How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 81: Jurein Marhargel (3)
Karl asked Jurein,
“Where did you get it?”
“...Excuse me?”
“I asked where you got this stone. Is it some kind of heirloom passed down through the royal family of Marhargel?”
Jurein shook his head.
“No, it’s not that. It was something His Majesty, the late king, passed on to my brother a long time ago. I’m only in possession of it now.”
Brother?
Since Jurein was the Fifth Prince, that meant there were at least four older princes. So which one was he referring to?
Weren’t the other princes supposed to be dead set on killing him? Did he have a brother he actually got along with?
Perhaps sensing that question on Karl’s face, Jurein added an explanation.
“I don’t know why you want the stone, sir, but it was the only keepsake left behind by my brother, the First Prince Kairus. He wasn’t a half-brother—he was my real brother.”
A keepsake, then—meaning the First Prince was already dead.
So the stone originally belonged to the First Prince, and after his death, it came into Jurein’s hands.
“Did you hear anything about this stone? Any explanation at all?”
Jurein shook his head again.
Karl stared quietly at him until Jurein let out a sigh and said,
“Truly nothing. My brother said he didn’t know anything about it either. Our father just told him to keep it safe and handed it down.”
“Then your father... the king—he must’ve known something about it, right?”
“Possibly. But there’s no way to ask him anymore...”
Karl tilted his head.
“What do you mean there’s no way?”
To that, Jurein blinked as if surprised and cautiously asked,
“...You don’t know much about the current state of the kingdom, do you?”
“I know almost nothing.”
Jurein assumed Karl must have come from some distant land, far removed from the capital.
Of course, in this situation, it didn’t really matter where Karl came from.
“His Majesty, the previous king—my father—passed away a year ago.”
Karl’s eyes widened.
Jurein continued with a trace of sorrow on his face.
“And no one has officially been named to succeed him. For now, the Third Queen is acting as regent and overseeing the administration of the kingdom.”
With that, Karl realized the state of the Marhargel royal family was far more complicated than he had expected.
Normally, no matter how chaotic a kingdom’s politics were, it wouldn’t concern Karl.
But now, when he needed the final clue to reach the fourth step—
It wasn’t something he could afford to ignore. First, he needed to understand what was going on.
Karl let out a small sigh and sat down in front of Jurein.
“Summarize it for me—your current situation, and the request you mentioned earlier.”
* * *
Versian Marhargel, the 11th King of Marhargel.
He had ruled the kingdom peacefully for decades alongside three queens, and was revered as a wise and virtuous monarch.
He died of chronic heart disease just one year ago.
His sudden passing threw the kingdom into brief chaos, but it seemed things would stabilize quickly.
That was because before his death, he had officially named the First Prince, Kairus, as his successor.
But, coincidentally—or not—Kairus also died shortly afterward from an “unknown illness.”
The entire royal family was thrown into shock. That’s when true turmoil began.
With the officially designated successor gone, conflict erupted over who would claim the throne.
Retainers and nobles split into factions, and the royal court fractured into three major powers.
Each side rallied around a candidate and began a struggle for succession.
And the first to be cast aside in all that power struggle... was Jurein, the Fifth Prince.
“You don’t have any noble houses or retainers backing you?”
“None.”
Jurein nodded bitterly.
If he had any support, there’s no way he would’ve been ambushed in the middle of a royal rite like this.
Karl frowned, not understanding.
“Didn’t you say you shared the same mother as the First Prince? Are you saying the people who supported him just abandoned you?”
Karl didn’t know the precise succession laws of Marhargel.
But he wasn’t ignorant of the key concept underpinning all aristocratic power structures in this world: legitimacy.
Jurein wasn’t a bastard. He shared blood with the First Prince through the First Queen.
In theory, the nobles who backed the First Prince should naturally support the Fifth Prince now.
“They abandoned me... that’s half right and half wrong.”
Jurein’s explanation, summarized, went like this:
Jurein, compared to the First Prince who had shown exceptional ability in every area, was unremarkable.
