“Get out!”
BANG—!
Good grief.
The old man was certainly full of energy. He had a fine set of lungs too.
“He could’ve just calmly said it was too dangerous.”
He had learned entirely the wrong way to show concern.
His affection for his son had become so twisted that he desperately tried to send me off to strange places.
Yet he refused to let me enter the dungeon.
Then again, I would have had a hard time surviving if I entered it now.
The place was crawling with monsters, traps, and mazes. Entering with nothing but a sword when I could not even use mana would have been madness.
Father knew that too. That must have been why he said, “Three months from now! Prove at your Coming-of-Age Ceremony that you are qualified to enter!”
“When was that place cleared again……?”
I could not remember exactly, but it had happened after I came of age.
I had plenty of time.
“Heh heh heh. Everything inside that dungeon will be mine. My treasure.”
SLURP.
I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth.
I would prepare thoroughly before going inside.
That aside, the Coming-of-Age Ceremony…….
“There’ll be plenty of bastards drooling at the thought of devouring me.”
House Fenrir’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony was a traditionally shitty event in which someone who had just come of age fought a high-ranking knight.
People laughed themselves hoarse while watching a grown adult beat a child who had only just turned seventeen.
“Watching some noble brat get beaten…… Yeah, it is entertaining.”
I had to admit it.
Had I been a spectator, I would have cheered enthusiastically.
It was entertaining when an adult beat an obnoxious noble brat, and it was equally entertaining when the brat beat the adult.
“And if they prove their strength, everyone applauds them for growing into a warrior.”
It was undeniably a popular event for many reasons.
That was why everyone fought for the chance to participate.
The problem was that I would be the star of the commotion…….
“Should I have hit him more gently?”
No.
I had only struck him once.
There was no gentler way I could have done it.
Still, it was true that I had attracted attention.
Anyone who beat me would attract even more.
Some attention-starved fool might even come looking for me before the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Just thinking about it was exhausting.
Someone might take a single blow to the head, and then everyone would start arguing about whether he was alive or dead.
“I don’t want to go back to jail.”
I could not even train properly there. All I could do was receive chain letters…….
“Pietro!”
The familiar voice stopped my thoughts from rolling along on their own.
That gentle, sorrowful voice.
The voice I could never forget.
“Mother.”
In my previous life, I had failed to protect her.
I had not even discovered the cause of her death, let alone avenged her.
My mother, Grace, was smiling brightly.
“My wonderful boy. I’m so proud of you.”
Mother’s hand caressed my cheek.
Her voice washed over my ears.
It was warmer than I remembered.
“Did you see it?”
“Of course I did. My son was competing. I’m so proud of you. So very proud.”
I took Mother’s hand.
Had I ever held it like this before?
I did not know.
My heart had been too full of guilt for failing to protect her.
Her kindness, her warmth, her love.
I would never let go again, so that all of it could remain beside me.
“Thank you.”
I pulled Mother into an embrace.
On such a wonderful day, I did not want her to see my tears.
Mother, don’t worry.
I’ll protect you.
I’ll make sure you never suffer such a futile and painful death again.
And that deranged murderer…….
Throb.
A fierce headache struck as though someone had smashed a hammer into my skull.
For an instant, I saw Mother.
Mother lying on the floor, drenched in blood.
Her trembling hand desperately reaching out while no one came to help her.
The workers disposing of her dead body as though they were clearing away garbage.
Fu…….
“Pietro? What is wrong?”
At some point, Mother had begun staring into my face.
The concern filling her eyes stabbed into my heart.
So I scrunched up my face playfully.
It was nothing.
She did not need to worry.
“Are you truly all right?”
“Of course. Nothing is wrong. No, wait. When you see Father later, please say something to him. Does it make any sense to throw his own son in jail for winning a duel he ordered?”
“……Yes, yes. I’ll speak to His Grace later. I promise.”
Her gaze remained unchanged, and her hand continued to stroke me with concern.
Even when I told her it was nothing, Mother’s heart insisted otherwise…….
‘It is clear now.’
Everything I intended to do.
It was all to protect the places I loved, the people I loved, and everything that belonged to me.
I would protect them without fail.
Whether my enemies were humans, demons, or some unknown god.
***
“Greetings, Young Master.”
