Did Something Happen at the Academy Today?
The dinner table was quiet. As Kain meticulously separated the bones from the grilled beltfish on his plate, he glanced at Arina, who had been unusually silent all evening.
"Hey. Did something happen at the academy today?"
"H-huh?"
Startled, Arina flinched so hard her shoulders jumped. She quickly shook her head with an awkward smile that was far too vigorous.
"N-no! Nothing at all!"
"......"
Kain had always thought this, but the kid really couldn't lie to save her life. It was rare to see someone whose deception was so painfully obvious. Did she actually believe no one would notice?
He stared at her in silence, watching the clear signs that she was trying to hide something from him. Under his unwavering gaze, Arina seemed to feel the pressure. She lowered her head until her face nearly touched the table.
She picked at her rice in tiny bites, stole a quick glance at him, then jolted when their eyes met and immediately looked down again. She kept repeating the cycle.
I wasn't even trying to pressure her.
He had only asked because she was being unusually quiet. Ever since she started attending the academy—excluding vacation periods—she had always chattered away during dinner, reporting every little thing that happened that day like an eager puppy. There hadn't been any special reports from Jealousy, and she didn't seem upset or negative about anything, so he'd asked lightly, thinking it was nothing. He certainly hadn't expected such a dramatic reaction.
"......"
Well, if she wanted to keep it hidden, he wasn't going to press her. With that thought, Kain casually turned his head away. But his indifferent attitude only made Arina misunderstand even more.
"......Are you angry with me?"
She must have known how awkward her acting was, because she watched him carefully before asking in a timid voice.
"No."
Kain answered indifferently as he placed a piece of the fish in his mouth. The perfectly grilled skin crunched between his teeth, and the tender, well-seasoned flesh melted softly on his tongue. He immediately followed it with a spoonful of rice, which perfectly neutralized the saltiness and created a harmonious balance in his mouth.
"There's no reason for me to be angry, so why would I be?"
At that age, kids naturally started keeping one or two secrets from their guardians. It was the age when friends became more important than parents, when they wanted to shake off the world's restrictions. Puberty was a natural storm every human went through. It wouldn't be strange at all if Arina was experiencing it now.
That's what the book said, anyway.
Come to think of it, hadn't he been the same at that age? It was around ten to thirteen when he awakened his Absolute-level Ebon, started hiding things from his sister, and went completely off the rails into the underworld, living as a total delinquent. Compared to his own catastrophic rebellion, her behavior was practically angelic.
Of course, if she goes too far, I'll have to step in.
The book had said that too. For children entering puberty, you should respect their privacy and give them space, but also talk with them often to keep them from straying.
But what exactly am I supposed to talk about?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Kain froze. Even Pride—that infamous fanatic who worshipped the Death King—had to admit that Kain was terrible at conversation. In fact, calling it terrible was an understatement. He had zero tact. He simply didn't know how to consider others' feelings and would bluntly say whatever was on his mind. He was a textbook example of what people called a sociopath. Because of that, he was completely blocked from the very beginning on how to start a conversation with Arina.
It was a wall more daunting than the one the Empress had put up during the Great War. His brow furrowed slightly without him realizing it, which only made Arina's worry grow even heavier.
Oh no. Uncle really is mad.
One misunderstanding was feeding another. To Arina's eyes right now, Kain looked exactly like a boyfriend who was clearly upset but trying to act cool by saying, "I'm not mad." The kind who was sulking hard but shaking his head and pretending everything was fine. Overwhelmed by guilt at the sight, Arina squeezed her eyes shut.
It's really not like that.
After hearing what Professor Magnus had said, she had started worrying without meaning to. According to him, her uncle had only been trying to help her with pure intentions. And Arina had absolutely no intention of blaming or resenting him for it. She had simply been worried that if she told him about today's events, it might make his help seem like it had some other motive, or that he might feel guilty about it.
But if she tried to talk about her day while leaving out the conversation with Professor Magnus, she didn't trust her own mouth. Whenever she started talking, she always ended up excitedly spilling everything to him without realizing it. That's why she had been trying to stay quiet today. But of course, her sharp-eyed uncle had immediately noticed something was off.
"......How are the preparations for the Academy Tournament going?"
After agonizing for a long time, he finally came up with a topic. Feeling rather proud of himself, Kain asked the question with a faint, satisfied smile.
"H-huh? Oh, um, it's going well."
"I heard yesterday that you're getting private lessons from some professor named Magnus. How's that going?"
"It seems fine. The professor is taking care of a lot of things for me."
Ah, why did the topic have to go there of all places...
