Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Grandfather's Pride
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As the long summer came to an end, the autumn sky stretched out clear and bright, dyeing the world in the colors of fall foliage.
The jolting vibrations of the carriage gifted a pleasant drowsiness to his body.
Outside the carriage window, the deep fragrance of tulip fields stretched vividly to the horizon in a rainbow of hues. The world had already turned to autumn.
“Be on your best behavior, Rain.”
“I know. It’s a meeting with Grandfather.”
“I’m sorry. If I’d been more accomplished, I wouldn’t have to drag you all the way out here.”
“Then you get it.”
“……?”
“……?”
“R-Right. Yeah.”
The boy flinched in surprise at seeing Kevn give an awkward laugh.
Was that not the right way to respond?
The boy’s brilliant mind spun at high speed, rummaging through memories of Rista. What would Rista have said in this moment?
‘No idea…….’
Right now, the surging drowsiness kept his head from turning quickly.
They said he had the intellect of a grand archmage, but his current age was just eleven.
He couldn’t overcome the physiological responses of a child’s body.
“You must be tired. Rest easy on the way. It’s a five-day trip.”
In the Holy Human Empire, there were five elector families divided by region, each served by one of the five great magic houses.
The Warden Marquess family in the east.
The Kepel Marquess family in the west.
The Blado Marquess family in the north.
The Page Marquess family in the south.
And the Ludwig Marquess family, which served the central elector—the Archduke Saion—where resources were most abundant, was the one the boy belonged to.
The magic houses began when the electors granted titles to exceptional court mages, and among the counts, only the magic houses bore the rank of marquess.
The lead magic house, Page Marquess, was an exception, but that’s a story for later.
The carriage crossed the Ludwig territory of Sias Tulica and finally arrived at the archduke’s city, [Rainbow Garden].
“Wow…….”
It was truly a beautiful city.
The entire city was divided into seven districts, each glowing in one of the rainbow’s colors under the autumn sun.
For example, the district with the archduke’s castle was purple, and the education district was indigo.
Kevn took the boy into the <Ribarden> magic school where his father was posted. His grandfather was in the middle of a lecture.
“What do you think? Want to sit in on a class?”
“I like the lessons from you better, Father.”
A pure answer free of any ulterior motives, from a son who had already focused intently on the lecture.
This kid……
Kevn felt a swell of emotion in his chest at the response.
“Any questions from the students?”
At the question from his grandfather, Skalji Ludwig, as he set down the chalk, Rain raised his hand. Kevn tried to stop him, but Skalji spoke first.
“What is it?”
“I’m curious why you used the rune gu (區). Using ja (刺) would simplify the equation even further while boosting the power. There’s also go (睾) instead of ja.”
Skalji’s face lit up with surprise, and the students had to stare blankly at the boy.
“Impressive. That was from the advanced section, ‘Rune Applications and Equation Reduction.’”
“……?”
“……?”
“……?”
“Since my family’s here, class ends here for today. The TA will summarize the lecture. You two, follow me.”
The “you two” referred to the boy and Kevn. As father and son stepped into the hallway, Skalji shot Kevn a glare.
“Still on about that?”
“I’d love to give you a piece of my mind right now, but I’m holding back for the sake of this brilliant grandson.”
“The one who gave birth to this brilliant grandson is Brim, Father.”
Skalji was an old man with a strong presence and a straight back despite his age.
The dignity of a proud mage emanated from his entire being, and the mana he unconsciously exuded felt quite welcoming to the boy.
Skalji was one of the mere ten Glados (4-star) ranked mages in the empire.
“Fine, how is it you’re smarter than your fool of a father and yet so polite? I like it. You, head out. The archduke’s probably summoning you anyway.”
Why did it happen in that instant? Why did he butt into such an everyday conversation?
“Father’s not a fool. He’s a good father and teacher.”
Perhaps it was the memory from that first day in the carriage, when his father had given that awkward laugh.
— Lady Rista, why bring such a young and immature child?
— There are six other proficient Glados (4-star) mages besides him.
— Exactly. He lacks cooperation and is too arrogant, isn’t he?
It was a familiar gaze and words.
To the orphan boy who had lived his life under jealous eyes…… Rista Alter Shyrfang had smiled gently and stood in their way.
“Lin is the greatest mage. He’s not immature, and he’s not uncooperative.”
— ……?
“He just doesn’t know yet. He’ll learn from here on out.”
That voice, which had defended him then, still lingered deep in his memories. Someday, he wanted to say the same to someone.
“…….”
“…….”
Kevn felt his eyes grow hot, a heavy pain stabbing one spot in his chest.
Skalji turned to the boy, met that firm gaze for a long moment, then suddenly smiled warmly.
“You think I don’t know that? He’s my son, the one I’m prouder of than anything in the world.”
“Father……?”
“I told you to get lost, didn’t I? You’re not needed.”
“……Understood.”
