The Mad Mage's Whim
The fireball of searing crimson flame condensed at the tip of Rosaria's finger, aimed straight at my heart.
“You think… you think I’m just going to cower in front of some stupid fireball and die quietly?! Go ahead and kill me! Until you grow old and become nothing but bones, or even after you drop dead and fall into hell, I’ll curse you for the rest of eternity! For the rest of my life! Remember that, you bitch!!!”
At the same time as Vita's desperate scream, her red eyes flashed and a surge of magic power exploded outward.
A heavy, viscous wave of mana erupted from the depths of those blood-red eyes.
“That’s interesting.”
Rosaria sneered and launched the condensed flame. Or rather, she tried to.
But then she paused. A strange, alien pulse of magic power had begun to emanate from Vita.
At first, she thought it was nothing more than the pathetic, leaking mana of someone terrified out of their mind. But it wasn’t.
From deep within those red eyes glaring at her with murderous intent, something heavy and tenacious was stretching outward.
Step.
Still holding the fireball at her fingertips, Rosaria took one step closer to Vita, her gaze a peculiar mix of curiosity and unease.
And in that moment, she felt a distinct chill radiating from the mana itself.
This was… yes. It was not a natural flow of magic power. It was a phenomenon where pure hatred and rage, impossible to put into words, had met with mana as a catalyst, amplified, and twisted into something else entirely.
“Heh. So you really… taught yourself magic? Not bad for a worm like you. I’ll give you a compliment. But don’t get any ideas that the arrogant, rude little curse you just spat at me will be forgiven.”
She slowly dispersed the condensed fireball in her hand, letting it vanish into the air.
“However… burning you to death… I’ll let that slide. Just this once.”
Let it slide? Did that mean she wasn’t going to kill me right now? Suddenly? What the hell kind of mood swing was this?
The bizarre shift in attitude from the psychotic mage who had been ready to incinerate me just moments ago left me reeling. All I had done was glare at the crazy bitch like I wanted to tear her apart.
Vita had no idea. She hadn’t noticed the change that had occurred in her own mana at all.
“The essence of mana, you see, is almost never mutable. No matter how much pathetic emotional dregs from a mere insect get mixed in, it’s impossible for the very nature of mana to twist like it just did. Magical theory says it’s impossible. And yet… you’re a little… no, quite special.”
Rosaria began scanning the surroundings with sharp, predatory eyes. Her gaze soon locked onto the large escort knight who had just been scolded by her.
“Hey, tin-can muscle-brain.”
“Yes ma’am! At your command!”
“Keep a close eye on this little brat. Make sure she doesn’t run. If she tries anything funny or looks like she’s about to bolt, don’t hesitate—break her legs first. Oh, but don’t kill her. Understood?”
“Your will be done!”
With that order given, Rosaria turned on her heel without a shred of hesitation and disappeared from the area.
What the… what is she planning? What does she want from me?
My head felt like it was about to explode from the chaos and terror. She had said my mana had changed in a bizarre way and called me special. Those mad eyes gleaming with fanatical delight as she muttered about how it defied all magical theory.
Don’t tell me this woman is some mad scientist wearing a mage’s skin?!
Is she going to tie me up, drag me off to some horrific underground laboratory, and perform live vivisections on me?!
If that’s the case… maybe it would’ve been better to just burn to death earlier.
I curled my trembling body into a tight ball and cautiously looked up.
The massive knight blocking my path stared down at me with ice-cold eyes, as if ready to draw his sword at any moment. The ferocious killing intent radiating from him made it clear that if I so much as twitched a toe, he would shatter every bone in my legs instantly. There was no escape.
I don’t know how long I spent shivering like that beneath the suffocating pressure of the knight.
Then, in the distance, I saw the psychotic bitch returning with leisurely steps.
In one of her hands was a massive, unidentified bundle that hadn’t been there before.
What the hell is inside that thing? Rope to tie up my limbs? Or torture devices?
As her vivid red hair grew clearer, my heart began to pound so violently I thought it might burst.
The psychotic woman finally stopped right in front of me. The corner of her mouth curled up into a smirk as she hurled the heavy bundle at my feet.
Thud!
A dull impact kicked up a cloud of dust, and the knotted cloth came undone. Its contents spilled out across the dirt ground.
I sucked in a sharp breath, squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again—only to blink in utter confusion. As if mocking my shallow imagination that had expected horrific torture tools, completely different objects were scattered before me.
…What the hell is this?
Thick, rectangular blocks covered in sturdy leather or stiff, durable fabric.
