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Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 5

「But strength isn’t the most important thing for a Lord, and he definitely has that precious something that is needed of them. 」

「What are you thinking about, Lady Siluca? 」

Irvin asked while frowning at her. 」

「I am thinking exactly what you think I am thinking about. 」

「If possible, then I would like to ask you to stop, but… 」

「Yes, I understand what you want to say, but unfortunately for you, I have already decided. 」

With a determined expression, Siluca walked over to the heavily breathing young man.

「Are you okay? 」

Siluca called out to the young man.

「Ah, no need to worry, this is not a big deal. 」

The youth momentarily dropped his gaze to the injury on his right arm, then shook his head.

「Can you not heal it? 」

「No, unfortunately, my Crest does not have that kind of power. 」

「Leave it to me then… 」

Siluca took out the magic wand and shook it lightly.

「Heal wounds sustained, blood coagulates, and damaged tissue regenerates…. 」

As she chanted the spell like a song, Siluca imagined in her mind how the young man’s wound healed itself. Then, something like a black shell swirled and gathered at the tip of her magic wand.

「Cure! 」
Siluca then tapped the young man’s wound with the tip of her magic wand.

「Ow! 」
The young man hastily withdrew his arm.

「You should be fine now. 」

Siluca nodded at the young man, who then proceeded to inspect the injuries that he has sustained in that battle.

His clothes were torn and stained with blood. However, the cutting wound made by the sword of that one soldier was closed and gone without a trace.

「Is this magic? I see now… so that is why every Lord wants to make a contract with a Mage so badly.」

「Was that your first time seeing magic up close? 」

「Yeah, pretty much. What kind of magic did you even use? 」

「It is a type of Healing Magic called Life Magic. It transformed the Chaos from the surroundings into the natural healing ability of humans, temporarily giving your body supernatural healing abilities. 」
「Chaos?! 」
The young man looked blatantly disgusted for a moment.

「Are you sure it is not going to leave any strange patterns floating around on my body? 」

「Don’t worry. The Chaos converged by magic will dissipate immediately upon finishing the spell. The only time where any sort of markings would be left on you would be if you have accepted the Chaos Core into your body, just like the Artist over there. 」

Saying that, Siluca turned her gaze to Irvin, who was standing nearby, expressionless. The young man also looked at him with fascination, in reaction to which Irvin greeted him with a sophisticated gesture.

「Ahh, so he is an Artist after all… 」

The young man muttered to himself while returning the greeting.

「But enough about that! 」
The young man turned to Siluca and cleared his throat.

「Don’t you have anything to say to me? 」

「Thank you for saving me from such a dangerous situation… is that what you expected? 」

「Yes, that is what people usually say in these kinds of situations. 」

Siluca’s answer made the young man tilt his head in confusion.

「I am quite a normal person myself, but I am not going to thank you for anything, because I was not in any sort of danger and I’m glad that you didn’t save me. 」

「Are you trying to tell me that I did something unnecessary?「

The tone of the young man’s voice became rougher.

「Yes, exactly. 」
Siluca nodded with a straight face.

「That being said, you did a very good job befitting of a monarch who is the guardian of order… 」
Saying that, Siluca stood in front of the young man and brought his face closer to her own, the point where the two of them were she was almost touching his nose, forehead and lips.
「You, what is your name? 」
「H-Hey, when you ask someone’s name, do you not think that you should introduce yourself first?!」

The young man turned his upper body slightly to escape Siluca and retorted.

「I am Siluca Meletes. I am a Mage who just graduated from Elam Magic University. 」

「Okay. But the coat of arms on the carriage belongs to Count Constance of Artuk. So does that mean that you…? 」

「Yes, I was on my way to Artuk to sign a contract with the Count. But the contract itself has not been completed yet. 」

Siluca shook her head sullenly.

「Well, you know my name now, so how about you give me yours? 」

「Oh, y-yes, I’m sorry. I’m Theo. I’d like to say that I am a knight… but unfortunately I’m still just a squire. 」
「Could you show me your Crest again? 」

Saying so, Siluca took the young man’s hand and looked at the back of it.

「I assure you, it’s nothing that impressive… 」
Theo said defiantly while trying to withdraw his hand.

「It’s fine, so just show me. 」

Siluca forcibly pulled his hand back and raised his gaze to look at Theo.

「Okay, alright. If you insist. 」

Theo nodded sullenly and immediately tightened his expression. Then, the back of his hand began to shine, and the Crest that Siluca saw earlier appeared on it once more.

Siluca traced Theo’s Crest with her finger.

「I see, you’re a squire, huh… With a title as high as this Holy Seal, you can’t rule over a village, and you won’t even be able to make a contract with a Mage. 」

「Well, sorry for being like that… 」

Theo said defiantly.

「No, it’s nothing bad in the slightest. This just means that this Crest is not subordinate to any other Crest. Who in the world did you even get it from? 」

「I did not get it from anyone. This was created by me when I exterminated the monsters that spawned near my hometown village. 」

「So it is a Crest born of pure Chaos? 」

Siluca was surprised to hear about it.

In order to become a monarch, it is common to receive a Crest from the Lord whom you were serving as a vasal. In that case, the given seal will be subordinate to the master Lord’s Crest. It is through the subordinate Crests that the master-servant relationship between Lords is established.

Crests can also be merged together. In battles between Lords, it was common practice for the victor to take the Crest of the defeated and absorb it into his own Crest, strengthening it as a result. The losing side in battle may also be spared in exchange for the surrender of their Crest, or sometimes the defeated may even pledge allegiance to the winner and be given a new Crest of Servant as well.

This is how the Crests grow in power. Aside from that, there are many cases where the Crests also become hereditary, since most of the Lords tend to pass on their privileges to their children. It was exactly through this method that the two Archdukes obtained their own Crests. And when the Crests of the two Archdukes would have been united by them passing them on to their children, the Grancrest was supposed to be born.

However, after 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」all hopes for that have been lost, and Siluca was doubtful whether the Grancrest that was completed by the means of integration through war and not through the hereditary succession could truly end the Age of Chaos.

And there is actually another way to become a Lord.

It is to quell Chaos and create a Crest from its Chaos Core. But it’s not something that just about anyone can do. It is believed that only those with a strong will can transform the Chaos Core into a Crest. A true Lord is someone who has a strong will to quell chaos and create a Crest that is the crystallization of order out of it.

Siluca stared at Theo.

「W-What is it? Are you doubting me? 」

Theo looked at her, displeased.

「No, not at all. 」

Siluca gently shook her head.

「What kind of world do you intend to create with that Crest of yours? 」

「What kind of world? Honestly, I do not know. I do not have any big dreams like that. However, near the village where I was born, the density of Chaos is extremely high, which causes monsters appear there frequently. Disasters also occur regularly. That’s why no one tries to rule the land there. 」