Reincarnated with the King’s Power

Chapter 4

My mind was hazy.

"……nim."

I felt like I had experienced a similar feeling not too long ago.

"……prince-nim."

In my daze, I heard things.

I've told you time and again that if you don't get enough sleep, your mana won't accumulate properly…….

"My prince!!!"

"Heok!"

Startled by the shout that echoed in my head, I snapped my eyes open.

"Oh my, my prince! Are you alright?!"

"……?"

"I'll call a priest right now!"

Before me was a flustered Haman.

"Ah……."

Only then did I realize that I had fainted.

'Killian Eurasia.'

I became aware of the reality that, for a brief moment, I had mistaken for a dream.

'The Mana Heart is…….'

Ignoring the fussing Haman, I closed my eyes.

To the right of my heart.

I could feel another heart, so small it was hard to notice without concentrating.

"My prince……."

"Haman, shut up."

"How can you say that right now!? What is all this filthy water and……."

Why was the room, which had been fine when he left, in such a state, and why was I collapsed on the floor?

Without giving me a chance to explain, Haman fired off questions.

It wasn't that I disliked his concern for me, but.

"Chamberlain Haman, wasn't there something I instructed you to do?"

Haman's frantic movements stopped.

"……?"

"The mana."

"Ah."

Haman brought over the decoction, the Mana Recovery Potion, that he had tossed aside in a corner of the room.

He must have been surprised, as half of it had spilled.

"Here it is…… I'm sorry……."

Accepting his half-hearted apology, I downed it in one gulp.

My chest area tickled.

A familiar and nostalgic feeling. It was the sensation of mana being restored.

"Hmm…… good."

"Pardon?"

"Not bad."

Unlike Haman, who tilted his head at the incomprehensible words.

"It has settled in very firmly."

Killian wore a satisfied smile at the first achievement he had made since being reincarnated.

***

200 years had passed since Edan's death.

In a corner of the main castle of Eurasia, which had now been reduced to a frontier knightly family.

I sat cross-legged, closed my eyes, and regulated my breathing.

The faint mana scattered throughout the bedroom felt so vivid, as if I could grasp it at any moment.

Ssshhh.

Bluish mana bloomed from my chest, stirred through my body, and then escaped through the pores all over, scattering like smoke.

Circulating mana through the Mana Heart. It was the most basic method to increase sensitivity and proficiency.

I repeated this process five more times before opening my eyes.

"Hoo."

The shallowly exhaled breath carried the unique refreshing sensation of mana.

When I wiped the tip of my nose, a small amount of impurity came off.

It had been two weeks since I formed the Mana Heart. My body, having adapted to mana, was suppressing the accumulation of impurities.

To put it mildly, it was a constitutional improvement; to put it exaggeratedly, it was a change akin to a complete metamorphosis.

'Even so, I've only just reached the same starting line as others.'

In front of the mirror, I untied the sash of the gown I was wearing.

Rustle.

The emaciated, breakable body hidden by the silk was revealed.

It was a body that would make strangers worry if I was suffering from some disease.

"Not bad."

I was satisfied with the reflection in the mirror.

My complexion, which had been deathly dark due to the side effects of the Elixir, had brightened considerably.

Was that all? The body, so gaunt it was skeletal, a body that, to put it nicely, looked like that of an anorexia patient, had recovered incomparably to how it was 'before'.

I wasn't picky about what I ate, and it was the result of consistently drinking Mana Recovery Potions and Vitality Recovery Potions made into decoctions.

'As for my appearance, it won't be bad once I put on some weight…….'

Mana now flowed through the blood vessels that had been clogged with impurities.

"With this much, I should be able to hold a sword."

A real sword would be impossible, but a wooden sword for basic training should be manageable. Of course, I'd have to be careful, as swinging even that recklessly could break a bone.

'I'll take it step by step.'

Having lived as a sword for thousands of years, I had more than enough patience.

It wasn't bad to be directly changing my own body, rather than watching a partner's growth.

"……."

I glanced at the old book placed on the bed.

It was a book I had borrowed from the family's library through Haman.

I tried to look up information about Grotesqueries and the Gods, but for some reason, no proper records remained.

There were more than a few suspicious things. It seemed I would have to do the legwork and find out about them myself.

'Restoring my Authority would be something I could attempt only after reaching at least the 9-star level… but for now, that's just a dream. It should be about time for Haman to arrive.'

Chamberlain Haman.

I thought of the only servant of the family permitted to me.

"How did he get entangled with a dunce like Killian……."

Other chamberlains would surely be living large with the power of their princes at their backs, but it was clear to see how Haman was faring.

Before long, a familiar knock was heard.

Knock, knock.

"My prince, it is Haman."

"Alright. Come in."

By the time I had put my gown back on, Haman appeared, holding a decoction.

Drinking a Vitality Recovery Potion three times a day. This, too, was a repeating part of my routine.

I downed the decoction in one gulp. It didn't taste bad.

"It seems your skill in brewing medicine is improving."

"At this point, I'm confused whether I'm a chamberlain or an apothecary."

"So particular for someone with no servants to command."

"Please don't say such heart-wrenching things so casually."

"……."

"……."

Our eyes met for a moment.

Without either of us starting first, we burst into laughter.

It was only a short while ago that he had found my changed personality after waking up unfamiliar, but now we had a relationship where exchanging jokes was not awkward.

"The family head's seclusion will be over in just a week."

'Has it already been that long?'

It was a fact I had completely forgotten.

The end of Family Head Simon Eurasia's seclusion also meant the end of Killian's seclusion.

'I can't just stay cooped up in my bedroom circulating mana forever. I suppose it's time to go and meet that man.'

