Chapter . 6
‘With that much, I can deceive the Empress for now.’
I will personally take on the task of confronting the Empress in earnest in front of many people. Without handing it over to anyone else.
A title one cannot handle becomes a curse.
There is a tale behind the name Goldmund. A story about dragons before Calamitas, handed down among wizards.
Goldmund was a bard for the dragon.
-He praised the dragon and received gold and the title of Goldmund. However, he was not satisfied.
Master said he coveted the dragon’s wealth.
Thus, he incited people to raid the dragon’s lair, which was full of gold.
After killing the raiders, the dragon poured molten gold into Goldmund’s mouth. The legend says he was made into a true golden mouth like that.
-Later, the legend changed into a story about a human king, not a dragon.
If Goldmund tries to betray me, he won't even have the opportunity to incite people like that.
Above all, it was a huge gain to have blocked the enemy’s conspiracy and to continue obtaining Lasilex, which amplifies magic power. Even as a wizard, I don't know the manufacturing method and lack the funds to make it, but now I just have to accept and drink the medicine the enemy spends a fortune to make and offer.
‘Saying I vomited again, or drank a little, or that the medicine tasted different from last time, or that I was sick but recovered soon.’
If I have the physician report mixed with all sorts of excuses and fake symptoms, it will be difficult for them to stop the first experiment of the medicine, which was already lost to history anyway. They would hesitate to feed it to Desmond, but it’s too far gone to stop before getting a clear result.
‘The reason it was easier than I thought must be because the court physician himself craved a new power.’
A person who secretly dreams of a mysterious power that transforms oneself, which cannot be encountered in everyday life.
Although if that mysterious power lies with someone other than oneself, it also breeds jealousy.
It was just when I thought I should recruit people like that in the future.
BANG!
The door opened. And the first prince ran in.
Maximilian Roncer Melanesta Valaskaion de Armatia, my own brother.
-I will strangle you with my own two hands without fail! Even a sword is wasted on you!
The words he said before regressing were still vivid in my ears.
Surprisingly, my brother who kicked the door open was alone. There were no knights or Duke Grimiati who always accompanied him, and his black hair, disheveled as if he had run in a hurry, was wet with sweat.
“Did you drink it?”
How did he know? This didn't happen before regressing.
…But back then, as soon as I drank the medicine, I collapsed and couldn't wake up for days…….
With trembling hands, my brother picked up the empty cup on the table. The medicine that had filled that cup had been refilled into the restored medicine bottle sent by Goldmund to avoid detection.
“…What are you talking about? What is the meaning of this?”
But my brother had already seen the bloodstains on my clothes. He threw the cup away and charged like a bull seeing a red flag. Amidst his eyes flashing deep blue like the summer sky, he grabbed me by the collar.
“Did you swallow what the enemy gave you without knowing what it was, you foolish fool!”
I was being strangled by the collar and about to suffocate, but I endured it. I must not use magic. I still had to hide my power.
“Vomit it out! Vomit it all out!”
My brother grabbed my jaw, forced my mouth open, and shoved his fingers in. I grabbed his hand and tried to pull it away, but since I didn't use magic, I was pushed back by his strength.
I suppressed a groan, but tears came out and saliva drooled down. I gagged, but only stomach acid came up.
It was after I had already drunk all the Lasilex and even vomited blood. Even knowing I couldn't possibly vomit the medicine now!
“I resent the God who made you my brother. To be so foolishly tricked by the enemy, just how much do you intend to shame me!”
His fingers barely slipped out, but my brother’s shouting struck my eardrums. I could endure the assault to avoid using magic, but I couldn't endure these words.
When I turned my head, our eyes met. The deep blue eyes unique to the Balaska Imperial Family; every time I saw those eyes, I hated my blue-gray eyes.
Looking straight into those eyes now, words came out automatically.
“I am the one who resents God.”
Seeing those eyes freeze in shock felt thrilling.
Maximilian’s shouting voice lowered.
“…Rather than die at the enemy’s hands, die by my hands.”
The next moment, my head was slammed down. Two large hands strangled my neck. My brother was trying to kill me…….
Breath was cut off. My vision darkened.
Something shimmered faintly. Fragments rising from the bottom of memory.
-That person over there is your brother, Prince. If you go and greet him, wouldn't he be nice to you?
The tall and handsome boy I saw for the first time at Nanny’s words. I couldn't believe that he, who suited splendid clothes as if painted and already rode a fierce warhorse despite being young, was my brother.
-You killed Mother.
The boy said to me as I approached smiling shyly.
-Mother screamed and bled while giving birth to you! If not for you, she wouldn't have passed away so painfully!
My brother shouted.
-And Mother’s enemy took her place. She gave birth to my enemy.
Terrified, I couldn't even call him brother.
-Everything wouldn't have happened if not for you.
Only then did I understand. Why my brother hated me.
Whether it was my fault or not didn't matter. To my brother, my existence itself was the problem.
“To think something like you is my brother!”
It was when I could no longer endure my brother's shouting and was about to use magic.
Suddenly, the pressure on my neck disappeared. So did my brother’s body that was sitting on me. I turned my head and buried my face in the pillow, hiding the tears that flowed uncontrollably.
“He is a pitiful person, Maxim. Show mercy.”
My mother’s maternal cousin, our maternal cousin once removed, Duke Grimiati, was pulling my brother off me.
“Think of your late mother. If Maxim cannot ascend to the throne because he killed the Prince who caused her death, how sad would she be?”
