Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Attendant's Slap
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Sedes's son's friend wasn't content with just spitting out the chocolate—he even started rinsing his mouth with water. It had been a thoughtful gesture on his part, but seeing the reaction left Sedes feeling a little embarrassed, so he grumbled pointlessly.
"...Was it really that bad?"
"......"
Nihil started to reply but instead took another gulp of cold water. His stomach was burning.
"Cough... Your liquor is a bit strong for me."
Nihil didn't show it outwardly, but the alcohol seeping from the cracked chocolate had him rattled. After all, just a few days ago, he'd gotten tipsy from a few sips of beer.
'I thought I smelled alcohol somewhere.'
He'd assumed it was some kind of perfume since no king or prime minister would be working while drinking in the morning, so he'd let it slide. That had been too careless.
"Good heavens, these are pralines with liquor in them!"
At the mention of liquor, Abel tried a piece of chocolate and grimaced. He'd wondered why children's sweets were in the drawing room, and sure enough, they weren't meant for kids from the start.
"Sedes, how could you give pralines to a child!"
Abel scolded Sedes while patting the back of Nihil, who was coughing lightly. Sedes insisted he hadn't known and casually pushed the chocolates aside.
"...It wasn't on purpose."
"......"
"It was expensive liquor, so there shouldn't be much of a hangover..."
"Sedes! That's not the point!"
Sedes lowered his eyes slightly at Abel's nagging. In truth, he'd given the same chocolates to the 2nd Prince earlier, but he clamped his mouth shut, unsure how the two in front of him would react if he mentioned that.
'...The 2nd Prince... should be fine, right?'
He had to be...
Meanwhile, oblivious to Sedes's thoughts, Nihil calmly downed another glass of cold water to soothe his burning stomach. Deciding to reward the snack-bearing father's efforts somewhat, he offered a detailed explanation.
"His mana circuits need to be cleared and his condition restored before treatment is possible. You should cut back on his workload a bit."
Abel beamed at the suggestion to reduce work and scolded Sedes.
"See, Sedes? Even the little one says to give you less work."
"But what can I do? I'm busy."
"Just tweak the plan the prince brought this morning a little and use that. It was good, wasn't it? It'll lighten my load too, and the prince will be happy. Best of both worlds, right?"
"Well..."
"Anyway, enough of that. Kiddo, take a look at this book?"
"......"
Abel cut Sedes off and plopped a thick ancient tome onto Nihil's lap. Nihil stared blankly at the book in front of him before carefully flipping through the pages.
What he'd thought was an ancient book wasn't one at all. The cover and edges were worn from excessive handling, but the inner pages were relatively clean.
Abel continued his explanation.
"This is my notebook with copies of all the magic circles passed down in the Magic Tower."
"How is that a notebook..."
Sedes started to nitpick but quickly shut his mouth under his friend's intense glare. Nihil flipped through the so-called notebook energetically, then lifted the whole thing and rifled through to the end before tilting his head.
"Did you copy it properly?"
"Of course. It matches the ancient tome handed down in the Magic Tower for nearly 500 years exactly."
"Most info after the Heavenly Demon War is inaccurate anyway, so don't trust old stuff too much. People back then barely pieced together what records and civilization they had left."
"You're not wrong, but... what do you think of it?"
Nihil skimmed the notebook and snorted.
"It's terribly inefficient. And magic circles aren't meant to be memorized like this, fixed in place. Take this one—why separate water magic and ice magic? They're the same at their core. Ice magic is just water magic with lowered temperature. And why bother creating ice to attack? It's more efficient to hurl around chunks of metal instead."
"Hm, but sometimes you want to freeze the enemy, right? Like with monsters you need to capture alive."
"Don't categorize magic like that. The ice binding spell here doesn't create water and freeze it— it just lowers the temperature to freeze moisture in the body or air."
"Huh, that makes sense..."
"Compare the ice binding spell to the warming spell."
Abel hurriedly found the warming magic circle. As a utility spell rather than combat magic, it was classified separately near the end.
Abel widened his eyes and flipped back and forth between pages, comparing the two circles. Shockingly, they were strikingly similar—almost unbelievable he'd never noticed before.
"Idiot."
"Ha... haha..."
Even under Nihil's sharp criticism, Abel just laughed vacantly in a daze. Worried by the sight, Sedes waved his hand in front of Abel's face.
"Abel, you alright?"
"Sedes, this is... a revolution."
"Is it?"
Sedes, who had zero interest in magic beyond the 'ma' in the word—not to mention swordsmanship—replied indifferently. Nihil watched the overly excited Abel for a moment before tugging at Sedes's sleeve.
"What is it?"
Sedes leaned down, and Nihil nodded toward the dazed Abel, whispering quietly.
"Put mana restraints on him. If he breaks more, I won't treat him."
"Treatment... is possible?"
"Of course, it won't be free."
"Naturally, we'll pay for treatment. But are these mana circuits why he's stuck at 3rd circle?"