“But don’t slink back to the mansion. Once I check Rain’s aptitude, let’s share a drink together after all this time.”
“……!”
“Come on, you follow me.”
Kevn bowed deeply toward Skalji’s back as he led Rain by the hand down the hall.
A smile shone in the grandfather’s eyes, and tears fell from the father’s.
The boy thought.
Was this another gift from Rista? If he hadn’t met her, would he even have imagined something like this?
“You’ll do great. Lin’s a kind boy.”
A boy who excelled as a grand archmage but lacked in character took another step toward becoming a true sage today.
* * *
“So, how did you know about rune combinations and equation rearrangements?”
Skalji’s office was modest.
Only necessary furniture was placed, and all documents were neatly organized.
‘Really different from me.’
Lin’s old study and Rain’s current room were always a mess of books and papers…… The boy answered.
“I read a lot of books.”
“A lot?”
“A whole lot.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
He’d been at a loss for how to explain, but Skalji burst into hearty laughter and ruffled the boy’s hair until it was a mess.
“No need to ask, really. Your father bragged about you so much…… Already mastered 3-star magic theory, huh?”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
Can’t say it, but I’ve actually mastered up to 5-star.
“And I heard you came to awaken Bell Quirius.”
Bell Quirius.
The absolute demonic eye meaning “piercing perception” in the language of the gods. Skalji was one of the awakeners proudly etched in the family history.
“How much mana do you have now?”
“Enough to barely high-speed calculate one 3-star spell, Grandfather.”
“You can high-speed calculate a 3-star spell?”
Skalji’s eyes went wide.
I should explain the concept of “high-speed calculation” that mages talk about.
Drawing a magic circle somewhere, filling it with runes and equations to activate—that’s not high-speed calculation.
When you do the entire process through mental arithmetic instead of writing it out, that’s called high-speed calculation.
Up to 4-star mages advance ranks when they can calculate 24 or more spells of their rank, but to reach 5-star—grand archmage rank—you need to high-speed calculate seven 5-star spells.
“This is astonishing. No, bewildering. Casting 3-star at eleven is impressive enough, but high-speed calculation…… Any precedents?”
If I had to say, there was one. Grand Archmage Lin had reached 3-star at eleven and 4-star at thirteen.
Far beyond other grand archmages.
“Then show me.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, here.”
“The room’ll get wrecked.”
“It’s fine.”
“The wind pressure will mess everything up.”
“It’s fine. I’ll erase it before that.”
Skalji gave a mysterious smile.
Erase it……?
Flustered, the boy still opened his palm. Ultra-precise equations computed in his head in an instant, altering the laws of this world.
‘The magic circle forms three fan shapes. Runes engraved separately: yu (兪), ju (駐), je (制).’
To explain: imprinting three attributes onto a wind-element spell.
A chill pierced his veins like cold thread, mana swirling into a vortex as all the furniture in the room creaked.
“Whoa…… It’s real.”
The moment Skalji muttered that, a chilling dread swept over him, hairs standing on end as cold sweat beaded.
Huh……?
What’s this?
It’s gone—the magic vanished, the whole magic circle…… I didn’t even activate it fully, and I didn’t cancel it either?
“Don’t panic. I said I’d erase it.”
The boy looked up blankly and felt fear once more.
Eyes glowing red.
Silver-white seven-pointed stars etched within.
Facing the eyes that pierced through everything in this world—its very conditions of existence—even the grand archmage’s intellect felt primal terror.
“This is Bell Quirius. You can control any supernatural ability you see at will.”
But the terror soon turned to thrill, and the thrill to exaltation.
Why wouldn’t it?
That infinite power would soon be his. Uncharacteristically for a grand archmage, the boy let out a cheer.
“W-Wow!”
“Ha ha ha ha! Want to try it?”
“Yes!”
The seven-pointed stars faded from Skalji’s eyes, the blazing glow dimming. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Of course, it’s not invincible. You can only dispel or alter the spell if the caster fully understands it.”
“Still too cool!”
“And it takes an enormous amount of mana. For you, who’d be mana-exhausted from one 3-star spell, you’ve got a long way to go.”
Many Ludwig descendants hit a wall right here and despaired. They gave up, deeming it impossible to surpass.
“It’s just far away, right?”
“Hm?”
“Far doesn’t mean I can’t get there.”
But the boy was different.
All exploration was joy to him, and the ecstasy of breaching that wall of knowledge was indescribable.
“So teach me how to walk that path, Grandfather.”
At the boy’s bold reply, Skalji’s mouth nearly split to both ears.
“My training will be tough.”
“Training’s supposed to be.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! You’re truly my blood! Brim—I’ll have to thank her for bearing such a brilliant child!”
Even a hedgehog thinks its young are beautiful; he’d thought his son’s words were exaggerated hype.
But he was wrong.
This was a gem. Not just any gem, but one that might shine new light on the stagnant imperial magic……