Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Duty of a Noble
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While awakening Bell Quirius, his younger sister Seri was nearly finished with her third year at Ribarden Magic School's elementary division and preparing for her graduation exam.
When Seri returned to the estate for summer vacation, Rain bought a book from a bookstore and rode in the carriage with her.
His mother Brim had given birth to his younger brother Bran (now three years old), and she had nagged him to come see him this year, so he had no choice but to head home.
"Big brother, look at this! I'll show you how amazing my magic has gotten!"
"I'm reading, so be quiet. 'Nobles must be arrogant and act with confidence and certainty in all things'…… Hmm?"
Be arrogant?
It's okay to be arrogant?
Rain let out a chuckle at the sheer absurdity. No need to train for this. After all, that's exactly how Lin had lived.
- Lin, if you keep acting with such a rotten personality, you won't make any friends later.
It was so bad that Fride had scolded him like that throughout their entire journey.
- A man needs to have some cuteness to him. Who would find you cute if you live puffed up with your own greatness?
So after being reborn, he'd been trying to become a slightly different person…… But now, it seemed like he had no choice but to live like his old self whether he liked it or not?
The road back to the Bellwin estate was noisy with the sound of rain.
The summer rain that had started a week ago poured down especially fiercely, drumming against the carriage roof.
"Ugh! 『Noble Studies Primer』…… You think that weird book is more important than Seri?"
His younger sister puffed out her cheeks, but Rain's eyes raced only over the lines of text in the book, his mouth moving to reply.
"I'm heading to school soon, so I felt like I needed some special measures."
"……?"
"You've been walking the righteous path of a noble mage, while I've been on the completely evil path."
"That just means big brother is that special!"
As she praised Rain, Seri shrugged her shoulders boastfully for some reason.
"Whatever. I don't really know how a great noble should treat other people. It's like a short crash course. Got it? Now be quiet."
At those words, the young Seri Ludwig just tilted her head. All she knew was that Rain was more special than anyone else in the world.
- Mom, why doesn't big brother go to school?
- Rain is special. He has nothing to learn at school.
Rain was a genius at everything. Hadn't he explained every magic question Seri asked more easily and perfectly than her school teachers?
Seri was called a genius at school, but she had just diligently reviewed what Rain taught her.
'Big brother doesn't know something?'
Suspecting he was joking, she narrowed her eyes, but then the carriage jolted to a sudden stop, and the siblings' bodies floated up briefly before sinking into the cushions.
"Ow! What are you doing!"
As Seri snapped in annoyance, Swann, the guard knight riding alongside the carriage, bowed his head. His cloak hung limp, soaked by the rain.
"I'm sorry, miss. We discovered too late that the road was flooded……."
"Flooded?"
Beyond the roar of the downpour, other commotion boiled outside the carriage. Men's shouts, women's sighs, children's cries.
"What's going on?"
Rain asked indifferently as he turned a page.
"It seems the floodwaters have overflowed. They're building a levee, but we'll look for a detour right away."
"No mages?"
"There are some in robes, but they don't seem to be doing much. At this rate, the family head might need to come from the estate…… But it's nothing for you young master and miss to worry about."
The book Rain was reading was on page 127, and the chapter it belonged to was [The Duties of a Noble].
「Nobles bear the duty to care for the subjects of the territory they rule…… The lord is the husband of the territory's people, so he must tend to their pains as a father embraces his son.」
Rain furrowed his brow.
What was it with nobles and all these obligations? He couldn't tell if this status was a crown of honor or shackles of bondage.
"Y-Young master?!"
When Rain suddenly closed the book and jumped out of the carriage into the rain, Swann startled and leaped down from his horse.
"The rain is cold and fierce! Your precious body will suffer—how can you……!"
In an instant, Rain's black hair and black silk robe were drenched, the hem dragging through the muddy water. The once-in-a-century flood was massive and ferocious.
"This is Sias Tulica, right?"
"……?"
