There were five great houses of magic on the continent.
Recognized by the Imperial Magic Society as the five pillars of the empire’s magical world, their domains and influence surpassed those of most city-states.
I didn’t remember every house’s circumstances. The Sorcerer Archduke had burned them all down and stolen their unique spell formulas when he started the war. By the time my mercenary career began in earnest, they had long since fallen into decline.
But I knew the history of Renia’s family, the House of Count Benheim, quite well.
Renia had boasted about her family practically every other day.
I had wondered what meaning that held when the family had already fallen, but Renia cherished her childhood there.
- You know, Reagan, our family was the leader among the great houses of magic.
- Why was that?
- Because Benheim has historically been the emperor’s loyal confidant. Besides, Benheim’s unique spell formula is on an entirely different level from the magic of the other four houses. We restored the language of the Age of Gods and created a new system of magic. Its name? Rune magic! The magic I use. Well? Tempting, isn’t it? Would you like to try learning magic, too?
- No thanks. Handling one sword is hard enough. What would I do with magic?
- Hmph.
From what Renia had told me, the House of Count Benheim’s reputation within the empire was truly remarkable.
The house had been founded by the mage who advised the empire’s first emperor. It had given rise to magical beast hunters, and its members were masters of rune magic who had restored ancient script and elevated it into magic.
With its history, legitimacy, and imperial backing, the House of Count Benheim could be called the most prestigious of the Five Great Houses of Magic.
…Or it should have been.
“Things seem unsettled.”
Two days had already passed since I began traveling by carriage.
The closer we came to Count Benheim’s domain, the more I noticed an inexplicable tension among the passersby.
“Has something happened?”
The war couldn’t have started already. The Sorcerer Archduke wouldn’t raise his army for another seven years. Something else must have put these people on edge.
Asking was better than wondering alone. I stopped the carriage, approached a passing merchant, and asked what was happening.
“May I ask you something? Has something happened in Benheim?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll compensate you generously.”
Money was a good solution in most situations. When I pressed a few copper coins into the merchant’s hand, he swallowed and cautiously began to speak.
“Hmm. From what I hear… someone’s stolen Benheim’s treasure.”
“…Their treasure?”
“Yes. Apparently, it’s the symbol of the head of House Benheim, or something.”
“Do you know what this treasure looks like?”
“There’s a notice over there. Take a look. I heard it looks like some sort of pendant….”
Even as he spoke, the merchant kept looking around, afraid someone might overhear.
“Anyway, you’d best avoid looking suspicious. Benheim’s mages are roaming around, and apparently, they grab anyone suspicious and interrogate them on the spot. More than a few traveling merchants have already been taken in.”
“…Understood.”
“In any case, take care of yourself, young man.”
The merchant pocketed the copper coins for fear someone might steal them, then hurried away.
“…Hah.”
I felt as though I had taken a hard blow to the head.
Benheim’s treasure had disappeared.
That treasure was the symbol of the family head, and it took the form of a pendant.
Could that mean anything but one thing?
I reached inside my shirt and grasped the pendant Renia had given me.
This pendant against my chest. Naturally, the fact that it was in my hands meant there couldn’t be another identical pendant in this era.
Overnight, I had become the thief who stole Benheim’s treasure.
“Renia, you… You didn’t plan this far ahead, did you?”
I grumbled to the Renia of the future, who wasn’t here now.
***
Sure enough, the notice the merchant had pointed out bore a drawing that looked exactly like the pendant I carried.
It also promised to open Benheim’s treasury and grant a lavish reward to whoever recovered the treasure.
“This is awkward….”
Reading the notice, I fell into thought.
The Benheim artifact Renia had entrusted to me. She had asked me to decipher its rune and share it with the entire world.
In that case, wouldn’t it be best to visit the experts on runes?
Having made my decision, I spoke to the coachman.
“Sir, please take me to the Benheim Magic Tower.”
“Are you serious? Didn’t you hear what that merchant said? Benheim’s mages are arresting people….”
“Yes. That’s why I want to go.”
“Listen to me, young fellow. You’re about my son’s age, so perhaps I’m worrying too much, but mages aren’t such a kindly lot. Of course, if you become a mage, you can live in comfort and throw your weight around. But how many actually manage that? I hear it’s fewer than one in ten.”
The coachman earnestly cautioned me as though this were his own concern.
“The rumors are downright sinister. They say some famous house of magic built a secret underground laboratory and is creating chimeras….”
“Do you believe that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? One of the other great houses of magic is even experimenting with turning humans into spirits….”
