The Swordsmanship Prodigy Who Devoured Immortality After Regression - Chapter 3

After Meeting with Penaxian

Thanks to his help, Havel managed to arrive safely in the city center. The area he reached was the Auguste territory.

Augustra.

After a brief inspection at the entrance, Havel entered and looked around. The territory appeared quite wealthy, judging by the polished state of its buildings. The faces of its residents, bustling about, seemed cheerful and content.

The problem, however, was that the name Auguste rang no bells in Havel’s mind.

Has it been a hundred years already?

A completely unknown family had risen to power. It made him question whether the Imperial Palace even still existed.

But more than that, I’m worried about Vanpelion.

Since arriving here, Havel had inquired discreetly about them, but very few seemed to know anything. At most, the responses he received were along the lines of, “Oh, that family did exist, once upon a time.”

To think that no one remembers Vanpelion, which was once called one of the Three Great Houses…

A heavy sigh escaped him. He had returned, only to find his family nowhere to be seen.

The world was one where no one would welcome him back.

Because of that, Havel was all the more determined to find Vanpelion as quickly as possible.

Now that I think about it, who is the current head of Vanpelion?

Havel himself had no children. Obsessed with the sword, he’d never even considered marriage. However, he did have a much younger sister.

Though, by now, she must be gone too.

A bitter emotion swept over him. A hundred years had passed.

Everyone I knew has likely turned to bones in their graves.

Havel wandered the changed world slowly—not to indulge in sentiment but to achieve his purpose.

Even in a transformed world, information is key.

And where there’s a need for information, there must be someone selling it.

“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”

“Huh? Sure, what is it?”

A man sitting in a chair, casually reading a newspaper, replied lazily.

“I’m looking for an information guild.”

“An information guild?”

“Yes, an information guild.”

The man looked at him as if he’d seen something bizarre.

“You must be from way back. Who even talks about information guilds these days?”

Havel felt a pang of shock. Being called “old-fashioned” struck a nerve, leaving him strangely dispirited.

“I wouldn’t know about guilds, but if you’re looking for information, you should check out Astella’s General Store over there.”

A general store for information?

Havel was puzzled but nodded.

Fine. I suppose an old-timer like me has to adapt to modern ways.

Although he felt as youthful as ever, the world seemed to have changed too quickly. His footsteps felt heavy with unfamiliarity.

Shortly after, he opened the door to the general store.

“Welcome!”

A cheerful clerk greeted him with a bright smile.

“I’d like to buy some information.”

“Oh, of course! Please, follow me.”

The clerk set down the items she had been carrying and quickly led the way. As Havel followed her, he glanced around the store.

The shop was filled with unfamiliar items, likely products of the hundred years that had passed. Among them, what stood out most were the magical artifacts.

Magic used to be reserved for nobles.

Yet here it was, being sold in a regular general store.

Has magic become so common now?

Havel couldn’t help but let out a faint laugh as he followed the clerk to the counter. She stepped behind it and pulled out a scroll.

“Please tell me the information you’re looking for!”

Havel hesitated briefly. Could something like this really provide information?

“…I’m looking for details about Vanpelion.”

“Vanpelion, you say? One moment!”

The clerk began writing rapidly on the scroll. Havel watched skeptically, but moments later, text began to appear on the scroll as if it were alive.

“Oh, here it is! This should have what you need.”

It’s all here already?

Havel accepted the scroll with a stunned expression. Indeed, it contained detailed information about Vanphelion.

How much had the world changed, for scrolls to replace information guilds?

“After you’ve reviewed the information, please return the scroll here.”

“Oh, and the payment—”

“For that scroll? It’s free. Don’t worry about it!”

Free?

“If you need more in-depth information, though, you’ll have to pay and use a different scroll.”

Havel skimmed the text on the scroll. Fortunately, it included the current address of Vanpelion.

“This will suffice.”

“Great! Let me know if you need anything else!”

The clerk cheerfully went back to her tasks, leaving Havel to stare at the scroll again.

Vanpelion.

It described the family as one of the Three Great Houses that had entered the Demon Palace to rescue the Emperor during the rise of the first of the Three Calamities.

The moment Havel read the first sentence, his eyes widened.

The first of the Three Calamities?

That meant there were others besides the Demon Palace. Havel’s expression hardened.

The Demon Palace alone had been a hellish place. If the other calamities were anything similar, the world could very well face its end.

Enough. That’s a problem for later.

Havel set aside thoughts of the calamities for now. What mattered was the current state of Vanpelion.

As he continued reading, his expression darkened.

“…This is my fault.”

Vanpelion’s current state could be summarized in one word: ruin.

The once-proud family had lost its loyal vassals. Even the Dawn Knights, their prestigious order, had disbanded. They no longer had a territory, reduced to maintaining a shadow of their lineage in a dilapidated manor.

