Chapter 238
Chapter 238
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: Reincarnated as the Plum Blossom Sword Master in a Count's Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Have you ever thought about the difference between humans and dragons?
Yuria closed her mouth again and focused on the voice. A single word—dragon—had succeeded in capturing her interest.
‘Priscilla...’
The dragon Priscilla, who had vanished into the dream world alongside Eugene. If Eugene never returned and Priscilla came back to this world alone, Yuria would kill her, no matter how many decades it took.
-Humans are weak. Their skin tears on a mere tree branch, their lifespans are limited. And their brains? Before they develop, their learning capacity is no better than that of beasts. Starve them for a few days, and they worry about dying. Deprive them of sleep, and their minds break.
-But dragons are strong. From birth, they possess the learning capacity of an adult human, and their scales are so tough that even sharply honed swords and spears can't pierce them. They sense mana the moment they're born, and with every breath, their bodies naturally absorb it.
-Strength, mana, lifespan... Humans can't match dragons in any of it. No, not just humans—all creatures in this world fall short of dragons. Even my master called dragons the greatest beings created by the gods, the pinnacle of life.
-Humans cannot surpass dragons. That was common sense. That was the law of nature.
-But I refuse to accept it.
-Even dragons die if their heads explode. They die if their hearts are pierced. They die when their lifespan ends. They can't escape death.
-I thought about it. Humans are simply less evolved than dragons. In tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years, humans could evolve into dragon-like beings!
-Because I believed in the potential of the human body! I began researching the human body!
Yuria could now move her body freely. She could even open her mouth and speak. But she stayed still, focusing solely on the voice.
She had realized that escaping this space was tied to the spirit of Pallek Proxyn.
-The first thing I did was try to transform the human heart into something like a dragon's.
-I believed that if humans had a mana organ similar to a dragon's heart, their bodies could evolve.
-But I failed.
-Whether transplanting an artificial heart or reinforcing the existing one, the body rejected it. The human body was weaker than I imagined.
-Hundreds of attempts failed.
-So I changed my approach. Strengthen the body before the heart.
Pallek Proxyn, recorded in history as a vile black mage. The number of humans captured and experimented on exceeds at least 3,000. Including the unrecorded victims, it's probably double that.
-And finally, I succeeded.
-I strengthened the body and remodeled the heart.
-They didn't become dragons... but through my research, humans took a step toward evolution.
-Yet the foolish mages couldn't comprehend my great achievement.
-I was probably captured and killed by them.
-It doesn't matter. But allowing my achievement—the first step in human evolution—to vanish? Unacceptable.
-That's why I left this grimoire. For someone to prove my knowledge and legacy!
“......Ugh.”
Yuria let out a small groan. Something had entered her mind.
Magic? No. This was knowledge. Though tempted to resist, Yuria chose to accept it. Knowledge was just knowledge, after all.
-Now, I will strengthen your body.
“......”
Yuria frowned. Her body itched. She twisted and shook her arms and legs, but the itch persisted.
-One of the greatest differences between dragons and humans is molting.
-Dragons molt twice.
-From hatchling to adult dragon. From adult to ancient dragon.
-With each molt, dragons grow stronger and purer.
Yuria felt something peeling away from her skin. It didn't hurt. If anything, it felt refreshing. A foul odor reached her nose.
-Your body is now purer. Your muscle strength will rise, and you'll absorb mana more easily.
“...Kuhk!”
Yuria's body convulsed.
Her beating heart stopped. Then pain surged in her chest.
It felt like a spear had pierced her heart, but looking down, her chest was fine.
-I've remodeled part of your heart. Now, you can naturally perform mana breathing.
“......”
Her heart beat again.
She could feel the difference. With each breath, mana flowed straight into her heart, bypassing her lungs. The amount was minuscule, but it spread throughout her body with every heartbeat. She sensed some of the faint mana accumulating in her heart. With training, she could probably wield it.
-Congratulations. Compared to a dragon's heart, it's a candle before the sun... but you have evolved as a human.
Suddenly, Yuria felt the wall that had blocked her shatter.
“......Thank you.”
-Don't forget.
-Remember me.
-I am Pallek Proxyn.
-The mage who evolved humanity!
???
Thud.
Yuria appeared in midair and landed lightly on the floor. She extended her hand toward the grimoire lying before her.
The moment her fingers touched the cover made of animal hide, the grimoire crumbled into sand and scattered across the ground.
“......”
Would Master be disappointed?
Letting out a small sigh, she surveyed the situation. The library was silent, devoid of any presence. Not much time seemed to have passed since she was swallowed by the grimoire and reemerged.
Yuria then examined her body. The internal injuries from the earlier battle had vanished without a trace.
Her maid uniform, torn in places from the fight, was filthy. Black, sticky liquid coated her hands and hair—clearly from her own body.
With each breath, she felt mana entering through her heart.
She opened her palm. The calluses were gone, leaving the soft, beautiful hand of a noblewoman who had never done rough labor.
