Chapter 70

Hugo stared in astonishment at the bluish mist rippling around his body.

It wasn’t an illusion caused by the refreshing sensation spreading inside him.

This was mana—clearly visible, condensed to the point where anyone could see it with the naked eye.

“This is insane… damn it!”

Whoooosh—

Even as the curse slipped out, mana surged through his body from end to end.

The feeling of those minuscule mana channels he had always had being forcibly expanded by the overwhelming flow of mana was indescribable.

The mana advanced unhindered, not only widening the paths but also seeping into the fibers of his muscles and bones.

“What the hell is this…?”

Hugo’s fingertips trembled.

Despite the overwhelming freshness and clarity coursing through his entire body, the first thing he felt wasn’t joy—it was unease.

The effect was so extreme that it almost felt like he was ceasing to be human and turning into something else.

“This isn’t spiritual medicine. Definitely not.”

As a former underworld boss, Hugo had never seen spiritual medicine with his own eyes.

Still, even he could tell this wasn’t anything like the rumors he’d heard.

Increase mana purity, smooth out channels, slightly heal internal injuries? This couldn’t be summed up so simply.

Whoosh—

“Huuh—!”

With his body vibrating from the massive amount of mana filling him, Hugo let out a heavy breath.

From his mouth came a dark bluish smoke, accompanied by a foul stench. Instinctively, Hugo knew what it was.

“This… was my original mana? I’ve been circulating something so full of impurities through my body all this time?”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

The mana he had valued so much felt pathetic now, compared to the new mana flooding his insides.

“How do you feel?”

“…!”

At the sound of Lucian’s voice, Hugo flinched and touched his ear without thinking.

Not because the question was sudden, but because the sound he perceived was incomparably clearer than before.

“T-this is weird… this… this is…”

Unable to continue, Hugo shut his mouth and touched his face.

It wasn’t just his hearing.

His sight—and all his other senses—felt far more vivid than before, and his sense of touch had become unnaturally sharp.

He felt as though he could even sense someone’s mana before they swung a sword.

“C-can I… swing a sword?”

“Of course.”

At the trembling request, Lucian handed him his own sword.

Hugo slowly unsheathed it and performed several techniques in the air from that third-rate swordsmanship he had always used.

Whooong—

“I can see it.”

His enhanced senses clearly conveyed the sword’s range, the force in each strike, even the subtle shifts at the tip of the blade.

Is this how people with sword talent saw the world?

Swept up by the emotion rising in his chest, Hugo kept swinging the sword.

Wham—

Even though he used the exact same techniques, the power was incomparable to before.

No longer merely mimicking postures like a monkey, his body now found the most efficient movements on its own.

When he finally lowered the sword, Hugo had performed every technique he knew.

“Huuuh…”

Clap, clap, clap.

“Excellent. Your swordsmanship is much sharper than before, isn’t it?”

“…!”

At the sound of clapping beside him, Hugo snapped out of it.

Only then did he realize what he had done.

Not only had he drawn a sword in front of his lord, to whom he had sworn loyalty, he had also swung it around for quite a while.

Realizing his mistake, Hugo immediately dropped to his knees.

“Young master, I’m sorry! I lost my composure and…”

“It’s fine. I understand how you feel. More importantly, how’s the effect of the medicine?”

Hugo shut his mouth, unable to answer.

The effect? It had far surpassed any imaginable level; if anything, he wanted to ask how something like this could even exist.

But what unsettled him more was Lucian’s intention in giving him such an absurd medicine.

“He said I was the first…”

This was such an extraordinary treasure that it made everything previously called spiritual medicine seem like junk.

If put on the market, it could be traded for a fortune, and if used to win loyalty, it could even sway the heart of a statue.

And yet, Lucian had handed it to Hugo like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Compared to the promised knight title, a single bottle of this was worth several times more.

“Do I… really have enough value to receive something like this?”

The words slipped from Hugo’s lips before he could stop them. It was a question out of place, but Lucian only shrugged casually.

“You’re going to work by my side for life. This is nothing more than a reasonable investment.”

“……”

Lucian’s nonchalant tone, paradoxically, made something tighten in Hugo’s chest.

It sounded like the most obvious thing in the world, as if even asking had been unnecessary.

‘Yeah. I’ll stay by his side until I’m a corpse on the battlefield.’

He had made enough oaths of loyalty already. Saying more would only cheapen the words.

So this wasn’t something to be said aloud—it was a vow made to himself.

A vow to never leave his lord’s side, even if the day came when he could no longer give anything in return.

“So, how’s the effect?”

“It’s amazing. The mana goes Whaaam! and spreads through my whole body…”

As if they’d never just had such a deep conversation, the tone between them returned to normal.

Only the small—but irreversible—change that had occurred within Hugo remained.

***

A few days later, Lucian finished preparing for his departure to the north.

Unlike the previous suppression of the rebellion, there was no ostentatious departure ceremony.

After all, the northern issue wasn’t so much a family matter as it was a personal one for Lucian.

Even so, he received a private farewell from his father, the grand duke.

“Return safely. Don’t overdo it. And if you see that it’s not possible, know when to retreat.”

Grand Duke Sigmund watched Lucian with a stern expression as he gave this advice.

His gaze held a father’s concern for his son—but more than that, the anxiety of a head of household for the safety of his potential heir.

