Chapter 49
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The First Trial
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“Yes, he suffered internal injuries to his core and has gone into seclusion for treatment. The damage is said to be quite severe. He'll have to remain in seclusion and receive treatment for at least a year.”
One year.
Normally, the higher one's star level, the stronger their core's regenerative ability.
Eshid was at the peak of the 4-Star level. He should have been able to recover quickly from most core injuries.
Moreover, with the full support of the Dark Magic House for his treatment, his recovery should have been much faster than that of an ordinary Majin. For it to take a year meant the core injury inflicted by Chris was incredibly severe.
“How? No matter how pure his Dark Magi is, isn't Young Master Christian only a 2-Star? How could he inflict such a critical wound on Young Lord Eshid, who is at the 4-Star level?”
“I heard it from a colleague who visited the County of Cazar. They say Young Master Christian's ability to wield Magi is exceptional. He even defeated Vice-Commander Melin in a duel with a broken sacred sword.”
“Vice-Commander Melin? Is that true?”
“Yes, and that's not all. Ever since he regained consciousness recently, he's been showing nothing but incredible feats.”
In truth, this wasn't the first time such rumors about Christian had circulated in the Main House.
Many Majin had witnessed what he accomplished in the County of Cazar and the County of Tiramin. The rumors had trickled into the Main House through word of mouth.
But the Majin of the Main House had refused to even listen to them.
All because they looked down on Christian.
It was their mistake.
“…Has he really changed?”
“Who knows.”
The Majin trailed off.
One thing was certain.
Christian was no longer someone they could carelessly disparage.
* * *
Christian listened to the rumors while lazing about in his bed.
He thought with a grin.
‘A year for Eshid to recover. It'll probably take longer than that.’
At the last moment, I made sure his recovery would be more difficult.
I caused a resonance phenomenon to shake his core, intentionally adjusting it to send a stronger shockwave to the core's central region.
When he actually tries to heal, he'll face many difficulties.
‘At least a year and a half, maybe even two years.’
That would be enough time.
In just one year, Chris would no longer be the Chris of the past.
In terms of both skill and his position within the Dark Magic House.
He would be more than a match for Eshid.
[Ohoho… Young Master. You are truly magnificent. How can you be so wonderful, so handsome, so charming? My heart is going pitter-patter.]
The banshee maid, Mari, attended to him, swishing her ghostly tail.
Her usual silly nonsense was an added bonus.
[My… while waiting for you, Young Master, I came to truly realize my feelings for you. I waited with such longing… each day felt like an eternity.]
Christian stared at Mari for a moment.
Hearing such words from the face of a pure, beautiful ghost girl, he couldn't help but feel like he was being haunted by a virgin ghost.
“Thank you.”
[…Pardon?]
“I said thank you for waiting. I mean it.”
Chris spoke with sincerity.
Was Chris's gratitude unexpected? Mari wore a dazed expression for a moment.
‘I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing.’
The past. That is, his previous life.
Was it because of his harsh environment? He had lived a life devoid of good relationships.
Even in his childhood.
Even when he wandered the streets after escaping his hellish family.
And even in the Age of Ruin he faced as an adult.
He mostly had enemies, and few people with whom he shared a deep bond.
The Hero's Party at the end was the closest he came to such a bond.
Especially before he was cast out from his family as a child, everyone had wished for his death.
So, he wasn't used to someone worrying about him like this, which made him grateful to Mari.
[Oho… You finally understand my heart… But… if you gaze at me so… ardently… my heart pounds ferociously. I'm so, so happy… I feel like my heart will burst.]
“…It's not like that. And you don't have a heart.”
[Do not worry… I am already… prepared to be with you, Young Master. From now on… I will be with you forever.]
“…Never mind.”
Chris shot Mari a look and told her to bring some juice, and Mari disappeared with a giggle, saying she would make juice from a virgin's blood.
‘Anyway, the past.’
Chris was lost in thought for a moment.
There was one person. Someone who had worried about him, like Mari.
His sister.
‘I miss her. I wonder if she's doing well.’
A fleeting thought.
She's probably doing fine.
After all, she doesn't have ‘Chris’ in her life now. It must be much better than her previous life.
‘It's not far from here.’
The place where his sister was. In other words, his family from his past life was not far from the Southern Magitech States of this Magitech Empire.
Far from it, they were part of the ‘Gold Cross,’ a federation formed to stand against the Southern Magitech States.
He could reach his former family's home just by following the river that flowed past the Duchy of Baron, the Dark Magic House.
‘Let's not dwell on useless thoughts. It's not like I can acknowledge her anyway. I should focus on what I need to do.’
The Gold Cross federation, where his sister lived, was one of the first regions to fall during the Magitech Empire's invasion.
Preventing the future catastrophe was the best way to help his sister and everyone else, rather than getting lost in pointless sentimentality.
‘First, I need to become a Young Lord.’
Just then, the call he had been waiting for arrived.
“Young Master Christian. His Excellency, Marquis Langham, has summoned you.”
It was time to receive his recommendation for the Young Lord's trial from Marquis Langham.
