Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

“Finally, it’s done.”

It had taken longer than expected, but the results were excellent, especially considering that Henry hadn’t used his skills in a while. He nodded in satisfaction and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He woke Von up.

“Hmm…” Von woke with a small groan.

Henry had put Von to sleep since the Plastic Cosmetics took quite a bit of time.

“How’d it go?” Von’s voice was full of nervousness, especially because he’d never shown his face to anyone unless it was a life-or-death confrontation. Instead of a reply, Henry handed Von a mirror. Von slowly began to open his eyes.

“H-how can this be!”

As soon as he saw his reflection, Von’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe it. He was the idea of a handsome, young man. His face was better than when he had been in his twenties and he was now the best-looking young man he’d ever seen. Von touched his face in disbelief and mumbled, “I can’t believe it… Something really magical did happen…”

In addition to Von’s requests, Henry had improved other features as a bonus. Von was so handsome and young now that all women passing him would look back at least once.

“Do you like it?” Henry asked, satisfied with his masterpiece.

Van clenched Henry's hand tightly and said in a tear-filled voice, “Henry…”

“Haha, there’s no need to thank me since this was just for work.”

“...That’s not it. Why don’t we postpone our departure until tomorrow?”

“What?”

“I just need time tonight. Now that I think about it, I need to rest because I’m too exhausted from my travels. We can depart after then.”

“...Alright.”

It was an obvious lie, but Henry decided to postpone the departure as a reward for Von’s achievements.

“Thanks, thank you so much! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Von quickly got dressed and headed outside.

* * *

Von reeked of so much alcohol from drinking the night before that you had to cover your nose.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Hehe, I’ve never experienced more fun than last night. I feel fine, so let’s get going!”

Von looked young and handsome, but he still talked or acted like an old man. However, his ability to recover was the same as that of a young man, and he mounted his horse with a lively attitude.

They did not let the members of Henry’s mansion find out about Von’s change in appearance. Although Hagler and Von knew that Henry was a wizard, the rest did not. They decided to use the business trip as a pretext for the change in Von’s appearance.

Henry quickly left for Shonan after putting the bodies and the carriage into the Chest. They arrived in Shonan more quickly than before since they were both good horsemen. As soon as Henry arrived in Shonan, he purchased a suitable carriage to store the bodies and headed towards Eisen’s mansion.

When Henry arrived at the mansion, he greeted the familiar faces.

“Hi?”

“Y-you’re!”

The men who had tried to check Henry’s identity tag last time were still guarding the entrance to the mansion. Henry smirked and said without any ado, “I’m here to see the count again.”

“W-what? It’s that guy again!”

“What’s wrong? I guess you didn’t get enough of a beating from me last time?”

The soldiers were still angry about their beating, but when Henry looked murderous, they had no choice but to back down.

“I don’t have much time. Tell Vedican that I’m here.”

“Argh… Okay.”

The soldier couldn’t use formal language since he was too proud. Von noticed and said, “It’s said that lazy dogs are just like their owners… Don’t you think you should give him a good scolding?”

“I’ve already given them a good beating. What else can I do? It’s just their nature.”

However, Von clucked his tongue as if he were still unsatisfied. Vedican, the head of the guards, showed up with an annoyed expression when he noticed Henry.

“What is it now?”

“Same reason as last time.”

“Damn it!” Vedican did not hide his feelings of displeasure. However, he had no reason to stop Henry, since it was the same business as before.

Henry easily entered the mansion with his carriage.

“Wait here.”

Just as before, Vedican left the two waiting in front of the reception building as he went to Eisen. When Vedican was gone, Von said, “Eisen is still living a grand life, huh.”

“Are you jealous?”

“I don’t need to show off meaningless things.”

“Says the person who wanted to postpone our departure?”

“Hm, that was only because I wanted to make sure that the Plastic Cosmetic procedure had gone well. It’s always best to make sure everything is fine, isn’t it?”

For a moment, Henry was speechless from Von’s shamelessness. “...Alright. Anyway, do you still remember the things I told you on our way here?”

“Yes. I need a fake name, and I must use honorifics when talking to you, right?”

“Yes. Did you pick out a fake name yet?”

“I’ve decided to use the name ‘Lanber.’”

