CHAPTER 4

How to Live as a Hero in a Magical World (4)

A child who had just lost his family said that he wanted enough power to turn the entire world upside down.

At that moment, Eldarin felt a forbidden kind of ecstasy begin to bloom within her mental world.

I merely pressed down on his refined mana once. That was all…

The child before her quickly assessed the situation and reined in the destructive energy raging within him.

An ordinary child would have either fainted or gone completely berserk.

As I thought, my eyes weren’t wrong. This child definitely has talent.

Eldarin was quite pleased by the cold, poisonous resolve in Kaian’s eyes and the burning ambition that lay beyond it.

The corner of her mouth curled into a smile.

“Then let us make a contract. I shall hide you in Eldergrove. I will feed you, shelter you, and personally teach you magic.”

It was exactly what Kaian had wanted, but he couldn’t help asking why.

He swallowed hard before answering in a resolute voice.

“My father told me to be wary of favors offered by strangers.”

Eldarin shook her head.

“I am not trying to do you a favor.”

“Then why?”

“Hm. Yes, I suppose you ought to know. Recently, the world’s mana balance has begun to collapse.”

“The mana balance…? If the mana balance collapses…”

Kaian remembered the fairy tale his mother had made him read to her every day.

According to the book, there were five types of mana that made up the world.

Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.

As long as these five forms of mana remained in balance, the world could maintain peace.

But approximately seven hundred years ago…

As wars between the magic towers became increasingly frequent, the balance of mana became unstable for the first time.

And what eventually appeared was the Rift.

Eldarin nodded.

“You know quite a bit. An anomalous mana domain, a gate containing power from another dimension. The most common name for it is a ‘Void Zone.’”

Kaian calmly searched through what he knew before asking,

“But I heard that after the first five heroes performed the Great Sealing Ritual seven hundred years ago, Void Zones almost never appeared anymore. And even when they did appear, they were only the lowest ranks, E or F… I was told the allied guilds could handle something of that level without much trouble.”

Eldarin looked at Kaian with fascination. He knew considerably more than she had expected.

“Where did you hear all that?”

“Mostly… from books.”

“Do you like books?”

Kaian quietly nodded.

In truth, it wasn’t merely a matter of liking them.

He was always reading something.

Thanks to that, he had long since devoured every children’s book in the empire, and recently he had even begun sneaking into his father’s library.

It was perfectly natural for someone from the House of Valentin. After all, his family had been the driving force behind the construction of libraries throughout the empire.

Everyone in the family enjoyed reading, so Kaian had naturally grown close to books from an early age.

His mother often boasted to those around her that, out of her three sons, the youngest was particularly fond of books.

Eldarin couldn’t hide her delight at his answer either.

“Good. Very good. Then we’ll have much more to talk about.”

She then began rattling off increasingly difficult concepts, apparently testing just how much Kaian understood.

“In truth, the appearance of Void Zones decreased dramatically after the Great Sealing. Scholars put considerable effort into the matter as well. They discovered patterns in the emergence of Void Zones and devised countermeasures, such as storing mana in magic stones and supplying it when necessary. But when people live in stability for too long… everyone inevitably becomes a little complacent, a little too comfortable.”

Eldarin spoke with certainty.

“The Great Sealing performed by the five heroes was incomplete. Before long, another age of chaos will descend upon the world.”

Kaian frowned.

After struggling to piece together the difficult words, he understood that she was saying a great danger would soon befall the world.

Yet there was still no particular emotion in Eldarin’s voice.

“Countless people will die. Contaminants will spill from the Void Zones, and creatures will run rampant across the land. But… the world has already grown too accustomed to peace. It has been steeped in an age of prosperity for too long. At this rate, it will have difficulty not merely fighting back, but even surviving.”

“Ugh…”

This time, even eight-year-old Kaian could understand just how desperate the news was.

But what did any of this have to do with bringing him to Eldergrove?

Eldarin noticed his question before he even asked it and gave him a crooked smile.

An ominous premonition ran down Kaian’s spine.

“Don’t tell me…”

“That’s right. I will raise you to become the hero of the coming age of chaos.”

Kaian was rendered speechless by the absurdity of her words.

As though giving him one last opportunity to reconsider, Eldarin continued.

