* * *
“……I see.”
I swallowed hard without realizing it.
My throat felt dry, so I took a few sips of tea.
Should I push further or stop here?
After a brief moment of hesitation, I shut my eyes tightly.
‘Ah, whatever.’
I’m not a clueless thirteen-year-old anymore.
I didn’t want to be the only one left in the dark when even Raizen likely knew about this.
“This is just my opinion, but…”
In the end, I decided to take the plunge.
“I think there’s a force supporting the remnants of the Roite Kingdom. I don’t know what their original intent was, but as time passed, their objective may have gradually changed. And now… it seems they’re moving according to the will of someone behind the scenes.”
The duke and duchess were appalled, and Arthur Sothes looked at me with a mix of surprise and intrigue.
“How did you…?”
‘Well, actually, I reincarnated into this world with an adult’s mind.’
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud, so I moved on to the next point.
“Your Excellency, I want to know who you suspect is behind all of this.”
I already knew, of course.
But if I appeared too knowledgeable, it might raise suspicions.
Given what I—no, what Sean—had seen and learned so far, it would have been impossible to conclude that the Luavis Ducal House was the culprit.
“Ha… really, children grow up so fast,” Duke Pantheon muttered, almost like a sigh.
Then, he finally spoke the name I had been waiting to hear.
“It’s the Luavis Ducal House.”
At last, my long-held suspicion was confirmed. The Luavis family might be after the emperor’s throne.
‘Then the novel ‘From Transmigration to Hero’ makes even less sense now.’
I couldn’t just dismiss it as a memory error—not when I still had the original text stored in my inventory.
What puzzled me was the novel’s ending.
Why did Kim Minsoo remain in Karon Luavis’s body and keep the surname “Luavis”—only to end up as the emperor?
If this world had been reset, it wouldn’t make sense for the record of a past timeline to still exist.
Besides, Kim Minsoo’s soul had been claimed by the Ancient Gods.
‘Kim Minsoo failed.’
Maybe he failed to defeat the Demon King.
But my instincts told me the real problem came after that.
What if the Luavis Duke, who had always dismissed his son, suddenly decided to believe in him—only to betray him in the end?
What must Kim Minsoo have felt at that moment?
‘And… what if he attempted another contract back then?’
But the Ancient Gods wouldn’t have accepted his offer.
Once the Demon King was defeated, they had no reason to take on the burden of another regression.
‘Then… was the first subjugation truly a failure?’
If only I could contact Noah, I might be able to get some clues.
But I hadn’t been able to reach him—or any of the Ancient Gods.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I lowered my head slightly.
“So… it’s the Luavis family.”
“It’s not certain. But you should be careful. They’ll be attending Raizen’s upcoming birthday party.”
“I understand.”
I needed to avoid Karon Luavis at all costs during the party.
Kim Minsoo wouldn’t possess him until next year, after his coming-of-age ceremony.
Noah had said he wouldn’t let Kim Minsoo be possessed again, but I had a feeling things wouldn’t go as he planned.
“And, Sean, there’s one more thing you need to know.”
“Yes?”
I looked up at Duke Pantheon.
“The temple has been secretly searching for a Saint.”
“What…?!”
A Saint? Out of nowhere? There hadn’t been any major events, no divine revelations—
‘No way…’
“They wouldn’t be acting without reason. It seems an oracle has been given about the Saint.”
It was obvious who was behind this.
The Ancient Gods who wanted this world to fall into ruin.
“Ah… I’ll have to be extra careful not to use any divine power in public. If I accidentally expose it, they might suspect me of being the Saint.”
An oracle about a Saint, at this timing… I couldn’t tell if it was a trap meant for me or if a real Saint had appeared.
The Ancient Gods might have chosen a new Saint to act as their agent.
‘But still…’
Didn’t they say they wouldn’t be able to act for a while?
So their ‘punishment’ only lasted four years?!
Damn bastards.
∗ ∗ ∗
Even after that, I kept trying to contact Noah, but there was no response.
Meanwhile, I resumed my lessons with Arthur Sothes and began etiquette and dance training.
Dance, of all things. I never thought I’d have to learn something like that in my life.
‘But is there even anyone who’d want to dance with me?’
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t say it out loud.
“Young Master, you worked hard today. Are you going to read a bit more before sleeping?”
“Yeah. It’s more interesting than I expected. You worked hard too, Mila.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Get some rest~ But don’t stay up too late!”
After my usual conversation with Mila, she left the room.
I watched the door close before stretching.
A faint soreness in my muscles made me frown slightly.
‘I know I’m using muscles I don’t normally use, but isn’t this a bit much?’
Feeling the urgency, I had started doing light training every morning—simple exercises like sit-ups, since this world didn’t have gyms.
