Nineteen Years Old

'Is today some special occasion?'

Of course it wasn't. The chief court mage must have gotten desperate and made his move. Eugene set down the lobster claw he was holding and awkwardly rose from his seat.

"Such an exalted guest in this humble establishment..."

"I wouldn't call it humble. This is one of Pentagon's most famous restaurants, after all."

"You're not denying the exalted guest part?"

"I'd like to, but wouldn't denying it make a mockery of the royal family's dignity?"

Honein Abram. Aroth's crown prince had come here without a single attendant. Smiling, he pointed to an empty seat at the table.

"May I sit?"

"I don't mind."

Though it probably wouldn't make any difference, Eugene glanced at Lovellian. He, too, had risen from his seat.

"Neither do I. But Your Highness, wouldn't it be better if I left you two alone?"

"There's no need. Your leaving would put Sir Eugene in an awkward position, Red Tower Master, and I don't wish to barge in and interrupt a meal between master and apprentice."

"You've already interrupted us," Eugene grumbled, wiping his hands on a damp towel. "If you were concerned about that, you should have waited until we'd finished eating."

It was exceedingly rude to speak that way to the crown prince, first in line to the throne. Yet no one present called Eugene out on his rudeness. In his two years in Aroth, he had met Honein several times, if not often.

"I intended to. But your meal has taken rather longer than I expected. Are you planning to eat every lobster in the restaurant?"

"Oh, that's an exaggeration. You know how lobsters are, Your Highness. Once you take off the shell, there's hardly any meat."

"I hadn't realized you enjoyed seafood, Sir Eugene."

"I like anything that tastes good. But are you going to keep standing there?"

Eugene pulled out the empty chair as he asked. Honein burst out laughing and sat down.

"Seeing you show consideration you normally never bother with, I suspect my trip here will have been in vain."

"Surely you knew that deep down before you came."

"True enough."

"Let's see. I don't think we'll have nearly enough food..."

"I'm not particularly interested in eating."

"Then let's get straight to the point."

Eugene set down the damp towel and smiled.

"Though whatever you offer, Your Highness, my decision won't change."

"I will promise you command of the court mage corps."

Honein answered as though he had been waiting for those words.

"I guarantee it on my name."

"You couldn't manage that right now, could you?"

"Ten years."

Even if he meant ten years from now, Eugene was only nineteen. No mage in Aroth's history had ever become commander of the court mage corps at twenty-nine.

"Aren't you overreaching?"

"In ten years, I will be king."

Depending on how one took it, that could be a dangerous statement. However, this private VIP room was designed so that none of the conversation within could escape outside. Furthermore, the moment Honein entered, Lovellian had personally cast magic to reinforce its security.

That didn't make Honein's words any less dangerous.

"His Majesty is still in excellent health, I believe."

"Please don't misunderstand."

At Lovellian's narrow-eyed question, Honein smiled and raised both hands.

"My royal father has already promised me the throne. My place in the succession is unrivaled, and the people of Aroth have no doubt that I will be their next king."

"That is true, but..."

Despite his words, Lovellian had no doubt that Honein would become king either. There were other heirs, of course, but Honein stood far above his siblings.

Aroth was so closely intertwined with magic, and so welcoming to it, that it was called the Magic Kingdom. It had produced many great mages over the generations, and among them, the royal family boasted a bloodline particularly gifted in magic.

Even among that family, Honein was exceptional. Aroth's royalty learned magic from an early age, but he was the first of them to reach the Fifth Circle before adulthood.

'... And not just among royalty.'

No mage studying in Aroth had reached the Fifth Circle before coming of age. Even Lovellian, who had been hailed as a genius countless times since childhood, had reached it only after becoming an adult.

Had he never met Eugene, he would have considered this crown prince the greatest magical talent of their age.

"The court mage corps answers directly to the royal family. Naturally, we would need to make arrangements out of respect for parliament, but in ten years, you should be more than qualified, Sir Eugene."

"I'm grateful for your high opinion, but you don't even know how far my magic has progressed, Your Highness."

"That's because you and the Red Tower Master have kept it so thoroughly concealed. Why hide it?"

Honein smiled as he asked.

"I believe you're hiding it because there's something worth hiding. Since you won't tell me directly, I can only speculate... but the other mages must be thinking the same thing."

"... Hmm."

"Witch Craft."

Honein narrowed his eyes and studied Eugene. Search Eye, a Sixth Circle spell, revealed the mana filling Eugene's body. Judging by sheer volume alone, his mana far surpassed that of an ordinary Fifth Circle mage.

