A Rebel by Nature
In the not-so-distant future, the Archduke of Demonic Magic would raise an army. The very first thing he did upon waging war was strike the empire's five great magic families.
According to Lunia, the Archduke's primary goal was not the annihilation of the magic families, but rather the secret grimoires they possessed.
The unique magic formulas passed down through their families for generations were, each and every one, high-level magic that far transcended human understanding. The Archduke's true goal was to use the unique magic formulas of the five families as nourishment to break through the wall of the 9th circle.
The destruction and chaos of the world were merely collateral damage from his perspective.
The main reason the Archduke of Demonic Magic was able to conquer the world single-handedly was the friction and power struggles among the five great magic families.
Although the five families stood on equal footing under the protection of the empire's emperor, their relations were far from amicable.
Even now, there seemed to be many suspicions that the loss of the Benheim family head's pendant was a petty scheme orchestrated by another magic family or a black mage.
"Rot in there for the rest of your life, you filthy thief. How dare you steal our family heirloom, and then attack Lady Lunia on top of that!"
After all, even the jailer treated me like a traitor guilty of high treason.
No matter how much I protested my innocence, they wouldn't listen.
In the end, I was suddenly locked in a solitary cell in the basement of the Benheim Magic Tower, left with nothing to do but listen to the water dripping from the ceiling.
"Well, what now?"
Sitting blankly in the solitary cell, I let out a deep sigh.
"I can't even break out."
It seemed there was magic engraved on the iron bars.
I had a vague idea of what kind of magic it was. It felt similar to the spell Lunia used on her binding ropes when she captured enemy prisoners.
Knowing the structure meant I could interfere with it.
I raised my hand to try and dismantle the magic engraved on the bars, but with my current body lacking a mana core, it was a distant dream.
Even after straining for hours, I could only manage a microscopic distortion.
But it wasn't impossible. If I took my time and slowly wore down the strokes of the magic formula, I could dismantle it completely.
The only problem was that I didn't have time to waste.
"Tsk."
Maybe asking for Lunia's hand the very first time we met was a foolish move.
What kind of father would readily hand over his daughter to some random punk who rolled in from who-knows-where?
"...Was I too direct?"
"Yes. You were far too direct."
I raised my head at the sudden voice. Arlet, the seneschal of Benheim, was standing right in front of the iron bars.
Arlet's gaze was fixed on the bars I had been fiddling with just moments ago.
Did he realize I had touched the magic engraved on them?
Arlet stared at the bars for a moment, then cleared his throat before speaking.
"The Lord dotes on his children terribly. Before he is a great mage, he is a warm father. Since you uttered such absurdities in front of such a man, it wouldn't be strange at all if you rotted in this dungeon for the rest of your life."
His voice was cold, but I focused more on the underlying meaning of his words.
"You didn't come all this way just to mock me. And if you were planning to sentence me to life imprisonment, you wouldn't be saying that."
"Indeed. The Lord has decided to generously overlook the joke you made earlier, in consideration of your merit in recovering our family heirloom and your grace in saving Lady Lunia."
"It wasn't a joke. I was serious."
"Haha. You certainly are good at joking."
Arlet let out a chuckle, but his eyes remained entirely cold.
When I quietly shut my mouth, Arlet finally got to the point.
"Benheim never breaks a promise once made. Since the Lord promised to accept you as a member of the family, from now on, you will live as an external mage of Benheim."
This was likely why Arlet's tone had shifted to polite honorifics.
"An external mage... Is that like a hanger-on?"
"It is a position closer to the family than a mere hanger-on. However, until you can play your part as a proper mage, you will have to reside in the annex."
"The annex?"
"Yes. For the time being, you must train in magic alone. You need not worry. We will assign you a servant who is well-versed in magic, which should help you get started."
I nodded at Arlet's words.
Right now, I was a nobody without even a mana core, let alone a proper mage of Benheim. So they planned to exile me to the annex and make me learn the basics first.
"Well, that works for me."
