The Hero's Adopted Son is a Genius of All Time. (3)
The Hero's Adopted Son is a Genius of All Time. (3)
Great Sage, Alkest.
An old man who prophesied about the 'Hero' who would end the racial wars started by the various races of the world.
The Blue Tower Master heard the Great Sage Alkest's prophecy and found Alicia, who had formed a Circle without even learning magic.
The Pope found Aria, who already carried more divine power within her body than he did.
The Elf Lord found Laika, a strange elf who, unlike most elves, wanted to be close to humans.
To Alicia, Laika, and Aria, Alkest was nothing more than a disgusting old man.
However, they didn't think the 'Prophecy' that old man put forth would be meaningless.
Alkest's prophecies didn't always come true.
But, it was rare for a completely unrelated prophecy to come out.
Because just as that old man prophesied, the three children became heroes and saved humanity.
- There are villages destroyed by the Demon race. In one of them, there is a child who will replace you.
Alicia, Laika, and Aria.
Because they believed in Alkest's prophecy, and because they didn't want to do anything else anymore.
That was why they had stepped foot into the village where Kael almost died.
'... Kael.'
Alicia hugged Kael, who was in her arms, tightly.
Actually, she knew.
They were geniuses, and it was rare for a child to inherit the progress of three geniuses....
No, the fact that it would be impossible.
She thought the prophecy would finally be wrong, but Alicia had faced Kael's talent.
A child surpassing their parents is something to be happy about, but she couldn't be happy at all.
"... Kael, go play by yourself for a moment."
When one is too anxious, one tends to become calm.
Alicia usually tried to act rationally, but now it was a little different.
She had no expression, her voice was blunt, and she showed very restrained movements.
"Okay."
Because she tried not to show it, it was actually more obvious.
Kael noticed that the mothers had something to discuss, so he bowed his head and trotted into the mansion.
"... Haa-."
As soon as Kael left, Alicia leaned her body against the wall.
Her legs felt like they were giving out, and her head ached.
With her hand on her forehead and her face grimacing, she organized her complicated thoughts.
"... Laika, Aria-."
She put strength into the hand clutching her throbbing head.
Her breathing was rough, proving her confusion.
She bit her lip at her own foolishness for not being able to easily dismiss it, even while thinking it was just a prophecy.
"What do I do...?"
Perhaps, when she first adopted him.
Was it because of her foolishness in giving him the name 'Kael' just because it was a hassle?
Was it because she gave him the name of the person who was first called a hero, that this happened?
Even though it had nothing to do with it, Alicia teared up from anxiety.
"... What, what's wrong?"
Laika asked Alicia with a seemingly serious expression.
"... No, this isn't the place to talk about it."
Alicia looked at Laika, but took a deep breath in case Kael could hear.
Slowly, she walked up, threw open the door to the office, and.
Click-, she locked the door so that Kael wouldn't be able to come in, just in case.
"Earlier when Kael woke up, didn't you feel anything?"
Naturally, Aria and Laika shook their heads.
"... I used magic. So that Kael would look at me first."
"... What?"
"Th-that's cheating!"
"You took him with magic, and what.... Is it that serious because Kael has no talent for magic?"
"That's not it!"
Alicia shouted loudly without realizing it.
Laika, startled, tried to joke around again like an elf, but stopped immediately.
"... Kael saw through my magic. Something you guys couldn't even see, Kael saw it."
"Yes?"
"I was worried about how to teach him since Kael couldn't feel mana.... But he asked me if the red light at the tip of my finger was mana. Even though I used Perception Interference Magic.... He said he saw you, Aria, and Laika...!"
"... Aren't you mistaken? You're lying, right?"
"No, I'm not lying! It's real, it's really real...!"
Alicia spoke desperately, but doubt filled Laika's expression, and contemplation filled Aria's.
For ordinary people, it takes 3 years to form a Circle for magic.
Even if someone without talent trained until they were about to die, 5 Circles was the limit on average.
Alicia strode up the stairs of Circles as soon as she learned magic.
Her starting point was 5 Circles, which is the end point for ordinary people.
It took only 3 years to pass the end point of ordinary people and exceed the limits of a genius.
Because she was so outstanding, Alicia ended the war and became the master of the Red Tower before she was even twenty.
