The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 162: Training for Mana Control (1)

Alfoi hadn’t always been the type to be so easily swayed by praise.

Back when he’d lived at the tower, he was a proud and confident man. With both a strong background and talent, he lived assured that he lacked nothing.

‘Right, I am Alfoi. A man who doesn’t know how to give up.’

But after coming to Ghislain’s side and going through nothing but hardship, his self-esteem had taken quite a hit.

These days, he wasn’t even sure why he was still living, and he’d often find himself feeling down out of the blue.

Yet now, showered in praise after such a long time, he felt like his old confidence from the days at the tower was making a return.

“Of course I can do it! I mean… sure, it’s tiring, so I just wanted to test the Lord, but honestly, it’s not that difficult. If I couldn’t handle this, could I even call myself the tower’s successor?”

When Alfoi spoke arrogantly, the mages beside him turned to him in shock.

They had known Alfoi for a long time, and they knew his weaknesses well.

A personality full of bravado, always getting carried away whenever people praised him.

Before the mages could even try to stop him, a fresh wave of compliments came rushing at him.

“As expected, a display of boldness befitting the successor of the tower. Such spirit is not something just anyone can show.”

“That’s exactly why the Crimson Flame Tower is hailed as the best in the North, isn’t it?”

“With someone like him as successor, the future of the tower is indeed bright.”

Ghislain even raised his thumb high, feeding into the mood.

“You’re really the best, Alfoi.”

To be praised this much—it was as good as done. Ghislain rarely called anyone the best.

“Tsk… as if I haven’t always been.”

Alfoi began to preen, putting on a smug expression.

Claude, determined to drive it home, pointed to Alfoi’s hand.

“Hey, bro! Do you know what kind of hand you’ve got there, using magic?”

“…My right hand?”

“That’s not what I mean, you idiot… no, I mean, the magic casted from your hand is going to bring miracles to this territory! So your hand is a miraculous hand, isn’t it? It’s not about right or left! You blockhead…”

“Wow! Alfoi, the hand of miracles!”

People cut Claude off with cheers, deciding that if they’d started this emotional labor, they might as well see it through to the end.

Clap, clap, clap.

When applause joined in, Alfoi was thoroughly basking in confidence.

Seeing this, Claude didn’t even bother to hide the look of pity in his eyes as he leaned toward Wendy to whisper.

“He needs to taste more of society’s bitterness. Having grown up spoiled at the tower, he doesn’t have an ounce of common sense. How did the Tower Master raise him like that?”

‘You’re the worst jerk of them all.’

Wendy didn’t bother to respond, only mulling things over in her mind.

The more the applause and cheers grew, the higher Alfoi’s nose lifted. Flustered, the mages tried to pull on his sleeve and talk him down, but it was no use.

When the mood had fully heated up, Ghislain asked in a subtle tone, “So, can you handle it within the deadline? We need it done as quickly as possible… Is this too much for the genius mage Alfoi?”

At that, everyone fell silent and fixed their eyes on Alfoi.

Scanning the expectant faces around him, Alfoi slowly swept a hand through his hair. Then, with an exceedingly arrogant and conceited look, he raised one hand high.

“Leave it all to me, Alfoi! I’ll take care of everything!”

“Wow! That’s Alfoi for you!”

Once again, cheers and applause poured down on Alfoi.

He tilted his chin proudly toward the sky while the other mages just stared at the ground in disbelief.

* * *

‘Why did I say that when I knew I couldn’t do it?’

Alfoi was sitting in front of a runestone, steeped in regret.

It had been ages since he’d received such an overwhelming dose of praise, so he just couldn’t bring himself to admit defeat.

After all… it would have hurt his pride.

But now that he was facing the task, there was so much to do that he couldn’t even think about where to begin.

Right now, each construction site was desperately calling for mages, and the administrative offices were pressing him to supply runestones for the new land-clearing project.

They’d heaped praise on him before, but the moment work started, they were coldly relentless with the pressure.