“Lanber? Is there a reason why?”

“That is the name of the guy that I drank with last night.”

Henry had asked Von to come up with a fake name in order to avoid Eisen’s suspicions, and since Von was supposed to be Henry’s second-in-command, he had to use honorifics. Soon, a familiar carriage appeared in front of the two. It was Eisen’s carriage.

Eisen frowned as soon as he got off his carriage.

‘It seems like things aren’t working out in his favor.’

If he had greeted Henry happily, it would’ve meant that the reporting order had gone well, but his expression revealed that it had been unsuccessful. 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝑚

Henry bowed and greeted Eisen. “Nice to see you, Count Eisen.”

“It’s you again?”

“Yes.”

“What is it now?”

Henry continued to smile despite Eisen’s annoyance in order to placate him. “It’s what I told Vedican: I’ve brought more Viper Knight bodies again.”

“What?” Eisen raised his brows. “Who are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve shown up with another bunch of those damned snakes in just a few days. Are you making a fool out of me?”

It was indeed difficult to believe. Bringing the bodies of imperial knights twice in a row was a difficult accomplishment. Henry calmly replied, “It was a coincidence. I had some business in Salgaera, so I ordered my second-in-command to go, and he happened to meet the Viper Knights again.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I have a letter of recommendation from Chief Vhant again, please take a look.”

Henry handed Vhant’s letter to Eisen. Eisen snatched it out of Henry’s hand and began to quickly read the contents.

Henry was telling the truth. Vhant’s letter had his stamp of authority. It stated that the Viper Knights had gone to Salgaera to get rid of all evidence. However, even after reading the letter multiple times, Eisen still looked doubtful.

Henry sighed to himself when he saw that expression. ‘What a fool. That’s why a person like Aubert could become a marquis instead of you.’

Aubert would have checked the facts first without any obvious emotions, unlike Eisen. After re-examining the situation, Aubert would have given Henry a large reward for showing up with evidence again.

However, Eisen, who seemed as if he had muscles for brains, not only didn’t reward Henry, he even gazed suspiciously at his benefactor. Henry had to start explaining, “I can understand why you are suspicious of me, Count Eisen, but it was bound to happen.”

“Bound to happen?”

“Yes. After I killed the knights disguised as bandits, I made a mistake.”

“Mistake? What mistake?”

“Do you remember the arm that I showed you last time?”

“I do, what about it?”

“Since I only had an arm, it’s obvious that I didn’t kill one of the knights. That guy, of course, went back to Aubert to tell him what had happened. As I warned you before that he would do, Aubert sent a team of assassins to destroy all evidence of disobeying an imperial order.”

“So you were waiting for the assassins to show up?”

“That’s right, and you can see now that I’m here to hand you another trump card: the bodies of that backup team.”

Henry had to explain everything clearly for the stupid Eisen. Fortunately, Henry could use this to highlight his contribution at the same time.

Eisen began to think. ‘He does have a point and really, the only reason I suspect him is that the reporting order didn’t go well. I only want to release my frustration on him.’

Usually, Eisen was not honest with his emotions, but now he cleared his throat and nodded. “...Ahem, I spoke without thinking.”

“No, it’s alright, but… Seeing that you’re upset, it seems that things haven’t gone well.”

“I tried my best, but Aubert is on another level of evil… His Majesty is so foolish too, how could he be so easily fooled by such terrible acting. My goodness…!”

Even with so many people around and despite being a member of the Patrician Families, Eisen didn’t hide his disdain for the emperor. It was clear to Henry how much the imperial power had decreased if someone like Eison, who couldn’t even join the Great Families, could mock the emperor. Henry could imagine what had happened at the palace. ‘What an idiot! That’s why you can never beat Aubert.’

Henry sighed to himself again. ‘I’ll make the most of what I have.’

Although Eisen was a fool, he wasn’t useless. Henry began to placate Eisen again. “Since we have solid evidence this time, Aubert won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Of course. Anyway, I should give you another reward.”

Give and take. If you received something, you had to give something in return.

Henry believed that Eisen was going to give him another gold coin as a reward, so he hurried to refuse it. “Count Eisen, I do not need a reward.”

Eisen frowned again.