When I returned home, an unfamiliar maid was waiting there.
Her appropriately deferential expression and manner were impressive.
And yet.
‘Who is she?’
I had never seen her before.
I had thought I encountered nearly everyone in the family during my previous life.
“My name is Lina. I have been assigned as your personal maid, Young Master.”
Her precise bow showed that she had been properly educated in etiquette.
That only made me more suspicious.
“Who sent you?”
“His Grace the Grand Duke assigned me to you.”
“My. His Grace was considerate enough to do that for you. How wonderful.”
Mother’s face blossomed into a smile.
She seemed happier that Father had rewarded me than she was about the maid herself.
I scratched my chin and examined Lina.
Nothing about her appeared unusual.
Then again, the old man did not seem like the sort to go through this much trouble merely to test me.
There were already countless eyes watching me. He would have no reason to add another person.
“From now on, obey Mother.”
“My apologies, but I cannot do that!”
What was this?
That boldness.
And that rigid attitude.
“Aren’t you my personal maid?”
“That is correct. I am your personal maid, Young Master. I was instructed to serve and follow you.”
“Yes. That’s why I’m telling you this.”
Lina glanced at Mother.
“I was instructed to serve and follow you, Young Master.”
A hollow breath escaped me.
Had Father deliberately sent me a defective one?
Was this punishment for causing trouble?
I could understand that, but still.
“I’m the one ordering you, so you’re still following me. Stop making things tiresome and do as I say.”
I did not want to waste more attention on her than necessary.
Still, there was something I needed to confirm.
“Did you volunteer or were you assigned?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re stiff and hard of hearing. Did you come because you wanted to, or because someone sent you?”
“I came on a recommendation.”
The word recommendation left me with a strange sense of discomfort.
“Who recommended you?”
“The Head Maid. She said I was the most suitable person for this assignment.”
I would have to investigate who the Head Maid was and whose side she belonged to.
“What a shame. If you’d stayed at the main castle, you could’ve hooked up with someone better.”
“Pietro!”
Mother slapped my arm.
SMACK!
Then she pointed at Lina, telling me not to hurt her by saying such cruel things.
“I’m sorry,” I replied as I carefully examined Lina’s face.
She was smiling.
It was an awkward, troubled sort of smile.
‘It looks natural.’
It was an entirely ordinary reaction.
Had she possessed some ulterior motive, she would have tried to conceal her emotions somehow.
Still, I needed to keep watching her.
“Treat Mother’s words as though they were mine. That’s what I’m telling you.”
“……Understood.”
Even after all that, she remained excessively rigid.
I looked back and forth between Mother and Lina.
I definitely needed to keep an eye on her.
As I checked things one by one, I would eventually be able to resolve that strange sense of discomfort.
“Lina, could you please clean the room?”
Lina nodded and immediately got to work.
Mother gently stroked my arm and smiled as though telling me not to worry.
I took Mother’s hand and smiled back, telling her the same.
I would quickly obtain the strength needed to protect her.
For now, it was time to start accumulating mana.
***
I walked through the forest as dusk fell.
Everything around me was pitch-black.
Anyone wandering carelessly through here would get lost and become food for wild animals.
Not me, though.
“Will this be far enough?”
I could not see a single thing no matter where I looked.
Anyone outside looking in—or inside trying to look around—would not be able to tell what was what.
Even if they sensed something strange, they would assume it was some damned animal.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE.
I cleared the ground and took my position.
I closed my eyes, brought my hands together, and placed them over my dantian.
The scent of the forest…….
“Ugh. It reeks of rot.”
Grass, fallen leaves, rotting tree trunks, animal shit, and piss.
It was a complete mess.
Still, the energy here was purer than in a place inhabited by people, making it suitable.
Pure energy contained high-quality mana.
The purer the mana, the stronger the body and mind became.
I intended to sense and gather only the finest mana to create a Mana Chain.
“Inhale! Hoo.”
Ordinarily, I would create a Mana Heart.
But the illustrious Imperial Princess had asked something of me.
‘I ought to risk my life once.’
……Right?
I was becoming nervous for no reason.
A Mana Heart created circles of mana around the heart.
Each circle raised the user by one Star.
Sword Masters—particularly those who had reached the extreme—were said to possess nine interlocking circles.
