Magic Beasts and Black Magic

Eugene blinked in confusion at the magic beast and black magic.

It was a rampage of magi that he should never have woken from.

He could feel the thick, dark crimson energy seeping into his mind even in his unconscious state.

For his entire life—twelve years—he had carried black magic in his body, and he'd thought that was his end.

But.

"…Huh. What the hell is this."

He turned toward the voice that had been growling in anger just moments ago.

Ruen. The Solaris Dormitory supervisor.

A face he already knew. Eugene recalled his duel with Rufus.

Looking back, it had been a childish reason. A duke's heir, so precious he shouldn't carry something like hatred in his body.

He'd envied him. Jealousy.

If only his own village had been in the central region instead of the outskirts.

If only the duke's family, guardians of the empire, had extended their protection to his hometown.

'If that had been the case….'

He could have lived normally.

With that immature ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mindset, he'd started the duel.

And to catch the eye of an academy professor even a little, he'd given it his all.

And then….

- It was pretty fun, in its own way.

The moment he'd tried to unleash his ultimate spell.

All the gathered mana had evaporated. The ritual had dismantled.

Magi and mana were a hair's breadth apart. Maybe that method could neutralize magi too.

The instant he'd returned to his room with a glimmer of hope, the rampage hit.

As if mocking him: you can't overcome this. Resent the world forever.

That's surely how it had been….

Eugene stared blankly at Ruen, who had broken through his seal and entered.

In the pitch-dark room, a faint beam of light illuminated Ruen's brilliant eyes.

Bathed in that light, Ruen alternated her gaze between Eugene's face and her own tiny palm.

Then she narrowed her eyes.

"What is this…?"

Eugene had lived his whole life with magi. To him, that murky energy was like a part of himself.

And that part ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was now rippling atop Ruen's hand.

'…She absorbed it?'

Was this Professor Ruen a black mage too?

Eugene's doubt was instantly refuted.

The displeased expression on Ruen's face. And the mana emanating from her other hand.

Anyone could see she was on guard.

"You, you're a magic beast?"

He had no idea how she'd absorbed the magi.

But she clearly knew it was sinister energy.

"…I'm a black mage."

Eugene spat it out in a fit of resignation.

Whether by chance or design, the rampage had stopped. So then.

'Might as well….'

Die now.

If the decade-old magi rampaged again, the outcome was obvious.

Countless orphans like him would be created.

As Eugene closed his eyes, awaiting summary execution—

"… This is black magic?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So you're not a magic beast, then?"

"…It has nothing to do with magic beasts."

Was she granting his last words? Eugene thought so.

"Cool. Let's get along from now on."

A rustle came from beside him, the sound of clothing brushing.

The footsteps receded.

"I'll swing by later, so clean up your room?"

Then, with a creak, the door closed.

"…?"

When Eugene slowly lifted his eyelids again, all he saw was his disastrously messy room.

'So this is black magic, huh?'

I stared fixedly at the dark crimson energy rising from my palm.

It was the energy that had transferred to my hand when I'd slapped Eugene's cheek.

The exact same ripple as the energy from magic beasts I'd seen in the North and the capital's alleys.

"Hmm."

And just like then, a sense of euphoria washed over me. Even the pain in my pinky toe had faded.

"Black magic…."

The type used by Debitum, the villain group from the original story.

Described as a terrifying, evil aura pouring out….

"That's this?"

It wasn't anything special. Just a sticky, liquid monster vibe.

"Rofan folks sure love to overhype…."

I shook my hand clean and headed back to the supervisor's office.

The sticky energy dissolved into light and vanished the moment it left my hand.

'There's gotta be some connection between magic beasts and black magic.'

Completely identical energy. Too perfect to be coincidence.

I entered the supervisor's office, locked the door, and plopped down on the chair at my desk.

"Gotta ask someone who knows."

I pulled out paper and a quill pen and started writing a letter to Arwen, the Northern native closest to magic beasts.

The Northern Grand Duchy was enjoying an unprecedented golden age.

Warehouses that had always been empty were now overflowing with gold coins, needing expansion.

The territory's residents' living standards had improved dazzlingly.

They praised Duchess Arwen, but she thought of another name.

"Ruen."

The North's one and only mage. Her benefactor.

Now off on a trip to the capital.

"She's fine, right?"

The letters that used to crash through her office window had grown sparse.

At first, they'd come daily like a travel diary, bragging about capital sightseeing.

She quickly dismissed worries of trouble.

"Yeah… no way."

As if anything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could happen to Ruen.

The capital's residents were the ones to worry about.

"No fun around here…."

She missed the pattering footsteps racing through the Grand Duke's Castle halls, the cute voice mixed with sniffs.

"Sigh…."

As Arwen sighed—

—Crash!

The sound she'd been waiting for.

Glass shattered into fragments, pattering to the floor.

"What happened…! Oh, a letter?"

The knights bursting in were now used to it.

"Yes, you're dismissed."

"…If I may be so bold, does that letter have to break the window every time?"

The guard knight hesitated before voicing his pent-up question.

"She says it's cool."

Arwen had asked the same thing before.

And the answer had flown in through a broken window.

"…Understood."

The guard knight bowed and exited.

Arwen chuckled softly at the sight, then slowly read the letter Ruen had sent.

Arwen blinked repeatedly. She read the letter over dozens of times.

"…Huh?"

It had been two weeks since the last one.

Just two weeks.

And….

Arwen pinched her brow and lifted the golden bell on her desk.

—Ding.

Soon, thudding footsteps rushed from outside.

"You called?"

Ruen's disciple, Kian, entered the office.

"First off… sorry about this."

It was the bell Ruen had left, asking her to use it if needed before heading to the capital.

Kian was a noble mage in his own right.

But he'd been summoned by Ruen so often that he raced over at the sound.

"No problem. I'm used to it."

Arwen bit her lip. More urgent matters than guilt.

She handed Kian the letter from Ruen.

She needed an expert interpreter, since she couldn't make sense of it.

"A letter…."

Kian bent to scrutinize it.

Then straightened.

"Any idea what's up?"

"Yes. It's exactly as it says."

Kian explained the letter's contents to Arwen.

Somehow became an academy professor. Somehow met a black mage.

Truly, just as written.

"Does that… even make sense…?"

"It could happen."

"In just two weeks…?"

Kian tilted his head.

"Is that so."

As if asking, so what?

"…Right. Thanks, that helped."

Kian bowed and left the way he'd come, his steps stiff.

'He's gotten weird too.'

Arwen recalled the past. When had the once sensible, normal Kian changed?

After Ruen left for the capital.

More precisely, when he started solving the workbook she'd left.

Rumon Workbook

Kian called it a masterpiece capturing the essence of magic….

"Should I ban it as forbidden reading…."

Arwen sighed and penned a reply on the back of the letter.

Magic beasts and black magic.

She didn't know much, but what she did was key intel.

"Gonna have to research this."

Once finished, the letter flew back out the broken window.

"Jeez…."

Arwen watched it go, then refocused on her work.

A pile of documents.

Most were about repaying the count and reports on the monitored 3rd Legion commander.