Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 180 (Part 1)

While reading the book, Rodin realized that it wasn’t something commonly found in the marketplace. Judging by the way it was bound and the traces left throughout, it was clear that someone had poured great effort into creating it.

“The content? Hmm, I believe most of what’s written. This book isn’t an ordinary anecdotal chronicle.”

“You mean it’s not a typical unofficial history?”

“Mage Rodin, by any chance, do you know what kind of family I’m from?”

“I know you’re from the Coventry Viscounty.”

After accepting the request, Rodin had separately investigated Queen Regina.

She was born the second daughter of the Viscount Coventry family and spent most of her life within that household. Until entering the royal palace, she had rarely ever left the viscount’s estate.

But that changed once she entered the palace as the crown princess. She frequently visited the royal capital and devoted herself to charity work. In fact, she was more actively involved in external affairs than when she had lived with her family.

Then the civil war broke out, and Queen Regina fled westward in desperation, taking her son, Prince Arian, with her. They ran and ran, eventually arriving at the Duchy of Lientas.

Queen Regina managed to secure her safety somehow, but sadly, the Coventry Viscountcy did not survive.

They were annihilated for being the family of the crown prince’s consort—a target of the opposition faction. It had already been three years since that happened.

“I didn’t expect you to know my family.”

“I simply know a little more than most.”

“My family, the Coventry Viscountcy, is a family of scholars. We primarily studied history.”

“Ah!”

That was something Rodin hadn’t known. There hadn’t been enough time to learn all the finer details.

“My father and grandfather in particular were very interested in the legacy left behind by His Majesty the Founding King. This book is the fruit of their research.”

“I thought so. It wasn’t the kind of book one sees often.”

“Yes. You could say that half of what’s written here was found through firsthand investigation.”

That confirmed it.

The founding king, Arvein Hesword Luvain, was the incarnation of an ancient spirit. The vast funds he used after the founding were most likely a legacy of the Kingdom of Bolas.

‘How unusual. He walked a different path from Marquis Rotten.’

The founding king Arvein had not focused on reviving black magic but on founding a nation. According to the records, he had governed it quite well, too.

‘They said he changed suddenly in his mid-twenties. That would place the soul somewhere between early twenties to early thirties.’

It was quite a young spirit. And if it had been sealed despite that, it must have held a significant position within the Kingdom of Bolas.

‘Marquis Rotten was likely the crown prince. Seigan’s spirit referred to him as “His Highness the Crown Prince,” so that much is certain.’

The founding king Arvein was a body possessed by a soul far younger than Marquis Rotten. Possibly his son—or someone of the next generation from a different branch.

‘In any case, Tower Master Tamia and Marquis Richmond are wasting their time.’

Of course, Marquis Rotten was bound to come up empty-handed as well.

King Arvein had founded a kingdom. He had married and had several children.

Even if any treasure remained, it was unthinkable that he would have left it untouched. He would certainly have taken it all out and moved it to the royal palace for the sake of his children and descendants.

“Is something troubling you, Magician Rodin?”

“No, I was simply reflecting on history. There are many fascinating parts.”

“What part did you find interesting?”

“In the official history, it’s said that he made the nation wealthy with the help of a talented financier. But in the unofficial accounts, it claims he discovered a hidden treasure.”

At the mention of hidden treasure, Princess Regina’s face stiffened with discomfort.

Most of the founding king Arvein’s life story recorded in the unofficial histories was plausible. The kind of content that made one go, ‘Oh, that actually makes sense.’ There were certainly parts that seemed believable.

But two parts were completely absurd.

One was the claim that a man suddenly changed and mastered magic by himself without ever having studied it. Not a single figure like that existed in the entire recorded history of the continent.

The second claim, which damaged the credibility of the chronicles, was the sudden appearance of treasure used to fill the national coffers. It was such an unrealistic notion that people naturally dismissed it as “just what you’d expect from an unofficial history.”

“That part… even my father and grandfather couldn’t understand it.”

“They didn’t understand?”

“They visited every location the founding king was said to have passed through. What’s in the chronicles is the result of that. But even they couldn’t figure out how it was possible.”

If an ordinary person had tried to dig into the founding king Arvein’s past, it was only natural that it wouldn’t make sense.

Unless one knew about the possession of an ancient soul or the legacy of the Kingdom of Bolas, it was inevitable that the story would seem incoherent.

“I see. Still, I find it more plausible than the official history.”

“Do you now? That’s a different reaction than most.”

“The talented financier mentioned in the official records is said to be the founder of the Berken Merchant Group.”

“Yes. Doesn’t that seem plausible?”

Reynolds Berken, the ancestor of the recently deceased head of the Berken Merchant Group who hid the treasure, was a figure from about 600 years ago—around the time the Luvain Kingdom was founded.

He was known for having established a large merchant enterprise through the Berken Merchant Group. That period matched exactly with the kingdom’s economic rise.

Also, the two men were of similar age. Reynolds Berken was believed to have been born about three years later.

That’s why many scholars believed—no, it was almost taken as fact now—that Reynolds Berken had been the founding king Arvein’s companion.

“That’s not true. I don’t know much about Adolf Berken, but I do know a bit about Reynolds Berken. The two likely had no personal connection.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Reynolds Berken was born in Hedens. That’s quite far from the Kingdom of Luvain.”

“Hedens? You mean the one in the Kingdom of Tebia?”

“Yes, that’s right. If you go to the city of Hedens in that region, you’ll find many traces of Reynolds Berken. The herb shop he supposedly opened is currently operating as an inn.”

The inn where Rodin had stayed was in the very spot said to be where Reynolds Berken first established his herb shop.