"It's our family's territory. Doesn't that mean I have a duty?"
* * *
"This is ridiculous…… Has there ever been a flood this bad in our lifetimes?"
"Hey, you lot! Less yapping and more dirt!"
"It's no use, grandpa! Look, the dirt we just piled up is already collapsing!"
The strong men building the levee with dirt and sandbags in the rapids where muddy water reached their knees shook their heads and backed away.
"What the hell are those mages doing?"
"How should I know! Those incompetents aren't new!"
The Imperial Magic Alliance stationed one or two civilian relief mages in every small town, but while they boasted when it didn't matter, they were useless when it counted. It was infuriating.
"Stop and come up! It's impossible! We'll all get swept away at this rate!"
The women carrying dirt in baskets shouted to the men as the flood grew more ferocious, but the village chief stubbornly shook his head.
"If these tulips die, we're done for! We need to sell them for food!"
"We'll die if you keep this up! Evacuate to high ground!"
"We die if we can't stop it!"
That was when it happened.
While the women argued with the chief, a child swimming in the rapids that had risen to chest height was swept away by a tsunami-like surge.
"Oh my god!"
"M-Mister! Our, our child!"
The men tied together by ropes around their waists somehow avoided being swept away…… But that was it. The flood was too violent to even think of swimming out to rescue.
"M-Mages! What are you doing! Save that kid! You doing nothing—how!"
"Sh-Shut up! Do you think coordinate equations are child's play? How are we supposed to cast on a target moving that fast!"
In this case, telekinesis-type magic was needed.
To use telekinesis, calculate the coordinate equations, interpret them, twist the equations to intervene in the laws of nature, and grab the child……
The problem was that the civilian relief mages assigned by the Magic Alliance to small towns were the dregs who couldn't make it to the magic towers or courts.
"What do we do, our, our……."
Into this world of chaos and panic, a boy quietly walked in at that exact moment.
Black hair hanging limp from the rain, red eyes shining more beautifully than rubies peeking through the strands.
"Kid! Where are you going!"
With vision obscured by the pouring rain, no one recognized the magic house crest embroidered on the boy's back.
A red eye drawn inside a black circle.
That it was the crest of the Ludwig Marquess family, one of the Empire's five great magic houses influential in the central region.
"The levee is about to brea—"
Before the man trying to grab Rain could finish, a dazzling trail of light bloomed from the boy's palm, weaving intricately to form a magic square.
The magic square consisted of three layers of rectangles.
The runes inscribed were Gyeol(闋), Du(阧), On(鞰).
For earth-attribute magic,
'Gyeol(闋): close the gate',
'Du(阧): surge up',
'On(鞰): pile up'.
The mathematical formula used was 'Kemval Page's multivariable function theorem'.
Rumble……
At the miracle that shook the earth, those present fell silent, mouths agape.
Du(阧)—the ground on both sides of the rippling rapids suddenly shot up like cliffs, then On(鞰)—formed a massive earth wall stretching to the horizon.
Gyeol(闋)—the wave of great nature that no amount of levee-building could withstand was instantly isolated.
"Eh?"
"Uh?"
The men and the mages who had been yelling and grabbing collars froze, blinking blankly.
"Wh-What is……."
"What the hell just happened……?"
"Did an archmage come? Where?"
The shock for those who knew magic was naturally greater than for the ignorant laypeople.
The magic's precision was near perfect. The surging earth had even caught the swept-away child and returned her to solid ground.
"Mommy, mommy!"
The woman who had been sobbing while hugging her drenched child bowed repeatedly to Rain.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
The black-haired boy watched from the rain, yawned, turned, and headed back toward the road where the family carriage waited.
"I set a time limit, so this unsightly mud wall will slowly sink when the flood ends. First time trying it, so if it fails, oh well."
The young man who had tried to stop the boy earlier stared blankly up at the earth wall, then turned back to Rain. Only the woman and the young man truly grasped the situation.
