The Magic of Inverted Reason
The moment he saw her, Luke got his expression under control.
What's going on? Why is this woman here?
He slipped behind Ellis as naturally as he could.
Terre watched him do it, a somewhat bitter smile touching her lips.
"Hmm. I thought we'd gotten a little closer over that meal just now. Still awkward, I see. Well — our family's atmosphere is a far cry from a normal household."
Terre looked at Ellis.
"Ellis. Would you pass something along to Luke for me? About what happened with our eldest brother today. Tell him not to take it too much to heart."
She shrugged.
"That brother throwing a tantrum isn't exactly a one-off, is it? Right, Ellis?"
"...That is true, my lady."
"Pfft. So you know it too."
Terre turned back to Luke and went on.
"In the end, even if we're all destined to kill each other... I still find myself hoping we could get along. Luke."
A light, easy smile reached her eyes.
"And maybe someone will come along and save us from all this. And I can't help thinking that someone might just be our youngest."
Terre tossed Luke a light wink.
With that, Terre left.
What was that about.
Terre's visit had been unexpected. The way she'd acted so friendly was both burdensome and suspicious.
A kinslayer who, ten years from now, might slaughter everyone in the family. Terre Serverki.
He knew that future, and yet for now there was nothing he could do about it. What mattered right now was talking with Ellis — who was, without question, on his side.
Once the two of them had taken their seats, Ellis gave a light wave of her hand, sealing off any leaking sound with mana, then looked at Luke.
"Terre's sudden visit was a touch unexpected, but... let me start with the conclusion. Young master, I can teach you magic. However... I cannot teach you properly."
"...Huh? Why?"
Luke was a little taken aback. Why? Ellis was one of the Eight Talents. Teaching him magic should have been trivially easy for her.
As he sat there looking faintly stunned, Ellis answered.
"Because of Elli and you, young master. To save one of two people who should have died. More precisely, at Elli's request that I save you... I put a portion of my power up as collateral with an Evil God."
"...What?"
So that was the situation? He hadn't known Ellis had this kind of backstory. But he could guess at it.
Witches, as a vocation, were those who researched the path toward inverted reason. And so they were inevitably bound up with Evil Gods — beings deeply tied to inverted reason, who called disaster down upon the world. That, incidentally, was also why people found witches so unsettling: they were so often entangled with Evil Gods. To those who walked the path of inverted reason, the vast power of an Evil God was an enormous temptation.
Which made Ellis — a witch who had lived in peace for hundreds of years — an exceedingly rare existence. And yet even she, unable to cast aside her affection, had gone and made a contract with an Evil God.
Truly, it was dark fantasy without a shred of hope.
"And so I cannot fully unleash the power of my original rank — the 8th Tier. Which means there is only so much I can teach you, young master."
Ellis's dark eyes turned toward Luke. Along with them came a natural dignity flowing from her, and Luke swallowed without meaning to.
She's not the strongest in this world for nothing. The 8th Tier, at this point in time...
Tiers. Put simply, they were ranks that divided stages of attainment. Reach the 8th Tier, and you could even wield Chaos — the power capable of standing against Evil Gods. It was a realm Luke himself would have to reach someday.
"Got it, Nanny. Then... could we at least do the basics somehow...?"
"If you sneak in the cute act like that, it makes my heart go weak, young master."
Ellis allowed herself the faintest smile, then nodded.
"Your talent, young master, is truly that of a witch. The talent to wield inverted reason rather than the natural order. You possess that gift. Even if my present circumstances are far from normal, I can still give you the fundamentals. For the sake of your talent. And for the sake of that little act of cuteness you just showed me. I will teach you."
"Yay!"
He threw both hands up like a child, delighted, and Ellis smiled. As expected — children had their own survival strategies. Play cute, and it actually worked.
While Luke was busy making a show of how happy he was, Ellis took him by both shoulders and brought herself down to his eye level.
"Young master."
"...Yeah, Nanny."
Luke realized she was about to say something serious. He dropped the delighted act and looked at her, and at last her mouth opened.
"Do you know the other reason I am teaching you this magic?"