Regardless of the label attached to my name, I had become a mage of Benheim.
Compared to my past life before the regression, this was the best possible start.
"Then, living in the annex, I suppose I'll run into members of the family."
I thought of Lunia.
Because the situation had been so dire earlier, we hadn't been able to talk much despite our reunion. What should I say to her when we met again?
As I pondered this, Arlet frowned and spoke.
"If I may offer a piece of advice, it would be best if you did not speak to the family members. In fact, minimize contact with them entirely. At least, until you become a mage capable of pulling your own weight."
"And why is that?"
"The direct descendants do not look kindly on interacting with mages from outside the family. Even the branch families are like that, so how do you think they will view an external mage? Countless mages pass the trials and enter Benheim every year, but not many of them survive until the end."
Elitism, or perhaps hazing.
Unlike the branch families who shared at least a drop of Benheim blood, I was a complete stranger. On top of that, I was suspected of stealing the family head's relic, so there was no way they would look at me with favorable eyes.
Arlet's advice was entirely correct.
However...
"That's for me to decide."
"...Did you not hear a word I said?"
"I heard you. You're telling me not to act rashly until I can pull my own weight as a mage."
"Then..."
"I won't just pull my own weight. I'll pull the weight of ten mages, so it'll be fine."
At my baseless display of confidence, Arlet's brow furrowed.
Perhaps he had received strict orders from Stern, because instead of getting angry, Arlet simply let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Do as you wish. However, do not expect this seneschal to clean up any messes that result from your actions."
"Of course not."
After all, Arlet was a mage of Benheim first and foremost.
I smirked and held out my handcuffed hands.
"So, when are you going to take these off?"
"Ah, dear me. I was so flustered that I forgot to deliver the Lord's message."
Arlet's lips curled upward.
It was the first smile he had ever shown me.
"He said: 'The sinner Raygan shall reflect on his crimes in the dungeon for one week.'"
"...Damn it."
Damned father-in-law.
"What did he say?"
"He did not say much, but he seemed quite dissatisfied."
"Naturally. To be told to rot in a cell for a week at such a hot-blooded age."
Hearing Arlet's report, Stern, the Lord of Benheim, smiled bitterly and tilted his glass.
Arlet hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"If I may offer my humble opinion, the boy seems to be a rebel by nature. I highly doubt whether accepting such a person as a member of our family was the right decision."
Stern nodded.
Indeed, when Raygan had uttered those absurd words about wanting his daughter earlier, even Stern had been furious to his very core. Had he not exercised transcendental self-control, it wouldn't have been surprising if an offensive spell had flown at the boy right then and there.
"Arlet, everything that boy said was the truth."
Stern touched the monocle resting on the table.
Though it looked like an ordinary piece of eyewear, it was an artifact. It was a relic embedded with a detection spell that could discern whether the target's words were truth or falsehood.
Just in case, he had worn the monocle during his meeting with Raygan.
"It was the absolute truth."
Every word spoken by that boy of unknown origin was correct.
There was not a single lie.
A mysterious mage had handed him the pendant, told him that a rune was contained within it, and ultimately instructed him to go to Benheim and return it.
While this fact alone was shocking, the most decisive factor was that Raygan vaguely knew the true nature of the rune inside the pendant.
"Knowing the power of the final rune is not a matter to be taken lightly. If that boy were to speak of this elsewhere, his life would surely be in danger. And our family would be no different."
The Rune of Time.
A grand magic capable of overturning the world.
The ultimate research that would decide the thousand-year history of Benheim.
It was also a conundrum that successive family heads had poured their entire lives into but failed to solve.
The greatest clue to it lay within the family heirloom.
"Who do you think the mage who entrusted him with the pendant was?"
"This rune manipulates the power of time. In that case, isn't there only one possibility?"
Stern tightened his grip on the pendant.
"A future successor, or perhaps an ancestor from the past, wished to impart a lesson to us. Since he was said to be wearing archaic clothing, the likelihood of him being an ancestor is high, but since he knew Lunia would be attacked today, he could also be a descendant from the future."
