To attend Tiok's Succession Ceremony, Rohan ended up staying at the main castle a few more days.
Just as at his own Succession Ceremony, Rohan stood in a row with his siblings and waited. A while later, the elders entered the hall. Five elders, the same number as at Rohan's, but they were a different group.
For one thing, the Grand Elder Jaymin was absent, and the White Wolf Commander, said to be her successor, hadn't come either.
On top of that, the 1st Corps Commander was absent too. The only one of Corps Commander rank was the 4th Corps Commander, who hadn't come last time, and even that looked like a mere token.
Whatever the case, Tiok looked so bright his grin nearly reached his ears. He had come into the hall before the family head even entered. He seemed thoroughly thrilled.
'Looks like he drew an heirloom he likes.'
By now, Rohan was curious too about what Tiok had drawn. The heirloom he'd had in the past was now Rohan's.
Because of Rohan, Tiok was bound to end up with a different heirloom than in his past life.
'I hope it's not Elder Sister Tina's.'
Whatever he drew would be worse than the Spirit Beast egg, but the pendant Tina was going to draw raised magic power and gave magic resistance, and on top of that came with the ability to summon spirits.
'In my past life she married off early, so it ended up as nothing more than jewelry.'
It was also the item Rohan had coveted most after the Spirit Beast egg. He had given it up partly because of the gray cloak's magic resistance and the Blazefire Sword Sernain's summoning ability, but above all because that pendant was destined to go to Tina.
'I can't stand my sister losing out because of me again.'
If Tiok drew that pendant, things would get complicated.
'There's nothing I can do about it now anyway, so let's just watch with an easy mind.'
A moment later.
"Salute the Northern Grand Duke, Lord Gion Baltran!"
"Glory to the North!"
Gion entered the hall. This time he went straight to the seat of honor without greeting the elders.
The highest-ranking of the elders, the 4th Corps Commander, was his older cousin. In terms of generation, he did not rank above Gion.
Gion sat down and flicked his hand. Soon a soldier brought in a purple cushion. It was longer from side to side than Rohan was tall, and on it lay a sword.
Rohan's mouth fell open at the sight of the sword. Tiok, who had been watching Rohan's face, raised the corners of his mouth.
He thought Rohan had been captivated by the sword's lustrous form.
But what Rohan was actually thinking was different.
'He drew the sword that was left over because I never opened my gate in my past life.'
Of the heirlooms in the caves, Rohan ranked it ninth. In other words, the gate with that sword behind it was the one to avoid most.
It was good enough to be called a famous sword. It might even be the best heirloom for showing power right away.
The Baltrans were, after all, a great house of swordsmanship. They were said to handle other weapons without reservation, but their main weapon was the sword.
But later on, getting a sword better than that one wouldn't be hard. Especially not for Rohan, who had come back against the flow of time.
'Tiok might achieve even better results on his journey than in my past life.'
Direct-line Baltrans who finished training had to set out on a journey. Tiok had kept putting his off with one excuse after another, but once he held his coming-of-age ceremony, it would be hard to delay any longer.
Tiok, whose training had been ordinary compared to Rohas's, would achieve outstanding results on his journey and fire the opening shot of the contest for the headship.
And if he achieved even greater results than that.
'What do I care.'
All he had to do was achieve results far better than Tiok's. What mattered wasn't Tiok but the giants beyond the Wall.
To take down the giants that would one day come over the Wall, he had to have power and authority overwhelmingly greater than his siblings'.
'I can't get hung up on the likes of Tiok.'
As he had with Rohan, Gion told Tiok to name one thing he wanted.
"I would like to have one more Guardian Knight."
A knight loyal to him rather than to the family. Everyone gathered in the hall let out a sound of admiration at his words.
Only Rohan was barely holding back a yawn.
'Same as in my past life. Tiok does have a clever head on him. His personal strength won't cut it anyway, so he has to crush our eldest brother with a faction.'
And he had succeeded. But this time, Rohan was among his rivals too.
Rohan intended to stomp Tiok flat, not only as a warrior but as a rival for the headship.
Before long the Succession Ceremony was over, and Tiok came up to his siblings. He shook their hands one by one.
His eldest brother and second sister, as always, offered plain congratulations, as they had to Rohan.
The one difference was that Tiok, receiving them, met their eyes and shot back a fierce glare.
'The start of the siblings' rivalry.'
Rohas's greatest mistake was not killing Tiok at this point. He had thought that if he possessed the skill, dignity, and faction worthy of a family head, Tiok would eventually submit, but Tiok hadn't.
Tiok struggled to the very end and finally overtook Rohas and rose above him.
"C-Congratulations, Brother."
Tina's voice trembled. She looked frightened. To her, who hated competition, Tiok was the sibling she found most unsettling.
