In the legends and pictures from the fairytales, the image of Vermouth with 'the Holy Sword' was always in center place, but according to Eugene's memories, the Holy Sword wasn't as great of a weapon as the stories made it out to be.
'Though it did shine pretty brightly.'
It provided all sorts of help in the dimly lit Demon King's castle, but that was it really. In the first place, as the Holy Sword was more of a ceremonial sword with an emphasis on appearance rather than function, Vermouth didn't actually like to use it that much. It was to the extent where it was only taken out occasionally to deal with especially tough demons.
Vermouth was a master of many different weapons, which had gained him the titles of God of War and Master-of-All. That guy would pull all sorts of weapons out of his subspace whenever he needed to use something in particular.
'And on top of all that, he was also good at magic,' thought Eugene.
Throughout his life, Hamel had never learned any magic.
'I'd like to think that if I had devoted some time to cracking it, I'd have been better than the average joe.'
But even if that were the case, at that time, he hadn't spared magic a single glance. Back when he was a child and still thought he was a genius… the idea of learning magic had never even crossed his mind.
'That would probably have continued to be the case even if I hadn't met Vermouth.'
Hamel had gone through a lot of changes after meeting Vermouth.
In this world, there were people called geniuses who could excel at everything they tried. Young Hamel had believed himself to be such a genius, but an encounter with a true genius had shattered this childish delusion.
He learned that he wasn't a genius.
'But now?'
With a click of his tongue, Eugene tilted his head.
'I have memories of my past life. If that was all I had, then I could easily become as strong as I was back then.'
He was certain of this. However, Eugene didn't want to be satisfied with reaching just that level of strength. Since he had even reincarnated like this… what meaning would there be in staying at the same level that he had reached in his previous life. After all, he had been reincarnated as a descendant of that Vermouth.
'Vermouth,' thought Eugene as he massaged his thick arms, 'it looks like there really is something to your blood.'
Even if a child worked out, they weren't physically able to put on much muscle. However, Eugene had no choice but to admit that, apart from the size of the muscles, his new body was perfect.
Although he might not have bulked up, his whole body was wiry and flexible, and it was hard to imagine that a child's body could have such dense musculature. His bones were equally sturdy. Even if he pushed his body to the breaking point, it didn't cause any sequelae, and even serious injuries healed quickly.
'Although my previous body was already good enough to be mistaken for a genius, this is just… there's no comparison. It's enough to make me understand how you could have gotten so strong.'
From the start, the base specs of their bodies had been different. This fact brought feelings of both joy and bitterness to Eugene. If he had had a body like this in his previous life….
'...it's pointless to think about it.'
Shaking his head, Eugene rid himself of the idea. His past life belonged in the past. Since he had been reincarnated like this, why bother with the regrets of his previous life?
With these thoughts in mind, Eugene attempted to shed his attachments to the past. However, he couldn't quite let go of his regrets. After all, wasn't the only thing that Hamel had left behind as his legacy was that fucking insulting nickname of 'The Stupid Hamel'?
And what about the others?
After returning to his homeland in the Kiehl Empire, the Great Vermouth served as a duke before eventually returning the title. He was praised as a hero until the very end. The Kiehl Empire held a state funeral for Vermouth's death, and, even now, the anniversary of Vermouth's death was commemorated by the empire.
As for the Wise Sienna, that uncute girl was invited to the Magic Kingdom of Aroth, where she became the youngest person in history to rise to the position of a Magic Tower's Head Wizard. Although there were only five Magic Towers in Aroth, two of them currently had one of Sienna's direct disciples serving as their heads.
The Faithful Anise, that rotten woman, had actually ended up being canonized as a Saint by the Holy Empire of Yuras. Her teachings were so respected that they were even being passed down as a separate volume of scripture.
And Eugene just couldn't believe what the Brave Molon was said to have done. It was claimed that Molon, that blockhead, had actually founded a kingdom! Did he really manage to gather all the refugees from the lands that had been ravaged by the Demon Kings' forces and establish a kingdom in his own name?
'And here's the part that I'm finding the most difficult to understand.'
