Book 1 Chapter 7

Episode 6

That year's winter was long.

It was a winter that lasted for a whopping 3 years.

They say the Abyss broke out in the Arctic, and two Fake Warriors (false heroes) have been dispatched to suppress it.

It was an era of peace. Throughout that winter, the boy received education under Scalge Ludwig.

The focus of the education was on mana training and eye activation, but to activate Bell Quirias, first.

"You must be able to use Bell Sidius freely. Now, read quickly! Don't miss anything!"

"Yes!"

"Are you just going to stare idly until your opponent's magic activates! Move quickly!"

Scalge was happy every time he saw his grandson, who learned a hundred things when taught one, not just ten. The boy's genius was beyond description.

Wasn't he mastering content that would take 10 years for a dullard, 1 year for an average person, and a month for a genius, in just one day?

All that was needed was time. The time it took for his eye usage and mana to grow.

The boy was also enjoying himself, in a way.

If he had been formally educated in general magic, it would have been boring. But the Ludwig family's ancestral magic was a world of knowledge unknown to the boy.

The reward was also certain.

The power to freely control all extraordinary abilities, it was an overwhelming condition compared to his previous life where he had no foundation at all.

"Training, by nature, leads to greater growth when your life is on the line."

"I know."

"From now on, I will launch a fireball. If you can't dodge it, die."

Scalge said so, but if a truly dangerous situation arose, he intended to neutralize the magic with his Bell Quirias.

"Swoop…"

The boy took a deep breath and then nodded. Cold sweat flowed from his whole body, and a pure white breath plumed into the winter wind.

"Now!"

Scalge was an excellent magician.

The condition for turning a magician into a battle mage lay precisely in calculation speed. Scalge's calculation speed was quite fast, even by Lyn's standards.

'If he had been in my era, Scalge might have joined the Reastar Party instead of me.'

It was a good thing that didn't happen. As the fireball rushed in, a shimmering heat haze raged, distorting the scene in a dizzying manner.

"Bell Sidius!"

The fireball came closer and closer. A pain as if his skin would burn struck his skin.

"Hurry, Rein!"

The activation conditions for Bell Quirias are difficult from the theory itself. One must instantaneously calculate all five of the Ludwig family's ancestral magic and imbue their eyes with mana.

Because it requires adding a spell that interferes with and manipulates the power, going beyond the three stages of Bell Sidius: quickly reading, interpreting, and discerning magic.

Thinking about it now, to make such a thing into ancestral magic… was Lyuken Ludwig a man who regretted not being able to beat mages?

"Rein!"

The fireball that rushed right before his eyes.

But the boy thought. Multi-operation of magic, that's nothing to me.

The casting of five spells was instantaneous.

Suddenly, blood streamed from both eyes, and an intense pain, as if his retina was burning and melting, exploded in his pupils.

But, oh?

The surrounding scenery was covered in a terrible crimson, and everything began to appear as numbers.

010101010101

Even the pure white snowflakes scattering before his eyes, Scalge urgently shouting from afar, and the fireball furiously burning right in front of him…!

In that instant, Rein understood what change had occurred in his eyes. Bell Quirias had been activated.

Amazing.

This is truly, amazing.

An unbelievable sight where everything in creation was interpreted as mathematical equations, directly transmitting information to his brain.

- "If you've recognized the information with Bell Quirias, you're all set. At that point, just like when you calculate magic mentally, change the formulas you see before your eyes however you wish."

There were similarities with Bell Sidius, but something was crucially different.

The numbers…

As if they could be grasped, like touching the surface of water, they strangely scattered or distorted when he reached out or his gaze touched them. As if he could interfere with everything.

┏ 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 ┓

ㆍThe magic circle's core is two triangles.

ㆍThe rune symbol used is the formulaic Lutisien.

ㆍSize 17 Accel, Range 23 Kimite.

┗ 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 ┛

Interpretation complete.

Correction initiated.

Shall I twist the rune of '發' (launch\/emit) into '跋' (tread\/cross)? As meaningless properties are granted, the rune doesn't resonate with the mathematical equation, so the answer to the equation turns into an imaginary root.

This means one thing.

That the magic returns to nothingness.

As the interference ended, the fireball that had been fiercely roaring before his eyes and scorching his facial skin, in the next moment, scattered into countless sparks, and soon the world fell silent.

The boy could only hear his own breathing.

Then, a sharp, stinging pain arose in his eyes. It was mana exhaustion. Scalge caught the boy as he swayed and fell.

"Grandfather, just now, did it happen?"

"Yes! Look at your eyes now! Now all that's lacking is mana! Hahahaha! Such an unbelievable thing… Bell Quirias at fourteen!"

At that moment, Scalge Ludwig was laughing, but he couldn't just keep laughing.

'The level I barely reached at thirty-nine…'

The reality of the current magical world was that even he, who reached that level, was praised as a genius to be recorded in centuries.

Then what kind of genius is Rein?

Is he a being that can simply be described as a genius? This is truly a talent that could overturn the Empire's magical history.

"Rein, whatever path you take, whatever life you live, I won't care in the slightest."

"……?"

"But in the year you turn sixteen, you must knock on the doors of the magic academy, <Delighten>. You are a gem (玉)."

Magic academy…

To be honest, he wasn't interested.

His interest lay in the Central Magic Library attached to <Delighten>, and wasting unnecessary time was out of the question.

"Do you know that if you graduate from <Delighten> as the top student, you get a chance to see Archmage Lyn's corpse?"

"Yes, well, that…"

Stop desecrating corpses.

