I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 98

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (99)

After absorbing the Black Society.

I contacted Sylvia through the crystal ball.

“We have absorbed the Black Society. Everything has been settled, so send your men to the Black Moon and organize them.”

“Yes. I will send them as soon as possible. Oh, right, Duke. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

―We received a message from the Fractal House.

“The Fractal House?”

Ethan tilted his head.

It was one of the seven noble families of the kingdom, renowned for its spirit masters.

It was also the only family located in the west among the seven families.

Geographically, it was the closest of the Seven Houses to the Duke’s family.

“The reason?”

“The House of Fractal requested a meeting with the Duke directly. They did not mention the purpose, but… it seems they want the meeting to be held in secret.”

What could they be up to?

Ethan thought for a moment and nodded.

The Fractal House.

This family was one of the families that possessed the Eight Rings.

In any case, it meant that he would have to face them at some point.

Since that was the case.

“Tell them I will contact them later.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was no need to refuse the meeting.

“How are the two viscounties doing these days?”

The viscounties of Pernes and Amelton. Administrative officials who had made a name for themselves in his previous life had been sent to the two territories. It hadn’t been that long, but it was about time for them to start showing their true colors.

“That’s interesting. Especially the administrative official Gailen.”

“What about him?”

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“Didn’t he say he was going to build a city of culture and pleasure centered around the metropolis of Hermes?”

“Yes, he did.”

“He brought me some items that he said were necessary for that project…”

A rare faint smile appeared on Silvia’s lips as she looked at the mirror.

“Did he like the results?”

Ethan tilted his head.

“I would like the Duke to take a look at this himself. It’s quite… interesting, and the structure is a little complicated to explain in words.”

What kind of item could make Silvia so interested?

It couldn’t be something worthless. Ethan’s curiosity was piqued.

“All right. I’ll stop by the Count of Pernes’s domain on my way.”

“Yes. I’m sure His Highness will find it interesting. Oh, I’ve sent the Dragon Slayer Corps to the elves. The relocation should be complete within a month.”

He acted quickly.

“All right. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes. I’ll contact you separately if there are any unusual developments.”

The communication was cut off.

It was the moment he returned to the room assigned to him by the Black Society leader. Ilia, who was putting Yong-rin-gwa into a bubbling liquid, looked at him and asked.

“Did everything go well?”

“More or less.”

“The aging process is more than 90% complete. This is the result.”

Ilia took the Yongrinwa out of the boiling liquid and handed it to Ethan.

Ethan’s eyes lit up when he saw it.

Three days ago.

He recalled the moment he obtained the Yongrinwa.

It was Ilia who stopped Ethan from consuming the fruit right away.

“It’s not ripe enough yet. If you eat it now, you won’t be able to see its full effects. Leave it to me, and I’ll make sure it’s more than 90% ripe in the near future.”

He had entrusted the fruit to her with confidence.

The result was much more satisfying than he had expected. In just three days, she had properly ripened the unripe fruit to the point where it could be called a finished product.

“Not bad.”

By increasing the ripeness from 70% to 90%, he would be able to obtain more mana when he consumed it.

“How is it?”

“Excellent.”

“Kuh! I used a lot of precious ingredients that I had collected to amplify the effects of this Yongrin fruit. Of course, it would be good.”

“Thank you.”

“…Huh?”

“Thank you.”

Ilia, the mage of creation.

If it weren’t for her, he would have had no choice but to consume the unripe Yongrin fruit. It was obviously much better to consume fruit that was closer to perfection.

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‘I’ll be able to replenish my mana properly.’

The thing Ethan lacked the most at the moment was mana.

The dragon fruit, which was nearly 90% complete, would fill his deficiency.

Selfless, pure help.

Ethan wasn’t the kind of person who would take such help and say nothing in return.

“If you need anything, just let me know.”

“You’ll do anything?”

Ilya’s eyes sparkled.

For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t answer yes to that question.

“…Whatever I can do.”

“Hmm. I’ll think seriously about what I’ll ask of you.”

