Reborn as the Head of the Stolen Mage Family

Chapter 64

[They devour opponents with weak magic.]

Marcel's gaze was fixed on the sentence that adorned the end of the page.

"……."

The last time a Rakan beast was witnessed was already decades ago.

Now it was a safe place where countless tourists came and went until the sun set.

But why…….

‘Why am I getting nervous?’

Marcel forced his gaze away from the last sentence and closed the book.

For some reason, a sense of tension kept creeping in, and his mood sank.

After a quick glance at Eddie, who was resting with his eyes closed beside him, Marcel also closed his eyes.

* * *

Lacania, a small city in the northwest of the Luxorin Empire.

The Valcon Ruins were a very important part of Lacania, so much so that the city was named after the magical beast king, Rakan.

The tourism revenue from the Valcon Ruins was enough to feed the entire city.

And to use such Valcon Ruins as a field trip site, Lieferden Academy paid a huge sum to the Lacania city hall.

"Welcome!"

Dozens of Lacania city hall officials bowed their heads in unison to the students getting off Archimedes.

They stood with their backs straight with tension.

The mayor at the forefront put on a good-natured smile and approached the two professors, offering a handshake.

"Welcome. Welcome to Lacania."

"I am Fred Arno, a professor at Lieferden Academy."

"Brenda Jin. Thank you for readily allowing the field trip, Mayor Dixon."

"Don't mention it. How could we refuse a field trip for the students of none other than Lieferden Academy. Hahaha-!"

The mayor's laughter was as loud as his physique.

As if he was quite pleased with this situation, he had a smile on his face.

But Eddie noticed that the end of his laughter was trembling slightly.

It was natural.

For a mere small city mayor, the visit of dozens of children from the top of the magical world's upper class was a truly terrifying event.

He was half responsible for all safety issues that occurred in Lacania for two days and one night.

Eddie smirked at the movements of the city hall staff, who were on high alert.

Their busy appearance, bringing out the students' luggage from the Archimedes' cargo hold, was like that of servants.

Seeing their orderly movements, he felt a little sorry for them.

‘The mayor must have been on their case like crazy before we arrived… they're practically an army.’

After the professors and the mayor finished their greetings, the students officially moved to the ruins.

The mayor looked back at Marcel and Alexein with longing eyes.

Since it had come to this, he was probably trying to make a connection with the three pillars of Luxorin.

The professors knew his intentions but pretended not to and led the students.

.

.

.

"From here on, it's the entrance to the ruins, so the road will be very bumpy."

"President and Vice President, stand at the front and back of the line respectively and lead the students."

"Yep."

"...Yes."

Under the guidance of the two professors and the leadership of the representatives, the students entered the ruins in a line.

Since it was already a famous tourist spot, it was not a particularly strange place for the students.

But the quizzes conducted by the two professors in cheerful voices drew the waning interest.

"Does any student know what material all the structures of this Valcon Ruins are made of?"

"The corpses of dead magical beasts!"

"Close, but not the correct answer."

"Um… the tombs where dead magical beasts are buried?"

"Hey, that's no different from a corpse."

"Haha- magical beasts certainly leave a lot behind after they die. But this Valcon Ruins is not related to the death of magical beasts. Anyone else?"

A progression that moderately stimulated their competitive spirit without giving them a hard time.

Drawn by it, the students pondered the answers and shared their opinions.

Among those students, one raised her hand and spoke.

"The old bodies that the Rakan beasts discard during their 'maturation' process."

"That's correct, Miss Lixiodor."

When Joy answered correctly, the students' gazes turned to her.

But there was no sting of looking at a ‘detestable commoner’ like before.

Just the familiar gazes of ‘I wonder who it is, but it's her again.’

Joy's image as a top student was slowly settling in among the 1st years without resistance.

Joy glanced back and exchanged a look with Eddie.

She expressed her gratitude with her eyes.

Suppressing her excitement, she recalled the advice Eddie had given her in the closet a few days ago.

"And when you answer a professor's question in class, don't rush to shout out the correct answer. It might make you look detestable."

"Hmph, whatever… then what's the best way to do it?"

"Wait at least until two people in front of you have given the wrong answer. Then, say the correct answer in a voice that isn't too excited."

"...Do I have to go that far?"

"The upper-class children are the ones who feel the greatest resistance to someone being superior to them. If you want your excellence to be accepted naturally, you have to reveal it gradually."

"I understand."

In fact, this was advice that came from Eddie's own experience.

But Joy, who had no way of knowing this, was simply amazed at Eddie's foresight.

As the students got closer to the center of Valcon Ruins, the professors' explanations contained more and more interesting content.

"According to legend, magical beasts only appear before mages with very powerful magic. They like mages who are either a match for them or slightly weaker, who would be good nourishment when eaten."

A student scoffed, "They're really cunning."

Even with the talk of being eaten, it was just an unrealistic legend, so everyone seemed unimpressed.

The two professors smiled slightly and continued their explanation.

"That's right. Magical beasts are very cunning and also very clever. If the mage they face is overwhelmingly stronger than expected, they don't bother to attack and immediately submit."

"So among the great mages of ancient times, there were those who formed a master-servant relationship with magical beasts and controlled them. Also, although very rare, there was a mage who befriended a magical beast. I'm sure you all know whose story that is, right?"

The answer to Brenda's question was naturally mixed in with the students' murmurs.

