Magic (7)
My magic studies continued without pause. Part of it was how well Master taught, but whether from talent or sheer stubbornness, I absorbed magic the way a sponge drinks water, claiming it for my own at a frightening pace.
Emma had given up on learning magic herself and simply hovered around me instead. Convinced that freeloading at Master's house was an imposition, she took to cleaning and doing chores without anyone asking her to.
"You don't have to do all that."
Master ate at restaurants and handled the laundry with magic tools, so there wasn't much left that needed doing. Cleaning? He just swept the dust away with a casual wind spell… It was the first time I'd learned magic could be used that way.
Emma shook her head.
"Important."
Well… there was nothing wrong with a clean house. Still, watching her work so hard left me uneasy.
One day, while I was diligently studying magic, Master behaved differently than usual.
"Master, is something wrong?"
"Ahem. A bothersome matter has come up."
A bothersome matter…?
Hadn't Master retired?
I wasn't particularly curious, but he looked like he wanted me to ask, so I obliged.
"Is it serious?"
"Not exactly…"
His voice trailed off. Then he looked at me and grinned.
"Right. I can take you along as well."
"Pardon?"
Take me along? Where? While I sat there blankly, still trying to catch up, Master finally began to explain.
He had received a request from the local lord—a noble—to teach magic. Ignoring it outright would mean slighting noble authority, but accepting it was a nuisance, he said.
"A-a noble?"
A being I'd only ever heard about, never seen—someone who lived above the clouds—had just entered the conversation.
"Hmph. How did they even find out I was here?"
"M-Master?! Isn't it dangerous to ignore them?"
Weren't nobles supposed to wield near-absolute authority?
"Hmph. You think nobles are something special? They're just bothersome people—same as anyone else."
That might have been true in principle… Still, Emma and I, as commoners, had been taught by our father the village chief never to defy the nobility.
Early education, I supposed.
"E-even so…"
"This is already decided."
"Yes… Then at least tell me the details."
The baron's daughter—the young lady of this territory—had taken an interest in magic and pestered her father to let her learn. The baron had told the mages and tutors already in his employ to teach her, but the young lady had thrown a fit, declaring none of them to her liking.
"H-how old is the baron's daughter?"
"Just turned eight, I hear."
Ah… so young. Children had their own images of things. The reason the young lady had become interested in mages was almost certainly fairy tales. And the mages in fairy tales were usually elderly…
In that sense, Master was…
"What are you staring at?"
Master spoke with a look of pure irritation.
"Well… if you put on a robe, carried a staff, and wore a wide-brimmed hat…"
He would look rather like the mage who guided the hero in the old stories.
I nodded to myself, satisfied with the conclusion, while Master regarded me with a strange expression.
"Then before we go, you should dress like a proper mage."
What that young lady wanted wasn't just magic—it was surely the mage from her fairy tales.
The next day, before we left for the noble's estate, I forced a change of clothes on Master. Fortunately, his room already held a large robe and a staff, so finding the props was easy.
"Why am I suddenly supposed to wear this robe?"
"Come on—you'll look like a real mage that way."
"Is that so?"
The moment I saw his expression, I knew what to say.
"Yes. You look like a great mage."
"Do I?"
Master cleared his throat and carefully retrieved the large staff he had been keeping on display.
"Wow! That looks incredible."
I poured every ounce of sincerity into the praise, and the corner of Master's mouth twitched. He usually carried himself with gravity, but he showed this childish side often enough. Considering he called himself a great mage…
"Really?"
"Yes!"
With each compliment I offered, Master armed himself more completely. Fully outfitted, he truly looked like a mage straight out of a storybook.
"Then let's go."
He turned, sending the robe billowing behind him. Had I laid it on a little too thick…?
Still, the robe really was magnificent.
It called to mind the mages from movies and animations of my previous life—magnificent enough that I found myself wondering whether I should wear a robe like that someday.
Emma had fled and wouldn't come anywhere near the secondhand bookstore. At the mere mention of nobles, my usually expressionless sister had trembled and declared she would stay at the inn. Truth be told, I was a little frightened myself. But with Master beside me, I figured nothing too terrible could happen, so I went along.
It would be fine… right?
When we stepped out of the bookstore at the appointed time, a carriage was waiting.
It was nothing like the carts merchants drove or the carriages that passed through the village—its exterior was ornate and antique, unmistakably luxurious.
"We have been expecting you."
A man in immaculate butler's attire stood before it.
"Let's go."
"And this person is…?"
"My disciple."
The butler who had blocked my path stepped aside at Master's word.
"He's quite thorough."
"If you bring a suspicious person along and something goes wrong, whose fault is that?"
Well… if something like that happened, it would be the fault of whoever failed to check properly.
So that was why he was so careful.
The carriage wasn't merely fancy on the outside. The interior was impressive as well. Cushions had been placed with the passenger's backside in mind, glass windows were fitted, and elegant curtains hung before them.
