I was Lloyd di Saloom, the Seventh Prince of the Kingdom of Saloom.
I was ten years old and obsessed with magic. In my previous life, I had been a lowly, penniless mage who caught the eye of a nobleman at the magic academy I attended. I was forced into a lynching they called a duel.
Back then, I had been so captivated by the advanced magic I was seeing for the first time that I carelessly forgot to defend myself. I lost my life, only to find I had been reincarnated into this body.
As the Seventh Prince, I was far removed from the right of succession, which allowed me to live a carefree life dedicated to magic.
Due to a series of events, I was currently enrolled in the magic department of the academy founded by William Bordeaux, the progenitor of magic.
I had befriended William's descendants, Noah and Gazel, and together we had faced and defeated Vilfrey, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army who had been sealed away since the ancient war between humans and demons.
Now, at their request, I was in the middle of a quest to eliminate other sealed demons.
"Well then, Lloyd, shall we begin?"
I nodded at Noah’s words, and Gazel placed his hand on the massive stone before us.
Countless spell formulas flickered across the stone's surface before vanishing. A moment later, a sharp crack echoed as fissures spread across the rock.
The stone shattered, and a black, mist-like substance poured out, coalescing into a humanoid shape.
"Kukuku... I never dreamed the day would come when my seal would be broken. Was it a failure of the re-sealing, or has the quality of humanity simply declined? The reason matters not. Now that I am free, I shall rampage to my heart's content! But first, I must offer you a proper thanks. I, Master Nedervein, the 3rd Rank Demonic Marquis, shall personally bathe you in blood—"
"Grey Demon Divine Fang."
The arrow of magic I released was a swirling helix of black and white mana. It tore through the demon instantly.
"Guaaaaaah! I-Impossible...! To think that I, Master Nedervein, the 3rd Rank Demonic Marquis, could be bested by a mere human brat...!"
The demon—Nedervein-whatever—dissolved into nothing while letting out a final death rattle.
Watching the mass of magic power vanish, I couldn't help but let out a yawn.
"A Triple Casting Magic combining sealing, holy, and ancient magic... As usual, the power is terrifying. To think even a Demonic Marquis was taken down in a single shot."
Sighing in exasperation was the Majin Grimoire, my familiar. Normally he resided in my palm, but he occasionally manifested outside, usually in the form of a goat. He went by Grimo for short.
"You look quite tired, Master Lloyd. It's no wonder, considering you've been erasing sealed demons every single day lately. Please, do take care of yourself."
That was the Angel Jiriel, my other familiar who also lived in my palm. When he manifested, he took the form of a bird.
I responded to Jiriel's concern with another yawn.
"Yawn... I'm not tired. I'm just bored."
At first, the prospect of fighting rare demons had been a bit of a thrill, but after fighting Vilfrey, I had mostly finished my experiments on demon opponents.
The truth was that Grey Demon Divine Fang was far too much of a cheat. It lacked any real sense of excitement.
Still, the reason I continued to eliminate these sealed demons was because Noah and Gazel had asked for my help.
Apparently, the Bordeaux family used a traditional bloodline magic to seal demons and Majin, but the technique was so powerful it shaved away the caster's lifespan.
If I lost Noah or Gazel—both of whom were excellent mages—it would hinder the progress of sealing magic research. Besides, the two of them were letting me borrow a wealth of precious books from the Bordeaux archives. It was a bit of a chore, but I was happy to cooperate in exchange for the knowledge.
"It is almost entirely for the sake of his own selfish desires..."
"That is very much like Master Lloyd..."
Grimo and Jiriel sounded exasperated, but I thought it was only natural to receive compensation for a job well done. They were being quite rude.
"And yet, I even went through the trouble of stripping away the restrictions and simplifying that sealing magic so they could use it."
I had removed the heavy constraints like the lifespan drain, though that had made the spell formulas slightly more complex and the incantations a bit longer.
When I had them test it out, however, the feedback had been scathing: "This isn't a human feat," "This is beyond impossible," "I couldn't do this in a lifetime," and "It's like trying to solve three impossible puzzles simultaneously while walking a one-kilometer tightrope on one leg." So, in the end, the task had fallen back to me.
I didn't think it was particularly impossible, though.
In fact, I felt like magic wouldn't be worth doing if it didn't have at least that level of difficulty.
"You really shouldn't assume everyone possesses the same power you do, Master Lloyd."
"Indeed. Master Lloyd is an outlier among outliers, after all."
Honestly, I thought it was rude to treat someone like a freak of nature.
While those two were still immature, they had great potential and were incredibly diligent. In time, they would surely be able to handle a mid-level demon on their own.
"Well, I suppose that’s enough for today’s quota?"
I stepped out of the sealed shrine and stretched toward the blue sky.
"Yes... Or rather, those were the only demons we desperately needed you to defeat. Most of the others still have a few years left on their seals, and the majority of those are only lower-grade demons or Majin."
"Yeah, even if it turned into a real fight, they're the kind of opponents the two of us could handle together. If we mess up a re-sealing, we'll just have to kill them. Besides, if we keep leaning on Lloyd any more than this, we won't be able to look our ancestors in the eye."
Noah and Gazel glanced at each other and shared a wry smile.
See? These two had a real desire to improve. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before they could handle the spell formulas I had created.
As I nodded in satisfaction, their expressions turned serious once more.
"...Furthermore, since we let the other members of the Four Heavenly Kings escape, prioritizing our combat strength is a must. One-on-one might be one thing, but if we were attacked by several at once, even Lloyd-kun would be in a tight spot."
After Vilfrey's defeat, Noah and the others had checked the shrines of the other Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army.
Every shrine had been destroyed; the seals were broken and the interiors were empty. They had concluded that Vilfrey must have released his comrades.
Several other powerful demons had also been set free. The concern was that it would be dangerous if they all targeted me at once.
"...Well, I suppose if I had to fight that many demons at once, the surrounding area would suffer a lot of damage."
Their combat power was nothing to sneeze at. Unless we were isolated by a barrier like we were with Vilfrey, a full-scale battle would likely level everything in the vicinity.
The country would undoubtedly be destroyed. In that sense, I could understand their worry.
"But seriously, no matter how hard you two try, you won't be worth a damn against the Heavenly Kings, will you?"
"Precisely. Far from helping Master Lloyd, you would likely just end up being a hindrance."
That sounded incredibly harsh, but it was hard to blame Grimo and Jiriel for saying it. In reality, the brothers' combat power was, at best, on par with my familiars. A little bit of training wasn't going to bridge that gap.
"We understand what you're saying, but we aren't suggesting this without a plan."
"Yeah. The progenitor William Bordeaux anticipated the possibility of failing to re-seal powerful demons, so he set up a contingency. There's a dungeon stretching deep underground that opens only when the shrine seals are broken. In its deepest reaches lie forbidden arts and forbidden tools—the legacies—that even the progenitor deemed too dangerous to leave out. If we can claim those, our power will skyrocket."
My ears practically twitched at those words.
Forbidden arts sealed by William Bordeaux...? If he was hiding something that interesting, I really wished they had told me sooner.
Naturally, my response was already decided.
"Alright, let's go check it out!"
"Eh..."
As I thrust my hand into the air with excitement, the two of them looked at me as if I were a force of nature they couldn't hope to control.