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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Theo Ragnar (1)
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Theo Ragnar—Yoo Tae-oh—gnashed his teeth as he gazed up at the arrow rain blotting out the sky.
Why did he keep failing over and over?
* * *
Theo had become aware of his previous life around the age of fifteen.
There was no particular trigger.
It had simply come to him while he was half-heartedly listening to his tutor's lesson, just like always.
Not all of his past life's memories resurfaced.
It was like waking from a dream—only fragmented snippets remained.
But his previous life bore an eerie resemblance to his current one in many ways.
In his past life, he had lost his parents young in an accident and bounced between relatives' homes, always having to watch his step around others.
In this life, born as the child of a noble house yet scorned and despised for his mother from the slums.
The shackles of status and circumstance bound his limbs tight.
It felt so unjust.
So he vowed:
'This time, I'll break free of these chains somehow.'
Fortunately, the family he was born into was one where anyone could shed the constraints of birth through effort or talent.
—The Ragnar Family.
The grand ducal house positioned at the empire's northernmost edge, guardians of the empire and continent against the monsters beyond the wall.
They had countless titles.
Great North Wall.
Empire's Shield.
Dragon Knight Order.
Lord of Winter Mountains.
The ideal realm of swordsmen and knights.
Father of the fallen warriors.
.
.
Their thousand-year history, unbroken in that very seat, wove through countless myths and legends.
And perhaps because of it:
The blood of the Ragnar Family was said to carry the blood of dragons, granting them extraordinary constitutions.
They boasted not only high magic resistance but also exceptional aptitude for swordsmanship and martial arts.
How else to explain how they naturally sensed mana past age ten and became at least 1-star experts just by picking up a sword?
Moreover, their homeland was Wintera, blanketed in snow for more than half the year.
This naturally forged the Ragnar Family into one pursuing a domineering house ethos.
Survival of the fittest.
Or reverence for the strong.
Only the strong survived and claimed everything.
Thus, if Theo could just gain power, he too could rise regardless of status or circumstance.
But there was a problem.
Before awakening to his past life, Theo had been so thoroughly looked down upon that he shrank into himself, convinced he had no talent, and distanced himself from training.
Awakening to his past life had broadened his worldview and shifted his values, but he had already missed the prime window for learning.
Even if not, the Ragnar Family of his era boasted a peak era of prowess.
Theo couldn't even dream of competing for the throne against such brilliant, genius siblings.
So Theo changed course.
He aimed to join the Ragnar Family's intelligence network and seize power from the shadows.
He figured that was a place where he could fully showcase his skills.
His memories were spotty, but in his past life, he seemed to have worked a job handling information.
...That's what he thought.
'My mistake was underestimating how intense my siblings' lust for power truly was.'
To them, a bastard like him was just a disposable pawn.
The butler who aided him, his master, the servants—all fell to assassins of unknown origin.
He was so sorry.
It felt like they'd all ended up this way because they'd met a fool like him.
'If only I hadn't wandered and conducted myself properly... would this have happened?'
Now, only he remained.
And even that wouldn't last much longer.
The chains still bound his limbs tight.
And then.
Theo finally realized one truth.
'...These damn chains weren't meant to be shaken off. They had to be shattered by force.'
Thud—
A dull impact, and his vision darkened.
[You have died.]
[Coins ■ ■ consumed to ■■ ■■■■■ return■■■.]
* * *
'Again... here?'
Theo forced his eyes open to the sensation of floating in the void.
Over twenty years had passed since he last felt it, but it was unforgettable.
The buoyancy between his first life and second—the interim between deaths.
It seemed to be the passage every reincarnation went through.
So was a third life about to begin?
Ding!
An unidentified chime rang out, and his vision flooded with light.
.
.
Faintly, some sound approached from afar.
.
Then suddenly, it blared.
"Today's lesson ends here. Any more would be pointless for you."
The words seemed polite on the surface, but the contempt laced within was impossible to hide.
"Tch! Even with your lowly mother, to be this dim-witted. The Awakening Ceremony in half a year might as well be predictable without seeing it."
Theo couldn't pull himself together until the middle-aged instructor clicked his tongue and left the classroom.
'That man... Renden? How is Renden here? And Awakening Ceremony? What...?'
Renden had been Theo's tutor in his childhood.
But surely he'd lost his head during the family head contest for backing the wrong side?
Theo looked down at his hands.
Pale and smooth, without a single callus.
'What?'
Too startled, Theo whipped his head toward the full-length mirror nearby.
His black hair, unusually long for a boy, shimmered blue; his eyes burned a deep crimson, like blood.
His frame was slightly frail.
Fifteen years old, perhaps.
A youthful face stared back.
