Ch.1Prologue

Bayern Cemetery has a legend passed down from ancient times.

The first and most powerful Blood Mage.

Deep beneath the cemetery where Count Vladimir—the hero who pioneered Blood Magic as a new form of magic—was buried, his treasure as a Blood Mage was said to be sleeping.

Among Blood Mages, this was a rumor that couldn’t help but make them drool.

However…

“Hey… just stop. Do you really think those old geezers are monitoring us? Everyone else who came here is probably thinking the same thing we are.”

At those words, the man who had been diligently digging with a shovel wiped his sweat and looked around.

Seeing most people slacking off after starting to dig, it wasn’t wrong.

“But if we find the treasure, our Crimson Blood Magic Tower could rise up… The elders specifically told us to find it.”

“Wow… you still believe that rumor? We’ve been digging here for months and haven’t found a thing!”

For the average mages who made up most of the tower, this was torture.

They couldn’t deny wishing the rumor was false.

Regardless, the fact remained that they, the lowest-ranked members of the tower, had to dig up the cemetery themselves.

Moreover…

“I can’t even go into the village anymore. Every time we enter, the way people look at us is unsettling…”

“That’s… true…”

Though they had received permission, they were still foreign mages digging up the village cemetery where the dead were laid to rest.

Even though they weren’t directly disturbing the graves, the villagers who didn’t know the details couldn’t be happy about strangers digging up the ground where their people were buried.

Now, just entering the village meant enduring the hateful stares of the villagers.

How could they not be angry?

“Why do I have to come to this backward country to do this crap!”

“Hey, hey, calm down! Someone might hear you!”

The man suddenly burst out shouting, startling his companion who tried to calm him down, but the anger that had been building up couldn’t be easily soothed.

“Damn those old farts! How heavy are their asses that they can’t come out themselves? Did they attach meteors to their butts or something? They’re already disrespected among the Magic Towers because of their incompetence! If I had known I’d end up like this, I would never have joined the Crimson Blood Magic Tower, no matter how desperate I was! Aaaaargh!!”

“But… in the end, you’re the one who volunteered, saying ‘I might at least get some scraps if I find it,’ right?”

“Whose side are you on?!”

Though it was self-inflicted, his colleague couldn’t contain his anger and shouted in frustration. The other man looked at him with cold eyes before muttering that he wasn’t on anyone’s side and picked up his shovel to continue digging.

The watching man clicked his tongue and grumbled.

“Those damn Green Tower bastards… how hard is it to dig some dirt…”

“Magic Towers are competitors… it would be strange if they helped us…”

Though he was getting tired of the constant complaints, he understood the man’s feelings, so he just kept digging with his shovel.

That’s when it happened.

Clang!

“…Huh?”

The man who had been digging froze with a surprised expression when he felt something blocking his shovel, accompanied by a ringing sound.

“There’s something in there…?”

“What? Hey! Dig it up!”

After finding nothing for so long, they had finally discovered something.

Suddenly motivated, the two Blood Mages began frantically digging around what they presumed to be an object.

Eventually, what appeared before them was…

“…A coffin?”

It was a coffin.

“Oh, come on! I should have known!”

The man who had lost all enthusiasm upon discovering what it was slapped his forehead.

Grumbling about wasting his energy, he threw down his shovel, but the man beside him who was carefully examining the coffin spoke up as if something was strange.

“Isn’t there supposed to be a gravestone here? Why is there a coffin in bare ground…?”

“It must have been where a coffin was originally placed.”

Even while saying this, he couldn’t let go of his curiosity and began examining the coffin.

Then, stroking his chin, he muttered.

“…It looks like an ordinary coffin.”

“Let’s open it.”

“Wait, what?”

When he tried to open the coffin, the other man was shocked and tried to stop him, but he had already reached out and was about to lift the lid.

They had already been pushing their luck by digging up the villagers’ cemetery with permission, but opening a coffin where someone was resting would be crossing a line.

Even though they were members of a Magic Tower that received special treatment even in the prestigious Magical Kingdom.

No matter how powerful the Empire was, there wouldn’t be direct pressure against them.

After all, this was just a cemetery in a backward village within the Empire.

However, the already low reputation of the Crimson Blood Magic Tower would plummet even further.

