The Margrave's 10th-Class Ne'er-do-well

༺ 𓆩  Chapter 5 — A Starry Night  𓆪 ༻

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

There once lived a man named Zeke von Goethe.

And he suffered from a condition known as Mana Rampage. His mana circulated at an abnormally rapid pace, and even when his vessel shattered, it regenerated almost instantly.

Despite that, some authorities claimed Zeke von Goethe had reached the 10th Class, a realm no human had ever set foot in. He was a being that existed beyond the shores of mortal understanding, past the threshold of the unreachable.

At some point, due to undisclosed reasons, he clashed with the royal court, and in a fit of rage, he reduced the palace to ruins. He set the capital ablaze.

No one could stop him.

The King bowed his head before the Emperor. After weighing the costs and benefits, the Empire dispatched its elite knight order to the kingdom.

Hundreds of elite knights and two Imperial Swordmasters died in the attempt.

Zeke von Goethe was executed on the spot.

The kingdom survived, but the aftermath of that incident saw it become a vassal state of the Empire.

Through the King’s mercy, the Goethe line narrowly avoided total annihilation. However, they were stripped of their ducal title and demoted to a house of Counts. They also had to relinquish their vast and fertile fief, second only to the royal demesne.

Exiled, they were cast out to the barren northern frontiers.

All of this, Isaac had confirmed through the records of his forebears.

Zeke von Goethe was Isaac’s great-great-grandfather.

And the condition known as Mana Rampage was identical to Isaac’s own peculiar constitution.

It was only thanks to meticulously studying Goethe’s records that Isaac had managed to craft runestones in the first place. But in the end, before his final breath, Isaac had found satisfaction in conjuring a single flame, unlike Zeke von Goethe, who had risen to the heights of the 10th Class.

And so, he had never noticed.

He never realized how his internal mana circuits were beginning to change.

Now, though…

Isaac was acutely aware that something was different.

Whoosh—!!!

A flame magic that could be used without forming a ring in the heart, as long as one had mana sensitivity.

A spell so basic that anyone with even a speck of magic aptitude could use it.

It was a basic spell that even mercenaries would spend large sums to learn for convenience.

Snap—!!! Crackle—!!!

But the flame Isaac conjured was different.

It erupted as if something had burst.

Sparks scattered, and the flame surged violently, an unmistakable sign that Isaac’s mana circuits were anything but normal.

‘The output is unstable. And this sensation…’

Like the splitting of a tree, its branches multiplying outward… Isaac’s mana circuit, too, was branching out, one channel dividing into two, then three. It made his chest feel ticklish near the heart, yet strangely elated all the same.

Whoosh—!!!

Another flame ignited in Isaac’s hand.

Whoosh—!!!

And then, another.

Three flames of different sizes maintained their shape above Isaac’s hand.

It was not a multi-cast; multi-casting refers to creating multiple spells at the same time.

In the first place, 90% of mages couldn’t even attempt it, and the mental burden was so extreme that even the talented 10% rarely tried.

Compared to that, the three flames Isaac conjured… they were of a different kind from multi-casting.

‘It would be more accurate to call it multi-circulation.’

To prevent a mana explosion, the vessel must not shatter.

To keep the vessel from shattering, the rapidly circulating mana flow must be slowed down or its impact dispersed.

Runestones serve to guide this process.

They intentionally damage the mana circulation path that forms a single ring.

For an ordinary mage’s mana, this wouldn’t create a new flow.

But with Isaac’s strong and vast mana, it was a different story.

The damaged circulation path continued to receive impact, eventually opening a new flow in that direction.

When the branched flow merged back into the original path—

Another mana circulation was born.

It was something only possible through pure luck and coincidence, and the size and width of the newly formed circuits vary.

That’s why the flames that were created also differed slightly in size and nature.

At any rate, Isaac currently had three circuits.

As long as his mana allowed, he could manifest three spells almost simultaneously.

‘It actually worked.’

Isaac felt his heart pound.

It had been nothing more than a hypothesis.

There was no known method to physically expand mana circuits, which did not exist in a tangible form. So he had chosen the next best option.

He had left the idea of multi-circulation in the realm of possibility; nothing more than a theory.

Yet, to think it would actually come to pass.

‘But it’s still not enough.’

Isaac’s goal wasn’t merely to achieve multiple circuits.

It was to prevent an explosion from ever occurring.

It was to make sure that no one else would suffer because of him.