"...Hmm."
"It is because I want you to survive in this family."
Luke grasped her intent at once. She was issuing a clear warning.
"You are aware of this family's tradition. The tradition of House Serverki, in which all but one die. And in that tradition, you have now distinguished yourself."
"...Yeah."
"And so you have two paths, young master. Hide your ability — or display it. But after the Talent Discovery, that choice has narrowed to one. You cannot hide your ability. You must flaunt it."
Ellis's golden pupils looked at Luke with piercing clarity.
"I will stop the underhanded tricks — assassinations in the dark, and the like. But the checks that come at you in the open are yours to handle, young master. You have three years remaining before you take on the family's work. In that time, hone your ability however you can. That will become the blade you carry."
Ellis gave a light wave of her hand, stroking Luke's hair with a breeze.
"As for Witch's Magic — we will keep that hidden. It will become another blade. Use it in secret."
"...Got it, Nanny. No — Grandma. I'll do my best."
"...You need not go out of your way to make me happy like that."
Even as she said it, a smile had already formed at the corners of Ellis's mouth.
Time passed, and Luke began learning magic from Ellis.
The magic of inverted reason. Known commonly as Witch's Magic, it ran on an entirely different track from the magic of mages who followed the natural order. If ordinary magic researched the natural laws and principles of the world, Witch's Magic researched inverted reason — the opposite of those laws. In other words, magic that shook the very foundations of the rules themselves.
"Take this, for example. Water flows from where to where?"
"...From above to below?"
Ellis nodded.
"That's right. From above to below. In the history of magic, we identified this and named it gravity."
She turned her palm toward the sky, then flipped it toward the ground.
"But Witch's Magic thinks the opposite. Put simply — inverted reason. In a witch's world, water flows from below to above. We research that reversed phenomenon."
Ellis gave a small laugh.
"That's why witches sometimes pick up the nickname 'devil.' A mischievous devil. A devil who shakes the foundations of the laws themselves — that sort of mockery. Now and then the nickname spreads so far that people confuse witches for actual demons and go calling for the clergy... but witches have been properly recognized as a branch of magecraft, so don't worry."
Ellis smiled faintly, then went on to explain mages.
"Warriors such as knights typically form a mana hole. Mages are no different in that regard. However, mages plant a sapling inside that mana hole. What we call a Mana Tree."
"...A Mana Tree?"
"That's right. From now on, young master, you will plant a sapling in your mana hole and water it little by little. A mage's beginning starts with raising this Mana Tree. And among the talents of yours that I have observed... the soil of your mana hole, for growing that Mana Tree, is truly overwhelming."
Ellis gently stroked Luke's stomach as she spoke.
"Probably — no, certainly. Your talent will blossom before long. But for these next few years, it would be best to focus on laying a solid foundation. The basics matter. Once you learn the sword from the family's knights and form a mana hole, I will help plant the Mana Tree sapling atop it. Don't worry about the Mana Tree being discovered. One of a witch's specialties is hiding things in secret."
A full smile on her lips, Ellis brought herself to Luke's eye level.
"As I said, we take it slow from the basics for a few years, young master. If those basics pile up and finally bear fruit, you will be able to survive this family's infighting."
Luke nodded.
Time flowed on.
The passing years turned a ten-year-old child into a boy of thirteen. Throughout that time, Luke's daily routine was simple. Training. Nothing but training. By day he attended the family's lessons, receiving instruction in swordsmanship and everything else. By night, in secret, he learned Witch's Magic from Ellis.
And before long, the family's gaze toward him began to change.
"Hasn't Young Master Luke gotten so much more composed compared to before?"
"I know, right? He used to do nothing but hide behind Lady Ellis."
"...Hey! Hey! Lady Ellis is coming!"
Ellis overheard the two maids passing by with laundry, unnoticed, and nodded.
...Our young master has changed quite a bit, hasn't he.
She was on her way to bring a towel and something to drink for Luke, who would be in the middle of sword training at this hour of the day. Ellis had taken it upon herself to fetch the water, just in case any of the other siblings tried something unpleasant.
