The Extraordinary Butler Lucas
Lucas, Marien's butler. He's one heck of a unique guy. After watching him closely for the past two years, I've concluded he's definitely not your average person. Why do I say that? Let me count the ways.
First off: he's competent.
Ching! "Ack! Watch out!"
In the middle of sparring with Marien, a rock got kicked up by my toe and went flying straight at her face just as her stance faltered.
Thud.
"That was close."
"Lucas."
Whenever we dueled, he'd always stand watch from a safe distance, but somehow he'd appeared right beside us and snatched the flying rock out of the air with his bare hand.
"Phew... That was a relief. Thanks, butler guy. When did you even get here?"
"Your movements looked a bit off-kilter, so I took the liberty of standing by just in case."
"As expected. Impressive as always."
"You're too kind."
That's how it always went. Whenever something seemed about to go wrong, Lucas would intervene at the perfect moment. Thanks to him, we managed to spar with real swords for two whole years without a single major injury.
Second: he's got insane survivability.
"That's a yellow woodpecker mushroom."
"...What kinda name is that?"
"Legend has it that when it was first discovered, a woodpecker pecked at it and turned yellow."
"Isn't that a poison shroom?"
"Technically, yes. But it's fine for me."
"...?"
"It has a nice zing to it. Interested?"
"...Pass."
Third: he knows everything.
"Kalend Plateau, eh? What a grand name."
"You know it?"
"A legendary adventurer. From back before barbarians were called barbarians and the empire was called Cardium. The first to fully map the great mountain range."
"The whole mountain range? That's seriously impressive. But the range is called the Limbus Mountains, right? Why'd he only get a plateau named after him?"
"...Because the mountains existed before Kalend."
"Oh."
Fourth: his past is a total mystery.
"This scar? I got it while serving in the north."
"Oh? Lucas, didn't you say just the other day you'd learned accounting up north? Accountants are exempt from military service, though."
"...He also said he was an adventurer."
From high-class gigs like accountant to special roles like soldier, even clown—now butler. What kind of life has he lived to rack up such a wildly varied resume? No clue. Heck, I didn't even know his exact age. He laughed it off saying he was over a hundred, but his speech and demeanor made it not sound entirely like a joke. Plus, he looked way too young for someone who'd been carrying baby Marien around.
That fancy mustache made him seem a bit older, but shave it off and he'd pass for thirties easy.
...Is he even human?
And the fifth and final trait: he's strong.
Kaaang! Shiiik! Ching!
"Urk!"
"Too slow."
"Ursa! ...Hah!"
"Same for you, miss."
"Eek!"
Marien and I teaming up 2-on-1 against Lucas in a special match. But no matter how well we coordinated, we couldn't even graze his clothes. In the end, we were the ones who collapsed first.
"I surrender~."
"Hehe... We've still got a long way to go."
"Well fought, both of you."
He approached us as we lay there exhausted and handed over a water canteen I'd swear wasn't there a second ago.
Gulp, gulp... Pwah! "This water's sweet."
"Water tastes sweeter than honey after a sweat. Back when I was a miner in the north—"
"Urgh! A miner now? You're full of it."
"It's true."
"Ugh, whatever! Marien, tell your teacher to quit lying."
"U-Ursa, that's rude... Sorry, Lucas. Ursa doesn't mean it; she's just messing around."
"I know, miss. No worries."
Lucas was Marien's personal butler and her teacher. He'd noticed her mana awakening right away and helped her realize it. Since then, his vast knowledge of mana had played a huge role in nurturing her talents.
If Border March hadn't gotten jealous and insisted on teaching her swordsmanship himself, she might've ended up wielding a saber like Lucas instead of a greatsword.
"Miss, you've been neglecting your mana training lately, haven't you?"
"Ah... Hehe. Dad's been giving me lots of sword lessons lately..."
"Think of your path as a mage. You need to elevate your magic, not swordsmanship."
"Right... But..."
The empire's nobles inherit unique magic passed down their families. House Arzenhardt was no exception—they had a special magic only their bloodline could manifest.
The Arzenhardt unique magic: Negation.
The power to deny phenomena.
