Book 1 Chapter 21
EPISODE 20
“Oh my god, what the hell. The good-for-nothing Young Master beat Logan!”
“No way, really?”
“I saw it with my own eyes! Just as the <Rivarden> guys said, he must be incredibly good at magic. And to top it off, his personality at the end was per-fect.”
“So he’s not a good-for-nothing Young Master, but a jerk Young Master?”
Through the moonlit window, the voices of boys excitedly chatting about the day’s events could be heard.
Professor Owen, standing by the window and looking down at the scene, quietly turned around.
“Are you finally coming to your senses?”
The infirmary located in the main building of <Delaiten>. Logan, who had sat up in his bed, touched his bandaged forehead.
“Ugh…”
“Seeing that you can still make that awful voice and your vacant eyes are still the same, it seems there’s nothing wrong with that brain of yours, which is worse than monkey shit!”
“M-Master Senior Brother…!”
As soon as Logan saw Owen, he immediately stood up straight, stiffening his back and sitting at attention. The Chaihark school was famous for having rules stricter than military discipline.
“Damn it, Logan! Master Senior Brother? Call me Professor here. Where’s your call and response?!”
“Yes, I will call you Professor from now on!”
“At ease.”
Only then did Logan relax his body and look down at his palms helplessly. He clenched his fists weakly, trembling all over.
“I’ve smeared the school’s name in mud, so I’m going to be beaten to death by the elders.”
“Smeared the school’s name in mud? Are you trying to act like an unlucky genius, Logan? Just because you’re praised as a rising star, do you already think the Chaihark school is yours?”
“No, Professor!”
“Your opponent was simply too strong. I don’t know if those damn old men’s bald heads will turn crimson… but they’ll understand in a few years.”
Professor Owen turned his head back to look out the window. In the moonlit shadows, the sturdy muscles embedded in his body twitched.
Muscles are indeed a wizard’s true power… Logan swallowed, feeling immeasurable respect for his great Senior Brother.
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Do you know about Skalji Ludwig?”
How could he not know?
Wasn’t he the man called the Empire’s greatest wizard of the previous generation? Now old, he had retired from the front lines and was focusing on nurturing the next generation, but…
“A guy from <Rivarden> Magic School told me. That crappy old man used Rain as an assistant for three years.”
“…?!”
“Three years! A whole three years! Though he barely has any academic background for some reason, his skill must be undeniable. Even if he’s not a genius, if he learned for three years under that old fart, most novices wouldn’t even stand a chance.”
Hostility surged up in Logan’s heart once again. This was why he disliked the descendants of noble families. To receive such an education based solely on blood ties, even without talent.
“And from what I saw, Rain, that damned guy, is a genius among geniuses.”
“Did I hear that correctly? He’s a good-for-nothing Young Master!”
“Use that pathetic head of yours! You lost so badly today, and you still don’t know? How is he a good-for-nothing Young Master? He’ll be a giant in the magic world in a few years. Don’t even think about being hostile; get close to him starting now.”
“But he’s a descendant of a noble family!”
“You’d rather die than get close? Damn it, I was preaching to such a brainless idiot; it would have been better to take a monkey as a disciple!”
Owen let out a low sigh, then affectionately smacked Logan on the head before walking towards the exit.
“If you don’t want to befriend him, at least don’t think about being hostile. This is advice from a Senior Brother, not a Professor. Understood?”
“…!”
“And you must keep the conditions you made for the magic duel. I’ll see you later, you foolish junior.”
Logan stared blankly at the exit where Owen had left, then let out a sigh of relief a moment later.
‘It was overwhelming…’
Anger was surging, but he felt no will to challenge him again. If that guy had gone all out, the outcome would have been obvious.
“I didn’t chicken out. I’m just not challenging him further because Master Senior Brother urgently requested it. I didn’t chicken out…”
***
Ever since I received Lin’s diary, I had considered the possibility that someone unknown might be watching me.
But I never imagined it would be true…
The first incident that turned this into a certainty was when I returned to the library after the magic duel. The librarian was rummaging through the vast library.
“Young Master, did you perhaps take a book?”
The story went like this:
After I said I would leave the book and left, she tidied up her work and went to where Rain had been, but the book was nowhere to be found.
“I didn’t take it…”
“Is that so? That’s strange.”
“Did someone else check it out in the meantime?”
“Impossible. A magic alarm would immediately sound if someone tried to leave the library without the book being processed for checkout.”
So the book disappeared, due to your mistake… I couldn’t say that.
Seeing the worry etched in sweat on the usually calm librarian’s face… But the librarian bowed politely.
“My apologies, Young Master. It must be my mistake. I promised to look after the book… I’m sorry. I will contact you as soon as I find it.”
What was slightly odd was that the books by Kies and Friede remained, but only Turaina’s book had disappeared.
“It seems like you’ve been searching for quite a while. How much does the book cost? We can just buy a new one. I’ll pay for it.”
After the Dwarves developed printing technology 60 years ago, book prices stabilized. There was no need to spend a fortune on handwritten manuscripts, as in Lin’s time.
