Episode 91

Lucid Dreaming

The act of becoming aware that one was dreaming during a dream, entering a state of superconsciousness, and freely navigating the dream world.

To realize a lucid dream required superhuman patience and effort.

It’s not something that happened just because one decided to do it; it demanded rigorous training and mental concentration.

However, using “White Silver” made it very easy to enter the world of dreams.

One could even create their own dream world and achieve their desires through dreams.

For example…

Creating an imaginary opponent in a dream to fight against directly.

Whooosh!

The sword grazed my face.

A few strands of hair fluttered in the air, cut by the blade, and I immediately stepped back, swinging the weapon in my hand.

Clang!

A large swing of the staff was blocked by the man’s fist.

Suddenly, the man gripped the sword with one hand, pressing down the staff, and started to bring the sword closer along with his upper body.

Swoosh.

The blade slid up the staff.

For a moment, my reflection was seen on the blade, and then it pressed down on the staff with force, flying towards my neck.

Scratch.

My neck was cut.

Though it’s an illusion, the chilly sensation of being cut was unmistakably the feeling of the body being severed.

The part cut was the neck.

But if one had felt similar pain before, like the agony of being deeply sliced by a sword on the side.

“…Ugh.”

Unlike lucid dreaming through superconsciousness, this was why Lucifer Dreaming was dangerous.

“It hurts like hell.”

Phantom Pain.

As the boundary between dreams and reality blurred, sensations felt in dreams became memories that were buried in oblivion, coming to consciousness.

If one had never been burned, touching fire would feel like being immersed in boiling water.

I had never felt my neck being sliced before or after regression, but having been cut elsewhere several times, I felt that pain in my neck.

“How could this not happen?”

“Of course, it doesn’t work.”

From behind, a familiar voice teased me playfully.

“Your body is different, your mana is different. Did you think you could use the same physical skills after regressing?”

“That’s harsh, Princess.”

“But it’s the reality. And have you forgotten?”

The princess walked leisurely to my side, her hands clasped behind her back.

“That I’m an illusion you created. A delusion made to objectively view yourself as you are now.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a delusion. If it’s you, born from my memories, then you know my skills better than anyone.”

I raised my staff again, aiming it at the man who had cut my neck.

“A man who hadn’t put in any special effort became a Master. That man returned to the past and has been training with all his might since he was 10.”

“…….”

“The skills are somewhat in place; what’s left is to embed the techniques in my memory into this body.”

The traitor Grey was the Gibraltar Margrave.

The Gibraltar Margrave was a position only a Master could ascend to.

Meaning.

“Once a Master, there’s no reason I can’t do it again.”

I was once a Master.

“But will it be that easy?”

The princess firmly shook her head.

“Have you forgotten what made you a Master?”

“No. I’m well aware.”

The man in front of me, the traitor Grey, pointed his weapon directly at me.

His eyes seem bored, wishing to end this quickly, but the traitor’s “sword” shone sharply.

“The first Gibraltar Margrave, who joined the empire after the kingdom’s fall, wasn’t a Sword Master but…”

“A Blade Master.”

The princess approached the traitor Grey and snatched the sword from him.

“There was something you always used to say. During the academy days, if it had been a blade instead of a sword.”

Ssshhh.

“The students wouldn’t have been able to dismiss you as just a superior knight.”

“Thinking about the kingdom’s students, they probably would have scorned the heir of Gibraltar for holding a blade instead of a sword.”

“Eh. Those people are all trash that spout such nonsense anyway, aren’t they?”

The traitor Grey naturally dissipated like mist and disappeared, and the princess turned towards me, holding the knife with a proper stance.

“What’s important?”

“That those who recognize me, those I must protect, see and believe in my true power.”

I discarded the staff.

Focusing mana at my fingertips, I solidified the mana and grasped it.

“Oh my. Isn’t that cheating? You’re not even superior in reality, let alone aura!”

“In dreams, anything is possible. At least up to the limits of one’s own awareness.”

I extend my index and middle finger towards the handle.

“Having Master-level skills in my memory, it’s impossible not to think of Master-level mana.”

“And the same goes for the opponent, right?”

“Of course.”

The princess took the same stance as me, and the mana gathered at the tips of our fingers solidified like a blade.

“Then-”

“Three stabs.”

The princess gripped the sword with one hand and lunged forward.

The speed of the approaching blade was almost simultaneous.

Although there’s a difference in timing, the attacks happening in a moment would result in three critical hits spewing blood after just one second.

“Head.”

I deflected the aura targeting my crown.

Since the aura was shot like a bullet while stabbing, deflecting it didn’t end it.

“Stomach.”

I deflected the aura diagonally aimed at the center of my abdomen.

The collision of aura against aura caused a momentary clash of mana, shaking my entire body, but the princess’s aura grazed past my side.

And the last-

“No.”

Before blocking, I swung my sword downwards heavily.

“What are you doing?”

“Weak point attack?”

“It is a weak point, but for a spar in a dream, to go this far.”

The tip of my sword extended vertically downward and stopped precisely between my thighs.

The tip of the sword the princess extended also passed between my thighs.

“Conversely, doesn’t this mean, Margrave, that you could also attack an enemy in this manner?”

“…….”

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The premise that one can be attacked this way implies nothing different from being able to do the same to the opponent.”

The princess retrieved her sword and waved her hand.

“Honestly, if you could aim here and kill the emperor, would you?”

“I’ll slice, dice, cut, and chop it all up.”

“Pfft.”

The princess lightly laughed and dissipated the blade formed from aura.

“In the end, I’m just an illusion created by your ego, so I can’t help you beyond revisiting the techniques in your memory.”

The world that had been dyed in shades of gray started to turn red.