Lost in his own world, the coachman launched into a lengthy string of stories.
Well, this was how ordinary people saw mages.
“It’ll be fine.”
“No, I’m telling you, it’s dangerous.”
“I’ve thought this through.”
When I insisted again, the coachman clicked his tongue as though he had no choice and turned the horses around.
Before long, the count’s residence came into view.
Behind a mansion that looked almost like a castle, an enormous tower rose into the sky.
“So that’s the Magic Tower….”
There were only seven magic towers on the entire continent.
Built in a major city, the Benheim Magic Tower was immense and imposing. Even to me, who had once traveled the world as a wandering mercenary, its scale was truly astonishing.
“Halt! This is Benheim territory!”
A guard watching over the Magic Tower’s gardens spotted the carriage and shouted.
I could sense dense mana emanating from his body. Even though this body had yet to begin using mana, I could faintly feel it.
His level was at least the Fourth Tier.
They said that even someone who spent a lifetime studying magic could barely reach the threshold of the Fifth Tier. In Benheim, then, even the gatekeepers were veteran mages.
“Please stop here.”
After asking the coachman to stop, I surveyed the surroundings through the window.
Five guards stood watch at the main gate.
Across from it, several merchants were all but begging.
“What kind of tyranny is this? Losing your heirloom is your problem! Why are you holding up innocent merchants? Give our goods back! We have deliveries due today!”
The guard remained unmoved by the merchant’s desperate appeal.
“The Tower Master has ordered us to inspect all goods passing through the count’s domain. There are no exceptions. Step back immediately, or you’ll be thrown into the dungeon.”
He merely waved a hand in annoyance.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue.
The atmosphere couldn’t have been more hostile.
Sure enough, the main gate of the House of Count Benheim was like a ticking time bomb.
‘If I take out the pendant here….’
The outcome was obvious.
They would see me as their prime suspect, rather than a benefactor who had recovered their heirloom.
They would lock me in an underground cell and begin questioning me about where I had obtained it.
I couldn’t begin negotiations after surrendering the initiative.
That was one of my principles as a mercenary.
‘I’ll need another approach….’
I was considering an alternative when—
“…Hmm?”
I caught a familiar scent.
Pink pepper. Rose. Patchouli.
I could never forget it. It belonged to the person I knew best.
“…Could it be?”
I whipped my head around.
Just then, a small figure emerged from the fenced grounds.
With quick, hurried steps, the figure moved away as though afraid of being caught.
A robe covered her head, concealing her face, but there was no mistaking her identity from that scent and those movements.
“…Renia?”
There was no doubt.
Renia Erahan von Benheim.
The very woman I had come to find had just passed before my eyes.
But my daze lasted only a moment. Watching the direction in which Renia had gone, I felt a flicker of suspicion.
‘That’s strange.’
More than one thing puzzled me.
The Renia of this era was still only a teenage girl. Could the youngest daughter, cherished like a precious jewel under the protection of the House of Count Benheim, really leave the family’s walls without a single guard?
As I pondered that, one possibility came to mind.
I turned to the coachman.
“Sir, what’s today’s date?”
“Hmm…? Today is… probably… Yes. It’s the day of the Moon’s Turning, isn’t it?”
“Hah.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
What a perfect coincidence.
Apparently, my employer had no intention of giving me a moment’s rest.
***
On our final night before my regression, Renia had told me all sorts of stories.
The main topic had been her childhood in Benheim.
- It happened around the time I turned sixteen. On the very day of the Moon’s Turning.
- Exactly ten years ago, then.
- Yes. Dark mages attacked me while I was alone and isolated. That’s how I got this scar. Fortunately, one of our family’s mages rescued me. It could have been much worse.
Renia had drawn back the blanket and shown me her collarbone. A distinct lightning-shaped scar ran between it and her shoulder.
As chance would have it, the time to which I had returned was also ten years in the past.
Renia was sixteen now.
There was only one conclusion.
‘Today is the day Renia gets attacked.’
I had no reason to hesitate any longer.
I followed Renia’s trail.
Stealth and tracking were basic skills for a mercenary.
Above all, Renia wasn’t remotely conscious of being followed, so keeping on her trail was easy.
Eventually, the robed Renia reached a quiet mountainside. There was a graveyard there. She stood motionless in one corner, gazing at a headstone.
[Lillian Isilia von Benheim]
Only then did I understand why Renia had slipped out of the family’s grounds.
