New Life, New Body, Brand New Ayumu?

The red moon shone vividly in the night sky. It was a rare phenomena—a reminder that Deos Heios's curse on the world still stood strong. It was during such nights that the monster activity increased, and the human world suffered Heios' tantrums.

For years, people attempted to predict the cycles of the moon. To see if they followed a certain pattern, or at least a set of rules. Alas, all the research didn't show any results.

The moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the room in an unnerving bloody-red tint. The light landed on the leather armchair and the desk, but didn't reach any further. There, beyond the reach of the moonlight, the room was filled with bookcases. Those cases' shelves were packed with countless tomes, scrolls, and papers. The interior of the room was decorated luxuriously but with taste. Every item had a sense of refinement to it, but one that wouldn't be obvious without a keen eye. 

This was the study of a certain count.

The count in question, Dion Au Darius, sat in the armchair comfortably. He was holding papers in his hand and carefully looking through them. The writings in question were authored by Julian Aes Berion, an upstart baron and Dion's fellow expert in the field of magical research.

But Dion's motivation to read those papers didn't stem from intellectual curiosity or deep fascination with the field of magic. As his eyes followed the research, his face was colored with coldness and even disdain.

A knock on the door resounded, taking Dion out of his thoughts.

"You may enter," the count said calmly as he lifted his gaze from the writings.

Then, the door opened, and a robed man entered the room.

"Milord, my heart prays for Dea Coria's blessing," he said as he kneeled.

"That it will receive alongside the blessing of Deos Menid," Dion replied, allowing his subordinate to speak.

"Milord, the operation ended in failure," the robed man reported.

In response, Dion closed his eyes for just a second. Then, after a short pause, he replied.

"It's fine. It was only a reconnaissance effort on our part..."

Then, the count descended into thought. As he did, his subordinate asked him nervously.

"...Milord, are you sure that leaving the gem of control was fine...?"

His question was met with casual affirmation.

"Oh, that? It's alright. During the Red Moon the gem attracts too many beasts. There was no way you could also take it with you."

Gem of control was a magic item that allowed its user to control various creatures, for example, monsters. The count used it in order to enact an attack on Delsea. But the gem had a massive weakness. It was difficult to use it on a massive quantity of monsters while maintaining any level of detail to the instructions. That was why they used it over a massive area and made a very simple order. 

On top of that, the gem attracted various creatures, some of which would be aggressive instead of submissive. They would interpret the gem's usage as a hostile act and attack the user. If his subordinates were to fight the stronger beasts, then they would risk being exposed; but if they were to make away with the gem, then the village would become too far away for the item's effects to work.

That's why Dion ordered his subordinates to activate it and simply leave it in the forest.

The robbed man understood his liege's point, but he was still somewhat hesitant.

"...But in case it will be discovered—"

"It won't. It will be eaten by a powerful monster as a source of magical energy long before anyone finds it... More importantly, how was the boy?" the count asked and narrowed his eyes.

Feeling that his lord wasn't going to discuss the previous topic any further, the subordinate moved onto his report.

"The rumors were true. He actually wielded the roaring flash. Except..."

"Except?"

"...Except I don't really understand why he let himself get flung around for ten minutes straight before finally using it," the robbed man replied to his liege with a bit of hesitation.

"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?" the count asked, a hint of confusion creeping into his voice.

"It... It means exactly what it means, Milord," the robed man replied.

"Are you defying your liege?" Dion asked, this time with palpable tension.

"N-no, Milord, I really do mean it," the subordinate answered, panicked, "h-he was getting carried around by that weird maid, and then she threw him as a bait to distract the lupen."

"Carried by his maid? Threw him as a bait?"

"Yes, Milord!"

"For ten minutes? Chased by a lupen?" The count's storm of questions continued.

"W-well, the chase itself might have been shorter, but as I said, that maid really had some loose screws, M-milord."

That made Dion stop in deep thought. He considered what he had heard and began searching for a valid explanation in his head.

What was that 'genius' boy planning? Was he trying to throw Dion off his scent? Prevent him from getting more information than he wanted?

But that would mean Fabian had already figured out the culprit behind the attack. Was that even possible? Dion even waited to match the assault with the red moon; you couldn't predict it in advance but you could tell the signs a few hours before its advent. Sure, the pack was much bigger than usually, and the fact that the patrolling knight orders missed them was suspicious—but all of those could be easily chalked up to coincidence.

