Damn Reincarnation

had never been too attached to in his previous life.

Hamel’s hometown had been located in the frontier regions of the Turas Kingdom.
Although he didn’t know what it was like now, it had been an extremely unpleasant place to live back in his previous life.
Monsters frequently emerged from the nearby forests, and pirates from the mainland of Turas often came in raiding from across the sea.

“Sir Eugene?” a voice called out to him.

Eugene had been in the middle of taking a walk outside of Akron to organize his thoughts.
As he heard this voice suddenly call out to him, Eugene gritted his teeth in annoyance.
For some reason, the wizards who were showing an interest in him seemed to really like the idea of an ‘accidental’ meeting.
Was it because they wanted to make the meeting seem more casual? But if that was the case, they should at least properly hide all the obvious signs.
The wizard waiting for him had been shuffling around impatiently as if he was just begging to be noticed, and when Eugene failed to show any reaction and just ignored him, the man had started talking to him anyway.

“Is there something you need? At this midnight hour,” Eugene bit out impatiently.

“I was actually following you, Sir Eugene,” the man admitted.

Still, at least it was fortunate that the man who had come looking for him was Balzac Ludbeth and not the Commander of the Court Wizards or the Green Tower Master.
Balzac walked out from under the magic street light and smiled at Eugene.

“I’ve actually been following you ever since you left Akron.
Did you not notice, Sir Eugene?” Balzac asked him.

“I noticed it immediately,” Eugene revealed.
“I just kept quiet since the Black Tower Master seemingly pretended not to recognize me.”

“You seem to be in a bad mood,” Balzac observed.

“Well, what’s new about that,” Eugene scoffed.

“That’s true.
However, it seems that your mood just happens to always be bad whenever we happen to meet.
Could it really be because of me?” Balzac asked politely.

“It seems you’re well aware of the truth,” Eugene nodded.

He had met the Black Tower Master quite a lot of times during the past two years he had spent in Aroth, though they hadn’t really talked much whenever they met.
Usually, the Black Tower Master was the first to try and greet him, and Eugene would exchange a perfunctory greeting while showing his blatant displeasure.

That was all there was to it.
They had never once shared a good conversation.
Fortunately, the Black Tower Master didn’t seem to take any offense to Eugene’s attitude, nor did he try to stick to Eugene like the Commander of the Court Wizards and the Green Tower Master had done.

Balzac got straight to the point, “I’ve heard that you will be leaving Aroth.”

“Where did you hear that from?” Eugene questioned.

“I’ve heard it said in many places.
Sir Eugene, could you really have believed that rumors would not flow even after the Red Tower of Magic began to prepare a farewell party for you?” Balzac appeared surprised.

“It seems that the position of the Black Tower Master is actually pretty comfortable since you have so much time to carefully listen to the affairs of the other Towers of Magic.
Wouldn’t it be better for you to use such passion to pay more attention to the activities of your own Black Tower of Magic?” Eugene suggested.

Balzac shrugged, “Even without me getting involved, the wizards of the Black Tower of Magic are doing fine on their own.
Thanks to that, I’m very free.”

Even though Eugene had openly rebuked him, the Black Tower Master’s smile never wavered.
Eugene disliked this Black Tower Master.
Honestly speaking, he hated Balzac and felt disgusted by him.

During his past two years in Aroth, Eugene had heard various rumors about the man several times.
Balzac Ludbeth was quite a unique individual even compared to the other Tower Masters.

Decades ago, Balzac hadn’t been a black wizard.
Originally, he used to be a member of the Blue Tower of Magic, and on top of that, he was an outstanding wizard who was almost certain to become the next Tower Master.
The current Blue Tower Master was Hiridus Euzeland, but when Balzac was still in the Blue Tower of Magic, Hiridus had always been evaluated to be worse than Balzac.

Balzac should have risen to become the next Blue Tower Master within a few years, but he had suddenly left the Blue Tower of Magic and gone to Helmuth.
The reason he gave was that he wanted to broaden his knowledge of magic.

Ten years later, Balzac, who returned from Helmuth, had already become a Black Wizard.
Immediately after returning to Aroth, he transferred his membership from the Blue Tower of Magic over to the Black Tower of Magic.
Then, while winning the recognition of the Black Tower Master and receiving the overwhelming support of the other black wizards, he rose to become the new Black Tower Master.

After rising to the position of the Black Tower Master in this manner, Balzac didn’t appear to do anything within the environs of Aroth.
Balzac had even managed to maintain a good relationship with Hiridus, who had become the Blue Tower Master, and he reached a friendly consensus with the Blue Tower of Magic itself.
He showed respect to the Royal Family while also being close to the Parliament.
He also stayed on good terms with both the White Tower of Magic and the Green Tower of Magic.