The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family

Roman’s sudden question caught Klaus off guard; he wasn’t expecting it out of nowhere, and the surprise nearly broke his usual poker face. Although he tried to maintain a calm exterior, his thoughts were racing like a tornado, moving at a speed only a mage could handle.

’How did he know?’ Klaus asked himself.

’No, he can’t know. Even Greed can’t tell how I use magic. So how does he know I can use magic? Was it during the first test? No, he couldn’t possibly see through the fog created by the aequalis array.’

’Ah! I know!’

Klaus finally realized the mistake he had made that let Roman discover his secret.

’He could see through the mana wall I generated to cloak myself while using magic.’ Having realized how Roman found out, Klaus now needed to explain himself.

’Since he has his hand on my shoulder, he will probably try to inspect my body,’ Klaus thought, smiling internally. Thanks to his quick thinking, he regained his composure and was ready to answer Roman’s question.

"Magic? What do you mean, my Lord?" Klaus asked in a low voice, making sure only Roman could hear him.

"Are you trying to deceive this old grandfather of yours?" Roman replied.

"Why would I do that, my Lord?" Klaus responded with another question, still calling him "My Lord" instead of "grandfather."

Roman didn’t reply but let his mana slip from his hand on Klaus’s shoulder, secretly inspecting his body, hoping to find magic circles around Klaus’s heart. That was the only known way for a mage to use magic, but what he found disturbed him even more.

’What? There are no magic circles around his heart? How? Did I mistake whatever technique he used for magic?’ Roman asked himself. He then let his mana flow through Klaus’s lower dantian, where his mana core was supposed to be. Flowing his mana through Klaus’s mana circuit, Roman felt increasingly perplexed.

’His mana circuit is all black! He is still sick!’ Roman thought, mistaking the arcane energy that had fused with Klaus’s mana circuit for illness. What he saw next troubled him even more. When Roman’s mana reached Klaus’s "Mana core," all the color drained from his face.

"What the..." Roman said, unable to keep the words from escaping his mouth.

All he could see was a pitch-black mana core. To his understanding, Klaus’s disease had even affected his mana core.

’The poor boy! It must be extremely painful for him just to channel mana. To think that in this condition he managed to defeat Ygriss,’ Roman thought, feeling empathetic, mistaking Klaus’s condition for him still being sick.

Klaus, sensing all this, couldn’t help but rejoice internally. He then spoke in a soft voice only audible to Roman.

"Grandfather, don’t you know it’s very inappropriate for a swordsman to inspect another swordsman’s body without their authorization?" Klaus said, calling Roman "Grandfather" for the first time, taking him by surprise.

"Ah, sorry, my boy," Roman replied, surprised. Discover exclusive content at empire

’How did he know I was inspecting his body?’ Roman thought. The little infusion of mana he inserted into Klaus’s body was supposed to be undetectable.

"My Lord, the battle is over. I think it is time for you to give your judgment," Klaus said louder, making sure everyone could hear.

Raoul, hearing Klaus’s statement to Roman, swallowed hard. He knew Roman would force him to apologize to Ludovic. The mere thought of kneeling before someone weaker than him in front of such a large audience was humiliating.

"You’re right," Roman replied to Klaus, feeling a bit apologetic since he thought Klaus’s arcane core was a manifestation of his disease worsening.

"Raoul Lionhart!" Roman said with a thunderous voice, sending shivers through the spectators.

"My Lord!" Raoul replied, standing up and lowering his head, gritting his teeth so hard they could break.

"Come forth!" Roman commanded, pointing his index and middle fingers at Raoul, making him levitate from his seat.

’Just how powerful is he?’ Klaus wondered, watching Raoul levitate toward Roman.

The crowd looked at Raoul with wide eyes. They knew Roman was the strongest swordsman on the continent but didn’t expect him to be at this level. The ability to make swords or objects levitate was considered the summit of swordsmanship.

"Learn, little boy," Roman said to Klaus with a melancholic tone.

When Raoul was about seven feet above them, Roman violently made him crash to the ground on his knees, facing the crowd.

Raoul protected his knees with a thick layer of aura, so he didn’t feel much, though the impact looked violent to onlookers.

"Now, tell me what you want him to say," Roman asked Klaus, presenting Raoul to him.

Klaus, impulsively, replied in a dry tone, "I want him to apologize for the disrespect he showed my parents."

"What disrespect?" Roman asked as if he didn’t know.

"Look where they are sitting! Are those seats befitting of their status?" Klaus asked, though internally he questioned why he cared so much. Could he really consider himself part of this family? He cared for Elisabeth because his body was naturally at ease with her maternal love, but what about Ludovic? Was it because they faced the same prejudice, or did he really consider Ludovic as his father? These questions sounded hypocritical to him, a grown man in the body of a child. Since he awoke in this body, he retained all his past life memories more accurately than when he was alive.

He laughed internally and then refocused, waiting for Roman to proceed.

"Raoul, do you think what you did was disrespectful to his father?" Roman asked casually, making Klaus uneasy.

’Don’t tell me...’

"No! Lionhart is not a playground for a useless swordsman, just having him in this estate is already a big disgrace" Raoul replied with a firm tone, his gaze looking down on all the spectators.

"Indeed Lionhart is not a playground for the weak" Roman replied, confirming Klaus’s suspicion.

’I understand their scheme now, it was Roman wish to see Ludovic sitting there, Raoul was just a cover for him’ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

’Despicable, human beings are very despicable, It’s everywhere the same, Zagerfield, Lionhart all ruled by ruthless rulers"