The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor:Rynfinity

Chapter 3

……

After winning, Aden felt a burden lift from his heart, as if something had been dispelled.

Heart Demon

For martial artists, it was a disturbance of the mind, akin to poison.

Aden realized that he had unknowingly fallen into it.

Due to the despair and hopelessness of losing everything.

‘That was a foolish thing.’

And he brushed away those trivial thoughts along with his victory.

‘I am Aden Albireo. That’s all I am.’

Aden smiled contentedly.

Meanwhile, the knights were frozen in shock.

‘What did I just see?’

‘The weakling young master who used to lose even against a neighborhood puppy…’

Bazan had fought earnestly. Though he was an apprentice, he was skilled.

Yet, the delinquent young master had defeated him.

Aden ignored their wide-eyed stares.

“Hey, Carl.”

Carl, who was standing with his mouth agape, snapped back to reality at Aden’s call.

“Yes? What is it, brother?”

Carl was so shocked that his usually cold demeanor was completely disrupted, and he stuttered.

Seeing that, Aden chuckled.

“It’s nice to spar. Thanks to it, my head feels refreshed.”

“That, that’s a relief.”

Carl forced a smile, his expression awkward.

Aden replied brightly.

“I’ll drop by here often to spar from now on.”

“……”

“Well, I’m off now. Train hard, little brother.”

Aden casually threw his sword and protective gear to his servant Philip and leisurely exited the training grounds.

* * *

When Aden returned, his personal attendants were in an uproar.

“Oh my, young master! What happened to these wounds?”

“The Duke and the Madam will be terrified if they find out!”

“Yes, yes. Don’t tell them.”

Servant Philip and a maid grabbed Aden’s hands, pouring potion on them and wrapping them in bandages.

Aden’s palms were badly torn and in a mess.

However, Aden himself looked completely unconcerned.

‘It’s not like anything’s broken, just a bit torn.’

With high-quality potion poured on it, the wounds would heal in half a day.

The servant and maid repeatedly urged him to rest well until the family dinner in the evening.

Aden was left alone in his room.

‘This body is really weak, my palms got torn just from holding a sword.’

It wasn’t just his hands.

Though he didn’t show it, his entire body ached with muscle pain.

“Ha.”

Despite that, Aden let out a chuckle.

He was pleased.

He had forgotten the joy he once felt from wielding a sword to survive and kill.

Pain.

A familiar sensation that made him vividly aware he was alive.

Thanks to it, Aden was able to clear his mind.

‘A body and a chance given to me.’

He didn’t know why this had happened.

But he had gained a new opportunity to start the revenge he thought he could never achieve.

Of course, he knew that his memories were of a future that no longer existed.

‘But I remember.’

He remembered those who had repaid trust, respect, and faith with betrayal.

Those who were hailed as ‘heroes’ alongside him in the future.

Aden resolved to bring down those heroes.

Aden looked at his body.

A miserable body that became exhausted and had its palms torn just from fighting a single apprentice knight.

To Aden, who once possessed a robust physique praised as a divine gift, this young master’s body felt like a fragile reed.

But he wasn’t worried.

‘A body can be trained.’

He had once grown from a pickpocket in the slums to the continent’s strongest hero.

No matter how weak the body, he was confident he could maximize its potential.

‘First, I need to awaken the mana core.’

Mana Core

Aden sat cross-legged on the bed.

“Hoo.”

He inhaled and exhaled slowly, repeating mana breathing.

About ten minutes passed.

A system notification appeared in his mind.

He felt the natural mana permeating the air.

‘To feel it already?’

Aden was surprised.

It usually took a month for an ordinary person to feel mana.

Aden quickly realized the reason.

‘It’s because I’ve walked this path once before?’

It’s difficult to grasp the knack initially, but once you know it, it’s easy.

It was a good thing for Aden.

He picked up a high-quality potion he had prepared in advance.

It was a spare healing potion the maid had left behind after treating his wounds.

Normally, accumulating mana through mana breathing was the proper way, but there was no reason not to use a more convenient and faster method.

Pop.

He opened the potion cap and drank it in one gulp.

He felt the abundant mana within the potion spreading, warming his insides.

‘Now to gather the mana.’

Mana that wasn’t stored in the mana core was unstable and would soon dissipate.

Aden carefully circulated the mana within his body, gathering it around his chest.

The mana flowing through his bloodstream converged right below his heart.

Then, a throbbing pain began.

The mana was stimulating the yet unopened mana core.

The pain was like being stabbed in the chest with a dagger.

But he endured and focused his mind.

‘Awaken.’

