The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 17
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 17
”Brock, did you hear that story?”
“What story?”
“About that thief. Now he’s apparently going to live with us and train in magic.”
“What?”
Benheim is a massive family. Not just the direct line, but branch families scattered across the Continent also come to the main house seeking teachings to train in Benheim’s unique magic.
The branch family members who come to Benheim are between ten and fifteen years old. However, most of them pack their bags and return to their hometowns before reaching adulthood.
The reason is simple. They lack talent.
Among the branch families, only about 20% of mages formally have their abilities recognized and wear Benheim’s insignia on their chest.
While branch families certainly share the Benheim name, they are placed under strict examination standards every year. Since they must pass through a narrow gate to be recognized as proper Benheim mages, the branch family mages stake their lives on training day after day.
Perhaps that’s why. The power structure among the branch families is quite complex. Even among fellow branch members, the hierarchy is strictly divided based on how close they are to the direct line and how exceptional their talent is.
“That guy’s name was… Reagan, wasn’t it?”
The blonde-haired boy who brought up the topic, Brock Benheim, who turned eighteen this year, came from a family that had split from the main house not long ago, so their influence was quite strong.
“That Reagan guy is coming to the Separate Residence?”
“Yeah. He apparently reached 3rd Circle this time.”
At Brock’s question, the shaggy-haired boy who brought the news nodded vigorously. Brock frowned.
“He reached 3rd Circle? How on earth? As far as I know, that guy hasn’t even been in the family for a month.”
“That’s right. He’s only been learning about mana for a month.”
“Nonsense. That’s impossible. He must have been training in magic before coming here.”
It was impossible.
A greenhorn who had been learning magic for less than a month reaching 3rd Circle. Even the great mages who once conquered the Continent couldn’t have done that.
“No! I’m certain! I found this out by eavesdropping on the servants’ conversation, and the family head bestowed an elixir on that guy.”
“What? An elixir? Why?”
“I don’t know that much. Maybe the family head took a liking to that guy?”
The murmuring grew louder at the boy’s words.
Benheim’s artificial elixirs are the best on the Continent, excluding the elixirs of the Great Magic Families Arcamen. Moreover, if the family head personally bestowed it, it was certainly an elixir. Brock grimaced and asked.
“That’s ridiculous. Why would the family head bestow an elixir on some mere outsider?”
“Maybe there’s some secret about his birth? Like Reagan is actually Benheim’s illegitimate child?”
The branch family members listening to the conversation were curious about Reagan’s strange circumstances.
“If we get close to him, wouldn’t we get at least a drop of elixir too?”
“He probably hasn’t drunk it yet. I’m sure of it. Who would just carelessly drink an elixir?”
Several branch family members’ eyes lit up. They seemed to be hoping for scraps that might fall their way.
“Nonsense. What value could some thief have?”
However, Brock’s reaction was cold. Rather, he burned with hostility.
Even as branch family members, they were only slightly better off than outer mages, but their situation was equally precarious.
In such circumstances, the fact that a suddenly appearing stone had received the family head’s favor was bound to be viewed unfavorably.
When they realized Brock was displeased, the surroundings became quiet, and the boy who brought the news asked cautiously.
”Brock, you’re going to hold an initiation, right?”
“Of course.”
The Separate Residence’s initiation was a kind of custom.
Beating up the newcomer thoroughly and showing the difference in status. It was unbecoming of nobles, but most of the branch family members here had more consciousness as mages than as nobles.
”Brock, that guy has arrived.”
“Alright. Let me see his face.”
Brock put on a dignified expression and walked out to the main gate of the Separate Residence.
There stood a youth with a sturdy build. His appearance was, well, not bad. True to the saying that clothes make the man, even someone of humble origin looked quite presentable when washed well and dressed in good clothes.
“Are you that Reagan guy or whatever?”
“That’s right.”
“This Separate Residence isn’t an easy place. A nobody like you won’t last even a day before getting kicked out.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“That’s right. You won’t even survive the initiation. You’ve heard what an initiation is, right? I’ll turn that slippery face of yours into mush.”
Brock openly showed hostility as usual to intimidate the newcomer. He pressed his fists together and cracked his knuckles, making bone-cracking sounds, but Reagan remained unshaken.
Rather, Reagan looked at Brock’s face and blinked several times.
’What?’
Brock felt puzzled.
