It was a life that could only be described as utterly miserable. That was not referring to Ira herself. It was referring to Ian Ascalon, the direct descendant of the Dragon-Slaying Sword family Ascalon and the person she served.

Talent so meager it was hard to believe he was the blood of the family head. And a body more sickly than that of an ordinary person, along with a timid and weak personality. None of it suited Ascalon, which worshiped only force and power, and so Ian’s life had been nothing short of hell from a young age.

Wherever he went, contempt and scorn followed him, and due to the countless checks and assassination attempts by his half-siblings, his body was never free of large and small wounds. Even his mother, until the moment of her death, resented and cursed the young Ian. Asking why he had been born this way.

‘If only he had been born into an ordinary noble family instead of Ascalon…? He could have become a benevolent lord, kind and warm-hearted, looking after those around him.’

To Ian, Ascalon was not a home but a prison, and now that prison was no longer content with merely restraining him—it was trying to kill him. In the name of the ranking match.

“Please come down!”

That was why Ira desperately tried to stop Ian. Of course, she also knew.
That if Ian gave up the ranking match and came down from the sparring grounds, he would be expelled from the family and die not long after.

But that was still far better than dying right now. Moreover, if she used the ability she had kept hidden, there was a chance to avoid death altogether. Though it would mean living in hiding for the rest of their lives.

“Young Master!”

However, as if he could not hear her, Ian merely glanced her way briefly and proceeded with the ranking match. As though he had already given up on everything.

As everyone expected, the situation unfolded. With a dry expression, the overseer announced the start, and Galf burst into loud laughter as he charged at Ian with a greatsword even larger than himself.

And then—

Slice!

An anomaly occurred.

Thud… roll.

Across the sparring grounds, dominated by silence, Galf’s severed head slowly rolled. His eyes were wide open, as if unable to believe what had happened.

How much time passed?

“W-What is this…?!”

At last, those who grasped the situation sprang to their feet. Their eyes, too, were as wide as those of the dead Galf.

“Galf… lost? And in a single strike?”

Even seeing it with their own eyes, they could not understand it. Who was Ian Ascalon? A born dullard who could not properly learn even basic swordsmanship, let alone the family’s direct techniques.

And that person defeated a ranked warrior so easily? It went beyond being difficult—it was outright impossible.

Even Ira could only stare blankly at Ian, muttering ‘how,’ as if she could not believe the sight before her.

Then,

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

The overseer, who had climbed onto the sparring grounds at some point, shouted at Ian.

“To kill a ranked warrior—have you lost your mind?!”

His face, unlike before, was now dyed with panic.

“Even in a ranking match, the principle is to end it without killing your opponent! But… what just happened can only be seen as intentional. I will report this to those above and take strong measures—”

“Isn’t the one without sense you, not me?”

Before the overseer could finish speaking, a low voice flowed from Ian’s mouth.

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?!”

“That guy over there.”

Ian’s finger pointed at Galf’s corpse. That brief gesture naturally drew everyone’s gaze.

“He charged at me the moment the fight started, intending to kill me. So I killed him first. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

“How could you judge that—”

“I’d rather ask you instead.”

Ian cut off the overseer once more.

“Are you so lacking in skill that you couldn’t even judge that much? If so, you have no qualifications to be an overseer. Or else…”

Ian’s voice dropped even lower.

“Were you an accomplice who knew and still stood by?”

In truth, Ian had already suspected that the overseer, like Galf, had been acting under the second young master’s orders. Otherwise, when Ian had been driven to the brink of death by Galf before the regression, the ranking match would have been stopped.

But the overseer had done nothing, and only because Ira had rushed onto the sparring grounds had Ian barely survived.

“Th-that’s…”

The overseer’s pupils wavered. The evidence that Galf had tried to kill Ian was far too clear to simply deny it outright. Especially the words Galf had shouted before swinging his sword were practically undeniable proof.

And yet, if he continued to insist otherwise, as Ian said, his qualifications as an overseer would be questioned.

‘No—if that were all, it would be fortunate.’

If it turned out to be as Ian’s second accusation implied, it would go beyond questioning his qualifications—he could face severe punishment. No matter how much the family had half-abandoned him, Ian Ascalon was still the blood of the family head.

Thus, it was absolutely unacceptable for it to be revealed that he had stood by while Ian was nearly killed.

‘Damn it… how did things turn out like this?’

Where had it all gone wrong?

“I apologize. This overseer was flustered and failed to make a proper judgment. Young Master Ian’s actions were indeed justified.”

An apology flowed from the mouth of the overseer as he bowed his head.

“Be careful from now on. Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The words were spoken in an even, casual tone, but for some reason, the overseer felt a chill run down his spine. Having finished speaking, Ian turned away without hesitation. The destruction had already begun, and there was a mountain of things that needed to be done. There was no more time to waste here.

“Y-Young Master!”

Eyes filled with surprise, confusion, interest, and anger watched him as Ian left the sparring grounds, with Ira hurriedly following after him.

Until Ian’s figure completely disappeared from sight. Everyone who remained there could not take their eyes off his retreating back.

***

The anomaly that occurred during the ranking match. Rumors of that anomaly spread through Ascalon at an astonishing speed. And it was no wonder—the contents were simply too shocking and hard to believe.

Most people scoffed, dismissing it as baseless rumor or exaggeration, while a few began to investigate its truth and what lay behind it.

But unlike the noisy family, the protagonist himself, Ian, was currently staring into empty space within the private training hall attached to his residence.

[Owned Heroes: 1]
[‘Severing Blade Brix Sword’ Understanding: 20/100]

More precisely, he was looking at the large message window floating in midair.

“Maybe because it’s an ability I used before the regression, the understanding is rising quickly.”