Yuria drew a dagger from the shadows. Black aura gathered on the blade. The heat-haze-like aura compressed into the shape of a sword blade—an Aura Blade, the mark of an Aura Master, her former possession.
Through the grimoire's opportunity, Yuria had become both an Aura Master and an Archmage.
‘What needs to be done...’
Gather the grimoires and valuable books in the library.
And wait here for Eugene to emerge.
Yuria paused as she reached for a grimoire on the shelf. Her hands were dirty.
She wanted a shower, but Eugene might return while she was away.
Yuria pulled water, a towel, and a spare maid uniform from the shadows.
???
“Master! Please! Help us! Just this once!”
“P-Please, we'll pay any price, so...!”
Arhen and Jura knelt. Before them sat Priscilla in a chair, clad in a black robe. She stared at Arhen before speaking.
“The king's tyranny, huh... Fine. I was bored anyway. Let's see how great this king really is.”
Priscilla rose from her seat.
“Thank you, Master!”
“Thank you, Lady Priscilla!”
Arhen and Jura beamed. They vanished from the mansion via Priscilla's teleportation magic.
I turned my head. The real Priscilla stood naked beside me.
“Lady Priscilla. Were you and Arhen in some special relationship?”
“Can't you tell? Arhen and I are master and disciple.”
“......Nothing more than that?”
“More?”
“Like lovers. Arhen's been coming up a lot lately... Isn't he precious to you, Lady Priscilla?”
Dream world. This place was ultimately a dream, a mental realm. I'd never seen the real Arhen, so his frequent appearances were definitely due to Priscilla.
“...He's the first human disciple I ever took, so I have some attachment, that's all.”
Doesn't seem like it. I almost said it but decided to let it go. Whatever their relationship, it had nothing to do with me. Priscilla and I had no relation either.
“But it's a bit strange. This is clearly your memory, Lady Priscilla... Why is Arhen at the center?”
For instance, the village from Arhen's childhood or the plains he crossed with Jura—Priscilla never appeared there.
“Because I've seen Arhen's memories before. Nothing strange about it.”
“...What?”
“......”
She fell silent and began walking, clearly not intending to explain.
The scenery shifted.
Robed Priscilla conversed in the palace garden with an elderly man wearing a crown. His hair was white, but his eyes were blood-red.
“You were Cobalt's founding king... Leosio.”
My eyes widened. If that old man was Cobalt Kingdom's founder, it had to be Galliserus Cobalt. But the name from Priscilla's lips was Leosio.
Leosio Chrysod. The red dragon from the original story.
“I'm just enjoying myself. Don't interfere, Priscilla.”
“Your tyranny is causing suffering to the kingdom's people.”
“What business is that of yours?”
“......I live in the Cobalt Kingdom. Your actions are disrupting my amusements. Have you forgotten our rule—not to interfere with each other's play?”
“I founded Cobalt Kingdom, but... Hm. Fine. I was getting bored anyway.”
“Leosio. Rumors have reached me of Cobalt's citizens vanishing. Is it your doing?”
“Me? Why would I bother with that?”
Leosio vanished after those words.
‘Leosio! That bastard's a traitor! He sided with the demons for immortality, that damned traitor!’
I held back the urge to spoil it for Priscilla.
In the original story's latter half, Leosio dies. His corpse ends up with protagonist Kyle, propelling him to the world's strongest and leading to the final battle with the demon king.
‘Priscilla wouldn't believe me anyway, and I want Leosio's corpse. If I can get it later...’
For my own gain, I kept quiet about Leosio.
Priscilla moved again. Leaving the garden, she entered a bedroom.
Arhen and Jura were having sex on the bed.
“Ah, ahh... Arhen...!”
“Jura...!”
I smirked at Arhen's dick. I figured a hero's would be huge, but it was average.
‘...Still jealous. I could shove him aside and fuck her instead... Rush in now and ram it into Jura's pussy?’
But Priscilla's watchful eyes stopped me. She silently observed Arhen and Jura's lovemaking.
Her gaze fixed on Arhen confirmed she harbored feelings for him.
‘......Ah. I wanna fuck too. Wonder what Jura's pussy feels like?’
That's when it happened.
A squeeze around my dick, then gone. I tilted my head. I was hard, but not touching anything. Feeling something was impossible.
‘Huh? Wait a sec.’
Every time Arhen moved, I felt it in my dick. When he thrust down, it was like plunging into a pussy; when he pulled back, like withdrawing.
‘Are my senses syncing with Arhen's?! This is possible?!’
I imagined myself as Arhen. Suddenly, Arhen's sensations grew vivid. His hands felt Jura's breasts, his lips her wet mouth. And Arhen's emotions flowed into me.
The joy and pleasure of embracing his beloved, Jura, made my heart race.
‘Whoa... This is a new sensation.’
It felt unpleasant to me. I had zero desire to feel someone else's emotions. The dick sensations were unsatisfying too.
“Ugh... Jura...!”
Arhen came inside Jura's pussy. My dick twitched, but I didn't cum.
‘No way. That's not enough stimulation to cum. He shoots from just that?’
The hero was pretty disappointing.