Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 38
>Chapter Title: Heart Demon and Sweet Potato Stem
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“……Hoo.”
I let out a deep breath and half-opened my eyes.
The scent of rain brushing past my nose. The sound of pouring rain drumming in my ears.
My sharpened senses, honed just as keenly as my intuition, absorbed every piece of information.
I savored the lingering afterglow of the breathing technique, eyes half-lidded for a moment.
After a short while.
‘Has it already been a week?’
I gauged the time.
It had been a week since the Trial Tower takeover incident came to a close.
In other words, a week since I’d settled that old grudge with Frezen.
And right now, my mood was… what to call it?
‘I don’t know.’
It defied description.
Not emptiness, not futility, not triumph—nothing specific.
If I had to put a word to it…
‘Mediocre.’
Just like always.
You’d think pouring out that much emotion would leave some kind of emotional hangover.
But sorting through those intense feelings had only taken that one day, and by the second, it was like nothing had happened.
Ah, if there was a difference, maybe it was a strange sense of lightness somewhere.
Like pulling a rotten tooth you’d grown so used to you forgot it was even there.
‘Not bad.’
In fact, it felt good.
Wizards have something called a heart demon.
A damnable thing that sneaks up on you unawares and shreds your mind, and wizards who fall to it rarely meet a good end.
They spew blood and die chasing higher realms, or get caught off guard in battle and die pointlessly.
In my past life, I’d had no such demon.
‘Everything was simple.’
If it needed doing, I did it.
If not, I didn’t.
Even when comrades died one by one, I just figured it was our lot in life.
Some might call that heartless, but if they’d died on a mission that wasn’t forbidden magic, I wouldn’t have raged like that.
Of course, I’d have been sad.
Maybe I’d never forget them for a while—or even a lifetime.
But that’s exactly where it would’ve ended.
For us, dying on a mission was as natural as running out of lifespan.
Anyway, in my past life, I was a wizard free from heart demons…
‘Nearly caused a disaster there.’
The emotions I’d unleashed in the Trial Tower could be seen as the seed of a heart demon.
No problem now, but someday it might grow and devour my mind—that damnable something.
Of course, it wasn’t fully resolved.
‘There are still… the Decullans.’
If Frezen was the seed of one heart demon, weren’t the Decullans the root of another?
Maybe a whole colony.
Or perhaps a sweet potato.
Like a sweet potato.
Leave one root, and it sprouts vigorously, sending stems far and wide, bearing fruit, then rooting down to take over the whole patch.
I’ve never grown them myself, so who knows if that’s accurate, but the Decullans could be just like that.
In a way, it was a pretty serious situation.
‘Feels like carrying a bomb in my chest that might go off any second. It might not explode, sure. But the not knowing? That’s the real bitch.’
If it was definitely going to blow, I could prepare. But since it might not, preparing feels pointless.
Is there anything more nagging than this?
‘Probably not.’
But who am I?
A former Troubleshooter.
Someone who endured situations for over a decade where death was possible—or not.
Uncertainty was like a second home.
So even this…
‘Not bad.’
In fact, good.
That’s life for you.
Too easy, no worries, and your gut sags while you invent pointless anxieties to fill the void.
Of course, constant max tension isn’t good either.
You hold on and hold on until snap—you half-mad.
A bit different, but lunatics like Henji are born from that.
Which got me thinking…
‘What happened to Damian?’
My past life’s Damian was no slouch in the madness department either, so there had to be a reason.
Until recently, I thought maybe he snapped during the final battle… but probably not.
Exceptional magical talent meant exceptional mental resilience.
‘…Anyway.’
I gathered my thoughts there.
Shwaaaa—
The faint sound of heavy rain filtering through the window had this weird way of stirring up sentimentality.
Anyway, summing up the current situation:
‘I eradicated a heart demon I didn’t even know about.’
But once it was gone, another one just as bad was sitting right there.
Of course, it wasn’t a full heart demon yet.
‘But now that I know about it, it won’t get the drop on me. And honestly, this level of tension isn’t bad.’
As for Damian’s story…
‘I’ll find out when the time comes. Or not.’
That’s how it goes.
End of reflection.
“Now then…”
I pulled a book from my subspace and opened it.
The Crimson Flame manual.
The past week, my focus on the Heavenly Origin Art’s breathing wasn’t for nothing.
Partially to calm any potential emotional turbulence, but more importantly, a final check before the next step.
And the result of that check?
‘Perfect.’
Setting aside my mental state, my physical condition was better than ever.
So now…
“Time to move to the next stage.”
I grinned at the Crimson Flame manual.
The harvest I’d waited nearly a month for.
* * *
First things first, it was decided.
‘Security spell.’
Like any great house’s manual, the Crimson Flame one was protected by a security spell.