"We shall depart, then."
The butler spoke through a small window near the driver's seat, and the carriage set off.
The ride was not particularly comfortable. Even a carriage that looked so refined and luxurious couldn't fully solve the problem of the road; every jolt transmitted straight through to my rear.
The cushions helped, but without them it would have been unbearable.
Compared to the car seats of my previous life, the difference was night and day.
I gritted my teeth and endured the ache in my backside. At least the lord's estate wasn't far.
The baronial mansion we arrived at was magnificent. Living in the city, I'd never had reason to approach it closely, so this was my first time seeing it in person—and it was enormous.
And this was merely a baron's house. How grand must the estates of greater nobles be?
Did dukes actually live in something like palaces?
Once our identities were confirmed, we were allowed onto the grounds and guided inside by the butler.
As expected of a noble residence—even the corridors were spotless, cleaned every day, no doubt.
Honestly, commoners almost never paid attention to their floors. And since many households wore shoes indoors, the floors were simply dirty.
At first that had been deeply uncomfortable and stifling, but fifteen years into this reincarnation… I had grown used to it.
Seeing such clean floors now felt almost novel.
Watching the maids cleaning as we passed down the corridor, I felt an urge to praise their efforts.
"Please wait here."
The room we were shown into was spacious and tidy. A desk for study stood against one wall, and a large table occupied the center.
"Hmm. Shall we check the materials first?"
"Yes."
Together with Master, I went over what we had brought.
Simple magic tools, an old and worn magic tome, and a small wand—all things likely to catch a little girl's interest.
"I hope the young lady has at least some manners."
Master was fretting over something else entirely.
"Manners?"
"Yes. I've taught a noble's child before. That one was so insolent I quit on the spot."
"Ah……"
So he already had experience—that explained his sour reaction when tutoring first came up.
We had been talking for about five minutes when the baron's daughter appeared, attended by a maid and a butler. Fortunately, she had a gentle look about her. With a sweet expression, she regarded us and offered a graceful bow.
Proof of a proper upbringing, no doubt…
"Hello."
Master and I rose from our chairs and returned the greeting.
"I am Jef. I have come to teach magic today."
"I am Julian, his disciple."
Young as she was, she was still a noble, so we observed the formalities.
"You may all withdraw."
At a lift of the young lady's hand, the maid and butler who had accompanied her carefully withdrew.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Amelie von Meyer."
Having finished her greeting, the young lady took in Master's appearance and her eyes lit up.
"I knew it! I'm so glad I asked them to change my teacher!"
Apparently Master's attire was exactly to her liking, because Amelie began to grow excited. Master, for his part, paid her no mind and opened a magic book, ready to begin the lesson.
I immediately stopped him from diving straight into theory and suggested what I suspected the young lady wanted most.
"Master, couldn't we start by showing her some magic first?"
Surely that was what she wanted most of all. I made the proposal.
"Hmm… theory is what truly matters, though…"
Master had never married or raised children, so he didn't understand how children worked. Of course, I had never been married in either life either… but growing up alongside other children after reincarnating had taught me a thing or two.
"Come on—once she sees how wondrous magic is, she'll want to learn all on her own."
With me fanning the flames beside him, Master reluctantly agreed to a demonstration. He announced to the young lady that he would show her magic.
"Magic!"
Master regarded the sparkling-eyed Amelie with indifference and activated his spells. Magic that controlled light, magic that created fire and water, wind manipulation, and even moving objects without touching them.
"I-it's incredible!"
Amelie's eyes shone as she watched Master's demonstration. Honestly, I was impressed too. These were basic spells I could use myself, but such precise, refined control was beyond me.
Experience really did make the difference…
Once the demonstration was finished, Master sat right back down and opened his book.
"Now then, let us begin learning the theory of magic."
Having seen magic with her own eyes, Amelie showed interest in the theory as well. I had already learned this material and read it in books any number of times, but listening alongside her, I found myself grasping new things. Master seemed mindful of pacing; he made no attempt to teach everything in a single theory session. He included breaks along the way and proceeded step by step.
During one of those breaks, Master said he was going for a walk and left the room, leaving Amelie and me alone. The moment he was gone, the young lady turned her interest on me.
"Can you use magic as well, Disciple?"
In the awkward silence, Amelie was the first to speak.
"Ah, yes—th-though only a little."
"Is that so…?"
The way she looked at me shifted slightly. Was she about to ask me to show her? I couldn't use many spells… and some of them were dangerous enough that I couldn't demonstrate them carelessly.
"Is learning magic difficult?"
Her cute manner and the question itself sent a sudden impulse through me—I wanted to scoop her up and hug her. What was this adorable creature…?
Those bright, sparkling eyes looking up at me were far too endearing.
How was I supposed to answer? Tell the truth? Or season it a little?
Caught in the dilemma, I couldn't reply right away.