"Yes. You'll be leaving for the Deren Kingdom before long."
Tiok, on the other hand, didn't dislike Tina. She had stepped back from the contest in the first place. If she married into the kingdom like this, she'd be parted from the headship forever. Tiok had no reason at all to keep her in check.
"You finally did it. If you'd been a little later, I would've opened one first."
Yohana was different. She was strong. From early childhood she had been rated a talent comparable to Rohas.
Like their second sister, she cared only about her own strength, but the difference was that Yohana didn't bother turning away the factions that gathered around her.
Roselin deliberately kept factions from gathering around her. It was less about Tiok than that she didn't want to compete with Rohas.
She wanted to walk the warrior's path, pure and simple. Starting next year, she planned to join not the main house's Black Wolf Knights but the Council of Elders' White Wolf Knights.
Yohana, on the other hand, went around announcing that she wanted to be a Corps Commander of the Black Wolf Knights. Given her personality, she'd probably said it without knowing what it meant, but Tiok, unlike their eldest brother, would have taken it seriously.
'That's why Rohas sent Yohana far away to protect her from Tiok. Not knowing it would turn into poison aimed at himself.'
Maybe it was their eldest brother who had been arrogant.
He had thought he could keep his place in the line of succession without killing Tiok, while looking after his other siblings.
"I was one step behind you. Thanks to that, you got that egg."
Contrary to his words, the corners of Tiok's mouth were raised high.
'Is he trying to rile me?'
Rohan was dumbfounded. That Spirit Beast egg was what had made him the final winner of the contest for the headship in his past life, and look at him now.
"Isn't this all a fate decided by the heavens? Seeing how the lightning struck the stone gate at just that moment, you were meant to have that egg and I was meant to get this sword."
Nope. I'm the one who decided it.
Unable to help it, Rohan grinned. The way he rejoiced, not knowing the inside story.
When Rohan smiled, Tiok looked uneasy somehow. But he couldn't possibly know the truth, so he forced his face back to calm.
In his past life, Rohan had thought of Tiok as someone he could cut down thousands of times and still not be satisfied. But seeing him now, he wondered whether it was worth the trouble of slashing him thousands of times.
"Congratulations, Elder Brother."
"Thank you, youngest."
Tiok glared at Rohan, just as he had at their eldest brother. It was hardly the look you'd give a little brother so much younger.
It was a declaration of war announcing a cold-blooded, merciless contest of succession. But the body of the ten-year-old Rohan, meeting that glare, held the soul of a Mercenary King who had weathered battles on mountain and sea.
A mere nineteen-year-old putting force into his eyes was laughable to Rohan. No, it was ridiculous.
Rohan shook hands with Tiok. Every time he saw the man's smile, a thrill tingled through his whole body.
'That sword went to you.'
For Rohan, it was the most rewarding moment since his regression.
***
Since he was stuck at the main castle for a few days anyway, Rohan diligently went in and out of the library every night.
A corner of the vast library, closed to everyone but Rohan.
Doflamingo's magic class was in session.
"This is Ice Spear. A spell that raises sharp horns of ice from the ground to attack the enemy. No matter how skilled you are, conjuring the ice horns takes a split second longer than the spells you've learned so far."
In battle, a split second could decide victory or defeat. Rohan understood what Doflamingo was getting at and nodded.
"You're saying I can't use it as a direct attack?"
"That's right. For a mere direct-line Baltran, you have a strangely good grasp of magic."
Rohan snorted with laughter. His magic may have been lacking, but in his past life Rohan had been a magic swordsman. Naturally he understood beginner-level magic well.
What interested him more was that Doflamingo had dared to stick the word 'mere' onto direct-line Baltran.
'In my past life, I shipped him off to the Holy Kingdom as soon as I caught him, so I never had the chance to learn much about him.'
This time, he might learn about a world he'd never known. Doflamingo was, in his own way, a criminal who had left a mark on history.
"So this spell isn't effective in a one-on-one fight. There aren't many idiots who'll just stand there while a magic circle spreads under their feet. But on a battlefield, it's another story."
Doflamingo went on explaining at length after that. It was about the use of magic in war.
How could someone who had lived in a Magic Tower have this much tactical knowledge?
Rohan knew that the moment Doflamingo went into the paper, his time stopped.
That meant Doflamingo might not be a man of this era.
'Come to think of it, I never heard when he belonged to the Magic Tower.'
It wasn't so much that she, who had been with him, had hidden it; Rohan himself hadn't been interested. At the time he'd been blinded by the bounty that would fall into his lap for catching Doflamingo, and he'd had no chance to think deeply about the man himself.
'If it was back when the great war broke out.......'
While Rohan followed that thought, Doflamingo finished his explanation. Seeing Rohan's expressionless face, he gave a somewhat flat laugh.