“What do you mean? It’s my fault, so I’ll report it to the head librarian and receive disciplinary action.”
The librarian blinked in surprise for a moment but soon shook her head.
“No, then there’ll be disciplinary meetings and all that, which takes a long time, won’t it?”
“Huh? That’s…”
“And I hear those thick biographies aren’t handled by general bookstores… It’s bothersome to personally contact the publisher and place an order.”
In that case, I could just contact my family and buy it directly. It would be easier to leave this problem to the librarian and stop worrying about it.
But if you ask why I’m doing this…
It could be a small token of gratitude for bringing me Turaina’s book, which brought back memories of that person I had buried deep in my mind.
Yes, it’s not a favor.
Just a small, insignificant token of appreciation.
“Then please order the book as if I lost it. If you give me the receipt for the price, I’ll pay for it.”
“Oh, you really don’t need to do this. Really.”
“There’s no need to decline. It’s not much for me anyway. Even if I take the blame, I won’t get disciplined. I just have to pay the money.”
Only after three rounds of offers and rejections did the librarian bow respectfully and express her gratitude.
“…Thank you very much, Young Master.”
But if such unexpected problems were easily resolved, would that be life?
It was three days later that I received a despairing reply that school life was getting complicated.
***
As soon as Rain returned to the dormitory, he buried himself in bed and pondered for a moment.
Should he think about this situation in a complicated way, or a simple way? He detested complicated things, but combining the series of events, things were indeed full of oddities.
‘Lin’s diary came to me, and as I was investigating my companions’ pasts, Turaina’s book disappeared…’
If there’s a being who sent me the diary and is watching me, is it Turaina?
But this makes no sense.
First, because Turaina is dead, and second, if they knew my identity, they would contact me directly; there’s no reason to merely observe.
‘Rista is dead, Kies is dead, Friede is dead, so then who… Ah, damn it, my head hurts.’
Is it only the mad dragon Haraderiman?
No answers would come from pondering alone here, so after an hour of struggling, I just sat down at my desk.
When my head hurts, studying is the best.
Especially, there’s no entertainment as fun as solving math problems. I should relieve stress by solving Pravis calculus problems.
As I opened Lin’s diary to review problems I used to solve in Lin’s time, something quite pleasant happened.
Socrafres.
- You can inherit the progress of ‘Unique Magic’ research from the surrounding environment.
- Progress: 37.9%.
This was due to the information displayed by Rudien, who was inside the diary (this guy was sucked into it when closed and reappeared when opened).
“37.9%?”
That’s strange.
Wasn’t it 37.1%? What did I do to make it go up by 0.8%? If I review what I did today…
“All I did was beat someone with magic?”
Could it be that the more I beat people, the higher the contribution? This was a very interesting point. Was the path to truth the path of violence?
‘Nah, no way.’
Still, it seemed worth testing.
Against a target in the magic training hall, it was 0.1%, whereas against Logan, a living creature, it went up by 0.8%.
So I need to use magic against living creatures, but I can’t just grab someone and use magic on them, can I?
“Ah, maybe I should try being an adventurer?”
Money or fame aren’t needed.
Just for magic experiments… That sounds great.
***
“Is that so?”
Madellia Page, the Chancellor with lavender hair, who had just received a report on today’s incident from her secretary, spun her chair to face the window.
“Understood, you may go.”
It would have been better if she had gone and seen it herself… The events of today’s magic duel were significant in many ways.
- According to Professor Theon’s testimony, it was confirmed that he used three spells with high-speed computation in Osarius-style staff fighting…
The Osarius school operated on a one-on-one master-disciple system, so traditionally, only a very small number of elites were affiliated with the school.
Therefore, it was absurd to say that Rain had learned Osarius-style staff fighting. They wouldn’t have accepted a descendant of a noble family as a disciple either.
That would mean he saw it once, perhaps through a book, and perfectly mimicked it…
“And with high-speed computation?”
Does that mean he’s overwhelmingly superior not only in physical abilities but also in intellect? Kayven Ludwig, that annoying fellow, was hiding a monster.
What interested her more than his skill was his personality. The very reason he participated in the magic duel was unlike a descendant of a noble family.
Innate chivalry?
Or simple curiosity?
Whatever it was, one thing seemed clear.
“He’s incredibly blessed with children…”
What kind of feelings would one have if their child grew up so outstandingly? Madellia would probably never know.
Her world had crumbled ten years ago when her daughter suffered that accident.
It’s fine if she doesn’t become an excellent wizard, it’s fine if she doesn’t become a sage famous throughout the world; if only I could just see that child smiling and running around like before, I would ask for nothing more…
‘Should I try to have the two of them meet?’
She didn’t know what kind of stimulation Casena would receive if she knew there was such a genius among her peers. But she soon dismissed that thought.
‘That’s after I’ve thoroughly assessed Rain Ludwig’s character. After I’m certain he won’t despise or mock Casena…’
Indeed.
I’ll have to watch him carefully from now on.