Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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My mother was a mercenary.
She was a fairly renowned mercenary at that—a woman and a commoner, yet often summoned by famous nobles.
But true to her mercenary life, she passed away just as swiftly.
It was around the time I turned ten.
I wasn't particularly sad. I simply set out to find my own path.
Perhaps taking after my mother, I ended up living as a mercenary too.
I had a real knack for it, and soon enough, I was known as a fairly capable mercenary myself.
Up until then, I thought I was a genius.
I picked things up quickly and applied them masterfully in real combat, so it was perhaps a natural delusion.
And when I turned thirteen,
"You're weak."
I met a true genius.
The lady of a noble house—no, of the Hero Family.
Her bloodline and talent were leagues beyond mine.
At the age I started as a mercenary, she was already cutting down orcs. By the time I adapted to mercenary life, she had slain a wyvern.
A gap in class.
She possessed it.
For the first time in my life, I felt jealousy.
What I achieved through nail-biting effort, she accomplished as effortlessly as breathing.
As if it were only natural.
As if it were simply her baseline.
She handled it all with such composure.
I wanted to beat her. I wanted to stand as her equal, no matter what it took.
"Will you become a squire of House Reinhardt?"
Enduring the humiliation of becoming a squire in my rival's house, I honed myself relentlessly.
And then
"I won."
"Won again."
"This time too."
I lost them all. Two hundred matches, two hundred defeats. A flawless loss.
The sole lesson from that defeat was clear.
Like this, I'd never beat her—not in a lifetime.
Afterward, I left House Reinhardt.
I roamed the continent on foot, mastering every martial art I could find.
I danced on the razor's edge of death, where dying at any moment wouldn't have been strange.
So when I returned to her at twenty-five, satisfied with my growth,
"Ariasfil passed away long ago."
"...I can't understand it."
"What the... fuck..."
In the Sage's Cave, its guardian blinked as it glared at me.
"You're already so strong, so why do you seek even greater power?"
"What bullshit... If I'm so strong, how'd I lose to you?"
My Mana Core was already shattered. Every joint in my bones was cracked. True to the loser, I'd already been defeated.
"I didn't have it easy either."
That much was true. The Golem Guardian's right arm had been completely severed, and its chest was riddled with daggers.
"So...? You mocking me...?"
"I have no such emotions. I simply cannot comprehend."
"Then what...? Spit it out before I die... don't beat around the bush..."
The guardian tilted its head for a moment before rephrasing its question.
"Why do you seek the Sage's Stone?"
"To get stronger..."
My vision blurred at the edges.
"Then why do you wish to grow stronger?"
My mind fogged over, and my mouth moved on its own.
"Just... there's this bastard I couldn't beat..."
"With your current strength, you could win now."
Those words drew a laugh from me.
"...Can't win. He went first anyway."
My eyes were now fully closing.
"...Master?"
Now, all I could hear was nonsense from that living hunk of stone.
"...Shall I grant the Sage's Stone to this man?"
What?
"I have no objection, but is that acceptable to you, Master?"
What the hell? A master here? More importantly, granting the Sage's Stone...
"Understood. Beginning the transplant."
What the fuck has it been blabbering...
Thud!!
"Arrrghhh!!"
Something pierced my chest—right into my heart.
My body, my brain—they burned.
My eyes flashed open suddenly.
"You bastard! Now you're even desecrating corpses!?"
"...What are you suddenly talking about?"
It was a voice I knew all too well.
And the sight before me was familiar beyond words.
"We haven't even fought yet—when did you die?"
Ariasfil Reinhardt, the rival I'd longed to surpass, stood there.