Chapter 61
Chapter 61
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Kasena's Gift
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Three weeks flew by in the blink of an eye.
Thanks to Madelia Page faithfully upholding the contract, the vicious rumors about Elin Ludwig had completely vanished.
A griffin rider had just brought word from the Papal Office that they’d set out, so I’d soon see that noble face again.
“Rain, good work today~!”
Sandra Kepel slapped me on the back. It meant she’d worked me to the bone with chores again.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Every day, after student council activities wrapped up, I had to tutor Kasena Page.
‘What I’m teaching her is the basics of magic.’
She’d had an accident at six and lived estranged from magic ever since, or so the story went. That made her progress painfully slow.
Telekinesis was the exception, though. Maybe because it was essential for daily life, she picked it up with truly exceptional talent.
Beyond that, nothing. It made for an arduous journey.
“Not this! I want to learn walking magic!”
“That’s an advanced part of 1-star magic. You have to master the fundamentals step by step.”
“No way! Teach me! You’re my tutor!”
She was going to drive me insane.
That’s right.
Kasena Page had no interest in building a foundation; she was fixated on distant ideals.
“Fine. I’ll write down the formula, then. Give it a try.”
“Really?! You should’ve done that from the start!”
Kasena beamed innocently.
Rain scribbled the mathematical formula on a wax tablet with a stylus, then jotted down the required runes and a simple breakdown of the Imperial math in proof format.
“Calculate this in your head.”
Kasena stared holes into the wax tablet, groaning as veins bulged on her forehead. Hmm…… Veins throbbed at her temples.
“It’s too hard! How am I supposed to do this?!”
Then, suddenly, she splayed her fingertips and traced geometric patterns in the air.
In her graceful gestures, the language of power—runes—scattered trails of light, appearing in the air and rippling like waves.
It had been ages since I’d last seen it, but just like three hundred years ago, it sent shivers down my spine.
‘The Page Marquess bloodline limit…….’
The bloodline limit of those descended from the progenitor of magic was…… well, beautiful. That was the only word for it.
Siiiing……
Look at Kasena drawing runes in the air right now. Waves of light flowed from her fingertips, shaping the runes.
‘It’s not just beautiful.’
Incredibly, the Page bloodline limit required no mathematical computation. All it needed was the motion to draw the rune and the earnest wish poured into it.
It was so alien to magic—the scholarly pursuit of mathematics—from the progenitor himself.
To maximize this bloodline limit’s power, the Page family had long used simplified rune shorthand.
“How’s that? Pretty, right? You could try for a hundred days and never pull it off!”
“Well, I’m not from the Page family…….”
Unlike ordinary mages who grasp a magic circle to activate it, Pages activate by grasping the rune they’ve drawn in the air.
I wasn’t jealous.
No, really.
Being born of the magic progenitor’s bloodline must be the utmost honor, but honestly, I preferred Bell Quirius.
‘It just lets you cheat like a mage from another world.’
The moment the rune shattered into particles of light, Kasena’s body floated lightly into the air. The rune Fu (浮) embodied the levitation property at telekinesis’s core.
“It worked! See? Did you see this genius? 2-star magic will be a breeze!”
If she had that kind of talent for telekinesis, maybe I should tweak the teaching method. I’d have to discuss it a bit with Madelia.
“Let’s keep the momentum going with one more.”
“No way! That’s enough for today!”
I was the teacher, so why were you always the one calling the shots…….
Still, there was an upside to lessons ending early. It gave me time to figure out how to get Kasena walking.
But that was tricky. A way to use magic on the body with zero burden—did something like that even exist?
“What’re you thinking so hard about? Daydreaming during workouts gets you hurt.”
After-school physical training room.
Student council had ended quickly, and since Logan’s magic volleyball club was off, we were working out together for the first time in ages.
“I was pondering ways to minimize the burden magic puts on the body.”
“Hey now, the burden on your muscles is muscle soreness! The signal that they’re growing! You welcome that stimulus with open arms, milord!”
“What am I even telling you…….”
I sighed, and Logan’s face fell dejectedly.
‘Like a puppy.’
I glared at him in exasperation, but then my eyes caught the magic circles etched into his muscular frame, stirring a question I’d long wondered about.
“By the way, I heard Wing Type mages twist muscles or shatter bones activating those magic circles. That true?”
“Indeed.”
“Then who’d dare start? What about beginners? Only masochists would sign up.”
Logan let out a scoffing laugh, as if the idea was absurd.
“You think we’re idiots, milord? Of course, beginners get different warp threads engraved.”
“Warp threads?”
“The kind that nullify all bodily burden. No matter what you do as a newbie, you won’t get hurt.”
Hmm, so there was insurance.
I was listening absently to Logan when a thrilling chill raced down my spine—I dropped my grip handle on instinct.
It was that sensation of a blocked problem suddenly clearing.