"Haman."

"Yes."

The chamberlain, who knew nothing of the world, stared at me with a blank expression.

I shared with him the secret I had kept hidden all this time.

"Y-you've formed a Mana Heart?!!"

Was the confession beyond his expectations? A startled Haman shouted back the question.

"Yes."

"How……."

"They say you gain enlightenment when you come back from the dead."

"……."

Just hearing it, the nuance was as if anyone could become a knight or a mage just by training.

"……You're joking, right?"

His opponent was Killian Eurasia. A dunce who ranked among the top few in the family's history.

Even if he had shown a changed appearance after waking from a coma.

'A Mana Heart is a bit…….'

It was hard to believe him at his word.

A glint of doubt colored Haman's eyes.

"If you're perhaps playing a joke on me…… Huk!"

Haman's mouth, unable to finish his sentence, fell wide open.

Killian's raised, gaunt index finger.

What shimmered from the tip of his finger like a heat haze was unmistakably mana.

"I-it was real!"

"Yes. The world looked different after I came back from the dead."

Haman nodded his head with eyes full of wonder.

'Haman, for now, that's all you need to know.'

The reason I told him about the Mana Heart was because we needed to work together from now on.

From what I had observed by his side for nearly a year, Haman was a useful and trustworthy man.

"The Elixir I swallowed helped."

I made up a story that the belatedly digested Elixir had cured my mana insensitivity, and thanks to that, I was able to form a Mana Heart a while ago.

"The priest from the temple said all your blood vessels were contaminated as a side effect, though?"

"The priest must be a quack."

'There's no way a priest we went to the trouble of bringing from the Pantera Temple is a quack…….'

Haman's face changed to a suspicious expression.

"If you don't want to believe it, then don't."

"……."

"……."

"Well… if you say so, my prince, then I suppose it is so. More importantly, what are you planning to do from now on?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I planning'?"

"Surely… you're not thinking of participating in the competition for the headship, are you?"

"Is there a reason I can't?"

At the nonchalant question, Haman let out a sigh.

"My prince, it is certainly a matter for celebration that you have formed a Mana Heart, but…… the competition for the headship is a different matter."

"……?"

"Are you really asking because you don't know?"

At my attitude of 'let's hear it,' Haman quickly rattled off the reasons.

"You don't have a maternal family for a background, do you, my prince? Is that all? The first prince, who is called a genius, is a 5-star knight, the second prince is a 4-star, and even the third prince, who is called mediocre, is a 2-star knight. Right now, they don't consider you a competitor, so they haven't taken any particular action, but the moment you jump into the competition for the headship, they will try to crush you one way or another."

Killian, who had been listening quietly, stroked his chin.

It was so unsurprising that it didn't deviate one bit from what he had expected.

"I don't think that will be a big problem."

"My prince!"

Haman's face darkened at the response, which was different from what he had hoped for.

'He couldn't have forgotten what happened with the third prince…….'

Killian, after waking from the coma, seemed to have become a completely different person, but there was no serious problem with his memory.

He had shown signs of gradually recalling things he couldn't remember at first.

That's why it was even more incomprehensible.

'What is he planning to do, joining the competition for the headship when he has only just created a Mana Heart…….'

The competition for the headship was a matter of life and death. He had to be stopped from jumping in without realizing the danger.

"My prince, why don't you try speaking to Sir Escardo instead?"

"To the Commander of the Knights? About what?"

"Even if it's not a family matter, there will be something suitable for you. There's also the option of building your reputation in Sir Escardo's monster subjugation squad."

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad."

"Then……."

"Before that, since I came back from the dead, shouldn't I go and see our great family head as well?"

"No, how did you even listen to what I said……."

Killian shook his head.

"Haman. To read the future, you must look at its center."

The habit of trying to teach the person next to me first.

Without realizing it, the habit from when I was a sword had come out.

'I need to fix this quickly.'

Even while thinking that, I didn't stop asking Haman questions.

"Why do you think the family head is making them compete already when he's still in his prime?"

"That's… because it's good to decide on a successor in advance?"

"That's not wrong. In that case, who is the family's greatest military power?"

"That would be, without a doubt, the family head who has achieved the 7-star realm and Sir Escardo."

"And the goal of the Eurasia Family?"

"Isn't it to raise the family again and form a kingdom? To be precise, it's to establish a kingdom independent from the Empire, but……."

Eurasia, which had placed powerful clans with military, political, and economic influence respectively as the princes' maternal relatives.

Though I couldn't be sure, preparations to declare a kingdom were probably already underway within the family.

In such a situation, the family head had entered seclusion to achieve the next level.

"How many 8-star knights do you think there are on the continent right now?"

There weren't many who didn't know the names of the Superhumans who were renowned throughout the continent, especially those who had reached 8-star.

It was information that could be found just by searching through the incompetent Killian's memories.

"If we're only counting knights, there aren't even ten. Uh……? Don't tell me……."

Haman, sensing something was off, trailed off his words.

A smile formed on Killian's lips.

"Yes. If I'm right, our great family head is planning to personally reach the 8-star realm and then wage a full-scale war."

"A, a war……!!"

For the still-prime family head to already be making them compete for the next headship also meant that the family's greatest powers, the head and the acting head, would be leaving the family.

Of course, all of this was just speculation.

'I'll find out for sure once I get out.'

One week from the day Simon Eurasia's seclusion was scheduled to end.

'By then, I will make the 1-star realm my own.'

With my current stable state, it wouldn't be impossible.

***

Exactly one week later, Family Head Simon Eurasia's closed-door training ended.

And with that.

The order of confinement that had been placed on Killian Eurasia was lifted.