Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Meeting Magic (2)
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"I'll try again."
Shirone remained still even after Vincent stepped back, observing the groove in the tree for a long time.
He was feeling a faint tremor of excitement.
Committing a line of advice to memory is knowledge. But absorbing it with your entire body was a matter of sense.
Strike the same spot, but with a slight twist.
This simple piece of knowledge, passed down through the words of countless people, was being absorbed by Shirone with a far greater understanding than Vincent had anticipated.
"Dad."
"Yes?"
"What if I try to break this in one go?"
"Hahaha! You haven't even chopped halfway through. How could it break?"
"I might get lucky."
Luck doesn't break trees. A seasoned woodcutter would relentlessly exploit the weak points in the grain, felling a tree with just a few swings, but there was no way Shirone could do that.
"Alright! Let's trust in my son's luck!"
Vincent happily played along with his son. He was just grateful that Shirone was showing an interest in woodcutting.
"If I break it, you have to grant me one wish."
"Hm? A wish?"
A sudden sense of unease washed over him. What if he asks to learn how to read? Or to be sent to school like the other rich kids?
"When you go to the city to sell our goods, please take me with you."
To be honest, it was a huge relief, but Vincent didn't let it show and instead let out a hearty laugh.
"Gahaha, if that's all, then fine. I'll grant it anytime!"
Having gotten his approval, Shirone swung the axe over his shoulder and faced the tree. When the smile that had been lingering on his lips vanished a moment later, Vincent felt a chill. His son, staring at the tree without even blinking, seemed to be searching for something invisible to the eye.
Shirone suddenly swung the axe. It looked like a perfect strike into the groove, but it contained an infinitesimally small twist, beyond the realm of human perception.
*CRACK!*
At the sound, like a bolt of lightning striking, Vincent's eyes went wide. Cracks like an earthquake spread from where the axe had struck, and unable to bear its own weight, the tree splintered and broke with a loud snap.
"Yahoo! I did it!"
Vincent couldn't believe it. It was the 'Thunder Break,' a technique passed down as a legend among woodcutters. It was a mythical skill that neither Vincent nor any woodcutter he knew had ever seen or experienced—only heard of.
But that was because a woodcutter's work was focused on livelihood. In fact, there was a certain profession where one could encounter the phenomenon of Thunder Break quite often: swordsmen.
Swordsmen, who wielded their blades with their lives on the line, honed their skills with a systematic depth incomparable to that of woodcutters.
Among those skills was the Thunder Break. But it was clear that even for such swordsmen, it was by no means an easy technique to master.
"Yahoo! I did it!"
Shirone, now able to see the city as promised, threw his arms in the air and jumped around.
Watching him, Vincent was confused.
He couldn't decide whether he should raise this child as a woodcutter, or if he shouldn't.
* * *
Vincent held the reins of the two-horse cart and passed through the gates of the city of Creas. Shirone, riding in the cargo bed, looked around in all directions with sparkling eyes.
The hides would be delivered to the weapons shop, the meat to the grocer, and the innards to the apothecary or the magic shop. He had to visit several shops, and with haggling, it would take at least four hours.
As they arrived at a shop, Shirone leaped down from the cart. Vincent said, hoisting a bag of meat onto his shoulder.
"You need to be back before sunset."
"Don't worry. I've already memorized the streets."
"Don't go into any dark alleys. Stick to the main roads. If someone asks why you're alone, point to the nearest shop and say you're waiting for your dad."
"I know. Nothing happened last time I came, either."
Vincent's heart ached, feeling like he was neglecting his son. But his family's livelihood depended on how well he haggled, so it couldn't be helped.
Shirone reassured his anxious father and left the market district. Vincent had expected him to head for the performance halls or toy stores that children usually frequented, but Shirone had no interest in such things.
The place Shirone arrived at was the largest library in the city. His heart pounded as he looked up at the massive, magnificent building.
Does this building hold all the knowledge accumulated since the dawn of history?
There was no way to find out. The library, a high-class cultural space, was impossible to enter unless you were a noble.
When two female students walked out of the library, books cradled in their arms, Shirone quickly stepped aside.
Vincent was a kind father, but whenever he spoke of nobles, he always laid down the law like a fearsome ogre.
Never talk back to them. Their word is absolute. If you make eye contact, lower your head.
Shirone didn't care how great the nobles were. He just wanted to read books.
'Why can't I go in?'
Shirone decided to follow the female students. It wasn't just that there was nothing else he wanted to see besides the library; he was also curious about what made nobles so different from commoners.
After walking for about twenty minutes, the scenery changed drastically.
Shirone forgot his original purpose, captivated by the massive structures towering all around him. The most breathtaking of them all was a school that boasted enormous grounds, visible even through the iron gates.
The name of the institution was written on the arch of the main gate.
Alpheas Magic Academy.
If there was one word in the world that Shirone could never understand, it was magic.
It appeared in countless stories, but he had never seen a single book that described its principles. It was a kind of disregard. An arrogance that implied those who were not mages had no need to know.