The source of those messages, and Ian’s unique ability—the Roulette Shop of Causality. As befitting its name, the Roulette Shop of Causality contained several different roulettes, one of which was the ‘Hero Roulette’ Ian had used during the ranking match.

It randomly selected one hero who had existed in the past and granted access to part of their abilities, with the amount of power that could be drawn increasing as understanding of the hero rose.

“Brix really does seem like the best choice for a first hero.”

Although Brix Sword was an ‘Anecdote’-rank hero—the lowest among the five hero grades—his possessed ability, ‘Severing,’ was outstanding enough to be considered above that rank. That was why Ian had drawn him through forced selection, and why he had been able to defeat Galf even while fighting immediately with zero understanding.

Of course, that would have been impossible without the vast combat experience Ian had accumulated before the regression.

‘At this rate, I can reach 100 understanding in just a few days.’

If that happened, he would be able to execute his plans much more quickly.

“Now then, all that’s left is to deal with this.”

Muttering that, Ian’s gaze moved to the blinking text at the very top of the message window.

[Remaining Causality: 10]

The causality displayed here was a type of currency that allowed use of the Roulette Shop. The more points one spent, the higher-grade roulette shops could be accessed, and additional points could be gained by using special items, achieving accomplishments, or becoming involved in major events that altered the fate of a region, a nation, or even the world itself.

‘Then changing the results of things that happened before the regression must count too.’

Otherwise, there was no way he would have gained causality from doing nothing but killing Galf after regressing. He must have obtained it by twisting the outcome in which he was supposed to lose the ranking match.

‘A method you can only know by regressing…?’

Ian shook his head. He could not tell what kind of thoughts the being that created this had, nor why it had been granted to him, or why it even took this ‘random’ form.

Still, he had no complaints. Without this ability, he would never have made it this far, and depending on the user’s capability, there were ways to twist the rules themselves.

More than anything, Ian blamed himself for having obtained this ability before the regression and then leaving it unused for two whole years.

‘Anyway, this is best used now.’

Saving up causality to use high-grade roulettes from the start was not a good choice.
The amount gained was small to begin with, and at this stage, drawing other things to steepen his growth curve was far more effective.

“If I exclude the hero roulette for now…”

With the understanding of his existing hero still low, and with a high probability that even a newly drawn anecdote-grade hero would be worse than the ‘Severing’ ability,

“This is the best option.”

Ian’s gaze shifted to the roulette positioned at the right corner of the message window.

The Junk Roulette.

A roulette that provided single-use items with various abilities, and if one was lucky, the reward could be dozens of times greater than the causality invested.

‘Before the regression, the ‘Fruit of Causality’ came out of this roulette.’

Naturally, that had happened only once, and most of the time the results were exactly equal to the causality spent.

Even so, there was a reason Ian chose the Junk Roulette over the others. Because only at this early stage after regression did a hidden piece exist within the Junk Roulette.

‘Minimum correction value.’

The items produced by the Junk Roulette were random, but there was one hidden condition.
If the user’s physical abilities failed to meet even a minimum standard, there was a high probability of obtaining an item that permanently increased those stats.

In his previous life, Ian had once stumbled upon the hidden probability table of the Junk Roulette and learned that when certain conditions were met, there was a 90 percent chance of this item appearing.

Of course, that minimum standard was nearly at the level of an invalid—but Ian, who had been born with a frail body, qualified. And only now, before he had begun training.

[Starting 1 Junk draw.]

Drgrrrrk!!

As soon as Ian made his decision, causality was automatically consumed and the roulette began to spin. Ian watched it quietly. He already knew what would come out, but since it was not a hundred percent guaranteed, a slight tension was unavoidable.

Flash!

[Draw complete.]

At last, the roulette stopped amid a light different from usual.

[One Health Potion has been granted.]

‘Good.’

Just as Ian’s eyes gleamed at the confirmation of the reward—

“Young Master Ian, may I come in?”

Ira’s voice came from outside the training hall.

“Yes.”

At that reply, Ira opened the door and entered, looking at Ian with complicated eyes.

‘You’ve definitely changed.’

Just days ago, her master had struggled even to move his body vigorously. Seeing that same person spending nearly an entire day in the training hall felt extremely unfamiliar.

And that was not all. His gaze, sunk so deeply it seemed bottomless, his subtly altered posture, and an atmosphere that made it hard to approach him at all. It even felt as though she were looking at a completely different person who merely shared the same appearance.

‘And that incomprehensible martial power he showed during the ranking match…’

Had the ‘Sword Blood’—said to be passed down only through Ascalon’s direct line—finally awakened? No, even so, such a drastic change made no sense.

Of course, it was a change she would welcome a hundred times over if it meant surviving in Ascalon, but that did not mean she could accept it without question.

“What is it?”

“Ah, there’s been a message for you from the ‘Heavenly Hall.’”

Snapping back to herself at Ian’s question, Ira conveyed the matter.

“A message from the Heavenly Hall?”

“Yes. It’s an invitation for you to attend tonight’s dinner.”

Ian’s expression shifted subtly.

The ‘Heavenly Hall’ was one of the buildings located at the very center of Ascalon, and the ‘dinner’ held there was an event only direct blood relatives of the Dragon-Slaying Sword family were allowed to attend. It was not merely a meal, but an important gathering where major family affairs were decided, and as such, it was a place Ian—half-abandoned as he was—had never once been allowed to participate in.

‘And yet, for such a message to come now means…’

Someone had personally invited Ian himself. And within the family, there was only one person who possessed the authority to invite others to the direct blood relatives’ dinner.

The one who had come closest to the pinnacle of the world. The being who had reached beyond the sky with the sword.

Ian’s father, and the head of the Ascalon family—Basilius Khan Ascalon.