Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Liberic of Merirose Mansion (1)
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Those memories weren't entirely clear.
What was certain was that it had been the 'moment of death' I'd longed for so desperately.
Demon Emperor Berkis.
The emperor of the demons, who had sat upon his throne for long ages, shaking the world with terror.
Such a being staggered into the hall, drenched in blood.
A tall young man with long black hair. In the very form I'd first given him.
"Ah."
Berkis spotted me standing in the center of the hall.
He grinned and casually yanked out the massive crossbow bolt embedded in his chest.
Even then, five or six more bolts and blades remained stuck in his body.
"So, you've regained your memories."
I carefully lifted my head to meet his gaze.
I felt no tension, knowing this long-awaited event—this culmination of everything—had finally come to pass.
"Then you must know that all of this is utterly pointless."
As Berkis shrugged, the bolts in his shoulders rattled noisily.
He pulled them out with an air of annoyance and tossed them to the floor.
Clang.
The harsh sound echoed through the hall.
"It was fun for a while, but enough with the games, Luther."
The Demon Emperor's black blood writhed, absorbing back into his flesh.
He consumed none of his own blood and regenerated perfectly from any wound.
A horrific monster I'd created myself.
Bang!
With a deafening crash, the hall's doors flew off their hinges.
The Demon Emperor's elite guards, the Kyleks, clashed with knights from the allied forces as they poured into the hall.
The knights' numbers had dwindled far from what I'd first seen. Even the survivors backpedaled under the Kyleks' ferocious assault.
My eyes met those of a young knight who barely blocked a massive axe with his shield.
I read despair in his gaze.
"In my next life, I should make sure I can't sense mana. Mages are such a pain."
No matter the chaos unfolding behind him, the Demon Emperor paid it no mind.
His eyes fixed solely on me, he advanced step by step.
Now, only three paces separated us.
...Right now.
"I'm done playing your games, Berkis."
"What?"
Those words weren't mine—they were his own bewilderment at his crumbling flesh.
Berkis looked down at his legs, now buckling beneath him, in utter disbelief.
I clung desperately to my sanity, fighting not to be swept away by the mana surging through my body.
"How..."
His face twisted in a mix of shock and rage—an expression I'd never imagined he could make.
"Berkis, return to the place of your birth."
As I pointed at the spot where he stood, the sealing magic I'd hidden there activated.
Black iron chains formed of runes and sigils raced across the floor, binding his entire body in an instant.
"Kuh...!"
Berkis gasped raggedly, thrusting his blackened arm beyond the seal's edge.
Black claws extended toward me, savage fangs bared.
"Luther, you think this pathetic seal can hold me?! I'll devour everything...!"
"You can't escape this seal. It was made from my heart."
The sealing array converged to a single point, forming a boiling orb. From within came only faint groans from Berkis.
I poured every ounce of my mana into drawing Berkis's seal into my own body.
A seal so potent it demanded a constant torrent of mana to maintain.
Only I, who had created Berkis, could become his prison.
I willingly accepted that role, making my heart his final bastion.
My vision flickered wildly as my heart burned like fire.
Strength drained from my limbs, my sight collapsed. Even the mana that had always sustained me faded swiftly.
In my blurring vision, the last sight was of knights shoving aside the Kyleks in a desperate rush toward me.
I closed my eyes in profound relief, believing this was truly the end...
"And yet here I am, reborn again?"
The childish voice of a young girl pulled me from my memories.
A brusque tone that seemed to doubt my tale entirely.
I pouted.
"Believe it or not, I don't care. I'm only telling you because you keep asking."
"Hmph. It's not that I don't believe you... I just don't get it. How does someone get reborn?"
"All living things, when their life ends, have their souls scatter from their flesh..."
I paused mid-sentence and stared at Selena.
The eight-year-old girl with her reddish-brown hair in twin braids blinked at me, tilting her head as if to say, Why?
...Never mind.
I buried my face in the massive book before me. The scent of aged paper wafted strongly.
What was I even doing, talking like this to an eight-year-old girl?
Besides, I was only seven myself.
Topics like soul accumulation, mana circulation—they weren't for kids under ten.
Selena giggled.
"Anyway, so you're saying it would've been better not to get reborn?"
"Not like this, at least..."
I'd told Selena everything.
All the events before my birth in this life.
My brutal past, the agonizing process of reincarnation, and its conclusion.
In time, we'd laugh it off as some strange story I'd made up.
"Your parents must've been heartbroken."
I blinked and looked at her.
"You're the heir to the family, Lib. They definitely would've grieved if you hadn't been born."