After some time, a change occurred.

Flash!

Aden felt something locked within him open.

< The mana core has awakened.>

The mana core had finally opened.

A small amount of mana circulated through his entire body along the mana pathways, then returned to the mana core repeatedly.

It was the first step of physical enhancement.

‘It feels empty without the dragon’s mana.’

Of course, the ever-overflowing dragon’s mana was absent.

The mana core felt empty and its capacity was small.

‘But this is just the beginning.’

He could accumulate mana and expand the core.

The awakening of the mana core was the first step toward his goal.

Aden recalled his final wish before he died.

‘If given another life, I will…’

A cold smile appeared on his face.

“I’ll drag you all down to the abyss.”

* * *

Aden opened a notebook on his desk.

The notebook was a magical item produced by the Magic Bureau Anguis, a magic diary.

It was a secret diary that could only be read by the recognized owner.

It was a gift from the Duchess, Aden Remes’ mother, to her son.

But the young master found writing a diary bothersome, so it remained unused and clean.

Aden began writing in the diary with a pen.

He recorded future events and information about specific individuals.

‘Human memory is unreliable.’

Knowing the future was his greatest advantage.

Even seemingly insignificant information was precious.

It was beneficial in many ways to record them.

‘The Iron-blooded Saint is currently at the Massacre Tower, the Knight King is in Sias, and Kalsis must still be in the imperial family.’

Aden’s enemies were strong.

They were superhumans who reached the pinnacle of individual prowess, deserving to be called one-man armies.

‘But they aren’t just strong individuals.’

They held high social positions. Some were imperial family members, others were rulers of nations, or leaders of a religious sect.

Others were influential figures in society.

Moving recklessly could result in Aden facing an army of a million alone.

Fortunately, they were in a period of indifference toward each other.

‘That’s good for me.’

Aden organized future events in his mind.

He picked out the major incidents.

‘First, in five years, the activities of the dark magicians will peak.’

They were people who borrowed the power of Talos, the demon of the underground world, to commit all sorts of evil deeds.

They attempted to overthrow the empire and revive the ancient kingdom of dark magicians.

Their power was unexpectedly vast, and the empire felt threatened.

‘But they failed.’

The empire, which controlled most of the human territory in the western continent, was strong.

It formed a subjugation force by gathering strong individuals scattered throughout the land and launched a large-scale subjugation.

‘That’s when I first met everyone.’

The ‘Allied Forces of the Mortal Realm’ who fought to protect the world from Talos’ forces in the future.

This subjugation force was its origin.

Aden participated as a mercenary and, two years later, earned the title of Witch Slayer by subjugating the leader of the dark magicians, the ‘Silver Witch.’

‘In thirteen years, Tartarus will open.’

A hole connecting to the underground world will open at the western end of the western continent.

Countless Talos will emerge like an army of ants, and people will call it the ‘Gate of Hell Tartarus.’

‘I must prevent those traitors from joining forces.’

If more than two of them came together, Aden’s revenge would become exponentially more difficult.

The dark magicians were the reason they initially bonded.

So, it was best to either finish them off within five years or delay the dark magicians’ movements to buy time.

‘Either way, I need to get stronger first.’

He had to become stronger to either finish them within five years or stop the dark magicians.

‘I need to rebuild this body first.’

He had a method in mind.

The only concern was that it required a significant amount of money.

‘I need to get an allowance.’

In that sense, it was fortunate that this was a wealthy duke’s family.

Aden’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.

* * *

It took Aden a few hours to write down all the information he remembered in the magic diary.

By the time he finished recording 15 years’ worth of information, a servant came to inform him of dinner.

‘I’m certainly hungry.’

The forgotten hunger hit him.

When Aden arrived at the Remes family dining room, his family was already

gathered and eating.

Aden, his parents, and his younger brother Carl made up the four of them.

Duke Fried Remes, Aden’s father.

He looked much like Aden, giving the impression that Aden would look like him after aging twenty years.

He warmly welcomed Aden.

“You’re here, my son.”

“Yes.”

Aden answered while taking a spoonful of soup.

The Duke smiled contentedly at his son’s obedient response.

The parents cherished their firstborn very much.

Especially lately, as Aden hadn’t caused any trouble, he seemed even more delightful to them.

However, the Duke’s expression hardened when he saw the bandages on Aden’s hands.

“Th- those hands… what happened?”

“Oh my! What happened to those bandages, my dear!”

The Duchess was so shocked by Aden’s hands that she was in a frenzy.

Realizing it could get out of hand, Aden quickly unwrapped the bandages and spoke calmly.