A guard spotted Shirone and shouted.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Seeing Shirone's shabby clothes, he waved his hand back and forth as if shooing away a fly.
"Get lost! This is no place for riffraff like you."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Terrified, Shirone ran away. The guard, who was brutish-looking to begin with, glared at him, and Shirone's knees went weak with fear.
But when the guard was out of sight, he stopped walking again. To his surprise, he was still beneath the walls of the magic academy.
Just how big is this school?
As he was thinking this, an old man's voice drifted over the wall.
"Alright then, let's now talk about the topic of what magic is."
"Aww, no! Show us some magic! Just one more, please!"
"Fire! Show us the fire magic, Headmaster!"
Shirone looked up at a large, leafy tree standing beyond the wall. It seemed the headmaster of the magic academy was holding an outdoor class under the shade of the tree.
The children's voices all sounded younger than Shirone. Since nobles were educated from the moment they were born, it wasn't strange for young children to be attending a magic academy.
"Hohoho, I'll get in trouble if I start a fire at school. Instead, if you answer a question correctly, I'll show you some fun magic."
"Yay! What's the question? Ask us quickly!"
Shirone pressed his ear to the wall.
"What is the most necessary talent for learning magic?"
A long silence followed.
They must have all been struck dumb. Even to Shirone, it seemed like a question that required a rather subjective answer.
But these children were prodigies, admitted early for their magical talent. Rather than giving up, they each offered their own answers.
"Effort. You can study magic your whole life and never learn it all, so effort is important."
"I think it's knowledge. I've read over a hundred magic books myself."
Other plausible answers followed, such as concentration and memory.
But the headmaster's voice was still not heard. He's probably just watching the children with a benevolent smile, right?
"Money. You have to buy a ton of stuff to learn magic."
The children burst into laughter.
The headmaster's laughter was mixed in as well.
At this point, Shirone also became curious. If it wasn't effort, knowledge, or money, what was the most necessary talent for learning magic?
After hearing all the children's answers, the headmaster finally spoke.
"The most necessary talent for learning magic is insight."
A second silence fell.
"What's insight?"
The headmaster let out a troubled groan. But he soon continued his explanation in a kind voice.
"Insight is something more accurate than knowledge and faster than effort."
"Wow! Then it's basically magic, right?"
"Hoho! You could say that. No, you're right. All magic that exists in the world originates from insight. Let me give you an example. Do you know what one plus one is?"
"Of course, it's two."
The children answered in unison. Their tone implied, how could you ask something so obvious?
"I see. Then can you explain why one plus one is two?"
"Huh? Well, that's obviously because..."
The children, who had been about to speak confidently, fell silent. They couldn't figure out where to start, or what and how to explain it.
A hint of laughter was in Alpheas's voice.
"That strange feeling you're experiencing right now is insight. Long ago, there was a time when people didn't know that one plus one is two. It was proven through knowledge and effort. But you all perfectly understand that one plus one is two without going through that process, don't you?"
Shirone was gradually drawn into the story. The children beyond the wall were likely listening with their mouths agape as well.
"Magic is a phenomenon that has always existed. Just like how the answer was two even when people didn't know that one plus one is two. Someone uncovered that fact through effort and knowledge, but you all don't need to do that. In this way, insight is the fastest means of understanding the rules of something."
"So we don't need to study or work hard?"
"Is that how it sounds? But to be perfectly honest... that is the truth."
Common sense is knowledge believed by the majority. But sometimes, things are common sense simply because they are convenient to accept. Shirone could guess how Alpheas must feel, having to speak such a cruel reality.
"So we don't have to go to school?"
"Hahaha! Insight is not something that can be gained so easily. The reason one plus one is two is because scholars proved it over a long period of time. Of course, there are people who realize the answer without going through the process of verification. We call those people geniuses."
"My mom called me a genius."
"That's not necessarily wrong. Every human is born with talent, and if they polish that talent, anyone can become a genius."
Anyone can become a genius. Those words struck a chord deep in Shirone's heart.
But is that really true? Will I ever get a chance to cross this high wall?
"Yes. You, the child standing behind the wall. I'd like to hear what you think."
Shirone hastily backed away from the wall.
Should I run? No, should I answer? But does a commoner have the right to answer?
"Don't do that. Come over here. I'd like to see your face."
Shirone approached the wall, his heart pounding in his ears. He was still young and didn't know the ways of the world, but one thing was clear. If he didn't climb this wall now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Shirone scrambled up the wall. Alpheas, the headmaster of the Alpheas Magic Academy, was smiling.
His first impression was that of a white-haired old man. But in reality, he was a 4th-grade mage officially recognized by the kingdom, a man of high repute known even in other countries.
Alpheas, sitting on a flat rock, waved his hand.
"Come on over. Have you come to be this old man's companion for a chat?"
Emboldened by Alpheas's kindness, Shirone leaped over the wall. Just as he had expected, children around his age or younger were sitting in a circle.