Unexpected Encounter
After passing through Rahera, the trade metropolis that served as a stopover on the route to the Arhen Empire, we boarded a carriage and arrived at a bustling port city where ships to the Arhen Empire departed.
There, we paid the fare and boarded a large white passenger ship, the grand vessel that would carry us across the sea.
“Ugh…!”
“Just hold on a little longer. We’ll arrive soon.”
I patted Aina’s back as she struggled with seasickness.
I had never ridden such a large ship in my previous life, but fortunately I felt no discomfort at all.
Surviving in the harsh conditions of my previous life had made me immune to motion sickness.
A massive earthquake accompanied by magic that shook the ground, or the sensation of the earth cracking and trembling beneath my feet while I desperately dodged the fissures to stay alive—those experiences had somehow built up an immunity.
It was almost strange that I didn’t get seasick.
Perhaps that was why I had unconsciously developed an immunity to such situations.
“Are you feeling very sick?”
“Ugh… I feel like I’m going to die.”
“…”
That bad, huh?
What should I do? There’s no useful magic I can use right now.
“Hmm.”
I supposed I’d better think about it.
I had been pondering new visionary magic similar to Magical Eye anyway.
During my time at Sephirion Academy’s middle school, I had received various inspirations and somehow gained a kind of enlightenment.
Separately from that, I was also considering whether there might be a suitable magic system I could use in the current situation.
“…Why are you like this, Free? Suddenly you go quiet. If it’s because of me, it’s fine… Uwaaah!”
“Wait a second. I’m thinking.”
One reason I was good at magic was that mystical spells had proven incredibly useful in everyday life.
Creating even a single spell was an extremely difficult task for ordinary mages.
I had mastered it myself.
Yet strangely, I was exceptionally talented at creating those original visionary magics.
Perhaps that was because I had lived in a situation where I only received low-level spellbooks.
I had dug through one spellbook after another, analyzing the system, the casting method, the principles that made magic work, and the logic behind it all.
It seemed this contribution came more from my acquired knowledge than from any innate talent I was born with.
It was an unfortunate fate that I had been pushed into the battlefield from a very young age, but…
“Ah, this should work.”
As I thought, it came to me.
A new magic formula.
Its formation and casting method.
“Calm Relax Condition.”
A soothing spell I had just created on the spot that calmed the target’s state.
Whoosh.
With a burst of white light, I placed my hand on Aina’s back.
Her complexion, which had been pale and strained, visibly improved.
“……!”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah… Thank you. Thanks to you, I feel much better.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Smiling, I gazed toward the horizon beyond the sea.
Puff—
A single plume of smoke rose from the passenger ship’s chimney and drifted away.
Soon, we began to see the distant docks on the shore growing larger, like tiny dots.
*
The ship docked at the port.
Crowds bustled everywhere.
“Aina, be careful.”
“Yeah…!”
There were so many people disembarking that I warned Aina just in case.
But—
Thud—
“Uwaaah!”
“Aina!”
Seeing Aina pushed by the crowd and nearly fall, I instinctively grabbed her hand.
For a moment, I felt the soft skin and gentle touch of a woman’s hand—the first time I had experienced it—but now was not the time to savor it.
“Hold my hand!”
“Yeah……!”
We crossed the wide gangplank connecting the ship to the shore, barely pushing through the dense crowd.
“Huu.”
“……”
We stood side by side on the ground, still holding hands.
“Ah, sorry.”
I realized I was still holding her hand and quickly let go.
“U-uh, no…”
Then, for some reason, she brought my hand to her chest, pressing it against her heart as if embracing it, her face flushed with a faint blush.
“……Shall we go?”
“……Yeah.”
Following her nod, I walked ahead, carrying my luggage bag in one hand and heading toward the carriage area.
Aina, left behind, didn’t immediately follow. She stood there with her head lowered and her cheeks still flushed, the same posture from before. I caught a glimpse of her from the corner of my eye.
I pretended not to notice, feeling awkward, but…
We arrived at the place where we could rent carriages.
We paid the fee and boarded the carriage right away.
We could have rested a bit, but if we waited until we reached the Arhen Empire territory, night would fall before we arrived.
The distance between empires was quite far.
Clop-clop-clop.
A single horse carriage was too slow, so I deliberately rented a carriage pulled by two horses.
