Reincarnated as the Descendant of a Fallen Noble

Chapter  6:  First, this damned body. (1)

Recovery of mana.

Everything had to start by fastening this first button properly.

I took a deep breath and spoke to Gadolph.

“Give me an apple.”

“Yes, sir.”

I chewed on a piece of apple and soon swallowed it down my throat, then closed my eyes slowly.

‘I’ll check my physical condition first.’

I needed to know what the problem was if I wanted to fix it.

I focused my consciousness and steadied my breathing.

Starting from the crown of my head, I sensitized every sense of my body, down to a single strand of hair.

‘Let’s see…….’

I extended that perception inward, deeper and deeper, until the state of my body faintly appeared before me as shapes of dim light.

I immediately examined my lower abdomen, where the mana circuits should have been located.

I felt blue strands clinging to the blood vessels nearby, faintly emitting light.

These were clearly remnants of mana circuits.

My eyebrow twitched.

‘Did this bastard ever practice mana?’

Then why couldn’t I use mana?

It didn’t take long before I soon figured out the reason.

‘Why are there…… holes in the circuits?’

I could see the ends of the scattered circuits lying around as if they had been severed.

Most of the circuits had died and adhered to the blood vessels, and the ones still alive were on the verge of completely failing.

‘Damn it.’

It was the petrification phenomenon where circuits hardened from having no mana pass through them for a long time.

‘This bastard wasn’t just a simple mana cripple?’

If this condition worsened, it would go beyond merely being unable to use mana—the circuits would start invading the blood vessels, and if that happened.

‘Nine times out of ten, I’ll be dead.’

No wonder the body felt like trash.

At this rate, could I last a year—no, even half a year?

Frankly speaking, this was no different from carrying a bomb inside my body that could explode at any moment.

I opened my eyes wide and spoke.

“Hey, Gadolph.”

“Yes?”

“My…… why is my body like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are all my mana circuits severed?”

“Mana circuits? That…….”

As Gadolph hesitated, unable to easily open his mouth, I urged him.

“Hurry up and tell me.”

“Well…… don’t you remember that sparring at the academy?”

“Sparring? What about it?”

“When you were attending the academy, Young Master, you were badly injured during a spar with a fellow student. It was a huge incident……”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Then…… seriously? My body got wrecked just from sparring?”

“Yes.”

My forehead heated up.

“Damn!”

Unable to stand it, I collapsed flat on the bed and rubbed my face fiercely with both hands.

‘Just what kind of pathetic bastard did I end up possessing?’

How in the world could someone end up with a body like this just from sparring?

Did he fall asleep during the spar or something?

This wasn’t just adding insult to injury—it was like piling an avalanche on top of it all.

I stared blankly up at the ceiling.

‘Haah…… Think, think.’

Even if the sky collapsed, there was always a way to crawl out from under it.

Normally, when circuits were damaged to this extent, people either gave up or paid an outrageous sum to get help from the Magic Tower folks.

It cost an astronomical amount of money and time, and even then, there was no guarantee the treatment would succeed.

That was why, unless they were nobles doing quite well for themselves, most simply abandoned treatment. Surely my current family must have given up on fixing this body as well.

However……

‘I can repair it alone.’

That was only true for ordinary people.

I was Varlach Daphne.

When it came to mana control and mana refinement, I was more confident than most so-called archmages—and in fact, better at it.

If I used that skill to erase the mana residue clinging to each strand of the circuits and connect them back to the intact blood vessels…… even this trash body could recover sufficiently.

The problem was……

‘I don’t have time, do I?’

The odds were high that this frail body of mine would fail and die before I could finish everything.

In the end, I had to find another method.

‘Don’t I know any mages? No, even those bastards would take at least a few years to heal this. Maybe a renowned priest, or perhaps a top-grade holy relic…….’

Many possibilities quickly surfaced in my mind only to vanish just as fast.

Of course, the conclusion for all of them was simple.

‘Could any of that possibly work?’

A fallen house, a sacred artifact? The Golden Priesthood?

Unless those bastards had been shot in the head with an arrow, they’d never lend me any power.

As I was tapping my forehead with the palm of my hand, sudden irritation surged up.

‘……This is all because of that squid bastard.’

Shagrath.

If it hadn’t been for that bastard, the knight order would have been intact, and none of this mess would have ever happened.

That wretched creature—I’d tear it to pieces if I could.