"Have you understood Eternal Hole?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

"Saying that does less to dissuade me than a denial would."

"I can hardly lie to you, Your Highness. But I don't intend to tell you the truth either."

"Commander of Aroth's court mage corps. Doesn't that position tempt you?"

"I can obtain a high position elsewhere."

He had no desire for status, especially if it involved the military. Besides, as he'd just said, Eugene had absolute confidence in his own abilities.

In national strength alone, the Kiel Empire surpassed Aroth. Across this vast continent, only three lands were called empires.

The Holy Empire of Yuras. The Kiel Empire.

And the demon lands of Helmuth.

Take Eugene's own family, the Lionhearts. Since Vermouth the Great, the heads of the main family had held no noble title, but many high-ranking nobles with titles belonged to the collateral branches. If Eugene wanted a title, he could easily obtain the lowest rank, baron.

"With your abilities, naturally you could. So status won't be enough to keep you here."

"It's not that I dislike Aroth, or the position of commander of the court knights. I simply don't want it."

"Then what about learning?"

Honein spoke abruptly. Eugene tilted his head, not understanding what he meant, but Lovellian's expression stiffened beside him.

"... Your Highness, surely you don't mean..."

"Only the first volume of Witch Craft is kept in Akron."

Honein spoke calmly, his gaze fixed on Eugene.

"As you know, Sir Eugene, Senya the Wise completed three volumes of Witch Craft. The first is kept in Akron... and the other two are kept in the royal palace's treasury."

That startled everyone. According to Mer, Senya should have the remaining two volumes of Witch Craft.

"Since when?"

Lovellian asked with a rigid expression. Meeting his gaze, Honein added an explanation.

"Please don't misunderstand. What the royal family holds are merely copies Lady Senya presented as gifts out of affection for us. We know nothing of her whereabouts, or those of the originals."

"... Is that really true?"

"I have no reason to lie."

Lovellian stared at Honein for a moment, then heaved a sigh. It would be absurd to hold a prince barely in his early twenties accountable for concealing Witch Craft for hundreds of years. He would set his grievances aside, then, though he was surprised that the prince would reveal so much of his hand in an effort to recruit Eugene.

"Are you offering to let me read Witch Craft?"

"Not right now."

Honein gave a wry smile and glanced at Lovellian.

"Witch Craft is the greatest grimoire in the history of magic. It is true that my royal father favors me, but even I cannot do as I please where Witch Craft is concerned. Still... once I take the throne, I should have a little more freedom."

"..."

"I believe it's a substantial offer. Once I take the throne, I will do what I can to let you read Witch Craft, Sir Eugene. ... Extending that to the Red Tower Master would be difficult, however."

"If you're going to let me read it, can't my teacher read it with me?"

"If the Red Tower Master transfers his allegiance to the court mage corps, I will reconsider."

"Then I couldn't take the commander's position."

"The Red Tower Master I know wouldn't covet that position, would he?"

"You know me well."

Lovellian answered with a chuckle.

"Any mage would find that offer tempting. But I have no intention of leaving the Red Tower, or of joining the court mage corps."

"If you wish, I will arrange a suitable position for you. Only your affiliation would change. You would face no inconvenience or troublesome duties."

"No, thank you. Witch Craft... is terribly tempting. But I don't wish to blindly follow in the grandmaster's footsteps. I have my own magic to pursue."

"Then what about you, Sir Eugene?"

Was there anything to think about?

Over the past two years, he had learned all too well just how extraordinary a grimoire Witch Craft was. Even after examining it hundreds, thousands of times, he struggled to understand it. Merely understanding what was right in front of him was so difficult, yet Senya had created Witch Craft entirely through her own abilities.

If the first volume kept in Akron was already so remarkable, how incredible would the remaining two be?

And that wasn't all. Perhaps the other volumes of Witch Craft contained clues connected to Senya. Of course, if any such clues remained, the Aroth monarchy, which held the books, would have tracked her down somehow...

'But they might have seen them without recognizing them.'

Eugene knew Senya well. He might be able to find clues that Aroth's royal family had missed.

"... You're saying it's impossible right now?"

Even so, he couldn't simply jump at the offer. He could only read Witch Craft after Honein took the throne. That was ten years away.

"Then I'll visit after you've taken the throne, Your Highness. We can discuss it then."

"You're leaving the possibility open?"

"It's a mouthwatering offer. And honestly, there's no need for me to join the court mage corps right away, is there?"

Honein considered this for a moment. In truth, he wanted a firm answer from Eugene today, and to bring him into the court mage corps immediately.

