Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Build Stacking (1)
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After organizing the warnings to send to the academy, I was about to start taking lessons in earnest.
But.
"Uh, uh-uh...!"
Amelin, who was actually supposed to teach me, was trembling all over and flustering about.
"What are you so scared of?"
"H-H-However! If I g-g-go back, the Dean will...!"
She looked just like a graduate student fretting over getting chewed out by her professor for screwing up.
But there was a very simple solution.
"You just don't go back, right?"
"Huh?"
"You have to stay here anyway to teach me, don't you? Why even think about going back first?"
"B-But what about reports and theses and...?"
"The report was probably something you timed just right. And why write a thesis?"
"I have to write one to get recognized, open up c-c-career paths... and earn honors."
"Is that so? Then become my personal mage."
"Huh?"
"Personal mage to a royal. That's a solid promotion, isn't it? Maybe not as flashy as my siblings', but I'm royalty too, so you'll get the honors."
"Eh? U-Um?"
"Come to think of it, I don't have a proper mage yet. Might as well make you my home tutor and personal mage while we're at it. Right, Ridel?"
"Yes. Hiring a mage for security is a good idea, Aren-sama."
"Perfect, everything's settled. Now quit shaking and let's get back to the lesson."
"Uh..."
Amelin stared blankly at me, still not quite grasping reality.
Well, all her worries got solved in a flash, so her brain probably couldn't keep up.
But I didn't need to coddle her through it step by step.
Clap!
I clapped my hands to snap her attention back to me.
"What're you doing? I said lesson time."
Amelin couldn't help but doubt whether the reality unfolding right in front of her was actually real.
She'd only mentioned the reports in front of the prince—where lying wasn't an option.
She'd only stated the perfectly ordinary academy matters.
And just like that, her lifelong career had been decided.
Part of her wanted to hole up in her room and obsessively research whether this was truly happening.
But the moment Aren clapped and yanked her mind back to reality, what flashed in Amelin's head was her familiar, Mikel.
-Grrrrr!
'Mikel! For Mikel's sake, I have to pull myself together!'
To reliably cover feed costs for her beloved familiar, Amelin shook herself alert and tried to accept the situation as fast as she could.
"Y-Yes, Your Highness! T-Then, starting with basic Mana Bullet..."
"I can already use that."
"I see! Then do you know foundational elemental magic?"
"Never learned it."
She didn't ask why someone in such an absurd state had only managed Mana Bullet until now.
'I'm a doll that teaches magic. I'm a doll that teaches magic.'
Drawing from her academy days, where she'd seen herself as a doll churning out reports and theses, Amelin resolved to skip pointless questions and stick to her role.
Yes, just be the doll.
"Now, as I explain, let's try fire magic..."
Fwoosh!
"Oh, fire on my finger. Wonder if it'll work on the others too?"
Fwoooosh!
'Why's he mastering basic applications right out of the gate?!'
"Now, let's make a Water Ball."
Plop!
"Check it out, Ridel! I can make a ton of water now."
"That might've helped a little back then."
'What the hell is that much water!? Even with wide-open mana channels, newbies have output limits!'
"N-N-Now, let's make a gentle breeze~."
"If I combine this with fire magic, couldn't I make warm air?"
Whoooosh~
"A nice warm breeze, Aren-sama. If you're gonna mess around with wind magic, please only do it when it's just us."
"Hey, would I do something like that?"
"You won't?"
"Huh?"
'C-Combined spells too?'
The more she taught Aren, the more Amelin's common sense got shattered.
He was self-teaching and mastering material meant for days later—in just one day.
If he'd been a kid, she could've chalked it up to innate magical genius.
'Why hasn't he learned magic until now!?'
From Amelin's view, she simply couldn't fathom neglecting talent this extraordinary.
Learning magic from Amelin was genuinely fun.
I'd only ever played the game myself—magic was pure fiction—so casting all sorts of spells was a thrill in itself.
It was pure joy to wield new possibilities that the old "me" could never touch, only ever watching others use them.
So excited, even while learning the basics, I couldn't resist testing the ideas popping into my head.
In the midst of it all.
"Aren-sama."
"What, Ridel?"
"Might be time to clue her in? At this rate, the tutor's gonna break."
"Break?"
I glanced at Amelin on Ridel's words.
"Ah."
"Waaah~ Your Highness is sooo amazing~."
Her lips curved up in praise, but her eyes were shaking wildly.
'Got so caught up in the fun of learning, I forgot to explain.'
She's my personal mage now—she oughta know the full story.
"Amelin."
"Truly amaz... Yes, yes! Your Highness!"
"You're wondering, right? Why I'm suddenly learning magic now. Why my body's still like this even as an adult."
"Uh... C-Can I really hear that?"
"Of course. You're one of mine now."
I explained how the contaminants had been purged from my body.
"After that, stuff that was hard to believe kept happening. My body developed fast, swordsmanship clicked quick... and magic? You can guess."
"Such things..."
"Call it a miracle, basically. Can't let talent like this go to waste, right? That's why I called a tutor."
"I see."
"Oh, and no worries about succession wars or anything."
"Y-Yes!"
Explanation delivered—time to dive back into magic lessons.
"Alright, next lesson. Eager for more spells."
The more I can cast, the more build variety I can stack.
"Y-Yes, Your Highness!"
A few days after dispatching Amelin as home tutor to 9th Prince Aren Eldiad.
Jeromos was irritated.
'Why hasn't the employment fee come through yet, Amelin? So damn slow.'
Mage hire fees were usually paid in lump sums.
Especially by nobles or royals—paying upfront was practically a badge of their wealth.
So Jeromos had assumed the money would've arrived by now.
But nothing.
'Research queued up waiting on that cash! Seriously! Can't even handle basic admin, Amelin? Reports dragging too! Think tutoring a talentless prince makes you royalty now!?'
In Jeromos's mind, Amelin's fee was already slotted as his personal research slush fund.
Not even department projects.
He figured his own breakthroughs benefited the whole department anyway—no need to fund anyone else's work.
That's when it happened.
"D-Dean."
One of his departmental disciples entered Jeromos's lab.
'Money must've finally arrived.'
"What is it?"
"Well... The Chancellor wants to see you."
"The Chancellor? Understood."
Jeromos headed straight for the Chancellor's office.
'Why call me? Nothing urgent... Ah, maybe it's that? Even if I sent my prized disciple, he might toss some departmental perks our way. Nice. I can play it up and snag extra personal funds.'
He entered in high spirits, dreaming of bonus cash.
"You—what the hell were you thinking, pulling this stunt?"
Waiting for him was Chancellor Gilbert Macdalion, face twisted in fury.
"Chancellor? What stunt? What did I do?"
"Just got a letter from the 9th Prince. The contents are a goddamn joke."
Chancellor Gilbert Macdalion spoke with his clenched fist trembling.
"I felt bad when you so readily offered your disciple. Amelin's your best—figured it'd inconvenience you. But what the hell is this?"
Gilbert jabbed the letter with his finger, grilling Jeromos.
"Not content with making your royal tutor keep filing academy reports, you also told her to deduct her familiar's feed costs from the fee and send the rest here? Have you lost your mind!"
"...!"
'Amelin!'
Jeromos concluded she'd betrayed him.