Episode 15
From that day on, Teo and Luke visited the Secret research lab every day.
They literally just stood there and quietly watched the research.
‘Why is that guy being so quiet for once?’
Hans had been worried that Teo might cause a scene.
Considering the Teo of the past, it would have been stranger not to have such worries.
Three years ago.
There was a time when Teo came to the research lab dead drunk.
* * *
It was probably the first time Teo had drunk enough to be truly wasted.
“Hey, you parasite bastards! Where are you?”
When the research was in full swing, someone shouted from outside.
Just by hearing that voice, the scholars immediately knew who it was.
The Schnelden family’s biggest headache, Teo Schnelden, was famous for hating the Secret research lab.
“Young Master, what brings you here?”
“What do you mean? I came to make you cough up the money you’ve been scarfing down!”
“You seem to be quite intoxicated. Please return home for today.”
“Who is this bastard giving orders?”
Pow!
He threw a punch at Hans’s face as Hans tried to stop him.
“Why are you doing this? Please calm down.”
Even though his face was swollen, Hans spoke calmly.
“Do I look like I can calm down? If you had just done your jobs properly, our family wouldn’t be in this state! Do you know how much money has been poured into you?”
The Schnelden family had poured what little money they had into the research lab, and their fortunes had declined even further because of it.
This was a story from over fifty years ago.
It was from a time when Julian, the current family head, wasn’t even the head yet, let alone Teo.
Even so, Hans bowed his head to Teo.
“I’m sorry. It is due to our inadequacy.”
“If you’re sorry, then get out of here! Get out before you ruin our family!”
“We cannot do that.”
“You can’t?”
“Yes. If the Schneldens give up on discovering the Schnelden Secret, then what? That would truly be the path to the family’s ruin.”
“Where does this parasite bastard get off talking back!”
Shing!
Teo finally drew his sword and swung it at Hans.
Even though Teo was fourteen, he was a trained knight.
Meanwhile, physically, a scholar was on par with an ordinary person, or perhaps slightly better.
At that level, he could not block the sword Teo swung.
Crash!
Thud!
“Gurk.”
Teo’s sword grazed Hans’s right forearm.
If Teo hadn’t stumbled from the alcohol, that blade would have surely cut through Hans’s throat.
“Call the guards!”
“Check the director’s condition!”
“Contact the main house too!”
Once blood was spilled, the research lab was thrown into utter chaos.
Teo’s rampage didn’t stop until Lahitz came rushing over in a hurry.
For this incident, Teo was confined for over a month.
* * *
‘To think that someone like him could change so much.’
It was something you only saw when you lived long enough.
‘Sigh, what does it matter? The deadline is almost here. I need to finish the research quickly.’
Just as Hans was about to start his research.
“Director, a letter has arrived from the main house.”
The scholar holding the letter had a dark expression.
He probably knew full well what that letter meant.
“What does the main house say?”
“As they mentioned before, they will reduce the scale of support even further starting next month.”
“Reduce it further from here….”
“Doesn’t that mean they won’t give us any support funds at all?”
“That’s probably it.”
He had no more sighs left to sigh.
He knew the family’s situation all too well.
It had been over ten years since Northern, the family’s greatest source of income, had been taken from them.
They probably couldn’t run the research lab anymore—no, they must be struggling to secure even the bare minimum funds to keep the family running.
The only reason the research lab had survived was because Julian had taken great interest in it.
But even that had reached a point where it could no longer be sustained.
‘But if we give up, the Schnelden Secret will fall into another family’s hands forever.’
Other families were also obsessed with deciphering the Schnelden Secret.
Moreover, they even possessed the annotated texts.
The Secret itself was so complex that even with the annotated texts, they had yet to fully decipher it, but it was only a matter of time.
If that happened, the Secret created by the Schnelden ancestors would transform into another family’s Secret before they knew it.
‘That would truly be the path to the family’s ruin.’
But there was nothing he could do.
Just as Teo had said three years ago, it was true that they had taken money and accomplished nothing.
Slide.
He opened the drawer.
Inside were letters wanting to scout him.
Seeing them, all kinds of thoughts ran through his head.
Slam!
Then he sharply turned his head and closed the drawer.
‘There’s still time.’
There was still a month left until the support funds were cut off.
If he produced even a single result during that time, he would have something to say for himself.
He would try everything he could, and if all support was truly cut off, it wouldn’t be too late to consider the proposals then.
“Let’s just do the research. If we don’t want to be unemployed, we need results within two months.”
“Director….”
“Hurry, hurry.”
Hans spoke in a deliberately bright voice and went outside.
As expected, Luke and Teo were visiting again today.
‘Young Master Luke seems very interested in the lab. If I coax him well, maybe we can get more support funds?’
That thought flashed by for a moment.
But Hans quickly shook it off.
There was no money to be had even if they were beaten to death; it wouldn’t appear just because the son asked.
More than anything, he didn’t want to use such a young master that way.
“You’ve come again today. However, I don’t think we’ll be able to show you a demonstration today.”
“Why?”
“It is a day when Sir Lahitz does not come.”
“Hmm… I wanted to see the demonstration.”
Luke stroked his chin and clapped his hands.
“Ah, right. Couldn’t my brother help with the demonstration?”
“Pardon? Young Master Teo?”
“He learned the White Cloud Step too, so he should be sufficient for a demonstration.”
“That may be true, but this is….”
“We’re just observing the flow of mana. It’s not like it will harm his body.”
“Kkng….”
Hans scratched his neck, looking troubled.
Teo hadn’t expected this proposal either.
“Why me? You could do it.”
“I haven’t learned the White Cloud Step yet. And because your mana control is good.”
“Huh?”
Teo was bewildered by the unexpected praise.
