When all his baby teeth had fallen out and his permanent teeth had just started to come in,

“You’re allowed to be a little conceited. To others, it’ll still look like humility.”

That was what Aol had told him.

“Hmm, doesn’t that just mean I should act cocky? Like Dad’s oldest son?”

“That guy flaunts himself without even knowing his place.

If he weren’t my son… Ahem. But you’re different. You’ve earned the right.”

Being a little cocky was fine.

Though he didn’t show it on the outside, like a child his age, Mircel felt pride.

Especially since those words came not from just anyone, but from his father—whose position couldn’t be dismissed as ignorance of the world.

One day, he entered a small tournament for young prodigies, aimed at providing broader experience.

It was labeled small only due to the age restriction, but every participant was strong enough to easily defeat average adult swordsmen.

At the moment he won, after a series of consecutive victories, the crowd murmured.

“As expected of the Grand Duke’s son.”

“He’s the youngest here, so we were a little worried, but it was for nothing.”

Those were familiar words.

But then, a certain name caught Mircel’s ear.

“He reminds me of Ares. It feels like he’s walking the same path.”

What do they mean I’m walking behind someone?

“It’s a shame. If their ages had been closer, they could’ve been great rivals.”

Well, maybe if it were Aol…

“True enough. It’s not realistic to think he could catch up.

Ares is still growing. If they had fought, it would’ve been something to see.”

Words like that irritated Mircel.

A genius born nine years earlier.

A wall he could never overcome, simply due to that time difference.

That had been Mircel’s view of Ares since even earlier than now.

***

The crowd pressed in tightly, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

They were all filled with expectation.

It was a scene he was quite used to.

Mircel cast a bored glance, as if it were nothing.

Valient’s main members were seated in the observation stand.

All of them looked like hawks, trying to assess his skill.

But Ares, with his white hair, was nowhere to be seen.

“Not even worth watching, huh? Is that it?”

The day he visited Valient, it must have meant he’d already seen everything worth seeing.

Mircel’s gaze turned cold at Ares’ arrogance in judging even his recent accomplishments not worth acknowledging.

“What a jerk.”

Then suddenly, he realized he had been rude.

“Oh, right. I’m about to fight someone.”

Recalling the etiquette he learned from his mother Ahille, he looked up at the man standing tall in the dueling ring.

His weapon was a rapier wielded with one hand.

Given that his left arm’s muscle tone matched his right, he was likely ambidextrous.

He wore a light chainmail armor.

There was no waist sash or anything restrictive, suggesting his footwork would be fluid and agile.

As instinctively processed information rushed in, Mircel covered a yawn with his hand.

“Sorry. My jaw’s a bit stiff.”

He even rubbed his chin to sell the act, but the opponent’s response was cold.

“You’re obviously lying. No need for politeness. I’m here to win.”

“Is that so? Then let’s make it refreshing, shall we? Haaa~m.”

Only then did Mircel begin to feel intrigued.

It didn’t seem like the guy was intimidated by his presence.

There was a trace of alertness in his expression, but it was more about determination to win.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since I met someone who actually thinks I’m worth trying to beat.”

Feeling like when he had just started wielding a sword, Mircel picked up a longsword with a cross guard.

“Well, just to be polite— I’m Mircel ben Tenest.”

“…You didn’t even know in advance?”

“Nope.”

“Tch. I’m Hadean Gel Ades.”

Then he muttered something that was a mix of rudeness and courtesy.

“Alright, Hadean. Show me everything you’ve got. That’d be best for you too, right? The evaluations here matter.”

Hadean scowled and charged in.

A lunge right from the start.

From the speed alone, it was clearly different from the usual swordplay he’d seen.

At least, among people Hadean’s age.

Mircel lightly allowed the rapier to graze the fine hairs on his nape, then raised his longsword upright.

Hadean’s rapier, which was about to cut in a sweeping arc, was blocked by the cross guard.

Hadean’s expression faltered for a moment.

Mircel smiled faintly and imagined what was going through his head.