He needed to consolidate his power. His right to succeed the throne was secure, but he needed strength beyond that right to contend with the crafty old men in parliament.

Aroth's court mage corps was a military unit whose expertise in combat magic stood out even in this Magic Kingdom. Yet that alone felt insufficient to keep the five magic towers and the Mages' Guild, with their ties to parliament, in check.

Fortunately, the towers maintained neutrality for the time being. The Mages' Guild was still a concern, however. Its mages might be those who hadn't made it into the towers, but the guild overwhelmingly surpassed the towers in numbers. And it had close ties to the parliament that governed Aroth.

'The towers are neutral for now. They respect the royal family, but they're closer to parliament.'

The king reigned but did not rule. Aroth had followed a constitutional monarchy for hundreds of years. Its kings had governed the people for only a few generations after its founder, the Magic King.

Honein wanted to change that. He wanted to transform the purely symbolic royal family and reform Aroth. The parliament governing the people had begun showing signs of corruption long ago. Black mages of unknown origins were eating away at the guild, and their influence reached parliament. Furthermore, demons from Helmuth and wealthy individuals from other countries were funding parliament.

Despite all that, Balzac Ludbeth, the Black Tower Master, kept his distance from both parliament and the guild, maintaining strict neutrality. That didn't mean Honein could afford to stop watching him. For Aroth's sake, he had to root out any seeds of unrest.

That was his wish, but the royal family currently lacked the power to do so. His royal father was a weak man who shied away from conflict with parliament or the guild. Honein therefore believed he had no choice but to do it himself.

'If I bring Sir Eugene into the court mage corps... I can borrow the Lionhearts' strength.'

In truth, he wasn't comfortable with that. Shouldn't Aroth solve its own problems?

'If I recruit Sir Eugene, the Red Tower Master will lend his support as well. His hatred of black mages is well known...'

He couldn't openly explain that and ask for help. As crown prince, Honein was in no position to lay bare Aroth's disgrace to an outsider. Besides, parliament's corruption was still only a suspicion. Bolero Street alone could certainly be called a hotbed of corruption, but its existence was also tacitly tolerated by the royal family.

"... Then I will send you a letter once my accession is assured."

"Thank you for being considerate."

"But Sir Eugene, can you not tell me exactly what you gained in Akron?"

"Nothing extraordinary. I simply... came to appreciate how truly great magic is, and learned a little."

"I see."

It was a vague answer, but Honein was satisfied. A little learning. It might mean nothing from anyone else, but this was the young lion hailed as the greatest talent since Vermouth the Great.

"I've heard you're leaving Aroth once you finish the paper you're writing. Where do you intend to go?"

"I'm going to eat white crabs in northern Ruhar and cactus scorpions in Nahama."

"... A culinary tour?"

"Yes."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"..."

Honein's reaction differed little from Lovellian's. He gave Lovellian a bewildered glance, and Lovellian briefly shook his head.

"... Fine dining is an excellent hobby."

"Thank you for understanding."

Eugene answered with a grin.

* * *

Summer was passing.

He hadn't enjoyed any seasonal amusements. Not just since coming to Aroth; he had never turned his attention to leisure since his reincarnation.

Back at the main family's estate, Cyan and Ciel had tried to coax him into going on vacation in summer and skiing in winter. He had never gone, not once. He had never even wanted to.

The sea Eugene knew was a place where shipwrecks and drowned bodies floated wherever he looked. The waters connected to Helmuth were a nesting ground for terrifying, powerful sea monsters.

The snow Eugene knew was a graveyard, soaked crimson with blood, with the limbs of frozen corpses protruding everywhere. Helmuth's weather in the far north was shitty regardless of the season, but the domain ruled by the Demon King of Fury was a frigid hell where the blizzards never stopped.

'Is this trauma too?'

Eugene sank into deep thought. When he really considered it, his entire life since reincarnation had remained mired in memories of his past life.

This wasn't the first time he'd thought about it. Whenever those memories weighed heavily on his mind, he had tried again and again to shake them off. Having gone to the trouble of reincarnating, wasn't it both a waste and ridiculous to remain stuck in his past life forever?

But it wasn't easy. Going out of his way to take the necklace from the Lionhearts' armory. Coming to Aroth to follow Senya's trail. Planning to visit Ruhar and Nahama. All of it was because of his memories of his past life.

There was no helping memories or the bonds he'd formed. He had lived nineteen years since reincarnating, but his life as Hamel was still far longer. Eugene's experiences couldn't compare to Hamel's.