But as things stood, there were still too many uncertainties.

To permanently stop his vessel from shattering, more pathways had to be opened.

A greater number of micro-circuits needed to stretch across the interior of the vessel, absorbing and dispersing the shocks.

The more magic he used.

The more frequently he cast.

The more mana-intensive the spells became.

The further the mana circuits would extend.

And if luck was on his side, more circulation paths would emerge.

It wouldn’t be easy.

The more his circuits branched out, the further they strayed from the original circulation path.

There was bound to be a limit to how far multi-circulation could be pushed.

But if he could just reach the point where he could feel that limit—

At the very least, he would no longer have to live in fear of another explosion.

Until then, he could not allow anyone near him.

— I should’ve shut her out.

— I should’ve severed that bond.

— I should’ve kept my distance.

Isaac never wanted to mutter those words again.

He never wanted to feel that same hollow loss again.

He spent another half-day crafting one more rune stone.

Just in case.

By the time he finished, the sun had already set.

"Where have you been?"

When he returned to his room, Hans was tending the fire to keep the fireplace from going out.

“Didn’t I tell you to let it go out?”

“Don’t be too upset. I only came to add a little more firewood. It’s particularly cold today.”

“I can do that myself.”

“Oh dear. If young master catches a cold, I’ll be the one getting scolded.”

Hans said with a playful tone.

The look he gave Isaac was full of affection.

Isaac deliberately avoided meeting that gaze.

“Hans, how old am I?”

“Hmm? You’re twelve this year, young master.”

Hans replied with a puzzled expression.

“Twelve, huh.”

Isaac searched his memory.

What had happened when he was twelve?

It was a time when he had been clingy and immature.

He had caused an explosion and hurt those around him.

And yet he thought he was the only one suffering, so young and foolish.

“Your meal is on the table. It’s gone cold. Should I warm it up for you?”

“No, it’s fine. You may go.”

“I’ll leave once I see you eat. You’ve hardly eaten at all lately.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Isaac replied in a cold voice.

“The nanny is worried. If eating in front of me bothers you, please at least take a bite of bread so I can leave in peace.”

But Hans didn’t move an inch.

“You’re not even listening to a word I say. Are you ignoring me?”

“I’m worried about you.”

He tried to get angry, but it was useless.

He wasn’t the type to lie about his emotions.

“Please, just one bite.”

Because of Hans’s persistent urging, Isaac reluctantly picked up a piece of bread from the table.

The soft wheat bread had been cut into easy-to-eat slices.

It must have been the nanny’s consideration.

Isaac felt a lump rise in his chest.

Wheat doesn’t grow in the North.

It’s too cold.

The only thing that grows there is rye.

But rye bread is hard.

Isaac would always complain to the nanny whenever rye bread was served.

So, once a week, the nanny would ride a carriage to a faraway city to buy high-quality wheat and bake wheat bread for him.

Isaac was the only one in the mansion who ate wheat bread.

“…I don’t see the nanny today.”

Isaac tried to sound as indifferent as possible.

The nanny was like another mother to him.

Though Lady Goethe also gave him plenty of love, it was the nanny who truly cared for him with sincerity.

“As you know, Hinder has pneumonia. The doctor sent by His Excellency said she might not make it past today. So—”

“So, she went back home?”

“…Yes.”

It was something unimaginable in another noble house.

A nanny leaving her post to care for her own child, abandoning her duty to look after a noble heir.

“How nicely everything’s falling apart.”

“............”

Isaac spoke coldly as he chewed his wheat bread.

His voice and expression were carefully calculated.

These were people who had died because of him.

Though he failed to scold them as harshly as he wanted, he still didn’t want to keep those he cherished close.

“What was the name of the nanny’s village again?”

“…Black Goose.”

Hans answered cautiously, watching Isaac’s expression.

“Is Hinder the only one with pneumonia?”

“No. All the children in Black Goose have caught it.”

“I see.”

Isaac nodded.

At this time—

Knowledge of mana poisoning was still scarce.

After the conflict between the kingdom and the Empire intensified, deaths from mana poisoning became more frequent.

Only then did doctors, clergy, and scholars begin seriously studying the phenomenon.

The case of the children in Black Goose dying of pneumonia was later revealed through research to be a result of mana poisoning.

A type of poisoning that affected weak lifeforms exposed to high concentrations of mana.

It’s a slow-acting poison that gradually chokes the breath.