‘He’s probably thinking, “This guy broke my combo from the very start?”’

“Hmm, maybe breaking the flow right off the bat was a bit too much?”

After deflecting Hadean’s sword, Mircel closed the distance.

Usually, in this situation, the opponent would prepare a counterattack.

Mircel even set up the conditions for Hadean to show off his skills, which only complicated his expression further.

When Mircel swung as if to slash his neck, Hadean’s eyes gleamed.

“I can feel the insult behind that move! Fine then! I’ll gladly respond!”

With a flick, Hadean let his rapier glide along the sword’s edge, gaining momentum.

The tip of his blade rapidly extended like lightning and aimed for Mircel’s chest.

It was a strike using all his aura in a sudden burst.

But Mircel simply twisted his torso and dodged effortlessly.

“Hmph!”

As Hadean caught his breath, Mircel’s cross guard flew toward his temple.

Thwack!

His brain must’ve rattled; Hadean lost his balance and dropped to his knees.

Mircel was impressed.

Anyone else would’ve lost consciousness instantly, but he gritted his teeth and tried to speak.

“D-Did you really react to that? Is the gap between us that… great?”

Mircel shook his head.

“Not really? I don’t know how highly you rated me, but I doubt it’s that big. Your sudden burst counter was fast enough to surprise me too.”

“Then how…”

“I just anticipated it beforehand. If I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have reacted in time.”

At last, Hadean let out a dry chuckle and dropped his head to the floor.

Only once he had fully collapsed did the referee announce the result.

The crowd roared, clearly satisfied with the spectacle.

But Mircel, gazing at the fallen Hadean, had a slightly different thought.

“Was I too focused on Ares? I didn’t realize… This is the baseline at Aizen Arena.”

Their level was higher than anyone he had dueled before.

If not for the special training he received from Aol, he couldn’t have created such a decisive gap.

As he left the ring, Mircel swept his gaze across the faces of the main members.

He had a hunch that they would meet again one day.

***

Mircel came running over to where I was sitting.

That made it 3 wins, 1 loss.

A good streak.

I turned to Limberton beside me and bragged.

“Isn’t he just the kindest kid? He even gave his opponent a chance. That’s my little brother.”

“Th-That was kindness? It looked like he was just toying with the guy.”

“At least he let him attack, right?”

If Mircel had been serious, Hadean wouldn’t have had a single chance to showcase his skills.

It was like tearing the section listing Hadean’s qualifications on his resume during a job interview.

A good kid deserves a reward—maybe some ice cream.

“The way he mocks others kind of reminds me of you.

I knew it—you’re definitely a bad influence on Mircel.”

“Shut it, Limberton.”

I gave Mircel a quick compliment and handed him the ice cream.

Unlike how he had looked in the dueling ring, Mircel returned to his cute, soft expression and stirred the ice cream with his spoon.

While we waited for the next duel, the clock’s hour hand signaled the start of a break.

You couldn’t just watch duels all day.

Around this time, most people would go for a meal, and I rose from my seat.

“Huh? Hersel, where are you going?”

“What about food?”

I didn’t feel the need to comment on the upcoming duels, and I had plans to find my former teacher, Carmelo, the one who had taught me magic.

“I have somewhere to be. I’ll handle my meal myself, so you guys go ahead and eat. See you later.”

I entered the building and searched for someone from the Mage Tower, and after some asking around, I arrived at the room where Carmelo was.

Just before I knocked, I heard a voice from the other side of the door.

“I was planning to visit you anyway, but it’s fortunate you came instead. Please, come in.”

No doubt—it was Carmelo’s voice.

As I entered the room, I could sense that he also had something to discuss with me.

He wasn’t the kind of man to withhold a message when a simple letter would do.

And it wasn’t like he was a warm, personable guy who’d just say, “Hey, since you’re here, let’s catch up.”

If he were, that would’ve surprised me in a different way.

But he broke my expectations.

“I sent a letter, but received no reply.”

Huh? A letter?

“When did you send it?”

“About a month ago.”

