Siegfried Fors
"What the hell?" The words slipped out before I could stop them as I stared at the large ink-stained part on the lower half of the page.
"What is this?" Grandpa leaned closer, squinting.
"Did some mistake occur during the process?" Granny asked, her brows drawing together.
Mother snatched the sheet from my hands with a sharp motion. "Father Kaelen." She held the paper out toward him. "Explain this. Did you hand us a damaged paper?"
"N-no, Lady Valka," Kaelen stammered. "This is a fresh stack. They arrived just at the start of this month."
"Calm down, Valka," Grandpa said gently.
"It could simply be an error," Kaelen added quickly. "Perhaps the imprint muddled. Why not have the young lord try again?"
"Sieg, try once more," Granny said, though her tone made it clear she wasn't pleased with the idea.
I did as told, pressing a new sheet against the tree and chanting the words with steady focus. The paper glowed gold, brighter than the first time, and then dimmed.
I checked the result…
"It's the same." I held it up for them to see.
Mother shifted her gaze toward Kaelen, and the air around her sharpened. "So. Explain. Before I throw this entire building out of the barony." Her smile was pleasant, but her presence felt like a blade.
Kaelen and the staff flinched visibly. "W-wait, Lady Valka, I am sure this is only a technical issue. Perhaps the young lord mispronounced a syllable. A minor slip can distort the imprint. Let us test it once more. This time I will chant beside him and guide every line carefully."
Before Mother could respond, Grandpa stepped forward. "Please. Go ahead."
Kaelen released a long, shaky breath of relief.
He really is terrified of her.
"Here." Granny handed me another sheet.
"I checked it already. There's nothing wrong with the paper."
I nodded and pressed it against the tree again, this time repeating every syllable exactly as Kaelen murmured beside me. His voice guided the chant from start to finish, and the gold glow spread across the page like before.
When the light faded, I exhaled slowly. "Nothing's changed."
The outburst that followed didn't come from Mother. It tore out of Kaelen.
"How can this be?" He snatched the page from my hands, scanning it with frantic eyes.
"…Maybe the issue lies with Sieg," Granny said quietly.
"Y-yes, that could be possible," Kaelen agreed at once, far too quickly.
Anyone could see he was only trying to save himself.
"Ma, what do you mean?" Mother asked.
"It might be similar to the wand situation," Granny replied. "Sieg's mana could be reacting oddly with the paper."
"So what do we do about it?"
"Have someone else try," Granny said. "If the paper, the tree, or… Sieg is the cause, we should be able to tell."
This so-called 'special' mana… even here it decides to mess with me... Is it because I'm from another world? Or is there some other reason?
"Then let me do it," Uncle said as he stepped forward. "I planned on getting my evaluation done anyway to check how my numbers are doing after eleven years."
"That is wonderful news," Father Kaelen said quickly. "Hurry and give Lord Erik the paper."
The nun carrying the tray scrambled to stand before him.
Uncle took one sheet and repeated the whole process without hesitation. Golden light rose, then faded. He lifted the paper, eyes narrowing.
"What the hell?"
The exact same words I used earlier.
…So it wasn't just me?
"What is it?" Granny and Mother leaned closer.
"Look." Uncle held the page toward them. "I entered the time dungeon eleven years ago when I was twenty. Then why does this say I'm twenty-two?"
…What?
Mother's fist met the top of his head in one swift motion. "Stop talking nonsense."
Uncle groaned, clutching his skull while Granny rubbed his back, and Mother snatched the paper from his hand.
"There isn't even a speck of dust on it." She took a look at it and tossed it back at him.
"So the problem lies with…" Grandpa's eyes slid toward me.
A breath pushed its way out of my chest.
Even being special is such a pain in life.
"There's nothing we can do for now," Mother said, turning toward me. "Check the Arcanas that are visible for the moment."
*…No other choice.*
I lowered my gaze to the pages in my hands.