“When did Father subjugate the monsters in that area?”

“About a month or two ago.”

“Do you know what kind of monster it was?”

“I saw it when the Mage Tower bought the corpse as research material. It looked like a giant spider.”

“Did it have white fur?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. It was covered in silvery-white fur.”

“I see.”

Isaac realized that the monster his father had subjugated was a Winter Spider; they had come down persistently from the White Serpent Mountains and settled in the forests around the territory.

They had an astonishing reproductive rate.

They weren’t particularly strong monsters, but for children with weak resistance, just being nearby could have considerable effects.

‘A few years later, there was a mass outbreak of Winter Spiders in the Black Goose region.’

At this point in time, the Winter Spiders around Black Goose hadn’t been completely exterminated.

They must have bred somewhere.

They’d grow by feeding on wild animals in the area, then, as prey became scarce, they’d begin attacking villages.

Isaac swallowed the wheat bread and organized his thoughts.

“Well, you saw me eat, didn’t you? Now get going.”

“Ah, yes. Have a good night, young master.”

Hans turned away, tilting his head at Isaac’s unusual behavior.

* * *

After sending Hans away, Isaac checked a few spells.

The spell that shoots a fireball ignites a flame, condenses it, and then transfers it to a designated location through phase change. It’s a spell only possible at the level of a 2nd Class mage, but by using three spells in sequence through multi-circulation, it could be implemented.

Fwoosh—!!!

Crackle—!!! Crackle—!!!

Fwoosh—!!!

The flame gathered at a single point and grew brighter.

The blazing fire converged into a bright sphere.

Isaac flicked his finger.

The fireball moved toward the designated spot.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

After finishing the spell, Isaac gasped for air.

His face was covered in cold sweat.

The wall was slightly scorched, but nothing had caught fire.

“Again.”

There were so many things he wanted to do.

He wanted to see his father and mother.

He wanted to play a piano duet with Jonas.

He wanted to spend a day joking around with Hans without thinking about anything.

But for now, the task at hand was clear.

He must save the nanny’s son, Hinder.

He could ask his father for help, of course, but sending a messenger to the border fortress where his father spent most of his days would take time. Persuading him would take even longer. His mother, though a formidable warrior, was wandering the continent in search of a cure for Isaac’s ailment.

In the meantime, precious time slipped away, irretrievably.

For every day it was delayed—

Hinder’s chance of death increased exponentially.

Monsters were creatures whose very presence was poisonous to weaker lifeforms.

“It’s a relief, young master. This time, I’ll be the one to go first.”

In the past—

When the explosion struck, the blast had sent shards flying. One of them pierced the nanny’s abdomen.

Bleeding and dying, she had spoken those words.

“By now, my boy would’ve been about your age, young master. When he left before me… my heart felt like it was being torn apart. But this time, I get to go first. That’s… a relief.”

Looking into her dimming, tear-glazed eyes, Isaac had felt the weight of the grief she had carried all her life.

He could not bear to let her experience that pain again.

Days passed since Isaac had realized he had returned to the past.

He practiced the same spell, over and over.

The once-unfamiliar sensation gradually became familiar, and with that familiarity came control.

His number of circulation paths hadn’t increased, but the flow through the three existing circuits had become smoother and more refined.

Whuum—!!!

When he was finally confident he could control a fireball to some degree, Isaac retrieved a fur cloak from the chest and pulled it over his shoulders. He packed the rucksack with the rations and materials he would need for the short journey ahead.

There was probably a house order forbidding him from going out.

But now was not the time to obey it.

The air outside was bitterly cold.

The sky was clear, and darkness had swallowed the road beyond the manor.

Yet the moonlight was bright enough to light his path.

Isaac set out toward the Black Goose village.

Though it was a night road, memories of trudging this same path hand in hand with the nurse came flooding back, soft, quiet steps echoing in the dark.

‘Just wait a little longer, Nanny.’

He didn’t know if it was truly possible to hunt down a Winter Spider in his current state.

But he knew enough about how to kill one.

In his training, he had run countless simulations of that battle in his mind.

Whether that knowledge would hold up in practice, he didn’t know.

Even so, he had to try.

“Go on ahead and wait for me. When you come to me, leave all your regrets behind.”

Beneath the starlit sky, Isaac recalled the heavy, resonant voice of his father; the words he had spoken before their final farewell.

END σϝ CHAPTER