“So this is not a favor. It is an investment. When that day comes… when the age of chaos arrives, you will have to give the world your time, your strength, your heart—everything you have. Can you do that?”

At that moment, Kaian suddenly remembered the backs of his family members as they stood between him and danger.

Their attitudes had been so natural and unquestioning, as though they had been saving their lives solely for this very day.

He had survived simply because he was the youngest.

Because he was the weakest.

Only then did Kaian begin to understand.

Ah… yes. Perhaps I’ve found a path that will allow me to face my family without shame.

There would be no conflict between justice and revenge.

That was what eight-year-old Kaian decided.

With a heart filled with both resolve and relief, he answered,

“I can do it. The House of Valentin has always acted for the sake of the weakest.”

Eldarin quietly gazed into Kaian’s clear, jade-green eyes before asking,

“What is your name?”

“Kaian. Kaian Veloir Valentin.”

Eldarin rose from her seat and extended her left hand.

“My name is Eldarin Alcanes. I am an Elderkin, an ancient race. I, Eldarin, shall enter into a soul-bound contract with you.”

Kaian hurriedly tried to push himself up from the floor.

But his legs still refused to function properly, and he could do little more than stagger.

Eldarin didn’t rush him. She simply waited.

Eventually, Kaian managed to stand on his own and clasped Eldarin’s left hand.

And at that very moment, for some reason, his chin lifted on its own and his back straightened.

His mind seemed to sharpen as well.

Yes…! Right now, I’m the sole survivor of the House of Valentin, and I’m carrying the Valentin name. I have to stay strong for my family, too…!

Kaian now wore a firm expression around his lips that made it difficult to believe he was only eight years old.

Without letting Kaian notice, Eldarin transferred some of her own vitality into him and smiled.

Once again, she was certain that she had made the right choice.

“…Mana weaves an interesting thread.”

“What?”

“Concentrate.”

“Oh, yes!”

Verdant mana streamed from Eldarin’s left hand.

—Fwoooooosh!

As though drawn by a powerful magnet, mana of the same color flowed from Kaian’s left hand.

A mass of verdant light quickly enveloped their bodies.

Eldarin began chanting in a voice more beautiful than Kaian had ever heard from her.

“[O name remembered by the mana of creation. I gather the fate destined to scatter and bind it within the folds of my time. Your breath shall be my permission, and your steps shall be my will. Until the day the life indebted to me reaches its end, bear the radiant yoke upon your shoulders. O soul’s oath, bind us eternally.]”

—BOOM!

After a tremendous vibration reverberated through both of their mental worlds, the light gradually faded.

Kaian soon noticed an unfamiliar symbol etched into his left wrist.

“What is this?”

“The symbol of an ancient contract. A mark connected to the source of your mana should have been inscribed there.”

“A… butterfly?”

The moment he said those words, Kaian’s vision suddenly began to sway violently.

—Stagger!

Eldarin quickly caught Kaian as he collapsed unconscious.

Just as she had said, the mark of a sideways-facing butterfly had been engraved on the inside of his wrist.

The butterfly’s lower wings and antennae extended outward, forming a band that wrapped around his wrist. At a glance, it even looked like an exquisitely crafted bracelet.

“This butterfly will show you the right path.”

Eldarin’s voice retained its characteristic indifference, but the hand that traced the mark was strangely gentle.

“I suppose I’ll be busy for a while.”

Dawn broke, brightening the world around them.

The Valentin estate smoldered grotesquely, reduced to little more than its skeletal framework.

Fragments of scrolls lay scattered throughout the wreckage, while the dirt was stained with the crimson traces characteristic of the [Crimson Night].

Morden desperately forced himself not to look at the carnage before him.

With the blood he had spilled today, his son Damian would be able to breathe tomorrow.

That alone was enough.

“…The head of the family, his wife, and all of their children have been dealt with.”

“Good work.”

The man receiving Morden’s report wore a black robe embroidered with the crest of the ⟨Noble Alliance⟩ in silver thread.

In a strange voice that sounded like metal scraping against metal, the man asked,

“I heard there were three sons… but I only see two.”

Morden answered while desperately concealing his tension.

“There seems to have been an accident during the pursuit. The forest in that area was burned, but we have yet to find a body.”

