Chapter 65
Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Carmelda's Legacy (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The biting cold winds of the North carry frostbite like a blade in hand.
And with it, they slowly whittle away at the ends of the human body—starting with the tip of the nose before eventually claiming the whole thing, then gnawing at the fingertips and toes before severing entire wrists and ankles.
That's why, on days this frigid, you must never expose bare skin to the air.
......But.
"Hoo—it's hot!"
"Don't stop! Keep running!"
"If you don't reach the walls in an hour, it's spinning tops for the first ones again!"
The Northern men running laps around Meursault Castle were all shirtless, drenched in sweat.
"What kind of nonsense is passing out already? At this rate, you won't even save your own necks in the territory war coming up!"
Sir Hounded led the training from the front, followed by his soldiers.
Despite the harsh cold, they pressed on with their grueling endurance drills.
"Kuh!"
A few soldiers finally collapsed.
Panting on the ground, white steam billowed from their bodies.
Soon.
Crack—crack—crack—
The sweat beading on their hair and beards began to freeze solid.
"C-Cold!"
"C-Can't breathe. My nostrils are frozen shut."
"Feels like the heat's draining out of my body..."
The soldiers grimaced.
But utterly spent, they couldn't even think of getting up.
Sir Hounded clicked his tongue.
"You weaklings. Go warm up in the forest first."
The "Nightmare-Devouring Water Disaster" beside Meursault Castle—no, now the "Miracle Forest."
No matter the weather, warm winds always blew through it.
Blessed by the forest spirits, it felt like another world entirely.
The soldiers shuffled toward it, shivering.
As they entered, their frozen sweat melted and streamed down.
"Hoo—at least we're alive now."
Before the soldiers could fully exhale their sighs of relief.
"Good! If you're alive, get back out here! Training time!"
Sir Hounded's immediate shout turned their faces sour again.
......
Federback gazed down at the training soldiers from below the castle.
After subjugating the Nightmare-Devouring Water Disaster, he'd ordered intense training for the Meursault House knights and soldiers.
The knights endured without question.
With the Levarb House incident, they figured it was prep for clashes with the North's five great houses—the so-called "Five Fingers of Meursault."
......But.
Federback had other reasons for the high-intensity drills.
At present, only one being knew why.
"You knew from the start."
Queenbits alone.
She stared at Federback with a icy expression.
"From when you got my invitation? Or before, when you sent yours?"
"Does it matter when?"
......
Federback answered her question with one of his own.
Queenbits fell silent.
The air grew frigid.
Queenbits edged away, brimming with extreme wariness.
"What the hell are you? Are you after me? Since when? The Meursault House has no ties to magic, as far as I know..."
"No need to be overly guarded. What I have for you is just 'interest'—nothing more, nothing less."
"Ridiculous. No one who speaks of 'Carmelda's Legacy' can be trusted—not even a three-year-old."
"From your position, sure."
Federback nodded.
Carmelda.
Few in the North—or the Empire—didn't know the name.
The grand mage who'd rocked the world a century ago.
The heretic who'd made enemies of every knight and mage.
Leaning on the ramparts, Federback continued.
"Carmelda was executed. For trying to make 'all humanity' able to use mana."
A similar tale appears in myth.
—Originally, fire was a tool only gods could wield.
—One day, a human favored by the gods was granted the honor of warming by it.
—That human, basking in the fire, desired to share it with others.
—Back then, mythic-era humans cowered in cold, dark caves like beasts, fearing the night.
—The god-favored human, seen as a prophet by the rest, stepped up.
—He stole fire from the gods' hearth and shared it with humanity, letting them wield it from then on.
—They dried their bodies, lit the dark, cooked meat.
—Humans revered and worshipped the prophet who'd brought fire.
—But the gods saw it differently.
—They punished the prophet who'd leaked their power to mere mortals.
—Bound atop a cliff, his liver pecked by an eagle.
—Each day, it regenerated, only to be eaten again.