“We can’t go back empty-handed. We need to find something.”

“No… ah, well… you’re right, but…”

Unable to find words to argue, and feeling this wasn’t right but persuaded nonetheless, the two men grabbed the handles together.

“We’ll open it on the count of three.”

“One, two… three!”

With the man’s shout, they pulled with all their might.

However,

“Urgh…”

“Why won’t it open?!”

The coffin didn’t budge at all.

In the end, the two men’s strength gave out before the coffin would open.

“Damn… this thing won’t open…”

“Even though we’re weak, this is too much…”

Basically, mages are among the physically weakest people.

How many mages would bother to train their bodies when they’re busy studying magic?

Still, it was frustrating that two grown men couldn’t open it no matter how hard they tried.

However, the man casually pulled out a needle and said:

“Let’s just use Blood Magic. It’s a bit wasteful of magical power, but…”

Saying this, the man pricked his hand slightly to create a spot for blood to flow and drew up his magical power.

Just as the blood flowing from the man’s body was about to take form:

Shudder…!

The blood that had been flowing smoothly suddenly trembled and stopped moving.

“Huh? What’s happening…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“The magic formula is becoming unstable… no, wait…?!”

Crack!

As soon as the man spoke, the magic circle shattered, and the trembling blood, as if freed from restraint, shot toward the coffin and was absorbed inside.

“Kuhak…?!”

The man whose spell had broken turned pale and collapsed backward, coughing blood.

“Wh-what?! Hey! Are you okay?!”

– Who’s there…

“Hieek?!”

This was strange.

The situation was clearly abnormal.

The man turned his head toward the voice with a trembling expression.

In the direction he turned was,

‘T-the coffin…?’

The coffin they had just been trying to open.

And that coffin…

Rattle rattle

“H-hiiiiek?!”

As if it had a will of its own, it was floating in the air, shaking.

Eventually, the tightly closed coffin opened, and,

“Phew… damn, it’s so noisy I can’t sleep.”

A girl appeared.

With long silver hair that shone beautifully in the sunlight, she was a beautiful young girl who hadn’t quite shed her childish features, looking at the man before her with red eyes.

“Ah…”

The man who had been terrified until just now stared blankly at the girl.

She was beautiful.

Insanely beautiful.

So beautiful that he wondered if he had ever seen a girl with such looks in his entire life. Without realizing it, the man began to approach the girl.

“…What’s this? Why does my vision seem lower?”

The girl muttered with a puzzled expression, looking around before examining her own body.

After a moment,

“…It’s not just ‘seems lower’—it actually is lower? And why is my voice like this?”

She frowned as she looked down at her body.

‘Aah…’

The man approached the girl who was deeply pondering what was happening, ignoring his dying colleague who was reaching out his hand after the Blood Magic backfired.

As if he were entranced.

When he came close, the silver-haired girl finally noticed him and looked up.

“Who are you?”

“I fell in love at first sight… Please go out with me…”

“Are you insane?”

What’s with this guy?

The girl momentarily wore an incredulous expression before sighing deeply and waving her hand as if shooing away an insect.

At that moment,

Thwack!

“Kek…”

A dark red liquid appeared from nowhere, took form, and struck the man’s head.

The man, having taken a direct hit to the head, collapsed to the ground, unconscious next to his colleague.

“Is he gay? No… considering my voice and lower vision, and my longer hair… I must be the one who’s changed.”

Nodding repeatedly as she tried to understand the man in her own way, the girl suddenly felt something strange and looked to the side.

Slosh slosh~♪

“Blood…?”

There, an unidentified dark red liquid was playfully dancing for its new master.

“This isn’t my blood…”

The girl turned her head to look at the man who had just collapsed… or rather, next to him.

“Gurgle…”

There lay a man with foam at his mouth and a pale complexion.

The moment she saw the blood gushing from his hand, the girl realized her mistake.

“Ah, sorry.”

I almost killed someone right after waking up.

The girl muttered as she returned the blood to its owner.

‘These guys must be the ones who woke me up.’

Thinking she could ask them about the current situation, the girl healed the man who had been dying moments ago.

Then she flipped her coffin over and sat on it, waiting for the two to regain consciousness.

The two men woke up ten minutes later.