The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 76
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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 76
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
I decided to drink the potion Isobel had left me right away.
There was no particular reason to drink it later. Due to forcibly breaking through the 6th Rank barrier, my current mana core was in a precarious state like a cracked glass.
In this current situation where I was stuck in a hospital room with nothing but time to kill, there was no better option than drinking Isobel’s special elixir.
So I called for someone suitable to stand guard.
“…So that’s why you called me?”
“Right. Even though it’s called an elixir, it’s still medicine made by the Celestial who created Chronos. There might be some unforeseen accident, so I’d like you to watch over me, Sheril.”
Sheril, called out in the middle of the night, didn’t hide her troubled expression.
I should mention since you seem to have forgotten, but Reagan-nim has Miss Renia as your companion. Wouldn’t it be better to ask the young lady rather than a mere attendant like me?”
Of course I had thought of that too.
When Renia drank the Essence of Earth on the train coming here to Arcamen, I was the one who stood guard for her.
However, this time the situation was a bit different.
“Sheril, try thinking as if you were Renia.”
“I am not the young lady.”
“I’m saying suppose you were.”
At my words, Sheril reluctantly nodded and urged me to continue.
“Now, from Renia’s perspective, if I, Reagan, said I was going to drink a suspicious elixir gifted by the Celestial alchemist who made Chronos. How do you think she would react?”
“…Ah.”
Sheril finally understood.
Renia had already gone berserk and thoroughly grilled Arcamen because I had swallowed a bunch of Chronos.
If I declared to such a Renia that I was going to take another unidentified elixir given by the alchemist who made Chronos?
‘She’d explode in rage.’
I had no hobby of stirring up a hornet’s nest.
Understanding my deep troubles, Sheril let out a small sigh and pulled a chair next to the bed to sit down.
“I understand. Then I’ll periodically check Reagan-nim’s physical condition. If I see even the slightest sign of mana backflow, I’ll stop it immediately.”
“Thanks. Then I’ll drink it.”
I opened the medicine bottle.
For some reason, the bottle cap gave off a pungent yet strong alcoholic aroma.
Well, taste and scent weren’t important.
I poured the elixir down my throat.
“…Mm.”
A thick, hot yang energy like lava flowed down my esophagus.
Then I understood.
The reason Isobel had called this potion an elixir rather than medicine.
The moment I swallowed the liquid, my entire body’s mana circuits and mana core began pulsating and expanding like crazy.
* * *
“Huu…”
White steam rose from Reagan’s shoulders as he sat cross-legged in meditation.
Watching this scene, Sheril let out a small, silent sigh.
That sigh contained a hint of resentment.
“…Why.”
As his personal attendant, Sheril had watched Reagan’s actions from beginning to end.
From that perspective, Reagan von Benheim was an eccentric that Sheril’s common sense simply couldn’t understand.
Using 2nd Rank rune magic the moment he first saw a magic book, defeating Arnaud von Benheim without even learning mana cultivation methods, copying sword magic just by eyeballing it.
Now he was manipulating the Great Magic Families and had even shattered the 6th Rank barrier with his own power.
“…”
However.
The reason Sheril was so shaken wasn’t only because of Reagan’s overwhelming talent.
Just yesterday, Reagan had seen through Sheril’s inner thoughts all too easily.
– Don’t make grand excuses about loyalty or duty. You just have no attachment to your own life.
That was exactly right.
Sheril had definitely been hit right on target.
“Attachment…”
Sheril had been looking for a place to die.
Rather than worrying about how to live, she had been worrying about where to die honorably.
Sheril took out a small black jade ornament from her bosom.
The Dark Mage Guild.
It was a token that guild’s leader had given to his direct disciples.
“Such attachment shouldn’t exist.”
In the past, Sheril had been chosen as the next Dark Mage Guild leader.
However, for certain reasons, she had refused that fate.
The consequences were harsh.
Without Benheim’s protection, Sheril wouldn’t have been able to preserve her life.