Admonishing with a calm voice, the Duke with platinum blond hair and gray eyes like Mother pulled Maximilian away.
“…Do you know what that guy said to me? I can never forgive him!”
“Whether revenge or forgiveness, only the Emperor can do it. Do you not know, Maxim.”
Grimiati, who sounded like he was reciting poetry rather than stopping a fight between his cousins.
“How much longer must I endure, Uncle?”
“Think of that pitiful Prince as a trial sent by God. If you forgive him, there will be nothing in the world Maxim cannot overcome.”
Anger rose at those who insulted me as if I wasn't present in this place. But I absolutely must not reveal my identity as a newly turned wizard.
While practically dragging Maximilian away, the Duke looked back at me.
“It must be very painful. Still, it is fortunate that you are alive.”
The Duke had that same soft voice even when soothing a dog. When he stroked the hunting dog pierced by a wild boar’s tusk during a hunt, and then cut its life short right there.
I closed my eyes without answering. I couldn't let that man discover the magic I managed to hide even from my brother.
“Rest now, Prince Leontes.”
The sound of the Duke’s footsteps faded away, then suddenly a loud crunching sound arose. Like trampling on glass… Ah, he must have trampled on the fragments of the cup my brother threw and broke……. How rude…….
The next day, as soon as I opened my eyes, yesterday’s events came to mind and emotions surged.
-If you fall victim to the enemies, what becomes of my face! I cannot watch someone who calls himself my brother become a prisoner of the enemy and beg for his life. You'd be better off dead!
My brother, consistent before regression and now.
Barely composing myself, I first called a servant to take a bath and have a meal. Perhaps because I vomited blood, my appetite returned.
The feeling of becoming a powerful wizard was good. But it was still not enough. Even if I assume I can beat ordinary wizards, if the enemies form an alliance against me, it won't be easy. I couldn't relax until Michelon grew up.
‘I must be able to use regression too.’
So that if I fail in this life too, I can turn back time myself then.
Although it is impossible, at least if I make that my goal, I won't settle for less along the way.
To do that, I had to take on another challenge. Based on another hypothesis of mine.
-Magic is the power of the dragon crushed by the sacred Great Emperor Balaska and the assassins who follow the dragon, so it is evil.
A belief deeply rooted in Armatia.
But Master said magic originated from God, not dragons. Just not God Traneha.
-Long, long ago, the Chief God was the God of Magic.
-Chief God? Does that mean there are other gods besides the Chief God?
If God is not unique, can they be called God?
-Originally, religion was polytheistic, but monotheism absorbed polytheism and ascended to the position of Chief God and the One God.
Master explained.
-The reason the Chief God who created magic was pushed out by monotheism is that he refused to abandon other gods and remain as the sole God.
-Even humans centralize power, so for a God to do that, it sounds behind the times.
-…Another reason that God lost is that he did not monopolize magic as God's power but taught it to humans as well.
-Then shouldn't people worship that God more?
-On the contrary, those who couldn't use magic became jealous of those who could, and stopped believing even in that God. Moreover, since anyone, no matter how lowly, could become strong just by using magic, the existing powerful figures were enraged. Thus, they came to support monotheism.
-In any case, that God lost.
-If that God truly lost, magic would have completely disappeared.
Master’s eyes flashed.
-But no matter how oppressed, magic did not disappear. Magic becomes a dream unforgettable in people's hearts and rules their unconsciousness. Like that, the God who disappeared from reality became more powerful.
At that time, I thought those words would get her burned at the stake. I was afraid of losing Master.
But no matter how much I prayed to God Traneha to make me strong, it was useless.
-Do not hate your enemies, but obey your brothers. That is the way to truly become strong.
Far from becoming strong, I only became weaker. When I endured, I was looked down upon and trampled even more.
In that case, I will try believing in the God of Magic now.
‘If I become stronger than the enemies, this time the Traneha religion will teach the enemies to obey me instead of hating me.’
Thus, I gathered all my knowledge and pondered over and over. To find a clue to strengthen magic in the rituals serving the God of Magic.
If the method involves sacrificing humans and cursing like the Traneha religion claims, I can just not do it.
‘…If Michelon really used regression magic by sacrificing humans, that is an exception. Sacrificing one's life for the country is the duty of royals. I acknowledge it as their Emperor at the time.’
I analyzed the organized contents one by one.
-The God of Magic likes dancing and singing.
The Traneha religion rages that heretics engage in group sex naked, but it seemed they accompanied it with dancing and singing.
Dancing naked, let alone sex, is something I don't want to do myself. Maybe if I make my enemies do it, excluding the Empress. But the thought of my enemies dancing naked makes me nauseous. Even I, who was an Emperor, find it disgusting, so a real God would probably punish them.
-That God loved humans and learned from humans.
God learning from humans, it’s the end of the world. Although I learned court intrigues from my enemies.
But to love humans. There is not a single person in the world I love right now.
‘Mother and Nanny are both dead.’
Master must be alive, but I won't be certain until we meet again. I don't know where she is now either. Michelon hasn't even come into the world yet.
I don't love the people either. Because the burden of having to protect them is great. If asked to love my brothers in this situation, I absolutely cannot.
-God loved the wicked so much that he gave them a chance to pay for their sins, and if they did not pay, he punished them in the present world so they wouldn't have to wait for punishment in the afterlife.
…Now I could love my own brother, half-brother, and half-brother alike. Truly a great God.
Based on the analysis results, I established a hypothesis on how to lead the worship of the God of Magic to magic enhancement. Tonight, I intend to put it into practice immediately.