I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 36

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (37)

Ethan looked at the outer walls of Poert from atop his horse.

“We’re here.”

It took about three weeks to return here from Greston.

It had been almost a month and a half since he had left the baron’s domain.

The atmosphere inside the castle, which he had not seen in a long time, was much more lively than before.

Not only had the number of people increased, but more importantly, it had been quite some time since Baron Helmut, who had been ruling with an iron fist, had passed away.

“You’re back, Grand Duke.”

It was Silvia, the chief advisor, who came out to greet Ethan.

“Everything went well?”

“Yes. Thanks to your absence for such a long time, the collateral branches seem to have decided not to make a big deal out of this matter.”

Well, that made sense.

They must have been so tense that they were now completely deflated.

“Anything else?”

“Hans has secured his position more easily than expected. It seems that the information I leaked about the viscount’s domain was effective. Recently, he has been interacting with the earl’s confidants.”

This was good news.

Now, if Hans uses his strategy and attacks the Romenton viscount, one of Earl Irthdan’s factions, as he said,

“Count Cheiman will trust him even more.”

He entered the office with her.

“I have something to report. This is the result of the investigation you ordered last time.”

Lawrence handed him a document. It was filled with details about what Ethan had ordered him to investigate.

“A wizard.”

She had obtained a clue that the one who had issued the order to the baron was a mage. The lower part of the document mentioned how many mages capable of using magic at the level witnessed by the butler were estimated to be in the duke’s territory.

“Fifty?”

Ethan tilted his head at the number. Silvia’s report clearly stated that the wizard had “suddenly” appeared in the office.

“He said the door didn’t open, so it can’t be a spell that makes the body transparent.”

He didn’t rise from the shadows, so it’s not a black magic spell either.

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Nor was it related to blood magic.

Blood magic required blood as a medium.

The magic used was probably a type of space magic that could transcend the laws of physics.

He didn’t know much about magic, but he knew the basic principles.

“There can’t be more than five magicians capable of transcending space like that.”

Spatial magic was one of the least commonly used types of magic.

This was because there were not many magicians who could handle the amount of mana it consumed.

Even considering that the investigation covered the entire duchy, fifty was still too many.

“Who did you ask to investigate?”

“The Felcon Information Guild.”

Ethan had heard of that guild before. It was famous for providing accurate information in exchange for high fees. That meant the information was fairly reliable.

“What is it?”

Ethan tilted his head.

“Is there a problem?”

“…No. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes.”

Silvia didn’t ask any more questions.

Ethan fell into deep thought.

“There are two possibilities.”

First.

The overall level of the magicians has risen.

Second.

It only appears as if the overall level of the magicians has risen.

The reason for considering the second possibility was simple. He had encountered someone who appeared to be powerful despite lacking substance.

The black magician of the abandoned mine.

The power he wielded was on par with that of a fifth-rank magician.

A fifth-rank magician was a level that was fairly well-recognized among magicians.

At the very least, he was in the top 20%.

However, his skill in handling black magic was extremely poor.

“At best, he’s in the latter half of the third rank?”

In terms of knights, he was similar to a third-rank knight. He had only extracted a lot of power, but his distribution of magic and delicate control were lacking.

Everything was far below his potential.

A new mana breathing technique created by combining the wisdom of the dragon tribe and human technology.

“The advantage of this is that, although it is unstable, it allows you to accumulate mana very quickly…”

What if other magicians also learned this technique?

“There would be a lot of people worth investigating at the information guild.”

Spatial magic required a massive amount of mana, and the mana breathing technique used by black mages was a type of training method that could fulfill that requirement.

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Ethan made an assumption.

If that mana breathing technique was more widespread than expected.

“The overall level of mages would appear to have risen.”

Mages and knights.

The most representative indicator used to measure their level was the amount of mana they possessed within their bodies.

Of course.

“That doesn’t mean that the mana gathered in such a hurry was of high quality.”

Even low-grade mana could be used to cast magic as long as there was enough of it. Just like that black magician back then.

When you think about it that way, the information guild’s analysis was somewhat reasonable.

“I’ll have to check it out later.”

Ethan made his decision.

The scale of the task had suddenly become much larger, but there was no need to rush into it right away. He had found a clue related to the dragon tribe.

That was enough for now.

* *

After reporting to Lawrence about what had happened during his absence,

Ethan immediately looked for Elena.

She was taking a class from Prexian. When she saw him, her face lit up.

“Ethan? You’re back?”

“Something like that.”

Thanks to the Romenton writer, it seemed he would have to go out again soon.

Ethan looked at Prexian.

“Are the lessons going well?”

“Yes. You are doing remarkably well. Recently, you have started to take on administrative duties for the domain. You are very efficient and neat in your work.”

He seemed sincere as he spoke with a broad smile.

“Did my sister have such talent?”

As far as Ethan knew, she didn’t.

In her previous life, Elena may have been a famous lady who led the fashion trends of the kingdom, but she had no talent whatsoever when it came to domestic affairs.

“How interesting.”

To be honest, he hadn’t expected much when he entrusted her with the education, but now he thought she might do better than he had anticipated.

After talking with Elena for a while, he called his bodyguard, Fulton.

“About what we talked about last time. Did it arrive?”