He wasn’t inferior to the other princes and princesses, but there was one area where he was catastrophically lacking: martial prowess.
And in the royal family of Marhargel, that was a fatal flaw.
“Have you heard the legend of the founding king who beheaded the Giant King atop the Dragonhorn Mountains?”
“...Roughly, yes.”
“Regardless of whether it’s true, it’s a fact that the founding king was a mighty warrior. Every king since has inherited his martial bloodline.”
But Jurein was so talentless that he hadn’t even been able to ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) begin aura cultivation.
To the nobles who once supported the First Prince, Jurein was a disappointment.
“Most of all, the most devastating blow was Duke Seinpier’s betrayal.”
One of the kingdom’s three dukes and, along with the Royal Guardian Captain Devan, one of the greatest warriors in the realm—Duke Seinpier.
He had been practically the leader of the royalist faction. But the moment the king died, he turned and declared support for the Second Prince.
“And not long after that, my brother passed away as well. From an unknown illness, again. Quite the coincidence, don’t you think?”
“......”
“Once Duke Seinpier abandoned us, the other royalist nobles who had backed the First Prince quickly fractured. With the duke gone and no chance of succession, they had no reason to back me. That’s how it came to this: the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the First Princess now lead three factions fighting for the throne. And I have no one.”
As the explanation continued, emotion welled deeper in Jurein’s eyes.
Karl, who had been silently listening, finally asked,
“So you believe the First Prince was assassinated?”
The sudden betrayal of Duke Seinpier, leader of the royalists—
Followed by the death of the First Prince.
“......”
Jurein closed his eyes without answering.
“Perhaps not only my brother. Perhaps my father, too.”
By now, Karl understood what Jurein was after.
“You want to uncover the truth.”
“Yes. Whether my brother and father were really assassinated... if I survive long enough and continue to reach for the throne, then eventually, the true culprit might show themselves.”
Jurein opened his eyes and looked straight at Karl.
“But if I return to the capital like this, it’ll just be to prolong my death a little longer. But if you help me...”
Karl raised a hand to cut him off.
“I get the gist.”
“......”
“But what help could I possibly give you? What you need are noble houses and retainers—not someone like me.”
Unless Karl was planning to stage a coup himself, there was nothing he could offer as an outsider.
But Jurein brightened slightly, taking comfort in the fact that Karl hadn’t outright refused.
“Most nobles are already split between the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the First Princess. But there’s still one neutral faction.”
The Royal Guardians.
One of the two Sacred Knight Orders of Marhargel. Led by Devan, they were undeniably one of the most powerful forces in the kingdom.
But they almost never involved themselves in succession disputes.
They existed solely to protect the royal family. Getting involved in power struggles was against their principles—and they had no reason to.
Unlike other nobles, who had to align with power to survive, the Royal Guardians’ status never changed, no matter who sat on the throne.
“Ordinarily, it would be impossible for anyone to gain the support of the Royal Guardians—but it’s not completely hopeless.”
The Flame-Summon Rite.
The Flame-Summon Art —
a secret martial cultivation technique created by the founding monarch of Marhargel, passed down exclusively through the royal bloodline.
Only direct descendants of Marhargel’s royal family were granted the right to even attempt it, and the art existed in two versions: the original and a degraded form.
All Marhargel monarchs since the founder had practiced only the degraded version.
“...They chose the inferior one over the original? Why?”
“Because the original cannot be mastered. Its structure is fundamentally different from the aura cultivation methods commonly known today.”
Over the centuries, many of Marhargel’s princes had attempted to master the original Flame-Summon Art. None had succeeded.
“They say that if one manages to master the original, their aura turns a crimson hue—like the sun at dusk. Only the founding monarch was ever known to produce crimson aura.”
With firm resolve in his eyes, Jurein continued,
“And once I return to the capital after the ritual, I’ll be granted the right to attempt mastering the original Flame-Summon Art.”