"...What could this all mean," Dion muttered, feeling that he had an incredible riddle on his hands.

If any of Dion's suspicions were even close to the truth then he had severely underestimated Fabian. His magical acumen aside, he thought that his opponent was a wet behind the ears seventeen-year-old boy, but reality was proving to be a harsh mistress.

Just as he reached that thought, a voice weakly interrupted Dion.

"...E-excuse me, Milord, If I may."

"...Yes? Go on." Dion answered.

"C-could it be that it's not that complicated, and the boy just struggles to consistently cast?" the robed man offered weakly. "You know, maybe he was just panicking before a real threat to his life or got too eager and failed his cast..."

What a foolish man. Are my subordinates all this dumb? Dion thought but allowed the man to continue speaking.

"So what made you think so?"

"W-well," the count's subordinate spoke, "he actually ran into a lupen at first and tried to cast a fire spell, but it self-destructed without even reaching its target. T-the boy is only seventeen, after all... F-frankly, he looked so poor on the battlefield that if someone told me he started learning magic only recently, I would believe him."

Dion sighed. He was hoping for at least a bit of intelligence from his men. Alas, it was always the least correct ones that were most confident in their answers.

"You fool. Obviously, it was all an act to make you let your guard down. All so that you would report me this nonsensical information," the count replied, most confidently.

Unfortunately for Fabian, Dion wasn't foolish enough to buy into such simple tricks. But the strategy was still effective to an extent. From the attack, Dion learned nothing more than inconsequential bits and the facts that were already all but confirmed beforehand. At the end of the day, outside of roaring flash, he didn't know anything about Fabian's spells and skills. 

How good was he in combat? How wide was his repertoire of spells? What magic types and elements did he use the most? Did his spellcasting have any obvious habits that could be exploited?

He got none of the things he hoped to learn and instead received this incoherent blabber. That was about the worst outcome he could imagine.

Just as he was about to dismiss his foolish vassal, he had a thought.

"Now that I think about it, how did they even repel the lupens? Were the casualties really high by chance?" Dion asked.

"N-no, Milord, there were no casualties," the robed man answered, "it was her, the Alcias' girl. She used her Golden Road," 

"Alcias... Ah, yes. You did report that his fiancée was coming with a visit. So she was already at the estate..."

Then, Dion stroked his chin in thought.

"Maria Aes Alcia... the famed girl, huh?" he muttered, "many say that she is a fox in sheep's clothing, but I have to wonder..."

He stood up from his chair and faced the window. Illuminated by the bloody red of the moon, his face took on a sinister glint.

"...what is it that really hides behind all that wool?"

His question echoed into the night. But the only one to hear him was the mute moon. And so his words disappeared into nothingness.

Regardless, his plans wouldn't change in the slightest.

He would crush Berions and their infantile theories once and for all.

***

Two weeks have passed since the lupens attacked.

When the baron arrived at the battlefield, he was exasperated with his son. Firstly, because by rushing at the monsters, Fabian endangered his own fiancée. Secondly, because he struggled to put down the lupens and finish the battle quickly.

It also didn't help that the entire village saw the Golden Road (Dreamwalker as Maria called it), and he would have a hard time preventing the rumors from reaching Alcias.

But more than anything, he was glad that his son was alright. And proud of him for preventing losses among village guards and soldiers.

Speaking of Ayumu, he had spent the entire two weeks practicing magic and preparing for the upcoming festival.

Festival of Deos Cogitus was a yearly event that gathered magical researchers from all around the Audera Kingdom. There, they presented their magical findings, shared theories with other experts, and refined their understanding of spellcasting and Spiritspeak. 

For this festival, Lord Berion submitted a participation application. But it wasn't him who was listed as the main researcher. Instead, it was his son Fabian.

The topic of the research was a study into hereditary nature of Magia Nobili. Or specifically, it was about denying that claim. The evidence they had was Fabian's ability to posses roaring flash despite not being a part of the lineage that inherited it. That lineage was the famous Darius family, a bloodline of warriors that had served Audera since before its founding.

In their research, Fabian and Julian propose various theories as to what actually restricts Magia Nobili's usage to a single lineage. Despite the somewhat speculative nature of some of the theories presented, Fabian's magic was a piece of indisputable evidence that backed up their thesis.

