One summer day. Sebastian, the head of the Ebenholtz family, asked while signing a document.
“Where is Max?”
Edmund, the knight standing before him, replied.
“He’ll be with the academy cadets.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“So he’s just fooling around.”
Sebastian rose and pulled back the curtains. Sunlight poured in. His thick jaw clenched in displeasure. He seemed to dislike everything his son did.
Edmund spoke.
“Still, he joined the best knights. There was no favoritism in the process.”
“At least he’ll be useful for propaganda.”
Maximillian Ebenholtz. Blond hair, golden eyes, fair skin, delicate features, long limbs and well-proportioned body – he was a textbook example of a ‘pure Imperial’ as defined by racial science.
While his appearance was that of an ideal Imperial, to Sebastian, that was all he was.
“Inside, he’s not like an Imperial. He’s too weak.”
“······.”
Edmund quietly lowered his head. If Max had been born into an ordinary noble family, he would have been above average. But Sebastian and Ebenholtz were far from ordinary.
The epithet ‘Bastion of the Empire’ wasn’t given to just anyone.
“That’s enough. You may go.”
Sebastian scribbled his signature on the document.
“Yes, Commander.”
Edmund, holding the approved documents, turned and left. He got into the waiting vehicle outside the residence.
“Drive.”
“Yes, Major.”
The adjutant in the driver’s seat adjusted the rearview mirror.
“Oh, right. I heard the young master was accepted into the Sentinel Knights, right?”
Edmund held up the document he had just received approval for.
“This is the approval. In other words, consent.”
“Ah. But, will he be able to do well? Even so, the Sentinels… they wouldn’t go easy on the young master of Ebenholtz, would they?”
The adjutant glanced at Edmund. Edmund was more suited to be a Sentinel than anyone, but he couldn’t join. He was of mixed blood. He had been rejected due to the Sentinel’s pure-blood ideology and had instead chosen the Empire’s military.
“His father is a mountain god. No need to worry.”
Sebastian wasn’t just a tiger; he was the king of the mountain. In fact, the Ebenholtz estate was surrounded by rugged mountains, fitting their formidable reputation.
“I’ll make a stop on the way.”
“Yes. Where to?”
“······The library.”
As he said this, he quietly picked up a book. Edmund, blocked by the wall of bloodline, naturally harbored a different dream. It was the grand ambition of revolution.
* * *
Under the sunlit training ground. I had finished my morning run. My entire body was drenched in sweat. Cadets quickly approached and handed me dry towels.
“······Ah, thank you.”
“Not at all!”
Their faces lit up with just one word of thanks. Three men and one woman. They were all trainees from ‘Empire Point’, the pinnacle of the academy. They were geniuses gathered from all over the Empire.
“When does your apprenticeship end?”
Their task was to follow me, a newly inducted Sentinel Knight, for a week and learn from me. I had to accept them, as it was also the duty of a seasoned knight.
“Until this Friday!”
“I see.”
I wiped off sweat with the towel and handed it to a cadet with a crew cut. He received it with both hands as if it were a great honor. At that moment.
───Crack!
A sharp pain stabbed near my left collarbone. I instinctively placed my hand on my chest.
“Oh! Knight, are you alright?”
The crew-cut cadet flinched and examined my complexion.
“······Ah, it’s nothing. I just felt a bit unwell. I’m going to the restroom.”
I quickly left, pretending nothing was wrong. Castle Ebenholtz is vast. It takes five minutes just to reach the nearest restroom from the parade ground.
Click.
I entered the restroom, locked the door, and threw off my shirt. Standing in front of the mirror, my sweat-soaked upper body was revealed. On my left chest, close to my heart, a black object was wriggling. It wasn’t just a stain or a mole. Like a living shadow, it pulsed subtly, squirming beneath my skin.
“Haa······.”
It looked like a cancer cell or a parasite. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I was sure of its origin. It was a fragment of the ‘Dimension Eater’ that tried to devour me in the destroyed world, just before I regressed. A piece of that alien entity was now alive and moving inside me.
“······Just stay still.”
It was precious to me. It was the clearest proof that I had regressed. I had returned to my past, when I was twenty years old. The Empire fell when I was thirty-three, so that’s 13 years. From there, another 20 years passed, and the world was destroyed, so it was 33 years ago. 33 years. A distant time.
I was a frivolous noble who hadn’t matured until the brink of death, but no matter how much I searched my memories, the time spent locked in the underground prison felt like only one to two years. It was vastly different from the 20 years Edmund mentioned.
Suddenly, Edmund’s voice, having lost all his hair, whispered in my ear.
‘It seems you were born with some talent you’re unaware of. There’s no other way to explain this surreal situation.’
I took a deep breath and exited the restroom. My family’s butler, Enzi, was waiting outside. A middle-aged man in his 50s with eyes like thin threads. A familiar face smiled softly at me.
“Oh, Enzi. Why are you here?”
“Your class time is approaching, young master. You are a knight now, aren’t you? The professor of Mana Studies is waiting.”
I am twenty years old now. I’ve joined the Empire’s best knight order, the Sentinels. Yet, my private tutoring schedule was more packed than that of most cadets. It was all the family’s coercion. My father wanted me to bring glory to the Ebenholtz name not just in appearance but also in skill, so he hired tutors in every field. It was useless, though.
