Chapter 75 - Damn Reincarnation

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“Black Lion Castle?”

Eugene raised his head, his eyes sparkling. Across from him, Cyan was eating rice—no, air. His mouth hung half open as he spooned empty air into it, looking half out of his mind.

It was because of the book Eugene had given him. Three days had passed since Eugene returned to the main estate. For Cyan’s sake, he had written a book himself—no, with magic—and presented it to him.

“... Yes.”

Anisilla answered. Though she glared at her son, who had lost himself in a book during his meal, she could not quite bring herself to scold him. As his mother, should she encourage his growth, or sternly reprimand him for staring at a damn book at the dinner table and shoveling air into his mouth?

“... I thought the elders from Black Lion Castle would come here for the coming-of-age ceremony. Instead, they’ve invited you children to come to Black Lion Castle yourselves.”

“Huh... Hoo... Hmm...”

Cyan responded, his lips moving vacantly. This was not an expression of amazement at Anisilla’s words. Despite feeling his head spin, he remained utterly absorbed in the book.

‘Does this even make sense? Is it actually possible?’

Contrary to Cyan’s expectations, Eugene’s book contained no explanations of parrying or combat techniques.

It merely listed ways to torment his core to an appalling degree. Draw mana from the core, spread it throughout the body, and circulate it. Treat the core like a heart, and mana like blood. Once that became so familiar he could do it unconsciously, he was to move his body using mana alone instead of muscular strength...

This resembled physical training, an antiquated method that had vanished after being supplanted by cores and mana breathing techniques. It cultivated mana primarily through movement. However, while the original method accumulated mana through bodily movement, Cyan had already formed a core through the White Flame Formula.

Thus, he was to actively use the mana he had accumulated. More than actively—he was to exclude everything but mana. Once accustomed to moving his body with mana alone, he was to stop his core from operating. Without using his core, he would reshape his body so that mana naturally accompanied its movements.

‘Did this bastard just scribble down whatever came into his head?’

From Cyan’s perspective, this training made no sense whatsoever. How was he supposed to draw out mana without operating his core? No, that was not even the first problem. Circulate mana from his core like blood, and use nothing but mana to move? Even muscles grew exhausted and tore with overuse. How much worse would it be for mana?

The mana in a core was not an inexhaustible power source to begin with. This book would have him wring out every last drop. If he followed it to the letter, he would exhaust all his mana and collapse.

Repeating that would damage his core and disperse his mana. And then? He would be reduced to a wreck, unable to wield mana for the rest of his life.

“... You... seriously expect me to do this?”

“That’s what I did.”

“Bullshit!”

“Now, now. What’s with that language at the dinner table? Can’t you feel Second Mother glaring at you?”

“Gah.”

Startled, Cyan snapped the book shut. Sure enough, Anisilla was sitting beside him, her eyes wide with a murderous glare.

Reading at the dinner table and spooning air into his mouth—she had barely managed to tolerate those. But she could not tolerate this nasty disposition of his, fiercely questioning the instruction before showing any gratitude for it.

“Cyan.”

“Yes...”

“Apologize to Eugene... to your brother. He went so far as to write a book himself for your sake, didn’t he?”

“... S... S...”

‘You lunatic! You’re fucking laughing at me while telling me to do something impossible!’

Such outrage erupted in Cyan’s heart, but with Anisilla glaring at him, he could not possibly say it aloud. In the end, he bowed his head and mumbled.

“Sorry...”

“As long as you understand. I really did get stronger that way, so quit wasting your time doubting it and work hard. You can do it.”

It was not a lie. In his previous life, Hamel had cultivated mana through physical training until Vermouth and Senya corrected his methods. Cores be damned—he simply believed mana would take root if he tore his muscles, made his bones creak, and pushed his body to the brink of death.

And it actually had. It was a cheap mana-training method used by mercenaries. In that era, the corpses of monsters, demonic beasts, humans, and sometimes even demons lay strewn wherever one went. Fighting and war never ceased. For a mercenary who lived by the sword to improve his lot, he had to fight better and more often than anyone else.

It was a profession in which abusing one’s body was only natural.

‘... Though I did rework it in my own way.’

As he mastered that cheap training method, he had made it more useful. On top of that, he had adapted it to suit the White Flame Formula.

“The little bastard can’t even thank me with tears in his eyes...”

“Eugene.”

“Well, an apology is enough. He can shed his tears later.”

Eugene did not want to argue with Anisilla.

“Whether you like it or not, that training will have you crying and your nose running. But remember this, Cyan. Tears and snot aren’t enough. If anything’s still coming out of your body, it means you’ve got something left to spare. You have to push until even the tears and snot stop, until you’re shitting and pissing yourself and coughing up blood.”

Cyan, who had been idly stroking the book’s cover, flinched at those words and hunched his shoulders.

“Only then might you get close enough to step on my shadow. You need to be at least that good to become the Lionheart family head.”

“... Obnoxious bastard.”

“Oh, that’s sweet. I don’t know why I love hearing people call me obnoxious so much.”