It was barely a family anymore.

Havel sighed deeply, guilt weighing heavily on him.

Still, I must go back.

As he prepared to roll up the scroll, something caught his eye—a line marked as a recent update.

It was an announcement about recruiting mercenaries for an expedition targeting one of the Three Calamities: the Tower.

A room adorned with luxurious furniture.

In stark contrast to the elegance of the room, a man was buried under a mountain of documents. His face showed deep exhaustion, a result of the never-ending paperwork that consumed his day.

“This is maddening,” he muttered, his voice tinged with frustration. Why was there so much to handle?

“Director,” came a voice as someone entered the room without so much as a knock.

The information director barely acknowledged the intruder’s lack of decorum. His attention, instead, was drawn to the documents the man carried.

“This isn’t about another disaster, is it?”

“No, sir. Do you recall that request from the Glicis family from long ago?”

The director squinted, his expression suggesting he vaguely remembered something of the sort.

“You know, the request to be informed of anyone investigating the Vanpelion family?”

Ah, that. It had been a request made decades ago when the Glicis family had funded the establishment of the information guild in exchange for a favor.

“Ah, yes, that one. But wasn’t that from ages ago?”

“Indeed, sir. Recently, someone used a scroll to inquire about Vanpelion.”

It had been a directive given to the first director of the guild.

“Forget it. The Glicis family has probably forgotten all about that request by now.”

“Still, perhaps we should send them a letter…”

“Do you have any idea how much paperwork that’d involve? Just drafting the report alone is a nightmare,” the director scoffed. With the recent incident in the cursed forest keeping him swamped, adding a report to a powerful family like the Glicis would only make things worse.

“And you hate extra work as much as I do. So let’s not overcomplicate things, alright?”

“If this backfires, you’ll be the one to take responsibility.”

The director chuckled dryly. “If something as trivial as this caused a problem, I’d have resigned from this job long ago.”

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the staff member, who nodded and left the room. Leaning back in his chair, the director indulged in a brief moment of thought.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t their request because they’d once betrayed the Vanpelion?” The Glicis family had been vassals to the Vanpelion before turning on them.

“It’s been so long I can hardly remember,” the director murmured before picking up his pen again. He could only hope no new crises would emerge as he went back to his work.

Once a radiant and illustrious name, the Vanpelion family had fallen into ruin. Now, standing before the last remnant of their legacy, Havel took a deep breath as he surveyed the mansion before him.

“This is the very picture of ruin,” he muttered bitterly.

The mansion was large but neglected—vines crept up its walls, the facade was crumbling, and the roof seemed in dire need of repair. There was no trace of the once-proud family’s glory.

Havel felt a pang of guilt. It was as though he had personally brought the family to this state.

“What of the descendants?” he wondered. Should he be thankful that the family line had endured, however faintly?

Just as he was about to step into the garden, voices reached his ears.

“Young master!”

“No! I’ll go! I’ll go myself!”

The argument grew louder, and Havel peered inside.

An elderly butler, a young boy, and a knight were in the midst of a heated discussion.

“If something happens to you, young master, the Vanpelion line will truly come to an end!” the butler pleaded.

“But no one responded to the recruitment for the tower’s expedition! This is our last chance to save the Vanpelion family!” the boy shouted back, his desperation evident.

Havel froze when he heard the boy’s next words.

“Like the Sword Saint, Havel Vanpelion, I will venture into the tower and restore our family’s honor!”

Havel’s breath caught at the mention of his old title. His name still lingered in this house, passed down through the generations.

“That boy…”

The boy’s silver hair, a symbol of the Vanphelion family, caught Havel’s attention. His face also stirred something familiar, something deeply nostalgic.

“So that’s it,” Havel murmured. The boy was a descendant of his younger sister—the sibling he’d thought about countless times.

“Who’s there?” the knight said sharply, his keen senses detecting Havel’s presence. His sharp gaze was reminiscent of the Dawn Knights, a force that had once been the pride of Vanphelion.

Havel stepped into view, his heart heavy as he faced the descendants of the family he had failed.

He clenched his fists tightly.

If I reveal my identity, everything would be resolved.

His name alone could rekindle the Vanpelion family’s power, prestige, and influence. He could topple the families that had risen in their place and bring Vanpelionback to glory.

But he couldn’t do it.

A family that relied on one person would inevitably crumble again. Havel, as the former head, knew this all too well.

“Besides, I don’t belong to this era anymore.”

He exhaled deeply and looked at the group before him.

“I saw the notice about the mercenary recruitment,” he said.

Havel resolved himself. I will not make the same mistake again. Instead of handing them power, I will give them the strength to stand on their own.

This time, Havel Vanpelion would guide from the shadows, offering what this new era needed most.