Rune Mage
Rune Mage
A Rune Mage — the same class as the progenitors of magic.
Hearing that, my heart raced at the thought I might have landed a decent class, but it was way too early to just stand there spacing out and getting excited.
For all I knew, this ancient class called Rune Mage could be a total relic in the modern era.
'Yeah. Don't get your hopes up.'
Some sage back on Earth once said it.
You get disappointed precisely because you get your hopes up in the first place.
If you never expect anything from the start, you've got nothing to be disappointed about.
Bracing myself to accept the verdict that my class was trash, I asked Hannah.
"So, how does the Rune Mage class compare to other classes? Does it have any real merits?"
"Compared to ordinary classes, the magic you can learn is vastly superior. Ancient Magic using Primitive Runes is, spell for spell, extremely powerful."
Oh.
In that instant, the hope I'd been suppressing surged back up — only for Hannah to immediately follow up with a negative that thoroughly and cheerfully stomped it flat.
"However, a Rune Mage's growth as a mage is, I understand, far more difficult than that of other mages. To use Ancient Magic, you must necessarily major in Runology."
"What's Runology?"
"The academic discipline that studies the interpretation and magical significance of runic characters. It is so excessively difficult that mages majoring in Runology are an extreme minority even within the Magic Tower. For an adventurer to walk the path of a Rune Mage means you must master that discipline as a requirement."
"...I see."
Runology, huh.
Hannah had said it like she was trying to scare me off, but I didn't feel particularly daunted.
Interpretation and magical significance of runic characters were subjects I was already learning diligently from Rumi every day.
From the standpoint of someone grinding away at Runology, I figured I could honestly share this impression with Hannah.
"Is Runology really that hard? When I was learning it, it sank in just fine."
"Excuse me? You were already learning Runology?"
"I've been learning it step by step from a mage I know, starting from the basics. I've already learned all the meanings of the Primitive Runes, and I'm working through the Rune Phonology section — I never got the sense it was all that hard."
"The phonology section is the part that students at the Magic Tower struggle with to an almost legendary degree. I find it impossible to accept that you don't find it difficult."
The moment I shared my honest impression, Hannah — who'd been stone-faced the whole time — showed some emotion for the first time.
She wore a baffled expression, as if she thought I was full of shit.
"Perhaps some wandering mage taught you in a half-assed way, and you're laboring under the delusion that it was easy."
"It wasn't half-assed. I'm learning from a proper master."
"In that case, would you mind if I personally evaluated your Runology knowledge? If you're so confident, try pronouncing the rune characters properly right here. After all, phonology is the discipline concerning the pronunciation of runes."
I accepted Hannah's proposal readily.
Because I really did want to have my magical knowledge tested directly by Hannah, the woman who'd placed top of her class in theory at the Magic Tower.
Honestly, holing up at home every day and doing nothing but listening to Rumi's lessons had started to make me feel a little on edge.
I had no idea how my magical theory accomplishments stacked up against anyone else.
"Starting from the first rune character, 'Fehu,' to the last, 'Dagaz,' pronounce them one by one. That will be a total of twenty-four characters."
"Understood."
I steadied my breathing and, before the watchful eyes of Secretary Hannah and her employer, Bella, recited the rune characters one by one.
Using my tongue, lips, palate, gums, and every articulatory organ, I precisely pronounced the phonetically twisted and contorted rune characters.
Soon, a mysterious phenomenon occurred inside the office.
"Fehu, Uruz, Thorn..."
As I infused mana onto my tongue and pronounced the runes, the household magic tools arranged around the office — things like the mana lamps and the heating system that ran on magic stones — began to hum and tremble faintly.
"Huh? The magic tools in the office are trembling a little. It doesn't feel like an earthquake, though."
Bella, noticing the anomaly, asked Hannah.
Hannah examined the surrounding magic tools and spoke calmly.
