When he opened his eyes, a familiar room came into view.
Furniture whose craftsmanship looked excellent at a glance.
Bright sunlight streamed through windows carved in an antique style.
Gale raised his upper body and searched his memory to recall where this place was.
“Is this... the Orhan estate?”
He had visited this place from time to time in the past when he played with Rita.
At the sight of the scenery that put his mind at ease just by looking at it, Gale smiled faintly.
‘So I survived after all.’
He recalled the moment he had collapsed to the ground after bringing down the bandits.
Gale lifted his hand and placed it over his chest.
Then the pain of mana depletion he had felt at the end faintly rose in his memory.
The deal with Deus had given him the power to escape the crisis, but once the deal ended, there had been an enormous backlash equal to the scale of that immense power.
Gale closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and examined the inside of his body.
‘It’s a complete mess.’
As though the central point had exploded, the remnants of mana depletion were scattered in disorder.
Gale moved the mana wandering inside his body and created a massive flow.
The mana that had been scattered in every direction soon formed a single circle and slowly stabilized.
‘If it ends up this much of a mess every time, my mana heart won’t last.’
The black mana circle that had formed inside his chest the moment Gale made a contract with Deus.
It felt as though an unpleasant sensation still lingered in the fingertips he had used to cast magic.
“He definitely told me to sacrifice my lifespan.”
Gale’s gaze fell on the tattoo carved into his arm.
12,923 DAY
The number was lower by two than the last one he had seen.
‘Does that mean two days have already passed?’
It was hard to believe that this tattoo carved into his arm was his remaining lifespan.
The tattoo was clearly telling him that he still had many days left to live, yet for some reason, death felt closer.
“Whoo….”
Feeling unsettled, he lifted his head and looked around.
Beside the bed were Gale’s belongings and clothes he did not recognize.
“I don’t think these are my clothes....”
He recalled the moment he had been drenched in Kalif’s blood.
That meant someone had taken those clothes off him and dressed him in the patient gown he was wearing now.
Gale’s face flushed red.
“…I should change clothes first.”
After changing into the new clothes, Gale stood before the full-length mirror in the room.
The boy in the mirror had a youthful face and was wearing a pure-white shirt with black trousers.
“This is really me...?”
He knew that the black-haired boy with shining red eyes in the mirror was himself, but after growing twenty years younger, it was only natural that it did not feel real.
Then came the sound of someone knocking on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
The one who opened the door and entered was a woman in a maid uniform.
She looked momentarily surprised when she saw Gale standing before the mirror, but soon spoke with a calm expression.
“You have awakened. How is your condition?”
Gale checked his body and said, “I’m all right. May I ask how long I was lying down?”
At that, the maid thought for a moment before speaking.
“About two days have passed.”
It seemed the tattoo carved into his arm was functioning properly after all.
As Gale was thinking that, the maid carefully opened her mouth.
“During that time, the lord has been waiting for Master Gale to awaken. Before you eat, if you are feeling well enough, may I ask you to accompany me for a moment?”
At those words, Gale thought.
‘Count Orhan....’
The count’s final appearance rose in his mind.
The sight of him shouting with the veins on his face standing taut.
-Rita lost her life because of you, you bastard!!
It should be different from then.
Gale smiled bitterly.
“I will go at once.”
***
The door to the lord’s office was enormous, befitting the size of the great mansion.
The door, engraved with ornate carvings, seemed to display the authority he possessed.
The maid standing before it asked him to wait a moment, then spoke to the door in a quiet voice, as if whispering.
“I have brought Master Gale.”
A faint voice sounded from beyond the door.
“Have him come in.”
When the maid opened the door,
the grandly decorated lord’s office revealed itself beneath a high ceiling.
Gale stepped inside and faced Count Orhan, who was watching him from the other side.
White hair and blue eyes.
Though he was well advanced in age, the spirit he possessed was still sharp.
Gale greeted him politely.
“It is an honor to meet you, Count Orhan.”
The words that followed, unlike before, were in an exceedingly calm tone.
“How is your body?”
“Thanks to your concern, I have recovered greatly.”
When Gale lifted his head,
Count Orhan had a kindly smile on his lips.
For some reason, looking at that expression gave Gale a strange feeling.