“Whatever. I’ll absorb it, so don’t interfere.”

“…I know that much.”

Ethan hesitated, then bit into the fruit. With a crunch, red juice burst out.

Soon, mana swirled inside him. The mana inherent in the dragon fruit was filled with evil energy.

It was strange that the energy of the fruit, which had grown by sucking up all the surrounding energy veins, was leaning toward the pure side.

If an ordinary person or a knight ate it, they could be consumed by this bizarre energy.

It didn’t matter to Ethan. He had already burned the bizarre tree to ashes.

A faint white flame was slowly forming from the essence of fire within his body.

The energy of the dragon’s vein was no match for the white flames.

The aura of sin slowly began to purify itself. He remained in the lotus position and slowly drew out his mana.

“There’s no need to rush.”

Simply increasing his mana did not mean that his realm would rise.

This was especially true in the stage of understanding, where one explores the origin of fire and realizes its true nature.

At this stage, it was important to continue mental training and strengthen one’s mental power.

This was because only by strengthening one’s mental power to the utmost would one be able to gain momentum when entering the next stage of blossoming.

He imagined pure white snow.

Standing in the purified mana, he slowly added the properties of fire.

When he had absorbed all of Yong-rin’s energy,

he entered a state of no mind and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Ilia standing near him.

Looking at the veil of mana surrounding him, it seemed that she had been standing guard while he was meditating.

“How long has it been?”

“Two days. I thought I was going to die from exhaustion.”

Even a grand magician couldn’t go without sleep.

There was a limit to how much magic could relieve the fatigue that accumulated in the mind.

Perhaps because of that, Ilia’s eyes were red.

“You’ve worked hard. Get some rest.”

“My body is exhausted. Don’t wake me up.”

Ilia immediately collapsed onto the bed. But only for a moment.

Kooh…

Kooh…

She fell asleep with a unique snoring sound. Edan smiled slightly and examined her body.

“The amount of white ash has increased considerably.”

Thanks to absorbing Yong-rin’s energy and generating white ash, the amount seemed to have increased by almost three times the original amount.

Since white salt itself was a type of mana mixed with fire, it also meant that the amount of mana he possessed had greatly increased.

“At this rate, he’s at the level of a skilled 7th rank.”

Nineteen.

In his previous life, he was a 7th rank knight.

Objectively analyzing his power, Ethan was certain.

He had completely surpassed the level he had been at in his past life at the same age.

It had been seven months since he had returned.

In less than a year, he had gone from being a powerless person with no mana to surpassing his past life.

Even he couldn’t believe how fast he had grown.

Of course, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just this.

“This is just the beginning.”

The Kingdom of Seven.

And the Order and the Dragon Clan.

He had many enemies to face. Ethan closed his eyes and continued his meditation in silence.

* *

About a week after leaving the metropolis of Carmen, he arrived at the metropolis of Hermes in the Ferne Count’s domain.

He had contacted Silvia in advance, and the administrator in charge of this area, Gailen, greeted Ethan at the entrance.

Perhaps having been contacted in advance by Silvia, the administrator in charge of this area, Gailen greeted Ethan at the entrance.

“Greetings, Duke.”

“How is the work going?”

“Yes. The joy of building a city with my own hands is much greater than I expected. Thanks to the first round of funding, we were able to lay the basic foundations within the city. Would you like to take a look?”

Ethan and Ilia entered the city, following Gailen’s guidance.

The scenery of Hermes was very different from before.

The biggest change was the performances by traveling theater troupes that had sprung up everywhere.

The citizens gathered in small groups to watch their performances.

The performances were simple.

They were

[The Awakening of Duke Ethan]

It was about his life story. Ilia pulled Ethan by the waist. “Why?”

“I want to see that.”

“……”

For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t watch the stage. However, he couldn’t just ignore Ilia’s words.

Just a few days ago, it was thanks to her that he didn’t have to take Yongrin.