Eugene furrowed his brow. Whenever his thoughts turned to this matter, it was always at this point that he felt a familiar surge of rage.
'It seems like everyone was doing just fine until they died, so why are the demons still around?'
In his past life as Hamel, he and his companions had ventured into the Devildom of Helmuth. While leading the subjugation forces sent from every country, they had killed three of the five Demon Kings.
Stupid Hamel then died at the Fourth Demon King's castle.
He clearly remembered that, at the moment of his death, he had believed that Vermouth and his other companions would definitely slay the remaining Demon Kings.
However, how were things in reality? The world was at peace, of course. The Demon Kings no longer held any ambitions of conquering the world, and it was all due to the 'Oath' that the Great Vermouth had made with the Demon Kings.
'Why did he end up making an oath like that? Weren't we supposed to wipe them all out?'
He didn't know the reasons behind it. But in any case, the war with the Demon Kings was over, and the world was at peace. A peace that had lasted for over three hundred years and continued to the present day.
"...Perchance, are you feeling a bit nervous?"
Eugene lifted his head as he heard a voice speaking to him. He was currently riding inside of a luxurious carriage. A middle-aged man with a stiff face was sitting in the seat across from him.
"...It's because this is my first time in the capital," Eugene muttered as he looked out of the window.
He had left behind his mansion in the countryside and arrived at the nearest city after a day's travel in a horse-drawn carriage. Then, after going through several warp gates, he had finally stepped foot in the capital.
"I understand how you feel," the man sympathized with Eugene.
The man's name was Gordon. He was a knight who had sworn allegiance to the main house of Lionheart, and he was currently serving as Eugene's escort.
"Master Eugene, would you mind if I give you a piece of advice?"
"Sure."
"If you're already feeling nervous, then every day spent at the main estate will feel extremely tortuous."
There wasn't a single sign of amusement on Gordon's face. And even though these words had been offered as advice, there wasn't a trace of concern either. Sensing this, Eugene grinned.
"Thank you for your advice, Sir Gordon."
Eugene was well aware of his current plight. As they weren't part of the direct bloodline, the reality was that the collateral descendants were forced to treat even the knights who had been assigned to escort them with wary respect. Much less Eugene's household, who were beneath the notice of even the other collateral branches.
'Even so, I'm still a Lionheart. They only sent a single knight to escort me… and my father wasn't allowed to accompany me either.'
Without dropping his smile, Eugene turned back to stare out the window.
'Although they aren't being too obvious about it, they're really trying to put us in our place. I guess they're getting a head start by crushing our spirits? Bastards. Vermouth, this is all because you went and sowed your seeds all over the place.'
Eugene imagined how things might unfold in the near future. Seeing as how they were already trying to crush his spirit, he would probably be subjected to even more blatant oppression the moment he arrived at the main house.
'Maybe they'll gather all their knights to welcome us and then loudly announce exactly who is arriving and how humble their background is?'
No, they would save that sort of thing for those who were actually being treated as competition. Seeing how they had only sent one knight to escort him, they probably wouldn't even bother to arrange a welcoming ceremony for him.
"...How many people are participating in this year's Bloodline Continuation Ceremony?"
"Including Master Eugene, there are six people from the collateral lines. In addition, three heirs from the main house will also be participating."
"Three from the main house?"
Although Eugene had pitched his voice in an attempt to feign surprise, he had already known in advance who was attending this year's Bloodline Continuation Ceremony. This was all thanks to Gerhard taking special precautions.
Of the three people from the direct bloodline, one was the first wife's son, and the other two were twins born from the second wife.
Within the five from the other collateral bloodlines, the only ones who needed to be paid any attention were the two from families who had gained quite the prestige despite being collateral bloodlines.
'I think the oldest was only fifteen, and there are those even younger than me….'
Eugene was thirteen years old. Upon recalling his current age, he couldn't hold back a sigh. All because of this tradition, was he really being asked to compete with ten-year-olds?
~
--Eugene. Whatever you do, don't try to compete with the children of the main house. No matter how excellent you are, you won't be an opponent for the children of the direct bloodline. That's why you should….