“......”
Karl took a moment to process everything he’d heard.
“So what you’re saying is... your plan is to master the original Flame-Summon Art and gain the support of the Royal Guardians?”
“Exactly.”
“...Seriously?”
Karl let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.
This guy had no talent for combat, couldn’t even begin aura cultivation, and yet he wanted to learn an ancient martial art no one had ever succeeded in mastering?
“I know it sounds absurd. But it’s the only path left to me.”
In other words, it was a desperate gamble—with odds close to zero.
Karl looked straight at Jurein.
“So what is it you want from me, exactly?”
“Half a year.”
Jurein answered without hesitation.
“There’s half a year left until the Grand Assembly, where the new heir will be chosen. Please... stay with me until then and protect me.”
“......”
“That’s all I ask. I may not have any rare treasures to offer you, but I’ll do anything I can. Please...”
Karl looked down at the kneeling Jurein and Sephiel.
A pitiful, desperate request.
And yet—he couldn’t turn it down.
He needed a clue from this prince on the edge of ruin to advance to the next step.
For that, he had no choice but to stay by Jurein’s side for now.
“Haa...”
Karl sighed, gazing briefly at the sky, then lowering his head again.
“Fine.”
“...!!”
Jurein snapped his head up.
Karl clicked his tongue and added,
“But let me make this clear. I’m not helping you out of pity. I have my own reasons.”
“......”
“If things turn against me, I won’t hesitate to abandon you. If you’re fine with that—”
Before Karl could even finish, Jurein began bowing his head over and over, his face full of joy.
“Thank you, sir! Truly, thank you!”
Naturally, Jurein wasn’t in a position to be picky about such terms.
Just securing the help of someone like Karl through raw desperation was miracle enough.
“But still... are you sure you can bring me into the capital with you?”
Karl voiced his biggest concern.
Looking at Jurein’s current standing, it was essentially rock-bottom.
If he returned from the rite with some unknown outsider, how would the royal court react?
‘A complete headache, most likely.’
At best, endless background checks. At worst, he might be branded a spy.
Using the Fifth Prince to pull Karl down with him would be a golden opportunity.
“Well...”
Jurein’s face darkened—he’d clearly considered that himself.
That’s when Karl’s eyes caught something nearby.
A corpse. A man wearing a blue robe.
Not one of the assassins Karl had killed—this man had been dead when Karl arrived.
“Was he with your party?”
Jurein nodded.
“He was a mage who served in the same palace as my brother when he was alive. Even when all the other mages left, he stayed by my side with Sephiel until the end...”
Though only a 3-circle mage, he’d been the only one to remain loyal.
Both Jurein and Sephiel looked down at him with heavy hearts.
Karl quietly approached the corpse.
A certain spell came to mind.
<Polymorph – 6th Circle, Secret Art>
A secret spell once used by ancient dragons for amusement.
Allows the caster to change their form at will. When touching a specific target, the transformation can mimic that target in detail—appearance, build, even voice.
Unless the copied target is vastly superior in power, the spell cannot be detected.
Can I copy a corpse?
There were no restrictions mentioned, so it seemed likely.
He frowned slightly.
My SP’s going to hit rock bottom if I learn this now.
But...
This isn’t the time to be hoarding SP.
[You have learned 'Polymorph.']
Without hesitation, Karl acquired the spell.
He placed his hand on the mage’s corpse.
Jurein and Sephiel looked on in confusion.
“What was his name?”
“Seion...” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Then from now on, I’m Seion.”
“...Excuse me?”
“What you saw here today—you’ll both take to your graves.”
Crack.
Suddenly, Karl’s body began to shift in bizarre ripples.
His face, build, hair, even his eye color—all changed.
In moments, his entire body was identical to the deceased Seion.
Rising to his feet in his new form, Karl looked back at the two of them.
“Understood?”
“......”
The voice of the dead Seion echoed through the forest.
Jurein and Sephiel stared at him with blank expressions—utterly stunned.
