An elixir is mana that a mage has artificially converted into liquid form.
It allows mana absorption faster than respiration, but the production process inevitably introduces impurities.
It couldn't be used to awaken the Mage Tower.
But in combat, it could temporarily allow me to cast spells above the Second Circle.
"Julian, take the Vice Commander."
I rose to my feet, and Julian drew his blade and leveled it. I stared Mozar down and recalled memories of my previous life.
After fleeing the North, the surviving territory's people had begged Mozar for help. A desperate plea—just support them until they could find work.
Giving him every benefit of the doubt, fine—maybe he could have refused to help.
But what I could never forgive was how he'd deceived them.
He'd shown the desperate refugees false compassion, then sold them into slavery.
He'd crushed their last thread of hope without mercy. That was what I could never forgive.
"I'll take Mozar."
"You talk like you can beat me with ease. A terminal bastard who's about to croak!"
While wandering around the capital as a drifter, I'd heard about the territory's people being sold into slavery because of Mozar.
Enraged, I'd stormed straight to Mozar to avenge them. But far from getting revenge, I'd barely escaped with my life.
I hadn't even reached the Second Circle back then. But things were different now.
I'd taken elixirs, and I had the knowledge of the Eighth Circle.
"I'm not losing. Not a chance."
It had been a long time since I'd actually fought, but there was no tension. I'd brought Julian along because I needed a witness.
Rattled by my confidence, Mozar thrust his hand out with desperate speed.
Magic is the art of computing a formula and channeling magical power through it.
That part had nothing to do with Circles—it was all effort and talent.
SLICE.
The magic circle forming in front of Mozar's hand shattered. At the same time, his hand dropped to the floor.
"......Ah."
It was only after the blood fountained upward that Mozar seemed to realize what had happened.
"AAAGH!"
He clutched his spurting wrist and groaned in agony.
"What kind of trick did you pull?"
Veins bulging on his forehead, he glared at me with venom.
"Second Circle magic, Wind Cutter. About as basic as it gets."
"Magic?"
At the Eighth Circle, I could cast a spell like that with my eyes closed.
In other words, my casting speed was overwhelmingly faster than his.
Mozar's eyes darted side to side in confusion.
He'd cast first, yet I'd beaten him on speed—that could only mean a decisive gap in skill.
"Don't f*ck with me!"
He refused to give up, thrusting his remaining hand forward. This time the formula deployed even faster.
"I have the elemental advantage."
It was Rock Missile—a Second Circle spell that conjured a boulder and hurled it.
Wind magic was generally weak against earth. Going for that matchup meant his head worked fast. He had grit, too.
That was all, though.
"Who told you the advantage was yours?"
Fights are won by whoever hides and prepares more. That was something I'd learned with blood and bone during my wanderer days.
This time, a jet of water erupted from my hand. It collided with the incoming boulder and froze it solid on contact.
The water seeped into the rock's microscopic grain and split it apart like a watermelon cracking open.
"......Ice magic?"
Mozar's voice came out hollow. His shock made sense. Ice magic was a fusion of water and wind affinities.
Not the kind of spell a mere Second Circle mage would wield.
"This is impossible. How am I losing to some bedridden bastard...... Do you have any idea how much money I poured into learning magic?!"
Looking down at Mozar, quaking with indignation and fear, I dropped the formalities.
"If money were all it took, every Archmage would be a noble."
Wrong.
Only someone mad enough to devote their entire life to magic could reach the higher realms.
Or someone who had no choice but to devote their life to it.
I walked straight toward Mozar.
"Stay away......!"
Knowing he'd already lost, Mozar still thrust his hand out on reflex.
"Enough."
CRACK.
"Ah."
Mozar let out a groan of despair. His hand had frozen solid.
"P-please, spare me."
"I have no intention of killing you. The territory has laws for that."
He'd be sentenced to death once he stood trial anyway. No need to dirty my own hands.
Still, there was a chance he'd lash out in desperation.
I kicked Mozar's frozen hand—hard.
What was left of it shattered and tumbled across the floor.
A mage's hands are the conduits for magical power. Without hands, he couldn't cast spells.
"GAAAH!"
"Magic isn't meant to be used by scum like you."
Leaving Mozar writhing on the ground, I turned my attention to Julian.
He was locked in a fierce battle that had already put cracks in the walls.
The clash of steel on steel sent sharp, ringing shockwaves through the room.
I considered stepping in to help, but decided against it.
Julian was inching ahead. The Vice Commander was visibly being pushed back.
Julian had been extraordinarily talented even in my previous life.
If he hadn't died because of me in the North, he would have reached great heights with the sword.
A flower that never got the chance to bloom—this time, I intended to cultivate it properly.
"Huff...... Are we done here?"
"I— I surrender."
At last, Julian's blade came to rest against the Vice Commander's throat. The Vice Commander dropped his sword and raised both hands.
Julian whipped around to look my way.
"Quick, we need to help Lord Lumio—"
The intensity of his own fight had kept him from noticing that mine was already over.
A gap born of inexperience.
The Vice Commander snatched up the sword he'd dropped and swung.
'I knew he'd try that.'
But my magic was faster than his blade.
Wind Cutter sliced across his arm. His armor kept the limb attached, but the sword clattered to the floor.
