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“It seems he really has lost his memory.”

“He did seem a bit different than usual.”

The man with tiger-like eyebrows, who had been silently observing from behind Kazen Samael, spoke up.

His name was Hector Kart, Kazen Samael’s right-hand man.

“People don’t change easily. How long has it been since you last saw Ruin?”

“It’s been two years since I last saw him, when I returned to the Tower.”

“Then you wouldn’t know about the trouble Ruin has caused.”

“Trouble, you say?”

“He was crossing a river of no return.”

Kazen Samael knew that this wasn’t the first time his only son had acted out.

But because his son was sickly…

Because he was so weak that he couldn’t even look his father in the eye…

Kazen had simply watched, fearing that he would completely rebel.

But now, he could no longer stand by. If Ruin was losing consciousness due to hallucinations, it meant he was far beyond the danger zone.

“…I had a feeling.”

“Who can I blame? It’s all my fault.”

“Who would dare to blame the Lord? And Ruin was definitely strange today. I never expected him to bring up the temple.”

Hector looked at Kazen with a meaningful gaze.

“Yes, he said the same things as the elders.”

About 20 years ago.

The day Samael suffered irreparable damage.

Kazen defied the elders and destroyed the Ifrit Temple.

Ironically, Kazen himself was the one who suffered the most that day. It was an incredibly difficult decision to sever the legacy of his ancestors with his own hands.

But he had no choice. Samael was trapped in the illusion of the past and was gradually declining.

While other Houses were embracing the new era and developing, only Samael remained stagnant.

Their wealth dwindled, and no one came to learn Samael’s magic anymore.

So he destroyed it.

It was a declaration of sorts.

A declaration to break free from the illusion of the past and embrace the new era.

‘But Ruin couldn’t possibly know that.’

Ruin was weak. So weak that Kazen couldn’t even dream of entrusting Samael to him in the face of external threats.

‘…I can’t just watch anymore.’

Unwelcome changes had been happening in Khaoto recently.

Perhaps the blade of that change was aimed at Samael.

This weighed heavily on Kazen’s mind.

And that was the reason why he had called Hector today.

“Hector Kart.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“I have an order for you.”

“Speak.”

“Make Ruin worthy of Samael.”

“Pardon?”

“Even if Ruin shows a changed attitude now, he’ll eventually revert to his old ways. The confinement order is just a temporary measure. We need to change him from the roots.”

“You mean, make him act like a proper human being?”

“I said, make him worthy of Samael.”

Hector’s eyes twitched.

“What do you mean?”

“Teach Ruin magic. At least enough for him to reach the apprentice level.”

Hector recalled Ruin’s aptitude and replied with a hesitant expression.

“…It will take a long time.”

“Make it happen within half a year.”

“Pardon?”

Kazen looked directly at Hector and repeated,

“Half a year.”

Hector shook his head.

“That’s an unreasonable request.”

“I didn’t make a request. I gave an order.”

Hector’s eyes widened as much as they could.

“Hector, Vice tower of the Red Tower. I’m telling you to use all your abilities to make it happen.”

*Fwoosh*

An immense aura exploded from Kazen’s seemingly ordinary body, then quickly dissipated.

It was a long time before Hector spoke again.

“…If it’s an order…”

“This means there’s no more debt between House Kart and House Samael.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“…Very well.”

* * *

“Are you alright, Young Master? Did the Head lay a hand on you?”

Lihan kept glancing at me nervously. My expression must have been that distorted. I remained silent, recalling the conversation I just had.

— The White Horse Knights are at the Tower for training. And the Crazy Mage Squad? There’s no such thing.

— The Ifrit Temple? Useless things should be demolished.

It was absurd. Even if this wasn’t the Samael of the past, these were words I couldn’t accept.

And the pitying look in his eyes…

I could understand the Head of the House, but who was that weasel-like guy next to him to look at me with such disdain?

“Oh, Ruin! Ruin!”

At that moment, the door burst open, and a middle-aged woman entered.

It was the same woman who had visited me every day during my week of illness. With tears streaming down her face, she embraced me and started rubbing her cheek against mine.

“…Who?”

“Oh my. You’ve lost your memory and can’t even recognize your own mother. It’s okay, it’s okay. Your memory will return soon. Oh dear.”

The woman cried so much that it was embarrassing. Then, she turned her head towards the door and shouted,

“Altein!”

“Yes.”

As soon as a white-haired, kind-looking healer entered, I cheered inwardly.

‘The quack healer?’

After Corpse Eyes, this old man was the next one I wanted to punish.

Because of the strange things he did to my body, I had to stay in bed for several more days.

“Altein, it seems Ruin has lost his memory. Please check his condition.”

“Haha, don’t worry. It seems like a temporary memory loss due to shock. He’ll recover quickly if I treat him for a few more days.”

As expected of a charlatan,his words were smooth as oil.

“First and foremost, the patient needs peace and quiet. Everyone except the patient, please leave the room.”

The middle-aged woman and Lihan left, leaving only Altein and me in the room.

Altein took out a vial of yellow liquid from his pocket and slowly approached me.

“Haha, Ruin. Please lean back.”

“Old man.”

Altein, who had been approaching with a benevolent expression, narrowed his eyes slightly.

“…Pardon?”

“How much did you take?”

I pointed at Altein’s face.

“Your face is full of greed. How much did you extort? You deliberately delayed my treatment, didn’t you?”

“Haha. What are you talking about? Show some respect. Those insulting words are hard to hear.”