"I've given far too long-winded an explanation to a kid who's just turning eleven. However much you're a direct-line Baltran, war must feel far away to you."
Hardly. As a mercenary, Rohan had fought in countless battles.
Some of them were small guerrilla skirmishes, but some were great battles worthy of the history books.
"Let's focus on casting magic for now. I can't come to this library that often."
Doflamingo nodded too. The man who had raged at the first lesson that Rohan should treat him as a teacher was gone; now he seemed quite used to Rohan's casual speech.
"Right. The basics of ice magic and fire magic are all done. Damn it! Come to think of it, you reached Level 3 in less than a month."
Doflamingo spoke roughly, but his eyes gleamed. Rohan knew he was showing his expectations of him.
'Good thing I didn't learn it any faster.'
Even this was Rohan deliberately slowing his progress. Fire magic he had already learned before, and ice magic came quickly because he handled ice mana.
'My magic has almost caught up to my past-life level already.'
Rohan had not been much of a mage. He had just learned basic magic while he was with the Andelian family. After he was thrown out of that family, he made no further progress.
Rohan expected to learn a higher level of magic, but Doflamingo thought otherwise.
"It'd be best to stop ice magic and fire magic here."
"Huh? Why?"
"I never thought I'd say this, but your talent is too good to waste on making you a so-so magic swordsman."
Had he seen Rohan's swordsmanship in his past life, he couldn't have called him an ordinary magic swordsman.
He thought that for a moment. But judging from what he'd seen of Doflamingo over the past few days, no matter how excellent someone's swordsmanship was, he would never rate them highly if their magic was lacking.
"Then shouldn't I be learning higher-level magic?"
He shook his head firmly. His face turned so suddenly serious that Rohan was the one surprised.
"I told you, you're not at a so-so level. Focus on fire and ice magic and you'll reach around Level 5 in no time. But this way, anything beyond that will be hard. The continent is full of people who can cast high-tier magic in one or two measly elements."
Hardly full of them. Rohan thought so, but didn't say it.
He knew Doflamingo's standards for magic were different from his own.
"You have to wield top-tier magic in every element."
Rohan's eyes went round. Having seen it all in his past life, he'd wondered what there could be left to surprise him after returning to his childhood, but right now he was so flustered he nearly let slip a curse he'd learned in his past life.
"I'm a swordsman first and foremost. You know full well I can't handle several kinds of mana."
Mages and warriors handled mana in different ways. Mages manipulated pure mana itself, giving it form through complex formula calculations.
Warriors, on the other hand, used mana as the driving force for magic power. That was why they went through mana training, the endless process of refining rings.
In other words, for a warrior to handle mana of several elements, he had to build up mana inside his body divided into as many parts as there were elements.
Even Rohan, called the Mercenary King in his past life, had hit a wall just trying to accumulate mana of two elements, ice and fire.
"Have you forgotten why I fell into black magic?"
Doflamingo asked quietly, looking Rohan in the eye. For an instant, Rohan felt the weight of Doflamingo's years. A depth and breadth of experience that even he, a regressor, could not catch up to.
"To be good at all magic, you said."
Rohan answered, steadying his emotions. Being able to stay composed before an opponent stronger than himself was another asset his last life had left him.
"That's right. Dark mana can become truly anything. It can be called darkness precisely because it is nothing yet."
Doflamingo was looking at Rohan with narrowed eyes. He seemed to keep testing Rohan, and when Rohan didn't get flustered easily, he looked all the more pleased.
"As a swordsman, you'll need to build ice and fire rings in your body, but for magic, dark mana is enough. You mean to raise a pillar of darkness inside your body to join the ice and fire rings anyway, so this works out all the better."
Hearing that he'd be raising a pillar of darkness made Rohan feel like some kind of villain.
"Let me teach you a little about using dark mana first."
Black smoke curled up over Doflamingo's palm. Paired with the corners of his mouth shooting up on both sides, it made for an incredibly sinister atmosphere.
'Feels like I'm heading down the wrong path here.'
Whatever Rohan was thinking, Doflamingo finished explaining and looked at him.
"Now, try drawing it out."
Rohan held out his hand without hesitation. He felt the dark mana seeping out from within.
It was definitely different from ice or fire mana. It felt as if its form hadn't been decided yet.
When Rohan tried to grasp it, it scattered into smoke, and when he tried to raise it, it grew heavy and sank.
'What kind of junk is this?'
It was like handling a youngest son who wouldn't listen. Just like his past self.......
While Rohan scowled thinking of his past self, Doflamingo was narrowing his brows for a different reason.
'It's dark. Far too dark.'
Murky smoke was rising over Rohan's hand. Since he had named it dark mana himself, it was only natural that its color was dark.
However, the depth of that darkness varied with the user's experience.
And that experience was killing.