When had it been?
The war had been growing fiercer, and we had just finished a battle.
Renia’s resistance fighters were so exhausted that none of them could move properly. I was no better, having just fought the Sorcerer Archduke’s personal guard. I hadn’t suffered any serious injuries, but I had used mana beyond my limits, leaving my body unresponsive.
- Ahaha. Your legs have completely given out.
- If you know that, why don’t you cast a healing spell on me?
- Why should I? It would be a waste of mana.
Renia, meanwhile, was full of energy. A mage who had crossed the barrier of the Eighth Tier possessed greater physical stamina than most swordsmen.
As I lay there, Renia grinned and said,
- You remind me of my father, Reagan.
- I’m not that old. I don’t look old for my age, either.
Renia’s face scrunched up as though she couldn’t believe I was serious.
- No, you look plenty old. With only a little exaggeration, you could pass for my father.
- …You should be grateful I can’t move right now.
- Anyway. My father may have been rather stiff, but he was a very entertaining man.
- Suddenly boasting about your parents in front of an orphan?
- Keep that up, and I’m going to get angry.
- Sorry.
- As I was saying, my father was somewhat unusual. Rather than people who were always polite and proper, he liked bold people, even if they were a little rude. He was quite mischievous, too.
- Is that why you’re so rude?
- Hmm…. Perhaps? In any case, if Father were still alive, he would have been very fond of you.
- That sounds like you’re calling me rude.
- You heard correctly.
A fragment of my memories with Renia, lingering in a corner of my mind.
It was only a brief recollection, but now that I had returned to the past, it held a different meaning.
I could see the father she had spoken of with my own eyes.
“What is your name?”
“Reagan. I have no surname.”
Renia’s father.
The head of House Benheim.
Stern von Benheim had a distinctive appearance. Unlike most mages, he wore a neat suit rather than a robe, and a monocle rested over one eye.
Unlike the guards at the entrance to the estate, Stern gave no outward indication of his level. At first glance, he seemed to have no mana at all.
But that was proof that he was an archmage. An accomplished mage maintained perfect control over his mana, preventing it from escaping his body.
I focused my awareness and examined the density of the mana surrounding him.
‘He must be near the peak of the Seventh Tier. What a monster.’
The Seventh Tier was humanity’s limit.
And he stood at its very pinnacle.
That was more than enough to represent one of the pillars of the empire’s magical world.
The elderly butler attending him was also a mage, and even a rough estimate placed him at the Sixth Tier.
So this was a great house of magic. I was inwardly impressed.
“Now, Reagan, was it?”
Meanwhile, Stern von Benheim pulled up a chair in front of the bars and examined the pendant from every angle. Each time his head moved up and down, his gull-shaped mustache twitched.
“I will not ask twice, Reagan. Where did you get this?”
“I was lucky.”
“Explain yourself. I am in no mood to trade jokes.”
Stern spoke firmly. The look he gave me was unmistakably that of someone regarding a thief.
Well, of course. Someone involved in the attack on his daughter had also turned up carrying the family’s missing heirloom. Suspicion was only natural.
‘…What should I do?’
I considered my options.
Would it be better to tell the truth?
That wouldn’t be difficult.
I had returned from ten years in the future. Seven years from now, a dark mage known as the Sorcerer Archduke would ignite the flames of war across the continent, and I had come to Benheim to prevent it.
‘No, it’s too soon.’
I would leave revealing my regression until later.
There was a good chance that the Sorcerer Archduke was already preparing for war.
A boy who hadn’t even formed a mana core would be asking to get stabbed if he went around blabbing about the future.
Standing before the head of House Benheim was no exception. It would be better to reveal the truth once I was strong enough to protect myself.
Choosing my words carefully, I spoke.
“Someone gave it to me.”
“Someone?”
The elderly butler beside Stern reacted.
“Explain. What did this person look like? Did they say anything else? Quickly! Tell us everything you remember!”
“Allet, that will do. I am speaking with the boy.”
“…Ah, my apologies.”
The old man, Allet, bowed his head and stepped two paces aside.
“My apologies. Our Chief Steward is rather obsessed with catching the thief.”
“I understand.”
I nodded.
Stern gestured with his chin.
“Then who, exactly, gave you that pendant?”
“A mage in a pointed hat and a robe.”
“A mage…. How interesting. To think there are still mages who dress in such an antiquated fashion.”
Before my regression, Renia had dressed like a stereotypical mage, unlike her father.
A robe and a pointed hat. And, to top it off, a ridiculous pair of boots. Her attire had belonged to another age.
When I asked why she wore such cumbersome clothes, her answer had been something else.
- Aren’t they pretty? They make me look like a mage.
In any case, Stern was just as eager to catch the thief who had stolen the artifact. He readily took the bait.
“So, Reagan. Do you remember what this mage looked like?”
“The pointed hat was pulled low, so I couldn’t make out the facial features in detail. But I do remember that it was a woman with golden hair and violet eyes.”
