TPR 07

Chapter 07

Hildegard, having breakfast with Redis, couldn’t believe her ears.
“Hmm? What did you say?”

“I’ll take you sightseeing around the capital, so don’t run off.”

Sightseeing the capital?
Hildegard blinked in confusion.
“You said no last time, didn’t you? And now, with the state of our house like this… why?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

Hildegard couldn’t hide her bewildered expression.
‘When did you say I should know everything anyway?’
If she were a true little girl, she might have been excited.
But the current Hildegard had more pressing matters—like dealing with the green plains-like chaos of the breakfast table.

Ignoring her little sister’s slightly reluctant reaction, Redis put on a stern front.
“From now on, stay quietly in the mansion. Got it?”

“Huh?”

“I said don’t run off again. You little one, you have no idea how dangerous the world is! What if you get kidnapped?”

Hildegard blinked and then realized.
“Were you… worried?”

“Worried, my foot!!”

Redis shouted, visibly flustered.

Hildegard felt a little embarrassed.
‘Huh, the kids really do take after Leon in weird ways.’

Pretending to be strict, yet secretly caring, was clearly a family trait.

‘Sightseeing the capital…’
She was actually curious to see how the capital had changed. It had been a long time, after all.
But priorities existed, so she hadn’t been paying much attention—until now.

“Hilde, answer me!”

“Alright. I won’t run off.”

“Good.”

Redis finally smiled.

Hildegard looked at her with a peculiar expression.
Though the household had changed, those who loved her family remained the same.
That fact strangely made her feel good.

After finishing her meal, Hildegard went out for a walk.
When she said she’d just stroll through the garden, Michael stopped her to put on a hat.
“Be careful not to get sunburned,” he said, worrying.

“I am your great-aunt, you know. And you treat me like a child openly?”
Hildegard laughed at the absurdity while pressing the hat securely on her head.

Robin, a maid of the duke’s household, gave her a sunflower-shaped brooch she had been wearing.

“Even the garden… nothing is in order.”

It’s easy to fall into ruin, but hard to prosper.

In the bright daylight, the state of the ruined mansion became even more apparent.

After her walk, she sat down in the shade.
“What now?”
What on earth should she do about this household?

Hildegard closed her eyes, letting the wind comfort her.
‘Think. There must be a way.’

She delved into meditation, clearing her thoughts.

Then, suddenly—
Snap!
Her eyes opened wide.
“…What?”

She placed her hand over her chest.
Something felt strange.
Around her heart, a dense energy was pulsing…

“Mana?”

And not just a little.

A substantial amount of mana was concentrated there.

“Could it be?”

She focused her mind again, confirming the energy coursing through her entire body.
Thump. Thump.

With each heartbeat, a strong, vivid energy moved along with it.
A crystal-like purity, unmistakable.

It would normally take at least five years of training to gather this much mana, and yet it was centered around her heart.

“My goodness… what is this?!”

A wide smile spread across Hildegard’s face.

“So I’ve fully reincarnated into a body that inherits mana?”

Mana is the power a magician uses to cast magic.
While mana can be built through training, overwhelming talent usually depends on innate affinity.
If mana were iron filings, affinity would be the magnet.
The stronger the affinity, the more mana sticks naturally.

By this measure, the affinity of this body was extraordinary.

“I’m even better than in my previous life.”

Even as the first head of the Magic Tower, her previous body had a relatively low mana affinity.
Most of her accumulated mana in the past life came from training, not natural talent, and a lot had been inherited from the archmage Krenich.

“But this body…”

It wasn’t just better.
It was phenomenal.

Hildegard looked at her palms in disbelief.
‘Let’s test it.’

She closed her eyes and quickly ran some checks.
The results were satisfying.

“Even without prior training, I can already manipulate mana…?”

Ding! Ding! Ding!
A bell of blessing rang out.

Hildegard felt so moved she could almost cry.

One thing was clear.
“This life’s Magic Tower head position is mine!”

Had she been born with such mana affinity in her previous life, she could have built not just a tower but a magical kingdom.

Hildegard wanted to roll around in joy, but held herself back.
Instead, she rolled across the floor.

Her dress was tattered, but who cared? She was a genius!

“No, no… now’s not the time!”

She jumped to her feet after a while.

Magic is a discipline where early education is the most important.
And to pursue such knowledge…

“Money is needed!”

Magic has always been an expensive study.
Teachers, textbooks, materials—they all cost a lot.
If magic is mishandled, compensation is required.

But Hildegard was no ordinary person.
She didn’t need a teacher—she already possessed the knowledge herself. Textbooks, too.

“Money…”

Ultimately, all post-reincarnation problems boiled down to one big issue.

“Money has to be solved first. That’s the most urgent.”

Hildegard’s eyes glinted coldly as excitement surged.
Without relying on family wealth, she had very few options.
Yet she remained undaunted.

“There must be a way. This talent… it would be such a waste to squander it!”

She grasped her hair tightly.

How long had she been thinking this way?

She picked up a stick from the dirt floor and began organizing her thoughts, writing in the sand:

[Method 1. Find the remaining family wealth and add it to the household.]

This method seemed the hardest but was still realistic.
‘After all, this is Akaraksia. The greatest dukedom in the Empire. There must be something left if I search.’

But looking at the state of the household, she didn’t have the luxury to play detective just to find money.
‘…Maybe I could reveal my identity to the kids?’

Hi there, kids. Listen up.
I’m actually your great-aunt. I’ve reincarnated.
And this body has an incredible mana affinity.
So I’m going to study magic.
Help me a little, and I’ll make sure you all live in luxury later.

Hildegard shook her head after thinking for a while.
“…No. Revealing myself now is out of the question.”

Scratch.
She drew a line through it in the sand.

Not a rejection, more like postponement.

She wrote the next method:

[Method 2. Start a business.]

This wasn’t a bad method. Not at all…

“Business, huh.”

Hildegard had never run a business before.
“Jumping in unprepared would just burn through money.”

Many nobles, unable to inherit titles, looked down on merchants and tried to run businesses.
The results?
Almost always, total failure.
Their family wealth gone, they slunk away defeated.

To start a business, one needs seed capital. But now, she didn’t even have a small pouch of coins.
And the biggest problem: reputation.

“A noble starting a business out of financial necessity… someone like Leon would have a heart attack.”

Nobles often looked down on merchants from birth.
Prejudices ingrained from birth.
They couldn’t understand bowing down just for a few coins.

“Ugh…”

Hildegard had no such prejudice herself, but what about others?
If a noble family is seen earning money as a merchant, people would surely mock them.

“The family’s reputation must not be tarnished.”

The already poor state of the household mustn’t be displayed recklessly.
A refined approach to earning money was needed, one unique to the Akaraksia family—one only she could conceive.
But nothing came to mind immediately.

She sighed, drawing another line through method two.

“Then the last method is…”

[Method 3. Take in disciples to teach?]

Hildegard studied the final option carefully.
Then, she quickly erased and rewrote it in the sand:

[Method 3. Take in wealthy disciples who are easy to train.]

The chapter ends here, setting up her plan to use her genius and mana to generate income through teaching.