Eugene grinned, showing his teeth, then turned to Anisilla.

“So, Second Mother. When should we go to Black Lion Castle?”

“... They said to come as soon as you’re ready.”

“Then let’s go right now. They’ll have everything we need there, so we only need to bring ourselves, right? Hey, Cyan. That works for you too, doesn’t it?”

“Uh... Yeah.”

Black Lion Castle? What about Black Lion Castle? Cyan’s eyes darted about. He had been too engrossed in the book to hear the conversation. Still, he could not simply remain silent, so he offered a hesitant answer.

‘Perfect.’

Eugene inwardly rejoiced.

No, should he really be pleased about this?

He gave it serious thought as he left the dining room.

Mount Uklas. Black Lion Castle lay deep within it. Even members of the Lionheart family could not enter freely. To enter Black Lion Castle, one had to have one’s abilities recognized and receive a summons from the Black Lion Knights.

That recognition was not easily granted, no matter how badly one wished to join the Black Lion Knights. The Council of Elders judged whether someone had the qualities of a Black Lion.

The only exceptions were children of the main family who relinquished their succession rights. Ciel had been able to enter the Black Lion Knights at such a young age and become Carmen’s squire because she had renounced her claim.

“Black Lion Castle... This is the first time the main family’s coming-of-age ceremony has ever been held elsewhere.”

Now that he had finally learned what was happening, Cyan could not hide his excitement. He chattered away, cradling the book tucked inside his clothes.

“Well, it makes sense. Thanks to that bastard Eward, we’re bound to have the Council of Elders’ attention as Father’s sons.”

“... Are we?”

“Of course. Father’s been in a very difficult position for a long time. Know why?”

“Eward. And me, I suppose.”

Eugene’s answer was nonchalant. He was not so oblivious as to miss even that. Changing the format of the Bloodline Succession Ceremony alone would have earned disapproving looks, but Gilead had immediately adopted Eugene, a child of a collateral branch, and even taken Wynnyd from the main family’s Treasury to put into his hands.

Even for Gilead, that must have meant accepting an enormous burden and considerable criticism. He had never let it show, but Eugene could easily imagine that this stuffy family’s traditions would not graciously accommodate his decisions.

“Maybe they’re trying to enforce discipline,” Cyan said, looking serious.

“They’re summoning a troublemaker like you to give you a warning.”

“And you?”

“I’m going to be the next family head, so perhaps they want to congratulate me in advance? Maybe... Maybe...”

Cyan’s breathing quickened. His eyes shone with excitement, and he clenched his trembling fists.

“Maybe they’ll let me enter our ancestor’s tomb.”

Eugene did not share Cyan’s excitement.

Instead, his chest went cold, as though ice had been poured into it.

Mount Uklas.

It was where Vermouth had lived the longest, and where a tomb honored his memory. However, the tomb’s location on the mountain was a closely guarded secret. Even the Lionheart family head knew little about their ancestor’s tomb.

‘I need to open that coffin.’

Eugene desperately wanted to inspect Vermouth’s tomb. Vermouth had not died peacefully, as history claimed.

Surely he had not.

To turn that belief into certainty, Eugene needed to examine Vermouth’s corpse.

“... Maybe they want to appoint me as the master of the Demonic Spear?”

Cyan was still excited.

“No, maybe they want to make me the master of the Crushing Hammer instead. Either would be amazing...! Even Father never became the master of the Demonic Spear or the Crushing Hammer.”

Ruinthos, the Demonic Spear.

Jigollas, the Crushing Hammer.

Weapons wielded by the Demon King of Cruelty and the Demon King of Carnage, respectively. Those two weapons were kept at Black Lion Castle, not in the main family’s Treasury.

The master of Ruinthos, the Demonic Spear, was Doynes Lionheart, the Immortal White Lion, head of the Council of Elders and the oldest member of the Lionheart family.

Jigollas, the Crushing Hammer, had belonged to Gilead’s father, the previous family head, who had died long ago. After his death, the hammer had been moved from the vulnerable main estate to Black Lion Castle on the grounds that it was “too dangerous.”

Its current master was Doynes’s grandson, Dominic Lionheart, captain of the Black Lion Knights’ First Division.

“The head of the Council of Elders is terribly old, isn’t he? He’s long past retirement age. Perhaps he means to retire and pass the Demonic Spear on to me?”

“How would I know?”

“I only know the basics of spearmanship... No, that doesn’t matter. I can learn it from scratch. If I receive the Demonic Spear, Lord Doynes will teach me himself.”

The Demonic Spear and the Crushing Hammer.

Recalling those deadly, horrific weapons, Eugene slipped a hand inside his cloak. The Moonlight Sword lay sheathed within it.

He had wondered whether it might react somehow once he returned to the main estate. But the Moonlight Sword had shown none of the response he had hoped for.

“... Hmm.”

After shaking off Cyan, who kept trying to follow him, Eugene returned to his room in the annex and drew the Moonlight Sword. The damned cursed sword still sucked in his mana every time he drew it. Narrowing his eyes, he studied its softly glowing blade.

