Chapter 5 - Elbat (2)
After a simple meal, I spent a long time chatting with my family, including Elbat.
After a few hours had passed like that, it was time for bed, so I returned to my room.
"…I was so preoccupied I can't even remember what we talked about."
In truth, my mind had been entirely focused on Elbat the whole time.
Because of the words he had uttered before leaving my room.
"If he's talking about my distant past… there's only one thing it could be."
I sat on the edge of the bed and muttered softly.
Yes, no matter how many times I thought about it, I could only think of one meaning behind his words.
'I know that you have reincarnated.'
If not that, there was no reason for him to suddenly say such a thing.
"But… how?"
I couldn't understand how he could suddenly say something like that after being silent all this time, even acting as usual today.
Knock knock—
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Actually, thanks to the footsteps I'd been hearing for a little while, I already knew who was coming.
"Come in, Uncle."
Creeak—
As I said so, the door opened as if it had been waiting.
And beyond it, of course, stood my uncle.
He carefully stepped inside and closed the door.
I immediately asked him.
"…I'll ask you directly. Your story of my distant past, what exactly did you want to say?"
I had no intention of beating around the bush.
Now that he had said such a thing to me, it seemed he had no intention of hiding it either.
At that, Elbat gave a small smile and came over to my side.
He sat down next to me on the bed and opened his mouth.
"You're not Lael, are you?"
"..."
No matter how much I had decided not to beat around the bush, even I didn't expect him to ask such a direct question.
Thanks to that, I was at a loss for words for a moment, but I soon collected myself and answered his question.
"What makes you say that?"
"Lael, you see. The way I see the world is different from ordinary people."
For some reason, he still called me Lael as he began his explanation.
Elbat first held up his hand in front of me.
"How does this hand look to you right now?"
"What do you mean how does it look… I just see five fingers, a palm, something like that."
"Right, that's what seeing usually means. But I'm different. To me, it looks as if a shape that looks 'like a hand' is pushing the air aside and has squeezed its way into the empty space."
"…Isn't that the same thing? I don't quite understand."
At that, my uncle rolled his eyes a few times as if deep in thought, then answered.
"Hmm… to put it simply, it means I can see space itself."
"You see space?"
"Yes. You don't have to force yourself to understand. That's not what's important."
Honestly, I couldn't even grasp what it felt like to see space.
Even back when I was learning magic in the past, I had never heard of such a thing.
In any case, he said something else was important, so as he said, I didn't try to understand it further.
"Then what is?"
"What's important is that when I look at a person, I can see the density of the space they occupy."
"The density of space…? What changes if you know that?"
"I can know the potential that person possesses. The reason everyone's density is different is because the size of their souls is different."
"…Ah."
At that, I understood.
The reason he knew about my reincarnation.
"The size of my soul has changed, hasn't it."
"Correct."
The essence of reincarnation is, in the end, the movement of a soul.
The same goes for possession.
Whatever the case, the quality of my soul now had changed, and Elbat had noticed it.
"You catch on quick, don't you?"
He complimented me with a grin.
However, I couldn't understand his current reaction.
If the size of the soul had changed as he said, and if that happened in the middle of a life, it was closer to possession than reincarnation.
And if I had been possessed rather than reincarnated, then to Elbat, I was no different from a ghost who had stolen his nephew's body and killed him.
Therefore, he shouldn't be showing me such an affectionate smile.
"Was I possessed, or was I reincarnated?"
In the end, I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked him directly.
He then replied as if to reassure me.
"Reincarnated, of course."
"Why?"
"I wasn't sure about this either, but your father told me."
"…What did you say?"
My father.
Does that mean my father already knew that I had been reincarnated?
"Ah, brother-in-law wasn't certain either. Up until now, it was just a suspicion. …Well, because of me, it has probably turned into a certainty now."
"Hah…"
If I had been the one to reveal it first, it would have been different, but being found out against my will was a bit bewildering.
And more than anything, worry came first.
What if this fact were to reach the ears of others?
What if, in the worst-case scenario, those Archmage bastards found out?
I knew it was an excessive worry, but it was hard not to think about it.
"My nephew!! Why the long face!"
"Hwak!"
Suddenly, Elbat threw an arm around my shoulders and messed up my hair wildly.
When I turned my head as if to ask what he was doing, he said with a smile.
"No matter what memories you have, the fact that you, Lael, are my one and only nephew will never change. It's the same for brother-in-law and my sister, too. If anyone says otherwise, tell them to come see me! This uncle, one of the Seven Demons, will give them a good scolding!"
"Pfft."
"You're still young so you probably don't know how amazing the Seven Demons are, but the Seven Demons, you see…"
"I know, roughly."
Those who hold power second only to the Emperor.
I knew from faint memories and a book I read recently that that's what the Seven Demons were.
And that my uncle was now one of them.
However, my goal is higher than that, for the life of Emperor Aslan.
It wasn't a situation my uncle could scold his way out of.
"Well then, what will you do if the Emperor says something? Should I send him to see you as well?"
"Uh, eh? Uh… in that case, uh…"
"I'm kidding."
"You little punk…"
But well, if something other than the Archmages were to get in the way, it seemed it would be fine to leave it to him then.