* * *
“Greetings, Your Excellency the Marquis.”
Christian went to the office at the top of the main building.
For someone from a branch family to become a Young Lord, they must pass a trial.
It was not an easy process.
First, one needed a recommender from among the elders of the Main House. Someone of at least an elder's rank.
Would the pride-filled members of the Main House easily recommend a child from a branch family? Not a chance.
But that problem was already solved.
As payment for his bet with Eshid, Marquis Langham had agreed to be his recommender.
‘He can't be in a very good mood.’
Chris chuckled inwardly.
Marquis Langham had tried to get rid of Chris, but now he was in a position where he had to recommend him. He couldn't possibly be pleased.
However, Marquis Langham didn't betray his inner thoughts.
“A promise is a promise. As we discussed then, I will be your recommender. You will take the Young Lord's trial under my recommendation.”
He spoke in a business-like tone, his face as indifferent as ever.
What were his true feelings?
‘No matter what he thinks of me inwardly, there's no need to be intimidated.’
As long as they were both within the confines of the Dark Magic House, Marquis Langham, the Acting Head, couldn't harm him openly.
Of course, that didn't mean he could let his guard down.
Marquis Langham was the Acting Head.
Even without acting directly, he had plenty of underhanded ways to put him in a difficult position.
For instance, through the upcoming Young Lord's trial.
“The trial for a Young Lord from a branch family is nearly unprecedented, so there is no set format. Therefore, as the Acting Head, I will determine the trial myself.”
Chris nodded.
It was just as he expected.
‘He'll surely set an extremely difficult trial.’
It wasn't that there had never been a Young Lord's trial for a branch family member in the history of the Dark Magic House.
They were rare, but no one from a branch family had ever succeeded in becoming a Young Lord.
This was because the trials were deliberately made to be fiendishly difficult.
Failure wasn't the only issue; many had died during the trial.
‘It will probably be the same this time. He might use this trial as an opportunity to push me to the brink of death.’
As he waited to see just how brutal the trial would be, Marquis Langham said something unexpected.
“The trial will be conducted in two parts. The first is a test to confirm your aptitude. The second is a test to achieve the merits necessary to become a Young Lord.”
“A test of my aptitude, you say?”
Marquis Langham lifted his gaze from his documents and looked into Christian's eyes.
For a moment, his eyes glinted coldly behind his steel-rimmed glasses.
“Reach the 3-Star level within three months.”
Chris looked surprised.
‘Is that all?’
Of course, it was no easy task.
In fact, it was a condition bordering on the impossible.
Normally, advancing from the 2-Star to the 3-Star level is considered fast if it takes three years.
In particular, jumping from the peak of one star level to the next requires a significantly higher degree of difficulty than advancing through the lower, middle, and upper stages within a level.
Therefore, reaching the 3-Star level in three months was absurd, but.
“…Is that all it takes?”
Marquis Langham frowned.
“Did you say, 'all it takes'?”
“No, I just mean… it doesn't seem as difficult as I expected.”
Not difficult.
He was serious.
For Chris, that is.
“Your Excellency must have noticed, haven't you? That I am no ordinary genius.”
“……”
Marquis Langham was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Is it because you're from a branch family? You truly know nothing.”
“…Pardon?”
“Do you know why no one from the direct bloodline absorbs more than seventy percent of the Sacred Black during the Sacred Black Ceremony?”
This was the first he'd heard of it.
“It's not common knowledge. Most from the branch families struggle to absorb even thirty or forty percent of the Sacred Black. But the direct line is different. They receive thorough support from a young age to expand the capacity of their cores, so they can typically absorb over fifty percent with ease. While rare, some even appear who can absorb over seventy percent.”
Marquis Langham continued.
“Eshid, too, could have absorbed more than seventy percent if he wished. But he deliberately stopped at seventy percent. Because an excess of Sacred Black is actually a poison.”
An unexpected revelation.
“If the purity of one's Dark Magi is too high, raising one's star level becomes exponentially more difficult. The threshold is seventy percent.”
“……”
“I, too, only absorbed seventy percent for that very reason.”
Marquis Langham said coldly.
“And yet you absorbed over ninety percent. Without knowing your place.”
In other words.
Even if they had the capacity, those of the direct bloodline deliberately chose not to absorb more than seventy percent of the Sacred Black.
Because it would make raising their level in the future incredibly difficult.
He said it was true even for just a little over seventy percent, but Chris had absorbed over ninety percent.
No, others only knew it as vaguely ‘over ninety percent,’ but it was actually one hundred percent.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how daunting the task would be.
However.
“Understood. I will do it.”
Chris replied with a grin.
At his confident smile, Marquis Langham's eyebrow twitched.
“It seems you haven't understood my story. From now on, you will…”
“No, I understood perfectly. That I will face an insurmountable wall in raising my level.”
Chris didn't stop smiling.
“That's why I'm smiling. To be honest, I've never really faced a wall before. Frankly, I'm looking forward to it.”
“!!”
Everything had always been easy for Chris.
So, frankly, learning and mastering things was no fun. It was all too trivial.