Reagan’s expression was unexpectedly calm. Beyond calm, there was even a faint hint of joy.
Though they were clearly meeting for the first time, he had the look of someone reuniting with an old acquaintance after a long separation.
”You, what’s your name?”
Just as Brock was getting flustered, Reagan suddenly asked.
”What’s it to you?”
“Just, you look like someone I know.”
“Nonsense. We’re meeting for the first time.”
“Right. For the first time. For now.”
“…For now?”
Instead of answering, Reagan smiled broadly.
That smile was, somehow, steeped in nostalgia.
* * *
Before the regression, Renia’s Resistance was mixed with people from all walks of life.
Royalty, nobility, commoners – inside Renia’s Barracks, social status didn’t matter at all.
All of them were patriots who had gathered to stop the Archmage King’s plan. That sense of purpose alone created a certain camaraderie among them.
- Hey, why is someone like you by Lady Renia’s side?
However, while status meant nothing, jealousy remained.
– My name is Brock Benheim. I’m a mage of Benheim and Miss Renia’s bodyguard. And these guys are my subordinates.
The Resistance Army had mage units that protected Renia, and Brock was their leader.
His level was quite impressive. The bodyguard unit was entirely composed of skilled mages of 5th rank or higher, and among them, Brock was a 6th rank mage.
Not only his skill but also his will was remarkable. The bodyguard unit was united by loyalty to Renia, faithful retainers who would throw away their lives to complete any mission she entrusted to them.
Naturally, to Brock’s group, I was a stone that had suddenly rolled in. It was only natural for them to doubt my qualifications.
- Kh, kheung. Right. You’re, you’re certainly useful. Not bad for protecting Miss Renia’s side.
– It’s not very convincing when you say it while lying down bleeding from your nose.
– Sh, shut up!
Only after I fought all of them at once and achieved victory did those guys acknowledge my worth.
- Remember this! The sword you hold is for protecting Miss Renia!
Wiping his nosebleed, Brock advised me.
A sword for protection.
I had never once thought of it that way when wielding my sword.
I had dismissed it casually, but as the war dragged on and defeat grew imminent, I came to recall it anew.
– Miss Renia, we’ll open a path! In the meantime!
– Aaah!
The Plains Battle where the Archmage King personally appeared.
Brock and Renia’s entire bodyguard unit were annihilated.
To open a path to save Renia, the bodyguard unit threw away their precious lives like trash without hesitation.
That sight remained vividly etched in my mind.
Even knowing they couldn’t win, even sensing death, the way they discarded their lives like old shoes was never trivial.
Rather, it was noble.
”Yes. Nice to see you again, all of you.”
So now that I’ve returned to the past, it’s inevitable that I feel different emotions facing these old connections again.
I chuckled and raised my head. Brock’s gang with slightly disgusted expressions stood before me. They were all familiar faces.
“You guys, can you use magic?”
It was a simple question, but the abrupt inquiry seemed to be taken as provocation.
”What, this bastard? How arrogant, where does he get off!”
“Big brother! It seems this bastard doesn’t know his place!”
Looking at their growling faces, I quietly closed my eyes.
Their sacrifice was buried deep in my heart.
There was no need to bring it up now.
’In this life, I won’t lose you guys either.’
If that was the case, even now, I needed to train them so they wouldn’t die miserably somewhere.
I opened my closed eyes and asked calmly.
”Earlier, you mentioned an initiation, right? Is that initiation about disciplining the newcomer?”
I recalled the initiation from the mercenary group. I was definitely beaten up thoroughly and made to spend three days and nights outside the camp.
The nobles’ initiation wouldn’t be much different.
According to Sheril, the society of this Separate Residence was like the wild.
”Good. Let’s do that initiation thing.”
“Wh, what did you say?”
Brock’s eyes widened as if dumbfounded by the sight of the newcomer requesting the initiation first.
“What do you mean what. Let’s have an initiation and spar.”
“Spar? Are you seriously saying that right now?”
”Of course I’m serious. You want to see my skills, don’t you?”
“That’s… true.”
Before my regression, Brock had challenged me to a duel to see my skills.
It was the same now that I had come to the past.
“Then I’ll show you. Come at me all at once.”
The result would be no different from before my regression either.
“This, bastard. Just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you should babble nonsense! I’ll fix your manners!”
