can turn those same words right back on you, don't you? You become the family head. I'll handle anything that needs muscle."

"I just don't understand."

Cyan shook his head with a deep sigh.

"Is it because you're from a collateral branch? No, that should make you want the position even more. If you become the family head... you'll shatter centuries of Lionheart tradition. But nobody will be able to oppose your wishes. Not the Black Lion Knights, not the Council of Elders. They'll have no choice but to acknowledge you."

"You don't know that."

"No, they will. Me, Ciel, and Eward... that moron. We're the three people supposed to compete with you, and none of us can compare. Tradition or not, for the Lionheart family's sake, you ought to become its head."

"What's so great about the Lionheart family?"

Eugene sneered, twisting his lips. Hamel's ruined tomb. The sealed Moonlight Sword. The vanished Senya. Anise, who must have wandered the desert without reaching the tomb. He thought of all of them.

And Vermouth.

He pictured that bastard's face.

"The Lionheart family might mean a great deal to you, but it doesn't mean that much to me."

"... Watch your mouth."

"What's there to watch? Everyone complains about the family they were born into."

"We... you shouldn't say things like that. You've benefited from being born into the main family. Can you deny that your absurd talent manifested because you inherited so much of our ancestor's blood?"

"No."

Eugene acknowledged what deserved acknowledging. This body was exceptional because it descended from Vermouth. With his past-life memories, he could have become strong even in a worthless body, but he owed his rapid growth to the excellence of the body he had been born with.

Once, that would have made him happy. Even if he couldn't understand why he had reincarnated as Vermouth's descendant of all things, and even if the fact that the Demon Kings were still alive and well was fucking awful, reincarnating with his memories intact could be called a miracle.

But it wasn't a miracle, was it?

Eugene's—Hamel's—reincarnation had been intentional. Vermouth was probably responsible. The Demon King of Incarceration knew about it, too, and Senya and Vermouth had clashed during the process.

His companions.

From his previous life.

'To reincarnate me.'

Why him, of all people?

"I'm not changing my mind."

Eugene felt disillusioned. That man who had seemed beyond human—the superhuman, the Hero, the Great, the All-Master, the God of War. Vermouth. What had he been thinking? What had he hoped to accomplish by doing this? Why had he faked his death, fought a companion who had survived countless brushes with death alongside him, and arranged this reincarnation?

If he was still that full of life, they could simply have joined forces again and fought the Demon Kings.

"You're the one who's going to become the family head, Cyan. I'm not taking that damn position. If you really want to change my mind, try doing it by force."

Vermouth's family, the Lionhearts. Eugene had never felt any great attachment to or pride in this family.

That remained true now. He had lived nineteen years as Eugene Lionheart, but he couldn't feel attachment or pride in belonging to this family.

Gilead, the family head, was a good man.

Gion? He was a good man, too. Although both belonged to the main family's legitimate line, neither had ever mistreated Eugene.

Anisilla, well... her outward kindness surely came from wanting something, but compared with Theonis, she could be called an angel.

Cyan and Ciel had made terrible first impressions, but after living with them for several years, he had grown fond of them, even if he wouldn't go so far as to call it brotherly affection.

Gargis... He thought that hulking fellow who reminded him of Moron was a good kid, too.

Gerhard? That went without saying. Eugene loved his father.

Even so, he couldn't feel attachment to or pride in the family.

"... A duel's a bit much."

Cyan had no choice but to admit that he couldn't change Eugene's mind. He hadn't rejected the Lionheart name so vehemently before. Had something changed in him over the last two years?

'Maybe he's going through puberty, too.'

With a bitter taste in his mouth, Cyan grasped the sword at his waist.

"It's been a while. Let's spar."

"I'll tell you now, no matter what you try, you won't beat me."

"I know, you bastard."

Insufferable prick. Cyan shoved Eugene's shoulder lightly as he walked past.