The noisy chatter of the crowd echoed throughout the café.
But around the table where Wirn and Ean sat, the air carried a different weight.
The two silently stared at each other.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Wirn was the first to speak.
Then, pretending nothing was wrong, he took a drink of the banana juice in front of him.
The sweet scent of banana filled his nose, but he didn’t bother savoring it.
“Don’t play dumb. I found traces of you on the Ogre’s corpse.”
“Traces....”
“You know perfectly well that you’re the only mage in the Daylin Family who uses Darkness, don’t you?”
Even though Wirn had tried to deflect the conversation once, Ean refused to let go.
Instead, she pressed him even harder.
‘What should I do?’
Various thoughts flashed through Wirn’s mind.
Ways to silence Ean.
‘Killing her....’
The cleanest and most certain method among them would be to kill Ean.
‘No.’
But Wirn couldn’t choose that option.
Killing the eldest daughter of the Daylin Family was something he couldn’t afford to do.
And there were plenty of eyes around them right now.
Just as he began considering other options—
“Well, don’t worry too much. I have no intention of telling anyone about this.”
Ean added another remark.
At the same time, she leaned back into her original position.
“I burned away the traces left around the area, along with the Ogre’s corpse. I’m probably the only one who knows what happened.”
“...You mean.”
“Relax. I’m not planning to spread word of what you did.”
Wirn gave Ean a suspicious look.
“Hah. Do you really trust your sister that little?”
Ean frowned.
She had gone out of her way to show him kindness, yet he was openly doubting her.
It was understandable that she found it ridiculous.
“I was told there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
But Wirn knew.
Ean wasn’t the kind of person who would let something like this slide without receiving anything in return.
“You have a better grasp of reality than I expected.”
The corners of Ean’s lips rose at Wirn’s words.
Apparently pleased with the answer, her eyes lit up.
“That’s right. I’m not planning to let it go for free.”
Rustle.
As soon as she finished speaking, Ean pulled a sheet of paper from inside her clothes.
“It’s a Magic Contract. It’s one of the artifacts mages use when making agreements with one another.”
“...If you brought that out.”
“It means I want to make a contract.”
A contract enforced through an artifact.
That was what Ean demanded in exchange for keeping quiet.
“What are the terms?”
“A duel.”
“Pardon?”
“Have one duel with me someday. But I don’t want an ordinary duel. We fight until one of us is on the verge of death. That’s my condition. And of course, I get to decide when the duel happens. Even if you agree now, you could just keep running away forever otherwise, couldn’t you?”
Wirn clicked his tongue inwardly at Ean’s words.
‘...I’m glad Ean was born as the daughter of a powerful Family Head.’
At the same time, he felt relieved that she was the eldest daughter of the Daylin Family.
If she hadn’t been, she probably would’ve used her overwhelming power however she pleased.
“You’re not going to tell me you can’t even agree to something this simple, are you?”
“Well... no. I suppose not.”
There was nothing particularly unreasonable about the contract itself.
Ean wasn’t demanding anything excessive from Wirn.
“But I do have a question.”
“A question?”
“I’m wondering why, out of all the conditions you could’ve chosen, you picked a duel.”
The corners of Ean’s lips rose at Wirn’s answer.
“Because I think fighting you would be fun.”
She answered sincerely.
“It’s always been my dream to fight someone in the family until one of us is on the verge of death.”
“....”
“So let’s make the contract.”
Wirn shook his head at Ean’s fanatical attitude.
At the same time, he realized one thing.
‘She really is impossible to predict.’
Ean was someone he couldn’t foresee through his usual judgment.
“Very well.”
But Wirn didn’t dislike that side of her.
After all, in his previous life, he himself had been known as a mad dog even among the hounds.
HUM....
Using the mana inside his body, he wrote his name onto the contract Ean had prepared in advance.
“Don’t complain later when you lose.”
Then he gave Ean a cold, crooked smile.
Combat was something Wirn was confident in as well.
“...Ha!”
Ean looked at him as though she hadn’t expected that response.
But she didn’t get angry.
Instead, she looked at Wirn with an affectionate expression.
“Fine. Give it a try.”
Tap.
She lightly tapped the table with her finger.
Rustle.
Then she gently stroked Wirn’s hair.
“Your sister has some business to take care of, so I’ll head off first. Make sure you grow properly before we meet again, all right?”
She abruptly stood up.
Step... step....
Just before leaving the café, she stopped and looked back at Wirn.
Then she silently mouthed the words.
[Otherwise, you might die.]
Creak!
Leaving those final words behind, Ean walked out of the café.
“...Interesting.”
Wirn stared at Ean’s retreating figure.
And he thought—
Perhaps Ean was someone he could get along with quite well.
Then—
Three years passed.
***
Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.
After completing the Hunting Ceremony, Wirn watched the four seasons pass three more times.
Time went by faster than expected, and Wirn continued to grow without pause.
“Young Master. The Family Head has assigned you your first mission.”
“A mission.”
Before he knew it, the fourth spring had arrived.
And with it came Wirn’s obligation to carry out missions.
‘So it’s finally here.’
Wirn calmly accepted the fact.
Since he had benefited from the family, he naturally had obligations to fulfill for the family in return.
Being part of the direct line didn’t exempt him from that responsibility.
If anything, it was precisely because he belonged to the direct line that he had to uphold it.
That was likely one of the driving forces that allowed prestigious families to remain prestigious.