His mind blanked for a moment.
What in the world was happening?
Only one thought sprang up.
'Did I... return to the past?'
Had his desperate wish—to thrash about if granted another chance at life—come true?
"Reincarnation and regression...? What nonsense is this?"
Theo let out a hollow chuckle right then.
Ding!
[■■■■■ Beta Ser■■ce ■■ ■■■■.]
[■■■ Patch ■■ ■.]
.
[Patch■ com■■■■■.]
[Player■ registered■■■■■.]
[■■■■ activated■■.]
Windows popped up smack in the center of his vision.
Theo swallowed dryly without thinking.
'What's this now? Patch? Player? There was never anything like this before?'
Most were garbled with noise, impossible to decipher, but they seemed intent on conveying something.
New message windows kept appearing.
[Quest■ arrived.]
+
[Tutorial Quest■ #1]
Open your Aura Hall.
· Difficulty: F
· Reward: ■■■'s half■
· On Failure: ■■
+
This one held more text.
Still incomprehensible.
'It's like those games from my past life... but I have no clue what's what.'
It clearly tied to his regression somehow.
Theo felt instinctive resistance first.
No proper explanation, just "Do this"—it felt like an order.
Hadn't he spent his life as a pawn, used and discarded?
Of course he'd be suspicious.
'....'
After long deliberation, Theo slapped his face with his hands.
Slap! Slap!
His mind sharpened.
"For now, ignore this. If it's something, I'll figure it out later."
—First, what I can do myself.
Theo flipped his notebook to the back and began scribbling with his pen.
Before regression, he'd been in intelligence.
Naturally, he knew the events up to his death at thirty-five better than anyone.
The hidden secrets behind them too.
He listed them chronologically, sorting out what he could seize or exploit.
'To break these chains, shadows won't cut it. Higher than anyone. I must sit at the pinnacle and look down on all.'
Having returned to the past, Theo now aimed for the Ragnar Family's throne.
To never again see the grief and despair on his retainers' faces at his death.
He needed to steel his heart more ruthlessly than anyone.
'And pinpoint exactly who killed me. Lots to do.'
Snap!
Plans complete.
Theo snapped his dried-up pen in half and tossed it carelessly to the floor.
The first page of his notebook, in code only he could read, bore four stark words.
—Dragon's Heart.
'First step shouldn't be too hard.'
Somehow, it aligned with that tutorial nonsense.
The corner of Theo's mouth curled up.
* * *
Ask who stands out least among the Ragnar Family head's children.
Every maid and butler in Wintera would answer in unison.
—Young Master Theo Ragnar?
A person as featureless and advantage-less as uncolored cloth.
Hard to believe he was the son of Cecilia, a woman rife with ambition and jealousy.
But at some point, new rumors about Theo began to circulate.
—Every dawn at precisely six, Young Master Theo haunts the fourth training hall.
"Oh? Finally taking interest in training?"
"Y-Yes, but...."
"Hm? Some issue?"
"His training method... it's a bit odd."
"Training method? How so?"
"He runs."
"And?"
"Keeps running."
"...?"
"For six straight hours until noon, just circling the training hall."
"...."
In the Ragnar Family, where even maids and butlers were at least 3-star experts, physical conditioning wasn't noteworthy.
But the other rumors were peculiar.
—After workouts, he always demands so much meat?
"Oh my. Just recently, he asked for a large batch of mueta herbs."
"I got savie grass!"
"Hm? I delivered satan mushrooms this morning... Any reason?"
"Right? All roadside weeds you can grab anywhere?"
"And every night, he borrows the palace kitchen?"
Rumor of him cooking bizarre dishes himself.
—By day, he heads to the library... but the books he borrows are all weird.
"Like what?"
[100 Monster Recipes], [Psychology of Empire Myths], [The Talent-Devouring Mage], [Basement Emperor], [The Emperor Who Undressed Early], and such.
"...Last two titles sound off?"
"W-Well, yeah, kinda...."
"You madman! Young Master Theo's only fifteen—fifteen! How could you lend him that?!"
Even rumors of bizarre library borrowings.
Actions too mundane to draw eyes, yet too unique to ignore.
—Why suddenly doing things he never did before?
"Who knows. But that smile after fulfilling his requests? Too cute."
"Right, right."
"Young Master Theo is actually... no, very handsome, isn't he?"
In the end, the maids and butlers reached one conclusion.
—Probably just bored.
The Ragnar Family brimmed with twisted eccentrics from harsh discipline and training.
They shrugged off Theo's oddities.
He'd quit once bored, they figured.
Thus, Theo progressed his plans smoothly, unhindered.
His own Aura Hall.
The plan to forge [Dragon's Heart].