Thunk!

I grabbed the pillow and hurled it to the floor.

“Wh-Why are you doing that, Young Master?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t mind it.”

Waving a hand dismissively at Gadolph’s question, I sat on the edge of the bed.

If it were possible, I’d go back in time and slap that squid into dried shreds……

‘Hm?’

Just then, a ray of realization flickered through my mind.

 Uaaaaaaah!

That moment when I had struck down Shagrath.

The creature’s core had been reflected in Varlach’s eyes.

The internal structure I saw as it was crushed returned to me vividly.

I stroked my chin and thought.

‘The core—if it’s that…… it might work?’

The core—a spherical form, a nucleus that rapidly absorbed the surrounding mana.

Creating a core the same size as his was out of the question……

But perhaps I could craft something just large enough to seal the hole in my gut.

“Hmmmm……”

I quickly ran through my thoughts and nodded.

Yeah, this could work. It would work.

The structure was certainly different from mana circuits, so there would be risks……

‘But with my skills, I can definitely pull it off.’

It would be my first time attempting this, but wasn’t it better to try something desperate than die pathetically without doing anything?

The conclusion was simple.

Shoving a core into my abdomen—this was the only answer.

For that, I would need……

‘Highly pure mana.’

Whether it was mana circuits or a core, their principles and processes were broadly similar.

Compressing mana to the extreme, over and over, until it hardened and formed a vessel.

Since I had to create it in a short time, having a source of high-purity mana was essential.

Mandragora, a mana heart, or at the very least, an upper-grade mana potion……

It had to be something of that level for this to even be feasible.

I spoke up.

“Gadolph.”

“Yes?”

“Do we…… have anything like a mana potion in this house?”

“A mana potion? You mean the kind mages drink?”

“Yeah.”

“Something like that…… I doubt we’d have any, don’t you think?”

“Urgh, I figured as much.”

I quickly narrowed down my options.

‘In the end…… I’ll have to buy it somehow.’

At minimum, I’d need thirty thousand—no, fifty thousand gold to even attempt this precariously.

‘But where the hell would I get that kind of money?’

As I crossed my arms and let out a groaning sigh,

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Hmm?”

Both of us turned our heads toward the sound coming from the door.

“Hardin, are you in there?”

A deep, weighty voice called from beyond the door.

I straightened my posture and asked Gadolph,

“Who is it?”

“I think…… it’s the Lord.”

“The Lord?”

“Yes……”

The Lord? The head of the house?

In that instant, my eyebrow arched.

‘Hah, what impeccable timing.’

I needed money, and the single person most likely to give it to me had appeared.

And…… I had also been meaning to see for myself just who was leading this house now.

Curling my lips into a smirk, I spoke.

“Come in.”

Creeeak!

As the door opened, my eyes widened.

‘……What is that.’

Short blue hair and a broad-featured face.

Standing in the doorway was a man who looked like an even blend of my eldest brother and father.

He was large, his body packed with solid muscle, and the big scar over one eye made it unmistakable he was a Daphne.

“K-Khmm! Welcome, Lord.”

Gadolph bowed his head deeply, stealing anxious glances at me as he did.

His body trembled slightly, as if he was a bit nervous.

I blew out a heavy breath through my nose.

‘Hmph, he might look imposing, but he’s still a greenhorn.’

Even if I’d aged, I’d been around far longer than you, brat.

And what? You’re telling me you have no responsibility at all for the house ending up in this pathetic state?

Hell, what exactly are you supposed to be?

I fixed a fierce glare on the Lord and stared straight into his face.

“Gadolph, leave us alone for a moment.”

“Ah, yes!”

At the Lord’s angry-sounding voice, Gadolph quickly scurried out the door.

Step, step, step.

Cobalt Viscount approached until he stood right before me, his shadow falling over me so I had to tilt my head up.

‘He’s…… taller than I thought?’

An awkward smile naturally formed on my face.

For a moment, silence. Then Cobalt Viscount opened his mouth first.

“Hardin, I heard everything that happened in the training hall.”

“The training hall? Hmm, what did I do there again?”

What, did he think that was something worth bragging about? How embarrassing……

I looked away as I mumbled my answer.

“You said you would show the knights the true Wave Swordsmanship, didn’t you?”

“Did I? Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

At that, Cobalt Viscount furrowed his brow sharply, his face filled with anger.