Through the gaps of one that had fallen half-open, I could see dozens, hundreds of thin, yellowish pages bound together. And on those pages were incredibly dense, complex patterns packed so tightly it was almost suffocating—like swarms of crushed black ants or the corpses of some unknown insect.
Bundles of bound paper. Regular black marks embroidered across them. And the smell that stabbed into my nose—dusty old paper and ink.
Yes. Those were unmistakably books.
“This is called a book. You know what a book is, right? Ah, my mistake. I shouldn’t have expected anything from the likes of you. To accommodate your pathetic level of intellect, I’ve even included a few childish picture books that even an idiot can learn letters from. You should be grateful. The great Rosaria bestowing such mercy upon a lowly worm like you will never happen again, so engrave it deep into that tiny brain of yours. Honestly, I’d love to drag you straight back to my academy dormitory, but unfortunately, picking up filthy trash like you at my own discretion severely violates imperial law. I am far too noble to tarnish my perfect record with a criminal mark over a single insect like you. So until I return, stay here and lick these books until you learn your letters. If you don’t want to die, you’d better desperately evolve from a beast into something resembling a human. Got it?”
I just blinked stupidly. My eyes darted back and forth between the pile of books thrown onto the ground and the red-haired madwoman staring down at me like I was some rare form of entertainment.
…Suddenly?
She had been about to kill me just a moment ago, and now she was throwing books at me and telling me to study? Why?
The incomprehensible whims of this psychotic woman completely short-circuited my already overheated brain.
When Vita remained frozen in shock and offered no response, Rosaria's delicate brows furrowed in irritation.
“What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re so incapable of basic gratitude that you can’t even say thank you after receiving such an incredible favor? Well, I suppose that was foolish of me—expecting even the bare minimum of manners from an orphan worm like you who’s probably never even seen her parents’ faces, let alone received any proper upbringing.”
Rosaria let out a sigh.
“Listen carefully. In a situation like this, you open your filthy mouth and say the following: ‘Thank you, great Lady Rosaria. This humble worm doesn’t know what to do with herself after receiving such a tremendous gift from someone as exalted as you.’ Now. Repeat it clearly right in front of me.”
What? She wants me to actually say that out loud?
It was an enormous relief that she wasn’t trying to burn me alive anymore. But separate from that rational sense of relief, my trembling lips refused to move.
She wanted me to call myself a lowly worm with my own mouth and bow my head to the ground?
But… my gaze slowly drifted toward the pile of books scattered across the dirt.
If I could obtain them by swallowing my pride, wasn’t it worth throwing away such a cheap sense of self-respect?
More importantly, what she had thrown at me wasn’t some mere scrap of bread. It was knowledge.
In this hopeless slum where I had never once learned a single letter in my entire life, where every path to knowledge was completely blocked off, the value of those books was beyond imagination.
If I could just read the letters inside them… I might be able to understand the principles of this damned magic and find a way to escape this wretched place and live like an actual person.
Yes. I wanted those books.
“Do it.”
“Th-thank you, Lady Rosaria…! R-really, thank you! Thank you…! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!”
I couldn’t bring myself to call myself a worm. Instead, I frantically poured out gratitude.
“Hah. Fine, that’ll do. Now take those books and get out of my sight. I can’t stand the stench of you for even one more second.”
“Yes ma’am! Understood! I’m leaving right now!!”
I frantically scooped up the thick stack of books as if they were precious gold nuggets, stuffing them into the cloth bundle.
There was no telling when that fickle psychotic woman might change her mind and plant a fireball in my back. I hoisted the bundle with all my strength and ran for my life without looking back.
Only after I had completely escaped her line of sight and finally collapsed inside my house did I let out the breath I had been holding, gasping harshly as I tried to calm down.
“Haa… haa… Heh, heheheh…”
I really thought I was going to die. But not only had I miraculously survived, I had obtained an incredible prize that no one in this place would ever get to see in their lifetime. Hehehe.
The heavy texture of the leather-bound books, the noble yet musty scent of old paper that stung my nose—it drove me absolutely crazy with excitement.
Aaah, my heart feels like it’s about to explode from anticipation.
I’m going to escape this state of total illiteracy as fast as possible, learn to read, and make magic completely my own—just like that woman.
To think that I, who had hated studying more than death itself my entire life, would one day be this desperate to study.
I wonder what my mom would think if she could see me like this? The son who had never studied a day in his life and only ever caused her heartache might finally have grown up, clutching books and smiling. She might shed tears of overwhelming emotion.
