The golden coin rolled through the man's heavily tattooed fingers while he listened patiently to the excuses being droned on from the sorry excuse of a subordinate kneeling before him.

The tattoos were new. Just sixteen days back, the only tattoo on the man's skin was a small and inconspicuous conjuring runic tattoo that his mother gave him when he was ten. Yet, as of fifteen days ago, the runic inscriptions covered both his arms and most of his chest and back—he required an aide to take down all the various notes provided.

He had no memory of inscribing them, and the majority looked ancient, far older than the twenty-seven years he had lived. However, one tattoo was fresh, just fifteen days old—it was the one that he had inscribed onto himself upon waking up and seeing the lone ring he wore glowing yellow.

The tattoo he gave himself was a simple, small line on his left arm. It was a tally. He didn't remember the other times he engraved the intricate tattoos and the lines, but there were currently seventy-four lines.

Seventy-four loops of a summoning.

Claude returned the golden coin to his pocket and ran his hand through his swept-back, shoulder-length black hair.

Most people went about their days not knowing that beings from outer realms arrived and interfered in this realm's business. Nor did they have any idea that their comings and goings could manipulate time and fate itself.

However, Claude Noire was not most people. His great-grandmother was one such summon. After having completed her business, she chose to stay behind in this realm, giving birth to his grandfather and beginning a powerful lineage. Claude's grandfather, similarly to his great-grandmother, went on to live a healthy and long life and, thanks to being born with phoenix eyes, could remain conscious and take advantage of several loops when subsequent summonings occurred. Claude's grandfather expanded the family's business and influence across the continent.

His father, however, had not been so lucky. He was born with common grey eyes and lived a violent and short life, dying at just thirty-five. However, Claude's father had married an exceptionally gifted woman who was able to craft an artifact that could indicate when a summon was taking place and a method of transferring knowledge from one loop to the next in the form of a very intricate runic tattoo.

Due to her cleverness, his mother took up the mantle after his grandfather passed away and successfully managed to grow the business to an even greater scope. Unfortunately, while she lived brilliantly, she did not live nearly as long as his grandfather and great-grandmother.

Thus, with her recent passing, the mantle had been given over to Claude, and he had every intention of following in his ancestor's steps and growing his family's web of influence evermore.

However, what sort of summoning is this? There had never been an instance in my family's history of a summoning lasting so long. And has a loop within a loop ever occurred?

Claude didn't have the benefit of remaining conscious through the various loops as his grandfather had been, so he could only assume what had occurred based on the inscriptions he had made on his body in previous loops. But perhaps it was better that he did not experience them, as it would have likely resulted in him going mad, living through what would have been the equivalent of over two centuries over the course of the same four years.

The first sixty-seven tallies, based on the more detailed inscriptions, appeared to have been inscribed with a loop taking place from the year 784. Not all of the loops had information, likely with the loop ending too early before he could live and inscribe information worth sharing. For example, in the last seven loops, six had no information at all apart from their new starting year. The loop prior had some information, but it was hardly the length of the earlier inscriptions.

Something had shifted, and the loops now began at an earlier period of time, starting from year 780, with the previous lengths no longer guaranteed. In some ways, it was for the better because now Claude could prevent some of the tragedies that the version of him in the 784 year loop could not attend to.

However, aside from the issue of the loops starting earlier than before, their short nature, and the unusually high count, there was the trouble of others being able to interfere with the loops. While there were few people who could take advantage of the loops, there were more of them than Claude cared for.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

There was, of course, the summoned, and luckily, it appeared to have been just one person with a single goal, so their impact on events was limited. Then, there were those with phoenix eyes who had awakened to their abilities—and based on the inscriptions, there were more and more of them awakening with every loop. Finally, there were a few individuals, like Claude's mother, who had found a method of taking advantage of the loops.

All in all, with all the various interferences, Claude's unique advantage was growing shakier with every new loop. The futures tattooed into his skin were far from being guaranteed to occur yet again, and unfortunately, his past selves did not include much about the next four years until the loops started in 784. He was essentially blind.

"Rise," Claude ordered, causing the subordinate to shut his trap and scramble up off the floor.