"If so, why did they not come in person and instead entrust the task to that boy?"
"There must be a reason they cannot speak of. Surely, ordinary men like us would not understand. But if there is one thing that is certain, it is that Benheim—whether in the past or the future—has chosen that boy. Therefore, he is our benefactor."
Arlet nodded at Stern's words. Arlet was also a high-level mage. In the dungeon earlier, Arlet had caught a glimpse of remarkable talent in the boy named Raygan.
He was definitely dismantling the magic engraved on the iron bars.
When he first realized that, Arlet couldn't help but be astonished.
A greenhorn who hadn't even initiated into mana had seen through the structure of the spell on the bars and attempted to dismantle it. Given that he had even succeeded to some extent, Raygan's talent was truly heaven-sent.
Furthermore, though the boy seemed rude at first glance, he possessed an insight far beyond his years.
However, as the seneschal, he had no choice but to prioritize the family's safety above all else. Arlet spoke cautiously.
"My Lord, today that boy killed the assailants who attacked Lady Lunia with nothing but a single sword."
Arlet had just received the field investigation report from the Benheim guards.
The assassins were not highly trained, but they could use basic aura, and the ringleaders were black mages—one of the 2nd circle and one of the 3rd circle.
While their levels were by no means high, they still represented a formidable force.
"The guard captain in charge of the investigation reported that every single one of them was stabbed precisely in a vital spot. It was a single strike for each. The cross-sections of the wounds were clean, without a single trace of wasted movement."
"..."
"Lady Lunia's testimony aligned with this as well."
Raygan had killed all the thugs who attacked Lunia.
An ordinary boy who hadn't even initiated into mana had slaughtered five attackers with nothing but a cheap iron sword.
"Is this not clearly suspicious? I have an ominous feeling that everything—the timely attack, the stolen pendant—seems to revolve around that boy."
"Arlet, what are you trying to say?"
"We cannot rule out the possibility that the boy, Raygan, is a spy sent by another family or a black mage. Recently, with the change in the head of the Lucen family, all sorts of sinister rumors have been circulating. Considering this atmosphere, Lady Lunia's attack might also..."
"I know."
Stern cut him off, nodding.
He, too, had detected the unsettling undercurrents surrounding the House of Count Lucen, another of the great magic families.
"However, Arlet, Benheim exists to reach the pinnacle of magic. Is that not so?"
"It is so."
"There is no law stating that only those of Benheim blood must stand at that pinnacle. Rather, we must not forget our ancestors' teachings: if there is an outstanding talent outside the family, we should accept them without hesitation and use them as nourishment for Benheim."
At this flawless logic, Arlet bowed his head deeply.
"However, your suspicions are also quite reasonable, Arlet. First, have our family's elites track down those insolent bastards who attacked Lunia."
"Yes. The Rune Sentinels have already begun their pursuit."
The Rune Sentinels were a unit composed solely of Benheim's most elite mages.
With them on the move, the mastermind would soon be revealed.
Stern nodded and continued.
"Additionally, assign a trained watcher to Raygan. We must maintain at least a minimum level of vigilance."
"I shall obey your command."
Having received his orders, Arlet left the room. Left alone, Stern silently stared out the window and tilted his glass.
Stern's mind was still in a tangle.
"Asking for my daughter..."
The boy, Raygan, had asked for his daughter.
Coincidentally, Stern had also thought of his daughter the moment he saw Raygan.
Lunia Benheim.
A bold yet mischievous personality. A natural rebellious streak. Yet, outstanding talent. The two of them shared many similarities.
Furthermore, Lunia owed Raygan her life today.
Thus, he had an intuition that if Lunia were to be with Raygan, they would bring out a great synergistic effect in each other, allowing Benheim's magic to take another step forward. Having lived his entire life as a mage, Stern could sense it.
However...
"I just hope Lunia doesn't get corrupted by him."
As a father before a family head, it was only natural to feel a bit of anxiety.