Damn Reincarnation

d as he glared at Trempel.

“Oh, dear! Why are you taking it out on me? Did I do it? Huh? Damn it, I already feel bitter about me, the Chief of the Court Wizards, becoming an errand boy…!”

“Don’t get too angry.
That means Aroth’s royal family trusts you very much.”

“…Hmm…right, that’s right.”

Trempel’s anger calmed in no time as he stroked his beard. 

* * *

The five Tower Masters, the Head of the Wizard Guild, and the Chief of Court Wizards attended the hearing.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to call these seven wizards the symbol of Aroth.

“…Do you know what I saw?”

As he sat down, Trempel’s face crumpled into a frown.

“Lord Eugene casting the Scorching Flameball of the Seventh Circle.”

“…Is that true?”

The Head of the Wizard Guild, Edgard Giron opened his two eyes wide and stared at Trempel.

“That’s unbelievable…Isn’t Eugene Lionheart twenty years old? How could he reach the Seventh Circle…?”

“…He did say he is actually at the Fifth Circle….”

“How could the Fifth Circle wizard use Seventh Circle magic?”

“How should I know?” Trempel blurted out with a frown.

With trembling eyes, Edgard turned to stare at Lovellian, who was sitting across.
However, Lovellian didn’t give Edgard any explanation.
He just watched Eugene with a proud look on his face.

“You must feel soooo uneasy right now,” The White Tower Master, Melkith El-Hayah, smirked as she watched Edgard.

“Aren’t you still at the Seventh Circle? You must be three times older than that kid…”

“…There is only a thin wall ahead of me.”

“Didn't you also say that five years ago? You busted your ass for five years and you still failed to reach the Eighth Circle.
But when I ask, you always talk about that ‘thin wall.’”

“With just a small bit of enlightenment, I can go over that wall. White Tower Master, don’t insult me too much. Are you comparing me to that young child right now?”

“Well, it’s not really an insult, but…yeah, I am comparing you.” Melkith giggled and clapped.

Edgard’s hair rose, and he was ready to shoot out all kinds of curse words. However…he couldn’t really say them to Melkith.
That annoying, frivolous woman was an Archwizard at the Eighth Circle and the only grand spirit summoner who had contracts with two Spirit Kings.

“…The Seventh Circle, huh… Did Akasha make it possible?” The Green Tower Master, Jeneric Osman looked the most vicious among the seven wizards.
Watching Eugene who was sitting on his chair, Jeneric blurted, “If it wasn’t for Akasha, it would be impossible to reach the Seventh Circle at his age.”

“Don’t judge him as you please,” Lovellian spoke. “Sir Eugene already knew how to use magic of the higher circles before he became Akasha’s master.”

“Hmph. You are trying awfully hard to stick up for your disciple, Lovellian Sophis.
Oh wait, is it because he is the son of Lionheart, not because he is your disciple?” Jeneric’s sharp eyes turned to Lovellian. “Well, that’s understandable.
You saw the idiotic first son before him, so who wouldn’t look better than him? But you are going too far, Red Tower Master. Akasha is Aroth’s treasure.
To think that a Lionheart is taking it away—no, the Kiehl Empire is taking it away….”

“You have no right to insult Sir Eward.” Red energy stirred up like a hurricane in Lovellian ’s eyes. “And, I believe you aren’t angry just because Sir Eugene took away Akasha, aren’t you? You are angry because you wanted Akasha for yourself so desperately, but it chose someone else as its master. ”

“…That’s some hell of a love for your disciple.
You are well aware I can never let that kind of comment just slide with a smile, right?” Jeneric said.

“Of course, I do. How long have we known each other? It’s at least been 40 years. I know how much you obsess about your title of ‘Wise Sienna’s disciple’ and I know that you look down on me and the Red Tower, thinking only the Green Tower is the rightful successor of Lady Sienna.” Lovellian snorted and turned his eyes away from Jeneric.
“However, Lady Sienna was the Green Tower Master three hundred years ago.
Isn’t it ridiculous for the Green Tower to obsess over that and brag about your self-proclaimed title of successor of Lady Sienna? No matter how much you argue and insist, Akasha chose Sir Eugene!”

“You bastard…!” Unable to hold his anger anymore, Jeneric sprang right up from his seat.

Melkith clapped and cheered as if she had waited for this exact moment.
“Fight! Fight!”

The Blue Tower Master, Hiridus Euzeland, clucked his tongue as he glared at Melkith. “What in the world are you doing right now? Aren’t you embarrassed in front of the young man?”

“I have no intention of fighting.” Lovellian smirked as he shrugged. “The Green Tower Master was inappropriately carried away by his feelings, that’s all.”

Jeneric gritted his teeth as vast mana swarmed around him.
Lovellian sneered and called upon his own mana to fight back against the Green Tower Master.

Rumble…!

The immense mana stirred up by the two shook the entire annex.

‘He is tougher than I expected.’

Sitting in his seat, Eugene watched the whole scene unfold.
His teacher, Lovellian, never lost his temper in front of Eugene.
He had met Lovellian when he was thirteen, and back then as well, Lovellian was pleasant and gentle with the children, a kind and benevolent teacher.

Still, that did not mean that he was weak.
He was very strict with the Red Tower’s wizards.
If they made a single mistake during the magic experiment, Lovellian would suddenly appear and severely rebuke them.
Even right now, Lovellian quarreled with Jeneric without letting the latter’s words slide.