“As you know, a demonstration isn’t something just anyone can do. You have to be able to control mana very delicately. Isn’t that right, Hans?”
“That’s correct. You would need mana control ability at the level of a senior knight to be capable.”
At the words “senior knight,” Teo’s ears perked up.
“You’re ahead of Lahitz when it comes to mana control alone.”
“T-that’s true.”
“Then you can definitely help with the demonstration. No, we might even discover something we couldn’t when Lahitz did it.”
“Is… that so?”
“That’s right!”
“Fine, I’ll help just once.”
Hans, who had been watching their exchange, nearly clapped.
‘So Teo can be handled like that?’
He had never seen such an obedient Teo before.
So this was why Teo had been quiet the entire time he was visiting.
“Then, just in case, may we run a verification test?”
“Verification? Who are you to verify me….”
“Of course.”
Before Teo could say anything, Luke answered first.
Teo looked at the fist Luke subtly held out and closed his mouth.
“For the verification, would it be enough to push away external mana?”
“Yes, that will suffice.”
“Good, I’ll help with that.”
Luke brought his hand to Teo.
Then he infused his own mana into him.
Luke’s mana spread throughout Teo’s circuits.
“Now, drive this out.”
“This much is nothing.”
Teo used his own mana to completely drive out Luke’s mana that had entered his circuits.
“See, I drove it all out, right?”
“What do you think, Hans?”
“It’s certain.”
Driving out external mana so quickly and cleanly was a level of control difficult even for senior knights.
Just by seeing that, it was clear how freely Teo could handle his own mana.
“Then, could you help us with the demonstration?”
“Ahem, just this once.”
Teo grumbled, but he listened carefully to Hans’s explanation.
After hearing where to send mana for each passage of the White Cloud Step, he even took and drank the visualization potion from Hans.
Inside the crystal orb, Teo’s mana flow was revealed clearly.
Luke looked closely into it.
‘It’s hiding well.’
Inside Teo’s circuits, one very small dot was visible.
A dot so small one might think it was dust stuck to the crystal orb.
But it was Luke’s mana that he had left behind.
The amount of mana Luke had accumulated was small, but its density was incomparably thick compared to others.
Such pure and heavy mana couldn’t possibly be pushed out by someone of Teo’s caliber.
He had just hidden it so well that it created the illusion of being driven out.
Neither Teo nor Hans knew this fact even in their dreams.
“Then, let us begin.”
“Hurry up. Let’s get this over with quickly.”
“Yes.”
Hans finished preparing to record the mana flow.
Then Teo began the White Cloud Step.
His movements were certainly clumsier than when Lahitz performed it.
But the mana flow was exactly the same as Lahitz’s.
Hans focused completely on the crystal orb’s display.
With the determination not to miss even a single movement.
‘From here is the important part.’
The middle section of the White Cloud Step, a single passage they had failed to solve even after tens of millions of experiments.
‘This time the mana should circulate from the central circuit to the branch circuits….’
Hans watched with wide eyes.
At that moment, Luke moved the mana he had planted.
Luke’s dense mana began to guide Teo’s mana.
“H-huh?”
Teo’s mana flow changed drastically.
“What’s going on?”
Panicking as it flowed in a completely different direction from the intended path, Teo lost his composure.
The mana that had been trying to pass through the central circuit into the branch circuits instead moved partly into the azure circuit and partly into the red circuit.
“Are you crazy?!”
He tried desperately to control the mana, but his mana refused to listen, as if being pulled by something.
“Ugh.”
In an instant, Teo completely lost control over his mana.
From that point on, even Teo didn’t know how his mana was flowing.
The astonishing thing was that from then on, Teo’s movements changed.
Though still clumsy, his footsteps were light as if treading on clouds.
It was a form closer to the true White Cloud Step than when Lahitz had performed it.
“Could that be…?”
Hans’s eyes widened as if they would tear upon seeing it.
But that was only for a moment.
Thud.
“Oof!”
Soon, Teo couldn’t sustain his dazzling footwork and fell.
This was actually because Luke’s mana was too weak.
No matter how dense it was, the amount itself was small, so it couldn’t guide another’s mana for long.
‘Still, this should be enough, right?’
Luke looked at Hans.
Hans was still staring blankly at the crystal orb in a daze.
‘At this rate, did he miss everything I showed him?’
He probably didn’t need to worry.
Even in his daze, Hans’s hand was still moving.
Looking at his notes, Hans had recorded everything from just now.
“H-how did this happen?”
Having come to his senses, Hans rushed into the training ground.
“What?”
“I’m asking what you did just now!”
“I don’t know.”
“P-please show me just one more time!”
“No.”
“Why? This might change the future of the Schnelden family! Please show me just once!”
“I can’t. I have no idea what happened just now either.”
“Ah, ah….”
Hans realized he had gotten too excited.
It was then that he reached the conclusion that it was fine since he had recorded it, even if it couldn’t be shown again.
“My notes….”
He immediately examined his notes.
Everything about how Teo’s mana had flowed was recorded there.
“It’s done, it’s done! Now I can solve it.”
He read the contents and spoke, almost screaming.
“What is it? What just happened?”
“I don’t know either. I guess I saw something incredible in your White Cloud Step.”
“From me?”
“We couldn’t find anything when Lahitz did it, but as soon as you did it, we found it right away…. So this is what they mean by talent, talent.”
Teo became sheepish at Luke’s praise.
“R-really?”
“Of course. Anyway, I think we should step out now.”
“Seems like it. What’s that guy doing, crawling on the floor?”
Hans was sprawled on the floor, writing something in his notes.
He looked exactly like a mad scientist.
Luke secretly peeked at the contents.
‘The first gift for the descendants is complete.’
A pleased smile formed on his lips.