#Chapter 60
—
The moment Leon Madrid finished speaking, he realized something had touched his abdomen.
‘A hand. But sharper than a blade.’
He turned his gaze at the same time that thought struck him.
And his guess was not wrong.
Somehow, Arthur’s hand had extended, pressing firmly against the very center of his abdomen.
That was what startled him.
It wasn’t sword-aura, nor was it any particular magic—just a hand. Yet the sensation of being pierced through was vividly clear.
‘Just from the pressure alone… he made me feel as if I could die?’
At that thought, Leon let out a hollow laugh.
What kind of life could one possibly have lived, to handle such force at the mere age of seventeen?
At that moment, Arthur raised his voice with a question.
“You looked into my head back then, didn’t you, Your Highness?”
Leon forced a smile as he replied.
“I did. More than that, I was the one who put you under hypnosis.”
“Dangerous. I felt it from the first time we met… you’re dangerous in more ways than one.”
Arthur lifted the head he had been lowering.
“That’s why I’ll have to kill you. I won’t listen to any excuses.”
With those words, Arthur’s fingertips dug into Leon’s abdomen.
The sensation was so vivid that Leon’s eyes tightened.
‘He actually pierced me? With his bare hand?’
At the same moment of doubt, Leon remembered.
It was Arthur Bayern’s peculiar hereditary ability.
‘Ah… damn it! He used that ability to pierce me!’
Between a sigh and a groan, Leon hurriedly opened his mouth.
“I’m the same.”
“…?”
“I share the same goal as you. Khan Madrid. My purpose is to kill that man.”
Arthur’s fingers, which had been digging in, froze.
Feeling that, Leon quickly pressed on.
“That’s why I told you—we’re bound by fate, you and I.”
“….”
“So how about pulling that hand back first and actually having a conversation? If I collapse here, it won’t do either of us much good.”
Arthur’s gaze sank low at the suggestion.
Leon felt a surge of urgency, but he did not act rashly.
Arthur Bayern, from everything he’d seen, was an unpredictable man.
And with such a person, pushing too hard would only backfire.
That judgment proved sound.
Without warning, Arthur withdrew the hand he had driven in.
“Khuk!”
Leon let out a groan, staggering as he sank into place.
Thankfully, those nearby didn’t pay much attention to his odd movements.
Meanwhile, Arthur licked Leon’s blood from his hand and muttered.
“The Imperial blood tastes foul.”
“…?”
“No nourishment either. It looks so enticing from the outside… yet it tastes fouler than garbage.”
Leon’s eyes twitched faintly.
‘That’s… genuinely frightening.’
If those words were true, then it meant Arthur Bayern had tasted the blood of other royals before.
Barely keeping his hazy mind together, Leon muttered inwardly.
‘Which makes me all the more inclined to hold on to him….’
Arthur suddenly plopped down with a question.
“Why do you want Khan Madrid dead, Your Highness? He’s your blood. Your elder brother.”
Leon twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
“There are many reasons. But I can’t tell you.”
“….”
“I didn’t see everything inside your head either. But if you take my side, I’ll tell you the truth.”
Arthur let out a short exclamation.
“You’re making me an offer in this situation? Your Highness, you’re really something.”
“My creed is this: in the worst of situations, seize the opportunity.”
“Hmm… I don’t agree. The worst situation is just that—the worst. If Your Highness dies here and now, you can’t seize any opportunity, can you?”
Leon’s expression grew strained.
“You intend to kill me?”
“Well… I’m considering it. My head is telling me not to kill you.”
Arthur broke off, then smiled.
“But my heart is telling me to. And usually, in such cases, I follow my heart….”
“….”
“So give me something convincing. A reason not to kill you, Your Highness.”
Leon fell silent.
Until now, he had managed his expression well, but this time he couldn’t hide his feelings.
Arthur spoke while looking at his troubled face.
“Tick-tock.”
“…?”
“Time’s running, Your Highness. Hurry and answer.”
Leon muttered in genuine astonishment.
“You really never stop defying expectations….”
“Is that your answer, Your Highness?”
“N-no! It’s not! Just wait! I need to think….”
Leon trailed off, then snapped his fingers.
“I’ll give you a High-grade Essence Pill. How’s that?”
“That’s something you were bound to give me anyway.”
“…?”
“You meant to offer it as an apology in the first place. Putting that on the table now is cheating.”
Leon shouted in fluster.
“Wh-what are you talking about!? That was a gift meant for when we shared the same intent!”
“Oh, is that so? But it’s not enough.”
Arthur smiled brightly.
“So offer something else. I can’t trust Your Highness’s words based on just a Essence Pill.”
Pressed by Arthur, Leon fell back into thought.
But nothing fitting came to mind.
‘Honestly, I thought if I just revealed it, he’d at least show some positive response… I didn’t expect this.’
He groaned inwardly.
Whether from the pain or not, his head wasn’t working properly.
No matter how much he tried, he wouldn’t come up with anything useful in this state.
While Leon sweated cold, Arthur suddenly rose to his feet.
Startled, Leon involuntarily stepped back.
Arthur then let out an exclamation.
“Ah, damn. I forgot about class.”
“…?”
“Your Highness, I should be going. Next time we meet, give me an answer. I won’t let it slide like this again.”
With that warning, Arthur extended a hand.
In that instant, a refreshing energy flowed out and wrapped around Leon.
At the same time, the pain began to fade, and Leon muttered in surprise.
‘Arthur Bayern’s spirit?’
As that thought crossed his mind and he let out a long-held breath, Arthur picked up the High-grade Essence Pill and bid farewell.
“Well then.”
And with that, he truly left, disappearing from sight.
“….”
