Damn Reincarnation

their lifelong wish to one day make it into Akron?”

“Truthfully speaking, that has nothing to do with me,” Eugene pointed out.

“Well… that’s—! That might be true, but—! In any case, no matter how talented you might be, it would be overwhelmingly more efficient to practice in Akron than to practice alone,” Mer fervently argued.

“Well, I guess that could be true,” Eugene shrugged.

“You… you’re really annoying,” Mer growled out with shaking shoulders as she twisted her pinching fingers.
“Yes yes, I know that you are talented, Sir Eugene.
But so what? Why did you even come here? Just to say hi? I refuse to accept your greetings.
There’s no reason for it, if I had to say something, it’s just because— What? Huh? What are you doing? Why are you heading inside?”

While Mer was in the middle of her tirade, Eugene began walking into the Hall without shaking off Mer’s hand, which was still pinching his wrist.

While rattling out her questions, Mer followed behind Eugene, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t need to sit in your usual spot? So why are you heading inside?! See, in the end, you really are going to take a seat.
So why act like you weren’t? Not like I was angry about that, or anything.”

“I won’t be sitting down,” Eugene repeated.

“Then why are you—” Mer suddenly stopped speaking.
Her brows furrowed and she released Eugene’s hand before eventually saying, “…Trempel Vizardo is here.”

“What?” Eugene responded.

“Have you already forgotten him?” Mer reminded Eugene, “He’s the Commander of Aroth’s Court Wizards.
An old guy who goes around sporting a handle-bar mustache that doesn’t really suit him.”

“No, I know who he is, but how do you know that he’s here?” Eugene clarified.

“How do I know…? What in the world are you talking about— Ah!” Mer yelped in surprise before quickly straightening her expression.
“It looks like the overhaul of the management systems has been completed.”

“What great timing,” Eugene commented.

“…The world is just full of coincidences like that.
Hm… what? It looks like Trempel Vizardo is on his way up to this Hall.
Could it be because of you, Sir Eugene?” Mer speculated.

“That's probably the case,” Eugene said with a smirk.

They had gotten here faster than he had expected.
Well, he should have figured they’d be early, since he had flown in a no-fly zone….
The guards were primarily responsible for managing the capital’s security, but in the end, the highest levels of the guard reported to the Court Wizards Division.

“Lord Eugene!”

The cry was issued as soon as the elevator doors opened.
Trempel walked out of the doors with his arms held wide open.

“If you were coming to Aroth, it would have been nice if you had contacted us in advance!”

Truthfully speaking, Trempel was a bit annoyed — both by the fact that Eugene had broken the law by flying in the sky above the capital city and by the fact that he, the Commander of the Court Wizards Division, had to personally take action for such a trivial issue.
However, it couldn’t be helped.

If the offending party had been just a common wizard, then he could have just been dealt with according to the law.
But he wasn’t a common wizard, now was he? Trempel had a lot of interest in Eugene and hoped to somehow persuade him to join the Court Wizards.
As for Eugene flying without permission? Something like that could be given a bit of leeway.
If Eugene requested it, Trempel was even thinking of granting him the right to fly freely through Aroth’s skies.

“Aren’t you here to punish me?” Eugene asked.

“Hm? Um… haha! What should I say? Flying in the sky over the capital, well, it might be an issue if the average wizard were to do it, but… it’s fine if it’s you, Lord Eugene,” Trempel said obsequiously.

“If that’s the case, then it’s my luck.” Eugene casually accepted the absolution.

“Haha! Please don’t worry about it too much.
Well, Lord Eugene is still young, aren’t you? It looks like you just couldn’t resist acting your age, haha! Flying where forbidden is a light offense, so it can easily be overlooked.
So, does that mean Lord Eugene is now a rule-floater[1]?” Trempel laughed heartily as he delivered his pun.

Unable to hold it in, Mer revealed a disgusted expression.

Eugene’s body shivered in disgust as he turned his head to look Trempel in the face.
His handle-bar mustache really didn’t suit him….
Although he was surely older than he appeared, Trempel had the face of a man in his middle age with the wrinkles to match.

‘Are you crazy?’

Eugene recalled when he had made a similar joke.
The words that Ciel had spat out back then as her face twisted into a scowl echoed inside of his head.

‘That’s right, so this is how Ciel must have felt back then….’ Eugene now felt regret for uttering such words at that time.

“…Yeah, I guess so,” Eugene still tried to respond politely as he turned his head back around.