So Sheril resolved to become Benheim’s faithful shadow to repay their kindness and die without regrets.
To become a tool and quietly perish in the filthiest places.
She believed without doubt that this was the price she rightfully had to pay for her sins.
She had lived half her life in cold shadows like that.
– So remember this. From now on, figure out how to survive by any means necessary.
However, that one remark thrown by that unreasonable man was causing unpleasant ripples in her heart.
Being so shaken by Reagan’s single comment was… probably because she lacked confidence in the resolution she had made for herself.
But Sheril knew well from personal experience what kind of tragedy a half-hearted sense of self could bring.
“I am a shadow.”
Sheril muttered a vow toward the meditating Reagan that she had probably repeated countless times.
A dark mage is a shadow, and shadows must not covet light.
Because everything around would be devoured by darkness.
“…”
Sheril gripped the black jade ornament tightly.
* * *
A night without even moonlight.
The top of the Furnace.
Iline Arcamen happened to spot a purple-haired alchemist precariously perched on the castle wall there.
The Celestial alchemist Isobel was humming a tune despite facing the bone-chillingly cold northern night wind.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
When Iline approached and leaned against the adjacent railing, Isobel grinned and pointed at the sky.
“Yeah. I was watching the aurora.”
“It’s nothing spectacular. Not in this area.”
“Yeah. But I’ve been watching it for about fifty years and I’m still not tired of it.”
Isobel swung her legs stretched over the railing like a child as she continued speaking.
“Iline, you know what? Aurora is also called the angel’s curtain.”
“Well, there is such an expression in this area. Though the northern people aren’t really the type to use such romantic expressions.”
“They say Celestials are descendants of angels, right? Maybe Celestials started calling it that first?”
Iline chuckled.
Isobel was always like this.
Several times a day, she would obsess over trivial old stories or legends that others wouldn’t even care about.
It was probably a way of killing time unique to long-lived species with incredibly long lifespans.
“That aside, Isobel-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“Why exactly did you give that potion to Reagan?”
Iline asked with narrowed eyes.
Iline knew well the value of the elixir Isobel had given.
A miraculous potion made by refining and re-refining rare materials for decades, worthy of being placed in Arcamen’s treasury without shame.
Above all….
“That was… a medicine meant for Lady Isobel herself.”
“….”
Iline said no more.
A medicine to end the ennui of a long-lived race.
An elixir for humans but poison for Celestials. It was too awkward to mention in front of her that it was an elixir made for her own euthanasia.
Seeing Iline’s troubled expression, Isobel opened her mouth with a bitter smile.
“…Well, I thought it might be nice to live a bit longer. About fifty years or so?”
“If that’s the case, it’s fortunate from my position as head of the family.”
“Above all, Reagan provided incredibly valuable data for improving Chronos, didn’t he? I should show that much sincerity.”
When Iline still didn’t withdraw her suspicious gaze, Isobel chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.
“Right. That’s only the surface reason.”
“Then what’s the real reason?”
“Actually… that kid Reagan looked too precarious.”
“Precarious? Reagan?”
Iline let out a hollow laugh.
He was a monster who had broken through the 6th Rank barrier on his own in a crisis situation and even severed the arm of a 7th Rank blood mage.
Could there be any modifier more unsuitable for such a guy than ‘precarious’?
“Well, if you’re talking about his mana core being like a sandcastle, I’ve already heard that.”
“No, it’s not that kind of physical problem.”
Isobel’s round eyes calmly settled.
“That kid gives off a thick scent of death.”
“…Scent of death? What does that mean?”
Isobel turned her gaze to the night sky and murmured quietly.
“It’s like he’s been beyond the angel’s curtain.”
Iline froze for a moment, then immediately burst into laughter.
“There you go again.”
Iline thought of Isobel’s words as the usual Celestial way of killing time.
Isobel also didn’t bother trying to convince the disbelieving Iline.
“There is such a thing.”
Instead, she pointed to her cute nose and smiled meaningfully.