‘I was ten back then... so I suppose this is actually late by comparison.’
At the age of ten, he had gone around killing people under the Emperor’s orders.
There had been simple escort and surveillance missions as well, but most of them had involved staining his hands with filthy blood on behalf of the noble Empire.
‘I still can’t forget... how I felt the first time I killed someone.’
During his training, he had seen people die countless times.
He had grown sick of seeing companions who stood beside him one day turn into cold corpses the next.
Perhaps that was why.
When Wirn killed someone for the first time, he hadn’t felt afraid.
Instead, he had been delighted by his overwhelming strength.
With power like that, he had been certain he could continue surviving.
‘What a stupid conclusion.’
Wirn found his past self ridiculous as he remembered it.
Looking back now, it was hardly the thought process of a normal child.
But at the time, it had been the best he could do.
“Since you were born as the heir of a prestigious family, missions are an unavoidable obligation.”
While Wirn continued dwelling on the past, Kemen spoke.
“Since this is your first mission, I’m sure you’re worried... but the Family Head will most likely assign you something that won’t put your life in danger.”
To Kemen, it looked as though Wirn was worried about the mission.
“He’s more considerate than I expected.”
Wirn gave a faint chuckle at Kemen’s words.
“So where do I receive the mission?”
“There should be a representative waiting in the Family Head’s office. You can receive your mission from him.”
“You’re not the one giving it to me?”
Wirn looked surprised by the explanation.
He hadn’t expected a representative to deliver the mission.
“No one else is permitted to interfere with missions. Only the Family Head and those within the Council of Elders decide and judge them.”
“So the representative’s only role is to deliver the message.”
“Yes.”
“Thorough.”
Wirn nodded at Kemen’s explanation.
“I’ll escort you to the Family Head’s office.”
“No need. I’ll go alone. How old do you think I am that I still need someone guiding me around?”
Wirn waved him off.
At sixteen, he was old enough to survive on his own even if someone abandoned him in the mountains.
There was no reason for Kemen to accompany him.
“Go take care of whatever you need to do.”
Wirn waved at Kemen, who still treated him like a child.
Then he walked past Kemen, who stood at the entrance of the training grounds, and headed toward the Family Head’s office.
‘A mission....’
He couldn’t help feeling strange about receiving one again after so long.
***
The Family Head’s office of the Daylin Family belonged to Ganderf.
More precisely, no one other than Ganderf was permitted to access the top floor where the Family Head’s office was located.
‘Though that doesn’t matter anymore.’
But that had long since become a thing of the past.
It had already been well over ten years since Family Head Ganderf departed, so the number of people permitted to approach the office had increased.
“Brother, you were here too.”
One such group consisted of heirs receiving Ganderf’s missions.
“Yeah.”
Began and the representative were already inside the Family Head’s office.
Compared to three years ago, Began’s much taller frame and deeper voice clearly showed the passage of time.
Of course, he hadn’t simply grown older.
Began had even managed to advance from the Second Circle to the Third Circle.
“Looks like you’re here to receive a mission too.”
“Yes.”
“You’re still rather young to be receiving one... but I suppose you’re an exception.”
His attitude toward Wirn had changed as well.
Began no longer regarded Wirn as someone he had to defeat.
Instead, he had simply accepted that Wirn was an inhuman existence walking a different path from his own.
“Come beside me and kneel. Even if the Family Head isn’t here, we still have to observe proper etiquette. The representative carries the Family Head’s words.”
“Understood.”
Wirn gave a faint smile at Began’s words.
He couldn’t help smiling at the more dignified way Began now spoke.
Wirn might have been younger physically, but if his previous life was included, he was far older.
That was why Began felt like a younger brother to him.
Of course, Wirn didn’t say that aloud.
If he did, Began might charge at him ready to fight to the death just like he had in the past.
Rustle.
As Wirn knelt with those thoughts in mind—
“Wirn and Began, listen.”
The representative, who had been standing silently opposite them, finally spoke.
It was the voice of an old man.
“Demon worshippers have been discovered in the Omerion Mountains. Join the family’s mages in subjugating them and gain practical combat experience.”
Kill every target in the area.
That was the mission assigned to Began and Wirn.
It wasn’t even an independent mission.
It was a joint operation carried out alongside the mages of the Daylin Family.
‘Easy.’
For Wirn, it was practically effortless.
“Began, accompany the Group One mages and eliminate the worshippers inside the cult. Wirn, coordinate with Group Two in the rear and maintain the encirclement.”
But there was an unexpected variable.
‘The rear?’
Wirn frowned at the representative’s words when he realized he had been placed in a different group from Began.
At his age(?), they wanted him to stand around doing nothing in the rear?
For Wirn, who was thoroughly experienced with missions, it was more than enough to wound his pride.
‘Considering it’s my first mission, they’re being very considerate....’
To them, Wirn was still practically a greenhorn.
No matter how talented he was or how much power he possessed, they had no way to know for certain whether those abilities would hold up in actual combat.
So ordering him to gain experience from the rear was perfectly reasonable.
‘...I don’t like it.’
But not to Wirn.
Began, whom Wirn had beaten senseless before, would be killing worshippers while Wirn stood behind them sucking his fingers?
That was a matter of pride.
“Representative, I have one request.”
Wirn made up his mind.
“I ask that you place me in the same group as Brother Began.”
He would prove to the people of the Daylin Family that he wasn’t some inexperienced fledgling.