“Since neither of us could reach him in the end, it’s better to refer to the skills from before the regression but focus on honing them anew.”

“…….”

“I don’t think this is the answer. But the sword of the traitor Grey doesn’t suit you now.”

“Why not?”

“Well.”

The princess giggled, coming closer to me and standing on her tiptoes.

“It’s because you’ve grown taller than him.”

“Do you dislike it?”

“How could I? I actually like it….”

Grinning.

“I was pretty tall to begin with, but if you grow any taller, I might not be able to handle it?”

“What dangerous talk.”

“Anyway.”

The princess stretched out her hands towards me and smiled.

“It’s fortunate that something has come up to surpass the traitor Grey.”

“…….”

Waking up from a dream induced by White Silver was always bittersweet.

The experiences in the dream were so vivid and enjoyable that waking up from them was not always easy.
But I had to wake up.

If one pursued happiness in dreams, not reality, they would eventually die without even dreaming when faced with threats in reality.

Swoosh.

I got up from the bed.

I was the only one in the room, no one else was present.

The quiet dawn.

The time was just before 6 a.m.

I immediately checked the lamp on the bedside table upon waking up.

“It’s all gone.”

I had filled it quite a bit last night, but now only white, hardened wax and the ashes of the burnt wick remained in the bowl of the lamp.

There was no trace of what had been wrapped around the wick.

It had all burned up, seeping into my lungs while I slept.

Click.

I opened a drawer.

Unlocking it with a combination known only to my father and me, I was greeted by a fairly short candle.

“Sigh…”

The wick in the middle was not made of ordinary thread but of imperial paper, rolled as thinly as possible.
Strange white powder flowed out, but there’s no need to think it was strange.

It’s just powder made from grinding dried Somnus petals with a certain alchemical ingredient.

“I have to gather more.”

After closing the drawer, I reached for the red magic stone placed next to the incense candle that had been burning White Silver.

Click, the magic stone moved downwards.

Like pressing a button - in fact, it was a button.

An imperial device not found in the kingdom, simply pressing the magic stone triggered a mechanism to open.
Click, the sound of the lock opening resonated.

I stretched once, then glanced at the full-length mirror next to the wardrobe.

“Hmm…”

Definitely.

“At least, I’ve grown a bit taller, even if just by a fingernail’s length.”

Thanks to all the efforts to grow my body since I was ten, I was now about 1cm taller than before my regression.

“Would one in ten thousand people have this height at my age?”

There were occasionally those who developed unusually fast, but I didn’t expect to be one of them.

“How did they grow like that?”

Since I had been employing every method to grow my body since I was ten, it’s natural for me to end up like this, but I wondered how those who surpassed 180cm in their first year (17 years old) at the academy managed to grow so tall.

“Would they dislike it if I grow any taller?”

Being taller was better, and now it was time to gradually build muscle on this body.

“As long as I’m not bulky like Sir Carlos, it shouldn’t be bad.”

So far, I had refrained from muscle training to prioritize bone growth, but now it felt right to start incorporating strength and muscle training more seriously.

Knock knock knock.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The door opened, and a white-haired girl in a maid outfit entered, carrying neatly folded clothes.

“…….”

And then she froze.

“What’s the matter, 45?”

“Ah, that, um…”

“…Hmm.”

I wondered where White 45’s gaze was directed; it seems her eyes fluttered the moment she saw my body.

“I, I’m sorry. It was rude of me…”

“No need to apologize, and it’s not rude. It’s not like it’s wrong.”

“But, but…”

“It’s part of a maid’s duties to observe and report on the heir’s well-being. There’s no need for self-reproach.”

There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

The term physical beauty didn’t come from nowhere.

“Actually, it’s good. When you go shopping at the ‘Iperia Outlet’ in the gorge later, feel free to spread rumors secretly.”

“Is, is that okay…?”

“Yes. You need to report back to the empire to accumulate achievements, right?”

“But, even so, to build my achievements by selling information on your lordship’s muscles… Ahem, health status…”

“It’s fine.”

It’s not like I was selling something embarrassing, nor actual photographs.

“The information that the heir of Gibraltar is growing up healthy and has a promising future will surely please the imperial crown prince.”

“I doubt he’ll be the only one pleased…”

“Ahem.”

I took the clothes from 45 and headed to the bathroom inside the room.

“Just follow orders quietly, as my shadow.”

“Yes, Lord Grey. Ah. Did you like the remote lock release device and the call bell?”

“It seems imperial magic engineering eventually boils down to the same thing.”

“Yes?”

“It’s designed for convenience, but in the end, it’s best suited for calling servants.”

This made me think there’s not much difference between the empire and the kingdom.

“But isn’t it nice to have brought imperial culture?”

“…….”

Even in the smallest details, the kingdom and the empire had already developed irreconcilable differences.

“Until two years ago, you had to use boiled water if you wanted warm water.”

“That, we truly appreciate.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Grey, 15 years old.

Approximately 2 years since the opening of Serene Harbor-

“I’ll head to the margrave’s estate once I’m done showering, so get ready.”

“Do you mean the margraves’s estate that’s being remodeled?”

“No.”

Correction.

“The newly constructed margrave’s mansion built in the imperial style.”

About 2 years since the opening of the first gate of Gibraltar Gorge and the start of intermediary trade with the empire.

“That thing, what’s it called, that makes the water warm.”

“In the imperial language, it’s ‘Magic Water Heating Boiler.’”

“Right. The boiler. Now I can’t even imagine living without it.”

Under the leadership of the Margrave of Gibraltar, everything from the margrave’s mansion in Gibraltar was rapidly changing.

“Only now do I feel like I’m living a human-like life.”