Claude, in particular, was ruthless, sending someone every hour to check on his progress.

— “Hey, miracle worker! Hurry up and show us some miracles! When are you finishing this job, you idiot?”

‘That bastard! Using sweet words like that to try and control me? That guy’s probably casting magic with his mouth.’

For a genius mage like him to fall for such a trick—it was like Claude’s mouth had cast some kind of “charm” spell.

Alfoi would have been a laughingstock if anyone had heard his thoughts, but he was unaware of that.

He just kept biting his nails, muttering with a look of rising anxiety.

“No, it’s impossible. How am I supposed to get all this done? If I want to complete the mana convergence array in a week, there’s no time to work on anything else. The schedule’s just not doable.”

Even with all the mages working around the clock, they still couldn’t keep up with the deadline.

But admitting he couldn’t do it was out of the question. His pride wouldn’t allow it.

As the successor to the tower, Alfoi always had to be proud and perfect.

As he sat there, on the verge of despair, Vanessa cautiously spoke up.

“Um… I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“I can engrave the magic array… but the problem is my lack of mana.”

As it was, Vanessa was already taking the lead on the magic array work. However, due to her severe mana shortage, others had no choice but to carry out the work according to her instructions, which significantly slowed down the process.

Alfoi responded curtly.

“So what? Are you bragging that you’re leading the magic array work? Wow, look at you, showing off. Hey, I’m the successor of the tower—the successor! I’m better at everything else except the magic array, alright? I just didn’t study it because it’s a minor field.”

“No, no, that’s not it… If you could transfer some mana to me… I’ll try to complete it as quickly as possible.”

“What?! No way! You’re asking me to do that again? Are you crazy? What if you die?”

Alfoi and the mages stepped back in horror.

During the war, they’d been forced to endure all sorts of things, not knowing what might happen. But under normal circumstances, they had no intention of putting themselves through something so dangerous again.

However, Vanessa was more insistent than usual.

“If we don’t, we won’t meet the deadline! If we fall behind, it’ll cause a lot of trouble for the entire territory’s development! Alfoi, you were confident that you could do it. If you fail now, you’ll be humiliated.”

“Hu-humiliated? That can’t happen… Ugh, then how about recharging the mana with runestones? We have plenty of runestones here.”

The moment Alfoi suggested using runestones, which were part of the estate’s resources, Vanessa spoke even more quickly.

“How can we just use something that expensive? Even if they’re runestones, they can’t produce as much mana as you mages. To supply as much mana as a transfer would require a ridiculous amount, and we’ll still need plenty of runestones for other tasks later on. The Lord wouldn’t approve of using them.”

“Wow, suddenly… you’re making a lot of sense.”

Despite himself, Alfoi couldn’t argue with her reasoning, which was all too grounded in reality. He just scratched his head and sighed.

Vanessa, attempting to soothe him, continued, “I’m not asking you to drain all your mana like during the war. It won’t be as dangerous as back then… and the work will be done much faster. Plus, you’ll receive even more praise.”

“…”

“If we finish early, you can even rest a bit. Isn’t it better to finish quickly and relax than to risk public embarrassment?”

Vanessa’s strong persuasion seemed to work as Alfoi and the mages began to waver, and they asked cautiously, “If we transfer our mana to you, how quickly can you finish?”

“Two days! I can get it done in two days. That’ll even give us at least two more days to rest. If we all work together during the remaining time… we can easily complete the runestone work for the cultivated lands, too.”

“Really… you’re saying you can finish this in two days?”

“Yes!”

After much deliberation, Alfoi decided to put his fear of death aside, all for the sake of his pride and some precious rest.

“We’re… going to take it easy, right?”

“Yes!”

Once she received the mana transfer, Vanessa displayed a remarkable level of concentration. Driven by a fierce determination to contribute to the estate, she ended up creating a small miracle.

In just two days, she completed a hundred mana convergence arrays.

If anyone deserved the title of “miracle worker,” it was Vanessa, not Alfoi. But he was the only one oblivious to that fact.