And Kael just saw through such a person's magic?
"Kael is only seven years old. How can a seven-year-old see through an Archmage's magic?"
"There have been many things in the world that we couldn't understand. First, let's listen to what Alicia has to say...."
"No, you have to say something reasonably believable...! If you suddenly said Kael could bestow blessings, would you believe it?"
"Th-that is...."
"Alicia must be tired lately. You must have mistaken it. So stop worrying...."
Just as Laika was about to speak again with her eyes half-closed.
"It's not a lie, the prophecy is really coming true-!"
Alicia shouted with a desperate expression.
Tick-, tock-.
The sound of the clock's second hand could be heard.
Silence flowed.
Prophecy.
At that word, Laika and Aria also stopped breathing for a moment, hup.
At the word that choked them, the word that had dragged them into hell, their shoulders trembled naturally.
"... Has that old geezer ever been wrong once or twice?"
Laika spoke in a sharp voice, as if to deny it.
Crack-, a crack was engraved on the table she was gripping without realizing it.
"He's just a guy who plays with words every time. More than that, isn't it important that Kael is a genius? If he's a genius, that's a good thing. Why are you so worried?"
"... I was happy at first, too. So I tried to go to you guys right away to discuss how to teach him."
On the other hand, unlike Laika, Alicia was just tearing up little by little.
Her hands were trembling, and her eyes, which always seemed to burn red, lost their focus and wavered.
"... What if a new Demon King appears?"
"A-Alicia, don't say things like that...."
"What if a Demon appears that we three can't defeat even if we risk our lives?"
Because Alicia was always the leader, she forced herself to clench her fists to endure the anxiety, but it didn't mean much.
Drip-, a single tear she shed without realizing it fell to the floor and soaked in.
It was because the meaning that 'Prophecy' had held since she was young was too great.
"... A-Alicia?"
Aria looked at Alicia, and falling into anxiety herself, closed her eyes and offered a prayer.
A prayer close to a curse, hoping that Alkest's prophecy would be wrong.
Only the elf alone gritted her teeth, unable to accept it.
"We've killed so many people over the years.... Are we going to live according to that son of a bitch's words?"
Laika trembled, clenched her fists, and jumped up from her seat.
"The prophecy is about connecting the progress of the three of us. Magic might be like that, but divine power and the techniques of the Elf race are different. The prophecy is wrong. It wasn't even the village that guy talked about in the first place!"
Kael is a genius?
Even so, would he really be a bigger genius than us?
No, would Kael be better than all of us combined!
'If Kael can't do even one thing properly, the prophecy is wrong.'
Laika immediately threw open the office door.
And, she shouted louder than ever before.
"Kae-e-e-el-! Could you come here-e-e-e-e-!"
"L-Laika!"
"It's okay, nothing will happen. The prophecy must be wrong."
"W-what are you going to do!"
"I'm going to make him hold my dagger. We have to find out."
Alicia stood up in surprise, but once the words were out, there was no taking them back.
"Mom Laika?"
Kael ran over and acted spoiled in the way his mothers liked, and when he hugged Laika-.
"You heard from Mom Alicia, right? That Kael is going to study."
"Yes, I remember."
"Now, then, could you try picking this up?"
A dagger that can only be picked up if you pour mana evenly into the designated places.
A dagger that almost no one, even among elves, can handle, she took out from between her breasts and waved it in front of Kael's eyes.
'Now, he'll slip. Alicia, watch closely. This is reality. A kid who doesn't even know the Elf race's gripping method won't be able to accurately pour mana into five places.'
Laika poured mana into the tips of her fingers and her palm.
She had to distribute it evenly everywhere, and change the distribution of mana every time she changed direction.
At least for now, the emotional elf kept her mouth shut.
The straight, extended dagger, full of cold moonlight, swam over Laika's hand.
She was holding it, but the dagger didn't touch the elf's hand.
It was just floating.
"... Now, try catching it."
Laika said to Kael.
And Kael wanted to do whatever his mothers wanted.
"... Yes!"
He reached out his hand.
And-.
Thwack-.
He caught it.
No, he naturally floated the dagger above his hand.
"Wow, it's amazing! Mom, did you do something to this? It's floating above my hand!"