“It was just a slight graze. I poured potion on it, and it’s already healed. See?”

He showed his completely healed hands to reassure his parents.

The Duchess calmed her startled heart and spoke to Aden.

“Be careful, dear. Your health is more important than anything, my child.”

Aden felt a bit embarrassed to be called a child at the age of eighteen.

Yet, he also felt a strange sensation.

‘Parents…’

Aden had no parents.

In his memory, he had always been alone as a child.

He survived in the slums, living roughly as a pickpocket.

Until he met his master and became his disciple, he hadn’t experienced human kindness.

Therefore, Aden felt the deep love of these two people for their son to be strange and uncomfortable.

“By the way, I heard you defeated an apprentice knight in a sparring match?”

The Duke asked with a look of genuine surprise, as if he had seen a fish fly.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Aden’s calm affirmation surprised the Duke even more.

Although he had already been informed, he couldn’t believe it.

He knew his son had never trained in swordsmanship.

The Duke was aware that the apprentice knight Aden had defeated wasn’t lacking in skill.

‘Could my son be a genius?’

Having never seen his son wield a sword, the Duke thought perhaps Aden was a genius, as there was no other explanation.

Aden cut a piece of steak and spoke.

“I was taking a walk because my body felt stiff, and Carl suggested a sparring match.”

Clang.

Carl’s fork hit the plate, making a sound.

Carl’s expression was truly awkward.

“Thanks to Carl, I had a very enjoyable experience. I’m grateful to my brother.”

“Is that so? Carl, it’s nice to see you taking good care of your brother! Ha ha.”

“O- of course, Father.”

Carl, looking like he had a lot to say, forced a smile and accepted his father’s praise.

He was likely fuming inside.

Aden enjoyed Carl’s expression as he cut his steak.

“Oh, and Father.”

“Yes, son.”

“Can you give me some money?”

“Sure.”

The Duke’s response was swift.

Aden needed a lot of money, so he added.

“As much as possible.”

“Ha ha, alright.”

Duke Fried agreed and said he would have a servant bring it after dinner.

He even smiled and asked Aden if there was anything else he needed.

Aden could only smile bitterly inside.

‘I understand why the delinquent young master turned out this way.’

With such pampering, it was no wonder he grew up so spoiled.

Aden, having had no parents in his previous life, realized that such unrestrained spoiling could ruin a child.

But for now, it was a great boon for him.

‘The steak is delicious.’

Aden enjoyed his dinner contentedly.

* * *

The Duke handed Aden three platinum coins.

Three platinum coins were equivalent to three hundred gold coins, enough for an ordinary household to live comfortably for a year.

‘As expected of a duke’s family. The scale is grand.’

The Remes Duchy was prosperous, with a thriving fruit wine industry.

They also managed the mountains inhabited by magical beasts meticulously, conducting annual subjugations to harvest valuable by-products.

Thus, they were quite wealthy.

Hence, giving out platinum coins as allowance was feasible.

Aden called for his servant Philip.

“Yes, young master! What is it?”

“Philip, buy something with this money.”

“What do you need?”

Aden handed him a piece of paper.

“The highest grade Holy Potion from the Temple of the Law. And as many mana potions as you can. Also, get all the herbs listed here.”

“Gasp! The Holy Potion? The highest grade one?”

A normal potion was a mixture of mana and various medicinal herbs, but the Holy Potion was a potion infused with divine power by the priests using holy water.

It could remove curses and scars that other potions couldn’t.

Especially, the highest grade Holy Potion was made by high priests.

Its healing power was so strong that even a severed arm could be reattached instantly.

It was hard to obtain and very expensive.

Aden demanded these items to rapidly enhance this weak body.

‘The theory devised by the Great Alchemist Kalsis.’

Aden decided to use the method discovered by his loathsome comrade to grow stronger and exact his revenge.

Philip trembled as he held the shopping list.

“Y-you’ve been quiet for a while, but what are you planning now…”

There was no choice.

Aden decided to go all out.

He glared at Philip.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well, that’s…”

“I’ve been quiet lately, so you think you can take me lightly…”

Aden murmured leisurely, so leisurely that it seemed terrifying to Philip.

Philip felt uneasy about that ease.

Aden leaned back and picked up a nearby bottle.

“You know my temperament, right?”

Then he rubbed the bottle and glanced at Philip.

Philip, terrified, saw Aden’s black eyes and eerie smile reflected in the bottle.

“Should I show you now?”

“No, sir! I’ll do it right away!”

Philip grabbed the platinum coins and quickly ran off.

Surprisingly, the reputation of being a delinquent was quite useful.