Damn Reincarnation

ywhere on the continent, but Helmuth’s mercenary guild is special.’

It was bound to be special.
Helmuth’s mercenary guild gave out very difficult assignments to its mercenaries.
They could get assignments like bodyguarding or defeating enemy forces from any other mercenary guild on the continent, but Helmuth’s quests were on another level.
On top of that, Helmuth’s belligerent demonfolk always waged territorial war with each other, making Helmuth a heaven for the mercenaries.

‘So, of course, the content of the request would never get leaked.
It doesn’t seem like the attacker got the request through the guild, either.’

Assassinating a Lionheart and a Saint was not the kind of request that a mercenary guild would arrange.

After piling up the letters, Eugene burned them, then stood up.

“Are you going today too?” Mer asked as she sat on a comfy sofa, licking a candy.

A famous patissier had put great effort into making this candy for Mer.
He was one of the chefs recently hired by the Lionheart’s main house.
It was candy, but it also resembled ice cream.
When Mer licked the candy, she could taste a mouthful of sugar, but its size didn’t get any smaller.
It looked really soft, but when she tried to chew it, she found that it was crunchy. Mer had definitely taken a liking to it, judging from how she was holding it every time Eugene looked at her.

“Lady Ancilla is so overzealous,” he muttered.

“She is beautiful and kind.”

“She never gave me such candy when I was little.
And neither did she hire dozens of cooks for me.
”

“No way… Sir Eugene, are you being jealous of me? I am smaller and cuter than you.”

“I was small and cute seven years ago.”

“But you weren’t kind like me, or on good terms with Lady Ancilla.
I heard several stories about your childhood from Lady Ancilla, Sir Eugene.
You were truly something even from that age!” Mer grinned and hopped down from the sofa.
“You beat down Lady Ancilla’s son on the first encounter, and also bullied him whenever you could even after they adopted you, right?”

“…Uh… Lady Ancilla exaggerated because it involved her son.
I didn’t beat him down, I hit him once.
It was a fair and honorable fight.
And bullying? I was the one who got bullied! Do you know how much the twins bothered me?”

“I’m not going to trust your word, Sir Eugene.
You never give me candy, cookies, and cakes.”

“This is so unfair.
Did you already forget how many dessert shops I took you to in Aroth?  

“Lady Ancilla took me to more dessert shops than you.”

“Yeah, if you like Lady Ancilla that much, then ask Lady Ancilla to become your mother.
Change your name to Mer Lionheart.
No, change it to Mer Caines and become her daughter.”

“Don’t sulk, Sir Eugene.
Aren’t you also benefiting from my cuteness?” Mer chuckled and followed Eugene.

He couldn’t deny that.
The chefs hired by Ancilla were all talented, increasing the quality of Eugene’s meals significantly.

“Mer!”

As they were heading to the annex, they heard a loud voice.
The voice was enough to attract the attention of all servants who were cleaning the first floor.

“Where are you going? Do you have to go? If you don’t have any plans today, how about we go sightseeing in the city?”

It was Gerhard, approaching with a big smile.
Eugene frowned.

“You guys went there yesterday.”

“There isn’t a law that prohibits a second visit, is it?”

“Weren’t you planning to get swordsmanship training from Laman?”

“…We postponed it.
Laman also liked it when I said I wanted to postpone it.”

Indeed, Laman was nowhere to be seen.
It was obvious where he had gone.

‘Attending the training of the main house’s knights,’ Eugene thought.

It was good for Laman to train himself.
Eugene didn’t consider Laman as his right-hand man, in spite of the latter’s hopes and expectations.
Still, Eugene thought it was good to have someone loyal to him personally, not the Lionhearts.

‘I have Signard, but he lives in the forest.’

However, Laman spent his entire day in the annex.
If someone attacked the main house, they would go for the annex first, where there were fewer people.
When that happened, Laman would be able to easily protect Gerhard and Nina until the knights of the main house arrived.

Without playing any political games, he had become the Emir’s bodyguard, so he was objectively skilled.
He wasn’t White Lion Knight Captain material, but he would be welcomed in any estate with his skill.
More importantly, he wasn’t in the least bit satisfied with his level, so he constantly communicated and trained together with the knights of the Lionheart estate.

“Mer is coming with me today.” Eugene denied his father’s request.

“…Mer would prefer to tour good restaurants in the city rather than participate in your training.”

“Don’t you want to keep your current body? You worked hard to lose that weight.”

“I can lose it quickly if I take medicine.”

“Father! I told you not to eat that medicine,” Eugene shouted. 

“…Viscount Stellord gave me that himself.
How could I refuse his goodwill?”

“Viscount Stellord wouldn’t want his gift to be used as diet supplements.
He gave it to you so you can diligently exercise and become stronger.”