“What…?”
Golden hair and violet eyes.
Physical traits passed down through the bloodline of House Benheim for generations. I nodded and continued.
“Yes. The mage had the same hair and eye color as you, my lord.”
That could mean only one thing.
“According to you, then, a mage of Benheim stole our heirloom and handed it to a boy with no connection to our house? You expect me to believe that?”
“There’s little I can do if you don’t believe me. But the mage told me to deliver this rune to Benheim.”
“…Wait.”
Stern’s eyes widened as he listened. Something in my words seemed to have struck him as odd.
“You just called it a rune. How did you know that? The fact that a rune is inscribed inside the pendant… is a secret known only to those holding key positions in the family, including the Chief Steward.”
Of course it was a secret.
If Renia, the last head of House Benheim, hadn’t told me, I would never have imagined it myself.
“The mage who gave me the pendant told me that the heirloom contains the final rune, which has yet to be deciphered.”
“…Did that mage truly say that?”
“Yes.”
My words were the absolute truth.
I had merely left out a few details and added a little embellishment.
Fortunately, Stern seemed inclined to believe me.
“…If that mage told you so much, you should also know what domain this rune governs. Tell me. What is this rune?”
His face deathly pale, Stern tossed the pendant through the bars.
I caught it without a change in expression and considered the question.
‘What exactly is this rune?’
I didn’t need to think for long.
The effect of the rune inside the pendant. Renia hadn’t explained it in detail, but now that I had returned to the past, I could make a reasonable guess.
“Isn’t it a rune that governs time?”
“…….”
Apparently, I had answered correctly.
Chief Steward Allet covered his mouth. Stern raised a trembling hand, removed the monocle from his eye, and set it on the table.
“It is unquestionably true, then. That you… met a mage of Benheim.”
“I did tell you it was the truth.”
“Reagan, was saving my daughter Renia today also that mage’s request?”
“Yes. The mage who gave me the pendant told me there would be an attack today. It’s entirely thanks to that information that I was able to save Lady Renia.”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but Stern’s own misunderstanding made the conversation easier.
It wasn’t a lie, either. The person who had told me about the attack by dark mages was Renia herself, the very person who had given me the pendant.
“Hmm.”
Stern murmured thoughtfully. He turned and exchanged a look with Chief Steward Allet.
Then he cleared his throat and looked back at me. The wariness on his face had long since melted away like snow.
“You met a mage of Benheim and were instructed to deliver this pendant. In the process, you also saved my daughter. Which means… that mage guided you to our house.”
“I believe so as well.”
I nodded and continued.
“For what it’s worth, the mage who gave me the pendant said I had talent.”
“Talent?”
“Yes. She said that if I learned magic, I would surely achieve great things.”
A smile appeared on Stern’s lips.
“May I take that to mean you wish to be accepted into Benheim?”
“I am merely passing on what she told me. The decision is yours, my lord.”
“Haha. In that case… I shall ask you as the head of this house. Reagan, would you consider becoming a mage here in Benheim?”
To think Benheim would make the offer first.
I nodded with a triumphant smile.
“Gladly.”
“Good. Chief Steward Allet will show you to your lodgings. It is late, so for tonight, rest and recover from your journey….”
“My apologies, but there’s one more thing I would like to ask.”
I interrupted Stern and raised my next point.
“Every task deserves its proper reward.”
“…Speak freely.”
“Will there be no reward for me?”
Stern blinked at my blunt question.
“Is allowing you within Benheim’s fold not sufficient reward?”
“That is entirely thanks to the mage who gave me this task and your own excellent judgment in recognizing my talent. What I’m asking about is a reward for my service in bringing this artifact back to Benheim. The notices posted in the streets promised to open Benheim’s treasury and grant a lavish reward to whoever recovered it. And I believe the House of Count Benheim is an honorable house that never breaks a promise.”
The head of House Benheim gave a small smile at my words. Behind him, however, Chief Steward Allet’s face alternated between red and blue.
“How dare you wag your tongue in His Lordship’s presence! Not every hole deserves to be called a mouth! My lord! That foolish boy must immediately be…!”
“Enough, Allet.”
It was Stern himself who stopped the Chief Steward’s furious outburst.
Plain curiosity showed on his face.
“You are correct. Promising a reward and failing to pay it would tarnish Benheim’s honor. Very well. What do you want?”
Good. That was more like it.
Just as Renia had said, the family head liked bold people, even if they were rude.
“…Hmm.”
I paused for a moment.
A reward.
I had already decided what I wanted. It was also why I had come to Benheim.
Whether it turned into porridge or rice, I might as well ask.
A pleased smile naturally rose to my lips.
I spoke slowly.
“Please give me your daughter.”
Stern’s eyebrows shot up.
“…….”
As it turned out, Renia’s words had been half right and half wrong.
The family head liked bold people, but that didn’t mean he liked rude people, too.
“You rotten bastard…!”
I didn’t get out of prison that day.
***