‘…Why does that bastard keep watching me? That’s uncomfortable,’ Eugene thought.

The Black Tower Master, Balzac Ludbeth, was also attending this hearing.
Lovellian and Jeneric were fighting with mana right under his nose, but Balzac paid no attention and just gazed at Eugene.

“Crown Prince Honein has arrived.”

The guards outside the annex palace announced the arrival of the crown prince.
The mana in the air, which was becoming larger and larger, as if the two wizards were going to devour each other, subsided instantly.
All wizards, including Eugene, rose from their seats.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to attend this hearing.” Honein Abram entered the hall with an awkward smile.

“It was just a tiff,” Lovellian said as he bowed. “Is His Majesty not attending?”

“Hmm, That’s right.
His Majesty allocated this matter to me and the prime minister,” Honein answered, turning back to look at the old man who followed him. “Frankly, His Majesty does not feel pleasant about this matter.
However, the problem should be treated fairly, so the royal family can’t put their personal feelings first.
On top of that, if a king personally handled this matter, then it would put Lord Eugene in an awkward position.”

‘Is the king really being considerate?’ Eugene thought without lifting his head. ‘…He just doesn’t want to take responsibility.’

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud in front of Honein.

“Umm….
Raise your heads, everyone.
And please take a seat.” Honein sat in the center seat. “First, I would like to clarify the purpose of this hearing.
This hearing is not about Aroth and Kiehl’s relationship.
It’s also not about persecuting the Lionheart clan using the royal family’s power,” Honein continued as he stared at Eugene. “The Lionheart clan shouldn’t be persecuted, and there is no reason to do so.
As the Red Tower Master stated, it’s not like Lord Eugene has committed any crime.”

“…Your Majesty,'' the prime minister sitting beside him whispered. “Akron had been storing Akasha for 200 years.
Akron is Aroth’s royal library, and everything in Akron belongs to the Aroth royal family.”

“That’s right,” Honein continued as he nodded. “However, it’s not like Lord Eugene stole Akasha.
Although Akasha belonged to Aroth indefinitely, it's master was the Wise Sienna and Lord Eugene stated that the Wise Sienna personally handed Akasha over to Eugene.”

“That is the purpose of this hearing, to check the validity of his claim,” the prime minister said as he turned to Eugene.
“200 years have passed since Lady Sienna secluded herself.
But he is now telling us that Lady Sienna is ‘alive’ and handed Akasha’s ownership to another person.
It’s hard to blindly believe his claim.”

“Cannot believe it?” Lovellian blurted as he squinted his eyes. “Prime Minister Conrell. Does that mean my disciple is lying?”

“I’m just talking about possibilities,” Conrell said as he stroked his beard. “200 years is a long time.
We have been desperately searching for Lady Sienna, but we failed to find even a trace of her.
How could she just hand over the ownership of Akasha? Even if it’s true, Akasha has belonged to Akron, to Aroth for 200 years.
So wouldn’t it be right for the Aroth royal family to claim Akasha?”

“Claim something that they can’t even use?” Melkith chuckled. “Well, yes.
It’s true that Akasha has belonged to Aroth for 200 years.
But to claim that Aroth is Akasha’s master…isn’t it rather ridiculous?”

“White Tower Master—” 

Conrell tried to interrupt her, but Melkith continued. “What, am I wrong? For over 200 years, no one could become Akasha’s master.
From former kings to every wizard in Akron, Akasha recognized no one as her master.”

“I’m not a wizard,” Conrell answered as he snorted.“I am aware that Akasha is the Archwizard’s staff, but I can’t really feel it.
Still, I can feel that it is the royal family’s ‘treasure.’ Everything in Akron belongs to the royal family.
No one could become Akasha’s owner, but despite all that, Akasha belongs to the royal family.
The hermit from 200 years ago reclaiming her ownership… I feel like that’s a very shameless act.”

When Conrell said that, Lovellian sprang right up from his seat.
Lovellian fiercely glared at Conrell.
However, Conrell didn’t flinch even facing Lovellian’s sharp eyes. “Don’t glare at me too much.
I serve the royal family and I am responsible for Aroth’s state affairs.
It is only natural for me to act for Aroth….”

“Can I say something too?” After being quiet all this time, Eugene spoke.

“…Go ahead.” Conrell nodded.

Eugene stood up as he quietly cleared his throat. “Lady Sienna is alive.”

Staring at Conrell, he continued, “And she said to me that she will return to Aroth and knock over the entire whole country.”

“…What?”

“I swear on my mana that everything I said just now is true.
Lady Sienna is not only alive, but also furious with Aroth.”

Honein dropped his jaw.

“I am not sure how she will vent her wrath….
Hmm… As far as I know, the Abram palace was a gift from Lady Sienna…. The lake that surrounds the palace was also made by Lady Sienna.
Isn’t the palace’s devil-seal circle also the work of Lady Sienna? So… she might drown the whole palace….”

“…….”

“Or else…she might pour a meteor shower on the palace.
It’s none of my business, though…” After that, Eugene sat in his seat.

“…Sir Lovellian.”

“…Huh…Yes?” Lovellian flinched.

“I will put in a good word about you to Lady Sienna so that you and the Red Tower of Magic won’t suffer any damage.”

What was Lovellian supposed to say to that? He opened his mouth to answer a couple of times, but ended up just nodding instead. “…Thank you?”

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