In that case, it was likely lost.

The academy’s collapse also brought down the entire communication system.

“I had some things going on. The letter probably got lost or something.”

“Does that still happen in this day and age?”

“It probably arrived, but might’ve been intercepted during the professors’ inspection process. Anyway, that’s surprising. So, what was the letter about?”

There’s no way he just sent a friendly greeting.

As I tilted my head in curiosity, Carmelo dug through his bag.

A weathered book cover was placed on the table.

“What’s this?”

“Some new materials found in the Demonic Realm. It’s a book made of rot-resistant wood, but some of the pages were too stained to be readable.”

He carefully flipped a page using telekinesis, and I found myself silently shocked.

The characters written there weren’t readable.

But they were familiar.

I’d seen them in the magic book possessed by Rockefeller…

“So why are you showing this to me?”

“Because here, there’s additional information about the experiment I performed on you.”

I had undergone an experiment from Carmelo.

The results were well below expectations, but I did awaken a single sense—so it wasn’t a complete failure.

My expression turned serious.

“Wait… don’t tell me this is about side effects?”

“…You still care so deeply about your body, I see.”

“So there are side effects? Be honest!”

Grabbing him by the collar with my now more muscular arms, Carmelo’s feet left the ground.

He waved his arms, coughing in panic.

“Cough—n-no, there aren’t any! Please, put me down.”

“Really?”

Seated again in the armchair, Carmelo adjusted his collar and spoke.

What he said next felt wildly off-topic.

“Do you know about races?”

Black, white, Asian—those are what first came to mind, but this world was different.

Races like dwarves and elves from legends still exist, hiding somewhere.

There are also races that appear the same as humans but are genetically distinct.

In the latter case, it’s mostly due to extreme physiological differences, though they don’t mean much practically.

“In the Empire, races were once categorized into three major types. Of course, nowadays they’re so mixed that the distinction is meaningless.”

It’s been a long time since then.

Purebloods barely exist anymore.

“But according to this book, there was once a fourth race, now long gone. Extremely rare, it says.”

A rare race in ancient times?

Something about it felt familiar, but I wasn’t sure.

So I said nothing and simply asked,

“What does that have to do with the experiment?”

Carmelo’s reply was shocking.

“The experiment I performed on you—it should’ve failed.

That experiment was meant only for individuals of the rare race described in the book.”

My mind blanked out for a moment.

Still, Carmelo kept talking, clearly more focused on satisfying his curiosity than my stunned reaction.

“Yet you succeeded in awakening a sense, even if just one. That alone should’ve been impossible. Which is why I’m curious.”

He leaned forward and pointed a finger at me.

“What are you, exactly?”

Snapping out of it, I brushed aside his hand.

What’s with the finger wagging?

“Ahem, pardon me. I got excited and was rude.”

“I’ll let that go. But that question you asked—I don’t really know how to answer.”

Carmelo looked at me with mild disappointment.

“What do you mean, ‘what am I’? How should I know that?”

If you asked a random person about their true nature, of course they’d be confused.

Normally, you’d answer with a name, origin, or job—but nothing came to mind in this case.

Besides, I was someone who had possessed the body of Hersel ben Tenest.

“I guess that makes sense…”

‘Guess’? It totally makes sense, you fool.

“Then could you at least take a look at your family tree? I think there might be a major clue there.”

I nodded.

Carmelo’s persistence was annoying, but I was just as curious about the body I now inhabited.

One thought came to mind immediately.

Should I ask Aol how I was born?

Of course, that would have to wait until after the Aizen Arena tournament.

“Let’s save that for later. For now, the competition takes priority.”

Hopefully when I ask, I won’t get a lecture on sex education…

Well, not that someone’s going to try that on a delinquent son.

To read Chapters ahead 👇

CH 226-230 (Who am I?) $3

CH 231-235 (Frostheart Vs Wisdom) $3

CH 236-240 (I want to lose) $3

CH 241-245 (Finals) $3

CH 246-250 (Vs Valient) $3

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