Had this man been in any other environment in Adovoria, save for in front of Adovoria's King, perhaps he would have been the one being bowed and apologized to. But before Claude, Duke Hatis Maudel was merely an associate in Calude's organization. He was a ranking associate, but he was hardly one of the most influential associates.

"I'm not going to have you killed for this mistake. Let this be a learning lesson and a prompt to resolve the matter instead," Claude stated, and Duke Hatis Maudel before him looked visibly relieved. "Our organization can operate the way we do not because we are feared but because we can provide substantial value that no one else on the continent is capable of. It is out of fear of not having access to the benefits that we provide that we are feared. If we can no longer guarantee value, our own value falls, and no amount of intimidation will allow our organization to survive then."

"Master Calude, I understand… but there's just not enough viable mana in the surrounding lands remaining to harvest—"

"Eldermyst Wood, Luminspire Grove, Emberveil Moonshadow," Claude retorted. "Take your pick. I'm certain they have plenty of viable mana."

"Yes, but those are needed for farming, lumber and—"

"Emberveil Moonshadow," Claude returned again. "That land isn't used for farming or lumber. It's just your vacation house there. Either you give it up, or you find a way to harvest mana elsewhere. I frankly don't care where or how, but you're below your quota this year. If you can't find a way to resolve the issue, despite all the support you have access to, perhaps it is your own value that is under question."

"I-I understand. I'll provide the mana," Duke Hatis Maudel said.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear," Claude said. "You can go off to that palace feast now."

"Thank you," Duke Hatis Maudel continued to bow the whole way as he walked backward out of the room.

"Master Claude, if I may?" Claude's trusted aide, Belestris, leaned toward him.

"Go ahead," Claude told her.

Belestris was old enough to be Claude's mother, and she had served his mother before him. She was a thin woman with short grey hair and wore an expression of perpetual annoyance.

"This instance is hardly new. According to the report I just received, we are below quota in 35% of the regions. That is a staggering decrease from last year's 22%."

"I know," Claude said.

In the past couple of years, the quantity of viable mana that was collected across the continent decreased with every year. And according to Claude's runic tattoo, the issue of collecting viable mana was a matter that would only worsen with time. There just wasn't enough of the resource remaining on the continent to harvest in the quantity needed to produce the quantity of mages demanded.

"The land's infection is continuing to spread, eating up any and all remaining viable land before we can even harvest any mana from them," Claude summarized the current situation.

"Yes, and not only has the quantity fallen, but the quality of the harvested mana has fallen as well," Belestris added. "The mages produced today are barely capable of the most basic of magic. The situation is worsening with every year."

"Wasn't there a mage at today's auction that was rated as Grade A for potential?" Claude recalled the report summarizing today's auction. He had been so busy with other matters that he didn't even attend this year's auction and had it handled by Belestris entirely.

"Yes, but it was not one produced by us," Belestris replied. "It was a captured mage. Lord Vikzhou won it at the auction for 10,000 Phoenix eyes."

"That's a hefty profit, but it is a shame we didn't keep the mage for ourselves. We could have dissected it to figure out how that mage was able to accumulate enough mana in their core for a Grade A potential and replicate the process."

"I apologize," Belestris said. "I should have been more proactive."

From what Claude had read, that was precisely the way in which he was able to improve the quantity and quality of mages produced in the years 784 and on.

I ought to make a note of it so that in case there's another loop, that loop's version of me can take advantage of this knowledge and not let a mage of that quality slip through again.

Claude pulled the golden coin back out of his pocket and tossed it in the air.

But in the end, it really doesn't matter. The real profit is soon going to be in harvesting the dead mana from the infected lands.

"Have you figured out where Sarka Jarbez is yet?" Claude asked Belestris, catching the coin in his palm.

According to his tattoos, Sarka Jarbez was the one to discover the method of harvesting and utilizing dead mana.

"No, not yet. But we do know that she entered the country with her son only a month ago," Belestris said.

"A son? That's good," Claude said. "The boy can be a good motivator."

He gazed at the golden coin in his palm, face up.

"And I have a feeling you'll find her and her son soon enough."