—Thus, for sharing fire with humans, the prophet endured eternal torment.
'...Something like that.'
Federback nodded.
'Grand Mage Carmelda' mirrored the mythic prophet.
He dreamed of a world where all humans freely wielded mana.
He established radical, groundbreaking magic theory to make it real.
But the elite—knights and mages with power and mana—grew wary.
Sharing mana, the foundation of their strength and rule, with the masses would threaten their status.
Federback spoke.
"The high nobles who executed Carmelda still hunt his traces. Even mobilizing annoying assassin groups."
......
"Isn't that why you hid in the forest? You are Carmelda's trace—his legacy."
......
Queenbits stayed silent for a long while.
Eventually, she looked up.
Her flawless white skin, sharp nose, beautiful eyes gleamed in the sunlight.
"Right. Carmelda was my master. A very old master."
"I want the magic theory he established."
"Not destroy it... want it?"
Queenbits sounded surprised.
"You're going to teach mana to ordinary humans? Do you know how hard that is?"
She had a point.
Mana chooses only a select few humans.
Humans don't choose mana—mana chooses them.
Carmelda sought to reverse that.
Federback said.
"We can induce mana to choose humans. That's the core of the 'Carmelda Equation.'"
"No idea how you know, but... spot on. Yeah, you need to become a vessel mana will choose. Not just sturdy—a perfect one. Mind and body honed to the limit..."
"That's why we're training them now."
"?"
Queenbits tilted her head.
Then her gaze followed Federback's to the walls below.
Sir Hounded and everyone ran laps like madmen.
Queenbits's mouth fell open.
"You... you're trying to turn every soldier in Meursault territory into mana users?"
"And eventually, all humanity."
"You're insane. Why?"
......
This time, Federback stayed silent.
The Demon King revives soon, humans dying like weeds.
But if he got Carmelda's theory?
Every weed could stand like mighty trees, blocking the Demon King's waves.
No need to spell it out now.
"For now, let's say it's so Meursault's people can protect themselves from monsters."
"Crazy. Out of your mind. Population's boomed too. Turn all these into knights or mages? Why? Starting your own country? Want to be the founding emperor in history books?"
"Nations are fiction. Useless against pan-human threats."
......
"Enough of that. Let's talk main point."
"What even is this conversation? Hard to follow."
Queenbits rubbed her temple, confused.
Federback's mind was clearer than ever.
'What happened before regression?'
Recalling the past.
Carmelda's theory spreads worldwide by Queenbits in about 10 years.
Not all humanity, but close.
Nobles lost monopolies, Empire's power shifted massively.
'If it fruited sooner, it'd have hugely helped stop the Demon King.'
Federback aimed to accelerate it drastically.
"You want to complete and reveal Carmelda's theory—for revenge on the great nobles who killed your master."
......
"I'll help. Provide lab space, materials, protection from pests."
......
Queenbits sighed deeply.
She eyed Federback with trembling gaze.
He remained impassive.
She read nothing from his face.
"...Need a bit more time. Give me some."
"Can't give much. Decide by midnight."
"Why midnight specifically?"
"Midnight's the deadline for Q2 budget revisions. If you accept, we realloc. Once set, even I can't change it easily. The administrator's strict."
"Ha, absurd. This is Carmelda's theory. And budget's the issue?"
"After midnight, yes."
"Come on. Fine, what if it passes? Reject if after?"
"Yes."
"Huh?"
Queenbits's face twisted.
Federback replied calmly.
"Carmelda's theory is useful, but not essential. My plans work fine without it. Nice to have, that's all."
"......For real? You recruit like this?"
"Just stating facts."
Federback pushed off the ramparts.
Headed for the stairs down.
Queenbits yelled.
"Where you going mid-talk?!"
"Talk's done. All points covered."
Federback didn't turn.
"One more time: midnight. Miss it, it's over. Mana Wheel pact's void too—go your way."
......