~
Eugene recalled the gloomy expression that Gerhard had held at that time. His father couldn't hide his fear that his son might fall into despair once he encountered the children of the main household.
'...still, I can't help but feel excited to see how talented Vermouth's descendants are.'
Eugene tore his eyes away from the window. They had already passed by all the splendid scenery the capital had to offer, and now the carriage was leaving the city behind and entering a forest.
"From this point on, we have entered the Lionheart estate."
The forest was surrounded by tall walls.
"Ah, but there's no need to be in a hurry to get your things ready. We still have a long way to go from here."
Even though he hadn't been getting ready to leave the carriage at all, Gordon still smiled as he gave this teasing advice.
'I get it, you bastard. Must be nice to have such a large estate. It's not even your land, so why are you acting so smug?'
"Whoa, so this whole forest is the private property of the main house?"
"Yep."
"If it's this large, isn't it inconvenient getting around?"
"There are warp gates installed everywhere."
'Is that so? Then why am I currently riding in a carriage? That's because we couldn't even be bothered to give Master Eugene permission to use the warp gates.'
While holding this back-and-forth conversation inside his head, Eugene continued to stare outside the window.
~
Just as Gordon had said, the carriage finally came to a stop after driving on for quite some time. After opening the door on his side and getting down from the carriage, Gordon walked over to open the door for Eugene.
"Welcome to the Lionheart family's main estate," Gordon said politely, with a bow of his head.
The mansion was visible through the wide-open gates. Just as expected, not a single person had come out to welcome him.
'The Lionheart.'
Eugene slowly raised his gaze. White flags lined the path leading up from the main gate entrance, and a brave lion was embroidered in the center of each flag. This was the personal sigil of the main house.
'Vermouth's Lionheart.'
Eugene looked down at his own chest. His clothes were bare of any decoration. Only Vermouth Lionheart's direct descendants were allowed to have the lion sigil sewn onto their left chest.
'If only I had also left descendants.'
In his previous life, Hamel had neither married anyone nor had any children.
'No. It's a good thing I didn't have any. If that were the case, I would have been left with some pointless regrets.'
Still, seeing the family's flags lined up like this, he couldn't help but feel regret for his past life.
"Have any of my other relatives arrived yet?"
"Master Eugene is the first to arrive."
'Hurray,' Eugene thought with a nod of his head.
* * *
The place where Eugene was led to was an annex built off of the main hall.
On the way there, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of a single relative who bore the lion on their chest that showed they belonged to the main family. Why were they being so aloof? Shouldn't they at least feel some curiosity and come to take a look at the arrival of their thirteen-year-old relative?
But at least he wasn't being received with complete rudeness. Upon arriving at the annex, he found that a single personal attendant had been attached to him.
The female servant greeted him, "Please call me Nina."
Though from the looks of it, she was a young girl who wasn't much older than Eugene, Eugene couldn't muster up much dissatisfaction for this.
"If there is anything you need, please ring this bell," Nina said as she bowed her head and handed Eugene a small bell.
She was probably in her late teens, at the very most.
"Do you mind if I speak comfortably?"
"Of course, please do so."
"Am I the only one using this entire annex?" Eugene asked as he looked around the spacious annex.
He was only asking for the sake of confirmation. Eugene knew that this couldn't really be the case. For one thing, Nina was far too young to oversee an entire annex by herself.
"I'm afraid that is not the case, but there shouldn't be any discomfort during your stay."
"So you're saying that I'm going to be living with some other relatives," Eugene confirmed.
"Yes."
"Do you know when they'll be arriving?"
"They all should arrive within four days at the very latest."
Eugene snorted at this reply. Because this just meant that he would be stuck here for four days.
"Is there a gymnasium around the back?"
"...Huh? Um, yes…"
"Do I need permission from the main house to practice my swings with a wooden sword?"
"That's… Um…"
"Because that's just what I'm going to do," Eugene declared with a smile as he headed straight to the gym.
With a helpless look on her face, Nina trailed behind Eugene.