“Yes. May I leave the Duchess for a moment?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Fulton bowed politely and led Ethan to his room.

Soon after, he handed him a box. When he opened it, he saw round pills. It was a potion that emitted a refreshing aura of mana.

“I guess the viscount put some effort into it.”

“Haha. I think so. I heard it’s an intermediate-grade elixir. Since you have excellent mana control, instead of looking for an elixir with additional functions, you chose one that contains the most mana.”

Ethan nodded in satisfaction. There were various types of elixirs.

Among them, the most expensive one was not the one that contained the largest amount of mana.

“An item that permanently increases mana control.”

Elixirs with such additional effects were the most expensive.

Even though consuming them would grant a similar amount of mana, the price could skyrocket up to five times just because of those additional effects.

If the marquis had given him such an elixir, he would have been quite disappointed.

Ethan was already a knight who had reached the peak of his mana control.

Even if he consumed the highest-grade elixir, it would be difficult to increase his control any further.

It meant that it would be much more profitable to use the money to buy such an elixir with additional effects to make and sell items instead.

Fortunately, Viscount Bloten was a wise man who continued to act wisely, just as he had in his previous life.

“Please convey my gratitude to the viscount.”

“Yes.”

Fulton bowed his head and left the room. Ethan, who had picked up the elixir, returned to his room.

He looked at his body.

He hadn’t just sat on his horse while he was out making swords. He had been using the black flame’s breath every moment to implant the essence of fire.

The goal he had set when he first came here. He had already achieved his goal of implanting the essence of fire into the eleven parts of his body that controlled his energy channels.

“It’s time to start the cycle.”

Intermediate elixir.

This was an item that could obtain a large amount of high-quality mana.

“After absorbing the elixir.”

In addition to these eleven areas, he planned to plant the essence of fire in the mana holes scattered throughout his body.

He swallowed the elixir in one gulp. A massive amount of mana began to flow through his blood vessels.

Ethan used Black Flame Breath.

The mana that had been rushing like waves suddenly became calm.

“Become fire.”

It was just a single thought.

However, this thought contained the experience of a transcendent being who had cut down countless dragonkin in the past.

Tick…

Tick…

Like dry firewood catching fire.

The mana began to boil slightly. It was impossible for the mana, which was nothing more than a lump of energy, to go against the will of the transcendent being.

The nature of the mana was gradually changing.

Crack!

The mana that had been slowly boiling up ignited in an instant. Like sparks flying from a fire, the mana exploded in all directions.

It was only a momentary flash.

But Ethan did not miss that brief moment.

“That’s it.”

Fire is an energy that burns, consuming its offerings.

There were many offerings now.

The mana that rushed into his body like a wave was that sacrifice.

All Ethan needed was this momentary burst of power.

“Burn.”

Boom!

The mana flowing inside him exploded. The flames instantly engulfed the other mana. Smoke rose from Ethan’s entire body.

The flames burning inside him began to burst out.

In the heat that felt like it would burst, he quickly began to plant the essence of fire.

Three.

Five.

Seven.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Each time the waves of heat passed through the passageway, they created new essences of fire.

Although they were much smaller than the existing ones, there was nothing more important than the fact that he had planted seeds.

When the fire mana had circled his body exactly once,

there were over thirty fire essences in Ethan’s body.

“That’s it.”

He smiled with satisfaction.

The existing fire essences had grown in size, and small fire essences had been planted in between to act as lubricants.

Now it was time to enter the next stage: circulation.

“I didn’t think I’d have to do this again.”

Ethan laughed bitterly.

There was no training stage as painful as the circulation process.

When the fire essence was crushed, a liquid flowed out. His family called this liquid “flame essence.”

The cycle was a process in which the flame essence that flowed out circulated endlessly through the blood vessels.

The pain experienced here was beyond imagination.

This was because the heat felt different between the formless energy called mana circulating through the blood vessels and the liquid with a tangible form circulating through them.

“The former felt like being exposed to moderately hot steam.”

The latter felt like having a hot iron plate inserted into your body and burning your insides.

It was a terrible burning pain.

And then there was the breathing technique that he would repeat countless times.

These two things mixed together and gradually changed the nature of the mana stored in his body, and the fire mana that was thus changed…

“Turns black.”

It was as if it were slowly rotting away in pain.

That black mana was the mana used by the previous heads of the clan, known as Black Flame.

“Huu.”

When he first entered the cycle in his previous life.

At that time, he had been writhing in pain for a week without eating properly. In the Gong family, such suffering was a common sight, and people would laugh it off as nothing more than hardship.

Those who couldn’t adapt to the cycle would have their blood vessels completely burned away, leaving them unable to ever hold a sword again.

“Still, I have to do it.”

If I don’t, I can’t move up, so what else can I do?

Ethan repeated the breathing technique.

Eternal pain.

The fire will burn endlessly.

Be patient.

In that pain, black flames will bloom.

Feel the eternal flames that burn for eternity.

That was the moment.

Crack!

All the essence of fire within his body twisted, and the fiery liquid that escaped began to circulate throughout his entire body.

“Ugh!”

It’s too hot…

Hot…

“…Huh?”

It doesn’t feel that hot…

“Why isn’t it hot?”

Faced with an unprecedented situation, Ethan rolled his eyes.