Fifteen mages had also disappeared during the process, but Morden deliberately left that detail out.

The man clicked his tongue as he lightly nudged the corpse of the Valentin family head with his foot.

“Tsk, tsk. So you tried to smuggle the youngest one away. How very like you. If you’d fled alone, you might have been able to live to fight another day. You’ve always been just as foolish as you were back then.”

His tone was strangely familiar, as though he were speaking to an old friend.

After a moment of silence, the man suddenly asked in a frigid voice,

“The youngest one. Can you find him?”

“The heat was extraordinarily intense… If we’re lucky, we may be able to find some remains.”

In other words, there was no chance he had survived.

The man waved a hand through the air.

“That’s enough. It seems there was an incomplete specimen mixed in after all. In any case…”

He looked around the ruined borderlands and let out a sound of admiration.

“To think you made them expend every last one of those magic tools. As expected, Valentin isn’t very cost-effective.”

Though he sounded as though he were complaining, a faint smile lingered on the man’s face.

He savored the sight before him for a long while before finally turning his gaze toward Morden, who stood with his head bowed beside him.

“I sent the remaining payment we agreed upon to your home.”

“…!”

Those were the words Morden had been waiting desperately to hear.

He bowed deeply.

“Thank you…! Thank you so much!”

Now he would be able to continue Damian’s treatment.

Morden was about to return home with his heart lightened when the man stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The man slowly removed the hood of his robe.

At once, other presences began crawling out from the forest.

Morden’s eyes trembled violently.

Without even realizing it, he looked up at the man’s face.

Red eyes that seemed to embody power itself.

Dark crimson malice churned within them.

Only then did Morden realize that he had fallen into a trap.

The man’s terrible voice echoed through the ruins.

“Morden Ashbourne, criminal who destroyed the House of Valentin! You are hereby sentenced to immediate execution for treason!”

Morden cried out in disbelief.

“That wasn’t our agreement! You clearly said that once this was over…!”

But his shout never reached its conclusion.

—Whoosh!

The man thrust the staff in his hand against Morden’s throat.

A dark crimson magic stone, the same color as his eyes, was embedded in the staff.

“Guh…!”

“If you’re worried about the treatment for your son, don’t be. I’ll make certain that arrangements are made. You may leave in peace.”

A sardonic smile spread across the man’s face.

It was the unmistakable mockery reserved for a disposable hunting dog that had never been intended to survive in the first place.

Only then did Morden understand what the remaining payment the man had supposedly sent him actually was.

It wasn’t money to buy medicine for his son.

The soldiers carrying staffs must have gone to his family as well.

“You bastards…!”

He screamed as he desperately grabbed one of the remaining scrolls.

But it was already too late.

One of the soldiers who had emerged from the forest pierced Morden’s back and drove the weapon straight through his heart.

“Guh…!”

Morden’s knees buckled.

And then the corpse of the head of the Valentin family—the very sight he had desperately wanted to avoid—filled his vision.

That grotesque voice, like metal scraping against metal, pierced the back of his head like a dagger.

“You’ve worked hard. Thanks to you, the emperor’s sharpest sword has been broken.”

As his consciousness began to fade, Morden reached into his pocket.

His fingers found the medicine bottle he had carefully tucked away.

Every atrocity he had willingly committed the previous night had been for the sake of this single bottle.

Yet now he realized that all of it had been nothing more than the meaningless movements of a puppet.

Damian… I have to get this to Damian…

But Morden no longer knew where to extend the hand clutching the medicine bottle.

Ah… I see now. I was the one who turned my back on the will of Heaven.

Only as death approached did he finally understand the self-evident truth:

Those who turn their backs on Heaven have nowhere left to turn for help in their final moments.

Morden’s body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

The red-eyed man pressed his staff against the corpse and shouted loudly,

“Morden Ashbourne plotted a rebellion! Therefore, from this moment forth, his family and relatives shall be exiled to an A-rank Void Zone!”

On that day, the corpses of the two heads of House Valentin and House Ashbourne fell side by side, facing in different directions.

And an unprecedented silence descended upon the empire’s border.

Yet it would be many years before anyone realized that they had left indelible marks upon the loom of fate.