...Would they?
I lay back, using the book as a pillow, and stared up at the study ceiling.
Even without a weirdo like me, someone else would've been born into this house.
That might've been better...
Why was I reborn? And with all my past memories intact, no less.
The doubt that had lingered through my seven short years resurfaced.
After enduring the blood-soaked reign of the Demon Emperor, I'd hoped for peace someday—but never dreamed I'd live to see it.
Just luck?
...No way.
A cunning old mage, hoarding arcane knowledge over ages, whispered lowly in my mind.
Everything has cause and reason. You know that.
I took a deep breath to chase away the voice. A throbbing headache followed in its wake.
Only seven years old. A child's body limited what I could do.
Even recalling old knowledge made my head ache.
Having lost much of my mana through the sealing and reincarnation, even thinking about magic was a struggle...
Memories, experience, knowledge reside in the soul—but drawing them forth requires the body's strength.
For now, all I could do was live like a proper seven-year-old and search for the reason behind my rebirth.
"Selena, want me to read you a story about the heroes?"
I glanced up at the Eldrian family's vast collection filling the study and spotted an intriguing book.
"Yeah!"
Selena jumped up eagerly.
I smiled and pointed to a book high on the shelf.
"It's up there..."
"Let's use a chair."
Selena dragged over a wooden chair from by the window.
The book was far beyond our reach. Even standing on the chair wouldn't help.
"I'll climb up. Hold the bottom steady."
I stepped onto the chair's backrest. Selena hugged it tight, keeping it from wobbling.
"Feels like climbing a tree."
Selena giggled.
I stretched out, finally snagging the target book.
Dust from the shelves tickled my nose, making me sneeze lightly. My body swayed precariously, but Selena steadied it just in time.
"Got it."
The 100 Days of Dileina's Fall. A massive, heavy tome that required both hands.
We spread it open on the study's thick carpet.
Dileina, the fallen imperial capital, was where the heroes' final battle had unfolded.
Selena couldn't read yet, so I voiced the words aloud.
"...Afterward, Sir Lesis and his comrades escaped the annex. The demons still swarmed the capital Dileina, but their forces waned rapidly.
Our heroes safely returned to the allied camp and spread word of their victory over Demon Emperor Berkis..."
No illustrations, tiny print, difficult vocabulary and concepts.
I never read books like this in front of the tutor.
They'd be shocked and give me strange looks if a kid who just learned letters tackled something so advanced.
I was a weirdo, but I tried hard to act normal.
And amid it all, Selena was the one friend who never minded my odd behaviors or words.
I skipped ahead past pages of political drivel, finding the parts about the heroes again.
"...The long war against Demon Emperor Berkis had left the world in utter ruin. The heroes united to restore it to its former state.
Allen Lesis, crown prince of the Kingdom of Lesion and one of the heroes, abdicated his throne to devote his life to saving the world.
His greatest achievement was founding the World Restoration Organization 'Prius'."
"Prius..."
Selena echoed the name with sparkling eyes. She adored tales of the heroes and Prius knights.
"Prius has but one creed: to exterminate all remaining demons and magical beasts, restoring the world to its peaceful past..."
"Ah, wait, Lib."
I looked up from the book. Selena peered out the window over my shoulder.
"What's up?"
"Forgot I have an errand. Gotta go. Sorry."
Selena sprang to her feet.
I stood in a fluster but couldn't very well stop her.
She brushed dust from her skirt and waved.
"Finish reading tomorrow. I'll come after lunch."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Selena called a goodbye and left the study. Her small footsteps faded quickly, leaving silence behind.
I went to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her retreating figure.
Only the well-manicured garden stretched out, no sign of the twin-braided little girl.
Already gone? She's quick...
I felt a quiet pang at losing my easy conversational partner.
Selena was Madam Amara the head maid's daughter, living in a house down the hill.
She'd been coming to play at our house for ages—since we were too young to remember.
Ever since, she'd been my one and only peer friend.
"Lib! Lib!"
A familiar voice echoed from the corridor outside, and the study door burst open.
"There you are. Where've you been wandering off to alone? I looked everywhere!"
A black-haired boy rushed up to me, face alight with excitement.
His sword training must've been a blast—covered in dirt, reeking of sweat.
"I wasn't wandering much..."
"Listen, Lib! Huge news!"
Hmm, tripped up a guard during sword practice again? I didn't think much of it, but Shuren's tidings were unexpected.
"Master's back! With Prius folks too! How long's it been? Lib, do you even remember Father's face?!"
Father's home...?
My eyes widened.