Swish!

He raised his hand high.

‘Is he going to hit me?’

Wait, this suddenly?

Whoosh!

His hand, big as a pot lid, swung toward me with rough force.

Just as I hurried to brace myself to block it—

Thump!

“Squawk?”

Cobalt Viscount suddenly pulled me into a tight hug.

‘What the hell is this now?’

I struggled to pull away, but the heavy bulk holding me didn’t budge an inch, like a giant rock.

‘What kind of bear is this bastard…….’

Then, I heard it.

“Sniff.”

Huh? What was that sound?

I felt a strange trembling coming from his body.

Just as I blinked in confusion, Cobalt’s voice rose.

“I’m sorry, Hardin!”

“……Huh?”

Sorry? For what?

I looked up at him with a puzzled expression. Cobalt Viscount released me, then gripped my shoulders as he continued.

“I…… put such a heavy burden on you.”

“A burden?”

“Yes. The fact that you did something like that…… your father understands everything.”

“……What are you talking about?”

“I know it all. You felt guilty that you hadn’t completed the Wave Swordsmanship yet, didn’t you?”

Cobalt Viscount spoke with a trembling voice, and I had even less idea what he was going on about.

‘What is he saying? Complete the Wave Swordsmanship?’

I just sat there quietly, studying his face.

“It was an unavoidable situation. That promise…… you don’t have to keep it anymore. Just take care of your health. Please……”

“……”

A bitter expression settled over Cobalt’s face.

A face that, despite his large build and rugged features, looked fragile, filled with sorrow.

I furrowed my brow slightly.

‘What kind of Lord is this?’

A proper Lord ought to be someone so bold that they wouldn’t even blink if a sword was pressed to their eye.

But with a backbone this soft…… how was he supposed to run the house properly?

Worry was already creeping up on me.

‘Well, that’s that.’

Anyway, for now…… the most urgent thing first.

I nodded and asked again.

“Father, you said I should only care about my health, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then… could I ask you for a favor?”

“……Anything at all.”

At that moment, I gave a bright, innocent smile.

“Could you buy me some mandragora?”

“What?”

“I think my mana circuits are pretty much destroyed, you see? But if I have mandragora, I can fix them, and I’m sure I could also restore the Wave Swordsmanship and everything else.”

Cobalt Viscount looked momentarily flustered, then spoke in a voice that had sunk heavily.

“I understand why you’d say something like that…… but I can’t grant that request.”

“……Why not?”

“You know perfectly well. That sort of thing won’t fix your problem.”

As bitterness deepened on Cobalt’s face, I waved my hand dismissively.

“No, I really can fix it. If not mandragora…… then at least buy me some mana potions. Or you can just give me the money.”

“Hardin……!”

Squeeze!

Cobalt pulled me into another forceful hug.

“Ugh! What are you doing…….”

“I already told you. You don’t have to struggle anymore. Restoring the Wave Swordsmanship…… that is no longer your mission.”

“Urk! No, listen, I’m serious, I can really fix the circuits—urk!”

“Hardiiiin!”

Squeeeeeze!

The hug got even tighter.

“I’m telling you, I’m not making it up, I can—gack!”

“Hardiiiin!”

“Kuh-hurk! I—I’m going to—!”

Damn it, you bastard! You’re killing me!

Just as my vision was turning red from lack of air—

“Ah, I’m sorry, Hardin. I didn’t mean to do that on purpose……”

“Puhahaaaa! cough cough!”

Only then did Cobalt finally loosen his arms.

I’d nearly died for real.

Once I got my breath back somewhat, Cobalt patted my shoulder.

“In any case…… don’t worry about the affairs of the house anymore. Hardin!”

“Hey. Hey, Father? Where are you going?”

But he simply turned his back and strode out of the room.

I reached out urgently—

Thunk!

And he was already gone, slipping out the door.

‘Damn it…….’

What kind of person was that?

I hadn’t managed to get a single coin or potion out of him.

As I let out a deep sigh—

“Was there…… any trouble, Young Master?”

Gadolph poked his head cautiously through the doorway, apparently having waited outside until the Lord left.

I let out a heavy breath and spoke.

“Hey, Gadolph.”

“Yes.”

“In our house…… who’s the person in charge of the money?”

“The money? Why do you ask?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just tell me. Just the name.”

I needed that money—urgently.

My eyes were glinting with determination.