In any case, the accelerated schedule came at a cost.

After finishing the last step of the work, Vanessa staggered, surrounded by twenty-six mages who had already collapsed from exhaustion.

“Ugh… I can’t believe we actually pulled this off…”

“This is insane… I feel like I’m going to die. Didn’t she say she’d go easy…?”

“She’s out of her mind, too…”

Their bodies were so emaciated they looked skeletal. Though Vanessa had initially promised to go easy, the moment the mana transfer started, she began draining them relentlessly, as if she were siphoning every last drop of mana.

It almost seemed like she had poured some personal feelings into it as well.

Practically a walking skeleton, Alfoi quivered as he spoke.

“Since… we finished everything… it’s okay to rest for two days now, right? Just make sure everyone knows I led this successfully. That way, I won’t… be embarrassed…”

“Yes, yes…”

Vanessa nodded with a pale face.

Hearing the answer he wanted, Alfoi and the mages immediately passed out.

They all looked absolutely worn out, but faint smiles lingered on their lips.

‘With our mana depleted, there’s no way the Lord can make us move for now.’

In the end, their plan succeeded.

By finishing a task that would have taken over a week in just two days, they secured at least two full days to lie down and recover.

Hearing the news that the magic array was complete, Ghislain rushed over in astonishment.

“What? You really finished this in just two days? But… is everyone alright? They didn’t die, did they?”

Glancing around, Ghislain swallowed nervously.

Though it was great they’d finished early, everyone looked terribly unwell.

Sensing his concern, Vanessa gave him a reassuring smile.

“Just a couple of days of rest… and we’ll be able to work again without any issues. The next task is engraving runestones for the farmland, which is a simple job.”

“R-right. For now, you should get some rest too.”

“Oh, no, it’s alright. Alfoi did most of it, so I’m fine. I just need to double-check a bit…”

Drip.

As Vanessa spoke, she stopped mid-sentence to wipe her nose.

Seeing the bright red liquid staining her fingers, she quickly added something, clearly alarmed.

“And… this magic array will last even longer than the previous ones. It should hold for at least two weeks….”

This was incredible news. Extending the duration would mean they could conserve that many more runestones.

It was proof of her talent as a true genius mage.

Ghislain didn’t believe for a second that Alfoi had done it all. He knew too well that Alfoi and the other mages had always been lax when it came to studying magic arrays.

However, now wasn’t the time to get bogged down by minor details.

The blood flowing from Vanessa’s nose was increasing. Ghislain, noticing this, spoke urgently.

“I’ll handle the final checks, so get some rest. Blood’s dripping from your nose!”

“I’m alright. This is just from the sudden exposure to a high volume of mana and the strain of excessive mental focus causing some overload on my brain. The solution is—”

In the middle of her lengthy explanation, Vanessa suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed forward.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Vanessa!”

Ghislain caught her by the shoulders, stopping her from falling.

Even though she’d reached the 6th circle, this had to be an immense task.

Not only was mana scarce, but it had also drained her mental strength to an extraordinary degree.

Still, Vanessa had pushed herself to the limit, driven by her desire to help the estate.

“Ah… really…”

Ghislain gently patted Vanessa’s back as she lay unconscious in his arms, chuckling softly.

Ordinarily, she blended into the background, but in crucial moments, she managed to achieve more than anyone.

He was filled with gratitude, profoundly moved by her dedication.

And regardless of their methods, he felt a sense of pride for Alfoi and the mages who had collapsed after risking themselves with that dangerous mana transfer.

“Even so, as the successor to the tower, he pulled through when it mattered. I’ll have to give him a little something later.”

Ghislain ordered the servants to carry the mages away and immediately summoned Gillian.

“You called for me, sir.”

“Gillian, it’s time to split the training and security duties into morning and afternoon shifts.”

“Do you mean…?”

“Yes, we’re starting a full restructuring.”

With a smile, Ghislain turned his gaze forward.

Before him stretched a hundred magic arrays, glowing softly with a serene blue light.