The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

“No, this doesn’t make any sense! Why do the seeds go in first, not people?”

“And it makes sense for you to go in first?”

Indeed, with Gillian, Kaor, and other senior mercenaries around, there was no way Gordon would be allowed to enter first.

With nothing left to say, Gordon scratched his neck out of frustration.

Ghislain laughed as he looked at the dazed mercenaries.

“I’ll give you all a chance later, so for now, just finish what you were doing.”

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Unable to let go of his lingering desire, Gordon started to insist.

“Ah, can’t I just try it once? I’ve really wanted to do this.”

The mana convergence formation was something even knights, known for their exceptional talents within the kingdom, could barely experience.

With such a thing right in front of him, it was unbearable to hear that they would use it on seeds and not allow humans to enter. It was driving him crazy.

“Later. Without proper mana cultivation methods, stepping into the mana convergence formation will cause your body to burst and die.”

“Ah, please. I know a bit. I learned a little about it before.”

In reality, what he had learned was the lowest-level cultivation technique, which couldn’t even emit mana properly and only accumulated a minuscule amount, barely enough to make him slightly healthier.

It was uncertain if he could even survive entering the convergence formation.

Still, when faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the greed to at least give it a try, even at the risk of life or death, is a natural human desire.

Though Gillian grabbed him by the scruff of his neck with a frown, Gordon continued to whine.

Having only recently returned after escorting Anna, his relaxed mind had yet to fully readjust.

The other mercenaries clicked their tongues, thinking he would get scolded, but they still didn’t stop Gordon, secretly hoping Ghislain might grant him permission.

Ghislain, who had been stroking his chin with a troubled expression, glanced at Gillian.

“Everyone seems to have a lot of energy to spare after a little rest, huh, Gillian?”

“Yes.”

“Have them run 200 laps around the training field, and train them in shock tactics until bedtime.”

“Understood.”

At those words, the mercenaries turned pale and began to back away.

But it was already too late.

Unless something urgent happened, Ghislain would never retract an order once given.

Moreover, Gillian was someone who carried out Ghislain’s commands with unwavering diligence, even if it meant beating disobedient subordinates.

The mercenaries, now filled with regret, grimaced.

Recently, Ghislain had been so focused on estate affairs that they hadn’t had much interaction with him, making them forget what he was truly like.

They hurriedly looked around, punching Gordon in frustration.

“Ka, where did Kaor go?”

Training was unavoidable now, but they had to find Kaor quickly.

If Kaor got into a scuffle with Gillian, they could use that chance to ease the intensity of the training.

“What the—! Where did he go?”

Kaor had already disappeared, nowhere to be seen.

He was probably going to claim he wasn’t there, that he hadn’t heard anything about training.

Gillian looked at the mercenaries with a disdainful gaze and spoke in a low voice.

“Training begins now. Start running from here. Move.”

After the mercenaries disappeared with grimaces on their faces, Ghislain chuckled and resumed inspecting the magic circle.

Alfoi, who had been staring at him blankly, suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.

“Hahaha! So you’re trying to make the seeds grow faster, not the mercenaries? You actually think that putting seeds in there instead of people will make them stronger? Wow, talk about thinking outside the box.”

The idea seemed to be that if humans could rapidly grow stronger by accumulating mana, then seeds could absorb mana and grow resilient enough to survive in harsh soil.

It was a notion that only someone completely ignorant of magic would come up with.

“If a person without a proper mana cultivation method enters, their body bursts, so how would a seed endure it? No, even if, by some luck, it managed to survive because it’s small… How’s a seed supposed to use mana when it can’t even practice cultivation techniques? Hahaha!”

Alfoi grabbed Vanessa, who was next to him, and snickered.

“Oh my, I’m laughing so hard I might lose my belly button. Vanessa, check around here to see if my belly button fell off. Hahahaha!”

Vanessa was flustered, not knowing how to respond, but Alfoi was too busy laughing to care.

How desperate could he be to win a bet that he’d waste such a precious runestone like that?

It would have been far more beneficial to the estate if he had sold it to the magic tower instead!

‘Ah, what a waste. A fool with a treasure just can’t handle it.’

Outwardly, he laughed hysterically, but inwardly, Alfoi clicked his tongue, lamenting the waste of the runestone.

Of all people, it ended up in the hands of such a madman!

Just thinking about how that valuable runestone would disappear like melting snow over a mere bet was enough to make him sick.

As if he had read Alfoi’s thoughts, Ghislain gave a meaningful smile.

“Want to make a bet too?”

“What did you say?”

“If I win, you work diligently for ten years without pay, no complaints. If I lose, I’ll give you 5,000 gold and let you return to the magic tower.”

‘This is my chance!’

Flaring his nostrils, Alfoi nodded quickly, fearing Ghislain might change his mind.

“Ah, deal!”

Then, the other mages nearby also raised their hands.

“We’re in too!”

Ghislain nodded without hesitation. The mages cheered and went back.

“We’re free!”

Vanessa, who had been restlessly shifting on her feet, anxiously spoke up.

“M-My Lord! No, you can’t do this. We need the mages for the large-scale construction projects.”

While more mages might arrive to manage the new branch if the magic tower set one up, if the current mages left, it would be meaningless.

“It’s fine. Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

This wasn’t about trust; it was a matter of common sense!

Vanessa screamed internally, but she couldn’t bring herself to argue with Ghislain.

In the end, she quickly left to inform Belinda about the situation.

Once the surroundings fell quiet, Ghislain clicked his tongue.

“Finally, it’s a bit quieter. They’re all so full of energy.”

Claude looked at Ghislain with hollow eyes and let out a dry laugh.