“Celestials have good noses, you know.”
* * *
Another five days passed after that.
To conclude, the effect of the elixir Isobel gave was truly remarkable.
Isobel’s elixir wasn’t the type that poured pure mana like elixirs or barrier stones.
However, it perfectly cleaned the residue from my mana circuits that had been overloaded from forcibly ascending to the 6th Rank.
A custom-made miraculous potion that couldn’t be found anywhere on the Continent, perfectly suited to my current deformed body condition.
Thanks to it, my body’s recovery became much faster, and after five days, I could walk around without difficulty.
…I could, but.
“Reagan, here. Eat this. It’s a fruit that only grows here in the North.”
Just because my physical condition improved didn’t mean I was free from the sickbed.
“Come on, aah-.”
“Renia, my hands are perfectly fine.”
“No way. Just open your mouth quickly. Aah-.”
I tried to refuse stubbornly, but Renia’s gaze was fierce, so I reluctantly opened my mouth.
Due to shame, I couldn’t even taste the sweetness of the fruit.
“Pfft.”
I deliberately ignored Sheril, who was watching silently and snorting.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
For the past five days, Renia’s overprotectiveness had been beyond imagination.
If I tried to get even half a step down from the bed, she’d come running with fire in her eyes and make me lie down. She took care of everything, even drinking a glass of water or taking a spoonful of rice….
That wasn’t all. From morning to evening, she stuck right next to me, acting as a conversation partner, and even interfered with every little thing, even when I was washing.
‘…Renia, you weren’t this kind of personality.’
The Renia from my previous life was closer to an employer and comrade-in-arms.
Getting furiously angry when I was hurt was the same before regression and now….
“Come on, Reagan. Aah-.”
“…”
The current Renia was giving me affection I had never experienced in my previous life, so I couldn’t adapt and had to swallow my awkward coughs.
How did it come to this? Being overprotected by someone who was more than ten years younger than me in actual age.
What hurt my pride most was that I myself didn’t find the affection Renia was showing me particularly uncomfortable.
Rather, there was a tingling sensation lingering in a corner of my heart….
‘…This feels like I’m losing.’
Remembering Renia’s bold declaration that whoever falls in love first loses, I hurriedly turned my gaze outside the window.
Just then, I saw a huge shadow descending toward the main gate of Arcamen Citadel.
“…Ah.”
The identity of the shadow was a carriage pulled by winged horses.
Benheim’s escort that had arrived to take us to the territory.
Finally, a savior had appeared.
“Haha. You look terrible.”
Soon I was able to face a welcome sight.
A middle-aged man of huge build who entered the hospital room.
It was Valen von Benheim, captain of the Rune Surveillance Unit.
“I didn’t expect the Vice-Commander to come personally to pick us up.”
“Ha. When news came that you had severed Markel’s arm and turned everything upside down, the Lord turned the territory upside down. How could I not come?”
Valen clicked his tongue and patted my shoulder.
Then Renia hurriedly grabbed Valen’s wrist.
“Miss, what’s wrong?”
“Reagan is a patient. Don’t touch him carelessly.”
“….”
Valen, who had been blinking in confusion, soon understood the situation and grinned.
“Aha, so that’s how it is. This brat must have had a pleasant time.”
“Don’t tease him, just rescue him quickly.”
“Haha. I was planning to do that anyway.”
Then Valen’s playful expression became serious.
“But know this. When you return to Benheim, there won’t be time to rest, Reagan.”
“Is there some kind of trouble?”
“There is indeed. It’s hot news I heard just this morning.”
“What kind of news is it?”
To my question, Valen stroked his beard and answered.
“The launch of the Alliance Subjugation Force has been halted.”
“Halted? Wasn’t the formation of the subjugation force already decided by the Council?”
“Right. You’re correct about that. However, not everyone agreed.”
“What do you mean?”
To my counter-question, Valen squinted one eye and said.
“Three of the Seven Great Magic Towers have announced their withdrawal from the Grand Mage Alliance.”
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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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