2nd Rank Has Returned

Abduction-Relationship

The boy looked up at the sky.

The sky was filled with the light of the sun.

People prospered in the light of the sun.

But the boy thought.

‘What if the night comes?’

The boy made wings out of feathers and flew into the sky.

The light of the sun burns the boy as it approaches.

His wings turned to ashes, and his body was filled with smoke.

Then, as his body burned, the boy said.

“It may not be as good as the sun, but it has a meaning.”

The boy fell. The body turned into dry firewood and became a small brazier.

As the sun went down, people gathered by the fire pit.

Humans were the first to have access to light.

That light we call fire.

***

Suddenly, my eyes opened.

It was a dark night, with the sounds of crickets and frogs making long chords.

He was lying on the bed covered with a blanket.

My body couldn’t move properly.

It didn’t mean it was sick or cracked.

His body, especially his left arm, was completely numb like a stone.

First of all, I needed to check where this was.

Leo gave his body a slight recoil and got himself up from the bed.

“Are you awake?”

In the room is a woman with her head bowed and leaning against the wall.

Putting a thick cigar in his mouth seemed quite elegant.

“you are…”

The past flashes through my mind. Apparently, he was almost crushed by the rubble of the stone wall, and then suddenly that person appeared and saved him.

“Darkness Chris Reinhardt, you can think of it as the one who brought you here.”

His body was well bound in bandages with medicine applied. Judging from the fact that there were no slept wounds, it seemed that he had received proper treatment while he was sleeping.

“…what happened to the people?”

Chris put a cigar in and walked towards Leo.

“Victims will have after-effects, but they will be able to recover if they receive good treatment for several months. And Arya, a child who has crossed the crossroads like you is now receiving an education. You will be punished for your reckless behavior.”

Aria, it was a name that suited the girl very well.

Chris explained how Arya got there. It was such a childish thing to be reckless to suddenly follow suspicious people taking a child.

“Education… earning?”

“Yeah, he sneaked into the warlock’s ceremonial hall.”

After entering, I made a guess, but I didn’t know it was true. It was because the warlock’s ritual had only been heard through rumors.

“Actually, Arya should be thankful that it ends with punishment.”

“…”

It was certainly several times better to write something like a reflection letter than to die. In many senses.

“So what about your body? Tell me if you have any injuries. The later it is, the more difficult the treatment.”

Leo looked at his body for a moment, then immediately thought of the paralyzed left half of his body.

“My body is not moving. It feels different from a broken muscle or a muscle pain…”

“where.”

Chris suddenly took off Leo’s clothes and touched his chest. Suddenly, a mature woman touched her breast and felt embarrassed and strange.

For an adolescent boy, that breastbone was too much of a stimulus.

“It’s probably just what I think.”

Taking his hand away from the scar on his chest, Chris nodded to himself.

“How long has this scar been around?”

“About… about a month ago… I got into a fight with him…”

A dagger was lodged in his chest. And it was roughly burned with a lamp to stop the bleeding. It seemed that the problem was that the treatment was sloppy.

“Is that Aria?”

“No… that’s because I was arguing…”

He was the one who threw the glove, and he was the one who ran wild in the middle, so he couldn’t be called a victim.

“I didn’t mean to argue for good or bad.”

“Yes? then…”

“Your paralysis is due to Arya’s attack. It’s a judgment on that.”

Chris picked up a black medium sword from its sheath. Inscriptions were engraved on the face of the sword and the handle. It was quite stylish, but in fact, it was a decoration that had nothing to do with the ability of the sword.

“Have you ever seen this?”

The clear energy that flowed through the sword, the energy that was clear enough to change the air current.

“…are you Auror?”

“If you knew, the story would be faster.”

She put the sword back into its sheath.

“Aurora… To use mana, you have no choice but to use innate or special training methods.”

I knew that. That’s why he couldn’t even use or learn the auror himself.

“But there are some dead-end tricks in Auror.”

She kicked again and fired a stab.

“Perhaps the aura contained in Arya’s dagger has been absorbed into your heart. Have you been having chest pains lately?”

There was, but I thought it was a natural pain. Isn’t it strange to think that such a treatment will have no side effects?