"The Prime Minister is 3rd circle but has 6th-circle mana levels. With Sirentea, his mana capacity nears 7th circle. Absorbing without treatment... might make him burst."
"......?"
Burst? What? That guy spacing out right now?
Sedes glanced at his friend, who was muttering to himself while staring into space. Despite hearing he might explode, Abel suddenly grinned and burst into laughter, lost in his own thoughts.
"......Guess I need to restrain him first so he doesn't do anything stupid."
Frowning at his friend's bizarre behavior, Sedes picked up the book-shaped bludgeon his friend called a notebook.
The copied magic circles were probably memorized by now anyway, but until this 'treatment' happened, he needed to prevent any more magic use.
"Abel, drop the soundproofing spell. And as the kid said, I'll put on mana restraints, so keep that in mind."
"Wait, before restraints, can I try one more spell? Hm, not sure why this flower vase is out, but let me try warming and ice binding on it... Huh? Why is it warm? No, kinda hot?"
Abel tilted his head at the flower vase faintly steaming. Sedes, not wanting him to cast more spells, quickly dumped out the water and pulled out a heat stone. But startled by the remaining heat, he dropped it.
Nihil carefully wrapped the rolling heat stone in his handkerchief with his sleeve and tucked it into his pocket, then pulled up his hood.
"Leaving?"
Nod.
Business was done, lunch was soon, and he needed to get back to Lianus quickly. The kid had to eat on time.
"One more thing."
As Sedes grabbed him again, Nihil tilted his head slightly.
"What?"
"Did you... help the prince with his homework by any chance?"
"I just helped with research and organizing. He did it himself, so feel free to be proud."
"...I see."
Sedes smiled faintly and slipped a low-grade potion to his son's commendable friend, then called over the guarding soldier to escort him.
Before eyes gathered, he grabbed the nape of Abel—who was still dripping with reluctance—and dragged him back to the office.
Nihil glanced at the satisfied parent's back and toddled after the guard.
He'd probably run into the 1st Prince on the way. The guy who caused the class split—curiosity about Lianus's 'friend' would be unbearable.
'Might as well check that baby snake's mana color.'
Lawrence de Harpen was in a good mood for the first time in a while.
He'd gone to pay morning respects to His Majesty and stumbled upon Lianus getting scolded.
His Majesty had merely shown his face and dismissed him due to the situation, but Lawrence was deeply satisfied just knowing Lianus was being reprimanded.
Word was, Lianus had snuck out to a dangerous place, egged on by that rootless new 'friend' he'd made.
'Struts around with a 'friend,' and immediately causes trouble.'
Lawrence barely kept his lips from rising to his ears and tried to play the part of the usual gentle yet firm prince. During break, one of his escort knights approached and spoke to him.
"Your Highness, the 2nd Prince's play attendant has been summoned."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. His Majesty was scolding harshly when the Prime Minister gave a hint, so he dismissed all the servants. The atmosphere was off—might even get expelled."
"That's truly unfortunate. It's his brother's first friend..."
Lawrence said this with a furrowed brow as if sympathetic, but his lips twitched upward faintly.
By the end of classes, when he thought the play attendant had left, word came that the kid was just exiting the drawing room.
Curious about the attendant, Lawrence hurried to catch up. If expelled now, he'd never see the face again, so better to look once.
Slowing to maintain posture amid watching eyes, he had to jog in servant-free areas, but it wasn't too late—he spotted a small figure in the distance.
Hunched over with the hood pressed down firmly, the gloomy look suited the Swamp Prince's nickname perfectly.
'Birds of a feather.'
Maybe he'd brought a lesser kid to feel superior.
The attendant's height was about Lianus's. Lawrence was tall for his age, Lianus short, so the kid might even be younger.
Lawrence caught his breath from the jog and approached casually.
The nearby guard recognized him and bowed.
"Greetings to the 1st Prince. What brings you here?"
"I saw my brother's carriage and thought to say hello, but... he doesn't seem to be around."
Lawrence pretended to look around, fully aware Lianus wasn't there. Then, spotting the boy who seemed a head shorter, he tilted his head.
"But this child is...?"
"Ah, this is the 2nd Prince's play attendant. Kiddo, this is the 1st Prince. Greet him."
The guard introduced him, but the child shrank at Lawrence's appearance and hid behind the guard. Lawrence's attendant barked at the rudeness, but the kid stayed behind the guard's cloak.
"H-He just entered the palace recently and hasn't had proper training yet."
The guard made excuses, shielding the huddled child. But that irked Lawrence's attendant more, who snapped.
"He should have been trained before entering! What were they thinking, letting him wander the palace!"
"Calm down, young master. He's still young. And His Majesty summoned the child to the main palace— that's not improper."
"How can they pick up some rootless stray!"
"Young master, the child can hear you."
"Indeed, Benjamin. What's wrong with filling each other's lacks?"
Lawrence intervened to stop their quarrel. The guard came to his senses, bowed, and stepped back. Lawrence smiled gently and approached the still-shrinking child, reaching out his hand.
Smack-!
With a loud sound, Lawrence's hand was flung away.