That's what Ayumu had learned in the past two weeks. He had spent his time reading through Fabian's papers and hitting the books, researching all the magical theory he needed to understand the topic. To his surprise, he found much more success with studying than he would have originally imagined.

Whenever he studied magic—theory or spells alike—he would find himself memorizing things in an instant. And even concepts that seemed impossible to understand at first would quickly click with him as long as he gave them time to sink in.

Ayumu wondered if that's how learning always was for Fabian. Did the genius boy really have it so easy? Normally, that idea would make him horribly jealous. But now, it only made him more excited for what he could do with his newfound talents.

Aside from studying, he had also traveled around the Berion Barony a few times. Mainly, it was to help with Delsea's recovery from the lupen attack or to attend to his duties as the next heir of the domain. 

The last part meant regulating conflicts between different parties, and giving approval for certain administrative issues. In the past two weeks, he had to help establish the budget for a village's church reconstruction efforts and settle a dispute between a rich landowner and a knight in regards to land ownership rights.

Doing those duties was mostly done for the sake of gaining practical experience. The entire time, Ayumu was accompanied by advisors. Normally, those advisors, who also doubled as officials in service of his father, would be the ones responsible for solving those problems. However, in many cases, the decisions still needed approval from the person in charge. There were also times where the officials' social status prevented them from solving the problem, like in the case of conflicts between nobility. That's why the next lord of the domain had to learn how to handle those as a part of his responsibilities.

In addition to his duties, Ayumu would sometimes visit Delsea for relaxation. Or, more accurately, to get his mind off the constant training and research. That was, of course, Mary's idea, who accompanied him every time he went.

Ayumu felt that those two weeks were incredibly fruitful. Even now, he was walking through the hallway of the manor, on his way to attend a session of magical trai—

"Young Master."

"Aaaghh!" Ayumu jumped up in surprise.

He turned around to see Lucy, hanging from the ceiling.

"Why the sudden jump?" Lucy tilted her head and asked. The people around her, never ceased to puzzle the maid. Frankly, she was starting to get tired of the constant head tilts.

"That's what I have to ask you!" Ayumu retorted.

"But I didn't jump?"

"I meant why did you have to scare me like that!" Ayumu explained. In response to his words, Lucy stood in silence for some time before speaking.

"...Am I scary, Young Master?" Lucy asked, her voice somewhat shaky. For some reason, Ayumu felt like he had just kicked an innocent puppy. He could almost see imaginary dog ears on Lucy's head droop in sadness.

"No, I... sorry, my bad," he replied, quickly loosing his steam.

"It's fine, Young Master, I'm not that offended," Lucy answered gently, "I forgive you." She said as if she was a kind mother, dealing with an unruly kid.

"Yeah, thank—Hold on! Why the hell am I the one apologizing!?" Ayumu asked, confused.

"It is a virtue to be able to acknowledge your faults," Lucy reassured him as she nodded to herself, "I'm proud of you, Young Master."

"Recently, I've started to understand why Maria can't win against you... It's like fighting against thin air," Ayumu muttered in response.

"Why would you fight against air?"

"Yeah, no, I'm stopping right here. Thank you very much."

Lucy was confused but replied courteously nonetheless.

"You're welcome?"

"...Still," Ayumu said, resisting the urge to retort,  "what's with you hanging from the ceiling? That and running up the walls... Are you a ninja?"

"No, I'm a maid," Lucy replied with a straight face.

"Normal maids don't do that..." Ayumu said with exasperation but then caught himself playing the straight man again and stopped. "Whatever, let's go already."

Ayumu turned back and headed to the courtyard. It was time for some magic practice.

Out of all the things that Ayumu had learned over the last two weeks, there was still one magic technique that he couldn't get a handle on.

It was called prolonged cast: the ability to cast longer spells, consisting of several verses. If you simplified it, you could call it the less advanced version of complex cast. And for some reason, Ayumu struggled with it immensely.

This is no good. Fabian would have definitely mastered it by this point. Hell, I heard he already did. But for some reason, none of it comes up in my mind when I'm practicing.

Prolonged cast wasn't necessarily something people knew even if they were nobles. Even among dedicated mages there were some that couldn't produce spells longer than a sentence. With that said, plenty of nobles around Fabian's age could pull it off as long as they underwent dedicated magical education. That meant Ayumu's current skill wasn't enough to be called a genius.

As fate would have it, the last obstacle on the path to transforming into Fabian was something Ayumu had to learn through his own efforts.