Unlike before, where the coachman drove, I and Aina rode in the rear cargo compartment.
It had been a cargo carriage before, but here most carriages had cargo compartments, and the regular passenger carriages were all fully booked.
We ended up sitting in the cargo compartment of a six-person carriage that could comfortably hold six people, starting our journey with a group of strangers.
Besides us, three other passengers paid the fare and boarded the carriage.
One was an old man with a wooden staff wrapped in a robe, another was a young couple with a small child.
Among them, the one who caught my eye was the oldest-looking person in the carriage—the elderly man.
“Waaah! Mom! Dad! Look over there! The road we came from is disappearing in an instant!”
The child was gripping the safety railing at a certain height to protect passengers from any unforeseen situations, excitedly turning to his parents and shouting.
The young couple smiled naturally at the child’s words.
“Isn’t it amazing? Son.”
“Yeah!”
“Heh heh heh. At that age, everything seems amazing.”
The old man’s words made the child laugh innocently.
“Yeah! But magic is even more amazing! I saw magic before, and that was even more amazing!”
“Magic?”
“I happened to see magic while traveling to the city. That’s what I’m talking about.”
The father of the child, who was explaining the reason, caught the old man’s interest.
“Oh? So you want to become a mage, child?”
“Yeah! When I grow up, I’m going to be a mage!”
“Heh heh heh! What a wonderful thought.”
I quietly watched the conversation from beside Aina.
At that moment, the old man noticed our gaze and turned to us.
“From your clothing, you seem to be students from some academy. First time seeing that uniform. You must have come a long way from an academy different from this one.”
“……”
He had the insight to immediately understand our identity and background.
Just from the fact that we were wearing school uniforms, he guessed we had come from an academy other than this one.
That meant the old man knew the appearance and style of uniforms from multiple academies he was familiar with.
I guessed.
“You seem to be a mage. Are you a staff member from some academy?”
“Heh heh.”
“Waaah! Grandpa! You’re a mage?”
The child, who was curious about mages, reacted instead.
The young couple looked a little surprised.
“…My apologies, elder. I didn’t know you were a great mage.”
The father of the child bowed his head, and the old man waved his hand that wasn’t holding the staff.
“No need to apologize. With my appearance, who could guess? Ordinary people can’t know such things. Rather, it feels better that I didn’t notice I was a mage according to my intention.”
A deep bow.
The man, acting as the family representative, bowed even deeper in response to the old man’s courteous words.
Among mages, there were eccentric ones, so ordinary people had to be careful in their dealings.
Moreover, those eccentric mages were often elderly, so showing the utmost respect to aged mages was important.
The old man turned his gaze back to me.
“By the way, you also seem to have reached a considerable level of magic at a young age. Where are you from?”
My eyes darkened at his words.
‘I finally saw my level.’
After a moment of thought, I decided to tell the truth as it was.
“From Sephirion Academy in the Orwen Empire. The reason we came here is because my hometown belongs to the Arhen Empire.”
“Heh heh, I see. That’s a bit unfortunate.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a pity that a talented individual like you has gone to another empire’s academy instead of ours.”
“……”
Who exactly was this old man?
As I wondered, the old man spoke to me again.
“You seem to be around middle school age… But when you reach high school age, how about coming to our Arhen Academy, which handles higher education in the Arhen Empire? I’ll give you a ‘recommendation letter.’”
“……”
It seemed the old man was a high-ranking official responsible for the prestigious Arhen Academy, the empire’s top institution that would admit the imperial princess in a few years.
“Heh heh heh! If possible, bring that pretty girl beside you too. Both of you have outstanding abilities.”
“……”
It was the moment we encountered an unexpected person at an unexpected place during the academy vacation.
With a smile at the corners of his mouth and a subtle glint in his eyes, he spoke to me.
“If you decide to come now, tuition will be free! I’ll provide full scholarships for three years until graduation!”
“…”
What was this salesman-like, overly persuasive tone…?
Then, the next words that followed were shockingly impactful.
“Hmm! It seems this alone isn’t enough to satisfy you… Well then, how about this?”
Click! He pointed only his index finger.
His eyes sparkling, he presented one more condition.
“A supreme magic book…! I’ll provide one for each of you.”
A dreamy young mage who knew exactly what a child of that age wanted most, paired with an elderly, enigmatic old man.
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