“What the hell is this?” Joshua muttered in astonishment. 

Whatever that was supposed to be there wasn’t right now. There should have been a temple with ancient architectural designs located right in the middle. His spear, Lugia, that was supposed to be stuck in the ground in the middle of the altar, was nowhere to be seen; not to mention the mana technique that should have been right next to it. Instead, he could only see the faint traces of what used to be the altar.

“What happened?” Joshua couldn’t suppress his confusion.

‘Did something happen in those six years…?’

Joshua had found this place in his past life at the age of fifteen; based on what people were saying, he knew that he was nine years old now.

‘That’s nonsense.’ Joshua pondered for a moment, then shook his head. ‘Only I know about this place.’

It would have made sense if he had visited this place at this current point in time in his past life. Could someone have come into this space and built a temple some time during this six years? That was simply unbelievable.

 Joshua trudged toward what he guessed to be the center of the temple.

“Indeed…” 

He looked around. Although mere ruins were left behind, it was clearly the same temple that he remembered. 

Joshua paced towards the altar in the center, and a moment later, his eyes widened. At first glance, the altar looked as dilapidated as the rest of the temple; when he approached, however, he could see a metal rod where Lugia should have been chained to the altar.

“This rod—” 

His hand touching the cold metal triggered something unexpected.

Shaaa!

“Wha—” 

A bright light filled the entire space.

***

Duke Agnus’s personal study.

When the Duke was at his estate rather than the Capital, he spent most of his day in his personal study.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Duke, the guest has arrived.”

“Hmm…” Duke Agnus swallowed drily. This visitor always arranged for a visit when he came to the estate, but he couldn’t refuse his visits. While lower-ranked than the Duke, the visitor wielded an undeniable influence.

Duke Agnus stood and quickly walked out the door.

“I greet the Duke.” 

The old butler, and the Duke's personal bodyguard, Chiffon—who was also the Knight Commander of the Red Knights—bowed in respect. Within the estate this greeting was to be only directed to and could only be received by the Duke himself, and those who could give such greeting were only his knights and their immediate descendants. It signified the pride of belonging to the empire’s best knight family, the family of Duke Agnus.

“Where are they?” 

The greatest knight master in the Empire mustered a proud façade.

“I sent them to the first-floor reception room.”

“Let’s go.” Duke Agnus moved, and Chiffon quickly fell in behind him.

“However… Count Rebrecca was not alone,” Chiffon ventured.

“Hmm?”

“Lady Iceline accompanied him.”

“I wonder what he’s up to.” Duke Agnus heaved a sigh as he walked.

Iceline zin Rebrecca, daughter of Count Poncel zin Rebrecca, was also a treasure of the Duchy. Like Babel, she was also one of the Empire’s renowned talents: a magical genius who had reached Class 2 at the precocious age of nine.

Some people were born with the congenital mana disorder and had zero mana, but some people overflowed with it—those born with innate mana sensitivity. Iceline was blessed to be able to feel and wield mana by instinct alone. Among wizards, it was considered a God-given talent.

Avalon was an empire of knights, unlike Terra, the Kingdom of Magic, so Iceline was even more of a rarity.

‘The reason Count Rebrecca came here with his precious daughter must be…’

“Poncel is going to make me suffer all day.” Duke Agnus laughed bitterly.

“Young Master Babel will turn fifteen next year. Only three years before his coming-of-age… Everyone must be anxious.

“But Babel…” Duke Agnus frowned.

“There’s Lady Charles for Young Master Babel....

“Indeed… How can I—” Duke Agnus let out another deep sigh.

The five Dukes of the great Avalon Empire wielded influence beyond imagination. Lady Charles is a daughter of the Pontier family, a Ducal house that rose to power with wealth alone.

“As the Duke said, considering the Pontier family, it is correct to choose Lady Charles,” Chiffon pointed out.

“I always feel it, but what a pity.”

“Your Grace is greedy.” Chiffon chuckled. Duke Agnus’s lust for talent was insatiable, such that it was difficult to just call it mere greed. Chiffon was proud to serve under such a master.

‘So long as they have the ability, no one will be discriminated against—regardless of rank, even his own descendants. My master judges people only by their skills.’

“...What about Joshua?”

“Pardon?” Chiffon was dragged out of his musings by his master’s voice. “What did you say?”

“I said, how about we place Iceline by Joshua’s side?”

Chiffon couldn’t believe what he heard. He had to look twice at the Duke to realize he wasn’t joking.

“Duke? But... Young Master Joshua...”

“Yes, he is Lucia’s child, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s also mine.”

Chiffon’s face hardened, and he chose his next words with great care.

“...Duke. Unlike Young Master Babel, Young Master Joshua has no talent. I apologize for saying this, but until recently, everyone called him dumb. Your Grace saw him for yourself, didn’t you? With his physical condition, even though he’s still young...” Chiffon shook his head. He was convinced that Joshua was born with a mana disability—there was simply no other explanation for his utter lack of mana.

“We need to wait a little longer to be certain, yes. But if it really is a mana disorder… Introducing such a person to Lady Iceline is a bit—”

“Well… The Joshua I saw was…” Duke Agnus cut in, making Chiffon pause his sentence midway and look at the Duke curiously.

Duke Agnus gave Chiffon a sideways glance and then burst into laughter. “Nothing. Let’s go. They’re probably waiting.”

He had stopped moving for a while, but set off again with a grin.

“Duke, don’t leave me behind!” Chiffon quickly recovered himself and hurried after Duke Agnus.

Although the Duke had his back on Chiffon, he definitely looked both amused and excited.

***

“Ouch…” Joshua let out a groan and cracked open his eyelids. At once, a crushing headache hammered into his skull.

“Ugh—!” Joshua cussed. The pain felt like it would knock him out at any moment, but he somehow felt that he absolutely could not afford to pass out here. He desperately clung to his thread of consciousness and slowly exercised the mana technique that only he knew. One slow breath at a time, the ringing in his head faded away.

Some time later, a flash of light snapped his eyes open.

“Where am I…?” He should be in the space where the temple was, but was instead surrounded by sterile white space. Not even the smallest insect would crawl in here.

- Are you here?

Joshua’s eyes widened at the echoing voice.

“Who are you?” Joshua shouted and whirled around, but he saw nothing… 

Nothing but endless bright whiteness.

-Right here.

Joshua’s eyes filled with astonishment. Something floated in the pure white space above him.

“The iron rod… from before?”

-I am not an ‘iron rod’.

Joshua’s mouth fell open at the reply. He’d heard of swords with an ego, but never in his two lives had Joshua seen such a monstrous object.

“You… Who are you?” Joshua asked, seemingly possessed. 

A deep sound resonated from the rod, and it answered slowly.

-I am… the Demonic Spirit[1] Lugia.

Plop!

Joshua fell to the ground in shock.