Chapter 41
“…Hmm. Looks like there was no need to bring the main force after all.”
Not long after the investigators left, the main force of Benheim, led by Stern, arrived in Rodel.
The secret operation had already been exposed to the world once the investigators showed up. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Rodel had been thrown into a state of emergency. Thanks to that, I was able to meet Stern alone without worrying about attracting attention.
“I’ve heard everything. Reagan, you’ve made a remarkable contribution. Everyone keeps praising you endlessly.”
It seemed Stern had already been informed of the full situation through magical communication.
“Valen said you committed quite a serious deviation.”
“Yes. But it couldn’t be helped. There were too many suspicious points…”
“As the head of the family, I wasn’t present on site, so I intend to follow the judgment of the field commander, Valen, regarding your punishment. And Valen says he doesn’t want to punish you.”
“…Vice Captain Valen… me?”
“It seems he’s taken quite a liking to you.”
Even though he spoke harshly, it seemed Valen had pleaded with the family head to take my circumstances into account.
He really isn’t an honest person.
“It’s unfortunate that you couldn’t capture Markel, but rescuing dozens of hostages is a great achievement. Especially saving a direct descendant of Irid. You’ve placed quite a burden on them.”
Stern grinned and patted my shoulder.
“Good work, Reagan. Thanks to your wit, we were able to subdue them without major losses.”
“You flatter me.”
“But there’s one thing I must say.”
Suddenly, the hand on my shoulder tightened.
“No matter what, that was too reckless. Walking straight into the enemy’s base on your own. And even putting the lives of the collateral family members on the line. It’s only fortunate the result was good. If anyone had been hurt or killed, I wouldn’t have let it slide.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Especially if Renia finds out, she’ll be furious.”
“…That’s certainly true.”
I had no choice but to stay silent at that.
In my previous life, Renia had a gentle personality, but once she got truly angry, she wouldn’t speak to me for a whole week. And there was only one reason she ever got that angry.
‘When I risked my life in battle.’
I should have realized her true feelings back then.
The regret was heavy, but now that I’ve returned to the past, I have a chance to fix things.
“I understand. I’ll come up with a reasonable excuse.”
“You say you’ll lie to Renia right in front of her father. How shameless.”
Stern gave a bitter smile and then carefully examined my face.
“By the way, you don’t look well.”
“Pardon?”
“You look troubled.”
As expected, Stern was sharp. He noticed that my expression was darker than usual.
“I heard an investigator from the Magic Society visited this morning. Did something happen there?”
“….”
There were more than enough problems.
My sworn enemy, the Archmage King, appeared before me wearing the imperial uniform. He even spouted nonsense about recruiting me.
I felt like my insides were rotting from suppressing my disgust and killing intent, but it wasn’t time to tell Stern yet. I needed to grow stronger and build influence both inside and outside the family before revealing that secret.
“It’s nothing. The investigator was just a bit arrogant, so it put me in a bad mood.”
“That’s how those who serve the imperial family usually are. Don’t take it to heart. The Magic Society cooperates with the Great Mage Alliance, but they’re still a prideful bunch.”
Stern brushed it off lightly, but my mind was spinning.
The chief investigator of the Imperial Magic Society, Demian Karius. I had finally learned the true identity of the Archmage King—something I never discovered in my previous life.
‘There’s still plenty of time.’
I had already cut down Varg, who was practically the Archmage King’s right hand. My situation was far better than before.
But I had no intention of settling.
The current Archmage King belonged to the imperial family. I couldn’t strike him down right away. But I also couldn’t just sit by while he worked in the shadows.
I needed to find some kind of clue to catch him.
Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Irid….’
This abandoned mine was practically a massive workshop created by dark mages to extract Irid’s unique magic formula.
If that’s the case, then the presence of Irid’s successor, Yusephine Irid, here couldn’t be a coincidence.
I recalled something Valen had casually mentioned a few days ago.
“Family Head, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard of the Black Disease?”
At my question, Stern’s eyebrows twitched. He glanced around before lowering his voice.
“I don’t know where you heard that… did Valen tell you?”
“I just… happened to hear about it. Could you explain it in detail?”
“….”
After staring at me for a moment, Stern sighed and nodded.
“Very well. To understand the Black Disease, you must first understand Irid’s magic. The Irid family’s unique magic is called spectral magic.”
“Spectral magic…?”
“Yes. It separates the mana within the body like a spectrum of light, then combines those colors to produce various effects. In that sense, it shares similarities with Benheim’s rune magic.”
Stern continued his explanation.
“However… recently, there have been widespread rumors that a strange hereditary disease is spreading within the Irid family.”
“What kind of disease is it?”
“Originally, Irid mages are born with mana of various vivid colors. But once afflicted with the disease, they lose their unique color, and their mana becomes murky.”
“They… lose their color?”
“That’s why it’s called the Black Disease. Eventually, not only their mana but even their body turns colorless, and their mana core solidifies. It’s a terrifying illness. I don’t know the details, but seeing Irid’s daughter this time… the rumors seem to be true.”
Only then did I understand the sense of unease I felt when I first saw Yusephine Irid.
Gray hair. Gray eyes. Pale, almost transparent skin.
She looked as if all the colors of the world had been drained from her—exactly matching the symptoms of the Black Disease.
‘If that’s the case….’
It felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
The dark mages had imprisoned Yusephine, but they gave her a private room, luxurious furniture, and books.