Had to解除 that first…
‘Easy.’
I drew up Heavenly Origin Art mana and slowly poured it over the cover.
Soon, a sizzling sound as the defensive mechanism disengaged.
Normally, it wouldn’t be this simple.
Even the protection on my subspace took a month; a manual’s would be worse.
But.
There were special circumstances.
‘Crimson Flame being a Decullan manual. And…’
Me having mastered Heavenly Origin Art mana.
The security on the Crimson Flame manual was mid-to-high grade.
High grade, sure.
From the outside, even mid-grade is impossible to crack.
But.
‘Anything short of top-grade, and Heavenly Origin Art mana cracks it.’
That’s what Decullan bloodline means.
Other great houses revere bloodline too, but Decullan takes it further.
Even a halfwit bloodline member stands above all retainers just for that.
Of course, security on manuals for bloodline members is top-grade.
‘Wouldn’t be this easy then.’
Anyway.
I opened the Crimson Flame manual.
Flip.
The pages so thumbed through by Karahen they shone with use.
Oil from hands made them glossy.
Truth is, I’d already pored over the Crimson Flame manual dozens of times in the past week.
Its contents were crystal clear in my mind.
‘Not all of it, but…’
What I needed now was stage 1.
Entering Fire.
That section.
On the early parts, I could recite it word for word.
Still, I opened the manual anyway because.
First time learning an attribute manual.
‘In a way, it’s like walking a new path.’
In my past life, I only learned neutral attribute manuals issued to Troubleshooters; attribute ones like Crimson Flame were new.
So double-checking was natural.
Rustle.
Rustle.
For a while, the sound of turning pages filled the dorm.
And after some time.
‘Good.’
Final check done.
I stowed the Crimson Flame manual in my subspace and closed my eyes.
‘First…’
The first breath of Crimson Flame.
‘The main mana circuits aren’t much different from Heavenly Origin Art.’
Details differ greatly.
But core circuits, mana flow, and operational principles align on the big picture.
Essentially the same.
Of course, only possible because I’d mastered Heavenly Origin Art and understood mana deeply.
Anyway.
Ssssh—
I drew mana from my core and shaped the flow along Crimson Flame circuits, not Heavenly Origin Art ones.
One cycle.
Memorizing the path.
‘Here we go.’
Before the second cycle, I steadied my mind.
If it was just mana flow, it’d be no different from an ordinary manual.
But Crimson Flame is a rare high-grade manual on the continent.
It pursues an ultimate ideal.
What is that ideal?
‘A flame burning alone.’
If Azure Flame seeks eternal persistence, Crimson Flame seeks solitary independence—or perfection.
And manifesting that ideal in the mind is…
Mental image.
Running mana through Crimson Flame circuits just yields fire mana.
But with a mental image, you reach true Crimson Flame.
So, first task: vividly grasp the mental image form.
I conjured it in my mind.
A flame burning alone.
Needing nothing else.
Born of mana, yet burns without it; ignores oxygen it should consume.
‘…’
I forgot everything, focusing on the image.
Heavenly Origin Art mana swirled through Crimson Flame circuits, heating up with each turn.
Transforming into fire mana.
Returning to the core, it reverted to neutral mana like nothing happened.
Repeating that cycle for a while.
Roar—
When I forgot even the cycling, a flag-snapping echo resounded in my mind.
No questions.
Just endless mental imaging.
One cycle, two…
How many?
Lost track of time, numbers, even that I was cycling mana.
Rumble…!
“……!”
A thunderclap boomed in my mind.
No, not thunder.
Roar.
A spark the size of a fingernail—I couldn’t tell when it appeared.
That faint spark suddenly swelled like doused in fuel.
The “thunder” was the sound of it exploding fiercely.
‘This is…’
A flame burning alone.
That’s when I thought it.
Fizzle, fizzle.
The flame in my mental image flickered as if to die, shrinking.
And finally.
Crackle, crackle.
Down to a small campfire size.
That’s when I opened my eyes.
‘Entering Fire…’
The stage of harboring fire in the heart.
I raised a fingertip, conjuring a fireball.
Mana that had lain still like neutral mana erupted like flames right after.
Whoosh—!
Fierce flames shot from my fingertip.
‘…Definitely.’
Different.
From the fire’s nature, its meaning, to mana consumption.
Brighter, more destructive.
But.
Fizzle, fizz.
Withdraw mana, and it died quickly.
“As expected, still just Entering Fire.”
True Crimson Flame stage would maintain presence even without mana.
I’d tested with the new mental image, hoping, but this was the limit.
Still…
‘Not bad.’
No, actually good.
Something I never had in my past life.
Pahren von Decullan.
The last of my past life. One step closer to that infuriating yet great wizard.
How could it not feel good?