“Ugh!”

Henry opened his eyes and let out a short gasp, as if he had woken up from a nightmare. He was surrounded by darkness. The only source of light were a few candles that had been lit and placed in front of him.

‘How?’

He clearly remembered being beheaded by Valhald’s sword. But when he regained his consciousness, he found himself in this unknown room, instead of at the execution grounds.

“This is…?”

After a brief moment of surprise, Henry realized that he was holding something in his hands.

In one hand was the carcass of a beheaded hen, and in the other an old book with a frayed cover.

“Necromancy?”

It was difficult to make out the words in the book because of the condition it was in, but one word remained printed clearly.

Necromancy.

A type of black magic that could bring a dead spirit back into the world through the sacrifice of blood.

‘Have I gotten myself involved in necromancy?’

Intuitively, Henry already knew. There would be no other way to explain the situation he was in.

Henry got up and looked for something that could show him his reflection. Through the darkness, he spotted a large mirror on one of the walls of the room. He quickly walked over to the mirror and looked at his face.

“My god…!” He couldn’t help but exclaim out loud.

The face in the mirror was not his.

Staring back at him was not the face of a man who had experienced many trials and tribulations over the past 80 years, but that of a youthful man with a surprised expression.

This face was unfamiliar to Henry.

He pinched his cheeks, just in case. He felt a sharp pain, confirming that this was not a dream.

“This makes no sense…”

He was supposedly dead, but he still felt as if he had narrowly escaped death.

And it was all because of some black magic—the very same black magic that he himself had eradicated from the kingdom.

He was overcome with indescribable humility that left him speechless for a while. However, soon after, Henry quickly pulled himself together.

‘All things aside, who the hell did this?’

What surprised Henry the most was not the fact that he was resurrected by black magic. He was more curious about who had managed to discover this book, and why this necromancer had chosen him, of all people, to resurrect. After all, he was the one who had uprooted all black magic in the kingdom.

‘Speaking of which… where is the necromancer?’

If a necromancy spell was cast, then there must have been a mage who cast it.

Henry looked around, but there was not a single sign that anybody was around, let alone a mage. Seeing as how the mage was nowhere to be found, Henry narrowed down the potential suspects.

‘Perhaps the mage is the owner of this body…?’

Henry picked up the magic book that had fallen to the floor and quickly began to read it to gather more clues.

‘Looks like he failed.’

His guess turned out to be correct. The previous owner of the body that Henry was currently inhabiting must have been a mage who practiced necromancy.

And he had failed.

Henry believed it must have been the badly damaged magic book, combined with the inexperience of the mage, that had caused the necromancy spell to fail.

‘I suppose this is a good thing for me?’

To Henry, the mage’s blunder was not a failure. After all, it was thanks to the botched spell that he had gotten himself a new life.

Henry could not help but subconsciously smile at that thought.

‘To think that I would be able to start life anew.’

It was just mere moments ago that he had felt his insides burning from the poison while the Nobles looked down at him as if he was a monkey in a zoo.

Henry would never forget the humiliation he had felt at that moment.

‘I need information.’

Now, with his newfound life, Henry began to formulate a plan.

He had received a second chance at life through this strange coincidence, and he was determined to make the best of it.

He started looking around the room again.

‘Looks like he lived a decent life.’

Judging by the interior of the room, it didn’t seem like the house of a common peasant. In addition, the gown draped over his body was made from a high quality fabric.

Henry pushed the carcass of the dead hen away with his foot and stood in front of the mirror again. He brought a lit lamp closer to him and removed his gown.

“Mm.”

With a small grunt, Henry observed his new body. It was a good body that was obviously well fed, with no signs of malnutrition or disease. However, it must not have gotten much workout done, as no matter how much Henry squinted, he could not find any signs of muscles.

“Doesn’t look like the body of a knight… then what was he?”

Henry predicted that the body might have belonged to a mage, because mages had no need to build their physique.