Leon stared blankly at the spot for a while before muttering.
“…Is that guy really insane?”
After thinking a moment, Leon nodded.
‘Not just really insane. He’s simply insane.’
He let out a hollow laugh at the thought.
“Ha… In the end, he just made off with the Essence Pill?”
The Essence Pill he had struggled to obtain, intended as a bargaining chip to secure Arthur’s cooperation.
And Arthur had simply snatched it.
Leon furrowed his brow in irritation, but soon shook his head.
‘It’s not all a loss.’
One thing had been made certain from today’s meeting.
Arthur Bayern.
For reasons unknown, he too sincerely wanted his elder brother dead.
And that fact, more than Arthur himself realized, held deep meaning for Leon.
‘As I thought… we’re destined to be friends, Arthur Bayern.’
Smiling faintly, Leon rose.
“But now I’m late.”
Unnoticed in the back-and-forth with Arthur, he was already ten minutes late to class.
Leon shrugged.
“Well, what’s one or two tardies… I’ll just take a nap.”
—
—
After finishing all his classes, Arthur toyed with the Essence Pill in his hand, thinking.
‘So that was the reason… he’s targeting Khan Madrid?’
Leon Madrid.
An Imperial Prince, and also an industrial spy who stole state secrets.
Of course, there were few reasons for a prince to steal his own empire’s secrets.
Arthur had thought it nothing more than a petty power struggle.
But to think he would go so far as to kill his own elder brother…. That had never crossed his mind.
‘Interesting… so that’s why he survived in the future?’
After rising to Crown Prince, Khan Madrid slaughtered all his siblings.
A bloody purge to cut off rebellion at the root.
Yet the sole sibling who survived was Leon Madrid. And only now did Arthur understand why.
‘It wasn’t that Khan didn’t purge him… but that he couldn’t. Leon was prepared.’
Whether that preparation came from knowing the future like Arthur, or simply from deducing it through clues, Arthur didn’t know.
But one thing was clear.
Leon Madrid recognized the danger Khan posed.
Whether broadly or narrowly, he did.
‘And in such a situation, Leon Madrid sought cooperation with me….’
Arthur stroked his chin, the corners of his lips curving.
‘Even if not an ally… he might be useful once.’
That was why he’d excused himself under the pretense of class.
He needed time to think, and besides—if he’d killed the prince in a fit of madness, that would have been troublesome.
‘If I weren’t in my right mind, I might’ve killed him… but in my right mind, I mustn’t.’
An Imperial Prince was far too valuable as a tool.
Nodding, Arthur looked at the Essence Pill in his hand.
“Well, at least the High-grade Essence Pill really does exist.”
The small pill, emitting a mysterious blue glow, had been releasing refined mana nonstop from the moment it appeared.
Even at a glance, it was enough to form an entire circle.
Arthur instantly recognized it as the pill from the rumors.
‘If I take it now… I might leap straight to 3rd Circle.’
If he succeeded, it would mean that in just three years since taking up the sword, he would have reached the 3rd Circle.
Arthur could not hide his anticipation as he carefully tucked the pill into his chest.
Worried it might break, he even asked Undine to wrap it in a protective barrier before entering his home.
Then he immediately asked Anna:
“Anna. Forget dinner. Until tomorrow night, don’t let anyone enter my room.”
“…Huh? What do you mean, Young Master?”
“I have something important to do. So absolutely no one is allowed in.”
Anna blinked, then noticed the utmost seriousness on Arthur’s face and nodded.
“Understood, Young Master. I’ll let no one through.”
With her reply, Arthur immediately entered his room.
And at once, he retrieved the pill he had hidden away and summoned the spirits.
“Undine, Gnome. Watch over me while I take this pill.”
\[Okay, Arthur!]
\[…Got it!]
At their reply, Arthur tossed the pill into his mouth.
In that instant—
Whoosh—!
A sharp flavor spread across his tongue.
Like peppermint, it slid down his throat into his stomach, where it transformed into a blazing current that surged upward violently.
‘Mana. Pure, condensed mana.’
Arthur tried at once to seize control of it.
But the mana hidden in the pill did not yield to his will.
Instead, it rampaged wildly, trying to break free.
Arthur curved his lips in amusement and focused harder.
Then—
Boom—!
With a small explosion from within, his existing mana began devouring the pill’s mana.
The pill’s mana tried to flee, but Arthur would not let it.
Rumble—!
His mana crashed over it like waves, consuming it all.
The pill’s mana struggled, but in vain.
The longer it resisted, the rougher Arthur’s mana grew.
Hummmm—!
And the more it was devoured, the louder the resonance of the two rings engraved upon Arthur’s chest became.
When that vibration shook not just his ears but his very brain, Arthur’s eyes snapped open.
Fwoosh—!
A silence descended.
And within it, Arthur let out a breath of awe.
“Wow… there’s a lot. Way more than I expected.”
He had thought it contained enough to reach 3rd Circle.
But the Essence Pill held even more than that.
‘Not quite enough for 4th Circle… but definitely to the brink. Just shy of it.’
Even after forming what would be a full 3rd Circle, he still felt enormous amounts of mana coursing through his veins.
It was almost as if he had already achieved 4th Circle.
Arthur couldn’t help but smile.
‘Once I reach 4th Circle, just one more….’
He would finally be able to wield sword-Aura.
Shivering with long-awaited accomplishment, a thought suddenly came to him.
“Hmm… in that case, maybe it’s time to start.”
He turned and opened his bookshelf.
Inside was a scrapbook of information he had gathered since returning to the past.
Arthur picked it up, smiling as he murmured.
“Blood vengeance… perhaps it’s about time I began.”
—