“They took your inheritance, but from another angle, that means they desperately needed it. If you try to strip them of their legitimacy, they won’t hesitate to resort to extreme measures.”

“Then they’ll earn the wrath of Valdeck and of the Empire.”

“Of course. But being nobles doesn’t mean they always act sensibly. Sometimes, blinded by petty ambition, they commit monstrous mistakes.”

Lucian understood what his father meant.

If the current head of the Calix family harbored excessive ambition, Valdeck or even the Empire might cease to matter to him. In the worst case, he might try to eliminate Lucian just to claim the Grimaldi legacy.

It would be absolute foolishness, and the consequences would be devastating—but humans were sometimes capable of unimaginable stupidity.

“There’s no such thing as absolutes in this world. You must assume that the foolishness of such men has no limits, and if the situation turns dangerous, withdraw. Even if karma settles the score later, sacrifices already made won’t return.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lucian bowed his head, etching the grand duke’s words into his memory.

When he mounted his horse, those who would accompany him looked toward him in unison.

Hugo and his ten, Felicia, the future Swordmaster, and Raymond, now a formal vassal.

It was a small group—but just right for crossing the dangerous north swiftly.

“Let’s go.”

With those brief words, the group set off from the inner fortress.

Lucian cast one last glance at the lord’s palace behind them—and locked eyes with Jordi, standing on the balcony.

Jordi watched him without expression for a moment, then turned around and went back inside.

‘What is he thinking…?’

Lucian felt a faint unease at that strange look but decided to set it aside.

The north they were heading to was practically enemy territory. There was no room for distractions.

“The north, huh? It’s been a while since I came here.”

Raymond spoke to break the tension. Hearing him, Lucian showed interest.

“You’ve been here before?”

“About ten years ago. I wandered the north for a while as a rogue knight. It was tough, but not a bad place.”

“Oh.”

Lucian had traveled through many regions of the continent, but never the north.

He had met many northerners, though they rarely spoke about their homeland. Most had left after hard experiences and avoided the topic.

“Even better, then. If there’s anything I should know before we arrive, tell me now. Warnings, customs, anything.”

“There’s not much, really. Just that it’s brutally cold, and the attitude toward nobles is a bit more relaxed.”

“Relaxed? I heard northerners are reserved toward those they don’t acknowledge.”

Lucian recalled the northern mercenaries he had met in his past life. Raymond chuckled.

“That’s when they’re outside the north. On foreign land, they watch their words if they don’t trust someone. But the north is their home—why would they be cautious? It’s the outsider who needs to be.”

“…When you put it that way, it makes sense.”

Lucian nodded without realizing it. So northerners spoke freely on their own land? That was hard to picture.

“And about their attitude toward nobles—it’s something you’ll understand once you see it in person. Don’t expect to be treated with the same reverence as in other parts of the Empire, even if they know your status.”

“Are you implying a commoner might disrespect my lord?”

Felicia cut in, eyes blazing.

If someone dared look down on Lucian, she seemed ready to cut them down on the spot.

“That’s not it. It’s just that, in the north, the distance between commoners and nobles is smaller.”

“Smaller? Does that even make sense?”

“It sounds absurd, I know, but that’s how it is. You’ll understand when you see it.”

Raymond waved his hand with a wry smile. It was clearly hard to explain in words.

“I just ask that even if a commoner seems a bit rude to my lord, don’t punish them right away. It’s normal in the north.”

“What a way to spark curiosity. Well, I get what you’re saying, so don’t worry.”

Lucian had endured all kinds of contempt during his mercenary days in his past life.

A bit of rudeness from some commoners wouldn’t shake him. On the contrary, the more he heard, the more curious he became.

‘A place where commoners don’t bow and scrape—I want to see that.’

For someone who had once grovelled in the dirt as a commoner, it was a sight he looked forward to.

***

“Ugh, I’m going to freeze.”

“I knew the north was cold, but this is ridiculous.”

Fifteen days after leaving Kelheim, Hugo’s ten-man squad reached the edge of northern territory, shivering as they complained.

Despite wearing thick winter clothes bought before departure, the icy wind pierced to their bones.

“Ah, this hellish weather’s still the same. I missed it.”

“How can it suddenly be this cold?”

Lucian was more baffled by the sharp temperature drop than the cold itself.

He knew the north was frigid, but if it were purely due to geography, the drop should’ve been gradual. Instead, after crossing a certain point, the cold became unnatural.

“I don’t think it’s normal either. For it to change so suddenly, just a few steps away—it’s strange.”

Felicia frowned and looked around, as if searching for the source of the cold.

Her sharp senses seemed to pick up on something beyond what the others could detect.

“Yeah, it’s a weird kind of cold. That’s why some northerners think it’s an ancient curse. There are so many legends, it’s hard to know what to believe.”

“Whether it’s a curse or not, it’s clearly related to magic. There’s no way this climate is natural…”

Just as the group was discussing the strange northern cold, a metallic sound suddenly echoed in their ears.

“What was that?”

“Sounds like weapons clashing.”

Clang.

As if to confirm their words, the metallic sound rang out again—closer this time.

Moments later, mixed with the clangs of metal, came human voices.

“Damn bastard! You dare stab your own father in the back just because you believed that snake’s lies?!”

— Father, it’s time for you to join our ancestors! I’ll make sure you have a proper funeral!

Upon hearing that absurd conversation in the distance, Lucian’s group widened their eyes.

What kind of filial betrayal drama was this?