As if it had been Kael's from the beginning, the dagger that had touched his hand for a moment naturally swam over Kael's hand.
As Kael smiled brightly and asked, watching the dagger moving like a living thing, like a fish-.
"... Huh?"
A rough sense of bewilderment leaked from Laika's lips.
Because he had floated the dagger above his hand without mana, even though it was a dagger that could only be held by operating mana.
Because he had made the dagger swim through the air with only the lingering scent of the mana she had poured when she held the dagger.
"... H-how?"
Laika's complexion turned pale.
"W-wait a minute, Kael."
Laika took the dagger away and placed it back on Kael's hand.
Watching the dagger float again, she asked, turning white.
"... Kael, by any chance, before you became our son, did you have an Elf family...?"
"... N-no."
As Laika lost her mind, re-experiencing the feelings Alicia had felt, Aria stood up from her seat and approached Kael.
"Kael, could you come here for a moment?"
If Kael also had talent for divine power....
If he could even handle divine power....
"A-Aria-. No, st-stop...."
Alicia hurriedly grabbed Aria as if she didn't want to check for divine power either.
But conversely, Aria just wanted to be sure.
'Divine power is different. This isn't an area that can be done with just talent.'
The certainty that Kael wouldn't be able to handle divine power.
The certainty that, as Laika said, she wouldn't have to be anxious about things like prophecies.
"Now, close your eyes like Mom. And think of the people you like the most."
"... Should I imagine my moms?"
Even in that short moment, because he said such pretty and lovely words, a sad smile bloomed on Aria's lips.
"... Yes, just for a moment is fine."
"It's not just a moment, I can do it for my whole life."
Smiling, Kael closed his eyes.
A white, delicate hand touched the boy's forehead.
Aria closed her eyes, and soon opened them again.
"... Ah, Kael.... Why...."
Unable to even say anything, Aria covered her mouth and hugged Kael tightly, afraid that she would show herself crying.
"... M-Mom, why, why are you c-crying?"
Her shoulders heaved.
"... Uung, just because I'm thankful for every single day. That Kael became our son, it's just so.... S-so good-."
She patted Kael's back with a forced bright voice.
That his mother was sad, that there was some kind of problem.
The child was quick-witted.
Without a word, without asking anything, he hugged Aria tightly.
...
The three mothers spent the day as if nothing had happened.
They made dinner for Kael, ate together-.
They hugged Kael while forcing a smile, and when night deepened, they laid Kael in bed and put him to sleep.
Only then did the postponed emotions seep in.
Only then did they have the courage to share the stories they had put off.
"... Alicia, Laika. I have something to say."
The three mothers carefully got out of bed.
Relying on the light of a single candle in the dark hallway, they headed to the office.
They had confirmed his talent, and they knew he could inherit everything from the three of them....
But if he really inherited everything, they were afraid that Kael would leave in their place.
Aria grabbed the hems of Laika and Alicia's clothes and opened her lips as if pleading.
"We.... We have enough money. We have enough honor, and we have power. We can make Kael live in abundance for the rest of his life. So...."
Peace is broken someday.
If peace were eternal, they knew at least that there would be no need for words like hero or whatever in the first place.
At least, the three who had always lived on the battlefield knew.
Just as they knew how hard it was to be crushed by responsibility against one's will.
"Let's.... Let's not teach Kael anything."
Tick-, tock-.
The empty sound of the clock's second hand could be heard.
Silence flowed.
"... I agree. Even if a war doesn't happen.... Everyone will covet Kael."
The one who broke the silence first was, unexpectedly, Laika.
The voice that had been filled with stubbornness earlier, asking if it wasn't a good thing if he was a genius, was sinking heavily like cotton soaked in water.
"Kael shouldn't live the same way we did. He should act spoiled.... He should want to do that. So, I agree too."
The three mothers made a silent vow.
Let's raise Kael normally.
Let's raise him more normally than anything else.
Let's not teach him swords, archery, magic, or prayer.
Let's pretend that phenomenal talent doesn't exist. Let's bury it forever as a secret only we know.
Just forgetting.
Firmly believing that was the best love for Kael, they vowed again and again.
Like that, they went to sleep-.
And it was the next day.
"... Mom, I think I know what mana is."
Kael said.