Since the Seven Demons are appointed directly by the Emperor, if Aslan himself acknowledged him, his skill must be the real deal.
Of course, Aslan, Mel, and Sacnil, those bastards are my prey, so I had no intention of handing them over.
No matter what, I will pass judgment on them with my own hands.
"By the way, you said Ragna, right?"
Come to think of it, I was going to ask Elbat about Ragna.
I had completely forgotten, being preoccupied with being found out.
"Ah, yes. Have you by any chance heard of it?"
I looked at my uncle with eyes full of anticipation.
If he knew the whereabouts of Ragna, if things went well and I could get Ragna back…
'It's entirely possible to regain the strength of my prime before I become an adult.'
At that, Elbat looked straight at me and answered.
"I have heard of it."
"Really?!"
I shot up from my seat in surprise.
Then I grabbed my uncle's shoulders and poured out questions.
"Wh-when? Where? How? Where is Ragna? No, more importantly, did you hear it directly from Aslan?! Did you perhaps see Ragna…!"
"Hey, hey! Stop! Calm down and listen to what I have to say."
"…Ah, I'm sorry."
I calmed my excitement and sat back down on the bed.
After confirming that I had calmed down, Elbat opened his mouth.
"I only heard that such an artifact exists. To be honest, after the Emperor mentioned it once, I've never heard of it again."
"…What did he say about it?"
"That… I cannot tell you."
My uncle suddenly raised his index finger in a gesture to be quiet, then began to take off his shirt.
To be precise, just enough to reveal the left side of his chest.
"Don't tell me that's…"
"Even though I may look like this, I am the Emperor's man. …I'm sorry."
Near my uncle's solar plexus, a certain magic circle was drawn.
No, it was engraved.
And I already knew its identity.
The so-called, Pact Formation.
It was a magic invented by Aslan himself.
The effect is simple.
It engraves an absolute, unbreakable pact onto the target.
And if, by any chance, the pact is broken, the target will face the most horrific and miserable death a human can face.
'Seven Demons, my ass…'
They say they have power second only to the Emperor, but from the moment something like that is engraved, they're no different from slaves.
Of course, Elbat probably doesn't know the full extent of it.
If he did, he wouldn't have just shown it to me, his nephew.
He likely thinks of it as just a small restraint to keep secrets.
"…If you're bound by magic, then it can't be helped. Just finding out that Ragna still exists is more than enough."
"That's a relief. I'm sorry I couldn't help more."
"No, not at all. You've already helped me more than I deserve."
In fact, Elbat had given me quite a lot of information.
The most crucial keyword among them was that Aslan himself had mentioned the name Ragna in front of him.
There's only one reason why that bastard, who wants to completely eliminate the remnants of the sword, would do such a thing.
Because it was impossible with his own power alone.
Of course, I don't know exactly what was impossible—whether it was moving Ragna or destroying it.
But what's important is that it ended with just a mention of Ragna.
In other words, whatever he was planning, he hadn't been able to put it into action yet.
'In that case, there's a high probability that Ragna is still in the imperial castle.'
Ragna is an object with enough power to bring down the plan they had accomplished over 300 years in an instant.
If they haven't been able to deal with it in some way yet, they probably have it hidden somewhere within their reach at all times.
'Should I be happy about this or sad…'
Gaining information was good, but the fact that Ragna was in Aslan's hands was not such good news.
"That aside, won't you tell me your story now?"
Just then, my uncle asked me with an intrigued look in his eyes.
What he was asking about was, of course, not Lael's story, but Luke's story.
"..."
Honestly, I'm still debating.
Whether it's better to tell him about the sword, or to just let him know about the reincarnation and keep the sword hidden.
"…I'm sorry."
After much deliberation, the conclusion I came to was to hide it.
Elbat, more than anyone, was the person closest to Emperor Aslan.
I could tell my parents, maybe, but telling him too much seemed dangerous.
"It's still difficult for me to say. But someday… I will definitely tell you. When the day comes that I can speak of it proudly."
"…Hmm, I see. It's a little, no, a lot disappointing, but well, it can't be helped."
"Thank you."
My uncle backed down more readily than I expected. I was worried he might pry further, so that was a relief.
"But how did you end up working in the imperial castle anyway?"
"Actually, you see…"
After that, we just spent time with trivial stories.
Some of it was useful information, and some of it was strange stuff I didn't need to know. The night deepened, and until the sun rose again, we chatted the night away, losing all track of time.
And the next morning.
My uncle left for the imperial castle straight away, skipping breakfast.
"When do you think he'll come again?"
My mother answered my soft question as I stared at the spot where my uncle had departed.
"He'll be back again soon."
After that, my daily life continued without any major changes, a repetition of the same routine.
As time went on, the muscles in my body slowly grew in size.
Like that, six months had passed since I reincarnated, and I had built the body I was aiming for faster than I expected.
Today, a few days after that.
All the preparations to make my Aura bloom were finally complete.
Everything up until now was just a warm-up.
Now is the time to take the first step toward becoming strong.
A new step, having cast off the heavy hindrance of mana.
Toward what finish line is this one step headed?
My whole body tingled with rising anticipation.