At first, I thought it was simply because of her high value as a hostage.
But what if that wasn’t the reason?
‘What if Yusephine Irid didn’t get captured… but came to them willingly for treatment?’
The Archmage King was a 7th-circle dark mage—arguably the most powerful on the continent.
And most dark mages were masters of human modification and biological experimentation.
Because of that, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Irid had formed a partnership with the dark mages—and even the Archmage King—to cure the Black Disease.
“Family Head, just a thought… is it possible that the Irid family and dark mages have some kind of cooperative relationship?”
“Shh. Reagan, lower your voice.”
Stern raised a finger to his lips, stopping me. But his reaction confirmed that he had been thinking the same thing.
“Your idea has merit. But it’s still just speculation. If you speak carelessly, you could make an enemy of the entire Irid family.”
“….”
“The truth will likely be revealed at next year’s Great Mage Alliance council. The head of Irid will attend, so we’ll be able to confirm the rumors then.”
So there was no way to verify it right now.
I wanted to meet Yusephine again and question her, but I had no justification as a mere son-in-law of Benheim to meet another family’s direct descendant.
In the end, I had no choice but to wait.
“I understand.”
Swallowing my unease, I nodded. Stern patted my shoulder.
“You must be tired after the investigation this morning. Go and rest. Renia has been waiting for you eagerly.”
At the mention of Renia, I quietly nodded.
When I returned to the Rodel estate, I entered my room and locked the door.
There was something I needed to do before seeing Renia.
“…The barrier stone.”
Sitting on the bed, I pulled out a red gem with a groove carved into it—the core of the barrier stone I had recovered from the abandoned mine.
Normally, I should have submitted it to Valen, but I secretly kept it.
‘Well, Stern probably already knows.’
As a 7th-circle mage, he would have sensed it. The fact that he said nothing likely meant he was silently allowing me to keep it.
“Alright.”
I placed the barrier stone on the bed and steadied my breathing.
‘Let’s try it.’
Absorbing the barrier stone.
Originally, I planned to attempt it slowly after returning to the main house, but after encountering the Archmage King, I couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
I needed to raise my level as soon as possible, and for that, absorbing the barrier stone was essential.
A barrier stone is a mass of contaminated mana. For ordinary mages, simply accepting its mana could twist their mana circuits.
But my mana core was different. I had a dual-core system divided by a barrier—something Renia had designed and I had implemented.
‘In theory, it’s possible.’
One core filters out the contamination, while the other absorbs the purified mana.
The dividing barrier would act like a sieve.
If I failed, I would suffer severe internal injuries. But if I succeeded, I could gain a massive amount of mana—comparable to an elixir.
“…I must keep this a secret from Renia.”
I sat cross-legged on the bed.
Holding the barrier stone with both hands, I slowly began to circulate my mana.
Wooooong.
The stone vibrated, releasing a dark red energy. A foul stench accompanied the sinister mana as it crept into my arms.
My entire mana circuit overheated instantly. My body screamed in pain. A burning sensation engulfed me.
Ignoring it, I activated Benheim’s mana technique.
‘Filter it.’
First, I accepted the mana into the first core, rotating it to trap the impurities at the center.
Then, using my own pure mana as a guide, I pushed the barrier stone’s mana toward the dividing wall.
The mana that passed through was partially purified—but once wasn’t enough. I repeated the process in the second core.
At the same time, I kept my internal mana circulating continuously.
Balance was everything. The moment it broke, the contaminated mana would spread through my body, destroy my circuits, and eventually reach my heart.
But I didn’t even consider failure.
When it came to mana control, I was on par with most 7th-circle mages. Even Renia acknowledged my talent. There was no way I would make a mistake.
Ssshhh.
Mana collided inside my body, releasing white steam.
Like walking a tightrope, I controlled my cores—dangerous, but precise.
It wasn’t easy, but it felt like training.
A training that pushed my control over mana to its absolute limit.
Not bad.
‘Faster.’
I increased the rotation speed.
The red glow of the barrier stone began to fade.
At the same time, my mana core burned hotter. My entire body followed.
Cold sweat poured down.
Finally, when the stone lost all its light and turned into a transparent glass-like sphere—
“Haa…”
I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes.
My body was soaked in foul-smelling sweat, and I was exhausted, but my mind had never been clearer.
My core felt heavy.
It wasn’t as much as an elixir, but it was enough to significantly strengthen my level.
“Did I succeed…?”
I smiled in satisfaction and lifted the now-empty barrier stone.
A transparent gem.
The residue left after all the contaminated mana had been absorbed.
Normally, it would be discarded.
But—
‘It’s empty….’
I turned the hollow stone over in my hand.
Barrier stones were originally vessels designed to store large amounts of mana. They weren’t meant to be emptied—so seeing an empty one was extremely rare.
But now, I held an empty container.
And that meant I could fill it with something else.
‘For example… storing magic in advance.’
Like a magic scroll—if I could store spells and activate them instantly when needed. Or compress aura and store it.
That would mean I could use tricks like the one I used against Varg over and over again.
Its applications were endless.
“Not bad.”
Right now, I had to use every resource available to me.
“Demian… Karius.”
Exhausted, I muttered the name of my enemy.
At that moment—
“Demian? Who’s that?”
A clear voice rang out, and I quickly looked up.
At the open doorway stood a girl with golden hair, holding a tray.
“…Renia.”
“Hi, Reagan. By the way, what’s that smell? Are you sick?”
“….”