Brock’s face contorted. He raised his hand and cast magic.
Early 3rd rank. It was a fairly impressive level, but he was just a greenhorn after all.
A few minutes later, Brock was rolling on the ground with a bloody nose.
* * *
The new order in the Separate Residence was quickly imprinted on everyone.
“That guy?”
“Right. The newcomer who just arrived.”
“I heard Brock lost.”
“It wasn’t just Brock who lost, his whole gang attacked one by one and they all got wrecked.”
After everyone clearly witnessed Brock, the Separate Residence’s top dog, getting beaten up, no bold fool dared to openly growl at me anymore.
I couldn’t help the whispering among themselves behind my back, but I had no intention of paying special attention to it.
What I needed now was to raise my level as quickly as possible, and for that, magic training was the priority.
“Not bad.”
Fortunately, the study used by the branch family members had much more advanced magic books than the study in the Separate Residence I had been in before. They were excellent books for me, who had just reached 3rd rank, to read thoroughly.
I spent all day holed up in the study, skimming through magic books and learning magic.
Time passed like that, and it was exactly the fifth day since I had entered the Separate Residence.
”I heard the rumors. You beat up the kids? Isn’t that too rough?”
Renia came to visit.
Renia, who had shown a worried expression when she first heard the news that I would be living with the branch family members, seemed incredulous upon hearing that I had beaten down five people on my first day at the separate residence.
“Renia, weren’t you not supposed to meet with me?”
“Not right now. Father told me to get along well with you.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know. I guess he likes you.”
“…Hmm.”
Renia’s purpose wasn’t simply to come see me.
Renia’s eyes sparkled as she leaned toward me. A rich citrus scent wafted over. Soon she spoke as if whispering.
“Reagan, actually. I quite like eavesdropping.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Huh?”
Renia frowned.
But what could I do? I remembered a woman who had cast surveillance magic like a spider’s web throughout the entire barracks before my regression.
“Anyway. I overheard something recently – father said he’s taking you to the Hunting Festival. That’s what I came to talk about.”
“Hunting Festival?”
“Yeah. The Hunting Festival. It’s an event Benheim holds every year. It’s an event to honor the will of Benheim’s ancestors who hunted magical beasts, but it’s also a kind of test. During the Hunting Festival period, they release artificially created magical beasts made with magic into the forest. It’s a competition to see who can hunt more magical beasts.”
“He’s taking me there?”
“That’s right. You’re also a mage of Benheim living with the branch family members now. So you have to take the test. Plus, Rucen is participating in this Hunting Festival too.”
“Rucen….”
“You don’t know? It’s a family grouped together with Benheim as Great Magic Families. This time they decided to hold the Hunting Festival together with Rucen’s people as an exchange.”
Rucen County.
Like Benheim, one of the Five Mage Families of the continent.
By the time I was just starting to make my mark as a mercenary, Rucen had already been destroyed by the Archmage King. However, I remembered a few of Rucen’s mages who had been active during the war.
“What kind of family is Rucen?”
“Hmm. I don’t know much either. I heard it’s a family that was included in the Five Mage Families relatively recently. And it seems the family head changed recently too.”
“A new family head?”
“Yeah. The previous family head stepped down from his position.”
Only then did it seem like the puzzle pieces were starting to fit together.
Hunting Festival. Rucen. New family head.
Weren’t these all things that Renia from my previous life had told me?
The Hunting Festival was a festival and test periodically held to honor Benheim’s ancestors who were magical beast hunters in the past.
Before my regression, Renia had said she couldn’t attend this year’s Hunting Festival. It must have been because of the attack incident at the graveyard last time.
“Renia, you’ll be participating in this Hunting Festival too, right?”
“Why are you asking something so obvious? I’m from the direct line. Last Hunting Festival, only my brother participated because I was too young, but this time I can participate too.”
But this time is different. Renia will participate in the Hunting Festival.
Stern didn’t seem to have any particular intention of canceling the Hunting Festival either.
Even though it had only been two weeks since the fact that Renia’s uncle Markel was a black mage was revealed, the Hunting Festival would proceed.
That meant….
‘It must be a trap.’
I nodded inwardly in understanding.
”I understand.”
“You understand? What?”
“Renia, you’re going to stay with me during the Hunting Festival.”
At my words, Renia blinked.
”Is that a date proposal?”
“…No.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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