At the base of the blade, a tiny fragment floated.

It was the fragment of the Moonlight Sword he had won at the auction house on Bolero Street. That little piece resonated with the Moonlight Sword and had become part of its blade.

‘If I gather the fragments... I think I could restore it completely.’

The fragment had been found in the Kazad Hills of Helmuth. With the Demon King of Incarceration weighing on his mind, he could not go there just yet.

‘No need to rush. Take it slowly. First, I need to find Vermouth’s tomb.’

Even that would be no easy task. Vermouth’s tomb was somewhere even the Lionheart family head could not freely enter, and whose location he did not know. Gilead was fond of Eugene, but those bastards in the Council of Elders probably would not be.

Could he find Vermouth’s tomb without them noticing?

“First my tomb, now Vermouth’s.”

Anyone watching would think he was a grave robber. Grumbling, Eugene put the Moonlight Sword back inside his cloak.

‘Who knew I’d be leaving again barely a few days after returning to the main estate?’

Eugene peered at Hamel’s statue and memorial stone stored inside his cloak.

‘... What should I do with these?’

He had brought them because he simply could not bear to leave them buried.

But there was nowhere suitable to put them. Had Gilead been here, Eugene had intended to talk him into letting him erect them on the main estate. With Gilead absent, that was no longer an option.

‘... No, wait.’

Eugene grinned at the thought that suddenly occurred to him.

* * *

Unlike Eugene, Cyan spent half a day preparing to visit Black Lion Castle. He slicked his ash-gray hair back with pomade, dressed in a smart uniform, and even draped a cloak over his shoulders.

“Going to meet a prospective bride?”

“Are you going on a picnic?”

Cyan clicked his tongue at Eugene, who looked no different from usual. He wore the same everyday clothes as before, with only a cloak added. He was not even wearing a sword.

‘That cloak...’

The Cloak of Darkness. Cyan had heard about it too. Secretly, he envied Eugene’s cloak. It was so splendid that it looked impressive even when casually thrown over his shoulders. On top of that, it had various convenient enchantments built in, and even extradimensional storage...

“Stare all you like. I’m not giving it to you.”

“I-I didn’t ask you to.”

Cyan answered hastily and walked past Eugene. Mount Uklas was far from the capital. Even by carriage, the journey would take a full month, so they had to use a warp gate.

Even that gate could not be used at will. To travel directly there, Black Lion Castle had to open the warp gate at its end.

“The gate is open.”

The mage overseeing the warp gate stepped back. Mana concentrated within the gate tore through space, opening a path to distant Mount Uklas.

“Cyan. Make sure you conduct yourself in a manner we can be proud of,” Anisilla said.

“My son... I believe in you.”

Gerhard spoke while holding back tears. Eugene stared at him in disbelief.

“Father, do you have to cry every time I go somewhere?”

“Leaving only three days after coming home...”

“It’s not as if I’m going somewhere unrelated to the family. I’m just visiting our senior elders. I’ll charm them and come back with plenty of spending money, so don’t worry about me, Father. Just make sure you eat your meals on time.”

As he spoke, Eugene turned his head.

“You heard that, right? Keep Father entertained so he doesn’t get bored, and force him to eat if he skips his meals.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Raman had shaved off his bushy beard and put on a butler’s uniform. Why was he, a valiant desert warrior, dressed like this? Even Raman himself did not quite know the answer...

“... You aren’t taking me with you?”

“Why would I take you?”

“Well... I am your trusted retainer, my lord...”

“Since when are you my trusted retainer? If anyone is, it’s Nina, not you.”

“Then am I coming along?”

Nina tilted her head as she asked. Eugene gave an incredulous laugh and waved his hand.

“They only invited Cyan and me. Why does everyone keep trying to come along? Stop talking nonsense and take good care of my father with Raman. If anyone bothers you while I’m gone, don’t just bottle it up. Tell Raman.”

“Hmm...!”

Raman’s eyes shone with resolve as he cast a sidelong look at the Lionheart knights. Could he beat them in a fight? No, would Lionheart knights even persecute a mere servant in the first place? Raman did not know that either.

“Let’s go.”

Eugene patted Cyan on the back and headed for the warp gate. A little tense, Cyan watched Eugene walk calmly ahead, then hurried after him.

The light of the warp gate swallowed them both.

A leap across an immense distance. Having experienced it several times already, Eugene remained unruffled and enjoyed the floating sensation of the warp.

“... What...”

But before long, he had no choice but to be bewildered.

“What the hell is this?”

Eugene blurted out the words in disbelief.

The warp had ended.

“Aaaaaah!”

Cyan’s scream came from far away. Eugene turned his head to find him. In the distance, he could see Cyan plummeting downward.

The same was true of Eugene. Naturally, passing through one warp gate should have brought them out at another. Instead, Eugene and Cyan had arrived in the sky, and even now they were falling toward the ground.

‘This is...’

Eugene opened his eyes wide and looked ahead.

A vast mountain range.

“Playing rough right from the start, huh?”

Grumbling, Eugene spread his cloak.