“Hmm… You are right… But I don’t want to become a muscleman like Viscount Stellord…”

“So don’t rely on drugs and just exercise instead.
Also, swing a sword a couple of times too.
If you keep postponing things like this, I will train you myself.”

Hearing Eugene’s threatening words, Gerhard’s face was clouded with despair.
He fully knew how strict and ruthless his son was during training.
There would be no father and son in that training, only the trainer and the trainee.

“I also agree with the necessity of training.
Sir Gerhard asked me to keep it a secret from you, Sir Eugene, but he recently ordered larger ceremonial clothes,” Nina unhesitatingly spoke from behind Gerhard.
He quickly turned his head and cleared his throat.

“I heard it from Narissa, the kitchen assistant.
Sir Gerhard quietly orders late-night snacks every night.”

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“…”

“One of the main jobs for Lavera is to clean up those dishes.
It seems you thought that ordering the apprentice servants will make things unnoticeable, Sir Gerhard.
However, your overeating is always reported to me.”

“…I treated them so nicely… And this is how they betray me!”

“Everyone is concerned for your health, Sir Gerhard.” 

After hearing Nina, Eugene heaved a sigh and shook his head.

“Father, come with me and run ten — no, twenty laps at least.”

“My knees won’t be able to take those laps!”

“Human knees aren’t made of glass, but your increasing weight will shatter your knees like glass.
Okay, say no more.
Come with me right now.
Come to think of it, we haven’t run together since I was eight years old, right?”

“I have a reason why I don’t run…” Gerhard also remembered the moment vividly.
He was proud of his little son, who strived to train himself, so he once ran in the field with Eugene.

They weren’t having a match, but Gerhard felt like a total loser at the time.
Eugene was an eight-year-old kid, obviously much smaller than him, but he couldn’t catch up with Eugene even running at full speed.
Even forgetting about his pride as an adult, his pride as a father was irreparably damaged by the fact that he could not outrun his own son.

“If you run, I will run with you, Sir Gerhard,” Mer said with the candy stick in her mouth.
She was already done with the candy.

“My lady, it will ruin your teeth arrangement.” Nina quietly approached and took away the candy stick in Mer’s mouth.

Ever since his wife had died, Gerhard had promised himself to not marry again, but he sometimes wished for the daughter he never had.

The memory of running together with his son was filled with misery, so he had been reluctant.
However, for some reason, he felt like he could make good memories if he ran with Mer.
After some pondering, Gerhard nodded.

That was how they started running, and that was also how reality ruined Gerhard’s expectations for beautiful memories.

Eugene didn’t hurry; he merely fell into step with Gerhard.
Mer also diligently ran beside him.

The problem was Gerhard’s endurance.
Thanks to Viscount Stellord, he had built up quite the stamina, but running in this cold weather made Gerhard tired very quickly.

As a familiar, Mer didn’t get tired.
As for Eugene, let alone twenty laps, even two hundred were not enough to make him sweat a little.

After finishing his tenth lap, Gerhard collapsed, unable to run any longer.
Eugene had been slowly following him, then he stopped beside Gerhard for a moment.

“Let’s increase the distance by one lap a day,” Eugene said. 

Instead of answering, Gerhard lay down on the ground and just waved his hand around.
Eugene forced Gerhard to stand up and wiped the dirt off of his clothes.
He then called Mer.

“Let’s go.” 

“Okay,” She answered as if she waited for this moment, then she approached Eugene.
Lifting his cloak to let Mer enter, he took a couple of deep breaths as he stood still.

“Lightning Flash.”

“Master Eugene is using Lightning Flash!”

The servants in the annex talked in whispers.
Eugene could see some elves, who had a keen sense of hearing, covering their ears.
He tried his best to stay calm, but he was able to feel the strong desire to kill the White Tower Master, Melkith El-Hayah, rising from the bottom of his heart.

Lightning Flash — the name that only existed inside Eugene’s head had reached Melkith by accident.
On that evening, Melkith had babbled away at the main house’s party.

—The Lionheart family has a really bright future.
Did you know about Eugene’s new skill, Lady Ancilla? He named it Lightning Flash, and the skill is so cool and brilliant, just like its name.
Who could have known that a human could turn into lightning and fly away in a flash?

…Eugene was very uncomfortable with everyone looking at him.
Still, he thought it would be more embarrassing to stop now.

Pzz.

When he used the White Flame Formula, his mana now had the lightning attribute.
It had only been a week since he had shown it to Melkith, and he still wasn’t able to control the technique properly, but unlike before, when he was unable to hit the brakes, he was no longer crashing into trees.

He put one foot forward and prepared to spring forth.
However, before he had the chance to dash, he had to quickly come to a halt.

“What?”

From the forest, his destination, some people were approaching him.

“When did you arrive here?”

Carmen Lionheart and Ciel Lionheart.

The two women, who by all accounts should have been in the Black Lion Castle, were coming his way.