“But they have a high floor and low ceiling, so we erase them the moment we shed the beginner label—”
“What is that? How does it work? Can you engrave those warp threads too?”
When Rain suddenly raised his voice in excitement, Logan flinched back, then proudly shrugged.
“No, milord! I’m Logan of Chaihak. Chaihak’s late-stage disciple! Don’t tell me you don’t know? I’ve already mastered it.”
Rain abruptly seized those shoulders.
“Logan, want to team up with me on something?”
“Team up? On what, milord?”
“Well, if I had to put a name to it, maybe making the Page Marquess and Chaihak Academy sworn allies? Anyway, no downside for you.”
And so began a week with no time to breathe.
On top of classes, after student council, I had to learn warp thread arts from Logan.
By around seven, I’d head to the Page estate to tutor Kasena.
Breaks? Maybe chatting with Pippi over lunch now and then.
It was a grueling routine, but never boring. Thrilling, even.
“No, milord! Aren’t we adding a magic circuit near the mana vein here?”
“Ooh, what’s the effect?”
“It blocks the magic’s adverse reactions on the body.”
Fun.
Yeah, this was fun.
It was all a new world of knowledge. An ocean of learning I’d yet to explore.
‘Warp thread arts are way harder than I thought.’
Without Logan’s guidance, even poring over all these references would’ve taken ages to grasp. The challenge made the revelations all the sweeter.
‘I’ll study hard.’
It’d all strengthen my bones and flesh.
And I’d made a promise—to get her walking again. That was the deal.
“Hey, why’re you dozing off! You wanted to hear about constellations!”
Kasena would drop everything at night to peer through the window’s astronomical telescope, smiling like an innocent girl.
That’s why evening lessons never lasted a full hour.
I needed to teach her at least some magic within the month to save face with Madelia……
“Why do you love the stars so much?”
Sighing, I leaned against the wall by the window and murmured softly.
“The [Ones Who Came] went to the cosmos, you know? Ever hear of them? They say gods can fix anything. Anything! So of course they can fix my legs too, right?”
“…….”
“That’s why I’m searching. Cosmic shooting stars are traces of gods moving between worlds!”
Gods…… Were they Kasena’s pillar of strength?
“Once the gods fixed my legs, I was gonna go on adventures.”
“Adventures?”
“Yeah! Adventures! But it’s fine now! You said you’d make me walk, Rain!”
The moment Kasena grinned brightly, I couldn’t help but chuckle, recalling Rista’s smile as she said “the world” and pulled my hand.
Had I ever worn that expression?
When Rista said it, something in my mind blazed bright…… I shook my head, casting off that unreachable past.
“I’ll head out now. I’ll make time again next.”
As I turned to leave the tower,
“Wait!”
Kasena called me back, then cleared her throat awkwardly a couple times.
“You…… said it before. That while tutoring me, you’re busy studying at night.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
My personal time was late nights at best, so I’d often burned the midnight oil lost in rune studies.
For whatever reason, that seemed to please her—she huffed and lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Here, a gift.”
With telekinesis, a box wrapped in luxurious silk floated before me.
“What’s this?”
“Open it!”
Curious, I pried it open. Inside gleamed a pair of crystals framed in the finest pure silver.
My breath caught.
Even Grandfather used these.
A faint red glow hinted at costly crimson garnet shards embedded for vision protection magic.
“These…… glasses?”
Why this? Bewilderment and absurdity made my voice tremble unwittingly.
“Yeah! Like them? Studying at night ruins your eyes. You love studying, right? Gotta take care of them if you wanna keep at it forever!”
“…….”
“You’ve been teaching me so hard! I asked Dad to get them from the Empire’s top artisan. Feel free to thank me profusely!”
She boasted triumphantly, yet kept sneaking peeks to gauge if I liked it.
For a moment, my chest ached.
What was this feeling?
Hirpyen’s face flashed—searching black markets for Grandfather’s sake. Contrasting Lin, who never thought to gift his comrades……
‘No, you knew all along.’
You just lacked the courage to admit their kindness. Or return it……
“Ha.”
My bitter smile twisted in regret, and Kasena flailed her hands in panic.
“W-Why’re you laughing? Don’t like it? Sorry! I asked for a gold frame, but they said it’d take too long…….”
“No, miss…… This is just…… I’m grateful…….”
“S-So you like it?!”
Nodding past the sorrow for the past, Kasena switched from flustered to arms-crossed bravado.
“Hmph! Then smile like you mean it! Don’t confuse people!”
“Sorry, miss.”
“Th-Then say thanks!”
“Thank you, miss. I won’t forget this kindness.”
“Hmph! Yeah, be grateful? I’ll let you off early today. Put those on and study hard!”
She’d meant to give the gift first.
How did it turn into this…….
After bowing thanks to Kasena, I fled the room. My legs buckled, forcing me to lean against the wall.
‘This time, let’s pay it back properly, Lin…….’