He had been working day and night, saying he’d finish as much as he could before leaving, and now he looked like a walking corpse.

“So, you prepared the seeds to use them here?”

“That’s right. I’m going to modify the seeds to create an extraordinary new variety.”

“Haah…”

Claude sighed, looking at Ghislain with pity.

Improving seeds was something that required selecting the best ones, planting them, and cultivating them over multiple generations.

Even if mages spent years researching it, there was no guarantee of success.

If it were that easy to improve seeds, the royal family would have funded it long ago to develop new breeds.

‘Even Vanessa looked a bit shocked.’

Considering that even she, the estate’s most knowledgeable mage, had reacted that way, it was hard to see this as anything but a futile effort.

“My Lord, I think it’s great that you’re willing to try anything, but… the deadline for the bet is not far off. There’s only a month and a half left. Do you really think you can produce results in that time?”

It wasn’t out of concern that he asked. After all, he was confident he would win the bet.

Still, Ghislain’s actions felt a little unnerving and suspicious.

“There’s no problem. That amount of time is more than enough.”

“And how long do you plan to cultivate the seeds here?”

“About a month?”

Claude’s face twisted as he struggled to suppress a laugh.

Like Alfoi said, they’d be lucky if the seeds didn’t just explode.

Even if he generously conceded and everything went as Ghislain intended, there would only be about fifteen days left after that.

What could possibly be achieved in just fifteen days?

“Ahem, wouldn’t it be better to just admit defeat? If word gets out that you wasted a runestone like this, it’ll be worse than losing the bet. Honestly, what a shame, wasting a runestone like this…”

Even so, Ghislain had saved Anna, and Claude was grateful to him. He didn’t want to see Ghislain face too much disgrace.

“Well, if you ask nicely, I might be willing to call it a draw.”

Claude emphasized the word ‘draw’, and Ghislain looked at him with a pitiful expression.

“What’s this? Are you scared already? Talking about a draw? No way. Once you start something, you have to see it through to the end! I’m on the verge of getting a whole bunch of top-quality slaves.”

“Hahaha, well, I was just looking out for you, my Lord, but if you put it that way, there’s nothing more to say. I suppose I’ll stick around and see if the seeds blow up or not.”

“I’ll make sure it’s a good show.”

Ghislain grinned as he carefully placed the seeds into the magic circle, dividing them into small groups.

As he gradually fed mana into the runestone with the activation formula, mana began to flow into the magic circle.

A blue glow appeared, and the mana slowly accumulated.

The seeds scattered within the magic circle started to tremble slightly.

Contrary to Alfoi’s confident prediction, none of the seeds exploded.

After meticulously checking every part of the magic circle, Ghislain smiled.

“Success.”

These seeds would now possess remarkable vitality.

In his past life, this method had become so widespread that almost everyone knew about it, but now it was knowledge exclusive to Ghislain.

As the continent became desolate and people perished, countless mages and scholars had gathered to find a solution.

It was a method of using mana to enhance seeds. Knowing the future, Ghislain made it look simple, but in truth, this knowledge had been established only after dozens, even hundreds, of failures.

Seeing Ghislain’s meaningful smile, Claude spoke, still feeling slightly uneasy.

“Well, at least they didn’t burst. Did you actually expect that?”

“Of course. You think I would’ve done this without knowing anything?”

Despite a lingering sense of unease, Claude shook his head.

‘It must have been a coincidence. Or maybe it’s just the effect of the magic circle. Perhaps Vanessa secretly helped.’

No one at the academy, where intellectuals gathered, knew how to inject mana into seeds to increase their yield.

It seemed even mages from the magic tower were unaware.

‘Even if such a method exists, there’s no way only the Lord would know about it.’

How could Ghislain, who had spent his life in a rural backwater, be more informed than scholars or mages?

‘There’s no way the Lord, who doesn’t even know magic, could have created this himself. This has to be 100% bluff.’

Claude was convinced.

He had encountered such opponents often in gambling.

They would bluff with a bad hand, trying to intimidate the other into surrendering first.

‘Heh, that kind of bluff only works if it’s believable. Even if the seeds truly absorb mana, what’s he going to do when the soil can’t sustain it?’

No matter how he thought about it, there was no chance Ghislain would win the bet.

Having reached that conclusion, Claude’s expression relaxed as he casually remarked,

“Well, I’ve seen enough. I look forward to the results.”

Claude quickly made his escape.

If he lingered around, Ghislain might find more tasks for him.

After everyone left, Ghislain was left alone, clenching his fists as he pondered deeply.

He had handled all the immediate tasks.

Now that he had a moment to breathe, it was time to address the problem that had been on his mind for a while.

‘This is about my body, and I can’t keep putting it off.’

He had been steadily training his body and diligently practicing mana cultivation whenever he had the time, yet he still didn’t understand why the nature of his mana had changed.

Nor why his regenerative abilities had improved.

‘No matter how I think about it, it seems to be because of that…’

It all happened after he nearly died fighting the Blood Python in the Forest of Beasts, so it was clearly related to the serpent’s venom.

“That damn creature… couldn’t even die properly.”

Ghislain let out a frustrated sigh.

“I have to confirm it.”

Carrying around an uncertain power didn’t sit well with him.

But there was only one way to verify it, and so far, he hadn’t dared to try it.

‘It would have been troublesome if I had collapsed when things were hectic…’

Until now, he had used his busy schedule as an excuse to delay confirming it, but he was going to be even busier soon.

The reclamation work had just been completed, and once the seed improvement was finished, there would be a rush of other tasks to handle.

Now that he had a brief moment of respite, it was the perfect time to attempt something.

After a long period of contemplation, Ghislain finally decided to conduct an experiment.

An experiment that could put his life at risk.