Deep down, Lucy knew her father treated her well, but she still harbored a lingering grudge over the tragedy from her past.
Her mother had been murdered right in front of him. Logically, she knew that if her father had intervened, their entire family would have been wiped out. But logic couldn't erase the feeling that her father's weakness had led to her mother's death. In truth, she had forgiven him a long time ago.
But because of her past resentment, it seemed her father could no longer forgive himself.
Now, she was drowning in regret, but these weren't the kinds of secrets you could just spill to a stranger.
To make matters worse, her father had recently arranged a political marriage for her, betrothing her to the son of a powerful Duke. The Duke's son was genuinely exceptional. However, once the King set his sights on Lucy, the Duke was too terrified to go through with the arrangement.
Initially, she thought her father was just trying to sell her off to secure his own political standing, but the reality had been entirely unexpected.
Shin abruptly shattered her train of thought. "Wow, you really have had it rough. Alright, I get the picture. I'll help you out."
Lucy's jaw dropped. "Wait... you know what I was just thinking?"
Shin nodded casually. "I know a type of Magic that lets me read people's minds. So yeah, I know everything you were just brooding over. You don't even need to say it out loud."
In reality, Shin was using the Sharingan's mind-reading capabilities, but trying to explain Chakra or ocular jutsu to her was a lost cause. Since Magic in Earth Land came in all shapes and sizes, passing it off as a specialized spell was the easiest shortcut.
Lucy stared at him in absolute horror. "You really know everything? Then... earlier, when I..."
Knowing exactly what she was panicking about, Shin smirked. "You mean when you decided you had a crush on me? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm out of your league. You're great and all, but you're just not good enough for me."
He was obviously joking, but his sarcastic delivery completely missed the mark. To Lucy, it sounded like a brutal insult.
"W-what did you just say??" she wailed, tears welling up again. "Even if I died, I would never, ever—!"
Shin's head started throbbing.
'Me and my big mouth,' he cursed internally. How many times was he going to put his foot in his mouth today?
Dropping his shoulders in defeat, he softened his tone. "Hey, take it easy, I was just messing with you. You're the wealthiest little sugar mommy in the whole empire! Of course I'd like you. But you're moving way too fast. You still don't even know my name."
But Lucy had completely fixated on the wrong part of his sentence. "Wait, what's a 'sugar mommy'? I've never heard that word before."
Shin scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out how to translate modern slang. "Uh, it's pretty simple. You've got money, right? And you're young. A young, insanely rich woman is a 'sugar mommy.' If you were older, it would mean the same thing, just... older."
"Oh..." Lucy blinked. "So, does that mean you actually think I'm okay?"
"Naturally."
"Alright then! Let me tell you everything. Make sure you listen closely." Smoothing down her skirt, she plopped right onto the ground.
"This empire is the absolute worst on the entire continent," she began. "It's incredibly weak. But because of the Alliance, we've managed to avoid getting wiped off the map."
This caught Shin off guard. "Hold on. I thought your empires were all united in a crusade against the Dragon race. Why are humans fighting humans?"
Lucy let out a heavy sigh. "It's our Emperor's fault. Honestly, our entire empire is completely messed up because the Emperor started practicing Black Magic. By doing that, he basically broadcasted to all the neighboring nations that Black Magic is the ultimate source of power."
"As long as someone learns Black Magic, their Magic Power skyrockets."
"Our King is nearly sixty years old. He used to be decently strong, sure, but the guy you just killed—Jera—could have easily wiped the floor with him in the past. But out of nowhere, the King learned Black Magic, completely crushed Jera in a fight, and swiftly brought all the strongest mages in the country under his heel."
"So, truthfully, the guy you killed wasn't the strongest person in the kingdom. He just liked to act like it."
"The old King has three top Generals serving under him now. Every single one of them possesses Magic Power that completely eclipses Jera's. And rumor has it, they've all mastered Black Magic too."
Shin finally had a clear picture of the empire's power hierarchy. Jera had just been a big fish in a small guild.
Taking down the King wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Even ignoring the Three Generals, if the entire nation's roster of mages ganged up on him, his current base form wouldn't be enough to steamroll them.
Of course, he could always use his summoning abilities to level the playing field. But those were his absolute trump cards; wasting them on a backwater empire like this was completely unnecessary. That meant assassinating the King was actually going to require a bit of effort.
Still, Shin was no pushover. If this ragtag group of dark mages thought they could stand against him, they were dead wrong.
Looking down at Lucy, he asked, "Can you give me any more specific details about the empire's military?"
But Lucy immediately seized the opportunity, using it as leverage. "Actually, my butler knew way more about the military layout than I do. So, how about..."
Shin chuckled. This kid wasn't stupid at all. Sure, he wasn't the type to go back on his word and abandon her, but she clearly knew how to negotiate to guarantee her own interests. Beneath that naive exterior was a remarkably sharp mind.
"Alright, fair enough," Shin drawled, a confident smirk spreading across his face. "In that case, brace yourself. I'm about to show you the most powerful resurrection Magic in existence."
Lucy was stunned. Resurrection Magic? Was it some kind of Lost Magic, like God Slayer Magic? The fact that a boy her own age was about to casually perform a miracle of that magnitude was utterly unbelievable.
She knew he was a powerhouse—he had killed Jera in the blink of an eye, after all. But bringing the dead back to life was an entirely different realm of power. She tried not to get her hopes up too high to avoid the crushing weight of disappointment. And yet, looking at him, an unexplainable instinct told her that he was actually going to pull it off.
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