“Do you know how surprised I was when the priest told me you were suffering from mana depletion?”
“I apologize for not telling you in advance.”
“I did not call you here to blame you, so there is no need to apologize.”
Count Orhan cleared his throat and said,
“Ahem... This may be somewhat sudden... but when I met you, this was the first thing I wanted to say. Thank you sincerely for saving Rita.”
The eyes of Count Orhan as he spoke held genuine sincerity.
Gale also lowered his head slightly in response.
“If you do not mind, could you tell me what happened?”
Gale sorted through his memories and told him the story.
As the story progressed, Count Orhan’s face filled with surprise.
Even in the Magic Tower, those who trained from childhood were usually around Gale’s age by the time they left the status of apprentice and only just began to use magic.
That was how astonishing it was that Gale had defeated the bandits with magic.
“When in the world did you learn magic?”
Gale subtly avoided his gaze.
Even if he said he had returned to the past, there was no way the count would believe him, so he decided to give a suitable excuse.
“I met... a good teacher.”
“What a remarkable stroke of fortune. If it is all right, could I see that magic with my own eyes?”
Gale made a pure-white ice flower bloom in one hand.
Count Orhan’s eyes widened as he watched it.
“Ooh... I wondered after hearing Rita’s words, but to think it was true. Even if you know how to use magic, subduing them could not have been easy.”
Gale smiled awkwardly.
If not for Deus, he would have been the one to fall.
Thinking of Kalif, Gale said,
“Most of them were nothing special... but there was one among them who was especially strong.”
At that, Count Orhan’s gaze sharpened.
“Did the person you are referring to happen to have some sort of tattoo beneath his eye?”
“Yes. There was a black crescent moon tattoo beneath his eye.”
He thought for a moment, then immediately continued speaking.
“He was likely a member of an organization called the Black Moon Syndicate.”
“The Black Moon Syndicate...?”
“They are known within the empire for their extreme wickedness. They may be no more than the hardliners’ lackeys, but they are not people one can afford to ignore.”
At those words, Gale’s eyes widened.
The empire’s hardliners that he spoke of were an organization that rebelled against the imperial family and stopped at nothing to achieve their goals.
The reason the Golden Dawn Society had been able to grow its influence at a tremendous speed was also that the hardliners had begun supporting them.
‘But he already saw through their relationship at this point?’
Wondering whether it was a simple coincidence, Gale asked,
“Why do you think they are in league with each other?”
At Gale’s question, Count Orhan’s expression twisted as he opened his mouth.
“Two weeks ago... famous hardliner bastards from within the empire came here. They told me to join them in reform.”
Gale nodded quietly.
“But I had no interest in treason, so I rejected their proposal. They left after telling me I would regret it.”
Count Orhan clenched his fist tightly, as if he could barely contain his anger.
“And not long after that, Rita was kidnapped, and a Black Moon Syndicate man came and threatened me. If this is not a scheme by those hardliner bastards, then what else could it be?”
Gale nodded quietly.
If something like that had happened, it was not difficult for Count Orhan to notice the connection between them.
Rather, it would be fair to say they had openly acted that way to display their power.
‘Are they already expanding their influence?’
As he was thinking that, Count Orhan murmured, “When I could not hold back my anger and hacked that Black Moon Syndicate man apart, I wondered what would happen... I am truly glad you saved Rita.”
Hacked him apart?
Come to think of it, Count Orhan had come from the Imperial Army and had distinguished himself in the Magical Beast War that had taken place decades ago.
‘He was definitely called something like the Iron-Blooded Knight....’
Suddenly, Count Orhan looked at Gale and spoke awkwardly.
“Ah, I have been speaking of matters far too difficult with you present.”
Perhaps he thought Gale had not understood what he was saying. Count Orhan cleared his throat in embarrassment and changed the subject.
“Ahem... In any case, I have also incurred a great debt to you because of this incident. I cannot fail to repay such a benefactor. If there is anything you want, tell me.”
Something he wanted.
Gale fell into thought for a moment.
Since Count Orhan held negative feelings toward the hardliners, Gale needed to maintain a favorable relationship with him in the future as well.
‘There is also the saying that the enemy of my enemy is my ally.’
In order to maintain such a relationship, it would be best to make a request within a reasonable line.
Gale carefully opened his mouth.