“Bullshit. I’ve lived 300 years longer than you. That yellow thing, that’s Xavier’s reagent, isn’t it? Bring it here. Let’s get it officially appraised.”

Altein hurriedly hid the vial with a surprised look on his face.

“How did you know about that…?”

After a moment of silence, Altein seemed to make up his mind and glared at me with a vicious look.

“Ahem. It seems the trauma has affected your mind. Don’t worry, I’ll cure you.”

As he walked towards me with an intimidating air, I couldn’t hide my astonishment once again.

How pathetic was my past self that a mere healer would think of subduing me by force?

“Stay still, Ruin. You’ll get hurt if you move.”

“Alright.”

You’re dead.

I was just about to test elemental conversion anyway, and here’s a perfect target.

As Altein grabbed me tightly, I slowly started rotating the single circle I had created in my body.

Normally, it would take a considerable amount of time to get used to mana resonance even after creating a circle, but I was different.

The memories of my past life and the insane talent of Samael.

*Whir-*

I could feel the natural mana resonating as it circulated through the ring in my body. I envisioned the image of wind in my mind and chanted the incantation.

“Blowing wind, Wind Blow.”

*Fwoosh*

“Cough!”

Altein, who was trying to force-feed me the reagent, suddenly doubled over and collapsed.

‘Success.’

The compressed wind from my fingertips had accurately struck the old healer’s spine. His disc problems would probably worsen over time, leaving him bedridden.

“Hey, old man.”

Altein trembled and replied,

“Ugh, how…”

“You still haven’t come to your senses.”

The moment I growled and met Altein’s eyes, he flinched and looked away. Then, he quickly changed his attitude and knelt down.

“I apologize, Young Master. Please have mercy…”

“I don’t like the word mercy.”

Altein waved his hands frantically.

“You misunderstand. As you know, Xavier’s reagent isn’t harmful to the human body. I had no intention of harming you, Young Master. I’ll return the treatment fee.”

“You want to negotiate with me?”

As I took a step closer, Altein lowered his head and trembled.

“N-No, that’s not it.”

“Well, that’s not how you negotiate.”

Altein gulped and replied,

“I’ll give you double.”

“I’ll give you a chance. Bring me ten times the amount.”

“T-Ten times, you say?”

“Or should we settle this another way?”

Altein gulped again and replied,

“I’ll… I’ll return it.”

I waved my hand dismissively and said,

“Make sure you deliver the money directly to me. Of course, you can always change your mind if you want. We’ll see what happens then.”

“…Yes, I will.”

“Get lost, you’re annoying.”

I waved my hand again to dismiss Altein.

Watching him hobble away while clutching his back, I was reminded of a troll-like demon from my past life who ran away after I beat him up.

* * *

Lihan, who had been waiting outside, tilted his head and entered the room.

“Why is the healer walking like that, Young Master? It looked strange.”

“He’s a quack.”

“Huh?”

“I have a question.”

I looked at Lihan with a serious expression. My gaze made him straighten up.

He must have sensed that something important was about to come out of my mouth.

“Just how much of a loser am I?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just how much of a loser am I that no one respects me? I don’t remember, so explain it in detail.”

Lihan sighed and replied,

“…Do you really want to hear it? You might be shocked.”

“Tell me as much as you can.”

Lihan let out a long sigh and began to speak.

By the time his 30-minute explanation was over, my face had hardened considerably.

A sickly body.

A weak constitution that kept me bedridden in the infirmary until I was ten.

After recovering, I became a delinquent who spent money on hoodlums and even dabbled in hallucinogenic herbs.

That was the past Ruin.

‘In short, a loser.’

If I had been born weak and suffered so much, it would have been understandable… but this was just pure idiocy.

I could tell just by looking.

He was clearly the type to wallow in depression and self-pity, using it as an excuse to act out.

The servants, the household staff, the young mages, even the elders, all shook their heads and ignored Ruin whenever they saw him.

It was understandable. I would have ignored him too. A pampered weakling who didn’t know the meaning of true hardship.

“But if everyone ignores me, why don’t you?”

Lihan looked at me with pity in his eyes.

“If I ignore you too, who will look after you? I’ve always been on your side. And this time, you seem a bit different, so I have high hopes for you.”

Lihan puffed out his chest as if to say, “Trust me.” I looked at him again with a serious expression.

“Let me ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you happen to know when the Crazy Mage Squad was disbanded?”

“Crazy Mage Squad? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“…Forget it. Then how many White Horse Knights are there? You said they went to the Tower.”

If the Crazy Mage Squad were the mages who handled Samael’s dirty work, the White Horse Knights were the mages who represented Samael’s face.

Lihan confidently held up five fingers.

“Hmm. Alright, 50 is not bad.”

Lihan let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“What’s with that reaction? 50 is not bad, considering my expectations.”

As I made eye contact with Lihan, I noticed something strange about his expression. A sense of unease crept up on me.

“Five.”

“What?”

“I said five.”

I felt something snap in my head.

“Not 50, but 5? Only 5?”

Lihan nodded as if it were obvious.

“T-Then how many apprentice mages are being trained at the main house?”

Samael’s prestige stemmed from its system of meticulously training apprentice mages from a young age. Only the most elite among them could become White Horse Knights mages.

In the past, thousands of young boys and girls applied to become Samael mages.

“About ten, I think?”

“Shut up!”

“Why are you cursing me? It’s true.”

“…”

It seemed that Samael was in a worse state than I thought. A complete downfall.

So much for living a prosperous life. My life was just as I expected.

————