"That's not an earthquake. It's a Rune Resonance phenomenon. The runes the adventurer is pronouncing are resonating with the runes engraved on the magic tools, causing the vibration."
"What? Does that mean I could make the magic tools shake if I talked like Luke does?"
"That would be impossible for you, Lady Bella. The Rune Resonance phenomenon can only be induced by a mage who has thoroughly mastered Rune Phonology. It seems the knowledge the adventurer learned was not half-assed, but entirely orthodox."
Having grasped that I wasn't bluffing, Hannah conceded the point without a fight.
"That is quite sufficient, adventurer. Pronunciation of that accuracy could handily earn an A-grade evaluation even from the professors at the Magic Tower. I apologize for doubting your accomplishments earlier."
I'd gotten an apology out of her, but I didn't stop pronouncing the rune characters.
There was one more thing I wanted to show Hannah here.
I kept rolling my mana-laden tongue while staring up at the ceiling.
The ceiling where the mana lamp was mounted.
Sunlight was streaming in brightly through the window, so the office light was switched off.
Wooong.
The rectangular mana lamp merely vibrated in response to my pronunciation.
I focused my mind on the mana lamp and loaded as much mana as I could into my oral cavity.
The mana overflowing in my mouth made my palate sting, and even moving my jaw became difficult.
But I forced power into it and pronounced a single rune character.
"Wunjo!"
The Primitive Rune, Wunjo.
Its inherent meaning was 'light.'
The moment I mustered my mana to its limit and pronounced Wunjo, a conspicuous anomaly occurred in the office.
Flash!
The mana lamp that had been off lit up.
Nobody had touched the switch, but as if possessed by a ghost, the mana lamp blazed with bright light.
"Wh-what? Did the mana lamp break?"
Unlike the bewildered Bella, Hannah had realized that I was the one who caused this phenomenon.
Hannah, whose expression was perpetually frozen in coldness, looked at me with a soft smile spreading across her face.
"Lady Bella, the mana lamp isn't broken. The adventurer just hacked the magic tool by pronouncing a rune character."
"Hacked?"
"I mean that the adventurer turned the light on."
"Is... is that so? All he did was sit still and mutter that 'Wun' whatever?"
"A mage who has mastered Rune Phonology to the bachelor's level acquires the ability to remotely hack magic tools. By accurately pronouncing the foundational rune character, they can manipulate the magic tool. Of course, it's something I can do as well."
Hannah gathered mana in her mouth, looked up at the ceiling, and pronounced the same rune character I had.
"Wunjo."
Click!
In that instant, the brightly shining mana lamp went dark again.
You could say that Hannah and I had just taken turns hacking the mana lamp, switching it off and on.
Mages who studied Rune Phonology could hack magic tools by loading mana onto their tongues and pronouncing runes.
In this world, a rune phonologist was essentially a master hacker.
Unlike on Earth, you could say phonology directly impacted daily life.
"Adventurer. It seems certain you have a talent for Runology, after all. That was the 'Rune Interference Phenomenon,' which only undergraduate students majoring in Runology at the Magic Tower can typically pull off. Seeing a wandering mage induce it — that's a first in my life."
"Rune Interference Phenomenon — that is hacking, right?"
"Correct. You are more than qualified to become a Rune Mage. Only a person with a talent for Runology can achieve greatness as a mage. It's truly a joy for our guild to have you as one of its mages."
Beside her, Bella asked with a face brimming with curiosity.
"Luke is that talented a mage?"
"He is. He's the kind of talent you ought to hold onto even if it means dancing a sexy dance, my lady. Should he try to transfer, you and I will have to join forces to seduce him with our bodies and keep him here."
"S-sexy dance? Seduce him with our bodies?"
"Yes."
The moment Hannah grasped my magical ability, her speech grew oddly rapid and her expression came alive.
Getting extremely animated when a familiar topic comes up is the hallmark of nerds.
It seemed Hannah had a bit of a nerdy mage temperament to her.