Trempel was also displeased by such a dry reaction from Eugene.
He was the Commander of the Court Wizards.
His position was the highest that a battle wizard could reach in Aroth.
In some ways, this meant that he had even higher authority than a Tower Master.
Such a person had personally come to visit Eugene and even made a joke as a sign of friendship, but instead….

‘Even though I can get the Court Wizards to laugh so hard that they have to clutch their stomachs just by opening my mouth,’ Trempel complained internally.
“…Ahem….
By the way, Lord Eugene, may I ask why you have come to Akron?”

“I’ve come here on an errand,” Eugene replied.

“What do you mean, an errand? Oh, ahah! It’s rather famously known that you were obsessed with Witch Craft while you were studying in Aroth, Lord Eugene….
Haha! As expected, Lord Eugene, you truly are a wizard at heart.
Being reminded of such a great spell every time you close your eyes, you couldn’t stand to be away any longer, could you?” Trempel said with an understanding smile as he walked over to Eugene.
“If that’s the case, how about you just live in Aroth permanently? Oh, ahem.
I’ve also heard the news about you, Lord Eugene.
They say that you returned from Samar leading over a hundred elves with you? While I’ve heard that the forest at the Lionheart clan’s main estate is quite spacious and beautiful, strictly speaking, it doesn’t really belong to you, now does it, Lord Eugene.”

“Yes, well….” Eugene tried to stay non-committal.

“You also happen to be an adult now, so… until when do you plan on staying at the main estate where so many eyes will be on you? Lord Eugene, if you so desire, I can find a luxurious mansion for you in the capital.
As for the elves you picked from the forest, there’s a forest belonging to the Royal Palace that they can… live… in….
Uh… what exactly are you doing?” Trempel asked, his eyes widening as he stared at Eugene.

Eugene had circled around Witch Craft, which was in the center of the hall, and was now standing in front of Akasha, which was hung on the wall.

Trempel realized something and burst into laughter, “…Ahaha! So that was the case! Lord Eugene, you don't have your own staff yet, right? I remember when I first visited Sienna’s Hall in Akron.
That… was the first time I had seen such an amazing and beautiful staff.
Just like you, I was fascinated… the wand that I had been using was no longer pleasing to the eye, so I really went to a lot of trouble to get a staff made from a fairy tree’s wood….”

At his age, Eugene still had a cute side to him.
Trempel walked over to Eugene with an amused smile.

“It’s extremely difficult to obtain and even when it’s available, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to obtain it.
But if Lord Eugene were to join the Court Wizards…,” Trempel trailed off suggestively.

Without giving any reply, Eugene stretched a hand out towards Akasha.
Trempel didn’t feel any need to stop him from doing so.
In this hall, there were no rules forbidding guests from holding Akasha directly.
This was because there was no point in doing so.
Akasha did not recognize anyone other than the Wise Sienna as its master.

“…Sir Eugene?” Unlike Trempel, Mer was standing right next to Eugene.
She felt like there was something different going on from the smile that was on Eugen’s face.
“…What are you doing right now?”

“What do you think? You can tell just by looking,” Eugene snickered as he continued to reach out to Akasha.
“Just like last time, I want to try holding it.”

“…Hold on,” Mer said, her face turning white.

Eugene’s mana was moving.
It wasn’t just a simple infusion of mana either, his mana was moving as if it was performing some kind of technique.
What this meant was clear.
Eugene was trying to use some kind of magic.

Trempel’s smile instantly disappeared.
It was forbidden to use magic in Akron.
This was a strong taboo that couldn’t be compared to the one banning flying over the capital city.

The tomes that were being kept in Akron were the greatest spells in Aroth, no, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were the greatest spells in the history of magic.
Therefore, they needed to be carefully protected.

As such, no one could be allowed to use magic in Akron.
Whether it was the Commander of the Court Wizards, a Tower Master, or even Aroth’s royal family.

“Lord Eugene!” Trempel let out a roar.

This taboo was currently being violated right in front of his eyes.
Mer quickly reached out her hand and grabbed Eugene’s collar.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!” Mer demanded.
“You should be well aware, Sir Eugene! Using magic in Akron is—”

“I know,” Eugene said with a nod as he pulled Akasha closer.
“However, without using magic, I won’t be able to take this with me, so what else can I do?”

Mer couldn’t say anything in response to these words.

Fwooosh!

The Dragonheart embedded into the tip of Akash burst into light.

1.
The original pun uses a korean phrase that can mean both ‘a flying boy’ and ‘a delinquent’.
Here’s my attempt to translate that into a similarly terrible pun.
For those who don’t get it, it’s a play on someone who ‘flouts’ the rules. ☜

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