“Really? Then tell those guys to follow me too.”
I pointed to the trainees gathered in a corner of the parade ground.
“Will that be alright?”
“Of course. I’m not that petty.”
Thanks to that, they were having a great day. They would receive a top-tier Mana Studies lesson, worth $30,000 per session, for free.
“Yes, understood. Please go ahead.”
“Okay.”
I walked down the long corridor of the main building. In this magnificent space that would crumble in 13 years, I thought about the Empire.
‘If only the Empire had lasted longer, if we hadn’t overthrown the Empire, perhaps humanity… might have endured longer.’
Edmund, consumed by despair, had said so, but the Empire was undoubtedly the worst. The Emperor and his sycophants were rotten to the core, and most of the noble families that upheld the Empire were trash. Thanks to my weakness and incompetence, I was able to break free from their fanatical brainwashing relatively quickly. I saw their ugly secrets clearly. Imperialism was an illusion, and the racial superiority they claimed simply didn’t exist. However, I didn’t dare to resist them. That was also because I was weak and incompetent.
The problem was, just like a broken clock is right twice a day, their blind hatred and discrimination were correct for exactly ‘one race’.
‘Ezenheim… they were the calamity. They were not human. Those damned bastards ruined the world.’
I looked down at my body. It all felt like a midsummer illusion. It was like a nightmare I had for too long while suffering from a fever.
“Ah… my head really hurts.”
I placed my hand on my left collarbone. The only thing proving my existence now was this strange black object wriggling inside me.
* * *
“What is a mana circuit? It is a type of biological organ and tool that allows humans to sense and quantitatively handle mana within their bodies.”
A Mana Studies professor, dressed in a crisp uniform, projected an anatomical diagram into the air. The complex blood vessels and organs disappeared, replaced by simplified blue lines. It was a schematic that started from the head and flowed down to the extremities.
“Mana circuits are pathways that allow mana to move safely and efficiently within the body. By circulating mana through these circuits and concentrating it in specific areas, humans can exert superhuman strength or use magic to control natural phenomena.”
Blue mana particles flowed smoothly along the circuit. A large circuit circulating throughout the body is called a ‘mana circuit’, and the branches extending around it are called ‘auxiliary circuits’.
“The wider the diameter of a circuit, the greater the total amount of mana that can be moved and the faster the circulation speed. Conversely, the more auxiliary circuits there are, the more precise mana control becomes possible.”
Ultimately, the mana circuit is what matters. All factors such as the shape, length, and strength of the mana circuit are important. Whether a knight or a mage, one must be born with a good mana circuit.
“In the past, methods of setting a hypothetical center point called a ‘mana core’ to gather mana in one place were also researched, but due to significant side effects and low efficiency, it has been largely abandoned. Now, let’s begin explaining the theories in earnest…”
Formulas. Various complex symbols and numbers were displayed densely. It was a form of self-enhancement magic used by knights. Self-enhancement magic is the essence of memorization. It can only be used if memorized. Being lazy, I learned only a few. The Mana Studies professor lectured passionately for 40 minutes, and I, at least, didn’t doze off.
“······Then, let’s take a short break and I’ll explain practical mana operation.”
The first period ended. I got up from my seat and stretched. The four trainees approached me in unison and bowed.
“Thank you! Thanks to you, Knight, we were able to attend such a valuable class!”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
───Crack!
My left collarbone twitched again. This time, it wasn’t just pain, but a sensation of turmoil from within. I tried to act nonchalant and pressed it firmly with my hand.
“Uh. No need to thank me. Just work hard.”
“Sir, Knight! May I use the restroom?”
The crew-cut cadet asked with a tense expression.
“You don’t need to ask permission for things like that. Go freely.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
The four cadets hurried to the restroom. I gazed at the empty seats they left behind. Neatly arranged writing utensils. Carefully done notebook entries. They were insignificant objects. Rather, they were endearing, fitting for their age. Suddenly, I felt nauseous. An unpleasant sensation persisted, as if something was boiling hot inside me.
“······.”
The crew-cut guy, his name was Jacob, wasn’t it? I looked at his seat. I picked up his bag hanging on the chair and emptied its contents. Thud. Writing utensils, a sketchbook, a novel. Among them, the novel caught my eye. I didn’t know why. I just picked it up and turned the pages. Faint mana markings were on the words on a specific page.
[Soon, re, gress, pos, sible, then, comm, uni, ca, tion, to, comrades…]
[If, you, do, this, com, mun, i, ca, tion, is, pos, sible, de, liv, er, to, comrades…]
It was disguised as a simple coded message, but it was a double trick. Beneath this mana, I could see a sinister ‘trace’ hidden. A remnant of cold, alien energy, completely different from normal mana. I placed my hand on that part. A chilling voice flowed into my mind. At the same time, the black fragment within me wriggled violently. Alien languages were automatically deciphered.
“Hungry. Must eat fresh hearts to replenish mana. The younger and purer the child, the better. Their life force is needed.”
“You will be selected as an Imperial knight, so we will help you secure food at any time. Pexi will come to you soon. Obey her instructions.”
“······Tch!”
I quickly pulled my hand away from the book. My head throbbed as if it would split, and an unbearable nausea surged. Ezenheim. That race was hiding here.