Arcanas:
Martial Arcanas:
Prime: Swordmaster
Blood: Hawkeye
Exalted: Ironfist
Supernatural Arcanas:
Exalted: Spellweaver
Blood: Master Alchemist
Blood: Mana Engineer
"So many of them," Uncle said as he leaned over my shoulder.
The entire family hovered nearby, eyes tracing every word.
"That's truly amazing. I only had two when I got my first evaluation," Grandpa said, his voice filled with surprise.
"There it is! There it is! Master Alchemist Arcana!" Granny cried out in excitement.
"So it really is Swordmaster," Mother said softly, a knowing look in her eyes. "Zayn is going to be at seventh heaven when he hears that."
"Wait! Is that Mana Engineer Arcana below?" Granny asked, her tone shifting to intense curiosity.
Mana Engineer? That Arcana is used by magic engineers or artificers, the ones who invent and create magic tools and artifacts.
"Ma, you were teaching him magic engineering too?" Mother asked.
"No, I wasn't. I can barely make simple tools, and I don't think anyone in our family is particularly skilled with magic tools for Sieg to inherit it..."
"Other than that, he has Hawkeye as well." Uncle tapped the page. "Are you good with bows?"
"Well… I play with Aifa at the range sometimes, but nothing impressive," I said.
But a thought tugged at me.
Could it be related to my past life? My college had an archery range. I used to go there to kill time. I think I was pretty good… Most of my arrows hit where I aimed.
"Leaving bows aside, he did not inherit our axe arcana," Mother said with a hint of disappointment.
"Right. Axe arcana and force magic are our family's specialty," Grandpa added, a touch of somberness in his voice.
"We can always train him to develop it," Uncle suggested, already planning something in his head.
While the three of them began discussing training methods to develop the Axe Arcana, and Granny was still muttering about how on earth I had inherited an Arcana related to Magic Engineering, I lowered my eyes back to the page, examining every Arcana listed.
Arcana...
Seeing all of them lined up like this. Each name carried its own strength.
Arcanas existed in a hierarchy: Nascent, Especial, Exalted, Blood, Prime, Sovereign.
Most people start at the Nascent stage, slowly climbing their way upward through work and time. But mine… mine were already mostly at the Blood stage. I never grew these; I never earned them. When an Arcana reaches Blood, it becomes hereditary, passed down through the bloodline to one's descendants.
Swordmaster… even though I've barely touched a sword seriously in this life, I am somehow already at such a high stage. Normally, one must progress through Swordling, Sword Acolyte, Sword Veteran, True Swordsman, and Swordmaster, before finally reaching Sword Saint.
I had skipped everything.
The fact that I possessed Swordmaster and other arcanas at the Blood stage meant I must have inherited them from my parent—My Father. One thing was clear now. He must be someone incredibly strong considering the level and variety of these Arcana. Far stronger than I ever imagined.
"Anyways, that means our Sieg has a bright future ahead," Granny said, bringing me out of my deep thoughts.
"Right! He is my son. Of course he's going to be amazing," Mother said as she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me until the air nearly fled my lungs.
Grandpa laughed, his deep voice rumbling happily. "Of course, he is going to be a great lord in the future."
Ah... I'm not sure about that. Being a lord isn't exactly on my bingo list, now that Uncle is back.
"Still…" Uncle took the papers from my hands, eyes narrowing at the dark smudges. "I'm curious about these black stains."
"True. It's a mystery waiting to be solved—" Granny began, but Uncle cut her off.
"Hold on."
His tone shifted as he squinted his eyes. "Look below Mana Engineer in this paper. Another word is visible." He showed the paper to the others.
Before I could get a good look, Mother snatched the paper from him. "Let me take a look... Hmm What's this? What does this word even mean?"
I reached up quickly and plucked the paper from her hand.
My eyes fell on the barely visible word peeking out from just beneath the stains.
A single word.
A word that should never have existed in this world.
A word that belonged to my old life.
"Nascent… Hacker?"
For a moment, it felt like my past life reached through the paper… and grabbed me by the throat.