'In the end, they're both me anyway.'

Eugene smacked his lips and tipped his chair back. He didn't want to spend too long dwelling on a question with no answer. What was he supposed to do about the things that troubled him, intrigued him, and frustrated him? Ignore every memory of his past life just because he'd reincarnated, three hundred years had passed, and his name had changed?

How could anyone do that?

"... Ughhh..."

While Eugene was coming to that conclusion, Mer sat across from him, reading his paper with wide eyes. A paper written for his own satisfaction. A paper he had no intention of publishing. That didn't make it any less accomplished. Wasn't a paper, fundamentally, a written account of what one had learned?

In that respect, Eugene's paper was excellent. Other mages wouldn't understand it even if they read it, but Mer, Witch Craft's artificial intelligence, could understand it perfectly.

'He's integrated the cores with Eternal Hole perfectly. There are inherent imperfections... but structurally, I can't imagine anything better than this.'

To achieve this level of refinement despite that instability. It was impossible to believe this paper had been written by a fledgling who'd begun learning magic less than three years ago. This Ring Flame Formula reproduced Eternal Hole's potential better than even archmages could.

'... Inherent imperfections. Cores aren't circles. And all the variables that arise from that... he's adjusting for them entirely by instinct.'

His control over mana was astounding.

'Even while making those adjustments by instinct alone, he doesn't compromise the quality of his magic. It may fall short of Eternal Hole, but Eugene's Ring Flame Formula surpasses every existing circle magic formula.'

Mages were people obsessed with magic. They rigorously eliminated imperfections. They corrected flawed magic to ensure it wouldn't go wrong, because a single mistake could spiral into an irreversible problem.

Eugene embraced even those imperfections. The experience of his past life and the talent of his present one brought the impossible astonishingly close to the possible. A magic formula that other mages couldn't understand, one they would consider a failure, was no failure for Eugene.

The Ring Flame Formula was built on that very absurdity.

"... It's... excellent."

In the end, Mer could only say that.

"The quality is... yes. You're the only one who'll use it anyway, so... um... it feels a little... selfish? From an ordinary perspective, it's riddled with imperfections, but that isn't the case for you... By your standards... it's exceptionally well refined."

Mer's expression crumpled.

Just as he'd said he would, Eugene had completed his paper before summer ended.

"... When are you leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Knowing you, I thought you'd leave tomorrow."

"I'm human too. Surely I deserve a full day's rest. Besides, the Red Tower is throwing me a farewell party."

"How wonderful for you. You'll get to eat all sorts of delicious food, won't you? And everyone will congratulate you."

Mer pouted. She pulled on the large hat she'd set down beside her and glared at Eugene.

"Eugene. You haven't forgotten what you said a few months ago, have you? You said you had something to tell me."

"Let me ask you something first."

Eugene set his tilted chair upright.

"The things you hear. You can tell other people about them, can't you?"

"Well, well. You're suspicious of me, aren't you?"

Mer's eyes blazed.

"You're worried I'll tell other mages about this paper, or about you, aren't you?"

"Have you ever told anyone?"

"No! Do you have any idea how much that bastard of a Green Tower Master and all the others pester me when you're not here? Asking what you've been doing here all these years... But I'll have you know I stayed loyal to you."

"Even if you don't want to tell them, they could force it out of you."

"Ha! I didn't think you were like this. Do you distrust people—no, me—that much? Even if those bastards dissected me and Witch Craft, I'd never tell them."

"Why?"

"Because I've stored it so they can't! This isn't because you're special. It's a feature designed to protect and respect the mages who visit Akron. I store information and conversation logs for not just you, but every mage who has researched in this Hall of Senya, in the deepest part of Witch Craft's storage medium. Unless those bastards smash Witch Craft to pieces, your information will never be exposed to the outside world."

"You're sure?"

"Oh, for goodness' sake!"

When Eugene repeated the question with a grin, Mer couldn't contain herself and shouted. Eugene chuckled at her as she huffed in anger.

"If you're that thorough, then what I'm about to tell you won't get out either."

"Yes, that's what I've been saying. How many times do you have to ask—"

"I've reincarnated."

His abrupt declaration stopped Mer mid-sentence. She glared at Eugene with narrowed eyes, then spat out her reply.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I reincarnated. With all my memories of my past life intact."

"No, I'm asking what the fuck you're talking about. Are you trying to make me laugh? That's so unfunny I couldn't even force a laugh—"

"My name in my past life was Hamel Dynas."

Eugene continued in a calm voice.