Those of Arzenhardt blood who awakened it gained power corresponding to the concept of "negation."
Marien's negations were twofold. The first: negation of weight.
Pampered to death by her doting daddy Border March, she'd never even lifted anything heavy before. But the moment she unlocked her unique magic, she stopped feeling "heavy" at all. Rocks, greatswords—it all felt like a perfect weight in her hands.
That was why a fragile flower of the greenhouse (yep, that's her) could swing around a massive greatsword like it was nothing: her unique magic, weight negation.
Most people only got one unique magic like that. But who was Marien? The once-in-a-generation genius who'd handed me, daughter of the plains Ursa, my first defeat. A girl who made the heavens weep and me cry. At just thirteen, she'd unlocked a second unique magic.
Having loved bladed weapons since birth, she dreamed of wielding every weapon in the world. Freed from weight constraints by her first negation, she swung all sorts of arms to her heart's content. But one day, while learning various sword styles from Border March, fueled by her desire to master them all... doubt crept in about swordsmanship itself.
Swordsmanship existed to master one weapon for life—poison to a girl who wanted to wield them all freely.
And so mana granted her wish.
Marien's second unique magic: negation of form.
She no longer fixated on a weapon's role. A greatsword that others had to swing wide? To her, it was no different from a dagger. A spear for thrusting? Swing it like a staff, throw it like a javelin. Freed from rigid forms, every possibility opened up to her, making her truly free.
But her second negation was still incomplete. She'd only just gotten it, and honing even one unique magic took a lifetime—now she had two. That's why she needed advice from her magic teacher, Lucas.
"Border March is a magic irregular. Sadly, he can't understand or empathize with us. He even negates things himself."
"...Yeah. Dad's... like that. I don't get that side of him either."
"That's normal. No one can understand the master. Which is why his swordsmanship teaching will only poison you now that you've negated it."
"..."
"Fortunately, you're an exception to his negation. So please, walk your own path."
"...Yes."
Not the butler serving his lady, but a master disciplining his pupil. Whenever magic came up, Lucas would forget decorum and ramble on. The flawless elite butler vanished, replaced by a man passionately expounding his theories on magic—even badmouthing his own master without hesitation. It showed his true fervor.
But we'd never actually seen his magic. Not in daily life or even spars—he always fought us with just his saber.
"In that regard, you're doing well, Ursa."
"...Me?"
"The miss has been training her mana for seven years."
"Already? Time flies. Hehe."
"You've only been awakened for two. Though you're still exceptionally fast."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"But in raw mana capacity, you've already surpassed her. Even as she walks the path of a magic swordsman."
Magic swordsman. Lucas's term for unique magic. No idea why he phrased it that way, but I could guess.
He'd taught Marien mana—and apparently qi too. When I asked, he knew plenty about it, echoing the elders' wisdom.
Definitely an ancient geezer hiding in that face. Old habits slipping out unconsciously.
"In my humble opinion, your talent outshines the miss's."
"Uh..."
"If you find your own path, you'll grow beyond compare."
"..."
...Thanks for the high praise, but is it cool saying that in front of your boss?
Marien listening next to us would feel slighted. I glanced her way cautiously, and...
"Hehe. That's my Ursa. Lucas has a good eye."
...She's thrilled?
"Sorry, miss. I overstepped—"
"Don't worry about it. It's true, isn't it?"
Marien winking at me while stopping his apology.
...Cheeky as ever. Though if someone praised Marien by comparing her to me, I'd be happy too. I get her mood.
Still...
"It all hinges on me getting enlightenment, huh..."
Beastkin didn't have family-inherited unique magic like human nobles. We forged our own paths through effort alone—that was our way.
So our equivalent, "enlightenment," came later than humans' unique magic.
But man, I wasn't getting any closer. All I could do was swing hard with my overflowing qi.
"Don't get down, Ursa. You'll get it in no time."
"Yeah..."
Marien stroking my deflated head. It helped. Lucas, who'd been watching silently, spoke up.
"...How about this, then."
"...What're you planning?"
He raised a finger.
"A special camp to help Ursa reach enlightenment."
"...Special camp?"
What the heck was that?