"How did you do this in one go……? Y-You, n-no, my lord, who are you……?"
The boy paused, pondering how to answer, when the book's words flashed through his mind.
A noble must be arrogant.
No, it's okay to just be arrogant.
No need to smile brightly like Rista here—just act like before.
"Just a noble passing by?"
He waved it off as if that settled it, without looking back.
But precisely because of that, the young man clearly saw it. The magic house crest luxuriously embroidered on the back of the boy's robe.
His mouth fell open blankly.
"Young master Ludwig……?"
* * *
"Is it really okay to just leave it like this?"
When Rain returned, Swann asked cautiously.
"Hm?"
"You could have made sure everyone knew it was your doing."
Mana rippled in Rain's eyes once more, and the rainwater soaking his body and clothes separated, floating in the air. It was terrifying control of mana.
"The territory folk would live with gratitude toward you, young master, and word might spread through those mages, maybe even earning you a commendation from the Magic Alliance."
Rain raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn't comprehend.
"The lord's son helping territory folk—fulfilling an obvious duty—and I need separate thanks or commendations for that?"
It was a statement that emerged naturally from an expression utterly devoid of ulterior motives.
At the hot thrill surging from deep within, Swann's eyes shook greatly.
The family guards, mostly selected from the territory folk, stared blankly at Rain before slowly bowing their heads one by one.
'Our young master…….'
'Young master Rain…….'
The moment a person pledges lifelong loyalty isn't always some dramatic tale.
When you glimpse the sincerity hidden in someone's words and actions, you are moved to kneel with your whole heart.
'I will serve you for life.'
Meanwhile, oblivious to the feelings of Swann or the soldiers, Rain smiled contentedly for an entirely different reason.
'Whoa…….'
Being a noble might actually be pretty great? He acted just as rudely as before, but the reactions are worlds apart?
* * *
The Kirten district of Sias Tulica was a village at the crossroads leading to [Rainbow Garden], originally a stopover for occasional adventurers, merchants, and all sorts of travelers.
But tourists flocked to see the earth wall supposedly created overnight by an unknown high mage, and the village prospered greatly within half a year.
One village youth claimed it was Rain Ludwig's doing, but no one believed the notoriously incompetent heir of the Ludwigs could have done it.
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Young master Ludwig submitted his entrance application to <Delaiten>. Word's spreading like wildfire in the south."
"Good lord, he's just going to embarrass himself. If it were me, I'd make every excuse not to go."
Just then, the tavern server slammed a glass down hard on their table, and the merchants fell silent for a moment before flying into a rage.
"Have you lost your—"
"—merchants don't know a thing. Embarrass himself? Our young master?"
"What don't we know? Word is the Ludwig heir is a bit dim. Tsk, tut tut."
As the merchants clucked their tongues, the youth suddenly burst out laughing. The village folk working at the tavern just gave meaningful smiles.
"Haha! Then merchants, if you're so sure, let's make a bet."
"What kind of bet?"
"Rain young master graduates top of his class with overwhelming scores—I stake this tavern. So, what do you stake?"
* * *
"We have many excellent applicants this time."
Magic University, <Delaiten>.
In the faculty room of the fantastical main building, where a dragon statue of gold diamond elegantly coiled around the outer wall.
Seven professors sat around a round table, scanning application files from across the Empire.
"You could say it's the extremes, right? Christa Warden, called the genius of the century…… Versus Rain Ludwig, more famous by his nickname of genius (heavenly disaster)."
Rain Ludwig……
No record of attending magic school, placing in competitions, or taking ranking exams. Virtually no data.
'He showed his face once at the magic houses' conference at age seven, but showed zero talent for magic…….'
That's why his nickname was genius.
Not heavenly (天) talent (才), but heaven's (天) disaster (災) inflicted on the Ludwig family.
How such a vessel emerged from such excellent parents was baffling. One professor sighed.
"No need to check to know who'll be first and last in the next class."