‘But that’s not important right now.’
Pushing aside my idle thoughts, I closed the book I had been “reading.”
Not that I had actually been reading it—it was just for show.
“Haa…”
Taking a deep breath, I pressed my hands together and closed my eyes, focusing my mind.
Darkness surrounded me.
I expanded my consciousness, following the faint traces I had discovered last night.
It was like spotting a faint beam of light in the night sky—distant, but unmistakably there.
I chased after it with all my concentration.
I had no idea how long I had been at it, but sweat dripped down my body.
Even though I wasn’t running, my breathing grew heavier.
‘Just a little more…’
Gritting my teeth, I pushed forward.
The once-faint divine power was gradually becoming clearer.
It felt like I could reach out and grasp it any second now—
“Ugh…!!”
A sharp pain gripped my chest, and I collapsed forward onto the desk.
Gasping for breath, I slowly lifted myself back up.
‘Am I still too weak?’
I had been so close.
If I had reached that source, I might have learned its true nature.
But I had failed right before the finish line.
The thought of starting over made my head ache.
‘If I reach that place, I’ll know the truth.’
To be honest, my reason for doing this wasn’t exactly pure.
Raizen could send me letters from the Royal Academy through his rabbit messengers, but I had no way of sending messages back.
So, I wanted to send something—some kind of signal.
That way, I wouldn’t have to just sit around waiting for those rabbit messengers all the time…
Not that I was waiting for them or anything.
I just didn’t like being the only one waiting.
Just like I had first learned to use divine power by studying how to manipulate mana, this time, too, I referred to magic books.
They simply stated that I should concentrate my mana and shape it as I desired.
I could almost hear a voice saying, “It’s that easy, right?”—a grimly unhelpful explanation.
Still, I gave it a try.
I started by gathering a tiny amount of divine power, then gradually increased its size.
It wasn’t as easy as I had hoped to condense it perfectly without any loss.
After focusing intensely for a while, my concentration wavered for just a moment.
In that instant, the divine power I had gathered scattered—and suddenly, I felt something respond.
Somewhere in this land, there was another being with divine power.
The moment I realized this, I found that I could sense my surroundings without needing to see—just by being aware.
‘What could it be?’
At first, I thought I had simply detected the sacred relics I had created.
But the sensation was different from those relics imbued with my own power.
‘Then the next possibility… could it be a real sacred relic?’
Even in a world overflowing with counterfeits, there had to be genuine relics left behind by past saints. But there was something strange about this one.
‘It felt alive—almost like a living creature.’
Even if I wanted to track down the source of the divine power, it was a problem. I still wasn’t able to fully align my consciousness with reality.
Even if I found the source, I’d likely just end up thinking, “Okay, but where exactly is that?”
“Ugh…”
I took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from my forehead.
Resting my arm on the desk, I checked the time.
Midnight was just around the corner.
“……”
As the second hand ticked steadily forward, my anxiety grew.
And finally, the hour, minute, and second hands aligned on the same number.
“…Happy birthday, Raizen.”
I mumbled the words softly, knowing he wouldn’t hear them.
And then—
[Would you say that again?]
“Wha—?!”
A voice I shouldn’t have heard came from behind me.
I whipped my head around in shock.
There, a rabbit familiar stood.
“H-Hyung…?!”
[Yeah, it’s me.]
The rabbit familiar calmly confirmed it.
As it slowly approached me, I struggled to steady my pounding heart.
“Happy birthday, Hyung. Looks like I’m the first one to say it?”
[Yeah.]
Leaning against the back of my chair, I gazed at the rabbit familiar.
When I cautiously reached out my hand, it lowered its head under my palm.
I couldn’t feel warmth or fur, like I would from a real rabbit.
But somehow, it still felt like I was patting Raizen’s head.
“…Aren’t you in the middle of exams?”
[Yeah.]
I had meant to tease him, but of course, it didn’t faze him.
Right—I had momentarily forgotten that this guy was the top student at the Royal Academy.
[Sei.]
“Hm?”
[Do you remember when I told you there was something I wanted as a gift?]
“…Oh? Yeah. But weren’t you planning to tell me on the day of the party? Right now, I can’t exactly prepare anything…”
‘Wait a second… He never actually answered me back then, did he?’
When I had asked if he was saving it for the party, Raizen had just stayed silent.
‘Oh, so he wants to tell me now and receive it on the party day?’
Just as I was about to say this out loud, Raizen spoke first.
[You don’t need to prepare anything.]
A slight sense of unease crept up my spine.
“…Hyung, what exactly do you want?”
Raizen smiled softly.
[A promise.]
“……”
[A promise that, even if not now, someday… you’ll make to me.]
“……”
[And that you’ll keep it, no matter what.]
* * *