“…are you going to come here in such a simple way…?”

“Even for simple things, the aftereffects are serious. like now.”

Even though it was definitely painful, being paralyzed was a big deal.

“And that’s not all. If you are not prepared to release the stored mana in an instant, it becomes poison.”

Only then did I understand that the stone wall had been split. In that fire, he had, at least temporarily, ejected an auror.

“…So, is it resolved?”

“If I could live with a body that was half crippled, it would have been resolved.”

Of course it wasn’t, and it wasn’t resolved either.

“Right now, your body has temporarily opened the passage to the Aurors. But the situation is serious as it is an expedient. If you let it go, you will probably have to live like that for the rest of your life.”

There was nothing worse than dying here.

“…is there a way?”

“have. That’s why I brought it.”

“Then how…”

“Previously.”

Chris pulled out his sword and leaned back against the wall.

“Answer my questions. How to do that is something to think about.”

I felt the pressure. It was incomparable to the enemies I had fought so far.

A cold life flowed.

“I unintentionally got to investigate you.”

Chris picked up the mercenary plaque. It was Leo’s old mercenary badge.

“After checking your identity, Leonardo, you were definitely a mercenary belonging to the guild. by the way…”

She put the mercenary plate down on the table and sighed.

“Why can a 13-year-old boy receive a request to subdue a bandit or a human trafficking group?”

In fact, this was a fact that could not be taken out or beaten. Even if this was actually a warlock ritual, even a trafficker wouldn’t do the job of a young mercenary.

“…do I have to explain why? Or do I have to explain how?”

“First, explain how.”

“I had a connection with that guild leader, and I also had a kind of test. and…”

Leo paused for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“We made a contract so that we could make all kinds and grades of referrals with no insurance and some benefits in the event of retirement and death.”

Chris was a little flustered and dropped the cigar he was about to pick up.

“…do you know what that… means?”

Perhaps Leo himself knew best.

“Yeah, I gave up all the benefits of being a guild except for quests.”

“…wasn’t the guild leader an acquaintance? Did you allow that?”

“I asked for it.”

Rather, the guild leader is concerned about himself and has set this contract to be terminated at any time.

There is no need to consider the penalty or notice period.

“…do you have a family?”

“…maybe. Because I am working as a mercenary under such conditions to find that family.”

Chris’ eyes changed.

Leo continued his story.

Was it just to clear doubts, or did you need an adult who wanted to tell this story before?

Leo did not acknowledge the answer he had been working on.

“…that’s how it happened.”

“You couldn’t find your mother after all…?”

“It would be cool to see if I could find any relics… but the body didn’t come out, and it didn’t come back alive either.”

Leo let out a bitter laugh.

“…are you okay?”

“Everything… that’s it. What I learned while serving as a mercenary was that there were so many deaths in the world that I couldn’t even leave a corpse.”

There are ways to burn it until it turns to ashes with fire, to be tied to a heavy object and thrown into the sea, or to be eaten by monsters to the bone.

It was that common.

mother’s death.

“That’s not what the kid is talking about.”

“…the person who killed it to be called a child…”

At that moment, Chris bowed his head.

No, it wasn’t that much of a bow.

She put her knees on the floor, palms down, and bowed her head.

“sorry.”

“…Yes? Why all of a sudden…? wake up!”

It was a very serious and weighty apology, so Leo was rather embarrassed.

“I didn’t know about you and only heard Aria’s story a month ago, and I denigrated you. This is his apology.”

She shook off her black clothes and stood up.

“And you saved my nephew Arya and all the victims. This is his thanks.”

Chris lightly touched Leo’s body and breathed in some mana. Then the sensation of the paralyzed area returned temporarily.

“I can move…”

“This is temporary. In order to control the mana created by expedients, you have to practice mana in a standard way.”

At those words, Leo became a little gloomy.

“That is… a little sad. Mana training is an incredibly rare skill. so…”

“So let me teach you. I will teach you how to practice Reinhardt’s mana.”

“…yes…yes!?”

Did I hear the wrong thing now, or did I listen to my wishes because I was desperate for hopes?