Kain thought he had chosen a good subject, but for Arina, who had been trying to avoid anything related to that exact issue, there couldn't have been a worse topic. So anxious about making a slip of the tongue, she didn't even notice that this was the first time her uncle had ever asked about her daily life.
Was that the wrong choice?
That anxiety transmitted straight to Kain. The cold sweat beading on her forehead, the way her eyes darted around to avoid meeting his gaze—he could tell at a glance that the topic he'd chosen was a complete miss.
Raising a kid really is difficult.
Unlike dark magic, just following what the books said didn't guarantee success. More often than not, half-hearted attempts ended up killing the mood completely, like a disastrous blind date.
What should I talk about now?
Sensing failure, Kain decisively abandoned the current topic and began searching for a new one. Arina watched him carefully as he suddenly stopped talking and fell into another long silence, nervously nibbling at her rice.
For the first time, a heavy silence settled over the dinner table that had always been filled with Arina's cheerful chatter.
It had already been half a year since Jealousy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the underworld, had infiltrated Benedict Academy.
To Jealousy, that was more than enough time to turn the entire academy into his territory. In fact, it had actually taken longer than expected because he had to build his influence while avoiding the eyes of the chancellor and that monstrous chairman. If not for them, the academy would have fallen completely into his hands before the first semester even ended.
If that had happened, the Mana Up app incident might have been resolved before the culprit could even make a move—snatched up by Jealousy and made to disappear without a trace.
"......"
At this point, there was no information within the academy that Jealousy couldn't obtain. Knowing that, Kain sat on the sofa after dinner and sent him a text.
He asked what had happened to the kid at the academy today.
I wasn't even particularly curious at first.
No matter what topic they talked about, he could sense that Arina was being careful with her words around him. That had sparked a curiosity that hadn't existed before. From the way she was acting, it was clear that some kind of problem related to him had come up.
At first I thought she was just watching my mood because she felt guilty about hiding something from me.
But as they talked, he realized it wasn't that simple.
"What the hell? She was watching my mood over something this trivial?"
Kain read through the message Jealousy had sent and let out an involuntary snort of laughter. To summarize, during her conversation with Professor Magnus, the man had pointed to Kain as the root of her current problem. Though calling it a problem wasn't entirely accurate. What he said was simply the truth.
The kid's comprehension is lacking, huh...
Maybe it was because he had taught so many different students and accumulated plenty of samples. He was right. In Kain's case, whenever he saw where she was stuck, he would immediately recommend books that solved the exact problem. He had assumed that once she read the formulas in those books, she would naturally understand why they were the correct answers. That's how it had worked for him, and for Pride when he was studying dark magic.
Now that I think about it, that guy Pride was pretty smart.
In a way, this issue had arisen because—unlike Professor Magnus—Kain had very little experience actually teaching anyone.
Alchemy, is it...
The career path Professor Magnus had recommended to Arina. Even Kain had to admit that if she had that kind of problem, alchemy would be the perfect fit. The greatest advantage of magic tools and artifacts was that they allowed you to use magic easily anytime, anywhere. Covering her shortcomings with artifacts until her comprehension improved would be the best approach.
Even if she didn't use them directly, she could store frequently used magic circles in her mind using brain storage magic—commonly called Memorize—and then activate them through input and output methods.
Of course, that method had the downside of making magic even more rigid than spirit arts, which was why most mages avoided it. Still, it was a decent temporary solution until her weaknesses were covered.
The best option would be for her to stop being a mage altogether, though.
That, unfortunately, seemed impossible. From what he could see, Arina had no intention of giving up on being a mage.
Come to think of it, there was something interesting about alchemy recently.
A paper that had been published in the Magic Tower's academic journal not long ago. It treated magic circles as a single spell and transformed their shapes, if he remembered correctly. The content had been quite intriguing, and he had even considered applying it to dark magic later. If modified well, it could become a suitable vision magic for the kid who wanted to pursue alchemy.
Though magic isn't exactly my specialty.
Kain slowly lifted his head. He quietly watched Arina's back as she washed the dishes in the kitchen.
"Tsk."
It was a hassle, but when he thought about how she had worried about him and tried to be considerate for no reason, he figured he could put up with the trouble just this once.
The academic conference presentation is next week, right?
The theory was all written in the paper, but seeing it in person would be much better. Since creating an entirely new magic based on magical principles—without relying on dark magic—was a first for him, there were various uncertainties involved.
I can sneak over while the kid's at the academy.
He could ask Pride to get him an admission ticket. Having organized his thoughts, Kain looked away from Arina and, as always, flopped down onto the sofa.