What's so good about seeing a dead body in ice that they'd give such a thing as a privilege?

"I'm not very interested."

"I was like that too. But aren't you curious about the contents of the note that Hero Reastar left for Lyn?"

What…?

Reastar left something for me…?

"No one has ever activated Bell Quirias at your age until now. With that power, it should be possible to decipher the contents of that note."

At the time, he just listened blankly to that shocking story, but looking back later, that was the beginning.

This is the story of a journey.

The story of following Reastar's letter, tracing the footsteps of old comrades, traveling and recording every corner of the world.

And on that path.

The story until he met that child.

* * *

He turned fifteen.

Heavy rain poured at the beginning of summer once again, which provided a good excuse to stay at the <Rivalden> Magic School instead of returning to the mansion.

After submitting his application to <Delighten> Magic University, he developed an interest in school classes, so from then on, he occasionally observed them.

<Rivalden>, located in the Imperial Capital, <Rainbow Garden>, is said to be divided into elementary, middle, and high school sections, just like other magic schools.

Here, ordinary magicians graduate from elementary, middle, and high school, take the Bandoran (1-star) ranking exam, and become a mage, while.

Gifted students would obtain the Bandoran (1-star) rank after graduating middle school and then proceed to a magic university.

"Today's lesson is on factorization. You've already learned the basics in middle school, but now we'll move on to the advanced stage…"

Rein tended to observe the children taking the class more closely than the content of the class itself.

"Hey, how do you solve this?"

"Let me see your notes for a second."

"Why is this so hard? Should I just give up on math?"

"You idiot, is a mage giving up on math even possible, or is that just nonsense?"

They would ask each other about things they didn't know, or solve difficult problems together… and laugh and chat in the process.

'In that they fill each other's shortcomings, it's similar to when I followed Reastar's party.'

It was completely different from Lyn's life, where he sat facing the dean lady in the magic tower, learned basic theories, and then holed himself up in his room memorizing formulas.

'It might be somewhat interesting…'

But, oh… a slightly awkward problem arose here. How should he act around his peers?

'I didn't even know when I was Lyn, and now I'm the eldest son of a prominent magic family?'

Rein's life before regaining his memories was also that of an outsider who had cut ties with the world, so it offered no help.

Such a useless fellow!

"This… might be a bit of a mess?"

The only thing he could rely on was Lyn's memories. Let's trace back to the past.

When was that?

There was a time in the past when he discussed attitudes towards others with his party members.

- "Now, may the gods' peace be upon the souls of these children, Dyurciel."

As Friede, the Oracle of the Fire Dragon, placed her hands one by one on the foreheads of the fallen warriors and offered prayers, sobbing sounds emerged from the crowd.

Friede was an oracle with the status of a religious leader in the Republic; wherever she went, people tearfully pleaded for her to pray for the souls of the deceased.

Lyn might have been moved by Friede's benevolent and kind appearance, as she sent the prayers of those left behind up to the heavens. Of course.

- "As someone who knows Friede's true self, it just makes me dizzy."

- "What, you punk?"

At Lyn's one word, Friede yelled out in a burst. Kies nodded vigorously as if in agreement, while Reastar waved his hand dismissively.

- "Friede? I don't think so."

- "As expected, only Reastar understands! These old-man-smelling guys, I'll just…"

- "It's not to the point of being dizzy, but rather slightly nauseating? Just a little bit? Exactly this much?"

Friede's face, having been simultaneously attacked by the three, turned beet red as if it would burst.

- "I'm an oracle! One of the Republic's top two! Do you think I should be puffing out cigarette smoke like I do when I'm with you guys? There's an image people expect!"

- "Yes, yes. Oracle Friede's words are correct."

When Lyn replied indifferently, as if teasing, Friede was about to flare up but stopped, putting a pipe in her mouth.

- "Hmph, even a sly kid like you will have to act differently later, won't you? We'll see then. I'll properly tease you."

- "No. Why would I?"

- "How disappointed would people be if the Archmage of the Hero's party was timid, didn't laugh much, and just spewed venom? They'd ask if he was an impostor, wouldn't they?"

After joining the Hero's party, Lyn often laughed, though not frequently. One could say that was Lyn's true self.

He tended to be shy around strangers, as a boy who had only lived in the slums and the magic tower, he couldn't help but harbor an primal wariness towards others.

Lyn's expression suddenly turned serious, and he abruptly closed the book he always read.

- "Acting… how do you do that? Do I just put on a thick skin like Friede? But that's only possible if you have a broad face like Friede."

- "You, come here, you're really dead!"

While Kies was restraining Friede, who was screeching like a beast and throwing punches and kicks, Reastar approached and sat next to Lyn.

- "What book is that?"

- "Gren Benivelt's 『History of the Dragonkind - II』."

- "…Lyn, you don't really need to act. Friede's case is special."

- "Special?"

- "Lyn just needs to be Lyn. Of course, it would be nice if you were a bit brighter and more confident, but? There's no need to force yourself to change. You're fine just the way you are."

Reastar smiled gently while meeting his gaze. Lyn felt a sudden surge of shyness inside him and lowered his head, avoiding eye contact.

- "Tsk, even if you didn't say that, I wouldn't act. Because I don't want to. But…"

- "But?"

Huh? Huh, huh?

As Reastar urged for an answer, leaning his smiling face closer and closer, Lyn pushed him away and uttered in a voice barely audible.

- "…I do want to change."

Reastar, Kies, Friede.

Like you guys.

To be an adult who is bright, confident, and kind in all things… someone who can bring smiles to others.

I might not be able to change my innate personality, but still, someday.