“I said that I would teach the Reinhardt family mana training. Because that would be the most effective.”

“…Yes? Why are you so…”

“Everyone bangs their heads and says apologies or thanks. As an adult, I have my own responsibilities.”

Then she said as she walked towards the door.

“And you have the right to depend on it as a child, but…”

Kikik, Kudangtang

The moment Chris quietly opened the door, Arya fell into the room.

“…Ugh…!”

“Aria, what are you doing here?”

“Ah… that’s… not like that. aunt…”

Leo, who was looking at her from the bed, asked with a slightly cold gaze.

“What is my name?”

“Leonardo, ah.”

I got caught so rudely.

“Did you hear everything?”

“yes.”

A quick reply, but she couldn’t even make eye contact because she was embarrassed in her own way.

“Hey, if you learn that mana training method, your body will be healed and you will become stronger, right?”

“It will depend on your efforts. I’m only teaching you how, it’s up to you to wake up.”

That was a good condition.

“Then, if I learn it within a month, can I try again with Aria?”

“…are you serious?”

“If I say this as a joke, won’t I die?”

At that, Chris smiled wildly. Surprisingly, Leo thought he might have a talent for jokes.

“hahahaha, that’s fun. Aria, what do you think?”

“…yes…what…yes…”

Perhaps she was still ashamed of overhearing, she left only a vaguely positive affirmation.

“Is that so?”

“…okay. I have good eyes.”

Looking into those eyes, Chris held out a hand and opened his mouth.

“Your eyes are full of will and passion. Even if we don’t win right away, it will be of great help to Arya in the future.”

“I know I have to do that.”

she laughed bitterly. It wasn’t just ridicule, it was because now the boy had a childish curiosity.

“Then, won’t you become a servant of our family?”

***

“That’s how I got to work at Reinhardt.”

“Isn’t there something missing?”

“…well, you knew.”

Leo intentionally told only the first part of the story of his previous life. The wise man definitely wants to know…

“…how Arya died…”

“So, when do you mate in love?”

Needless to say, Leo has historically been very suspicious of why this man is called a sage.

“…that’s all, how did the test go?”

“Look at the black stone first.”

Leonardo looked at the black stone wrapped in a bracelet. On the black stone, a red line was drawn as the center of the bracelet.

The shiny thing was like a jewel, but the texture of the color was like flowing blood.

“I told you. It will eat your mana and grow.”

“…is it going to change like this?”

“Maybe it was because of the lightning strike at that time. I don’t know about the change in ability.”

I was a little embarrassed to ask why I didn’t know. In retrospect, it was a sight that even a sage would never have imagined that he would change like this.

“Anyway, that’s why I brought you here. The weapon has changed, so I brought it here because I was worried about the subsequent runaway.”

“Then what about the test?”

Isn’t that a concept like a score or passing?

“I think it will just be necessary to stabilize the weapon. It’s easy to be influenced by emotions. If you fail, you will die and I will die too.”

I wondered whether I should be angry or happy to say such a thing in a casual way. Anyway, in the sense that the bracelet was stable, it was a safe part.

“…and then what?”

“If you want to talk, add more, if you don’t want to, just go out of the cave. then…”

slurp…

“…hey…”

For some reason, the sensations in the lower body were damp. I was very concerned about the strangely hot thing. The warm liquid flowing down was very unpleasant.

“…that sage… is it possible that real-world events also have an effect here?”

“uh. Something like urinating is definitely a response.”

A feeling of shame enveloped my whole body. I hope it’s okay, but… it looks like it was done in the hospital room.

“Now… I’m leaving right now!!”

“Yeah, wash your panties first when you go out.”

It was so shameful that he couldn’t even swear, and Leo ran out.

His eyes twinkled and Leo exclaimed.

“No way…!!”

“…uh…..?”

In front of the bed, exactly beside the bed, a girl was pulling her trousers down.

In the direction of the groin of the pants, there was a thick, dark liquid that could not be thought of as urine, warm and thick.

The white-haired and blue-eyed girl pulled Leo’s pants below her waist and held her pelvis.

“…that…that…is it…?”

After a long time, Arya said so.

His expression was redder than the patient himself.