Of course, her temperament was whatever — but what Hannah had just said stuck in my head.
'If I try to transfer, they'll pounce on me with their bodies to stop me? Well, that's kind of hot.'
Watching the two beauties exchange risqué jokes conjured up lewd fantasies.
A fantasy of a gorgeous female secretary crawling under my desk to give me a secret blowjob.
Schlurp. Schlurrrp.
Slurp. Shlrrrp.
If a noble lady even slipped under the desk alongside her for a double blowjob, that would be the icing on the cake.
'Ngh, nice.'
Imagining a scene of getting sucked off by two beauties in the office made strength surge into my lower half of its own accord.
I had to hunch forward slightly to keep my erection from being discovered.
"Your face has gone red. Is something the matter?"
"Oh, n-nothing. I'd like to keep hearing about the Rune Mage. I have something to ask you, Hannah — did you manage to get my magic staff?"
I hastily threw out a question to divert Hannah's attention elsewhere.
Of course, it wasn't a thoughtless question. It was something I genuinely wanted to know.
For a mage to grow on this continent, they absolutely had to get their hands on a magic staff.
The transition from ordinary mage to Rune Mage would be resolved in one shot the moment I acquired a magic staff.
"The dedicated magic staff for a Rune Mage was beyond my ability to obtain. Its formal name is the 'quarterstaff,' but its production and sale are monopolized by a certain magical order."
"A monopoly? Does that mean it's impossible for me to get one?"
For a fleeting moment, an ominous premonition struck me.
A vision flashed through my mind of a future where I'd live out my entire life as a third-rate mage because I couldn't get a quarterstaff.
'They have a monopoly on the magic staffs? What are they, some kind of scalpers?'
Fortunately, Hannah immediately told me how I could get a quarterstaff.
"You can simply visit the magical order in person. The organization that monopolizes the quarterstaff is a magical order called 'Nain Gard.' You could call them an association of mages who research ancient Rune Magic."
"Nain Gard? If I visit them, will they just give me a quarterstaff?"
"They don't just give it to you. From what I hear, you have to pass a simple test, and then they issue it to you for free. The test is, naturally, on Runology."
An association that researched Ancient Magic: 'Nain Gard.'
If I could pass a Runology exam there, I could receive a quarterstaff.
If I didn't want to live out my days as a third-rate mage and die a loser, I knew I had to go.
"Nain Gard is based in a port city on the Western Continent. If you take a carriage from Yoen-su, it would take about a week."
"I want to go as soon as possible."
I'd never once been to the port city on the Western Continent.
I'd have to make thorough preparations before setting out on the journey.
"Thank you for all your hard work on my behalf, Hannah. I appreciate you telling me all this."
"If you're going to thank someone, thank Lady Bella, not me. She's the one who gave me the instructions."
With a humble attitude, Hannah deflected her own merit to her employer, Bella.
It was only proper that I also express my thanks to the lady boss who had such a capable secretary.
I gave a slight bow to Bella, seated at her desk.
"Bella, thank you for always looking out for me. I don't know how I could ever repay you."
Bella smiled slightly and spoke.
"If you're grateful, how about granting me one favor?"
"What kind of favor?"
"Take me with you when you go to the port city. As it happens, I need to meet with the mages of Nain Gard this month as well."
Bella's request to accompany me was sudden, but befitting a person of her station, she didn't ask it as a free favor.
"Adventurer Luke. I'd like to entrust an escort quest to you. If you safely deliver me to the port city, I will pay you forty silver and the achievement points commensurate with the difficulty. I can set the quest difficulty at D-rank."
[Bellatrix Escort Quest] Rank: D Details: Safely escort the Vice Guild Master of Gjallarhorn from Yoen-su to the port city. Reward: 40 Silver, D-rank guild achievement points
If I were to summarize the quest outline, it would go something like that.
I accepted the quest.
"Understood. I'll see you safely to the port city, Vice Guild Master."