Henry put his clothes back on, sat down, and closed his eyes. He concentrated his whole mind on his heart. If the owner of this body was a mage, there would be a circle drawn on his heart.

But Henry’s expectations were shattered.

‘It’s not there?’

He didn’t even feel the basic 1st Circle. Henry could not help but feel as disappointed as a beggar looking into an empty rice bowl.

‘He doesn’t even have a circle, and his body isn’t in the best shape. What kind of person is he?’

At the very least, Henry was fortunate enough that the body was healthy.

While staring blankly at his new, plump body, he was suddenly reminded of someone.

Silver Jackson Edward, the emperor who had ordered him to be killed.

‘Urgh, damn brat.’

For a moment, Henry forgot about his fortuitous resurrection. He ground his teeth so hard that they almost broke, as one by one he recalled the atrocities the emperor had committed to him.

The one thing he could never forget was when the emperor had used hostages to force him to drink the poison with his own hands.

‘Damn bastard. If I had been a knight, I would have been able to withstand that poison…’

Henry had never once regretted becoming a mage.

Magic was efficient and superior. And in terms of power, he was strong enough to face dozens of sword masters alone.

But all that strength had been rendered useless by some poison. A weak body was a mage’s greatest weakness and only flaw. If Henry had possessed the body of a top-notch sword master, he would have been fine after drinking even a few barrels of the same poison.

‘To think… that only death could cause me to finally acknowledge the knights…”

Henry was a ferocious magic supremacist. There was not a single task in his life that he could not accomplish with magic. Thus, he used to look down on knights, as pathetic fools who could do nothing but train their bodies all day.

But this realization came too late, and just like him, it was as good as dead.

‘Looks like it has already been decided what I should do with my life this time round.’

The fiery anger within him caused him to reflect upon himself. And once he had finished his self-reflection, Henry had become as cold-hearted as the sage that he had been in his previous life.

‘First, make a Circle. Gathering information comes next.’

A strong body like that of a knight wasn’t something he could obtain right away; thus, he decided instead to start with something he could handle easily: basic magic. After all, whatever he intended to do with his life, his foundations first had to be solid.

Henry sat down and crossed his legs. He began to draw the 1st Circle on his heart, using the breathing technique exclusive to mages.

‘Even if this body has no talent for magic, it should, at the very least, be able to draw the 1st Circle.’

In his previous life, he had been the 8th-Circle Archmage and Grandmaster of the Empire. He was the one who had reached the pinnacle of magic, and with this talent he could transform any piece of junk into a wonderful treasured sword.

“Kurgh.”

However, his current body seemed to have absolutely no potential for magic at all, as just attempting to create the 1st Circle brought him to exhaustion.

But, as the saying goes, it’s always the first step that is the hardest.

Henry bit his lip as he once again began to draw the 1st Circle with the utmost strength and concentration.

* * *

“Phew… this should do it.”

A long time had passed. Henry let out a long sigh and opened his eyes. He had finally achieved the 1st Circle.

‘Let’s leave it at this for now.’

He would have begun training right away, but his body was too weak to do so.

Henry raised his weak, trembling legs and headed towards the sole door of his new room.

Creaaaak.

The door opened, breaking the silence.

Henry stepped out of the door and looked around. He noticed a man sleeping nearby, whom he presumed to be a servant.

‘Seeing that he even had a servant, it’s clear that he wasn’t a commoner.’

Now, he felt completely sure that the original owner of this body was not a commoner.

However, his certainty was short-lived. After noticing the servant was in a deep sleep, Henry began to question his judgment.

This was because most servants could not afford to fall into a deep sleep, as they might be called upon by their masters at any moment for any trivial task.

Henry coughed loudly to wake the servant up and test his suspicions.

“Cough cough.”

“Snore… snore… Y-Young Master…?”