A Mana Chain, on the other hand, required four rings to be created along the spine.
That was because mana circulated through the spinal cord.
Had they said it moved three times faster than when it passed through the heart?
That meant each Mana Chain possessed power equal to a three-Star Mana Heart…….
I did not know.
Only one person in history had ever reached that realm: Sword Saint Siegfried Sigurd.
How could I possibly know the details?
In any case, creating one would be good…….
‘Didn’t everyone who attempted it end up crippled?’
Even those called geniuses had either died instantly when their spines snapped or spent the rest of their lives unable to do anything but sit there and blink.
‘Should I just make a Mana Heart?’
No.
Melina had sent me back like this.
I had to do it.
She had said I possessed the talent, so it would probably work.
“Let’s do this!”
I gave myself a shout of encouragement and sharpened my senses.
Flowing mana brushed against my skin.
Tiny wisps seeped into my body.
They followed my blood vessels and gathered around my heart.
‘Not there.’
I had to guide it into my spinal cord instead of my heart.
I spun the mana gathered in my dantian round and round, making it dance over my spinal cord.
Inviting it to enter willingly.
“Ghk!”
It felt as though every one of my senses was being seared with fire.
I clenched my teeth against the pain.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
“Ghh!”
My entire body trembled.
It felt as though my consciousness might snap.
The mana settled along my spine rampaged wildly, threatening to tear my body apart.
I had to endure it.
If I failed, I would become crippled or simple-minded.
At worst, I would end up as food for the animals.
RUMBLE—!
The ground shook.
The trees in the forest thrashed wildly, shedding the few leaves that remained.
Birds sleeping in the branches took flight with frantic flapping.
“Ghhhh!”
I swallowed the heat surging from within me and the scream that came with it.
BOOM—!
Mana spiraled along my spine, forming a line through my spinal cord.
Everything that had been shaking violently fell still.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The surroundings had been destroyed as though a typhoon had raged with me at its center.
“Ptooey!”
I spat out the blood filling my mouth.
My entire body, which had felt ready to crumble apart, was perfectly fine.
Every one of my senses felt vivid and distinct.
I touched my chest and then the back of my neck.
“It worked.”
My heart beat normally.
A ring of mana spiraled along my spine.
The technique of an ancient monster said to have killed a Demonic Dragon had entered my body.
It was as though it were declaring that, just as Melina had said, I alone was the one destined to kill the Demon King.
“Well, I understand that. But I have to do this three more times?”
How wonderful would it have been if all four had simply appeared at once?
Bitter medicine was good for the body.
I would tell myself that great hardship brought great rewards.
“I understand all that, but do I really have to do this three more times?”
This was not going to be easy.
***
TAP, TAP, TAP.
A hooded man with gleaming eyes tapped the desk.
“Hey.”
His voice perfectly matched the gloomy atmosphere.
Standing before him with an indifferent expression was Selly, a maid of House Fenrir.
“Stop grinning and hand over the money.”
The man gave an unpleasant laugh and tossed her a coin pouch.
THUMP!
Selly hurriedly checked inside it.
“Come on. Why are you acting like that? I’ve never stiffed you before.”
“Just because you didn’t before doesn’t mean you won’t now.”
The man pointed at Selly and shook his head.
He called her a vicious bitch for good measure.
“Shut up. What do you want? I won’t do anything dangerous. I nearly got stabbed last time because I agreed without knowing what I was getting into.”
“You took five hundred gold, yet you’re still so picky.”
Selly scowled and slammed the pouch down.
“What a temper. It isn’t dangerous. You only need to bring me one person.”
“Who?”
“The Third Young Master’s mother. Was her name Grace?”
Selly’s eyebrow twitched.
“Why do you want that woman?”
The man leaned toward Selly.
His yellow teeth ground together, revealing his cruelty.
“All right. I just have to stop asking questions, don’t I?”
“Exactly. Unnecessary questions have a way of hastening one’s death. Do they not?”
“Ah! I understand. When do I have to bring her?”
“The Knighting Ceremony. Bring her here. What do you think? Can you do it?”
Selly quickly pocketed the coin pouch and nodded.
“Good. You may go.”
Selly left.
Only the man’s unpleasant laughter remained in the shabby room.