The startled Julian moved to take the Vice Commander's head. I stopped him just in time.
"Don't kill him!"
Bribe-taker or not, he was the Vice Commander of the northern knight order.
Killing him without a proper trial could undermine the entire order's trust.
Julian caught himself, adjusted his angle, and cut the Vice Commander's wrist instead.
"I won't kill him. But the hand that threatened Lord Lumio cannot go unpunished."
"Cutting the sword hand off a swordsman. You're pretty cruel yourself."
Julian glanced over his shoulder and cracked a quiet smile.
"Aren't you even worse, Lord Lumio?"
"That was for personal reasons......"
I found myself smiling, too.
If anyone saw two people laughing in a blood-soaked room, they'd think we were insane.
I didn't care.
'In the North, being sane would be stranger.'
***
"What in the world happened here?"
My parents came running to the main gate of the lord's manor. My father's jaw dropped as he took in the scene.
Behind me, a cart loaded with supplies from the warehouse was being hauled in, and beside me, Julian stood flanking the restrained administrator Mozar and the Vice Commander, both in wretched states.
I greeted my parents respectfully and declared in a voice loud enough to carry.
Loud enough for the territory's people who'd followed, drawn by the commotion.
"I discovered that the administrator has been secretly embezzling the territory's supplies over the past half-year. I apprehended him and seized his assets."
"When I asked the knight order to investigate, I was told nothing was wrong. Are you certain about this?"
My father asked with visible unease.
"I have confirmed that the Vice Commander of the knight order was accepting bribes from the administrator. I've brought him in as well."
The crowd began to murmur. Skeptical glances were everywhere.
If the lord's bedridden, tantrum-throwing son had pulled off something like this just days ago, even I would've been suspicious.
My father glanced at Julian. I looked at Julian too and gave a nod.
The signal to show our father the evidence we'd brought.
"This is the ledger documenting the bribes the administrator paid to the Vice Commander."
The two had built their trust on knowing each other's weaknesses.
They hadn't realized that those very weaknesses, in someone else's hands, would be their undoing—yet they'd kept meticulous records.
My father's hands trembled as he took the ledger. Rage was clearly boiling up to the top of his skull.
"......This is irrefutable evidence."
At his words, the territory's people erupted in fury.
"You worthless pieces of filth!"
"The nerve! Embezzling supplies from the capital?"
They looked ready to stone them.
I quickly turned to my father with a request.
"Please lock them up for now. Distributing the recovered supplies should be the priority—so that no child goes hungry."
Everyone stared at me in shock.
The hatred directed at the criminals shifted into elation directed at the one who'd caught them.
"Lord Lumio caught them......?"
"Even with his illness, he went to all that trouble!"
"Hurrah!"
I never imagined the day would come when I'd receive a standing ovation from the people of the North.
My chest swelled without warning.
"You're right. I nearly failed where you succeeded."
My father instructed the servants to distribute the supplies. He was clearly suppressing a smile behind his tightly pressed lips.
I stepped aside to watch the people collect their provisions.
Even with the elixirs, using magic repeatedly had left a dull ache in my heart. Just as I reached reflexively for my chest—
"U-um...... Lord Lumio."
I looked down at the timid voice. A small child stood there, clutching a loaf of bread nearly as big as their own face.
The child hesitated for a moment, then tore the bread in half with tiny, fumbling hands and thrust a piece toward me.
"Here, eat this."
"......For me?"
The child beamed and pressed the warm bread into my palm. Then, turning shy, they scurried back into the arms of their mother.
The mother, too, bowed deeply toward me, mouthing her thanks again and again.
The rough, humble bread sat in my hand.
That small warmth was enough to make me forget the pain piercing my heart, leaving an ache of a different kind deep in my chest.
The smiles I'd failed to protect in my previous life. I could feel, for the first time, that I'd reclaimed a small piece of them with my own hands. A faint smile settled on my face.
My parents approached.
"How did you find out?"
"My condition has improved recently, so I've been looking around the territory. Compared to last year, far more people were going hungry. I simply checked how the supply lines were being managed. That's when I noticed the administrator acting suspiciously."
I mixed truth with fabrication, careful not to arouse suspicion.
My parents seemed to accept the explanation well enough.
"......Well done. You accomplished what I couldn't."
"He did well, yes. But don't just praise him—if the Vice Commander was in on it, it could've been dangerous."
My mother scolded me sharply. Even being lectured, I couldn't stop smiling.
Then I spoke from the heart.
"I'm going to live a long life. But only if my parents and the people of the North are there with me."
"Hahaha."
My father laughed, and my mother fought back tears.
The life my parents had fought so desperately to save—I would never treat it carelessly again.
I pulled out the administrator's personal stash that I'd set aside separately.
"Aside from the supplies, the administrator had a private fund. Let's use this to settle the debts first."
"So you even knew about the debt."
"The Roa Trading Company, right?"
The only major trading company that came to the North. If my parents had borrowed money, it could only be from them.
And that company had something I needed.
"I'll go settle the debt in person."
"......In person?"
"Yes. There's something I need to procure, and I believe the Roa Trading Company has been taking advantage of our territory."
If what I'd seen in my previous life was accurate, the North had no reason to be this poor.
Time to catch two—no, three rabbits at once.