Waking up to the sound of Henry’s dry coughs, the man called him ‘Young Master’. This confirmed that the man was indeed a servant.

“Yaaaawn.”

But, to Henry’s surprise, the servant continued to yawn and stretch, as if he had no intention of ever getting up.

Servants were expected to live quietly in the shadow of their master. If they behaved otherwise, it was normal for them to be beaten and kicked out of the house. However, the man not only continued to yawn and stretch, but even sat up and stretched his legs out lazily. It was truly a shocking sight, and Henry could not stand it anymore.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“What?”

“...‘What’?”

“Why are you like this, all of a sudden? Perhaps you’re not fully awake yet?”

That was the final blow. Henry could not abide the rudeness of the servant any longer.

“I think you’re the one that’s not fully awake yet.”

“Huh?”

Crack!

The sound of bones being hit echoed through the room.

Angry at his disrespectful attitude, Henry had kicked the servant’s shin with all his might. The servant fell to the floor in an instant.

Henry’s body might have lacked muscles, but it was not completely pathetic and helpless.

“Why… why are you doing this?”

“Looks like you’ve yet to come to your senses.”

This time, he aimed for the servant’s face. The sound of the servant’s jaw breaking rang out, and his head rattled from the impact.

The servant’s shoulders trembled with fear.

Henry looked down at the servant and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, what kind of bastard was this man to discipline this servant so poorly?”

Perhaps due to what the emperor had done to him, Henry could not tolerate any more acts of disgrace. His temper had greatly shortened compared to before, and it was the servant's comments that had sent him over the edge.

“Huh, look at this guy.”

Despite bowing his head, the servant glared fiercely at Henry.

Henry was bewildered at the servant’s attitude and stared back coldly, the same way he had done to the emperor before his beheading.

After a while, the servant had no choice but to back down from his master.

“Wh-wh-what’s going on?”

When the servant bowed his head again, he realized that something felt wrong. He felt an overwhelming sense of intimidation, like he was feeling the gaze of a tiger. Those overbearing eyes helped the servant instinctively realize that this was not the same dense master he had been serving. Finally understanding the situation, the servant fell flat on his stomach and began to beg.

“I-I have committed horrible sins! Please forgive me!”

The servant bowed his head and begged for his life. He was worried that Henry’s next strike would break more than just his jaw.

“Raise your head.”

At Henry’s command, the trembling servant timidly raised his head. It was as if he was facing a tiger.

“This is the last time I will show you mercy. Show me that attitude one more time and that’s the end of you.”

“Y-yes! I’ll definitely keep that in mind!”

Only then did Henry’s anger finally subside.

It was a servant’s duty to be fearful of their master and to be obedient at all times.

Having calmed down, Henry asked, “What day is it today?”

“T-the 6th!”

“Tch.”

“I-I apologize! Today is the 6th of July, of the 20th Year of the Imperial Calendar!”

Henry’s face lit up in surprise at the servant’s revised answer.

‘It’s only been a day!?’

The date that his servant spoke was only one day after his execution. In other words, Henry had been resurrected in just one day.

Having figured out the date, Henry posed another question.

“Right. Then what’s my name?”

“You are the Young Master, Henry Morris.”

“...What did you just say?”

“I said that you are the Young Master, Henry Morris, is there any problem?”

At his servant’s answer, Henry could not help but doubt what he had just heard.

“Then who is my father?”

“He is Baronet Hans Morris.”

‘Hans Morris!’

The misunderstanding was cleared up quickly..

It was only natural for him to misunderstand, but the servant’s answer revealed nothing but a huge coincidence. His name was the exact same as this mysterious mage.

‘To call this ‘fate’...’

Henry wondered whether this was some sort of cruel joke.

But it was not the worst fate to endure. Since they shared the same name, Henry thought that this might perhaps be a good opportunity to make his name known all over the world once more.

Meanwhile, the servant was clueless as to why his Young Master was suddenly smiling.