This was where her birth mother was buried. Today was the anniversary of her death. Renia had come to visit her unfortunate mother, who hadn’t been laid to rest in Benheim’s mausoleum.
After brushing the accumulated dust from the headstone for a while, Renia slowly removed her robe.
A rich golden color came into view.
“…….”
I had spent years fighting alongside Renia across a continent in turmoil, sharing joy and hardship. Perhaps that was why, even now, I could picture her face whenever I closed my eyes.
Her mana had been almost golden, so whenever I thought of her, that golden light would shimmer before my eyes.
Even after returning to the past, that brilliant color remained unchanged.
“Hah.”
Renia’s golden hair sprang into view.
Having crossed ten years to meet her again, I now found her right before me, looking like a young girl.
Perhaps the relief of seeing her again had briefly broken my concentration.
―CRACK.
I stepped on a branch. Sensing someone’s presence, Renia whipped her head around.
“Who’s there?”
Our eyes met.
At that moment, I caught my breath. My heart seemed to tighten.
Hair like molten gold. Amethyst eyes glowing as richly as lavender in sunlight. Skin as white as pure jade.
Her face still held a childishness, but in the young Renia’s features, I could glimpse the woman she would become ten years later.
My most enduring, most precious bond.
“…Renia.”
When I spoke her name in a trembling voice, Renia von Benheim blinked several times.
The moment I saw her, memories from just before my regression rose to the surface.
Her face growing cold, her chest pierced by the Sorcerer Archduke’s magic.
The mere thought tore at my heart.
“…….”
But what about now?
Her youthful face held a vitality that had scarcely remained in the Renia of my memories.
She was alive.
Thank goodness.
For now, that was enough.
“Who are you? How do you know my name?”
Meanwhile, Renia frowned at me warily. Understandably so. A complete stranger had appeared and called her by name.
Above all, this Renia wasn’t speaking politely to me. Her tone was distinctly different from before, with a sharp edge to it.
It felt unfamiliar.
Perhaps that was only natural.
Renia and I were two years apart in age.
Before my regression, the difference hadn’t felt particularly significant. The entire continent had been at war, and Renia had been relatively mature by then.
But differences in age were more pronounced in childhood than adulthood. Moreover, with Benheim still standing strong, Renia had yet to experience anything that would spur her emotional growth.
“Answer me. I asked who you are! Did Father send you?”
An appearance that had yet to shed its childishness, a childish lisp, and an expression full of wariness.
The Renia before me was simply a young girl, rather than the mighty mage who had earned the awe-inspiring epithet of the Golden Archwitch on the battlefield.
Having been thinking of the gentle-spoken lady I knew before my regression, I found the difference quite startling.
“…I see.”
The woman with whom I had crossed battlefields and promised a future no longer existed in this era.
She remained only somewhere deep within my consciousness, shimmering like a mirage.
I had vaguely assumed that my reunion with Renia would be something special.
That had been entirely my own misconception.
It might be special to me, but to Renia, this was merely an ordinary first meeting.
“Not bad.”
But that was all right.
Hadn’t I returned to the past and gained a chance to set everything right?
Just as I would steadily build my strength now, I could slowly build my relationship with Renia from the beginning.
If anything, discovering a new side of her left me feeling unusually excited.
Having finished my thoughts, I smiled gently and spoke.
“I’d like to catch up after so long, but we don’t have time.”
I drew Gerkin’s sword from my waist. Renia shrank back at the sight.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
Instead of answering, I thrust my sword toward her. Renia stumbled backward and fell onto her backside.
But it wasn’t her I cut. It was the dagger flying in from behind her.
CLACK!
“And here I was, finally seeing you again.”
Frowning, I looked ahead. Faint figures were approaching through the bushes.
“Wh-what was that?”
Renia’s eyes widened, as though she hadn’t yet grasped what had happened.
“Careful. There are attackers. They’re after you.”
“…M-me?”
“Yes. So stay close.”
With their surprise attack foiled, the assailants revealed themselves.
Five masked figures. Finding a young man with a sword standing beside Benheim’s daughter, who should have been alone, they tilted their heads.
‘Three swordsmen and two mages?’
I coolly assessed their strength.
The swordsmen had only just reached the level of Aura Users. The mages were somewhere around the Second or Third Tier at best.
Before my regression, I would have snorted and cut down riffraff like these.
But I had to remember that this body had only just returned to the past.
“Tsk.”
Clicking my tongue, I raised my sword at an angle.
“You’re a nuisance. Come at me all at once.”
Of course, I didn’t think I would lose.