As she walked, Ellis recalled the reputation Luke had gathered over the past few years.
Whenever the people who worked in the house gathered even a little, they would bring up the youngest young master without fail.
And it had gone even further than that.
"Luke has been rather impressive of late."
He had even caught the eye of the patriarch, Bellemian. Perhaps it was inevitable that the rumors surrounding Luke would only keep growing.
"Nannyyyyyy!!!"
And far off, a child appeared in Ellis's golden pupils. Luke came running in short, quick steps and took the towel from her hands.
"Nanny. Did you see me from far away? How was I? I look a little better, right?"
Luke wiped his sweat with the towel Ellis had brought. She nodded, a faint smile at her lips.
"Yes. Your swordsmanship has improved across the board."
"Good. If it's at this level..."
Luke looked off into the distance.
"I should be able to handle the first mission too."
And waiting for him was the first mission that the children of House Serverki received at the age of thirteen.
"You have come."
In the patriarch's office, Bellemian, head of the house, greeted Luke. Seated at his desk, he remained right where he was and held out a sheet of paper.
"An explanation of your first mission. You are to deliver an item to Stygna, the empire's slum city."
Click.
Bellemian drew something from his coat and set it on the desk. A small wooden box — small enough to tuck into one's clothes.
"Go to Patina, in the depths of Stygna — what they call the deep sea of the abyss. Your escort knight will know the rest, so ask him."
Luke picked up the wooden box. He considered giving it a little shake, then thought better of it. Tucking it into his clothes as it was, he looked at the patriarch for a moment.
Bellemian Serverki. Head of the Serverki ducal house, and the man who maintained the family's principle of siblings killing siblings.
Even Luke did not truly know Bellemian. But this much, he knew. He would die with his heart pierced through by his own daughter, Terre Serverki.
And one more thing of importance: by that time, Bellemian was already, in effect, dying. The cause of that death? Unknown. Not from Terre's mouth. Not from Bellemian's. Even Luke, who had thoroughly consumed the original work, did not know.
And so Luke could not prevent Bellemian's death. All he could do was, when Imperial Year 700 arrived, somehow escape the jaws of death himself. But the certainty of that goal was an unknown — which was why Luke had been waiting for this moment. The moment he could begin operating outside, starting with this mission.
"Go well, Luke. I look forward to your exploits."
"...Understood."
For words from a patriarch who drove his children into a pit of death, they were rather warm.
Ellis's two golden eyes turned toward Luke, standing before the carriage. Outwardly she was his nanny, so of course she could not go. That might have been cause for worry, but Ellis was, in fact, calm.
Having watched this small child for thirteen years, she knew. This child might well become a monster who surpassed even her. That his existence might be more than even the Serverki ducal house could contain.
"Nanny..."
"Young master."
Luke pulled Ellis into an embrace. He buried his face for a moment against her, from whom a sweet floral scent drifted, then looked up at her with bright, round eyes.
"I'll be back."
"Please take care of yourself."
A faint worry rose in Ellis, then quickly faded.
Luke Cerberk. Ellis — a powerhouse who had reached the 8th Tier, once called the Great Witch of the Forest — saw through this small child's potential.
...Elli. You and I don't share a drop of blood. And yet, strangely, that child seems to have inherited both of us, just as we are.
He had inherited Elli's astonishing beauty wholesale, and Ellis's magical talent besides. A child who was the spitting image of them both.
Even if that child's path ahead is dark... in the end, he is the light. And so the darkness will recede.
Ellis waved toward the carriage as it grew more distant. Luke poked his head out for a moment and waved back at her.
How did it come to this.
Luke sighed. This was Stygna, dubbed the Empire's Trash Can. Before he knew it, Luke and his escort knight Mikhail were surrounded by rough-looking people who had made Stygna their territory.
"Waaah! Let me gooo..."
And in Luke's hand, a young child's wrist was firmly caught.
"Hey. Hand the kid over already, yeah? Things'll get pretty messy if you don't."
The thugs surrounding the two of them — or people who looked a shade more vicious than mere thugs — gestured.
"...It really did get messy."
Luke sighed, recalling everything that had led him here.