Besides,

“Haha. It’ll be really interesting. I was involved in writing the script for this play. I tried my best to make the duke’s legendary ‘achievements’ as easy to understand as possible. Why don’t you take a look?”

With the administrative officer Gailun chiming in, he felt he had to check it out at least once.

“Just a moment.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t know when they had brought them, but the soldiers standing behind Gailun brought chairs. The three of them sat down.

Soon, the stage went dark, and voices could be heard.

―The village of Beros. The villagers were groaning under the oppression of the vicious group known as the Red Scorpions, who collected protection money.

Actors dressed in costumes that clearly marked them as thugs rushed onto the stage.

―Inside the Golden Tavern.

Clang!

―Bottles were smashed everywhere, and to make matters worse, the screams of girls could be heard.

―Aaah!

“Huh. Who would dare to mess with us, the Red Scorpions?”

“Let’s drink and have fun! We got a lot of money from the villagers today!”

Just then, Prince Ethan, who was the crown prince at the time, appeared. The sound of his footsteps shook the heavens and the earth.

“…Huh?”

Soon after, an actor dressed in old-fashioned clothes appeared on stage. Surprisingly, the actor was one of the knights of the Dragon Slayer Corps.

“Who… who is that?”

“No… no way! The Grand Prince who fell ten years ago and was said to have completely lost his mana? How can he be alive…?”

―That can’t be. The thugs thought as they looked at the Grand Prince. However.

“Are you the ‘Red Scorpions’ who have spread your evil name in the village of Beros? I am Ethan! I will no longer stand by and watch your evil deeds!”

“Damn it! Kill him!”

“My fists will judge you!”

The knight raised his fist.

Soon, flames blazed up from his fist.

It was obvious at a glance.

The flames rising from the knight’s fist were not real.

If it were an illusion that made it look like flames were blazing, that would be one thing.

But something had been tampered with on his fist.

“Look! This is the ‘fire mana’ of the Duke’s family!”

Soon, a dazzling light illuminated the actor.

“What… What! How can he use mana?”

“Unless it’s a gift from the gods, it’s impossible to use mana! Unless you have the legendary talent of the first duke, it’s impossible! So it’s just a trick! Attack him!”

“Ha!”

Pock!

Pock!

With the sound of skin tearing, actors dressed as thugs flew in all directions.

It was an amazing performance.

“Wow! It’s fire mana!”

“Mom. Is that the duke?”

“Yes. That’s the duke!”

“The duke is shining!”

Ethan, who was listening to the residents’ conversation, felt a chill run down his spine.

“…Oh my God.”

Exaggeration and embellishment.

These two elements were squeezed to the limit in the scene before him.

Even if you looked at the facts alone, it was obvious. At the time, when he beat up the thugs, he couldn’t even use the power of fire.

Moreover, he had beaten them up to rescue his drunk younger brother, not because he couldn’t stand their evil deeds. ‘…….’

Even the play he was watching was astonishing, but what was even more astonishing was that

Ilya, sitting right next to him, had begun to focus on the play along with the audience, her eyes shining brightly.

Gailen, who was smiling happily as he looked at Ilia, whispered quietly to Ethan.

“What do you think? We’ve decided to spread the duke’s legendary achievements through traveling theater troupes. The troupes agreed readily. If you look over there, you’ll see a glow. That’s because we hired magicians who are skilled in light magic…”

“…How many times a day are these plays performed?”

“Quite a lot. Take a look.”

[Troupe Schedule]

09:00-11:00 The Duke’s “Awakening”

12:00-14:00 The Duke’s “Achievements”

15:00-17:00 The Duke’s ‘Daily Life”

18:00-20:00 The Duke’s ’Duties”

21:00-23:00 The Duke’s ”Reign”

“There are over thirty theater groups in Pernes alone praising the Duke’s achievements. We worked quite hard to create this cycle. The upcoming episodes include… ‘Legend,’ ‘Blooming Ceremony,’ ‘Assassination,’ ‘Comrades,’ ‘Brothers,’ and more.”

“……”

Ethan was speechless.