“There is one thing I would like to ask of you.”
“Anything is fine, so speak.”
Gale lifted his head and met his eyes.
The fall of the empire he had witnessed with his own eyes.
He wondered what he would have to do in order to set it right.
Now that, whether he had wanted it or not, he had returned to the starting point, it did not take Gale long to arrive at an answer to that question.
“I would like to receive a letter of recommendation from you, Count Orhan.”
At that, Count Orhan looked at Gale with interest in his eyes.
“A letter of recommendation?”
“Yes. I intend to enlist in the Imperial Army.”
The conclusion Gale had reached was that he, who knew the future, would personally become the empire’s blade, cut away the festering rot, and exterminate the Golden Dawn Society.
At this point in time, that was the only method Gale could think of to prevent the empire’s destruction.
At Gale’s words, Count Orhan thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
“The Imperial Army... If that is what you want, I will write as many as you need. If a talented person like you devotes himself to the empire, the empire’s future will be bright.”
“Haha....”
At those words, Gale sighed inwardly.
‘My apologies, but it’s so dark it makes my vision go black.’
Count Orhan stroked his beard and said,
“Then do you intend to enroll at Rustav Academy in the capital?”
“That is not it.”
As he said, if Gale graduated from the academy and was commissioned into the Imperial Army, his rank would begin at second lieutenant.
Gale knew that as well, but the academy was a place only elites who had displayed talent from a young age could enter, and its admissions process was also difficult.
Even if he were lucky enough to enter, he would have to spend three years at the academy before graduating.
With the Golden Dawn Society and the Black Moon Syndicate already moving actively, he could not waste time in such a place.
‘If I keep selling my lifespan from now on, that time will only become even more precious.’
Gale smiled faintly and said, “I do not have much time given to me. If possible, I would like to devote myself to the empire even one day sooner.”
Count Orhan looked at Gale with interest in his eyes.
“Huh. You speak as though you were living on borrowed time.”
After thinking deeply, Count Orhan soon nodded.
“If that is your will, then there is no helping it. I assume my letter of recommendation is meant for the special track.”
Gale nodded.
“That is correct.”
Aside from entering as an active-duty soldier or through the academy, there was one more route into the Imperial Army.
That was the special track.
It was a system created so that those of noble birth, or those with a former officer’s recommendation, could begin their service as a Sergeant, a noncommissioned officer.
The original intention had been to allow the children of nobles with good bloodlines to set foot in the Imperial Army more easily, but contrary to that intention, the reality was that the special track was used by high-ranking families to exile good-for-nothing wastrels who lacked the ability to attend the academy.
Thanks to that, the special track’s reputation could hardly be called good, but for Gale, who otherwise had no choice before him except enlisting as an active-duty soldier, it was practically the best option.
“But that is somewhat strange....”
Count Orhan’s expression hardened as he continued.
“I do not believe I have ever told you that I came from the Imperial Army.”
Gale swallowed dryly.
Within the Imperial Army, Count Orhan was described as a hero of the Magical Beast War,
but for some reason, compared to his achievements, his name was not relatively well known within the empire.
For a neighborhood child who had suddenly appeared to know Count Orhan’s past was certainly strange enough.
“I-I heard it from Rita.”
“Hmm. From Rita?”
After staring at Gale for a moment, Count Orhan burst into laughter.
‘Why is he laughing? Did I make a mistake?’
Even while Gale was confused, he laughed as though he found it deeply amusing, to the point that tears nearly leaked from his eyes.
“Ah, forgive me. When one sits in a position like this, prying into what others are really thinking tends to become second nature. I had forgotten that you are someone who plays with my daughter, so I did not expect such an innocent answer.”
“Haha... Is that so?”
Only an instant had passed, but it felt as though he had aged ten years.
Count Orhan smiled pleasantly and said,
“When do you intend to depart for the empire?”
“If possible, I intend to leave tomorrow.”
Count Orhan turned his head and looked out the window.
“…Spring has already come. A good idea. Then I will prepare a carriage headed for the empire tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“Before that.”
He rose from his seat and passed by Gale’s side.
When the startled Gale looked back at Count Orhan, the count smiled and said, “Follow me. I cannot send my daughter’s savior and a capable talent to the empire empty-handed, now can I?”