Chapter 4 - The Weight of Forgotten Memories
In the first place, the meritocracy of the great families had all but formed naturally, after those that had clung to bloodline supremacy eventually collapsed.
"And…in my past life, I never relied on such things either."
—"Master! We found a child abandoned in the snowy mountains. What should we…"
—"Who could have left a child in such a harsh place? Bring him inside. If he has any talent, he will survive."
In his past life, Eldryn had been taken in by the family while still too young for clear memories, and raised as an initiate disciple.
He had been the youngest, without a single peer.
Luckily, he had shown extraordinary talent for ice magic.
Though there were those among the direct bloodline who resented his unprecedented progress, in the end, he had earned the family head's nomination as successor through overwhelming skill.
And finally—
—"Eldryn. I know you've suffered ever since you first came to this house. I wish I could have done more for you. I'm sorry. It's a little early, but I entrust House Vael to you."
—"Please…hold your tongue. You're bleeding."
—"Kuh…that tone of yours never changes. It's fine. The children of the house are old enough now to understand what you mean."
—"Master!"
—"Heh…even as a boy, you never once shed a tear…kuh. Don't worry so much. You will do well, Eldryn."
After the master had died in battle against Desmond's followers in the north, Eldryn had inherited the title of family head and led the Vael family ever since.
From the remote snowy mountains to the heart of the Empire itself, he had done enough work to exhaust ten bodies, dragging the family's status upward by sheer force.
He did it partly out of gratitude to the benefactor who had taken him in—
and to prove that the ice magic he'd been taught was never inferior.
"If no one else, I could never be the one to abandon House Vael."
As Lucian, who now possessed the memories of his past life, he could easily survive alone even if expelled here.
In fact, given the state of this house—fallen halfway into ruin, claiming to practice fire magic—it might be far healthier to escape as soon as possible.
But even so, Lucian needed to know what had happened to the Vael family over the last two hundred years.
So in the end, it was fortunate he hadn't been expelled immediately.
At least he wouldn't have to go through the cumbersome process of applying for re-entry as an initiate.
However—
"To declare expulsion, then grant a reprieve… For someone called the head of House Vael to show such weakness…"
The dignity of the head was the dignity of the entire family.
"At this rate, I worry whether he can lead properly."
Between this and the talk of fire magic, something had gone deeply, disastrously wrong.
Shaking his head, Lucian murmured softly:
"…For now, I should head back."
Before he knew it, he was alone in the hall.
Lucian slowly began to walk.
He didn't clearly remember where his quarters were, but he let the feet of "Lucian Vael" guide him, studying the house as he went.
"How empty."
The way back was desolate.
There were no gleaming buildings, only sparse, worn-out structures.
Outside the low walls, the sheer slopes of the Garil Snow Mountains surrounded everything on all sides.
That part at least was the same as he remembered.
"To think I'd come back here."
The place where he had first learned magic as a boy—
and here he was, two hundred years later.
In a house half in ruin.
"It feels…strangely overwhelming."
On the way to his quarters, he heard people muttering as they watched him pass.
"Hmph, it won't make any difference. He'll never come to his senses. Why did the family head even grant him a reprieve?"
"Exactly. He'll just talk about training and lock himself in his room, loafing around as always."
"No kidding. What a waste of a private training chamber. If he's going to do that, he should let me have it… It's always the disciples without blood who have to scrape by."
But Lucian, like the Lucian Vael before him, passed them without reacting—pretending not to hear.
"This must be it."
He entered the western wing where the disciples lived, in a separate building reserved for the direct bloodline.
[Lucian Vael]
His name was carved modestly on the door.
When he opened it, a faint musty smell met him—familiar in its own way.
The bed, the furniture, the daily necessities—none of it came close to the quality of what Eldryn had once used as the master of ice magic.
But Lucian didn't mind. He simply walked to the corner of the room.
He picked up the small mirror resting on a table and looked at his face for the first time.
"Hm…"
Hair white and soft as early winter snow.
Eyes as red and vivid as the deep sunset.
Skin pale as polished ivory.
"Not so bad. Though I think I preferred my last life's face."
With that rather subjective judgment, Lucian set the mirror back down.
He sat on the bed, closed his eyes, and sank into thought.
"The most troublesome thing right now is that I still can't clearly access Lucian Vael' memories."
If only he could summon those memories, it would help him grasp the current state of the family—and let him interact naturally with the people here.
He had tried several times on the way back.
But it felt like reaching into a fog, unable to grasp anything solid.
When he'd glimpsed Blake Vael' face and felt that flicker of familiarity, he'd hoped perhaps seeing his reflection would help—but no luck.
"It seems this will simply take time…"
But there was a more urgent problem.
"First, the matter of expulsion. A one-month grace period. Produce "results" within that time."
In House Vael, what did it mean to produce results through magic?
"At a minimum, it would mean hunting a snow leopard from the northwestern Garil Mountains alone."
Those agile beasts, so dangerous in close combat, were no easy prey for a lone mage.
Only a third-circle practitioner—or someone who could freely wield every second-circle spell—had any real chance.
"And their hides are especially resistant to ice magic."
That was exactly why hunting a snow leopard alone was so often chosen as the family's test.
"The disciples always struggled this time of year with those damned leopards."
In his previous life, Eldryn had, shortly after reaching the second circle, single-handedly killed three snow leopards in one expedition.
But objectively, for a lower-circle ice mage, they were no trivial opponent.
"To hunt one in a month—when I can't even use a basic spell in this body… Even for me, starting over in a completely different form, this timeline is…tight…"
And then, as he thought it over, Lucian's eyes snapped wide.
"Wait. A completely different body?"