The two professors smiled and said the name the students were murmuring.

"That's right. The first king of 'Embas', which is now a city-state, 'Phoenix Embas', is the protagonist."

"While King Phoenix was being taken as a hostage to a neighboring country, the magical beast king Rakan, drawn by his magic, devoured everyone except him, and after a three-day exploratory battle, they became friends. I'm sure you all know the story."

An interesting legend no matter how many times you hear it.

In particular, Eddie felt a special empathy for King Phoenix's end, seeing it in light of his own situation.

Phoenix, who had established the great kingdom of mages, Embas.

But in the end, he was assassinated by an assassin sent by his own younger brother.

A brother who had become king but did not give him any power.

The younger brother's anger towards such a brother eventually led to a tragedy.

And when Phoenix died, the kingdom of Embas went straight down the path of decline.

The younger brother who ascended the throne was a truly incompetent person, and the country was constantly invaded by foreign powers.

In the end, when Embas was completely conquered by a neighboring country that was expanding its territory, people said this.

‘Because when King Phoenix died, the magical beast king withdrew his blessing.’

It was a story from 1000 years ago, but for the reincarnated Eddie, it was a story that moved his heart more than anything.

Eddie stopped walking for a moment and slowly looked around the ruins.

It was ridiculous, but if by any chance the magical beast king was watching him from somewhere, there was one thing he really wanted to tell him.

‘There's no guarantee that having a similar story will move your heart. But if you are looking for a companion to befriend again, I hope it will be me.’

Eddie muttered to himself as if he were talking to himself and rejoined the group.

The professors' explanation had just reached an important point.

"As you all know, this ruin itself is a powerful source of magic. During your free time, absorb magic from various parts of the ruin and refine it into your own."

"Ah, and you don't have to worry about magical beasts appearing. Magical beasts mainly appear at night, and you won't be able to gain enough magic to make a magical beast react no matter how strong you get here."

Advice that would be of great help.

And a little joke.

The students chuckled lightly at Fred's words.

But there was a student who couldn't laugh at the professor's joke at all.

It was Marcel.

Eddie confirmed Marcel's stiff face but didn't care and moved on.

Now was not the time to worry about Marcel's turmoil.

Because he had to move busily during his free time.

.

.

.

Thump, thump, thump-

Eddie, who had come deep into the ruins alone.

Because of the students' magic everywhere, he couldn't detect any suspicious energy with just the Search spell.

Eddie sat down on a rock that looked like an altar and took a proper magic training posture.

"Haaa- whoooo……."

Eddie regulated his breathing and drew up his magic.

A moment later, his mana circuits appeared on his skin and flickered.

To scan this entire vast ruin, he had to release a huge amount of magic.

With his eyes closed, he slowly inhaled.

And the next moment.

He held his breath and opened his golden eyes with a flash.

Fwooooooosh-!

Eddie's magic erupted explosively and spread throughout Valcon Ruins.

In a direction that swept down the underground of the ruins, not the ground.

It was to avoid the security items installed everywhere.

And not long after, Eddie's magic collided with a suspicious magic that was not of the ruins.

‘Found it.’

The magic with weak purity was quickly absorbed by Eddie's magic.

Eddie absorbed only a little of the suspicious magic and collected it through his mana circle.

As a result of the reverse tracking, the source of the suspicious magic was not far.

Eddie immediately moved towards that place.

"Hmm."

The place he arrived at was where the largest tree in the ruins was.

Besides the tree, it didn't seem much different from other parts of the ruins.

‘On the contrary, this is right.’

Eddie nodded and then took out his wand from his pocket and aimed it at the ground.

"Terra-scrutor."

A 6th-grade earth-attribute magic that projects the terrain’s appearance directly into one’s mind.

If this place was full of Mana Bloodstones, there must also be a device that detects external magic.

Eddie's purpose was to identify the location of that device and the entrance leading down.

‘There are a total of 9 devices. One is installed at each passage leading to the center. And the entrance is… huh?’

The entrance was immediately drawn in Eddie's head.

Surprisingly, its identity was the huge tree in front of him.

Eddie deactivated the magic and approached the tree.

Then he placed his hand on the trunk and tried to absorb mana.

If it were a normal natural object with magic cast on it, mana absorption should occur, albeit slowly.

But.

"...Ha, what is this?"

He couldn't absorb even a little bit of mana from the tree.

Since Eddie was not a druid, he couldn't figure out where this tree came from.

But this much was certain.

‘This isn't a tree… it's a huge artifact in the shape of a tree.’

A hollow laugh escaped him.

What on earth had the Lacania city hall been doing while Kirhausen was carrying out such a large-scale operation?

It was truly absurd that they were so complacent in managing the ruins while making a living off the Valcon Ruins.

‘Or could it be… they even bribed the mayor of Lacania?’

He thought about it for a moment, but that wasn't it.

Mayor Dixon was too stupid to join hands with the highly cautious and thorough Furas von Kirhausen.

"Well… if it was an artifact that gradually increased in size with magic, it would have been hard to notice if they just planted it and left."

Moreover, the Lacania city hall wouldn't have been able to put surveillance on Kirhausen when they were visiting the ruins.

"It would have been easy to come and go if they just concealed their magic well."

Eddie clicked his tongue and glared at the huge tree.

And then, he felt someone's presence nearby.